<~> Chapter 320I wobbled when I got back to my feet. Mimi was quick to come over and help support my weight as I stumbled. Bel and Nelly both looked exhausted and on the verge of mana exhaustion, even after the mana potions they drank.

  "How many mana potions do you have left, Mimi?" I asked.

  Mimi frowned and gnced at the two healers. "Only a few left. We've had to go through most of what Mirianna gave us. I have... four of those remaining."

  "We've already had too many. I don't think it's a good idea for us to drink anymore for now. Not unless there's another emergency." Bel's eyes gnced at my stomach, and it made me reach down and touch the smooth skin where my fur had fallen out. The two of them had to do quite a lot of reconstruction and even went to the length of removing all of the scars I would have had.

  I looked over when the sounds of fighting had stopped and saw the others coming back. Torien ran up to me before gently touching my bare stomach. "Are you okay? This looks like it was bad."

  "Bel and Nelly saved my life again," I said with a smile. "I'm okay. The two of them are low on mana, and I'm exhausted, but I'm okay. What happened to the other enemies?"

  Torien gnced at Silva, who frowned before replying, "We killed the st mage, but the dogkin escaped again after nearly killing you. What happened? Did you fight her off somehow?"

  I shook my head. "No. She cut open my stomach and collected a bottle of blood from the wound, then ran off. It was strange. It was like she felt sorry for doing it."

  Silva turned around and looked up at the edge of the pilr above us. "The next pilr is where the dungeon boss is supposed to be, but that was where she escaped to. I don't know if we're in good enough shape to fight them again."

  "Even after we killed four of her allies?" Raya asked.

  "No, I don't think so," Silva replied. "She could have other allies up there. Maybe they were only the ones close enough to help at the time, but there could be more. And we're down too many people. I don't even think we could handle the dungeon boss like this. Lilith needs to recover, Morrigan passed out after that huge spell she cast, and I don't think our two healers can drink another mana potion without side effects anymore. We need to back off and regroup."

  Torien sighed. "I don't think we have much choice. I don't think my sister could do what she did a second time. This is our only window to destroy the dungeon before the stagnant mana collects enough to start summoning more banshees and interfere with our ability to kill the dungeon boss. Lilith almost died, but that dogkin seems to have gotten what she wanted from her. She didn't bother to finish killing her, so I don't think it was about that."

  "She took her blood," Sibyl said. "But why? Some kind of demon summoning ritual? Why Lilith's blood specifically?"

  Torien gnced at me before turning to Sibyl. "Lilith used to be a demon... and that woman called Lilith a champion. Someone one step removed from a god or goddess. Let's not forget who we're fighting here, demon worshiping cultists."

  Nelly gasped. "You think they need Lilith's blood to summon a strong demon? Something like the one we faced in the previous dungeon?"

  Torien's face hardened. "No. They didn't use her blood for that. It must be something worse."

  Lori scratched the back of her head. "Maybe I should at least scout things out? We need to get a better idea of what we're dealing with. I can share what I see through the bond, so at least we would have an idea of what they're up to," she said, looking at me.

  I... I was still a bit shaken from my near-death experience. I think that was why I was letting Silva take control of the situation, but they need me to be the leader. I can't let myself fall apart like this.

  I took a breath and nodded. "Yes, let's do that. Even if we decide to retreat, at least we might have a better idea of what we're up against. Be really careful though, Lori. You don't want to get caught fighting the dungeon boss alone." I turned to Torien. "Go check on your sister again. See if you can get her to wake up. Even if I decide we're not fit to continue fighting, it would be reassuring to have Morrigan awake no matter what we decide."

  "I'm on it," Lori turned and started running toward the pilr. I could feel her preparing to use shadow leap several times in succession, something she's only recently been able to accomplish. I could tell that she felt confident enough to make it to the next pilr, so I just watched her go.

  "I'll go see what I can do," Torien said before heading over to where Morrigan had been left to rest. Kal'daeryn was watching over her for now. I got the impression that Kal'daeryn was still in fighting shape and could keep going if we needed to.

  I turned to Raya. "How are you doing? Are your mana reserves holding up?"

  Raya nodded. "I've been pacing myself well. I haven't had to drink any mana potions since we've come into the dungeon. I've been using most of my magic for support, so I can still fight."

  "What if you had to take a more offensive role?" I asked.

  She hesitated, but nodded. "I could do that, I suppose."

  Silva studied my body. "What about you? You nearly died."

  I let out a breath. "I feel sluggish. I don't think I could take an active role in melee, but I could probably support from the back with magic."

  "What if the dogkin attacks you again?" Mimi asked worriedly.

  Seems like I'm not the only one who was a little shaken by my near-death experience. I sighed. "I'll probably need someone to stay back to protect me, and the rest of us fighting from the backline."

  Silva shifted her weight. "Kal'daeryn and I could make do on the frontline without Mimi, I think. Would that work?"

  Mimi nodded. "I can protect her and the others."

  "She's really fast. Would you be able to handle that?" Silva asked.

  Mimi nodded again. "I can do it. I'll make sure nothing gets close to us."

  Silva sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "We're really doing this."

  ("Guys, the floor boss is dead. The cultists already defeated it. It looks like it's been partially disassembled. They were looking for something. It's a fresh kill, they may have been fighting it while Mori was dealing with the banshee problem,") Lori told us through the bond.

  I shared a look with Silva. It was the cultists, specifically that dogkin who almost killed me, but the floor boss already being dead did change things a bit.

  Silva turned in Lori's general direction, even though she wasn't close. ("The boss isn't respawning right away? Will we be able to pass that area without it closing up?")

  ("It looks like it, the dungeon would have closed the area off or respawned the boss by now. Should I keep going and see if I can get an eye on the cultists?") Lori asked.

  Silva turned to me and nodded.

  ("Do it, Lori,") I said. ("Be careful not to be seen, but if you can give us an idea of what they're doing. Maybe we can stop them, or at least figure out what their pns are next if they've already succeeded. Just don't get caught.")

  I felt a ping of acknowledgment through the bond. ("I'll be careful, you get some rest.")

  With a sigh, I sat down and pulled Bel over to me, who had passed out. She isn't mana-deprived, but she was mentally exhausted after helping me. Once the danger had seemingly passed, she was lulled into sleep while the rest of us were talking. Nelly was still awake, but she still looked exhausted as well. While we were resting, Raya decided to head over to see if she could help Torien with Morrigan. Since we were waiting, Mimi sat down, leaned against my shoulder, and started to py with Bel's hair. She was gentle, but I could tell Mimi was still a bit wound up. She was still ready to fight at a moment's notice. Some of her strong protective instincts had fred up when I had nearly died.

  I've been nearly killed a few times now, but this time I came really close. It took the combined power of two healers using different styles of healing. Both of them dumped their mana pools twice over into me, and still needed the extra help of Nelly's healing milk to finish repairing my body. I looked at Nelly, who was staring off into space. I didn't know if she was checking her status or just resting.

  "Thank you for saving my life, Nelly." I pced my arm on her shoulder.

  She turned and smiled back at me. "You're very welcome. You saved my life too, and rescued me and my friends from that horrible pce. We were locked inside there for years, and you helped us escape. I'm gd I was able to repay the favor, in part. Even if this stuff is dangerous, it's kind of exciting, and I've seen more new things in the st few weeks than I've seen in all of my life before this. As scary as this dungeon is, it's beautiful too. I'm gd I came with you to help."

  I followed her gaze and looked down at the isnd-topped pilrs that grew rger and rger the farther away from us they were. For the first time since we entered the dungeon, we could clearly see the entrance without clouds of banshees flying through it. The grass smelled nice, and the wind felt good, even if we had just escaped a life and death fight.

  ("Everyone, I see why the dungeon has been in a constant dungeon break.") Lori's words brought me out of the moment, and I turned my head in her direction as she continued. ("They have four people strung up near the core, tied up with their weapons pointed toward the crystal. There are only five cultists there, but one of them is the dogkin. They're doing some kind of ritual below the dungeon crystal, but I don't know what to make of it.")

  ("Can you tell how far they are from finishing it?") Silva asked.

  ("Not exactly, they're still writing things out. I think they're more than two-thirds through drawing the ritual circle based on how it looks. After seeing the things Lilith does, I don't think we have much time to stop it,") Lori said.

  Silva gnced at me. ("Lilith is faster than most when it comes to ritual magic, but we should still hurry. If we still have time to stop it, we should take advantage of that. If there are really only five left, I think it's worth the risk to fight them. What do you think, Lilith?")

  I sighed. ("We don't have any choice. We have to try and stop them while we still can.")

  Silva turned back toward Lori. ("We're coming, keep watching them.")

  ("Got it,") Lori replied.

  I started to gently shake Bel awake. "Hey, sleepyhead. It's time to wake up. It doesn't look like we're going to have any more time to recover."

  A loud pop made me jump and turn in the direction of the noise frantically. Bel was also now thoroughly awake, having been startled by the noise. Standing over near the structure I had built earlier, Morrigan stood with dozens of fireballs floating around her. She had woken up, and I could feel her etion from here.

  ("Guys! I can use my own magic! I actually have a mana pool now!") Morrigan said excitedly.

  Torien's deadpan voice joined hers. ("Looks like there's no need to worry about Morrigan overexerting herself. She's fine.")

  ("I'm better than fine!") Morrigan excimed.

  ("I hate to interrupt the happy moment, but they're almost finished with their ritual, and all of you are still far away. You guys will need to hurry to get over here before they finish,") Lori said.

  ("Can you stall them at all?") Silva asked through the bond.

  ("I don't think I could do much. I could shoot at them, but I don't think I would be able to protect myself from that crazy dogkin woman. She's mostly just supervising the others, so I don't think she would hesitate to attack me,") Lori expined.

  Mimi pulled me and Bel to our feet, and I dusted myself off. When I looked over to the side, Nelly was blushing and unbuttoning her shirt. "I'm low on mana, but I think I can still help with my milk. They're getting a bit full anyway..."

  I coughed. "You do that and get ready. I'll work on creating some steps up to the next isnd. Silva, make sure everyone's able to leave while I get started."

  Silva grunted and ran over to the others even before I completely finished speaking.

  "Mimi, can I have one of the st mana potions?" I asked.

  Mimi handed one over. "We don't have many left, but other than Bel and Nelly, I don't think anyone else needs them."

  "Better just take it now, I think. I'll have to fight the next battle as a mage, and I'll need the mana to get over the wall." I opened the stopper and drank the mana potion. It was a little hard on my stomach since I haven't eaten in a while, but it wasn't too bad. "Time to get to work," I said to myself while running over to the wall. We didn't have much time left.

  Saine

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