Worthy Core

The first 'battle of the choke-point' proved to be something of a template for the next several hours. The dungeon's defenders were delaying the Domain with obvious hit and run attacks, throwing up 'cheap' stone barriers and defensive points to slow down the invading soldiers. At the same time none of those defensive points had any real bite to them - no traps, only a handful of soldiers, and with the Rainlanders pulling back every time they took one or two losses. All in all the Domain maintained the upper hand in each engagement, but if the goal of the defenders was to buy others time then it was probably working.

That seems even more apparent when the Dragonlord themselves comes forward to observe the latest source of delays. As the shapeshifted dragon makes their way to the front they find a new canyon carved out into the mountain - nothing at all like the scale of the one they had entered through, but still beyond what a typical geomancer could easily bridge.

As they arrive Commander Gerlosius gives them a nod. "We appear to have encountered a hazard which was unexpected, my lord. It is...impressive that defenders could create such a space." He gestures at the gap cutting through what was once a relatively straight tunnel. Thrown torches indicate that the canyon is at least eighty feet deep, and it's a sixty foot leap to the opposite side. Or at least, it would be if there was an opposite side. A light mage's spell illuminates the other end of the tunnel only to show that the tunnel is gone, sealed over by magically-shaped stone. Examining it for a moment, the Dragonlord shakes their head.

"Merely a precise use of what was already here. Another floor crossed beneath this one, and it would appear that they have shattered the stone separating the two. It would seem they know these tunnels well, if they were able to locate this intersection in such a short timeframe."

The red-scaled draconic furrows his brows. "I see - a simple delaying tactic, then. How do you recommend we proceed? Do you believe our flight-capable mages can cross the gap and continue?"

His sovereign barely considers the suggestion before shaking their head. "It's one thing to slow a fall, but lifting our entire force across would be too draining for the few such mages we have. Besides, even should we cross and break through that new barrier, our troops will likely come under fire from more mortals with little capability to retreat or defend themselves, what with such a drop at their back. Have the mages and scouts set up transport down to the lower level, and then proceed...right, down the tunnel. It will be another delay, but a likely safer route."

"As you command, Dragonlord."

The officer gets to issuing orders and the dragon watches on with satisfaction. True, things would go much more smoothly had there been no defenses at all, and it would have been nice to have had all of this done by dinnertime. On the other hand...something about such a victory would have been far too unsatisfying. After all of the trouble Xenia Worthy had spent resisting the Domain this past month the Dragonlord finds themselves enjoying the thought of being the one to crush that resistance personally, and that requires that there be something of a fight put up.

Besides, there's not too much of a rush. Before leaving the front the dragon had scattered the army of one of the Rainlander's ducal houses, and it would likely be at least two weeks before they would be able to assemble another counterattack. The tyrant has plenty of time to focus on this particular task.

As they're about to return to their position at the center of the force however, a more urgent matter suddenly comes to their attention. Calling out to their officer, the dragon issues a quick command. "Gerlosius! I shall be...occupied for a short while. Continue the advance in my absence."

The commander is obviously confused but returns a quick affirmation regardless. "Of course, Dragonlord! It shall be as you ordered!"

With that said the Dragonlord touches the core implanted in their chest - or rather, their true self implanted within the body of their puppet dragon - and vanishes.

"Thought that would get your attention."

As the Dragonlord turns to face the person addressing them, their identity is clear despite their visage being quite foreign. That's to say nothing of the surroundings - the tyrant finds themselves standing in a forest made up of massive trees and equally massive - if ruined - sculptures. The faces of unknown gods or legends stare blankly into the distance, their bodies turned to rubble, and on the sideways nose of one of those mysterious figures sits what the Dragonlord would call an elf.

Her pointed ears and slender figure would lean in that direction at least, although her form seems to be almost stretched into grotesqueness. Each of her limbs seems far too long, and her torso seems skinny to the point of making it a mystery as to where all her internal organs may be. The woman's short, spiky hair looks to be of a green color, although it would be hard to say if it's a natural hue or if it's simply blonde hair with a heavy infestation of moss. Her blue eyes and the expression on her face make her quite recognizable to the new arrival, however.

"Xenia Worthy, Reincarnator Extraordinaire. You have chosen to use this late hour to try and reclaim more of my floors, have you? A last-ditch attempt to delay the inevitable? Surely you knew this would not escape my attention."

The woman grins and as she shifts the dragon notices that she's leaning against a long sword sized to fit her current proportions, one hand on the hilt while the tip digs into the stone of the statue's nose. "Actually, that was the idea, DL! Figured I'd give you one final ultimatum before it all goes down."

She does a sort of rotating flip that causes the dragon a small measure of distress to observe, landing on the fern-covered ground with a flexibility that seems to imply a complete lack of bones. Yet still she stands tall afterwards, reaching well into the seven foot range. Brushing that aside, the Dragonlord instead focuses on her words. "You wish to give me an ultimatum? How bold - or shall I say, what a fine bluff. The only thing stopping me from smashing my way through your remaining floors is my desire to limit casualties among my elites. No matter what the eventual losses may be however this inevitably ends in your defeat. The only remaining question is what form your defeat shall take."

Xenia rests her long blade across her shoulders, hanging her limbs across it without apparent concern over being cut by its edge. "Haven't thought of this run in a while, you know. As such things go, it was a pretty quiet life."

The tyrant finds themselves slightly annoyed by the change in topic, but decides they're willing to go along with it for now. "A forest-dwelling elf living in the ruins of an ancient civilization, is it? I do not recall your undead friend having any tales of this life when he was in my company."

"Dave? Nah, I didn't have much to say about this one." Xenia glances around at the ruined monuments. "This world was dead when I got here. I hatched from an egg, believe it or not, never met my mother. I think war did them in, or some kinda magical disaster. From what I could piece together, anyhow, it was hard to figure out the exact order of things. Did the death of magic trigger a last war for resources, or did a massive war unleash some kinda superweapon that fucked everything up? Either way, magic faded outta the world and all the sapient species here died out with it."

"Except you, apparently."

Xenia shakes her head. "Only for a bit. My egg clutch was piled high in a nest of old artifacts, and I think there was enough juice in them to get me hatched. Spent my whole run searching out enchanted gear I could wear, stuff giving off enough magical radiation to keep my freaky-ass body running for another month. Made it to...oh, twenty-six, I think? Was hoping I'd find a city of survivors somewhere or something, but I never did."

The Dragonlord snorts. "And you mean to make some point about the folly of war, reincarnator?"

The reincarnator chuckles in response. "Hey, don't look at me, DL, I think these are mostly random. Well...maybe there's a subconscious pull to it, I couldn't tell ya. But nah, I'd never say a thing like that anyhow. I love war! I am just...so fuckin' good at it, it makes me wanna puke. It's damn near the only thing I am good at."

"And that leads you to believe that you can offer me an ultimatum, given our current circumstances."

The slender elf nods. "It's not a big ask, actually. Or maybe it's the biggest thing anyone could ever ask, depending on how you look at it. I ain't asking you to give up, to turn around and walk away, to play nice with the Rainlanders and Valleylanders." She turns back to look the dragon in their eyes, and in their current forms that's at nearly an even level. "What I'm asking is - when you make your way into my dungeon, and I kill you...surrender your soul to me."

The absolute gall of the dungeon master's demand nearly makes the Dragonlord gasp in surprise. "Surrender my soul - your guardians. You wish to turn me into one of your pet guardians!? You are bold, reincarnator."

Xenia shrugs. "You didn't mind asking Lollyp to make that sacrifice a coupla years back, now did you? But look at the upsides - this Dragonlord merger thing you've got going on? From you...wearing that body like some kind of meat mecha? That's not you. That's not your soul. You come clean, get reborn on my side, all those dragon instincts that have been driving you mad all these years will be gone. You'll be able to give up this war, and live your life as a dungeon core."

"As your dungeon core!" The dragon half-roars with suppressed fury. "You refuse to swear yourself to my service, then ask the same of me? As if such a thing could even be possible. Two dungeons living side-by-side would be one thing, but within the same dungeon? Ludicrous."

There's a slight smirk on Xenia's lips. "I don't know. I have a reason or two to think it might be possible. Although I will admit, living with you would take some getting used to for the both of us."

"I will not hand my power over to you!" The dragon clenches their fists before making a final statement. "This discussion was a waste of time. When next we speak, Xenia Worthy, you shall be offering me your final surrender or you shall die."

"Right back atcha, DL." Xenia gives the tyrant a grin before waving her fingers at them. "Toodles."

With a final growl the Dragonlord severs their connection to the shared memory, and as the forest turns quiet once again Xenia calls out. "So, you two got all that?"

A pair of large slimes plop their way out of nearby trees, their coloring selected to give them excellent camouflage among the bark and moss. That coloring soon fades away as Nix and Nox resume their typical dragonling forms. Nix nods and responds first. "It's like you thought, mom - since we're dungeons connected to you, we have access to this space just like 'DL' does."

Nox speaks up in agreement. "And either they couldn't spot us, or they just weren't expecting anyone else to be here so they didn't bother trying. Either way, a fine potential setting for an ambush."

Although the twins are no longer synchronized in their speech, Xenia's fairly certain it's only because they've begun splitting up their thoughts and taking turns speaking. Still, progress is progress. "Which is still going to require the right skillsets to actually be of any use, in a place like this. Still..." Xenia grins widely as schemes begin to play in her mind.

"I think ol' DL is gonna find themselves mighty surprised the next time they wander in here..."

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