Deathforged Dungeon [Dungeon Core litRPG] Book 1

Jack flipped and spun through the air while skipping across the ground, flipping end over end, skidding until he came to a stop in a heap.

Laying there, Jack dwelled on the sensation. Before, when he had been cut in half, he had been aware of the damage. He felt that half his body had gone missing. But now? Now he truly felt it, honestly and in full, what it was to feel pain once more.

Despite that it felt like half his face had been ground against a rough stone surface until the bone was filed down, the sensation of pain... somehow... made him feel alive.

Jack heard the troll laughing as he got up, resting his axe on his shoulder while Jack called some land squids to help him out.

"You survived!" the troll laughed, overjoyed. "I did not hold back with that blow. My knuckles even sting. I will have you join me, skeleton man. Perhaps I'll have you turn half my army undead so they will stop mulling."

You so have to die, Jack groused, pretty sure that the bone under the metal of his skull was cracked. Going to have to pull a miracle out of my bony ass with this one.

"Hey... big man," Jack said, feeling like one of his teeth might be loose. "Want to know where you fucked up?"

The troll was only more amused by Jack's sass, both ignoring the two titans still locked in battle. Scrapper had just bitten the back of the chimera's neck, spinning while lifting it to throw his adversary away. The earth shook from the hundreds of tons of metal impacting it. While prone, the chimera launched another blast of fire that Scrapper barely dodged.

"What makes you say that, skeleton man?" the troll mused, ignoring both the battle and the frost on the ground from Jack's aura. No more bothered by either than a statue would be by the rain.

Jack had extended his senses to the land surrounding them. While those not residents of his dungeon seemed to make a zone around them where he couldn't shape the dungeon, anything beyond twenty feet was his to control. Not ideal, but workable.

"You are in my domain," he said, then forced his will into the ground, causing it to explode upwards between him and the invader. A thick wall of stone rose to buy him time.

With the wall rising, Jack saw a brief expression of mild surprise, surprised yes, but not alarmed. Jack only hoped the wall was thick enough to stall the son of a bitch.

He summoned another three walls around the invader to box him in, making them too tall to jump over. When he tried to summon a fifth wall overhead, he found there wasn't enough material. If he tried, the walls would thin and become too brittle to withstand the brute's strength.

He hoped the walls would hold for a bit and started calling forth as many ghouls as he could while the land squids readied an ambush. He had just summoned a dozen when the wall quaked. Then it cracked, struck with such force it spiderwebbed with cracks. Jack summoned five more bronze apes and a dozen spears, spreading them out for wide coverage.

With preparations set, Jack cast one of his more neglected spells, Sickening Fog, hoping to soften the troll.

With a muttered word, he cast the spell. A bead materialized in the air and immediately released fog in all directions, thick enough to make seeing more than a few feet difficult. It wasn't as dense as he'd have liked, but it was better than nothing.

Another heavy strike hit the wall, the sound of stone cracking loud even over the titans' battle.

With little time left, he cast Rotting Chains on the ground toward the cracking wall, setting a trap for when the troll broke through. He muttered a curse to himself for not developing any actual curses to cast. A few well-placed ones would have been really useful.

Too little too late.

Jack ordered the bronze apes to take position with their spears while the ghouls stayed outside the fog until ordered otherwise.

The bronze apes were physically strong, able to beat rock into pebbles, climb where others couldn't, and throw with surprising accuracy. Despite that, they were slow movers and poor in direct fights. The ghouls were better up close, their clawed fingers sharp, their strength deceptive despite their emaciated appearance. Enhanced senses of smell made them quick. Their disease-ridden claws and teeth steadily infected wounds. Jack didn't know if the disease effects would be overwhelmed by the troll's regeneration. He had no oil or fire, so he'd have to do it the hard way. His lichfire might work, but he wasn't sure it would act like regular fire.

Huh... how come the lich core doesn't come up on my menu? Jack pondered briefly before shaking the distraction. Figure that out later, Jack. You've got a bigger, meaner problem now.

Then Jack sensed his Rotting Chains go off, wrapping the monster. Attempting to trap him in the fog while land squids launched themselves, sinking their barbed tentacles into the troll's legs, biting at him with iron beaks. The ghouls swarmed in soon after.

Please be crippled, please be crippled, please just be fucking crippled already!

***

Frizzy had just refilled her armor's back water tank, making sure she had plenty of fuel while watching the fight between the two giant war machines, feeling helpless as the two took their shots at one another before charging in.

Her heart nearly leapt from her chest when she saw Jack and the other rider get thrown from their mounts. She panicked and quickly resealed the double-layered tank seal with a resounding clank, then ordered her disciples to give her whatever vials of Blistermist they had left. She made sure she had a few slugs on her belt and one already loaded in her Arcane Slug Slinger wrist mount, then cranked the pressure valve to max.

With her armor at full power, she ran faster than her normal body ever could. So fast she struggled to maintain balance, barely avoiding tripping over her own feet as she ducked and weaved between debris and combatants. The charred, glassed ground cracked and crunched underfoot. The sound of hissing steam filled her ears despite the helmet enclosing her head.

Never had she felt so powerful and so weak as she did in that moment. Even as she jumped over a charred log, her armored form plowed through its thick branches without slowing in the slightest. But what could she do in a real fight?

She wasn't a warrior like Aegisthal, or a spell user like Omnus who could call on the elements, or a killer like Eorlas. Nor could she summon wards with faith like Halyndra.

But by the gods, by all the power in her and her creations, she would be damned before doing nothing while her teacher, the patron of her people's new home, fought alone.

She ran. Ran as fast as her legs and armor could take her. Ready to do what needed to be done, even if the cost was more than she could pay. As she ran, she prayed. Prayed Jack could hold out. Prayed he would last long enough for her to make it in time.

Then, she just prayed.

***

"What the actual fuck are you made of!?" Jack yelled as the troll walked out of the fog, covered in deep divots in his legs as if chunks of meat had been scooped out. Yet even now, the holes were closing.

The troll broke the rotting chains easily, using his axe to cleave the ghouls in half or bat them away like minor pests. One managed to claw his arm, a shallow cut that likely wouldn't fester. His skin was a little paler from the Sickening Fog, but otherwise, he seemed mostly unbothered.

The troll gave a backhanded swing of his fist, crushing the skull of a ghoul that tried to ambush him. Its head exploded from the impact in a spray of bone and brains.

He shook his hand clean and gave a deep, throaty chuckle, amusement clear in his horrid, beady eyes. He quickly sidestepped a spear thrown at his head by a bronze ape, simultaneously using the belly of his axe as a shield to deflect another aimed at his side.

"Yes, this is what I need for my army," the troll said as he casually approached Jack. "Soldiers that know no fear, able to ambush from all angles, and coordinate without ever speaking. Perhaps 'commander' is too low a title for you. Yes, I think 'General'—no, 'Master of the Army and Law'—is more fitting."

"Why the fuck would I ever join you?" Jack said, desperately trying to think of something while the bronze apes all threw their spears at once.

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The troll ducked, dodged, and deflected the spears, defying the expectation that someone so large could move so adeptly. He even caught one mid-flight with his bare hand and tossed it aside like a trifle.

Once all the threats were avoided, the troll laughed again.

"You don't understand, my new friend and servant. The strong command. The weak obey or get crushed. You are talented, no question, but far from matching me in power," he said, still approaching, undeterred by the second wave of spears.

This time, the troll didn't bother dodging. He activated some kind of ability that made his skin take on an armored appearance. The spears scraped and deflected off, leaving only a few shallow cuts.

"You see? There is little that threatens me. Nothing here can stop me." He chuckled again. "There is no shame in it, friend. That is just the way of this worl—"

A glass vial struck him in the face, cutting him off mid-sentence. Both he and Jack were taken off guard as the troll started to bellow in pain. Coughing, wheezing, clawing at his eyes, tears and mucus ran down his face. His skin blistered and reddened as the powder from the vial irritated and damaged it. The wounds weren't regenerating.

Then came the high-pitched whine Jack recognized from a test, piercing the air. A loud kar-CRACK followed, and a streak of light struck the troll in the shoulder.

Jack watched as the troll's thick, powerful arm still under the armor-skin ability was blown clean off. A spray of bone, blood, and shredded meat flew through the air.

The troll dropped his axe and clutched his ruined shoulder, his face a mix of pain and rage. He quickly scanned the area until his eyes settled on a figure behind Jack.

Jack turned and saw a familiar set of armor.

Frizzy stood in her steam-powered suit, shoulders rising and falling heavily, panting and out of breath. Her prosthetic arm was raised, wrist-mounted A.S.S. aimed at the troll. Her other hand fumbled at her belt for another slug.

"RUN, FRIZZY!" Jack yelled, too late.

His voice was drowned out by the troll's bellow as his shoulder stopped bleeding and new flesh began to grow.

Partially blinded, the troll fumbled for his axe while Frizzy struggled to reload. Jack refocused, casting Chain Lightning as the bronze apes rushed to restrain the troll.

The lightning struck his chest, but the troll ignored it. He picked up his axe and charged with hate-filled abandon toward Frizzy.

The apes moved to stand between her and the troll. Behind them, Jack fired stone needles from one hand and a bolt of lightning from the other. The needles embedded in the troll's legs, scorch marks appeared on his chest, but he did not slow.

Jack tried to detonate the troll's axe mid-swing but couldn't focus on it—it was moving too fast.

Frizzy, despite her panic, managed to reload. She aimed the A.S.S. at the troll's chest as he leapt, diving for her over Jack.

With a thunderous crack, the A.S.S. fired. Time seemed to slow as Jack watched the slug streak toward the troll. The troll snarled, his axe raised—not to strike, but to shield his chest. The belly of the axe caught the slug, deflecting it. It still tore a chunk from his ruined side, and gouged his weapon, but it remained intact.

The troll landed in a roll, coming to his feet and bringing his axe up.

Then it descended.

The blade struck Frizzy where her neck met her shoulder. Her armor cracked under the force, the blade cutting deep. It stopped halfway down her chest, ruined on impact but still devastating. Steam and water hissed free.

Jack watched in horror as the troll lifted his axe—with Frizzy still on it.

She weakly threw another vial, but it lacked the strength to break on impact.

With a snarl, the troll flung her off the axe toward Jack. She hit the ground with a thud, her limp body bouncing before coming to rest a few feet away.

"Sorry about that," the troll said, forcing a calmer tone. "That took me by surprise. Been a long time since someone injured me." Bone began to regrow from his shoulder. With focus, the ruined tissue regenerated faster.

Bone, muscle, and tissue grew like weeds until his arm was whole again. He tested it by opening and closing his fist while Jack watched Frizzy's limp body, horror overtaking him. He ran to her, released the latch on her helmet, and pulled it off.

Her rich blue complexion was now several shades paler. Blood trickled from her lips and nose. Her eyes were half-lidded, and she offered an apologetic smile, as if to say she was sorry she couldn't do more.

"No... no. Nononono," Jack said, grabbing her hand, trying to squeeze it through the gauntlet while mentally calling Halyndra. "No, you... you're going to be okay," he said, voice cracking with grief. "You... you did great. Really saved my bony ass. Just... just stay with me, okay?"

Frizzy smiled again, more blood pooling around them. She seemed to agree about saving his ass. Then her eyes grew unfocused, her face scared. Her grip on his hand weakened.

"Was she important to you?" the troll asked mockingly, testing his new arm, unhurried. "She should've known better. What business does a Gremlin have getting involved in our fight when she was so weak?"

Jack looked up at the troll. Pain threatened to consume him. He sensed Halyndra moving as fast as she could. The troll's words echoed in his skull like a horrid refrain.

"You cared for her?" the troll asked, surprised and amused. His wounds healed, his eyes losing their red glow. "Caring for such weak, lowly creatures. I suppose we all have our vices. But they should know their place, be trained better. Or killed, so the rest learn."

Jack said nothing, feeling himself pulled into the darkest recesses of his mind. The troll's words... he had heard them before.

Not the same words exactly, but the same venom. The same sadistic glee. The same belief in superiority.

He remembered being chained, spitting blood as an elf laughed over him. Taunting him with how fun it had been to stab Jack's wife. Joking that a whore should be used to being penetrated.

He remembered a dwarf with wrapped knuckles, punching him to loosen his tongue. Mocking that he wished it were Jack's late master he was beating.

He remembered an elven priest offering empty condolences. Saying all would move on and forget.

The scenes played over and over.

All mocking him.

All laughing at his misery.

All saying humans should know their place.

All saying the dungeon core Jack and Quincy had made belonged to their betters.

Over and over the memories played.

'You're weak.'

'You failed.'

'Let them die.'

More failures thrown in his face. The night of the attack, fires burned. People screamed in fear and desperation, silenced by either blade or spell. The smell of burning flesh, ash, and choking smoke filled the air. He was beaten into unconsciousness, unable to fight. Unable to do anything.

'You're Weak.'

'You Failed.'

'Let Them Die.'

His freedom being stollen from him along with everything else. The injustice of so many people being murdered out of jealousy, greed… and hate.

The hate he felt was burning a broiling within him like a furnace. Hating how he was too weak to fight back. Too weak to resist their evils and safe guard his home! He wanted them all to burn. He wanted all of them to know his pain. To feel the horrors they put him through, TO MAKE THEM SCREAM AND PLEAD FOR A MERCY THAT WILL NEVR COME! TO HAVE THEM BEG TO WAKE UP FROM THE NIGHTMARE THAT WAS HIS HELL! JUST LIKE HE HAD SO MANY TIMES IN THAT FESTERING DUNGEON CELL!

'You're WEAK.'

'You FAILED.'

'Let Them DIE.'

Jack felt Frizzy's grip grow all the weaker by the second as he was drowning in the lost memories of the single worst time of his former life. Not even noticing as Halyndra swooped in from the side, resting her hands on Frizzy's chest, chanting and muttering prayers and words of power to try and keep her alive while healing the wound.

Jack could only see the blood. The blood of his dying friend, the blood of everyone he had lost. All of it staining the ground around him. Blood staining his hands. The troll laughed at Jack's state, ignoring Halyndra and Frizzy, mocking the personal hell he was in. Just like the first group of invaders who came before.

"Ah, there it is. The sight of a broken spirit," the troll savored, enjoying Jack's misery the way one would savor their favorite wine. "Do not feel too bad though. It was ordained by the gods I would win. You never stood a chance."

At those words, something inside Jack snapped.

That chaos within his mind stilled as one came to the forefront of his thoughts. A memory that showed an elf sitting on a chair, cleaning the club they had used to beat Jack with. Smiling in satisfaction at the work he had done on Jack's prone form.

"You are one stubborn bastard, human, I'll give you that. But you will eventually break. There is no shame in it. Your people never stood a chance. Since we know you won't leave here alive, I'll share a secret with you. You were destined to be killed and slaughtered. The gods ordained your kind would be killed and brought low to the mud where you all belong."

'YOU'RE WEAK!'

'YOU FAILED!'

'YOU LET THEM DIE!'

'...You're letting it happen again.'

No… No. Never again, Jack thought to himself, bringing himself to stand up to give Halyndra room to work.

'What are you going to do about it then?'

Jack summoned his upgrade menu, not bothering to look at the cost for the upgrades in question he was looking for. Then right next to it, he summoned his Dungeon Avatar Evolution options. He already knew what he wanted. He knew what he wanted to do. Now he just needed to do it.

Do what I have to so this never happens again, Jack thought as he looked over his choices, getting a contorted message once more asking him if he was sure and warning him that there was extreme risk for what he was about to do. That it was a forbidden act.

Then kill a fucking god.

With one moment of clear, cold fury, Jack confirmed his choices and selected yes.