The Tower in the Shadows

The Dungeon had been attacked again.

I had won by slaying the intruder that had sought my destruction. Well, in truth, not me, but my minions.

And I felt like crap.

I had absorbed a great deal of void essence from the death of this particular void monster. He was a heavily mutated human that had continued to evolve or devolve during the fight, depending on how you look at it. I had siphoned some of it off to create ten new void stones.

I was dealing with the rest of it.

Thankfully, it would only be a few more days before I had processed it and it was gone. I have not yet reached out to have the void stones collected. I knew those on the surface would be greatly happy and appreciative of them. I should see some of the ones I'd already created coming back soon, filled with void essence, which I would need to absorb and process.

There was something I was looking forward to.

While Maximus strutted around, Krag was in a bad mood, thinking he had not done well against the last intruder. Larry and Puck were doing their thing. The creation of a Core Room Guardian was a proven good idea.

I have gained nothing from this new incursion, as I already possessed [Regeneration] as an ability for my minions. I had not yet instituted it, as it was a pretty costly ability, and I needed the right minion to place it with. The only good thing about the whole event was the essence bump I got from killing the void monster.

The Dungeon was fully repaired, and I expected the adventurers to start appearing as dawn approached. This would not be the first time such a thing had happened, but I was familiar with the city folk's actions by now.

They have scanned my aura several times, and I suspect they'll do another scan just before the adventurers start coming in.

Almost on cue, the doors opened, an arm was put into my control area, and a magical crystal started to glow, scanning my aura.

"Here we go."

Within a few minutes, the first adventurers were in and heading down the stairs. A young group that I have seen many times before, they will not go past the second floor.

I settled in.

It was going to be a long slog to the next level up.

## ## ## ## ##

"Do we know how the void monster got through our defences?" Ranus asked the group gathered around him.

"We are still investigating that, Lord Goldwind." Danrum looked uncomfortable saying that. "All we know for the moment is that the void monster passed through the northern gate onto the floodplains and had entered the city through the southern gates.

"Is there any risk of further corruption spreading?" That was his primary concern, and Ranus feared what would happen to the city if another outbreak occurred here.

"We are actively searching for any signs of corruption, but none have been discovered so far. We are seeing increased numbers of people coming to the city identifying themselves as suffering from early-stage corruption, and we are doing our best to quarantine them." High Healer Selmum had searched for corruption in tandem with the city's watch and many other churches. Others of her order were doing similar in different cities and nations. They saw it as their duty to identify and contain the corrupted.

"Did the monster come pretending to be one of them?" Ranus hated himself asking the question, but he knew we had to. There were increasing reports of violence in other communities and lands towards those who were even suspected of corruption.

"We do not know yet." Danrum wanted to say otherwise, but knew he would be lying. He, too, had heard the reports and supplied many of them to his Lord.

"We need to find out how the monster got through the city. You all know it's tense out there, and a single rumour could ignite a firestorm against those corrupted within the city that might take us all." Ranus's features were as grim as his words, and everyone else reflected that.

"I have increased patrols out in the city, but there is great concern even within my Watch members," Danrum spoke. "We are monitoring all known subversives and rabble-rousers, but so far no one has crossed the line."

"My fellow Arbiters, and I am also on the street supporting the Watch and bringing swift justice where we can," Nextom added. "We are focused on the known troublemakers, as Watch Commander Danrum has said. We are paying special attention to those who are speaking out against the presence of nonhumans and claiming they are the source of the corruption."

This was all true, but the city was still very tense. You could feel it in the air when you walked outside in the streets. The population looked at each other fearfully, wondering who was corrupted and who was not. Such a mindset was a recipe for disaster, and one flame of false rumour or allegation could consume the whole city in a spiralling cycle of chaos and destruction.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It was happening elsewhere in the world.

As far as Ranus knew, half a dozen towns and cities had been consumed in such destructive events on this continent alone. Tensions were significant across the world amongst all races.

"We need to stay on top of it. We cannot let Shadow Vale be like so many other communities have been in the last few weeks." His words were stern, revealing his desire to maintain his community.

All present nodded in understanding, realising that hard days are here again and they would have to be focused and strong to survive them.

"What of the Dungeon cult?" This was another concern of Ranus's. So far, they had done nothing to have him act against it, but there were growing concerns amongst the religious leaders in the city about the growing influence of this cult.

"The cult has been very vocal in its support for the quarantining of the corrupted, and they have supported those who have been treated for it. Their members are actively standing with any of those individuals who are still looked on with suspicion." Nextom gave him a brief breakdown of what was happening.

"So, they are taking no action to prevent or hinder the city's operations."

"No, Lord Goldwind. They are actively supporting them." This came from Selmum. "There are times I find it quite frustrating that this cult is more willing to work with those trying to contain the corruption than the rest of the population and religious groups."

"Has there been any change in their doctrine with the recent revelations?" Ranus asked.

"No. If anything, it's made them more committed to their cause and path. Much of what they say was once echoed by the followers of Astraus. Many of her lost disciples have started to be attracted to this new cult." Nextom explained what was happening with many more devout community members. "The cult is becoming a stand-in for what she represented."

"Still no word from the divine pantheon on her or Oda's fate?"

"Not as yet. But most now are leaning towards the idea that the Goddess Astraus is no more. As to what happened to the God of Balance, we still do not know." Nextom was grim when he spoke these words.

"We must remain focused on securing the safety of all within our community." Ranus ended the meeting with those words.

## ## ## ## ##

Trixis stood on the edge of the floodplain at the northern gate. From here, she could see across to the building on the other side of the slight depression. That building was the surface level of the being she had come to see as a god.

Around her, adventurers, hunters, and other people were coming and going about their daily business. A watchman, a member of her growing congregation, was on duty nearby and allowed her to stand at the gates without interference from others.

Most ignored her anyway.

So much was happening so fast. She came here to reflect on what was happening in the world and her own life. She was feeling a growing desire to return to that surface building and descend into the Dungeon below.

She had so many questions and thoughts. Yet strangely enough, the answers were more available to her than most devout people found when they went to a temple. All she had to do was risk a life once more and go into the Dungeon.

Of course, they will never let it her do that. However, she was planning to do it anyway and was slowly making moves to make it happen.

She was close to making it happen; she had been making these moves for many months. She had to remain patient for now.

She turned around and looked back into the city through the gates. She couldn't see much of it, but she could feel the tension even from here, and she could see it in the way people looked at each other: the fear and suspicion.

Until she could go and meet her God, she would have to preach the good word on the streets.

She turned and walked back into the city, where she planned to start preaching.

## ## ## ## ##

In a private room of the Adventurer's Guild, Nibar had gathered his team for a conference and review of their recent expedition into the local Dungeon.

"Well?" They knew he would ask this question, even when it was just a single word. He asked about their thoughts and opinions on what they would do next.

"I say we go again. But this time we do a whole Dungeon." Drun was the first to speak after a few moments of silence.

"I say we go. It was a tough challenge on the 10th floor against that… Manticore. But the repair work cost on our equipment will be high, and no one around here can repair it yet." Kyle spoke next, taking a few seconds to remember the name of the creature they had fought on the last floor of the Dungeon.

"I'm not bothered either way," Tobus spoke from the back of the room.

Hale and Mymar looked at each other before he spoke. "We feel that another run would be beneficial for the group. We now know what to expect on the lower floors. As to a dungeon run, we would not be against that."

"Then I will arrange for us to have another slot to go in again."

The group nodded and began preparing themselves and gathering the necessary supplies.

## ## ## ## ##

Rickle was watching the mortal realm.

The divine plane was in a state of great confusion and drama at the moment. Nictor and Xandus did their best to keep the two courts working together to find and contain Oda.

The problem was that their conflicting natures were causing miscommunications and tensions. One thing they could all agree on was that when Oda was in charge, there was a single voice that ended the conversation or argument. Now, without him, there was growing disunity between the courts. Some neutral gods were now avoiding both sides altogether, not to be drawn into their little dramas and arguments.

Rickle was one such divine being.

He had been thinking about what the missing God might be planning, and the recent attack on the Dungeon indicated to Rickle that his thought process might be revealed.

Oda, now corrupted, must eliminate the Dungeon he created to manage void corruption in the mortal realm. Ironically, it was his creation that was preventing any greater disaster from taking place. That was the opinion of many within the divine realm.

Rickle did not share that belief. Oda's uncorrupted part had created the Dungeon in an honest attempt to save what he was charged with protecting. The problem was that his corrupted side undermined and manipulated his noble intentions. But the one thing he had done that might save them all was to prevent other divine beings from interfering with the Core and the Dungeon it ran. That included himself.

Rickle watched as the void spread, its corrupting influence twisting and undermining everything good and noble within the realms and planes they governed. The mortal realm was suffering the worst, but it was there that the hope of dealing with the problem was also to be found.

What Rickle had come to understand was that the greatest irony might be that Bhaldor might save them all from the storm of madness that was coming. He could see the storm building on the horizon and even saw some parts of his former mentor being manipulated.

If he did come through and save them all, that might be the greatest joke of all time.

Part of Rickle appreciated that.