By: Indumati Eveningnight
An airship with black sails with the Church of Protagonism's logo on it was coming in the dead of night through the clouds. On board, was the Valkyrie, who was equipped in special armor that warped her perception and kept her docile to the church's orders. There were quite a bit of priests, knights, paladins, an assassin, and a scout who was familiar with the Architect's work back when her previous team was wiped by the Great Forest Temple Dungeon's monsters. The scout found the Valkyrie creepy and the men who watched over her were the disgusting sort who often made passes at the scout which she rejected, leading her to avoid their gazes. The vessel even had a couple of the Mechanical Men and some of the church's prototype weapons, including a new flamethrower like device as well as energy weapons that they modeled after lost technology from another world. The leader of the team was a red haired man who was handsome but the scout hated because he was so creepy, not to mention he was one of the Valkyrie's top handlers who often spend passionate nights with her. The man said to the scout, "Hey, we have need of your talents in this new dungeon in the sky. So you better do a good job for us." The scout sighed and said, "You've heard the rumors about this place? That it's said to be run by a new dungeon architect right?" One of the priests at the table, who was a stocky muscular man with a mace and an ugly face than said, "Yeah...the one who utterly demolished our attempts to get the Ruby of Love not too long ago. They say The Architect might even be the return of Arachne the Dark Lord herself." The man in red mocked and flicked his hair a bit, "Well, he's got no chance against us. Especially against our secret weapon. She'll fight and fight and fight without stopping or even caring what is thrown at her." One of the paladins, who wore a blue cloth over his armor then said, "Still...two S-Rank dungeons built by the guy...not to mention he made the High Elves and the Dwarves go from a devastated people who could barely hold their own against the Church into such formidable forces. The Architect might be more dangerous than the Church thinks. We can't afford to underestimate them." The man in red than said, "I mean, The Black Horn Hunters are strong, but they're a bunch of meatheads. I'm confident we can bring this "Architect" to justice." The scout was apprehensive. She hoped it wasn't true that the strange dark ziggurat in the sky was truly The Architect's work. She still had memories of her last party...and how confident they once were they could obtain the Emerald of Courage from the High Elves. Until they went into that forest. It was hell on her team, they were lost for a while. Barely survived it. Then when they went into the Great Forest Temple Dungeon expecting it to be easy, all hell broke loose. She still remembered her team being eaten by monsters and killed by the High Elves' remnants. She knew the tactics they used-they worked together with monsters and with spirits too. She was honestly scared. She knew she needed to be careful. After all, these idiots she was with, with their creepy brainwashed doll, they had no idea the horror The Architect's designs were truly capable of.
When the team arrived and weighed anchor on a platform outside of the Ziggurat of Shadow's surface, the man in red, Claus, and his loyal priest, Charles, and his Paladin, Cyrus, stepped out. The scout, Claire, white haired girl in a black and purple cloak agreed to go ahead of the team. The church knights and assassins followed behind the team, and the Valkyrie walked with Claus, having been commanded to hang onto him by him like a trophy. The team can to a large dark door seemingly made of iron, big and strong, with no one and nothing guarding it. Claus then said, "No guard? Do they underestimate us that much?" The door cracked open and opened on it's own. Darkness and fog poured out followed by a bright light...that led in a ballroom with marbled tile floors and a red carpet, and on either side were large statues modelled after The Constructor and Luna. Charles looked at them with distain and said, "Idols, no doubt to the daemons' false gods." Claire however, was cautious, because it seemed like no one was there. The rest of the team poured in, with Cyrus feeling a sudden chill in the air and an oppressive weight deep in his stomach. As they all poured in, suddenly, the door locked behind everyone and wouldn't open again. Claus noticed this and grew nervous. Claire could feel her old fears burning within her. The dungeon's reception hall grew dark, and suddenly a bunch of lights danced about and led to a spotlight showing a man on stage. Claus wanted to order an attack, but Charles stopped him noting, "Some kind of illusion magic?" Gran stood before them, in a hologram, his real body far and deep into the dungeon. Gran then said, "Welcome, to the Ziggurat of Shadows Dungeon. And from the looks of things, you're with Protagonism, right?" Claus then responded in a cocky way, "You have some nerve showing up to us despite all the trouble you've caused for us." Gran then said, "Ah, you must mean the Keys you are looking for? The way I see it, you guys wanted those to grant whatever desire your leaders want and are willing to kill and destroy and enslave the innocent to get what you want, no?" Claire then responded, "You...you're the one who made the dungeon that killed my former team. I will find you and make you pay." Gran thought for a moment and said, "Adventurers know the risk of going into dungeons to try and seize their treasures. My allies and monsters merely protected the key from you and your team. So, I can assure you that it's nothing personal." He then eyed the Valkyrie, who was emotionless and standing, like a doll. Gran observed her aura and armor and knew something was strange about her. Gran then said, "Now, I must ask all of you. Are you ready to challenge the Ziggurat of Shadows?" Claus then said, "We intend to defeat you and bring you to justice." in a loud declaration with righteous fervor. Claire, however, worried that it was foolish. Gran then did an imaginary mustache twirl and did his best evil laugh while pretending to drink a glass of blood and said, "Well, if you think I'm a proper villain, then permit me to be an especially nasty one, shall I? How about I... separate all of you into away from each other, for starters." Claire grew immediately nervous. Especially as the magic circle revealed itself all across the room in various arrays. Claire was very upset, while Claus was confused and scarred. Cyrus then said, "He set us up from the beginning. He welcomed us in to activate this trap!" Claus angrily said, "Gee, you think?!?" And they all got teleported away from each other, far into the dungeon. Claire and the Valkyrie were separated into one area with each other and no one else. And Claus was separated from Cyrus and Charles and left with a small amount of the church's men, and Cyrus and Charles were sent away together with the rest of the church's men.
Cyrus and Charles and many of the church's contingent awoke to find themselves in a peaceful garden area with a clear sky that looked fake and not real, and surrounded by strange magical flowers that looked normal, but Cyrus could sense something off about them. There was a gazebo in the distance where the sound of a tea party could be heard. Charles then said, "I sense powerful illusions at work here." Cyrus gripped his sword. He could feel something invisible and dream-like in the air that was acting on his body, making him feel weaker and tired somehow. He then said, "We need to get out of here, quickly." They started down a road lined with yellow primroses that laughed in a childish way as they stepped on them. Then as they passed, poppies started to blow and fireworks shot off in the air. Cyrus was surprised by the loud noises and the brilliant lights. The men were confused. Charles then said, "Are we really in the dungeon? Where is our leader? And what of the Valkyrie?" The poppies started to blast out blue powder that breathed all over the men. Many of them started to collapse. Cyrus was surprised by this and said, "They must be monsters or some kind of trap!" Cyrus struck at the poppies with his sword, but the poppies bled and screamed as he did, and darkness and a gray cloud filled the sky and red bloody rain poured down. And then a bunch of monsters popped out of the ground that looked like animalistic humanoid creatures and dangerous man-eating plants modelled after the poppies themselves. The church men who remained awake fought back, but where quickly overwhelmed and outnumbered. Their swords captured by vines, their senses dulled and deluded by illusion magic and powder that was pink and caused them to become confused and leading them to attack each other. Charles become scarred and cast light magic to blast monsters that drew near, but some of his men jumped at him and started to attack him! And Cyrus tried to fight a massive plant monster with his sword, but his leg got grabbed by a vine and was dropped into it's maw screaming in pain as he was devoured! Charles shouted in panic and said, "No! Cyrus! You promised your family you would retire and soon after this! Your wife was even expecting a baby! You wanted me to name it too..." He then cried and then grabbed his staff and ran away as the monsters vastly outnumbered him. He ran towards the gazebo. Surely, there must be safety over there. There must be some way out. Then the sun shined and the rain stopped, and he saw Azure Spring, a beautiful blue winged fairy with a cold look and a creepy smile before him. Charles gripped his staff and said, "Vile minion of The Dark Lord! I will kill you and avenge my friends!" Azure then said, "You may want to look again around you, sir. After all, all you and your friends experienced was an illusion." Then, suddenly, Charles looked around him, in the same garden, and saw his buddies all around him, including Cyrus, dead. Charles then looked at it and said, "What is the meaning of this?" Azure then said, "They all got confused and saw all sorts of illusions of my making. You guys killed each other. You in particular were quite vicious. You even struck that Paladin friend of yours with a blast to the face thinking he was a monster and he'll never get back up again." He saw that Cyrus had a burn mark from light magic in his chest. Charles started freaking out. "But how?!?" Azure then said, "My little poppies did it. They let it all out while you were thinking it was so pretty and lovely and harmless. Charles grew angry and aimed a blast at her, but she distorted it with spacial magic and make it strike him in a vital point on his leg which made him collapse. She then breathed on him a blast of purple powder that sealed his magic so he couldn't heal himself or fire another. She then said, "That spell hit you in a vital artery in your leg, by the way. I'm afraid you'll bleed out slowly and miserably." she even said so in a pleasant bell-like way while smiling and giggling. Charles said as his blood pulled up, "You cruel monster..." Azure then said, "Now, now, I don't hate hoomans, you know. It's just that your church led an assault on our base. Not to mention you hurt all our new friends we've made, right? Now...do you know something about your friends and their weaknesses and what they're like? Or have any information about the Scorpion's Sting? After all, I see their tattoo that you're hiding under your arm. The Architect is very interested in their activity by the way, since some of our friends have friends and family that were taken by them." The priest spat up blood and said, "Screw you." Azure then said, "Now, let me just...put you to sleep and peer into your dreams." She then blasted some blue powder on him to put him to sleep and quickly looked into Charles' mind. She found what she was looking for and some information about the Valkyrie too, by drawing out his dreams before her.
Azure quickly contacted Gran about what she learned about the Valkyrie and said, "It seems their "secret weapon", that one woman in the weird armor? She's been brainwashed, you see. So, you may want to take it easy on her, please. It appears she's had a pretty rough go at things in her life. Oh, and I'll tell you some information about the Scorpion's Sting later." Gran thought for a moment on the other line, and quickly gave some orders and re-routed the dungeon real quick for the Valkyrie. He then said of his henchmen on the other line, "I apologize for the change in plans, but some information has come to light that I suspected. You understand right? We will have to find a way to be non-lethal to the Valkyrie. However, this won't be easy as she's very strong. Maria, you and your people pull back, okay? I'll be going to the location I sent her to myself." Maria, who was on the other line then said, "Very well. We will all fall back. Everyone, you heard the master. Fall back for now." She also saw the dungeon's killbox be restructured before her eyes and the Valkyrie and the Scout Claire be taken elsewhere by a teleportation circle, which confused Claire greatly as she was left with Maria. Maria Goldbridge then appeared before her and Claire was terrified of the angelic maiden. Maria didn't look coldly upon her and merely smiled pleasantly and said to her, "You know, there's still time to surrender or run away if you like." Claire gripped her knives tightly and said, "I have to beat him. The architect...he killed my friends. You, I have to get past you." Maria then said, "I'll be honest, I don't have beef with you or with hoomans in particular, however, threats to my master will not be tolerated. That being said, there's still time to jump into the magic circle and face him, if you so wish. Hurry up now." Claire was surprised at the monster's mercy to her and jumped inside of the circle taking the Valkyrie away and headed inside. Maria sighed and said, "Gran...it's up to you now. Of course, I hope Alucarda's team is doing okay. After all, Gran said they were sent to face the Church's lead unit, correct?"
Claus and his team found themselves in a jet black room surrounded by a maze that was flashing and shining in the darkness with rainbow colored walls. Claus yelled out an insult to the Architect saying, "I'm going to get you for killing our forces, you cowardly little piece of shit!" The puzzle however, changed, and large spikes were near invisible along the walls, that punished and hit with electricity if they were touched. Claus saw one of his men fall down and collapse from touching the wall. An assassin, a woman in a veil then said, "Sir, what are your orders?" Claus then said, "We need to be careful here. Any ideas?" The assassin said, "We cannot touch the walls and the maze flashes in and out of existence." Claus took a spear and said, "We'll use this to touch the walls and feel where they are." Which he did, thankfully, not getting shocked on the walls. And guided his men to a teleport pad. Which warped them into a mountainous room that was like another maze, only with large dragon heads that spewed out flames, and boulders that roll down in patterns, and cannons that lurked around the corners. Claus ordered his men to check around the corners, and one group got blasted by a cannon hiding around the corner. The assassin then said, "Sir, you can't mean to sacrifice our men." Claus then said, "We may not have a choice here." The assassin however, was smarter and stopped this and threw rocks to activate cannons while moving past through the cooldown patterns. Then a giant dragon head was before the group, but as they neared, the flames bellowed. Claus took out a big metal shield and said, "We use this to advance." He charged forward through the flames, but the flames stopped and his men found themselves falling through false floors with spikes at the bottom. Claus was angry at this. The Architect hid the trap deliberately just to catch them off guard. The remaining ones passed, but the group was dwindling. Then they came to a door, which one of the guards tried to open, but it turned into a door mimic and ate the guard! Claus ordered a mage to launch a fireball and burnt the door mimic. Claus was angry at losing another man due to a nasty surprise and was growing more frustrated. The next room led to a cylinder-like room that became sealed by a trap, and suddenly, poison gas started to fill the room, and a bunch of monsters of the poison element known as Pufferbombs that resembling smoking balls of poison came out. One of the priests struck it with a mace, but it exploded and burst out shrapnel and yellow gas that burnt his face. The gas was making Claus and his men gag. He was wondering how to get past the room. The assassin was succumbing and panicking, until they saw a seal on the floor that was broken that led to a red button. He then said, "We need to break that before the gas kills us." Claus then said, "Men, use ranged attacks on those strange creatures." He then delivered an explosive sword strike to break the seal, and the assassin quickly pressed the button which opened a fan that sucked up the poison, but so many men were sick and hurt and some collapsed. Claus felt ill and panted heavily and said, "We need to cure poison." He and his team, however, had limited antidotes due to his poor prep work before going in. He ordered a cleric that was left to heal it, but she barfed on his armor and collapsed from the poison. Claus angrily shouted at her, "Get up! We need to advance through!" He, however, did steal her antidote and drank it, while several of his men tried to heal the rest of the poisoned members, but many of the clerics and support had already been killed or separated from his group. The assassin then said, "Sir, keep your head cool. The Architect splitting us up and leading us into these traps is clearly meant to weaken us and our resolve and slowly pick us off. The next room was a temple-like desert area where there was a bunch of arrow traps on the walls and cannons ahead. And a switch on the floor in front of the area. Claus looked at it and then said, "Great. Another deathtrap." One of the men activated the switch and then a bunch of spikes on the cieling activated and started coming down. Claus was angry and shouted, "Idiot!" But he noticed the door across had unlocked. He ordered his men to advance, but there were hidden holes in the floor that led to spike traps, and Claus ordered his men to advance, but one of them was struck from behind by an arrow to the chest, because a trap popped up behind the team and was shooting arrows too. Claus panicked and quickly ran across. He almost fell in a hole and jumped across. The remaining men tried their best, but many of them got struck by arrows or fell into holes. The assassin jumped the pit, but then a trap activated before that door that fired a loud noise blast that spread confusion and disoriented her and made her fall down over herself. Claus tripped and fell and was struck by an arrow, but tried to pull himself together and quickly crawled to the door. The assassin held out her hand to him and said, "Help...me..." But she got trampled by a couple of soldiers who immediately fell into a hole. The spikes where shaking and ready to fall. Claus decided he needed to live and left his men behind. He could hear the spikes coming down and crushing the rest of his men. He collapsed outside the door and cried and cried. He shouted angrily down the dark empty halls, "I will get you! You murderer! I will avenge my men and take your head in the name of the goddess!" Then, in the darkness, he saw lit shelves of books that were aglow with hanging lights...and there in the distance, was a large boss arena with a red carpet surrounded by a bunch of bookshelves in the distance of the platform. And there, was a feminine entity with dark wings and dressed in red and black bikini armor who had a bat-like aesthetic- Alucarda Bathilda. He advanced, his leg still limping from the earlier arrow wound, tired, and angry, and he drew his sacred sword and headed towards her. He then said, "You...you vile minion of evil!" Alucarda yawned and said, "Oh dearie me, seems my master's traps did a number on you and your team. I will offer a small mercy though." She rolled a potion to him. She then said, "Heal yourself and face me at full strength." Claus, however, ignored it, thinking it was poisoned or would do something nasty to him and pointed his sword towards her and said, "What does a monster know of mercy anyway?" Alucarda then said, "You're sure about that? Well, it's ultimately up to you. I can however tell you it's nothing personal against you or your team, really. We only sought to defend our home that our master built, that's all." Claus then said, "You...your "master" murdered my men...you even got in the way of us getting the keys! They were necessary for the salvation of the world!" Alucarda then sighed and said, "I don't blame you for your convictions. However, my master saw your church murder and oppress people to get those keys. Your church even used brainwashing technology on other sentient, far more innocent beings than me and did all sorts of horrible nasty things to them, including making them into slaves for pleasure. I find that repugnant myself." Claus angrily shouted and grew angry and said, "So what? They should be happy to serve our glorious cause and do something worthwhile with their worthless inferior lives. Besides, what does a monster know of right and wrong anyway?" Alucarda frowned and then started laughing her best evil laugh and said, "Very well, then let us fight. Monster to disgusting monster." Claus charged up a flame lance barrage and aimed them at her. Alucarda erupted her body into flames that blocked the fire magic, and then she countered by blasting him with "Evil Sigh" that let us a blast of purple darkness that caused Claus to become poisoned and he felt ill and started coughing up and his eyes watered from the smoke. Claus then said, "Leave it to a monster to use cheap tactics." Alucarda then said, "I am a monster, you're a hero, aren't you? You need to be ready for anything, because in dungeons, you need to prep, strategize, and survive." Claus cursed the fact he had limited antidotes and had only a couple left. He quickly downed one of them and recovered and then rushed forward with a flame slash, which Alucarda dodged due to seeing the easy opening in his swing, and then he did a flip and went for his X-Slash, which Alucarda flew up to avoid and she charged a dark ball of light that fired homing beams right for him. Claus saw and ran quickly to avoid them, but Alucarda used a shadow portal to summon hands to grab at him and lock him in place with him frantically swinging at them to break it as the beams struck him and zapped through him with a nasty dark shock. Alucarda then fired a "Heat Kiss" to blast a kiss of flame that burnt him as it struck, and then she kicked him in the side, sending him flying. He gripped his sword and then said, "How? No one's dodged my X Slash before." Alucarda then said, "You had a very big tell before releasing it, boy." Claus was shocked by this. A monster who understood stuff like that? Truly a dangerous entity. He then charged his blade with magic and unleashed, "Brilliant Slash!" right for Alucarda. Alucarda however fly to the side and hurled fireballs at him that Claus blocked and dodged, until a large ball of fire in a cross-shape came near and he struck it and it exploded into a burst that hit him with smaller fireballs that hurt him arm and caused him to drop his sword. Alucarda then charged a dark beam while he was reeling and fired it. The dark haunting all-consuming beam rocked the battlefield and covered a wide path that burned with dark magic and flame. Claus, seeing it, rolled out of the way quickly to avoid it, and tried to get up and grab his sword again, but Alucarda stepped on his hand with the heel of her boot and then grinned menacingly at him. Claus went to grab his holdout dagged and try to stab her, but she unleashed a dark blade that sliced off his other arm in a violent bloody frenzy. Blood poured out and gushed, and Klaus screamed and hurled insults and curses, shouting, "No! I refuse to die here! I have to stop the Architect!" Alucarda then said to him, in a calm voice, "You have to beat me and the other guardians to get The Keys needed to access his office, you know. Of course, you're going to be dead soon." Claus tried to get up but she opened a shadow portal under his body and a bunch of hands grabbed him and started tearing into him and ripping him violently apart. He screamed as his face was torn and ripped and his body was pulled into the void and then, was no more. Alucarda sighed a bit and said, "A shame, you didn't even beat phase 1." She then said, "I hope Gran knows what he's doing."
The Valkyrie and Claire found themselves in a healing spring area that was like a triangle and aglow with light...but with no doors but flowing endless water coming from waterfalls that covered a tile-like service as the two stood on a green soap-textured platform. Claire wondered, "Valkyrie? Can you hear me?" The Valkyrie did not respond to her though. Claire then said, "You know, you can talk to me, with your own voice, right? I think it's creepy and disgusting to have ya under mind control, you know." The Valkyrie said, in a strained feminine voice, "I don't...want this." The armor, however, shocked her and forced her to stand still and doll-like against her. Claire winced. Worst, she wasn't sure why that strange angelic maiden, who was clearly a monster, spared her or the Valkyrie. And Claire was disturbed by the lack of doors. Claire feared for the worst to come. Then, a door opened in the walls and a bridge of light appeared which a man walked down. He looked...like he was in dark knight-like armor with a blood red cape behind him. He looked like an intimidating, dark presence. He then took off his helmet and revealed himself to be...a surprising normal looking human with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Claire drew her daggers. She recognized him from the hologram. "You're the Architect. The one who killed my friends. Tell me, what happened to the others?" Gran turned to her and said, "Were you close to the team that came here?" Claire grimaced and attempted, "No, I was just doing a job for them. In fact, they were creeps." Gran then said, "They've been defeated." Claire shouted angrily, "Why? Why did you kill them and my team?!?" Gran said to her, "It was nothing personal, not against you this time, or back in the Great Forest Temple Dungeon. Of course, I remember you being there. It's true I built the dungeon, but do you know why I made it, for the high elves?" Claire then said, "Whatever you reason, it doesn't justify it." Gran then said, "I understand you're angry and hurt. Your team was on a job, to get the Emerald of Courage, for the church, right? In that case, it wasn't personal, not back then or now." Claire started to cry, "Then why?" Gran then replied, "When I first met the High Elves, they were a scattered people who were being hunted by the church, who was trying to kill them to obtain the Emerald of Courage. I summoned my first monster back then and killed the church members. After all, it would have been genocide otherwise, not to mention...why does the church want those keys so badly?" Claire then said, "To bring salvation to the world." Gran then said, "Really? And what "salvation" do they hope to bring that involves the death of the innocent?" Claire winced. She didn't have an answer for that. She knew the church regarded non-hoomans as inferior beings that are like unto demons, but she didn't agree with that. Gran then said, "After I saved them, I decided to help the high elves. I built the Lost Woods Forest and the Great Forest Temple Dungeon for them. I made their city in the trees for them hidden by illusions. I gave them tools to help them protect themselves. I set every trap. Summoned every monster. Made every puzzle. To protect them and their key. And...I did a similar thing with the Dwarves, you know. They were battered and broken and under the threat of annihilation by the Church's forces, all because they wanted the Ruby of Love. And I...tipped the scales towards the Dwarves. So that they could protect themselves, be protected, and that their treasure could be protected. I am not a perfect or just man by any means. After all, many people who invaded their dungeons and fought to get the keys and church officials have been slain by my hand. Including your old friends." Claire hesitated a bit and asked, "Then why bring us here?" Gran then said, "Azure told me something that concerned me, after she looked inside of one of the invader's dreams. She told me...that "The Valkyrie" as she is called is under mind control." Claire then thought for a moment and asked, "What is that to you?" Gran then said, "It's quite simple. I intend to free her." Claire, however, stood in his way. She then said, "I can't forgive you for what you did, regardless of your reasons." Gran then said, "In that case, I will permit it." The Valkyrie stepped forward, but Claire yelled, "No, stay out of it. I have to defeat him myself." The Valkyrie stood, doll-like, and obedient to the order. Claire was disgusted with herself for it. Gran then said, "I see it disturbs you too, doesn't it? You know, I've encountered the church using similar such technology on innocents before. In fact, were you aware that some of the people you raided this area with were members of The Scorpion's Sting?" Claire grimaced. She knew who they were. A gang that the Church was in league with behind closed doors that was involved in everything from human trafficking to arms dealing to drug trafficking. Claire then says, "What do you know of them?" Gran then replied, "They and the church of protagonism have a lot to answer for, it seems. And I intend to bring the hammer down on them." Claire then gripped her daggers tightly and said, "But why? What does the reincarnation of the Dark Lord want with that? Because of your grudge?" Gran was genuinely confused and said, "I am not sure what you mean." Claire was surprised by this and became a bit calmer and said, "Then if you're not the Dark Lord, then who are you?" Gran then said, "I guess something of a third party with a vested interest, I suppose." Claire then angrily but cutely said, "You mean to tell me...you're not the Dark Lord, but just some guy?!?" Gran sighed and scratched his chin, "What were you expecting? Did the church tell you guys stuff like that?" Claire then said, "It's just that...when I almost died in your dungeon, the monsters were organized and working together with the high elves even. How did you even manage to do that if you're not the dark lord? Besides, only someone like that can summon a dungeon that crazy!" Gran then held up his hands and said, "I...guess I have a gift for it? From The Constructor and Luna? They even said something about a Goddess too." Claire grew angry, but in a cute way and was rather upset that she wasn't getting what she expected and it threw her for a loop, "You're unbelievable. I hate you!" Gran noticed she seemed significantly less hostile and said, calmly and a bit confused, "I guess I did go a bit overboard with my fake villain act on the Hologram. Wait, were you guys actually expecting something like that? Why? I don't understand." Claire then said, "You should know! You built dungeons that are straight up death traps!" in an angry exasperated way. Claire then says, "I wasn't expecting such a blockhead to be responsible for it! You have any idea how much this upsets me? I was hoping you really were some big bad evil guy with a twirlable mustache and wanted to take over the world and all that, but you're just...you actually have decent motivations and aren't even what I expected at all!" Gran wondered if Claire was a bit tsundere. He then said, "Anyway, shall I help the Valkyrie now or do you still want to fight?" Claire then sighed and said, "Fine, whatever. But be careful, that armor's weird and has some powers. She might even try to kill you without really meaning to. Besides, it's clearly hurting her and warping her mind." Gran looked at the armor for a bit and examined it with his appraisal ability. He then said, "Miss Valkyrie, in your own voice, can you tell me if you see me as an enemy?" The Valkyrie tried to say something, but her body moved on her own and she swung her blade with a brilliant glow of light. Gran barely dodged this and saw that the strike cracked and shattered the floor in one shot. The Valkyrie then started to glow blue. Gran barely had time to think before The Valkyrie shot forth and started swinging furiously at him. Gran was able to keep up, just barely and dodged around each blow, and quickly used his wire to wrap around her leg and body, using a special wire that won't slice this time but would tighten and respond to an enemy's strength to try and subdue them. He then quickly summoned sticky gunk slimes to cover her in gunk that would slow her movements and try to lock her in place with powerful adhesive. Gran then quickly summoned a giant Nightmare Butterfly to blast her with blue pollen to try and put her to sleep, which seemed to work, but...the Valkyrie's armor kept her awake and glowing with blue holy fire that removed the slime and broke the wires. The Valkyrie then flew forth in a rage to do a Tempest Strike for him, but Gran set a series of Steelweb Spiders in her path and summoned some Mannequins to grab her and pull her down and pin back her arms and legs. The Valkyrie fought them off and blazed with blue fire and charged through the webs, only to be covered in some sort of strings that wouldn't burn that bound her by her hands and forced her to drop her sword. The armor tried to force her to fight, but Gran quickly did the spell from a magical tome to cast "Aura of Abraham Lincoln" which summoned the greater spirit of Abraham Lincoln which cast an aura that started to restore the senses of the woman trapped inside the armor and stopped it from influencing her mind and body. He then struck the armor with magic circles that blasted brown rust clouds upon it that started to rot it while he used a spell that went inside the armor and started to undo the enchantments in the armor that tried to hurt her to compel her to keep fighting. The armor started to crack and rust and age and fall off of the woman's body, revealing a naked woman with long dark hair. Gran saw that she was heavily scarred and it looked like she was beaten heavily. And had multiple curse seals on her, no doubt to suppress her will and control her. Claire stepped in front of him and said, "Hey! No looking!" Gran ignored her and went to her and quickly undid the seals on her body, which restored her true strength and stopped her from hearing the voices of the orders in her mind, and allowed her to feel and think freely again. Gran also uses a flash of magic before it was finished to cloth her in a green and light green pleated skirt, dark green moth-covered stockings, and a light green top modeled after a luna moth. Once her consciousness fully returned to her and she felt a rush of strength return to her, she collapsed and cried in Gran's arms. Claire then said to him, "Is she...going to be okay?" Gran then said, "Whatever they did to her must still be fresh in her mind. Let's...let her rest. In the spring." Claire then said, "Huh?" Gran then replied, "In this room, I mean. It's a healing spring that soothes the body and spirit." Claire then said, a bit shocked, "You thought that far ahead?" Gran then said, "That's why I brought her to this room in the first place."
Claire was moved a bit by this display of compassion and then said, "I still hate you, you know. But, not for this." Gran then said, "Do you still wish to fight?" Claire stepped in the arena nearby and drew her knives. "I have to avenge my friends." Gran stepped forward and said, "I won't hold back, you know." Claire realized that Gran was holding back earlier. In fact, she smiled a bit at that memory. Claire wondered if it was possible to even win. She then had one request. "Hey, if I lose this...you can do what you want with me, but don't kill me, okay?" Gran then said, "Very well." Claire then used a spell to create an illusion of herself that split herself into two and boosted her speed to a blinding degree. She thought her in mind that Gran is a planner and needs time to think of his next move, meaning if she closed the distance, that she could maybe score a decisive hit. Gran saw the illusions coming at him with knives bared. He also spied something in the corner of his eye and quickly cast his Steel Wire to slice into the illusions and create a defensive line between him and Claire's attack from behind. Claire then said, "You saw that coming? How?" Gran then said, "I have a map skill that showed your position." Claire then threw a bomb right for Gran's feet that poured out sleeping poison. She figured that even someone as strong as Gran must have the biological need for sleep and breath. However, the wind suddenly shifted and the poison dissipated. Claire saw the monster he had summoned- a fairy spirit known as "Sylph", which is fragment of the elemental lord of the same name. Claire felt fear. She prided herself on being prepared and having a strategy that can overcome many opponents, especially with her past as an assassin leading to these habits. Claire, however, knew she was squishy and lacked defense. However, she made up for it in terms of speed and evasion. She prepared a technique to counter Gran-the one that made her speed go up to high levels and go for a series of decisive strikes. She also coated her daggers in the strongest poison she could think-The Death Widower's Venom. A neurotoxin. She moved at blinded speed and used her illusion technique to confuse Gran's eyes and threw a smoke bomb towards him. He used Sylph to deflect the smoke, but it gave Claire the opening she needed to aim her daggers right for Gran's neck. She struck. And she felt something odd. Her knives and her body were covered in something sticky that was fighting with her body and holding her fast! Claire was surprised to see that she was stuck to a Slime. Claire saw Gran appear elsewhere, as if by an illusion himself. Claire wondered and shouted, "But how?!?" Gran then said, "It was a good plan on your part. Using speed and illusions to keep my eyes busy while using the smokescreen to create an opening to strike. However, when you hit with the smoke bomb, I used spacial magic to swap with a slime I had summoned and uses an illusion of my own." Claire exclaimed a bit angry and impressed both at once, "Impossible, you thought that far ahead?" Gran stroked his chin and said, "It's only natural. After all, building dungeons involves a lot of things like that. Surprises. Hidden tricks. Strategy. Mobilizing allies to cooperate and complement each other. And setting the trap." Claire then stabbed the core of the slime and was covered in gunk. She then said, "I only fought two opponents who pushed me this far before. During my old job, I fought against a man much like you. Who was careful. Observant. And almost defeated me. I killed that man. But only barely. You are the second opponent to push me this far." Gran then said, a bit excited, "Shall we stop holding back?" Claire then started to channel her power into knives and her body. To grant her the power of the Godspeed Strike- the secret technique of her family that never ever failed. Gran thought for a moment and started to attack seriously with his steel wire and summoned some Steelweb Spiders. Claire blinked seemingly from existence. Gran spread his steel wire and his spiders everywhere which caught Claire off guard since the webs were getting around her and the wires were moving around her body to try and ensnare her. She slowed her movements and used an illusion to make it seem like she was snared and dove down and moved under his trap and navigated it with precision and closed the distance. Gran however, summoned a bunch of Nightmare Butterflies to spread sleep powder everywhere and had sylph spread it on the air while his slimes made the floor slippery and slick to try and control Claire's movements and attempt to immobilize her with sleep. Claire, however, uses throwing daggers to stop his Nightmare Butterflies while covering her mouth and nose with a mask. However, the floor was too slick and she slid, but she used the momentum to slide towards Gran while keeping her speed and aimed a strike at his heart. Gran however quickly summoned wires to erupt from the ground that Claire tried to avoid but got tangled in because of the slick floor and she was bound and captured. Claire then said, angrily, "Please stop, I surrender, okay?" Gran then said, "Alright." He then let her go and cleaned off the slime on the floor. Claire dusted herself off and said, " So...what do you want to do with me?" She was a bit afraid. She worried Gran may even want to...but she didn't want to think about it. Gran then asked, "What do you want to do? Of course, you're welcome to escape again." Claire was surprised by this and said, "Okay. But I will be back, one day. To get back at you." Gran thought she was still angry about her team and said, "You still wish to avenge them? I understand." Claire then waved her finger in front of him and said, "No, because you covered me in slime and got me wet and on top of that, you literally had me bound and at your mercy!" Gran laughed nervous and then seriously and said, "Oh...right. Sorry. In truth, I held back due to your request, so..." Claire then grew angry and said, "That's not the issue!" Gran then said, giving the appearance that he didn't understand, "It's not?" Claire grew red faced and said, "Next time, I'm going to kill you! And you better ACTUALLY take me seriously!" Gran then responded, jokingly but seriously both at once, "You're more than welcome to try. Though...I hope you come with better company next time, okay?" Claire grew annoyed and used a warp crystal to escape back to the capital. She raged and seethed for a bit but also thought seriously, "The Architect is so annoying!" she then softened her anger and said, "Still, he doesn't seem like a big bad evil bad guy. I don't know what I'm going to say to the church after this. I guess I better report that The Architect has defeated the team and killed the Valkyrie. After all, I hate how they brainwashed her against their will and made her so...creepy. Not to mention all those scars and curses on her body. Say...the Black Horn Hunters said they wanted a good scout. I think I'll join them for a bit. I think...also, I will involve myself less in the church and it's activities." She made her final report, not in person, but with a carrier pigeon, and walked away from the church before her. She felt apprehensive, but she wanted to open a new chapter of her life. And thus, she left for the Black Horn Hunters, who, due to her excellent track record as a scout, accepted her.
Gran, in the private chamber aboard the Ziggurat, met briefly with Maria. Maria then said, "We now have an Airship?" Gran then responded, "Of course, I will have to remove anything involving the Cult of Protagonism on it, obviously. But that's a small feat, barely an inconvenience. In fact, it's good that the Church has so graciously provided us with one. We can use it how we please, which will go great with my extended operations. Sadly, however, it seems we may not be able to operate under "New Moon" anymore." Maria sighed, "That's unfortunate. I had a lot of fun with that..." Gran then said, "Fear not, we shall shift our focus to our request board. After all, I kept our clients waiting long enough. It's time to help them out, and, of course, expand our reach as we do." Maria then said, "So...does that mean I am officially a Dark Lord minion now?" Gran thought for a moment. He then said, "The Dark Lord...I guess the Church already views as the ultimate symbol of evil in this age anyway. I think we can have a bit of fun with that, at their expense. Maybe a little, anyway." Maria did a salute and said, "All hail the Dark Lord!" Gran then laughed jokingly and said, "Very funny." Maria then thought for a moment about the girl that was once known as The Valkyrie. She then said, "Sir Dark Lord Sir!" in a joking militaristic manner before her tone softened to one of genuine concern, "What about that girl?" Gran thought for a moment and said, "We must treat her gently for the time being and help build up her confidence, bit by bit. I have already constructed several devices to help heal her scars and her mind." Maria liked that and said, "I like that" she then jokingly said, "It seems the Dark Lord is truly kind and benevolent." Gran then said, "Something like that." Maria then left. And Gran Mason watched through the monitor in the new and improved Healing Spring room with the new glowing block puzzles and peaceful garden area. The raven black haired hooman woman, he thought, was beautiful. On top of that, she was responding well to treatment. He hoped to talk to her more at a later time.
Meanwhile, back at the church of Protagonism, the acting-head priest in the long purple robe was reading the letter sent by Claire. It read that The Team sent to investigate the Ziggurat of Shadows, including The Valkyrie, were defeated. Claire also stated how it had happened-that they had been separated, that they had been sent into death traps meant as a kill box, and how she survived because she needed to relay the details of what that place truly was. She described it as Hell on Earth, a dungeon that was beyond S rank, and shared details about The Architect, which conveniently left out that he was hooman and described him as the true return of the Dark Lord. The Priest was shocked and went silent. Claus' team were some of the best of the best among the church-sanctioned A-rank teams, not to mention The Valkyrie was literally the Church's heroine that The King and the Royal Court itself summoned from another world and had broken, trained, and molded into an unstoppable killing machine. Claire also said that the Architect is confirmed to have been responsible for The Great Forest Temple Dungeon and the Iron Mountain Volcano Dungeon and was an ally of the High Elves and the Dwarves. And it's likely he will interfere again with more of the church's operations and knows about some of the church's darker stuff that they're keeping under wraps. Claire also mentioned she would be joining the Black Horn Hunters and would resign as an official scout of the church and the guild, citing emotional distress and the fact she needed to consider less dangerous work, which Claire lied about because the real reason is that she finally couldn't stomach all the shady work she did. The priest decided that he needed to quickly let the Church know that they needed to be ready. After all, the Dark Lord's successor has appeared. And it meant that "The Architect" would now be classified and treated as a threat to hoomanity and the World. And the Church would need to find heroes powerful and skilled enough to defeat The Architect. And of course, get The Keys. After all, it's likely without the power of the Celestial Plane, The Cult of Protagonism in this Reality would be defeated. At least, in the priests' own paranoid eyes. When he addressed the church elders about it, they thought it was absurd. A tale too unbelievable to be believed. They questioned the validity of Claire's claims. However, they alerted the guild of the quest. And spread the proclamation far and wide. That anyone, anywhere, needed to take the quest and turn in any information on The Architect. In the halls of the Guild, it became an open quest to defeat the Architect, with rumors spreading of the return of the Dark Lord, which put everyone on edge. The church itself was doing its best to find anyone it could with unique skills, royal blood, special powers, strange marks, or even unusual bravery, or grand deeds, anything that could be considered a sign of destiny, to look for their new hero to take up the fight under the Goddess of Creation, and by extension, the Church of Protagonism.
End of Part 5