My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

Chapter 1505

As the light faded, Astria hovered in the air. Her massive wings made slow deliberately flaps, each one creating a small torrent of wind. Her appearance had seemingly changed. Her skin was even more flawless and milky. Her hair had seemingly turned blonde, a single black streak denoting her old hair color. Her wings had also become white, with hypnotic black patterns on them. She was completely different than any other fairy I had ever seen, even Celeste.

If Celeste moved around like a falcon, quick, beautiful, and deadly, then Astria was more like an Atlas Moth. She looked both fragile and domineering. Her presence had caught the eye of everyone in the boss room.

The magician named First was startled for a moment. “Y-you grew your wings back? So what? We’ve taken care of the rest of your fairies. You’re a leader with no one to lead!”

She wasn’t wrong. The majority of the fairies had been taken out in the subsequent fighting. They weren’t as strong as the rest of my girls, and thus many of them had to retreat after receiving a few hits. Most of them weren’t in much better condition than Celeste.

“Master.” Astria ignored her; instead, she looked down at me. “You’ve made me very happy. You worried about me and cried over me. You have loved me and my daughter. Part of me had never really believed it. I treated it as a game. I followed you because it was a convenient source of power and because my daughter was head over heels in love with you, but no matter what, deep down I had always thought you would abandon us one day.”

“Astria…”

She gave me a smile, her eyes filled with tears. “We’re immortal beings, and you’re not. Even if it wasn’t by choice, your lore would one day come to an end, and ours would continue. That was the fate I had always feared. I feared that one day you would be gone, just like Karr. In a way, I had never gotten over him, and I had never allowed myself to completely accept you. I went through the motions, but back when I thought you were dead, the reason I hadn’t changed all that much was because I had always seen it coming.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m letting this darkness in my heart go. I’m not going to chain my heart anymore. Master, you must be ready to accept all of me, okay?”

I didn’t hesitate as our eyes met. “I will.”

“Good…” She finally turned back to the battlefield. “In that case, it’s time I go all out.”

“What do you think one little fairy can do to change-” the current First had begun a mocking statement, only to wince as light exploded out of her.

Every fairy suddenly began to rise, the wounds on their bodies sealing almost instantly. Celeste’s damaged wings were restored to their original splendor, and all the wounds closed up. Even her clothing seemed to mend itself. Celeste’s eyes fluttered open, and when her eyes caught her mother hovering overhead like a monolith, a small smile formed on her lips.

In only a few seconds, every fairy had been restored to perfect health. This was the power of a fairy empress.

“Magic users! Bring her down!” First ordered as she began to cast a spell.

“Did you think that’s all?” She raised an eyebrow at her daughter. “Attack.”

The fairies all charged out, casting spells, but even their combined might were suddenly dwarfed by their empress. Her wings began to glow, and suddenly dozens upon dozens of spells started to erupt from them in rapid succession. Astria was single-handedly casting as many spells as all of the other fairies combined. As the magician saw a hundred spells being launched at once, her mouth could only fall open. The bombardment began.

Chapter 1506

Spell after spell slammed into the Roth’s girls. As the massive attacks landed, my girls immediately backed off, giving them space. Astria was like a single-woman missile silo, spell after spell shooting from her wings and landing into the group of women. Those that had magical ability tried to protect themselves. The others attempted to dodge or flee. The once beautiful landscape of the boss room was devastated, but it was also beautiful in its way.

As Astria pinned them all down with her constant spells, the other fairies were free to do more selective attacks. They would attempt to undermine their enemies or catch them in the middle of a dodge. Celeste was also joining the fray, although she was more reserved than she would usually be, wanting to remain available to me at a moment’s notice. The enemies quickly accumulated multiple injuries, and it would only be a matter of time before they fell.

The queen lioness and the other lionkin had found a defensive position and had remarkably remained fairly protected by using a hill strategically to protect themselves from the attacks. As for First, she found herself quickly abandoned by the other girls, who feared her killing another one of them and consuming their souls for yet another attack. Yet, even if she attempted such a thing, it wasn’t clear with Astria’s power level that even such a spell would bring her out on top.

I also was vaguely aware of how Astria was maintaining such a storm for such a long time. She had hooked herself up to the mana spring, and so her mana was being rejuvenated as it was consumed. She couldn’t maintain such an attack indefinitely, but it would last long enough. The mana of Roth’s army was quickly dwindling. First fell to her knees, and a look of desperation filled her eyes. It was just as her magic started to sputter out that there was a sudden roar.

The strength of the roar was enough to overwhelm even the sound of the battle. Astria and the other ceased their spellcasting, and as the dust cleared, Roth was standing in the doorway to the boss room. The entire army of zombie women was behind him in the stairway, safe room, and level behind him. Despite the tattered appearance of all of the women who had come before, King Roth was immaculate. Even Second and the lionesses had some show of dirt on them, but King Roth’s clothing was a white, fancy coat that suited a king, and a long white linen cloak. He hadn’t exerted a single bit of himself up until this point. That was obvious.

He raised his arms and then started to clap. His claps echoed in the open-spaced boss room.

“I have to say, Deek Deekson, you’ve put on a great show. You even managed to send someone to infiltrate my dungeon, defeat my trap, and bring back your fairy. That is quite commendable. I can see why you managed to trick her into evolving for her.”

“I didn’t trick anyone!” I hissed.

He chuckled reaching into his coat. “Neither do I. Perhaps, she was also looking for this?”

He pulled out a large glowing orb and held it up. Celeste immediately gasped, and my mouth couldn’t help but fall open.

“Your dungeon lore… you brought it with you?”

The dungeon lore was the most fragile part of the dungeon. Everything depended on it. I had tried to steal his right out from under him, but the reason Celeste couldn’t find it was that he had it on him the entire time.

“I keep it in my safest and most trusted spot.” He put it back in his coat. “Now, I wonder where you hid yours. Shall we find out?”

Chapter 1507

“It doesn’t matter where my lore is. You won’t be able to reach it.” I declared.

“Thankfully, I don’t need to find it. It will present itself once you’re dead.” He chuckled. “To think that you’ve merged a fountain with a dungeon… and something else too. The fountain puts out miasma?” He glanced at the pool admiringly. “How truly interesting.”

“Your harem lost. They were defeated. I already won,” I shot back.

This time, the smile on his face looked somewhat dangerous. “I almost lost, at least these women. However, as you probably are aware, they do not make up all of my harems. There is always more where they came from.”

“Yes, I’ve seen your zombie women.” I sneered.

“They are hardly zombies. These women joined my side because they wanted power and immortality. I gave them both. Their lore will live on in my dungeon for all time.”

“Dungeons corrupt lore! They have no future. Their story will degrade with time, and they will become faceless… just another generic body.”

“Isn’t that their faults?” He shrugged. “If they were more interesting and distinct, then their lore would last. If they were resilient and strong enough, then they would evolve into miasmic creatures.”

That was ultimately the difference between those he fed to his dungeon and the girls around me like Astria, Elaya, Xin, or Selena. Anything a dungeon made wasn’t necessarily a living thing, even if it had been fed that living thing and was just making a copy of it. It took a special something, a kind of spark for someone to become a real person.

After getting to such a high level in dungeon master, I could see it with a look. I understood when a dungeon creature was more than the copy, and I could tell that all of those women behind him were merely shadows, not much different than the shadow people Twilight used. They were mere puppets to command, their true faces not even remembered. I hadn’t noticed it before, but many of them looked similar, to the point they all could be related. This was because he didn’t bother to remember their faces, and the lore began to blur them all together.

I shook my head. “We still beat you, living women with living women. Are you going bully me with an army I couldn’t possibly be old enough to have?”

I was trying to play on his pride, and by the dark look he returned me, it appeared to be working.

“You didn’t beat all of them. I will acknowledge my mistake.” His eyes shot to First, who shook slightly. “First, come to me.”

She slowly got up from her spot where she had been hiding in a crater. Her clothing was ripped in various places and she was filthy. She walked up to King Roth. He lifted his foot and casually kicked her away. The force was enough to cause her to fly several meters.

“Who said you, trash? I asked for First!” He snarled.

First, the queen lioness, rose from the spot, walking up to him confidently, a smug expression on her face as she gave a small bow.

“Yes, my lord?”

“I was too hasty in taking the position from you. I gave my trust to a failure,” King Roth said.

The magician was still on the ground with her face buried in the dirty, her body silently shaking as she wept.

“My lord doesn’t make mistakes. It was her fault. She squandered your power and wasted it.”

He gave a nod. “You won’t do the same.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I won’t, my lord.”

“Then go, defeat them, and bring me Deek’s head!”