Cless left the slemuroth hidden behind a bend in the tunnel and went to talk to Shane's guild. No use showing it off now.

"Hey, guild master." The man on guard saluted. Cless remembered him from the cavern but didn't talk to him.

Shane came in a hurry. "Welcome back, Cless. Want to take a nap with us? It is getting very late."

"No. I am going outside and back to Tambrill. You should do the same, pack up and leave. There are no more monsters on this floor and the floor above. In a few hours, this place will become hell."

"I really can't. We got a magic item from the dungeon when we cleared the first floor, the chest came out of the ground, it was crazy. Now we are not leaving until we get another. We came this far and now with this tax increase, we need more gold to pay for it." He explained in an accusatory tone.

Speaking of the taxes was a half-assed dick move. And why did she care this much about them? Cless doubted they would be able to fight in the third floor and the stampede was not over by far. And the problem lied exactly there. She did a half-assed dick move. Either give it up or go full evil overlord.

"I'm sorry about the taxes, I take it back. I'm not going to tax anyone before I have some infrastructure going on. But you should leave, Shane. This floor is empty now but soon monsters from the third floor will come up to feed and occupy the empty space. Or something very strong will come down from the entrance, looking for things to kill. I hope they miss you but it seems this room is a hub of all the tunnels on this floor."

"I think we'll take our risks," Shane answered after pondering for a while.

Cless sighed. She had to keep repeating to herself they were no longer her problem. Finally, she reached in her pocket and removed the bundles of bear pelt and meat. Unwrapping them, she gave Shane the meat from the five bears and stored the pelts back.

"Take this food in the goodwill it is offered, Shane. And please take care. I won't come back here so soon."

After he called them with a shout, some members of Shane's guild came and took the meat inside. Arnold and Lawrence also showed up, yawning. After trading a few words, Cless gave her goodbyes and turned to go away.

Shane called her out. "You said the floor is empty. Did you kill the boss?" Again that accusatory suspicious tone. It is not like the boss was theirs. She also killed her fair share of monsters in this floor.

"No. I did not 'kill' the boss." She whistled for the slemuroth to come and pointed the four meter tall half-primate, half-sloth out. The Blind Eye guild members shuffled forward. Cless stayed behind for a while and nodded her head to Shane.

"Good luck, Shane." She turned around and walked away.

"Good luck, Cless. And thanks for the food."

She thought of using her favor to make them leave, but if they were that stubborn and that proud to bunker down in the murder hole that the dungeon became, who was she to tell them otherwise?

'A Queen and the Lady of this place, that's who you are', She told herself. But she didn't feel like a Queen. Cless claimed her heritage just to sass them at first. Now that she could understand deeper what that meant, she was afraid of what it would cause.

They climbed to the first floor and slaughtered the insects that moved from the fountain crevice to the boss room. As they crossed the path back, Cless noticed that most of the bodies had vanished already. Strange thing, the Dungeon. Certainly alive, most probably conscious and intelligent.

'They are fragments of the Lord of Midgard's soul. It is a given that they'd be intelligent', Cless mused.

As they laid their eyes on the gate of the gnome wall, they heard a roar and the vibrations of something big hitting the ground. The whole cave shook. They ran outside and Cless summoned a golem on the move. When they reached the mouth of the cave, it was night and Josefine was standing there, the golden embroidery of her robes glowing and she was wielding a staff with a geometric sculpture on top around a clear crystal sphere.

"Cless, stay back!" She shouted without turning around.

Josefine used a spell and a cube of energy sprung around her. [Dangersense] tingled and Cless had a vague notion of what was coming but only five seconds to act.

She moved a couple steps forward, shouting "Everyone duck behind me!" and mentally ordering the golem to brace itself behind her. She used Shield of Faith and Bulwark. The golden aura surrounded her just in time. A blazing inferno rushed down from the cave mouth and washed around her. The Shield broke and the bulwark was almost entirely destroyed. Behind her, she saw the golem burning and crumbling and the cave illuminated by several flames that were burning the stone.

"Is everyone fine? Anyone hurt? - Mass Mending!" She didn't wait for anyone to answer.

Another roar and she saw Josefine glance at them and nod. Cless checked her guild but nobody was hurt. The slemuroth was singed but she used a Heal on it. They went to the mouth of the cave, stopping a few paces behind Josefine.

Cless saw Balthus literally wrestling a dragon. He was standing on top of its massive head, holding a horn on each hand and tugging the dragon's head sideways, making it lose balance and fall down. How he was pulling the dragon standing on top of the same creature was unbelievable. She was seeing it but it was absurd. Further away Olson was sending some big giant walking tree-men to grapple the dragon too. The ground around them was still hot from the last flame breath but singed and burned and vitrified parts around told the tale of an epic fight that was ongoing for some time now.

"Cless, where are the other people?" The elf asked.

"These idiots decided to stay inside the dungeon. I really didn't want to argue with them, they needed no rescue. It seems they have several clerics now and even an artifact that can make food." She was really upset. Should she have used her authority?

"This dragon will eat their ashes," Josefine explained with a pained expression. "And despite having fun unseen in two decades, Balthus and Olson can't hold the beast forever."

"Can't we just kill it?" Cless asked.

"Yes, we can. But why should we do it when this dragon is more than capable of wiping the whole dungeon clean for us? It should go down all the floors and exterminate everything inside."

"Wouldn't another dragon or worse come if this one dies?"

Another crash. The dragon rolled over Olson's tree-giants and crushed them. Josefine used another spell and blinking colorful lights appeared in front of the dragon's eyes.

"We would need the six of us to kill a stronger dragon. And that is what we'll get if this big girl doesn't go inside and eat the miasma. We can hold it for a few more hours if you want to go back and make them get out. It is not a matter of asking. If they don't want to get out, kill them yourself. It will be an act of mercy compared to letting them become dragon food."

"I'm not killing anyone, Josie. I'll go there and make them leave. How long do I have?"

She didn't answer immediately. Josefine had to use some ice spells to freeze the dragon and stop its breath ignition. "Two hours. Take this crystal with you."

Josefine handed Cless a cylindrical cloudy crystal about the same size as her pinky finger. She tucked it in a normal pocket and talked to her guild.

"I'll do that, Josie. Guys, go hide behind the wall and wait for me. The first two floors are empty, I'm going there alone."

Cless ran through the dungeon. She knew exactly what she would do to push them away. Stupid stupids. Time to go full evil overlord. She reached the boss room and found a dozen insects buzzing around the vent. She lobbed three fireballs there while she crossed the huge room and descended to the second floor. She got lost twice before finding them. Her [Wanderlust] Skill was already at the maximum value from all the walking they did in the Dungeon.

"Call Shane, now!" She shouted to the ones on watch duty.

Shane arrived. Cless glared at him. "By my orders as the Lady of this parish including the Dungeon, I command every human inside this Dungeon to leave immediately. Everyone that refuses to move toward the exit at the best speed of the group will be punished with a fine of 1% of their total Experience per minute. Those that refuse to go but reach the exit will forget anything about this order including any conversation that happened here. Once outside the only thing you'll remember is that you are not allowed inside the Dungeon until second order."

She made sure to force her Skill to show them the notification prompts with only an "OK" option.

"Cless, that's..." Shane shook his head.

"Move, Shane. There is a dragon the size of ten houses outside and he'll eat anyone that stays inside. Your first minute is ending soon."

"Everyone has to gather their belongings," He argued but Cless knew he was doing that just to win time. "Can't you wait?"

"Five minutes. Tell people to leave behind whatever they can't gather in that time."

They lazily shuffled inside their bunker. Cless tapped her feet, impatient. The fine minutes passed and then the sixth.

Your contracts earned you 144,900 Experience Points. You reached level 85. +1 stat point. You reached Master Instructor 14.

Cursing and shouting came from the bunker. The ones on watch glared at her.

"Why do you keep watch? This floor and the one above are completely empty save for some big bugs. Go get your things!"

More shouting and cursing. She was afraid a riot would break out. Another minute passed.

Your contracts earned you 143,451 Experience Points. You reached level 87. +2 stat point. You reached Master Instructor 15.

Idiots. Cless shook her head. She moved away from the tunnel leading to the surface and near the mouth of the opposite one. This should be far away enough. "Amendment to the Dungeon lease contract. If everyone reaches the surface in forty minutes, everyone gets their Experience back."

Contract amended.

Some of them moved out of their bunker, glaring at her. Vanessa. Sweet, bitchy Vanessa. She was moving to probably talk to Cless but she was not having any of it.

[Fear Aura] is active. Effective level 188 (87 level + 101 Charisma).

Vanessa stopped dead on her tracks, cowering. After the paralysis ended, she shuffled back. Cless positioned herself where the only path out of the bunker without crossing her fear aura was to go to the tunnel leading to the surface. More shouting, more cursing. More people slowly moving outside their fortress.

Your contracts earned you 142.016 Experience. You reached level 88. You reached Master Instructor 16.

They gathered and started to move. As long they kept on the right path the Exp drain should stop. Cless turned off the fear aura and moved behind them. They wouldn't reach the exit in time but she returned their Experience anyway.

430,367 Experience returned.

They reached the wall and her guild rejoined her. Once they got outside, Olson approached them.

"Here, in this bush," He pulled a branch and it was like the bush moved like a patterned curtain, revealing a sunny grassland on the other side. Shane's guild filed in surprisingly without a quip, snark or groan and the Blind Eye followed after them, Cless coming in last. She saw a grassy field and when she turned around there was only a mist wall behind her.

Only then she noticed she didn't see either Josefine, Balthus, or the dragon. She also didn't even think about asking. Everyone was dazed and just standing there. After just a few minutes, everyone dropped down and fell asleep. Even her own guild, even Shad and the slemuroth. Cless was not sleepy. She thought of something and grabbed the crystal Josefine gave her. It was glowing. Good call.

She moved her guild members to their bedrolls and made them comfortable. That place was too strange. Always sunny and the shadows didn't move. Cless sat and waited. The tension of the day took its toll and her body felt heavy. She checked her status and noticed that even though the Exp she got from them went back, she didn't lose the levels she gained in both professions and probably class as it remained deferred until she picked another class.

After thinking about her future life and status for a while, Cless fell asleep. She woke up to Josefine tugging her shoulder. "Cless. Come with me and make no noise."

She followed Josefine and she pulled at the mist. It wrinkled and moved aside just as if it was a curtain. Again. She came out and she found herself back at the tower keep. It was late afternoon already. Did she sleep that long?

Balthus and Olson were sitting by a wooden table. Rustic but it had character. There were two empty chairs, she took one.

"What is going on? Where is the dragon?"

Balthus laughed. "The dragon is in the Dungeon's core room. Happy as a child with his new toys."

Olson explained once it became obvious Balthus would just keep on guffawing. "We cleared up the Dungeon and soon there will be a third migration. I think every monster in two hundred kilometers will come here soon enough. We gave the magic items the Dungeon gave us after clearing all the floors to the dragon so she would guard the core for us."

"You have a level two hundred and fifty dragon as the final boss of that Dungeon now," Josefine finished. "We made a deal with her. Once we subdued her for good, we let her go with us as we cleared the Dungeon and she kept all the treasure we collected."

"But you walked away with nothing!" Cless clamored.

"I got six levels in two days," Balthus pointed out. "That is definitely something. The clear bonus for a neglected Dungeon is awesome."

'These crazy dragon wranglers are level what?' Cless fought to not groan. Olson interpreted her distress for something else.

"Don't worry, we brought Karen, George, and Priest with us."

Cless looked around but Balthus chortled and preempted her question "It was a fun delve, too bad they had to go. Too busy running a town or something like that."

Yes, great. Because that was exactly what she was worried about. That someone missed the fun delve.

"Can I just go home? I've had a lot for a few days."

Status:

Name: Queen Cless Hreidmar of Myrkheim and Infernal Realm (in exile)

Race: Human.

Level: 88 ( 3,486,000 / 3,914,000 Exp ) [Experience Threshold > level 38]

Class: — Dabbler 25 ( 300,000 Exp / ** ) — Beast Tamer 25 (900,000 Exp / ** ) — Vicar 25 ( 1,500,000 Exp / ** ) — 9

Profession — Veteran Warmaster 25 (300,000 Exp / **) — Master Instructor 16 (464,072 / 495,000 Exp)

— Crafter 25 (Skill) — Farmer 25 (Skill) — Herbalist 25 (Skill) — Alchemist 25 (Skill)

Base Stats — Strength: 65 [152] — Agility: 84 [196] — Health: 103 [241] — Intellect: 108 [209] — Wisdom: 151 — Charisma: 101 — Magic: 252

Available Status Points: 1

Skills:

S-rank: [Absolute Contract]

B-rank: [Fear Aura] – [Perfect Might] – [Succubus’ Kiss]

C-rank: [Eat Anything] – [Elven Longevity] – [Appraise Immunity] – [Craftsmen] – [Dangersense] – [Earth Magic] – [Master Miner] – [Seductress' Charm]

D-Rank: [Alchemical Tolerance] – [Alchemist] – [Brownie Magic] – [Curmudgeon crafter] – [Dancer’s Grace] – [Darkness Resistance]

– [Druidwalk] – [Farmer] – [Gemsense] – [Giant's Stamina] – [Great Leap] – [Grounding] – [Heavy Handed] – [Herbalism] – [Merchant sense]

– [Ore sense] – [Poison Resistance] – [Runner's Dash] – [Sharp Mind] – [Singers’ Talent] – [Snakes' Flexibilty] – [Spell Resistance]

– [Spellslinger] – [Steelshine] – [Tinker] – [Tremorsense]

E-Rank: [Air sailing] – [Architectural Ingenuity] – [Burrower Bond] – [Coin Sense] – [Enhanced touch] – [Gravebreath]

– [Hearth’s warmth] – [Howl] – [Pack Rat] – [Seamstress Talent] – [Silk Hair] – [Splinters]

– [Virility] – [Wanderlust] – [Weavertouch]

F-rank: [Cheat] – [Florist’s Wonder] – [Gardener’s touch] – [Inner Compass]

Techniques:

— [Beast Taming VI] — [Beast Status] — [Share Skills]

Spells (Master Instructor: +1 to all. spells under 20 hidden / Spells without a number are at the soft cap / * denotes a level 25th ultimate):

Divine: — Mending — Detoxify — Light — Turn Undead — Blessing — Holy Bolt — Purify — Protection

— — — Hallow — Flametongue — Cure — Uncurse — Banish — Heal — Warding — Revivify*

— — — Censure — Bulwark — Mass Mending — Sacred Dance — Judgement — Song of the Accord*

— Water Breathing — Shield of Faith — Sanctuary — ???????

Mage: — Detect Magic — Armor — Fireball — Shield — Resistance — Deeppockets* — Blink*

House: — Detect Dust — Doorwatch — Prestidigitation — Never Overdone! — Touch Up — Dry — Repair — Clean — Bloom — Hearth Recall*

Earth: — Soften — Earth Armor — Stone Shape — Terrakinesis — Golem* — Earth to Stone — Grasping Hand — Spike Wall — Construct*

Proficiencies (Master Instructor: +1 to all. Values under 10 hidden / {A} = Automatic Proficiency: Soft Cap +5):

Appraise: Status: 80 — Resistance: (immune) — Forgery: (immune)

General: Prayer: 80 — Reading: 50 — Architecture: {A}

Academic: Magic Theory: 50 — Spellcraft: 50

Crafting (+9 Profession): Tailor: {A} — Embroidery: {A} — Knitting: {A}

Farming, plants (+38 Profession): Foraging: 30 — Forestry: 30

Farming, livestock (+13 Profession): Dismantling: 30

Production (+9 Profession): Mining: {A} — Weaving: {A}

Social: Negotiation: 80 — Persuasion: 80 — Bluff: 80 — Flirting: {A} — Sexual Technique: {A} — Etiquette: {A} — Dancing: {A} — Singing: {A} — Gambling: {A}

Movement: Running: {A} — Athletics: {A} — Balance: {A} — Jumping: {A}

Martial (+18 profession): Leadership: 80 — Intimidation: 60 — Tactics: 80

Weapon (+18 profession): Long Blades: 80 — Unarmed: 80 — Archery: 80 — Maces: 60 — Pickaxe: {A}