What sort of creatures do I want to take with me? I can think of a few really easy ones to bring, Tristan and the Pious Devils all clearly belong with me right now. So do Agowraith, Nefarious, Salifinos and the other imps, Samyaza and Angelica. Samyaza is one of my only servants to have actual memories of the old gods, aside from M.A., who is always with me. But who else?

Casis would make a good choice as an aid and protector for this adventure. Plus I haven't had much time to interact with him. Gallow could also do well here as a protector, someone I know and trust to have my back.

I wonder if Lisabeth and Rebecca would learn anything here? Athena didn't seem to have much interest in souls or soul-crafting but Lisabeth especially is a free-willed divine soul so I wonder how she'll react to this place. This is the first place any of us have ever been with any real divine energy...

I should also bring Hagitha since she is my mortal servant who has the best understanding of the old gods of all of my mortal servants. She did memorize the contents of the tome she had made for me, and she has an academic's mind, kept hidden underneath a layer of mild insanity. Having her here would allow her to learn more about the old gods, since she assumed they were gone utterly and had no idea about vestiges.

I'll also take my Mi-Go. Who knows what secrets its recklessly curious and scientific mind could glean from this place that may otherwise hide even from my vision?

Under different circumstances, I might have brought some of the harpies with me, but honestly its too soon to take them away from their village. Same for any of the other elves or humans under my command.

Assembling my team, the team of creatures I believed would best be able to aid me in the unusual adventure I was about to undertake, would take five minutes. A period of time that felt much longer than it was, due to the fact that each second I was relatively inactive was a second that the dungeon had my servants in its mysterious clutches.

At the end of the selection process, I reached out across dimensional boundaries with what was almost certainly my second or third most used subdomain, the subdomain of teleportation, and wrapped up all sorts of creatures in an aura of teleportation. With my mind, I brought them to me, from the depths of my realm, the realm of the world I came to life in, and other parts of Infernius.

A number of popping noises could be heard as allies and servants of mine I hadn't seen in months suddenly appeared around me. The once empty place I found myself in was suddenly filled with a number of life forms. The smallest of those lifeforms popped into existence right next to me.

Rebecca and Lisabeth appeared next to me and hugged me, muttering about how they missed me before detaching themselves from me and taking up positions next to me. I grinned at them, always feeling a bit of comfort from their proximity. Both of the creatures who considered themselves my daughters wore armor and held blades in their hands. They began to visually study their surroundings, having never been to a desert, but having been to beaches before.

Seconds later Samyaza came into being above me, its mechanical form floating freely in the air over my head. The robotic thing began to scan its surroundings, before beginning to shake erratically.

"Scan status: Divine energy detected." The thing said, the voice that escaped it not being its own but something like a cross between its voice and the voice of the system.

Samyaza's shaking continued as its scan noted more oddities about this place.

"Radiant divine magic detected"

"Divinely created souls detected"

"Vestige... detected."

"Dungeon status: sentient and empowered by proximity to the divine as well as its ownership belonging to a semi-divine entity."

I looked at it, with an expression of concern on my face. Samyaza sent me a mental message to alleviate my concerns.

[I know how this looks, how I look, but I am fine. There's just... a lot in this dungeon.] It told me, its mental voice more relaxed than the voice escaping its physical form. I nodded at it, and for a second it nodded back, its circular body rising and falling smoothly in emulation of my motion. I turned to look at my other servants.

Salifinos and my other imps sprang into being not far from me. The four creatures, Salifinos, the two soul-orbs I had used in the tomb of Agowraith who later became imps, and the imp I created to earn the worship of Nefarious, Casis, Agowraith, and the other devils who had fallen to Narcolept, phased into this place not far from each other and in the relative area where Aoine and Lugh had been before the dungeon nabbed them.

I looked at them and smiled. All three of the younger imps flew at me and tackled me in a hug. I chuckled at the children and hugged them back. In moments like this they didn't seem as... well as impish as Salifinos did. They seemed like children, rather than like devils who would steal the souls of sorcerers, warlords, and other, often darker people.

"Hello, little ones." I said to them while chuckling. Silander and the imps who were currently wrapped around me numbered among my first creations, the first beings who were transformed or even created by proximity to me. I hadn't had much time to interact with them lately, due to the chaos of war so it was nice to see all four of them, even Salifinos who was hanging back but had a smile on its face.

"We've missed you!" The impish children declared, in unison. My smile widened as I allowed their emotions to wash over me, sensing the honesty of their words.

"And I missed you little ones." I told them, honestly. They had a youthful energy about them and being in their presence reminded me that there was more to life than war, cult-building, and other evil acts. I had interacted with them once a week at least during these last few months, but in moments like this, it's obvious that that wasn't enough.

They quickly detached themselves from me, and I nodded at Salifinos. The older imp, a rare "true-imp" who had willingly opted to stay an imp forever, nodded back at me.

He was curious about this place, every bit as mystified as I was, and his confusion fed into my own. He had similar questions to the ones I had. Ones that plagued me and fueled my drive to explore this strange place.

Why is one of the holiest sites of an ancient lawful good goddess located in Infernius?

Why is that this dungeon was apparently controlled by Ewain Wind-walker? How is it that this dungeon was controlled by him? What world did Athena come from? I have so many questions...

Casis Outborn was a knight-devil. He wore armor, but not the same armor he wore the day he was resurrected. Platinum armor adorned his body, clinging to it protectively like a second skin. It was unexpectedly bright and noble-looking given that it adorned a conquistador turned-devil who was responsible for countless atrocities.

He held a longsword in one hand and a thick iron shield in the other. He grinned at me, his face as gaunt and ghoulish as it had been months ago when he was first rescued from the clutches of death by my hands. He nodded at me, bowing his head low before beginning to speak.

"Hello, my lord." The courtly devil said, his voice soft but filled with palpable excitement. I grinned at him, appreciating his ghoulishness, and motioned for him to come to my side.

He had been teleported a fair distance away from me, my powers taking into account the assorted number of and sizes of various beings that I was summoning and calling some of them closer to me than others. He began to walk over to me, confidently sauntering as he eagerly accepted this opportunity to serve his lord.

The other devils appeared at various locations throughout the area I had been cleaning. Tristan and her bodyguard appeared close by, and so did Agowraith. All three of them began to approach me, Tristan and her bodyguard with smiles on their faces, and Agowraith with an intrigued but otherwise neutral expression on hers. Nefarious popped into being next draped in regal robes and with a proud smirk on his face. He too began to walk towards me.

The dwarven sisters, one of whom possessed something almost unheard of: a truly divinely made soul, one I handcrafted, appeared at the same place I had walked through to enter the area I stood in. They quickly noticed me and began to walk over to me, wide-grins on their faces. They both wore crossbow gauntlets and had hammers in their other hands, in both cases hands the hammers were in their non-dominant hands. Their armor was made of gold, and both suits were handcrafted by Rebecca.

Angelica appeared right in front of me, her body phasing into being slowly and dramatically as if it were an event of some importance. When she was finished phasing into this dimension from my own, she stretched her wings out, and then she sighed.

The sound itself was funny as if she were exhausted from her usual routine. A routine I knew consisted of little more than her organizing the people of the mirrored city, an admittedly difficult task but not one that was physically exhausting.

"Hello, Angelica. It's good to see you again." I told her, grinning at the gorgeous redheaded angel. Though she wasn't facing me I could tell from the slightest motions of her neck that she was grinning back.

"Hello Althos. You don't visit me enough." She said both hinting that she enjoyed my company and also complaining in the same breath. Truly a diplomat. I thought, chuckling and also a bit impressed by her communicative abilities.

"I apologize Angelica, I'll be sure to visit you more often once this war is over." I said, grinning more widely at her. She turned around and grinned at me.

Gallow, Hagitha, and the Mi-Go arrived at the same time as if all of the remaining mortals had been in one place and were transported to me in one fell swoop. The Mi-Go, my little scientist, appeared not far from me, but my other two servants appeared farther away and had to walk to my side. It didn't take them long, as both were eager to be by my side. Gallow and Hagitha, along with Tristan and Silander, numbered among my most fanatical servants.

The final group of creatures to arrive was the pious devils, the few priests-devils and nun-devils I had gathered to my service thus far. They appeared in a pentagram around me as if they couldn't even teleport without drama. But they at least appeared closeby so I didn't have to wait for them.

When everyone was here and gathered in front of me, I began to speak. I needed to give them the context of our mission here, after all. I looked around while speaking, making eye contact with all of my servants and worshippers I had summoned to this place.

"We are standing... in the temple of an ancient goddess." I revealed, having only told them that I needed them and that we were going on an adventure in a dungeon where they'd be able to learn a lot, alongside me. Their eyes widened in shock, and I heard a few gasps when I told them that.

"This temple is standing in the way of the completion of the second trial of dark sainthood. The trial requires that I acquire three ambitious souls, and use those souls to seize control of three communities. I have acquired all three ambitious souls I need, and one of the communities. Another community is in the process of preparing to hold elections to elect a new leader, one of my servants. The problem is here." I informed them.

"This place houses a... 'vestige'. That's what the dungeon itself told me. It seems that a 'vestiges' is an almost living congealing of divine power given form in the rough shape of an old god. They are what happens when gods die. Upon death, our power doesn't dissipate as our minds do. Instead, it becomes vestiges. The very dungeon we're about to enter appears to be enhanced and made more intelligent by the fact that a vestige of Athena lurks somewhere within here. Athena is the goddess this place was once devoted too. I know very little about her." I told my bizarre honor-guard.

"The dungeon reached out to me and told me all of these things. It also snatched up the creatures who need to become the controllers of the dungeon for me to acquire the girtablilu community. Ultimately we're here to learn and to ensure that the girtablilus here, Aoine and Lugh, become the dungeon masters of this place." I told them, causing them to nod at me in sudden understanding, their faces hardened now that they knew the full story behind this place, as far as I knew.

"Are we clear as to what our goals are?" I asked my followers. They nodded at me, every single one of them. I smiled, softly, as I began to feel appreciation for my servants, for the creatures I had managed to turn into my worshipers over the course of my life. And then I began to compose a message for the dungeon itself.

[We're ready. Teleport us into... you, I guess?] I told the dungeon. Half a second later we all were whisked into the dungeon. All of us.