“Krutnik with random additional powers?” Ben said. “So like Krutnik, but even more dangerous and now unpredictable to boot?”

We all let that sink in, except Tatiana who had yet to fight these creatures. But she could sense the tenseness in the silence that hung around our table.

“Are we talking about a goddamn Haunted City Boss?” Alexa asked.

“No. There’s no way for a spectre to gain that many levels in such a short period of time. Even in the most extreme cases a spectre required the full two weeks to reach the required level. Experience requirements to level up increase exponentially for them too, and spectres generally don’t fight one another.” Livia said, biting her nails nervously as she considered the situation. “But we’re talking a lot of mobs packed in a small area with high respawn rates. A perfect training ground for spectres.”

“Add the Krutnik’s acid spit to that.” I said. “The normal Krutnik don’t use theirs in their lair, but I doubt the spectres will honour that restriction. That will only allow them to kill faster, and it increases the kill to possess ratio.”

“I don’t like to say it, but I don’t think our party is well-suited to handle this.” Ben said. “Elise and Thomas were our best players against those guys, with their bludgeoning and crowd control. Thomas isn’t around anymore, and Elise…”

“Sorry, Tatiana, but you’re not a good fit here.” Ben said. “Mostly piercing damage, just like me. Doesn’t work that well against these armoured bastards. Miho and Alexa don’t have skills or weapons that lend themselves well against Krutnik, either.”

“It’s been over four days already.” Livia said, pacing back and forth on the table. “Under these conditions, some of those spectres will be possessing Neighbourhood Bosses by now. If one of them is very successful and lucky, there might even be a possessed Borough Boss sometime tomorrow. What’s worse, there’s definitely spectres around strong enough to possess you guys now.”

“Wouldn’t the Queen be keeping their numbers in check?” Alexa asked. “Strike down any Neighbourhood Boss spectres that pop up?”

“Spectres are reckless, but even they have basic common sense.” Livia said as much to herself as to us. “Not against crawlers they don’t, but spectres know better than to attack a City Boss when they’re a regular mob. Or mobs that are more than 10 levels above them for that matter, 5 if they’re smart.”

“So there’s an island of peace around the Queen, meaning that the spectres aren’t destroying the eggs she lays until after they hatch into Krutnik that give more experience?” Ben said. “You said these spectres are a randomiser that throws the floor’s narrative into disarray, but this all seems very convenient.”

“It’s an unplanned and random event, I can assure you of that.” Livia said. “Guards aren’t meant to be killed. If they are, the dungeon acknowledges that you’ve gotten too strong for this floor’s regular design, and just throws all balance and script out the window. The spectres being released in a region with a Krutnik hive and a City Boss that bolsters their grinding, that’s all unintentional.

“But whether the AI has a hand in the behaviour of the playing pieces we gave them since then? They don’t control the spectres directly, but every other actor they will certainly bend to be as entertaining for them as possible.”

“So, I think our next course of action is clear, then?” Miho asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “We should leave this place immediately, before the Krutnik decide to surface.”

“Definitely.” Ben nodded.

“It feels wrong to just run away like cowards and leave these people to their fate.” Tatiana said. “But I guess that we should prioritise our own survival.”

“Ben, you’re the Mayor! Can’t you order the town to evacuate?” Alexa asked.

“One of the things to get patched permanently after the season that Borant first introduced the Settlement Mayor system.” Livia dismissed the idea. “People evacuated the NPCs into trapped or enclosed areas and then farmed them for experience without having to worry about the guards.

“Just a handful of crawlers with good builds to set up a killing ground or bombard packed mobs went from settlement to settlement, killed the Mayor, evacuated the people and then killed them while they were all packed up. Borant liked it at first, and just patched that you could only be the Mayor of one settlement per floor. Not that such a thing stops a crawler when they’ve got multiple party members to fill multiple Mayor positions.

“The third floor wasn’t much of a problem, because it took over a week before the crawlers figured out that this was possible, and they had to make do with limited resources and brand-new powers. But there were barely any NPCs left on the sixth floor by the fourth day. The hunters left their city, only to find a few crawlers 20 levels higher than they should be with dozens of Legendary Box items. Meanwhile the other crawlers had no quests or shops and were easy pickings. The hunters and fans of anyone but those murderhobo munchkins threw a fit, and the whole floor grew stale for the last two weeks.”

“So that’s a no.” I said. “Well, I think it’s important to remember that all of this isn’t actually our moral responsibility. Just because the creators of this place put these people here along with town-destroying threats doesn’t mean we have any obligation to risk our lives saving people that will cease to exist in two days anyway. The blood is on those fish’s fins.”

“Definitely. While acting like heroes gets views and usually also good lootboxes, you should never forget that the Crawl is inevitably about you guys surviving rather than saving the day. The moment we add high-level spectres to the mix, forget everything and just run away.” Livia said. “We’ve already picked this place clean anyway; we should go to a large city now. There’s always a Staircase somewhere around there and we really need to find a Club Vanquisher.”

“It’s unanimous?” I asked.

There were nods all around.

“Then let’s get the hell out of here.” I said. “Let’s go pick up Elise at the tannery and high-tail it out of here.”

“Shame that I never got that soul crystal, but I guess I didn’t have the time to steal all of the guards in time anyway.” Ben said as he got up. “Stealing those without being caught takes a lot more time than you’d think.”

“I feel like I could’ve still learned a thing or two at the Herbalism Shop.” Miho said. “But I’ve got a workbench and plenty of materials, so I can train and produce stuff by myself now.”

“There’s people waiting to become my fans wherever we go!” Alexa boasted.

We left the bar and beelined it to the tannery, only to find it more populated than expected.

“Oh shit.” I said as we walked in, finding a crowd waiting for us.

“That’s right, boy. I told you not to keep making pelts before we came to an understanding.” Foreman said.

I ignored the potbellied dwarf and stared at the real threat.

“I’ve found some of the goods that have gone missing in this workshop of yours, tanner.” Burl growled. “No connection to the master burglar, you said?”

I ignored the other nuisance and kept staring at the real threat, who miraculously allowed the goons to talk first despite his own massive ego.

“So, we meet again.” Azriel said, hate and indignation burning underneath a thin smile and confident look. “Just under less auspicious circumstances this time.”

I glanced over to Elise’s unconscious form, tied up to a chair. I saw no wounds on her and she was at full health, but she had a Knocked Out status that would last for a few more minutes. She seemed to be Burl’s hostage, but right now I couldn’t care less about him or the dozen low-level thugs that Foreman brought.

I couldn’t remember what level Azriel had been when I last saw him, but I remembered Ben telling me that he already gained several levels since we first met him. He’d gained several levels in just a few hours climbing the tower grinding regular mobs. That was four days ago.

The Elite was level 38 now. Not only was he now the highest-level enemy I’d seen save the Krutnik Queen and the guards, I knew that he had gone up against an Elite Borough Boss with ten levels on him and made it an even fight. So he was probably as deadly as a guard now, but with intelligence and a lot more tricks and special items. Way beyond us.

His look had changed some since we last met. One of his shoulders was now adorned by a large wolf-like creature’s head, worn like a pauldron. Presumably the worg Neighbourhood Boss I heard about. The unnaturally elongated hands that he wore as wristbands I recognised, those had once been Shalanter’s. Other than that, he still seemed like the same jackass.

“You’re kidnapping people now? Really righteous, Azriel.” Ben said. “How about you let Elise go, and then we’ll talk.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Azriel said. “I’ve been playing nice with you guys, and you’ve been deceiving and fooling me every turn of the way. I think I’ll keep our damsel here as leverage, at least until we have a little talk where you guys explain everything you’ve been doing. Hope that I find your cause justifies your means. And then you’re going to join me to save this settlement.”

“Easy there, shiny. I’m the one that caught this zapper.” Burl said, putting himself between Azriel and Elise almost protectively.

Azriel just threw one stare at the bounty hunter, and Burl flinched. He lowered his eyes, and while he didn’t move aside, he turned to the party instead of Azriel.

Ben: What’s the plan?

Darryl: I don’t know. Our usual plans stopped working the moment that he kidnapped Elise. I think the only thing we can do is stall for time until she wakes up.

Miho: Remember not to say anything that can be a commitment, promise or other way to activate that bullshit oath of his.

“Talking? I came here to deal with this competitor that turns out to be a filthy thief!” Foreman said.

Azriel threw him a glare too, but the weakest man in the room was too confident and ignorant of the situation to be cowed the way that the bounty hunter had been. Instead he stepped towards Azriel as if he owned the place, stopping just out of the Elite’s sword range.

“I’m the one with the dough here, big boy! I’m the one bleeding money every moment I waste standing here, so I’ll be the one ‘talking out’ my issues with these people first! You can have what’s left when I’m done with them!” Foreman said.

“My cause is a little more important than a few shiny coins, merchant.” Azriel said, maintaining his serene expression with only his eyes giving away his annoyance.

“I don’t give a fuck about your self-proclaimed cause, boy! I say I go first, and that’s t-”

Azriel had already sheathed his blade by the time Foreman’s body hit the ground, his neck sliced clean off. Not a single drop of blood marred Azriel’s apparel, despite a spray of blood sprouting from the severed neck painting the ceiling red.

Foreman’s thugs were first surprised, and then conflicted. None of them were eager to attack though, rather they were torn between running away and freezing up. Us blocking the entrance probably didn’t make the choice easier.

Then one of them made up his mind and dashed for the window behind him. The others decided to stay after he never even made it outside. Azriel didn’t even draw his swords this time, he just snapped his finger and hit the thug in the back of his neck with a ray of light.

“I guess I have to be the bad guy here.” Livia whispered softly. “This might be a situation that will get us all killed if we try to rescue Elise. It might be better to cut our losses and make a run for it, prioritising the many before the few.”

No one said anything. I knew that rationally speaking she was completely correct, but the decision wasn’t that simple.

Darryl: If combat starts, can you do anything?

Livia: Managers cannot fight alongside you. I cannot join you beyond settlements or fling spells at enemies to take them down. Everything else is fair game, but that’s a hard rule for all Managers.

Livia: Fortunately, my class isn’t a simple axe-swinging barbarian build. I cannot debuff enemies or block their attacks directly, but I have a few buffs I can give you.

Livia: Don’t expect them to be a game-changer, though.

I nodded. It was something at least, and a lvl49 crawler who made it all the way to the 10th floor or further should have several potent skills grinded to high levels. Even without the gear and after a class change, Livia should be able to make a difference when it came to a fight.

Hopefully we could avoid one, though.

“Right, so back to you.” Azriel said. “I try to be an understanding person, but it really nettles me that you guys would leave someone to fend for themselves against several villainous monsters, and then disappear on me all of a sudden. Right before the tower started to collapse, I should add. Very convenient timing, for you.”

Azriel began to glow softly, and the light quickly enveloped us all to fill the entire room. “Now, how about you tell me what happened, and why I should spare you. And I warn you, I wouldn’t lie if I were you.”

Field of Truth!

You cannot lie while inside of this area effect, not without risking the caster instantly knowing that you lied! Every time you tell a lie, there will be a Charisma-based contest between the liar and the truth teller. The caster isn’t aware of such checks if the liar succeeds!