Jason tossed the bag of salt to Duk and shouted to him, “Pour it on your leg and run!” Without watching what he did he ran for the stairs to join up with the others. Meanwhile, the illuminated living ooze had gathered up behind Duk’s barrier and slamming it’s wait against it. After several attacks the barrier developed a crack through it. Duk had caught the bag. He paused his actions watching in fear what was happening to his summoned protection. After the crack appeared he was jolted from his stupor and poured the salt from within it onto the slime that had crept up his legs towards his waste. It dissolved and freed him. Another loud piercing screech came from beyond the darkness. The pounding on the barrier ceased for a moment, but then a wave of force came crashing down on it shattering it and sending Duk flying back. He hit the ground and rolled the momentum carrying him to other end of the of the floor where the others awaited him.

Jason paid no attention to whether Duk could be heard. He yanked the metal encased dog warrior to his feet, ordering everyone, “Get up the stairs!” Xev lead the group up while Jason took point. Noticing that Duk was holding his arm, he called to Rina, “Get ready to heal Duk. When you get the chance hit him with a cure.”

Rina responded from just in front of Duk, “Hai!”

They were all expecting that getting to the third floor would give them time to evaluate what had just happened, but as soon they got there a whip like tentacle of ooze sliced into Xev’s bare flesh that she had opted to keep showing to flaunt herself to Jason much to his dismay. A moment later another slimy tentacle hit her pushing her back into the others. Surprise played across her face. She hadn’t been hit that hard in many years. She wasn’t prepared for it, but it was too late to regret that now. Now she needed to act or else she could find herself pack at square one or worse, dead. One might ask if she could die, but she had satisfied that answer to herself logically long ago. She was alive, of course she die, but the day that her death would be upon her should be far into the future she hoped like any living being. Yet another tentacle shot out towards her and, for the first time in her centuries long life, she froze. Duk, didn’t notice this fact. He just reacted to a companion about to take an attack and stepped in, taking up position in front of her, expanding his shield, and took the attack head on. It hit and retracted. He let out a whimper. His shield arm had been the one to been injured. His arm was obviously broken to anyone that cared to observe how he held it and had general medical knowledge. That didn’t stop him from acting. It luckily wasn’t a problem for long. Rina had found the opportunity to send out a heal to him, covering him in a green aura which went right to work mending his wounds.

The tentacles were relentless, halting the party in place. Every step forward came with another tentacle attack, preventing him from moving forward. The number of tentacles kept increasing. Soon it was a constant barrage of stinging blows to Duk’s shield. If this kept up he would not be able to hold up for much longer. Lady Apisis flew forward, seeing what was happening, and slashed through an incoming tentacle. The front half of the tentacle’s momentum carried it into Duk’s shield, splattering, and exploding around him. The bits tried to stick to him and Xev behind him. They innocuously began moving to clump together. Duk and Xev had no time to consider what they were doing. The remaining tentacle pulled back before launching yet another attack. Apisis once more cut it twain and again the slime whip tentacle splashed over Xev and Duk. The process continued as they moved forward toward the stairs to the next floor.

When they got to about the halfway point a low humming noise started coming from the floor below. Jason turned to look back at the stairs down. They lit up with a sickly green glow. A moment later, shambling humanoid creatures poured out the stairwell made of the hunks of meat and bone that once floated in the pooled ooze on the fourth floor which presently formed the shape of these toxic sludge zombies. “Fuck!” Jason exclaimed. “Push forward quicker!” It wasn’t long before all the space behind them were filled with the zombies with even more waiting in the stairs beyond that. He drew his sword and knife preparing to engage them. The time for that to happen had been slowed however as Duk became more secure in his progress towards the next set of stairs. Apisis was quickly dealing with every new tentacle that came in to get a blow on them but failed.

The slime that had accumulated on Duk and Xev collected together, then spread into a thin layer around them. Having been hit with the remains of several dozen tentacles there was enough that had landed on them to create a thin layer over the mass of their bodies and a dull glow began emanating from it. Their movements became sluggish at first but as they approached the stairs to the next level their ability to move came to an end. Their body began to move on their own which was signaled with shield bash by Duk, forcing Apisis into the stairwell to the next floor with enough force to bounce her off the steps. Xev turned her back to Duk and Apisis. She raised her foot and placed it square into the middle of Jason, sending him into the crowd of humanoid slime zombies, taking him by surprise. Though Xev’s face was uncovered and she could freely talk she remained silent to see what would happen. She also knew that Jason could hold his own and since the first attacks it seemed like they could hold their own. It was just that the tentacles had gotten lucky she thought and relaxed once more into taking it easy, allowing the others to deal with the problems that came up and this was just another interesting problem that would sharpen their abilities.

Jason was pushed into the zombies and and found himself surrounded by them as he recovered his balance. The monsters came from all sides, attacking him mindlessly, reaching for his flesh to tear it from his body. He didn’t allow it. His blade sang out cutting through the mob all around him. They proved to put up little resistance to his slashes. He quickly made it back out of reach of the slime minions only to find himself face to face with his mentor in combat, Xev, covered in the living gelatinous mucus.

“Would look at how slimey you got me, ready to go another round?” Jason was unsurprised to still be teased with the same sexual perversions by Xev even in this situation. Her ooze controlled body charged at him with a ooze covered punch. He blocked her with his sword and knife while stepping into and around her, sliding the blades along her arm scraping the goo away and flinging it away. This let him change their positions relative to the stairs and horde. His mind rushed through the VUI menus going through the components looking for more salt. There was no more at the top level but he believed that there had to be some in the substrata, saved within the many houses and their belongings that he had secured. Xev sent a sidekick at Jason. He dodged under her leg and stepped back to draw the slime that was controlling her to separate themself from the zombie ooze creatures. Xev’s kicks and punches were nowhere near as heavy as they usually were in their sparring sessions, telling him that while the slime controlled her limbs it was not in control of her mind nor she helping it. She pounced towards him. Just in the nick of time he found another source of salt, brought it out of storage and tossed it at her, leaving himself open to her pounce. The ooze covering her turned to dust. She landed on top of him, straddling him, “This has never happened to me before. You just dried me out,” Xev grinned deviliciously before planting a lip lock on him. The horde of the Slime zombies and the mass of ooze on the floor below howled in agony. She broke the kiss, pulled herself and and Jason up to their feet to rejoin the the fray.

“Xev, pick up Rina. Make sure her feet doesn’t touch the ground.” Jason ordered Xev. She followed what he said, got to the steps, paused and stepped the side letting another package of salt pass by her, thrown by Jason. The bag burst on Duk’s back releasing its contents all over him. The slime dissolved once more, freeing him. Jason continued to run forward into the stairwell. He leapt to the side and used the wall to bounce pass Duk and Apisis. “Duk, get her off her back. Apisis, take center. Rina, throw her a heal.” Jason shouted over his shoulder as he ran up the stairs to the next floor ahead of everyone else. It didn’t take an order for the rest of the party to fall in line and charge up behind him, each carrying out the tasks that he gave them. They wouldn’t be taken by surprise again.

They were sadly mistaken. The walls around them began to vibrate. The floor beneath them shook. It was only a little bit at first, but as they crossed the floor the shaking grew in intensity. Shunks of walls fell and ground gave away behind them. Fires burst randomly from walls. They had to duck or be lit aflame. And then the sounds of the zombies trailing behind them returned as did the tentacles whipping out at them from blind angles. The party sliced and punched through the obstacles that appeared in front of them, but ignored everything else. All that was on their mind was to make it up the stairs and out of this death trap before they encountered something that they couldn’t handle or the floor collapsed beneath them, dropping them into the sentient of blob revolting mucus and rotting flesh and bone. The path to the next set of stairs was clear. All they had to do is run to get to them. It was no trouble for the three of them in front, but Xev, as always, trailed behind and she was carrying Rina. Before they could get to the stairs the floorways between the stairs and where they were gave way. Xev increased her pace and leapt. Jason was looking back to make sure they were safe and saw that they would fall short.

“Jump,” Xev told Rina while they were midair.

Rina launched herself, aided by Xev, across the final length into Jason’s waiting arms. Xev however plunged into the hole. She was dropping directly into the ooze that now covered all of the lower floors. She hadn’t made the jump, but she had gotten close enough that she found herself near the wall which she thrust her fist into and stopped herself. She ascended back to the stairs and rejoined the rest.

“Miss me?” She smirked, brushing her back into place.

“Sure. Let’s go.” Jason said unwilling to admit that he was relieved.

The group reached the ground floor and back to the great hall. There was a clear path out of the keep, but the room had clearly been demolished and was still falling apart. They rushed for the door. They had made it. The keep behind them began to shake even more violently.