Ch 7 mk 2,

This is the volume 1 finale.

A bit shorter than usual.

If u find fuzzy logic, post plx. Thx m8

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Part 1 -

Takuma/Rene POV

After I repelled that home invasion with a metric ton of C4, we had to dismantle all the shock barriers and broken crate fragments.

The chunks of burglar were conveniently absorbed by the dungeon.

After the DP injection from their mana and blood, I went back through and looked for dungeon upgrades.

As it turns out, we don’t have to move the final core room each time I buy rooms. A 『Headquarters Complex』 can be purchased which automatically moves below the last floor.

I use the DP gained to fuel a Five Day Plan for rapid expansion. Every last point went into expanding straight down, buying only ten rooms on each floor.

With the DP available, I was able to purchase down to the tenth floor.

On most of the rooms, I just used goblins as the primary unit, since repeating a species gives that species a small bonus each time it gets repeated, for that floor and below.

It is technically possible to have more than one species spawn on a floor, but the central floor core needs the 『Species Number II』 upgrade.

I made the fifth floor into a special hell.

The first species is the Elder Treant. They’re basically trees with really sharp limbs. When someone walks past, the sharp limb gets swung through said person with the speed of a Rainbow Shrimp punch.

Unfortunately, their attack takes several hours to charge. Additionally, they can’t move, so they’re almost like a trap.

According to the description, small transparent blue berries are supposed to grow on them.

The second species is the Portal Guardian. It’s basically a large golem with 『Shock Nullification IV』, 『Magic Nullification IV』, and 『Rapid Regeneration IV』. It attacks using a mild electric shock and mugs your DP balance when first purchased.

The Portal Guardians don’t actually stay on the fifth floor. Upon spawning, they’re tasked with a teleport pad to guard. Additionally, they’re set not to automatically aggro unless the pad is approached.

Dungeon conquerors can’t actually use the teleport portals though. The Portal Guardians only exist in case someone needs to make a hasty exit.

If a Portal Guardian gets attacked, the other PGs can quickly hop through the Telepad and swarm in.

A swarm of rocks armed with stun batons.

Now with dedicated Telepad guards, I don’t have to worry about teleporting into an ambush.

Next on the hit parade, I need to add to the HQ complex.

This is a dungeon after all, so I need a prison… I should also add a dedicated cafeteria and a sparring room for the bored. The current library also has to be moved in…

All anybody really does now is sit around and play cards. It was a good idea to issue cards, especially since there really isn’t that much to do.

I bet I can find something for everyone to do.

Shiro wanted a bicycle lock for some reason...

Part 2 -

After I gathered everyone in the dedicated cafeteria, I made an announcement.

“Alright expendables, it has been a few weeks now and there have been a total of three raids.” I said.

“But, aren’t you all bored AS HELL?” I ask.

“In addition to being bored, you guys are practically useless because you’re so weak.” I said, slamming my fist into the podium.

Now let’s throw in some corporate buzzwords.

“At the end of the day, we need you guys to bring something to the table!” I said, screaming into the mike.

“So now, we’ve decided to take a more holistic approach! Instead of reactively upgrading you lot, you’re now given the opportunity to PROACTIVELY (boo, hiss, he said proactive) upgrade everything about you!”

Everyone seemed to wake up a bit.

“As you know, it’s possible for you to get stronger, faster, smarter and more resistant to… anything. In addition, you can pretty much buy pretty much any physical object, assuming you have enough Dungeon Points… such as better swords or *cough* cruise missiles*cough* ”

Instantly, people started perking up.

“You may be wondering, how can I get this wonderful sword *cough* cruise missile *cough*?”

“It’s simple!”

I take out a device from my pocket. It is a mana crystal with a black pad and a screen with “0%” attached to it.

“Simply touch the black pad to anything that has mana and it will automatically start draining. The screen is powered by aether, so it won’t drain any of the mana. After getting some mana, you can come back to me where I exchange it for DP which is credited to your account, at 40% tax, of course.”

The tax rate seemed to shock quite a few people.

“Don’t worry, the more mana you bring back, the higher your ‘income bracket,’ which translates to tax reductions.”

“Each person will be issued one of these mana extractors. I highly suggest you join into teams and set up checkpoints on major roads… like bandits! Try not to die.” I said, concluding the assembly.

I had a few crates brought to the front where everyone lined up and got an extractor.

Everyone seemed to be talking about all the stuff that they would buy.

This should bump my DP income a bit.

Maybe I should start an bank in the HQ complex.

There’s no such thing as inflation so I don’t even need to pay out interest.

Part 3 -

“Destination, detention center.” I say as I step on the telepad.

Five seconds later, I’m standing in the prison lobby.

“Which room is prisoner code YY1 in?” I ask.

“Maximum Security Block, Room A1” The rook answers.

“Why is she in the MS block?”

“Five attempted escapes, two nearly successful. Moved after second attempt.”

“We got a feisty little one, haven’t we…”

“She’s quite the headache. We have to keep at least two people posted on her at all times now.”

I walk into the MS observation block and look through the one way glass. It’s a gruesome sight.

A tall, black haired girl has her hands tied above her head and padlocked to the ceiling. Her legs are firmly shackled to the ground. Her stomach is cut open, and her intestines are bicycle locked to a bar nearby.

A magic and physical suppression bracelet is attached to each wrist and ankle, along with the collar versions on her neck.

An IV is attached to her arm, and drool is running off the side of her mouth. Probably some tranquilizer.

She appears to be in some kind of large magic circle… it looks to me like a high grade seal.

Additionally, two other rooks were in the room.

On the side of the room, a monitor showed her vitals.

“Isn’t this a bit… overboard?” I ask, perplexed.

“Not at all. Shiro had to draw a magic nullification zone because even with the tranquilizers and magic suppressors, occasionally the air resonates and cracks the glass.”

“I recall Shiro wanting that bike lock… please elaborate on that.”

“Believe it or not, those two hit it off as soon as they arrived. Then she asked for a jump rope to exercise with, and tried to strangle Shiro the first chance she got.”

“How’d that work out?” I ask.

“Let’s just say we had to scrape parts of her off the wall…”

Looking inside, I noticed that the walls were stainless steel. So these prison rooms are rooms within a room?

“What about the second escape attempt?”

“She used a magic tool embedded into her hand to blast her way to a telepad, where a mob of Portal Guardians shocked her senseless.” He said, chuckling.

“I’m making my investment back already. When did this happen?”

“About the same time as the checkers tournament.”

“That explains it.” I mutter.

“Explains what?” He asked.

“My multitasking is limited to about forty things at once. I was wondering why I wasn’t notified.”

“Pretty handy skill. Anyways, what brings you here?”

“I’m here to interrogate her.” I answer.

“Why not just let Kano loose on her?”

“I considered calling him over… but now, I’m fairly certain he’d get stabbed while having sex.” I answer gravely.

“I can somehow see that happening.” He replied, with a wry smile.

“Is she tranquilized right now?” I asked.

“Heavily.”

“Alright, lock this place up with rooks and take that IV off her. Also, get me a knife.”

“Roger.”

Part 4 -

Clair POV

As I slowly come to, I realize I’m still in the prison.

They seem to have ripped all the magical devices from my body.

I’m in some kind of manaless environment and I seem to be extremely weakened, physically speaking.

A door opens in front of me and a small kid walks in. I memorize the exact positioning of the door.

“Hello! Did you have a nice nap?” He asks.

“It was pleasant.” I reply. “Unfortunately I’ve got quite the headache now, so could you get me something to drink?” I ask.

“Of course!” He says, smiling amicably. I’m liking this kid already.

A minute later, he returned with an empty cup and a red hot iron.

I suddenly get a really bad feeling.

“What is tha-”

I gasp involuntarily as he stabs a knife into my left thigh.

Never mind. I don’t like this kid.

He collected the blood in the cup until it was about two-thirds full before taking the red hot iron… and wiping it all over my right leg.

“Oops, wrong leg!” He said, laughing jovially.

“My bad, it won’t happen again!” He continued, before pressing the iron to my left cheek.

“What the hell you bastard!” I screamed.

“Well, actua-” He said, cauterizing the wound on my left leg mid-sentence.

He threw the iron to the side and picked up the cup of blood.

“I’m not feeling so thirsty anymore.” I said.

“Who said it’s for you?” He answered nonchalantly before taking a sip.

“Whatever you’re trying to get from me… you aren’t going to get it.” I spit.

“But I’ve already gotten it.” He replies. “I’ve finally found a buddy who isn’t crying like a baby after five minutes!”

“Is this not… an interrogation?”

“Don’t be silly! Why would I do something as boring as that?” He asked.

This kid…

“For information?” I say quizzically.

“Don’t be silly, the professional interrogators have their own prisoners.” He said, triumphantly.

“They don’t want to be my friends though.” He said, suddenly expressionless.

“Gee, I wonder why?” I ask.

“No clue.” He says “I tried to be all understanding… and such, but they didn’t want to play.” He continued, quickly becoming depressed.

Hey! I’m not getting stabbed! Gotta keep him talking.

I need a topic…

“Hey, does that hurt?” He asks, pointing at the loop of intestine bound to the metal bar.

“Not too badly.” I said, suddenly getting a chill down my spine.

“Here, I’ll fix it.” He said, cutting it in half and stuffing it back into my body.

“You’re a sadistic little bastard, aren’t you.” I said, grimacing.

“I get that a lot, but honestly, I prefer Takuma.” He said, smiling. “You’re quite the interesting little pet human.”

“I get that a lot, but honestly, I prefer Clair.” I said, mimicking his voice.

“That’s great! Do you want to be my friend? I’ll be sure to visit and play with you a lot!” He said, excitedly.

“Define ‘a lot,’” I asked, worriedly.

“Three or four times a day.” He said. “But if you really want, I can stay here for the whole day.”

I have to get the hell out of here… This place is insane!

Torture training doesn’t make torture hurt any less!

“Say, do you like to bet?” He asks.

A way out! I’ve got a slim chance!

“Of course!” I said, instantly seizing the opportunity. “Betting is great fun!”

“I used to be a researcher.” I say. “Ask any question you know the answer to. If I answer it correctly, will you let me go?”

“Sure!” He said, smiling. “But if you answer incorrectly, will you be my best friend forever?” He asked.

Well, I’m pretty much stuck here even if I don’t do this… I’ve got nothing to lose. Plus, I can just claim to not remember this if he does happen to win. Let’s go!

“Of course!” I said, smiling for the first time in days.

“You’re lying.” He said, in flat objection.

“What? I would never!” I resolutely reply.

“Then sign this contract saying that you’ll be my best friend if you lose.” He said, running out, and returning a minute later with a contract the size of a reference encyclopedia along with a fat, metallic cylinder.

“I want to read this, before signing, to make sure you aren’t lying either.” I said.

“Go ahead. Tell me when to flip the page.”

The first page had all the necessary details. All the rest just seemed to be endless loophole checks. This kid really has a lot of time on his hands, doesn’t he.

Seventy-two pages of redundant loophole checks later, I gave up. I told him to flip to a few random pages, which I read, before finally deciding to just sign it.

Whatever. Even if I do lose, I can always just renege.

He took the fat metal cylinder and signed his name on the first space, in bloody red ink.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

A metal quill? He ejected a red cartridge with labelled ‘A’ and stuck in a red cartridge labelled ‘B’.

He stuck the pen into my mouth and I signed it, using a bullshit signature.

The contract glowed pink and consumed itself in flames.

I’ve got a REALLY bad feeling about this now.

“Alright then, what’s your great question, oh mighty contract writer?” I asked sarcastically.

“Find me three integers: a, b and c, in which a cubed plus b cubed is equal to c cubed.” He stated.

“W-Wait… What?” I stutter, astonished.

“Find me three integers: a, b and c, in which a cubed plus b cubed is equal to c cubed.” He repeated.

“That’s easy, it’s …”

I quickly began testing numbers.

“I’m sure that I’ll find-”

“Time’s up.” He said. “Please state your answers in the next ten seconds.”

“What! I didn’t read anything about a time limit!” I shouted, furiously.

“On page 2142 in appendix B, it clearly states that the said competition, mentioned on page 1 of contract statement A1 is to have a time limit not exceeding that of ten seconds.”

“The thing you showed me was just the contract statement?!”

“Your time has elapsed completely.” He said.

“According to Appendix C, page 420, you’re now a slave subjected to the rules stated on page 69, page 1337a and 1337b.”

“A slave? As if!” I said, laughing.

“Stick out your tongue.” He ordered.

Instantly, I felt an irresistible urge to obey.

I stared in shock as my will was simply bypassed and I was forced to comply.

“See, I told you.” He said, smiling unpleasantly.

“What was the answer?” I asked nervously.

“According to Fermat’s conjecture… there are no such integers.”

“Are you serious? Why am I under your control? I’ve never heard of an object like this contract!”

“The contract you signed was a soul contract, signed with a mixture of the blood of the two participants and therefore, binding.”

“Wha-”

“Yep. I took the blood sample and created the blood mixture which was injected into a pen I had made just for the occasion.”

He turned and waved at the glass, and suddenly all my restraints released themselves.

My muscles were stiff after being locked in that position for multiple days, so I fell over almost immediately.

He simply took me by my ankle and dragged me out of the room.

Part 5 -

Takuma/Rene POV

“Nice work, Takuma. How’d you ever manage to pull that one off?” The rook asked.

“Well, after interrogating Kano’s girlfriend Adina, I found out that people in this world don’t know about the existence of soul contracts. It was downhill from there.”

“The BBQer? I thought Kano was supposed to marry the Emperor’s daughter…”

“Didn’t you hear? That was cancelled after I became butt buddies with the Emperor.”

“Really? I just read in the library most of the time, so I get left out of the loop.”

“There’s a library?” The girl asked, suddenly excited. “Can I go?”

“Of course. But only if you’re good.” I said, patting her head. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Get her to the infirmary. We can’t have her die quite yet.” I said.

The other rook walked over and carried her out.

“Is that really safe?” He asked. “Won’t she kill people without the mana void?”

“The contract prevents her from using anything that could be even potentially dangerous.” I said, dismissively.

“I see… When did you become butt buddies with the Emperor?”

“Right after I gave him a medical reference book, a YY-ranked lab rat, and his daughter back in exchange for his loyalty… guaranteed through a contract, naturally.”

“So the city-state of Kilead (Kill-EE-add) is essentially under our control now?”

“Yep. It was extremely easy thanks to the Contractual Magic. We should expect that the other dungeon masters are exploiting this as much as we are since I bought it right out of the shop. I fully expect this world’s residents to develop countermeasures in the near future.”

“This war seems rather one sided.”

“That’s because it is… they aren’t the real enemy. The real enemies are the other dungeons.”

Part 6 -

On my way to the infirmary, I stopped at the library and picked up a random assortment of books and stuffed them in a book bag that I grabbed off the counter.

After walking into the infirmary, I dropped the bag by Clair’s bed. If the books are the carrots… Does that make me the stick?

She appears to be asleep still. Right before I left, I leave a note on her forehead saying not to leave the infirmary. That takes care of that problem.

I scrolled through the perceptions of my defenders as I left the infirmary. Seems like there’s some commotion in the briefing room.

With nothing better to do, I headed over the briefing room.

I walked through the dim hallways of the complex until I reached the automatic doors of the briefing room.

“Alright, get me a status report.” I asked as I walked in.

“The expendable mana project is currently being suspended.” Kano reported.

“Why?” I asked.

“Shiro has discovered a dungeon just 4 km away using 『Clairvoyance』.”

“That’s way too close for comfort. Where is it?” I asked.

“On the other side of the forest 2 km away. We have determined that a large majority of their forces are currently exposed in an aboveground town, so we have an excellent chance of winning if we perform a pre-emptive attack.” Kano replied.

“I think we should remove that dungeon as soon as possible, because of the threat it holds. Commit everything into a surprise attack… the second that their defences weaken, we’ll zerg rush.”

“So, he who moves first, loses?”

“That’s the name of the game.”

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Footnotes:

I’ve had fun writing this series, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as well.

After this chapter, I’m placing this series on *indefinite* hiatus, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t come back to it in the future.

-ToBeAndNotToBe