Transporting themselves back proved to be a pain. The Woodlander and its minions weren’t very helpful in moving the bodies or guiding them back to the entrance to the dungeon. Rory’s group had to struggle to get all the unconscious survivors upslope. They had to carry each of them individually for short distances so that none of them were left behind for long.

It wasn’t made any easier by the severe looks the hybrid creatures were throwing them. They were apparently feeling robbed of having more comrades. It would have almost been sad in a sense. They were upset that they weren’t getting more friends. A part of Rory could sympathize, could almost regret taking potential companions away from the hybrid Wilders.

But the rest of him was disgusted at the very thought of leaving anyone behind, even the half-humans as well. They had been turned into these pseudo-monsters without any vestiges of their old minds.

That was a violation no different than the case with the former Neophytes. Rory wondered what Arie or any of the others would have felt about the survivors’ condition.

Considering what they’d done to rescue completely unrelated Otherworlders, he thought it best they weren’t here.

One of the best outcomes of the trip to the dungeon under the park was obtaining the ability to return and gather the resources there. There was the Espritium of course, but the Woodlander had confessed the dungeon was home to many other Otherworlders materials, not all of which was as obviously visible as the green crystals Rory had collected earlier. That had just made Rory excited to explore the dungeon.

He had modified their deal that would allow them to harvest some of those resources. In return, he would be offering things from Belcourt palace that the Wilders might find useful. That included things like Sigils Rory thought they could use, fertilizer they might find via salvaging, and of course, information regarding the growing conflict in the overworld.

Rory was considering whether he ought to inform Talvic of his discovery. For all he knew, the dwarf minelord had known about the dungeon’s existence, but had likely left it alone thanks to the monsters there.

But then, dungeons were supposed to be good for dwarves. Then again, the ones he had accosted so far mined clouds. The complete opposite of claustrophobic underground tunnels.

It was good they had brought the pickup truck. The jeep would never have fit all the people they were bringing back. Even the pickup really didn’t, but they unceremoniously piled the unconscious people on the truck’s bed. They had to make do with what limited space they were afforded, sadly. Good thing the survivors were unconscious.

“Everyone ready?” Rory asked.

Evelyn and Lucy nodded, while Dez called out from the back that he was as well. He was staying on the bed to keep watch on the survivors.

“Then let’s go.” Rory started the truck and pulled out of the park. He was hoping their journey back to the palace would be as charmed and devoid of danger as their trip to the park had been. “Someone call Viv and the others and check up on them.”

Evelyn took charge of that. As she busied herself contacting the other group, Rory called the minelord again.

“What is it this time?” Talvic asked. “You do know I’m a busy dwarf, yes?”

“Sorry.” Rory meant it. He’d be a bit annoyed by the frequent calls too. “Just wanted to inform you that we’re free of the dungeon.”

“Oh, you are?” Talvic yawned. “Sounds nice.”

Trying not to be offended by the minelord’s tone, Rory went on. “There’s more. The dungeon we just went through is rich with a lot of materials you might find interesting.” He informed Talvic about the Espritium and the other resources the Woodlander had said they could find there. “I managed to squeeze out a deal with the Woodlander there to let us get some of what it has to offer.”

Talvic was silent for a second. It was a very satisfying second. “You made a deal with another Otherworlder?”

“It’s… not my first time.”

Another momentary silence. “How can I get a guarantee that they won’t harm my dwarves?”

“I can talk to the Woodlander and see if they’ll allow it. I did tell them I knew others who would be interested in the possibility of acquiring the dungeon’s resources, but it didn’t look like it enjoyed the idea.”

“Well, I doubt anyone wants their home invaded by a bunch of foreign creatures who only want to mine the place for its wealth.”

“You… sound like you’re familiar with the process.”

The dwarf minelord coughed and cleared his throat. “You had no need to make such strange judgement calls. Let me know what the Woodlander decides, and we can take it from there.”

“Alright. I’ll let you know as soon as I can. Talk to you later.”

Talvic cut off the call without any farewells. Sort of rude, but Rory tried not to feel too offended. They likely had different cultural norms regarding calls and the like. Of course, Talvic could just have been an ass, which wasn’t surprising. The minelord lacking social graces was quite the understatement.

At least the quick conversation let Rory catch the tail end of Evelyn’s conversation with Viv. Rory was relieved to learn that they hadn’t met any Homeworlders, though they had dealt with some monsters.

“…raptors,” Viv was saying when Rory started paying attention. “There were many of them there. More than we had suspected. Wasn’t hard to deal with, just surprising.”

“We’ll see you at the palace then,” Evelyn said.

“Did you find the parts you were looking for?” Rory asked.

“Oh, there you are.” Viv’s grin was audible through the Sigil’s image flashing on the back of the walky-talky. “I can’t believe you delegated talking to me to Evelyn.”

Rory laughed. “You can’t take up all my time, dear.”

“I found everything we came for, and more. I’ll tell you when I see you all again. Bye for now.”

They cut off that call too, deciding to focus on getting to the palace. As they drove on, Rory received some new achievements.

New Achievement!

Monstrous Machinations! You have made a deal with a monster against other monsters. Just goes to show how you can’t trust even your own kind to back you up.

Rewards

Monstrous allies in a fight receive 20% of the same stats that you have as a bonus.

New Achievement!

Depth Descender! You’ve accosted creatures living far, far below the surface of your world. Your journeys are certainly taking you far and wide, aren’t they?

Rewards

Sigil of the Depths

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of the Depths. The deep of the world won’t be holding out for you for long. Be sure to invade and plunder its riches before it comes for you first.

[Teal I] allows summoning 2 realm residents and realm in a 24-meter radius.

Stats

Type: System

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Teal I [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [92%]

Rory stared at the new Sigil. It was fully black, just like Dez’s Sigil of Chthonic Inferno, though there were green vines running through its centre. A system Sigil. He wasn’t sure what to make of it or its strange properties. That was a really high efficiency, yet this was a system Sigil, which meant he couldn’t use it the normal way. Hopefully, someone else would know once he asked.

The new bonus was nice too. Rory wondered if the former Neophytes would count as monstrous allies because of their physical appearance. Well, only time would tell.

As they drove on, they did meet some monsters this time, unfortunately. Some Emberteeth were blocking a street, so they had to take another route, but this one had Rockbacks jumping down from the rooftops in an ambush.

Dez would have been more than enough to handle the half-dozen rocky apes on his own, but Rory helped as well. He had paused the pickup just in case one of the monsters got too close. The defenceless survivors didn’t need to put in harm’s way. But some Chthonic Inferno and Frozen Lightning took care of the creatures with ease.

Thankfully, the rest of the journey was eventless. They reached the palace in one piece, with the none of the survivors having woken up along the trip. Strange, that. Rory hoped they weren’t suffering something thanks to the Woodlander and its Wilders.

“You’re back!” Viv kissed and embraced him when he climbed out of the pickup. “I’m glad you’re all okay.” Her eyes fell on the unconscious newcomers. “Well, almost everyone.”

“They should be fine too,” Evelyn said. “We just need to get them to the infirmary.”

They were already beginning to carry the unconscious people there. It was somewhat of a relief to hear Evelyn’s spot-check of a diagnosis. So long as there wasn’t anything serious to worry about, Rory was confident that their healers would get the newcomers up on their feet soon enough.

“So.” Viv was looking Rory in the eye. “Evelyn didn’t get to tell me everything in the car. What happened in the dungeon?”

Rory smiled. “Come on. I’ll tell you over food. You owe us the whole story too.”

“Mine isn’t as interesting as meeting strange monsters in a paradise underground.”

Rory laughed. They headed into the main hall where the ones who had stayed behind had prepared food for their return. Rory’s stomach growled despite himself. It seemed he was hungrier than he had realized.

They sat down to eat together after they had freshened up. He noticed that Viv’s clothes were different, and she explained that the old ones had been ruined with monster blood.

“We found all the parts they were looking for in an old garage,” she said. “There weren’t any survivors there, sadly. But everything had been left behind in pretty good condition. Once we got everything, we got out as fast as we could. We hadn’t seen any Homeworlders on the journey there, but we didn’t want to take any chances.”

Rory wasn’t the only rapt audience. The others had their eyes on her like students at a lecture, and she seemed to grow as though she was assuming the role that she had left behind so long ago.

“Like I said, there were monsters though,” Viv continued. “I think we came across a Dreadraptor nest somewhere. There were a lot. We also came across some new kind of monsters I haven’t seen before. They were called Rusters.”

“Rusters?” Rory asked. He remembered Viv had a Sigil of Knowledge too.

Viv nodded. “They looked like some kind of weird monstrous combination. A chicken head on a metallic, armoured body.”

“It was kind of chimera,” Ned said. “You know, those mythical monsters that are just a combination of different animals? That kind of thing. The chicken head… is a chicken head. But I could bet my Burnwings that the armoured half was like an armadillo or something.”

“Oh huh.” Viv paused to consider. “Now that I think about it, you might be right.”

“He is,” Harlow said. “It looked like an armadillo to me too.”

“Don’t forget that we met some of those undead things you told us about,” Ned said. “The Revenants.”

Rory sat up straighter, his spine tingling with unease. “Revenants? How? We blocked them all up. They’re not suppose to be able to get out of the sewers.”

Viv shook her head, clearly disturbed by it as much as Rory felt. “I have no idea. Maybe they broke through one of the entrances. Maybe we missed one. Either way, they’re free. We didn’t fight them and decided to get back to the palace just in case things were worse than we had thought.”

“Good decision. Nothing’s flooding yet, so we should be safe for the time being. But I’ll leave a message with the others that the Revenants are still alive and kicking.”

“Wait, they had a weird plan, didn’t they?” April asked. “Something about invading the overworld or something?”

Rory grimaced. “Taking over the surface, yeah. Something the Imps and the Djinn were going to help them with too.”

“Then this isn’t good,” Viv said.

They all paused in worried, contemplative silence. There wasn’t a lot they could do about at the moment other than informing everyone they knew. If the Revenants had a secret exit they were leaking out of, it would be nearly impossible to find it for Rory’s group. They couldn’t go looking through the entirety of Hillhard.

Ultimately, they decided to redouble their watches, including stationing a permanent watch near the bathrooms to make sure the flooding didn’t restart. In the meanwhile, Rory called the Wraith Lord and Talvic again, much to the dwarf’s growing annoyance, to inform them that the Revenants were going to make a move, likely assisted by the Imps and the Djinn.

Neither seemed particularly worried and both promised to keep an eye out for whatever the monsters might get up to next. The Wraith Lord even said he would lend more Wraiths to scout around Belcourt palace just to make sure Rory’s group was never surprised.

For his part, Rory was simply glad that he had allies he could trust so implicitly.

He wondered how whatever the Revenants had planned would affect the war. There was no doubt the Homeworlders and Otherworlders could handle the smaller monsters with ease, but did any of them have anything on the gigantic beast they had seen in the depths of the sewer?

With that done, they decided to take the rest of the day off to relax and recuperate, at least for those of them who had ventured outside. Tomorrow, Rory would tackle any other standing matters he still needed to take care of.