[Chapter 111. Good News]
The portal spat them out in quick succession, each woman stumbling as they erged back into the familiar forest clearing. The transition from the oppressive, lightless depths of the dungeon to the open air was jarring. The sun now hung low on the horizon, streaking the sky with bruised shades of orange and purple as evening closed in. The air in the clearing was cooling rapidly, providing a sharp contrast to the humid, stagnant heat of the burrow.
Carn supported most of Lana’s weight, her own muscles trembling under the strain. Lana’s legs were practically useless, threatening to give way with every uneven step they took over the twisted roots and soft loam of the forest floor. Vanessa followed closely behind, her movents stiff and chanical with total exhaustion; her eyes were sunken, and her skin was pale from mana depletion. Sarah brought up the rear, moving with a silent, haunting gait. The black ichor of the Depths Devourer still coated her from head to toe, glistening like wet tar in the fading twilight. It dripped rhythmically from the ends of her matted hair, leaving a dark, viscous trail on the grass behind her.
Sarah’s boots hit the grass just as the portal behind her began to falter. The vibrant, energetic blue light of its rotation slowed to a sluggish crawl. The color began to bleed away, shifting from a light, inviting azure back into a deeper, more ominous hue of dark blue with a faint, pulsing trace of purple at the center. It was returning to its dormant state, the gateway having served its purpose for the ti being.
The trek back toward the tower seed to stretch on endlessly. For the won, every ter felt like a several. Lana’s legs remained dead weight beneath her, her toes dragging through the dirt and dried leaves as Carn half-carried, half-dragged her along the path. Vanessa walked ahead, her shoulders slumped and her head hanging low, too tired to even wipe the sweat from her brow. Sarah trailed behind the rest, the tallic, bitter stench of the ichor clinging to her and marking her passage with occasional spatters on the stone path.
When they finally reached the massive, dark base of the tower, Iris stopped and turned to face them. She gave them a brief, curt nod—the only acknowledgnt of their success they would receive for the mont. They reached the center stone and placed their hands on it, with it each woman dissolved into a faint, shimring violet light. In an instant, they were transported away to the living quarters on the third floor. Iris remained behind at the base, settling herself onto the outer ring of the Atrium to wait in the gathering gloom.
So ti later, the distant, rhythmic sound of machinery announced Searanox’s return. A heavy cargo drone hovered steadily beside him as he began the process of unsorting a massive haul of raw materials. His movents were thodical, his focus entirely on organizing the growing collection of items spread across the Atrium floor.
Fangs and serrated bones, thick carapace plates, and severed limbs were piled into categorized heaps. Among the more common remains were more bizarre and exotic items—curved bone plates etched with bioluminescent residue and coral tridents that humd with a faint, aquatic energy. They piled up around him like the hoard of so technological dragon.
Iris approached him without making a single sound, her feet barely touching the stone. When she was within a few ters, she closed the remaining distance with a sudden, flickering Blade Step. His reaction was instantaneous and violent. Searanox spun around, his hand lashing out to close firmly around her throat before she could even land. A soft, involuntary yelp escaped her as he slamd her back against the low stone wall before him.
Iris lay back against the smooth, black stone, but she didn’t struggle. Instead, a playful, jagged grin spread across her lips as she looked up at him from her position one ter above the Atrium floor. Her tail began to thump rhythmically against the stone, a steady thud-thud-thud that betrayed her excitent. She stretched her body out, hooking her legs firmly around his waist and pulling him into the space between her knees.
Searanox did not release his grip on her throat. His fingers held her in place with a calculated pressure—not hard enough to bruise or choke her, but enough to make the power dynamic of the position absolutely clear.
"You're back, Iris," he said. His voice was flat, echoing with a tallic resonance that was entirely devoid of human emotion.
She grinned wider, a slow stretching of her lips that showed the tips of her sharp teeth. "The dungeon is clear. All four of them survived the trial, and I never had to lift a single finger to save them."
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His grip shifted slightly, moving from her throat to the nape of her neck. His fingers lightly scored the skin there, a sensation that made her shiver. "Give the details."
"Mhhh~" Iris’s eyes fluttered closed for a long mont as she processed the mory of the fight, her ears twitching. She opened them again to et his cold gaze. "They perford better than I expected. They are still incompetent, obviously. Their formation broke twice, and the tank almost burned to a crisp because she forgot how to move her feet. But they are learning. They found a way to win."
Searanox’s fingers stilled in her thick fur. "Really… You believe they can handle the dungeons on their own from now on?"
Her legs tightened around his waist, pulling his hips flush against the stone wall. "They will. They should. If you keep sending in as a safety net, they will never develop the instinct to kill. The fear of death is what will forge them into sothing useful."
"I want a full, itemized report on their skill usage later," he said. His thumb pressed firmly against the hinge of her jaw while his other hand continued to scratch the back of her head, finding the sensitive spots beneath her ears.
A soft, guttural sound—half-purr and half-moan—escaped her throat. "Yes, Master."
She tilted her head into his touch, seeking more of the contact, but his eyes were already fixed on sothing in the far distance, looking past her toward the horizon.
"Oh, is it already that ti?" he muttered to himself, his focus shifting. "Sorry, dear, I have to go now." He began pushing back against her hold, his movents firm and uncompromising.
Iris’s hold on his waist tightened instantly, a small, desperate whimper slipping past her lips. "No… You promised . You promised a reward for a successful mission."
His fingers sank deeper into her fur as he leaned down, his face a breath away from hers until their lips were almost brushing. "Iris. I will reward you later. First, I need to handle sothing important." The kiss that followed was brief—a re, firm press of his lips against hers before he pushed back against her legs again, extricating himself from her embrace with practiced ease. "Tonight. In your room."
Without another word, he summoned a travel drone with a flick of his wrist. The chanical hum of the thrusters filled the silence of the Atrium as the craft carried him away into the night sky, leaving Iris stretched across the low wall. Her tail twitched in visible irritation, slapping the stone with a sharp crack.
"Not fair," she whispered to the empty space where he had stood only seconds before. her ears drooped forward, hiding her eyes.
Her tail continued to slam against the stone, the rhythmic thumping growing more frantic and aggressive as the minutes ticked by. She remained there in the silence, the cooling air ruffling her fur. Finally, she pushed herself upright, her expression a conflicted mask of sharp irritation and simring anticipation.
As she turned to approach the central stone of the tower, a sudden movent near the atrium entrance caught her eye. Searanox was returning, a second, larger cargo drone hovering steadily beside him.
Iris’s ears remained low, her voice sounding softer and more hesitant than usual. "Did you forget sothing?" Her gaze fixed on the heavy cargo drone trailing behind him as he dismounted.
"Iris, you didn't have to stay here and wait," he said, sounding a bit irritated. "Wait, forgot sothing… what exactly do you an by that?"
Searanox paused for a mont, looking at a sothing in his vision, then glanced back toward the archway leading to the forest outside.
"You left only minutes ago," she replied. Her voice carried a barely concealed note of sadness and confusion.
The cargo drone began to deposit heavy, tallic components onto the floor with a series of resonant, bone-shaking clangs. "How long was I gone from your perspective?" Searanox asked, his tone shifting. He reached out and caught a glowing amber orb as the drone continued its unloading process.
"Be careful with these," he commanded the drone’s automated sub-routine. "Set them down gently. If the casing cracks, the Atrium will be leveled." He placed the orb into a padded space himself as the pile of materials continued to grow.
Iris approached him cautiously, her curiosity montarily overriding her irritation. She examined the thick tal plating and the collection of smaller, translucent spheres. "What are these? They don't look like dungeon loot." She reached out and lifted one of the spheres; it was roughly the size of a tennis ball and felt uncomfortably warm against her palm, vibrating with a high-frequency hum.
"These are Cores," Searanox said dismissively, his mind clearly on his work. "I have been dismantling, for the last several hours. It was a tedious process."
"But you were gone for—" she began, her brow furrowing.
"I know," he cut her off sharply. "I was also gone for several hours from my own perspective. Ti dilation..." He dismissed the now-empty drone with a sharp gesture. "It is sothing I will have to test later."
Without any further warning, he stepped forward and swept her up into his arms in a sudden bridal carry.
"For now," he said, his voice dropping into that gravelly register that made her heart race, "I have a reward to deliver."
Iris’s ears shot upright instantly. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, the warm core still clutched forgotten in her hand. Her tail began to thump against his legs with renewed vigor as he turned and began carrying her toward the central stone, the promise of the night ahead hanging heavy and electric between them.
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