[Kaina]

"They stopped..." I looked around and didn't see any more Zombies approaching us... they just stopped and backed up. I worked up a good sweat due to the endless waves but I was expecting much more before they stopped sieging us. Instead, they just stopped as if by some order.

"Someone is coming." I could feel the presence of a massive spike in malevolent magic. It assaulted all my senses. It was course against my skin like the cold hard ground during winter. The smell was acrid and smokey as if it had been on fire. I could practically hear the crackling of the magic itself in the air as it grew closer.

Amanda stood in front of the middle door and the undead that stood in front of it melted into black smoke as a great demon and Alpha walked beside him.

"Your friends are here, fox." the demon specter growled. "As you can see they are not so easy to harm."

"Traitor!" Becky declared.

"Careful of your bark worm. The deal I stuck with the fox is the reason I have not struck you down myself." The demon warned.

"Deal? What deal?" Amanda asked.

"A deal that just saved your lives. Hey Doc, I need one of your crystals, one with a big capacity if you would be so kind." Alpha said.

"Is that one not enough?" the demon pointed at the crystal skull that Jekyll had been refining. Now it was a murky greenish color almost like a natural dungeon core.

"I'll triple what I was going to pay you for saving my life. And throw in a dungeon core the size of your head when we get back to Galavan." Alpha offered. I don't know what he was going to pay Jekyll for fixing the hole in his neck, but a dungeon core fragment was no small thing to trade not to mention a whole dungeon of that size.

"Alright, but if the templars get involved. I had nothing to do with this." Jekyll tossed Alpha the crystal skull.

"You never have anything to do with anything. I remember, no glory means no unwanted eyes." Alpha caught the skull.

"Glory is too troublesome, you taught me that." Jekyll shook his head. "The last thing I need are countries trying to contract me every time I stay in one place too long." Then he walked over and grabbed Tali's hand. "Besides, I have all the glory I need."

"Ya, ya, quit showing off." Alpha said. "Some of us to get to hold hands with pretty girls, we just get our teeth kicked in instead." He pulled out a wand made of some kind of dark metal and summoned a fine beam of light. He then began to change the symbol on the front and etched many more symbols into it.

He held it up to the demon, "Just touch it and imagine entering it with all your power and practice the technique I taught you. It should take anywhere from three months to three years to master depending on your skill. And I'll check in periodically to check your progress."

"You better hold up your end of the deal, fox." The demon growled. He touched the skull and turned into black smoke. The smoke was then sucked into the eyes and mouth of the skull. The same thing happened with the rest of the undead.

"Alpha, what did you do?" Amanda asked as Alpha stood there with a glowing red skull.

"Festering dungeons are as annoying as the journey to the Fels. You can't just beat the boss and break the core. So I struck a deal." Alpha said.

"Ya that's all well and good we should leave before-" Jekyll said as the building started to shake and fall apart. "- the building collapses in on itself!"

*

[Sebas/Jekyll]

"You struck a deal with a rogue dungeon! And a demon Specter at that!" Once we had exited the dungeon by pulling off an Indiana Jones escape, Amanda had Alpha by his shirt and had him off the ground. "Do you have any idea just how reckless and stupid that was?"

"My job is to protect Jekyll and Tali, when I was locked out of the house, I did everything I could to get back in. Once I was back in, I did the most efficient thing and disable the dungeon lord using the means I had available." Alpha did not back down. "Don't forget Amanda, this was the position you put me in." Alpha narrowed his eyes. "The risks I take are my own, and I've always lived with them." Alpha pulled off his mask to reveal the scar on his face. "One way or another I'll complete my mission."

Amanda dropped him and backed off. "Fine... I understand. Can you at least tell me the nature of the deal you made?"

"It's rather simple," Alpha answered. "Simply put, I just have to transport him somewhere in the next three years."

"That's a little too simple." Amanda sighed.

"The less I tell the better. That is the nature of making deals." Alpha nodded. "I appreciate your kindness. It is not often I am lifted off the ground like that because someone is worried about me."

"Sure sure, just keep that skull out of sight, the last thing we need are people asking questions about it." Amanda turned away although an embarrassed blush could be seen, at least from my angle. "Just don't let my boy get hurt either..." she said only loud enough for Alpha to hear.

But there is something more important right now. I made my way to the place where we left the griffon... and the pet cat Talisa brought.

*

The cat bandit was lounging in the last bits of sunlight of the day. I checked the spell I placed on the cart to make sure he didn't wander off. It was a simple barrier that acted as no more than a magic cage to keep him in and beasts out, especially if the griffon got hungry. But it was fine and there were no unique magic signatures coming from the cat.

It rolled over and meowed at me, but other than that, it was just a regular cat.

I confirmed it couldn't have left this spot even though we clearly saw it in the dungeon. Which means I have almost no leads about that unremarkable-definitely-not-cooler person that disguised themselves like me. Well, it looked quite a bit like me without being perfect. Which was amazing considering how little I showed my true face. Usually just my black and white tails is enough to stir up rumors for miles.

The list of possible culprits was small, every one of them was even more unlikely then the next, and none of them were benign enough to ignore.

"I don't like the way you are looking at my cat, darling." Talisa said with a hint of warning in her voice.

"I didn't get as far as I have by being nice to everything that breathes." I pet her on the head. "But I'll make an exception this one time on your account." That doesn't mean I trust the cat, it just means I won't be throwing a fireball at it in front of Talisa just yet. But after knowing Cheshire and fighting so many conscripts I'm not about to let my guard down just yet.

Without much ceremony, we returned to the city and delivered our report to the guild. They almost didn't believe us until I showed them the fresh ingredients I had harvested. I sold about half of them to the guild for a pretty penny. Enough to buy the mansion we just left. We also received our reward and then some for the mission jumping from a low B investigation quest into a high A almost S rank dungeon raid. If Alpha hadn't "captured" the Dungeon Lord with "proof" they would have ranked it S and quarantined the entire area.

They weren't super Happy about Alpha keeping the skull housing a live dungeon lord for many reasons and about 70% were obviously political rather than the lip service about his safety. But when he threatened to put it back where he found it if they kept pestering him about it, they shut up for a while.

But being the sadistic genius that I am, we bought a conspicuous questionably-sized case that was fit for fitting a human skull. Plenty of people noticed since Alpha was just carrying around an ominous-looking sack with the head in it.

When we returned to the hotel, we swapped out the skull for another one. I had picked off a skeleton monster since skulls had their own uses for blood magic. With a little craftsmanship and magic, I melted and shaped glass around it so that it had a flawless glass shell of a cloudy green to match the real artifact.

A convincing prop if I do say so myself. And I do.

"Remarkable, I had no idea glass could be made so beautifully." Talisa said while holding up a glass orb that was made of the leftover material. Both her eyes were dilated, and she started giggling childishly as she used wind magic to play with it. It was a very cute moment that you wouldn't think you'd see when compared to her dignified lady persona.

I placed several inconvenience curses and annoying reverse blessings on the skull. It would trigger on anyone who opened the box, anyone who claimed ownership of it, anyone who buys it, anyone who sells it, etc. So that it would bring trouble to anyone who dares mess with me, and if they got the curse lifted or had any curse preventative measures, they would feel the effects of the reverse blessings. You can tell me that I'm being petty but at the same time they just deserve it. I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who take my stuff.

I smiled wickedly as I sealed the fake skull away.