Grey closed the book. It was from the Dungeon of the paper-men, and within its pages were the many Scripts available to him at his current Rank. It was most likely one of the last he would get from them, if not the last. Sacrifices had to be made, however. He would just have to find an effective combination to progress it further.

“The units are in position. We are weaker outside of our Dungeon, so I hope your strategy is as effective as you think it will be.” The Legate’s voice was knowing, the strategy in question partly of its own devising.

Grey nodded. The restrictions on how far the Dungeon monsters could range was effectively gone within the city limits by now. “I give it a seventy-six percent chance of succeeding.”

“There aren’t many plans that hold in war.”

“It’s good that this one is simple, then. Or is that, too, outside of your capabilities?” The remark was more cutting than Grey had intended, but he allowed his expression to back it all the same. He had already heard the Legate’s many, many doubts.

“Arrogance is the death of many commanders.”

“As is indecision. Send them in.”

From the window, Grey watched as small units of Legionnaires led by Tribunes entered the Dungeon’s Gate. The Steel Legion’s typical strategy depended on a long shield wall, as their linking Evolution multiplied their physical might. It was a sound strategy, one the Legate clung to, but Grey had exploited it himself. He knew it lacked mobility and adaptability, so he had ordered the battalions to be split into smaller, more maneuverable units.

He ripped many of his tactics from the minds of Roman generals. History was meant to be learned from. In fact, he suspected the Steel Legion would’ve already adapted to this strategy if their own Genesis had not effectively remodeled their military doctrine.

Grey, of course, accounted for Evolutions as well. The big shield walls were still essential. The Legion’s Evolution still functioned the same, and he couldn’t train the instinct out of them anyways- not so quickly. He wanted the walls to be able to split and break up more effectively, however, which would make up for their lack of mobility.

The Legate had introduced a few of his own alterations, as well. The Legion had another Evolution they could use with their Dungeon’s current Rank. It was a simple increase to their weapons’ sharpness, and before Grey had arrived, the Legate had its soldiers drilling with extending the Evolution’s power to their projectiles- a practice that had been common before their souls had been fused to their armor. The soldiers now carried javelins and caltrops in addition to their pikes and short swords.

Grey followed behind his small army of fifty, having left a few units outside to watch for peeping eyes. Getting the units out of their own Dungeon had been the biggest obstacle, and he had sidestepped that by drawing Jessica’s attention to the paper-men. It turned them against him and most likely voided their agreement, but that had always been a possibility. Their leader, Curious, had been too amenable, too agreeable. Telltale signs of a future betrayal.

Those who searched for knowledge were always dangerous. They were too curious to pride another’s interests over their own, and they knew too much to be safely trusted. No, betrayal had always been a likelihood. It was simply a manner of when.

When enough of his troops had gone in, Grey followed, stepping into a familiar scene. Crimson moonlight glinted off of hard steel, and like hulls of a titanic ship, the Steel Legion repelled waves of assaulting monstrosities. Grey stepped over the deformed, animalistic face of a former ARA agent, her crimson blood leaking onto the cobbled stone street. On either side of him, tall brick and stone buildings seemed to lean over. Lamps and lanterns of dancing purple flame hung from wooden posts.

It was the same Dungeon that Rose had died in. It seemed so long ago that he had put things into motion, but it felt fitting to start the end here. Grey watched the madness unfurl with arms held behind his back. This was not his fight, not yet. His skills were still far from where they had been.

Swords slipped out past shields that continued to push forward, injuring and killing the monstrosities before it. When the gunfire and smoke rained from the buildings above, javelins nearly as long as Grey was tall silenced the shooters. It was an efficient massacre, a dismantling of a Gold Dungeon unlike any the city had seen prior.

Until, of course, it wasn’t.

The primary monsters in this Dungeon were not the clumsy beasts around him. They were more than reanimated dead turned bestial. They were sleek, graceful. They had handsome features and pale skin, their hair pure charcoal or bleached bone. Blade-like appendages rose from their backs like a spider’s legs, web like steel thread spinning from their ends.

They descended like nothing more than flitting shadows, there one moment and gone the next. Sometimes they took with them a steel suit. Other times they left only a vacant one behind.

Grey, having expected this, locked eyes with the Legate. A mental command later, the ranks of the Legion tightened, forming a square in the center of the street. He stood in its middle and looked up at the bleeding moon. A short sword and dagger rested in his hands, the press of bodies too tight for much else.

A thought willed a Gold Key to his hand, and he absorbed it with a thought. Around his head, a corona of silver materialized into the half-crown. His mind immediately merged with the others around him, their light roaring in his mind’s sense like a bonfire rather than candles.

The information roared in, a torrent of senses and detail. Pain, confidence, overwhelming tension. Threat on the right. Pikes rose, skewering the being he dubs a daemon. Short swords cut it into the afterlife.

That was the first. More came. Some killed his soldiers, snuffed their spark with terrifying speed. Others died, skewered on the Legion’s porcupine formation. Grey willed them forward, and step by step, they marched to the citadel that stood on the hill in the center of the city.

Dark stone interlocked to form a spire-lined building. Stained glass windows depicted scenes of horror and rising dead. Daemons sat in place of gargoyles, still and unmoving. Grey allowed the crown to dissipate.

He stepped beyond his forces, standing boldly in front of the cathedral. “Who leads here?”

A moment passed, the silence filled only by faint screams. The answer was faint, coming to him on the wind. “We do, human.”

Then they were before him. Their skin, pale gray and otherworldly, was unblemished as if touched by a brush. Strands of night hung down to their backs, bounds in tight, spiky braids. Their features held a cold beauty that was marred only by the nightmarish mandibles that stood in place of their mouths. Chitinous armor hung from their lean frames, the corresponding blade-arms sprouting from their back. Shadows seemed to tug at the edges of their skin, making them seem ephemeral.

“Your names?” Grey had banished his weapons to his Inventory, standing unbothered before the two humanoid horrors.

A raspy chuckling filled the air. “Such things are not for your kind.”

Grey nodded. “So be it. I will make my offer short, but please, let me warn you. These are only words, yes, but I trust you are smart enough to see how I solve problems without them.”

“Very intimidating, isn’t he, brother?” One of the humanoids said, the one with feminine features.

“Quite, sister.”

“Serve me,” Grey said. “I will pay you in many ways. Power, conquest, more bodies with which to grow your army.” He waved a hand. “Autonomy in governing your own affairs. A seat on the council I plan to form. More, if you can negotiate for it. All I want is your troops. An easy trade, no?”

More chuckling. “Did you hear that, sister?”

“I did, brother. Silly, silly human.”

Grey frowned. “This is how you want to play it, then?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

Behind his back, he flashed a hand gesture. Several things happened at once. Two Tribunes and the Legate stepped in front of Grey, blocking the attacks of the two daemons. Javelins blasted into the other enemies on the balconies and rooftop of the cathedral, killing some and scattering the rest. Pikes rose into the air above his head and impaled two assassins.

“For a time, I’ve wondered how to truly neutralize a Dungeon. My forces cannot enter its full area, meaning I can’t raze your homes to ash and the like. Your leaders respawn within a few weeks. Even your foot soldiers are replenished, either through volunteers or forced reincarnation of some sort. In short, you are trapped souls forced to relive death over and over again.

“It’s a nasty punishment,” Grey said, waving a hand and stepping between his protectors. “I respect it, but it does put me in a bit of a precarious position. I have come up with two potential solutions, however. Maybe you two can tell me how they sound.

“My first idea is quite a simple one. Nothing stops me from leaving my forces here. With your Key, I can effectively slow the rate at which your forces can replenish this area, and as they do return, my soldiers will simply kill them again. And again. I’ll spare you the gory details. I’m sure you can imagine, after all. The next one is a bit more difficult. Dungeon monsters are returned to their Dungeons upon death, even if that death occurs outside of the Dungeon. The bosses, too, in case you were wondering. I tested as much. They don’t come back if they are not killed, however. Connect the dots there, if you like.

“Now,” Grey clapped his hands together, “I think we all get the picture, don’t we? I’ll make my offer once more, and this time I will speak very slowly so you can understand. Serve me, or effectively die. Your choice.”

By this point, the remaining Legion soldiers had surrounded the two daemons, and Grey had them forced to their knees. They stared up at him with hatred. He smiled to hammer his performance home.

“We want-”

Grey chopped a hand. “You don’t get to ask for anything.”

“What of negotiations?”

He laughed. “This is negotiation. I simply have all the leverage. That’s the thing about those of us who think. We quite like having the advantage. Now, I’d rather not ask again.”

The two monsters paused, a silent conversation passing between them. Grey allowed them to stall. There was no cavalry coming, not any that couldn’t efficiently be put down. The daemons were stronger than his soldiers individually, but they fought as a unit. As a Legion. And that made them beyond formidable, even beyond their own Dungeon.

“We surrender,” the female said. “We will serve.”

“I know. Your names?”

“I’m Shade,” she said. “And my brother is Bane.”

“A pleasure.” He stood from where had he squatted in front of them. “I am Grey. Legate, take the male.”

“Of course, my lord.” The title and tone were an act, of course, but the suit obeyed all the same, severing tendons in the male daemon’s tendons and binding him in steel thread.

“What are you-” Steel spears interrupted the female’s words, their threats laid heavily at her pale, unarmored throat. She settled back down.

“Did I not already mention the bit about advantages?” Grey asked. “Don’t worry. He won’t be killed or tortured. Just held- and in relative comfort, I might add. This is just… insurance. Obey, and well, you’ll see him again. Don’t, and we can see if it really is impossible to kill a Dungeon boss permanently. I lied earlier. I have quite a few ideas.”

He did, too. Though many of them required upgrading Dungeon Master, he felt quite capable of permanently killing a Dungeon creature. He felt the threat was enough in this case, however. The information he had managed to gather through his conversation with one of the daemons captured outside of the Dungeon pointed towards a close relationship between the siblings.

“Now, I have a final question,” Grey said. “Can you truly revive the dead?”

Shade stared at him unblinkingly, emotions warring across her perfect features. “In a way.”

“Good.” Another piece slid into place.