The advisor smirked to himself as he stared at his handiwork. The corpses of goblins and insect monsters lay scattered throughout the battlefield, blood flowing into the grassy field where the battle had taken place. In the center of the mess, stood the goblin chief, his chest heaving as he glared at the advisor. However, the advisor knew that the chief had nothing left up his sleeve. The chief’s remaining arm dangled listlessly at his side, veins swelling as blood rushed through them. The use of the [Twin Strikes] and [Whirlwind Strikes] skill was horribly taxing on the body, so the chief would no longer be able to even lift his arm to fight. In addition, the chief was currently immobilized. The advisor grinned as he gazed down at the chief before pulling a root out of a pocket within his robe. The chief’s eyes widened in shock as the goblin advisor bit down and swallowed the bitter root, refilling a portion of his mana immediately. The advisor then commanded the last of his active spirits to use a spell, draining all of his mana. The advisor staggered in shock at the sudden loss of mana, and sweat began to bead his forehead. He took several deep breaths before regaining his composure. He wouldn’t be able to defend himself as easily in close combat anymore due to the death of the goblins who were his shields until now. He needed a stronger physical fighter as his shield.

“[Earth Body Possession]” the spirit hummed as it left the crystal it was housed in, sinking into the ground. As the spirit sunk in, the ground seemed to cave in as dirt and stone began to flow towards the spirit, beginning to outline a shape...

Dylan gasped in shock as a…human seemed to pull itself out of the earth of his dungeon. It was distinctly human shaped, but appeared to be made completely out of dirt and stone, with bits of grass sticking out here and there. It also counted as an intruder, and it was one which Dylan felt to be more of a threat than even the goblin chief. As the earth human slowly raised its body, Dylan realized that it had no features on its face. It stood at 8 feet (2.4m) tall, and probably weighed several hundred pounds, the top of its head brushing the lower lying branches of the trees. A single, fist-sized hole in its face seemed to glow with an ethereal purplish light, seemingly like an eye.

The robed goblin let off another round of laughs as he gazed at his creation. He started spewing crap about how his new golem or so it was called would be his perfect defense from physical harm, how he would kill the goblin chief and all of the remaining goblins outside, and how he would take Dylan’s core and use it to become all powerful. Dylan lazily listened to the robed goblin as he sent some orders to his remaining monsters. In all honesty, Dylan didn’t care about the deaths of the remaining goblins, however, Dylan definitely had qualms about his core being taken and used. He still had some fighting spirit left in him, and he was more than willing to test the “perfect defense from physical harm” which the goblin was going on about. As several of his monsters began to approach, Dylan began to give them orders.

The advisor snickered to himself as he began to give the golem an order. He was planning on having the golem lead the way through the battlefield with the advisor following, just in case there were any enemies left. The chief himself could be seen as no problem. The advisor could kill him after acquiring the core, as gaining control of the dungeon could mean the difference between life and death in this situation. If he could control the dungeon for a short period of time, he might be able to nullify all traps in his way and prevent any of the dungeon’s remaining creatures from fighting him. The golem began to stagger forward, dragging its heavy earth feet over the ground, shoulders tilted forward, almost zombie-like. Its purple eye darted about within its head as it lumbered forward, before resting on the chief still buried within the ground. As it stepped forward, the goblin advisor stopped it with a word, and it started to step through the battlefield. The goblin advisor started to move out from the tree line, nearly a dozen steps behind his creation…

RUSTLE

The advisor turned his head at the sound of rustling trees, before looking up. As he looked up, he saw a giant spider falling from a tree towards him, with two face-sized claws grasping at him…

GOGOGO!!! Dylan shouted to his monsters as spiders began to drop from the trees and ants began to crawl out of the ground. Spiders! Murder that goblin! ANTS! KILL THE GOLEMMM! The golem which had moved over a dozen steps ahead of the goblin turned around and crushed several ants with its log-like arms. More and more of the swarm ants began to climb up its body and begin picking off bits of dirt and stone, as the golem attempted to make its way to the goblin, who was wrestling against one of the clawed spiders which had knocked him to the floor. Several viper spiders were already latched onto the goblin, pumping him full of confusing venom. As more and more ants covered the golem, the golem’s appearance turned from human-like to something resembling a mound of ants. The golem’s orders were to defend the goblin advisor first, resulting in it allowing the ants to dig at its body as it came to help its creator. As the goblin pushed off the clawed spider, the golem swung its fist, shaking off several ants and also crushing another clawed spider from the impact. The goblin turned to his golem happily, then recoiled in shock as he saw the ‘ant-hill’ approaching him.

“NO! Stay away from me!” The goblin wailed under the effects of confusion from multiple viper spider bites. The golem, unable to refuse orders from its creator, lumbered away several feet and stood still, though its body continued to twitch occasionally as the spirit within it raged at its master, begging to be allowed to help or at least kill the ants on its body. As a few other clawed spiders landed down, they grabbed at the goblin’s limbs, some managing to grab on before they attempted to tug the goblin off balance. Within a few moments of struggle, the goblin found all four of his limbs being pulled in different directions by the spiders.

The advisor panicked and screamed, yet couldn’t muster the mana required to cast any spells. Where did his golem go? What happened in that short period of time? These thoughts flew through his head as his gaze darted around. Suddenly, his right arm flared in pain at the shoulder, as another spider joined in the tugging. His shoulder was dislocated as the two spiders continued to pull together. The advisor screamed in shock as he pushed himself to his limits, casting a spell which required more mana than he had. Spikes of stone erupted through the ground all around him, impaling the spiders and causing most of them to die in the process. Some hung on, barely alive, as green ichor dripped down from their cracked shells. The advisor himself coughed up a mouthful of blood as he fell unconscious. The strain from overusing his mana could cripple his mana capacity permanently.

Across the battlefield, the chief stared in shock at the combined effort of the remaining dungeon monsters. His gears had begun spinning on how he would manage to kill Gwenthy immediately after the golem had been summoned, as it was a monster which should be around (D) rank, despite it being so slow. Between Gwenthy and the golem, the chief would have trouble dealing with them. The golem was slow yet incredibly durable, and Gwenthy himself was exceptionally crafty for a goblin. The chief knew that deep down inside, he wouldn’t have much of a chance of killing Gwenthy, so it filled his heart with joy when he saw the tide of monsters dealing with both Gwenthy and the golem with such ease. He sighed even as the weight of the earth surrounding him pressed him down. His right arm was missing, blood gushing out. His left arm was a mess due to over exhaustion. It would be unusable for several days as it recovered. The chief activated a skill which would give him a chance of survival if he made it out of the dungeon, causing his blood to begin clotting immediately as it left his body. Immediately the wound which had previously been spurting blood stopped and turned into a slow trickle as it began to clot. The skin around the wound tightened, clenching together, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. This skill helped to limit the amount of blood leaving through his body, and could preserve his life for up to several days.

The chief began to plan his next steps to escape the dungeon and gather his goblins. They had lost too many fighters and needed him there to protect the tribe. As he planned, the chief noticed a rustle of movement from a bush, and a shape pushed itself out of the brush. As Kuraura stood straight and began to stretch his body, the chief felt a cold trickle of sweat drip down his neck. If Kuraura recognized Gwenthy and helped him, then the chief and all of his goblins could be in danger again! His eyes widened in realization, and he opened his mouth to shout.

“Ku-”

“FOR THE LORD!” Just as the chief began to shout his name, Kuraura reached down and grabbed a large rock, slamming it down on the advisor’s head. He lifted it up again and slammed it down once again. The chief stared in shock and partial relief as the strange purple goblin slammed the rock down over and over until he was too exhausted to do so. The advisor’s head had been reduced to paste, crushed in the ground due to the number of impacts it had sustained. The golem remained still, completely unable to move anymore without mana to power it. By killing the advisor, Kuraura had successfully dealt with the golem too. The chief sighed as relief filled his body. Kuraura had saved the future of the goblin clan. However, his ears twitched as he further thought. Who was the ‘Lord’ Kuraura was serving? The chief looked over and his eyes widened in realization as he saw Kuraura prostrating on the ground, tears streaming down his face as he pledged himself to a supposedly higher being.

Kuraura serves the dungeon…How? The chief was having trouble contemplating this unforeseen behavior before a thought passed through his head. Can I also serve the dungeon? Thinking that, the chief shook his head quickly, yet more thoughts poured into his head. The dungeon was the true winner of this fight. It decided the fate of both the chief and all of the remaining goblins. Without him, the rest of the goblins would struggle to survive, and although they could move back into their old village, who knew how much longer they could last? Plus… As the chief looked at Kuraura, he felt that there was a sort of presence floating above the strange purple goblin. Could it be the dungeon? The supposed ‘Lord’ which Kuraura served? The chief sighed in his head as he tried to observe that strange presence. It seemed pitiful of him, but if he could serve the dungeon, perhaps the goblins under him could find relief within the dungeon as well. It had proven itself to be highly capable and intelligent, despite what Gwenthy’s knowledge had been. The chief sighed once again as he could only hope for the future. As he continued to stare at Kuraura, a strange mist seemed to appear in his eyes, forming a shape similar to a human, ethereal in nature, the shape appeared to gaze over Kuraura, who was prostrating to it. A tear slid down the chief’s face as he felt a strange feeling welling up within him.

Dylan’s vision immediately snapped back to the chief after feeling something change. Previously, the chief had been considered an intruder within the dungeon, yet currently he was giving off a curious feeling, similarly to when he had subordinated Kuraura. Dylan decided to activate the subordination skill on the chief…