Everyone in that expedition was there for their own reasons. Aslanbek and the knights from Bast wanted to reclaim their territory and reestablish some patsy as the Count. Crystal was there to stop her brethren from being slaughtered by the first party and to put an end to the cycle of using princess Serena's name and image as a political puppet. Her knights wanted to protect her from harm and rejoin with their compatriots.

And Nero for the profit. He'd settle his debt with the Kingdom, deliver justice, protect his sister, and get rich in the process. And all he needed to get what he wanted was a hug.

The soldiers from Coriander, those that fled east during Tyre's ambush and somehow evaded the hordes of monsters from the Dungeon overflow found shelter with Hye-Sung's stillborn county. And now they stared at the holy grail of their crusade, the no-longer-missing-but-no-longer-princess-either Crystal. They were arguing among themselves. No arrow or [Firebolt] was launched so it was a win. They couldn't give the upstart countess time to escape but the presences inside the keep weren't moving.

"Your Highness!" A triton in knight armor knelt, looked to the sides, and barked an order. "Kneel before the princess!"

Crystal shouted back, "Sir Laiken, open the gates. The tentative alliance between Coriander and Hye-Sung has ended. Step aside and let prince Aslanbek capture her."

Nero shrunk Mr. Peebles and sent his pets to the pet shelter. He couldn't keep them in his main shelter anymore because he wouldn't connect it to a Dungeon anymore. He swapped to his new hug-based build and approached Aslanbek while Crystal negotiated with the soldiers on the wall.

"Can I give you a hand or two in capturing Hye-Sung? I have a plan."

Aslanbek studied him for a moment. "Your eyes spell mischief, Nero. What are your intentions?"

"Hye-Sung surely has an escape plan and maybe some nasty surprises ready. Otherwise, she would've fled already. I'll drag her to one of my pocket dimensions where she will find her doom. Better yet, it will free you and the kingdom of any problems with her clan. If you kill her, they will accuse you and sour diplomacy anywhere they can. If you capture her, the eastern cat-folk will pay her ransom. Once she returns, she'll spill whatever secrets she knows. Either way, if it happens in this realm, they'll know. Your prospectors found out that it is impossible to track what happens in my realms."

Aslanbek ran a hand through his mane, growling and rumbling a deep purr as he sunk in thought.

"What is your price?"

"She's a card dealer. I have no doubt all her stock is in her pouches. For this service, you will grant me all the loot I rightfully obtained during this campaign, including hers. While I returned most of what I got from those that didn't die by my hand, I'm afraid someone will claim this or that lost loot later."

Aslanbek studied Nero for a while. "I can read you, Nero. Come with me for a moment."

Nero glanced behind him as he walked away from prying ears. The gate was opening and the nereids, fox-kin, and tritons were walking out. Crystal seemed to have everything in control.

"This is enough. Let me activate a [Sound Ward]. Done. Nero, let me tell you a thing. The surveyors were trying to find the new Dungeon. Once you got on my radar, I had them tracking you too. You were appearing and vanishing all around the country as if you could teleport. The trackers were trying to locate the missing quartermaster, and another on Princess Serena. Once we found all of our high-profile marks had the same pattern of showing up and disappearing, we ran a test on all the members of the expedition. My brother was nowhere to be found as well as some prisoners we crossed off as Dead in a Delve. Everyone else was dead but you and the quartermaster. So, I'll ask. Do you have the quartermaster's stolen goods?"

Busted. No use lying now. "I do. The stupid dwarf did it on his own. I found a crate after he died buried along with several empty casks of ale. I looked like trouble and I didn't open it but I'm sure it is what you ask for."

Aslanbek grinned, victorious. "I understand. You were too obvious with your vague terms, but don't worry. I don't want the crate back. Just a few important cards inside. You can have Hye-Sung's belt one and the rest of the stolen goods for the return of these cards. I'll even put in a good word with my father."

Nero raised an eyebrow. "Why so generous, Your Highness?"

"My father was testing your loyalty with this mission. He was pissed with Tyre well before he sent him to war. He wasn't expected to return, much less to stop the invasion. I considered trading my oath for my dead brother's reputation a personal favor. My year of servitude is worth leagues above what Tyre could ever amount to even if he wasn't a waste of fur. So I'm returning the favor. The quartermaster's crate minus the cards I must have back plus Hye-Sung's assets.

"Only then will my sense of honor and worth be satisfied."

You can bet on the leonal's twisted sense of honor, pride, and self-esteem to twist value systems. Aslanbek was offended because his oath was traded for his dead brother's reputation. "Why tell me it is a test then?" Nero asked, wary of the answer.

"Because you've already passed when you helped the townsfolk and started to sing to lure the soldiers out," Aslanbek hissed. "And I dislike what my father did to me. He accepted your trade because it was meant to demean me. Didn't you see the cruel mirth in my sister's face?"

He did. Nero nodded and fished in his dimensional pouch. Aslanbek got a bit wary, thinking he would produce the crate but instead he showed him a big green roundish object.

"Have a coconut to ease your thoughts, friend."

Sir Laiken, one of the two responsible for the slaughter in Hom, reported that Hye-Sung was delirious. The middle-aged holan-yan woman was roaring, thrashing, and looting the keep, intent on leaving not one of her precious nephew's possessions behind. Crystal and the soldiers she commandeered under her banner stood outside with Sir Jon Tallbean to guard the gates. Altia stayed with them and Nero followed Aslanbek into the keep.

His [Rogue] knights specialized in infiltration separated an went to block the secret passages. Count Honeywitch might have built them in secret, but the Royal Surveyors could see into the ground and stone. Meanwhile, Tyre invaded the keep and swept it clean with his fire magic.

They were still under the effects of Altia's [Fire Resistance Potion] and needed it. The burning city was a mere summer afternoon compared to the inferno Aslanbek summoned to scorch the mercenaries under Hye-Sung's employ as they cleared the keep of the defenders and anything flammable. Glowing red stone and cinders was all that was left on the prince's wake. Nero had to switch to his magic-resistant build to escape unscathed, lacking the defensive Skills the tiers five and six Knights had.

He was merely a spectator, witnessing the power the prince couldn't bring to bear during their duel for being weakened by the Dungeon's low rank.

Every dozen yards, Aslanbek stopped and let his tracker check on the usurper countess. They were near the inner keep and the count's apartment. Aslanbek stopped torching everything and they approached without a sound. Nero switched to his new grappling build.

[Warrior] - Blue.

Special: Increase your Strength and Agility by 15% when you have no item in both hands.

Special: Add half your Dexterity to Strength when grappling.

[Expert Grappler] - You only lose half your Agility when grappling. If you are about to be hit by an attack, you can release your target to use your full Agility to dodge.

[Bear Hug] - Reduce the target's Strength by half your Vigor when attempting to evade your grappling.

[Point-Blank Defense] - Increase your defense or resistance by half your Dexterity when resisting attacks and Skills from your grappled target.

[Stone Charge] - Pay 2 point of Stamina per minute: When moving, your inertia and/or speed is multiplied by square.root(Strength). You can activate and dismiss this effect with a mere thought.

[Perceptive Brawler] - Increase your Strength by half of your Perception when fighting unarmed.

[Bottle-Proof] - Pay 3 points of mana per minute: When fighting unarmed or with improvised weapons, add a fifth of your Charisma to Strength, Vigor, and Agility.

They heard the sound of objects being tossed around as they approached the conference room double doors. Sir Botolf kicked the doors open, revealing a disheveled holan-yan woman heaving. Hye-Sung's dress was in tatters, showing the black stripes along with her white fur. She roared at the sight of the hatred leonal, waving her paws menacingly.

"Curse you, leonals! This is my realm! Guards! Detain these intruders!"

There was nobody else alive in the keep but them.

Nero sensed his window of opportunity and triggered his Skills. He paid the 2 points of Stamina along with twelve mana as he added the full [Overcharge] boost to his [Stone Charge]. He also paid fourteen for the overcharged [Bottle-Proof]. With his charging speed multiplied by thirty-four, he rocketed through the room toward the tiger-folk woman. His original plan involved casting a portal to a transition box linked to the spiked pit trap shelter once he grabbed her, dragging both of them through two portals into a ten thousand feet fall through heavy smoke. He would drop her, trusting his shoes to reduce his terminal speed by seventy-six percent, allowing him time to bail out of the fall well before she met her doom.

His plan changed after Aslanbek unmasked him. Nero grappled Hye-Sung and quickly subdued her despite the level difference. His specialized build compounded his values on top of each other. Overcharged [Bottle-Proof] alone added eighty-eight points to three Attributes. Pinned under a young man that seemed to weight thirty-four times more than he should, the usurper countess' days were numbered.

Sir Botolf quickly put irons around her limbs, binding her digitigrade legs with the knee and feet flexed. The manacles around her hands tied the forelimbs next to the legs, forcing her to assume a crouched posture where she could exert very little strength on her bindings. Finally, they dragged a solid iron noseband around her muzzle with a flap on top that blocked most of her sight. Only two holes for her nostrils kept her from suffocating.

"Mission accomplished, gentlemen," Aslanbek congratulated his associates. "Now let's drag this usurper and put her in a pillory at the city entrance."

Hye-Sung could only purr and growl through the noseband binding her muzzle. Aslanbek himself dragged her through the keep outside where they rejoined the knights. Sir Laiken, the leader apparent of the group that was giving assistance to Hye-Sung, approached.

"Prince Aslanbek," He asked with a rude tone. "I heard the story from the princess, but I want you to confirm," He kept his silence and a challenging gaze. Some of the most loyal wolfmen knights in Aslanbek's retinue prepared for a fight. The prince unceremoniously dropped the hulan-yan prisoner and raised an open hand to signal no aggression should happen.

"I vow on my honor as the crown prince of Bast. My father the King apologized to princess Serena and disavowed my brother for his crimes against her. Prince Tyre is forever bound to a Dungeon called 'Leonal Prince's Shame'. I heard from the princess's mouth that she has no further grudge against Bast. I also vow that neither I, my father, or any of our siblings and vassals shall attempt to harm her or suffer the wrath of the Royal Family. Do these vows satisfy you, Sir Laiken?"

Laiken begrudgingly nodded. "You'll also grant full amnesty to our soldiers. Do that and the war is over."

Nero felt uneasy at that declaration. It would mean Laiken and the others would not be punished for the massacre. His eyes met Crystal's and she grimaced and shook her head. He walked next to her.

"That's why I hate politics," She whispered to him.

Altia hugged him from the other side. "Yes, the stupid villagers that squatted in Hom won't see justice. I'm sorry."

Nero let his head lean on Altia's, their temples touching. His body took his defeat as a sign to tell how tired he was. His mind also told him he was a hypocrite. Not an hour ago he was plotting a gruesome death for the usurper on petty reasons.

They spent an hour making sure there would be no fires around the central square, clearing the area, and setting up a tent camp. Even though it was late into the night, Aslanbek let nobody sleep as he cast a great spell.

"[Solar Orb]!"

The flaming sphere started small on his hand and rose high up, a couple hundred yards in the sky, dispelling the night. Nero felt unnatural warmth wash over him and noticed his mana tick upward even though he wasn't sleeping. His stamina too was rising fast as if he was sleeping.

The knights built a pillory and bound Hye-Sung. The survivors returned to the city, some going around to scavenge something, others jeering and throwing rocks at the prisoner. Altia, Crystal, and some of Serena's soldiers set a medical tent and were doing triage and handing potions out to the injured.

Other knights quickly put a soup kitchen together. Summoned barrels of water slaked the thirst and the warm soup replaced the missed dinner.

Nero sat on an edge of the square, his back to a half-standing wall, absorbed in thought. What happened? Why was he plotting such a wicked plan? For the shopkeeper's stock? Was he running high on the fumes of his victory over Aslanbek...?

It made sense now. He was stressed by that life of a fugitive, more than he imagined. All these cloak and dagger shenanigans were alien to him. Once the tables turned, his mind succumbed to his wish to make someone pay for it. Once he unconsciously sensed the knights that massacred the villagers would get a free pass, he directed everything to the last party related to the whole debacle. The eastern and mysterious shopkeeper. He masked his bloodlust under a layer of greed. Even if he obtained the cards, most of them would be utterly useless to him.

Nero shook his head and forced himself to stop grinding his teeth. He looked at his old and trusted spiked shield and decided it was time to make himself useful. He didn't test his stone-shaping build with [Overcharge]. Slipping the white card into his Arbitrium underneath his cloak, he put himself to work.

[Mage] - white Class. Bound to Nero.

+6 Reason [+3]

+6 Willpower [+3]

+6 Perception [+3]

[Shape Stone] - Allows the caster to shape a volume of stone equal to Willpower cubic feet per point of mana spent that is no further than Perception yards from you for 1 minute. Stone moves at a rate of Reason / 2 inches per second.

[Extend Spell] - Multiply the duration of any spell that has a duration by Reason / 4.

[Hasten Spell] - Spend 1 point of mana and stamina in addition to other costs as part of casting a spell that has a listed speed for its target. Multiply that speed by Reason / 3

[Enlarge Spell] - Spend 1 point of mana and stamina in addition to other costs as part of casting a spell. Multiply the area or volume of a Spell by Reason / 3.

[Movable Spell] - Reduce the area of effect of a Spell that has a duration by half. You can now move the effect of the spell at a speed of Dexterity / 2 feet per second. Any target that remains less than 1 second exposed to the spell's effect will receive half the damage.

[Channel Spell] - If you stand still without moving, you can recast a spell that has a duration immediately after it expires by paying half the cost.

He topped his mana with five potions and dumped fifty points as the base cost for [Stone Shape], activating all the other boosts he could including [Overcharge]. He started to move stone upward from the bedrock, upturning the debris and burying them under the new pavement. As he dragged the area of effect around, he enlarged the square into a giant and uniform stone slab. He kept going, burning twenty-five points of mana every three and a half minutes, moving stone faster than a person could run [1]. In less than half an hour and four hundred mana later, he reached the limit of his range. Five hundred yards around him, everything was smooth stone. He did keep the tents and pitons in place, weaving the stone around them.

Once he was done, everyone but Hye-Sung was looking at him.

Aslanbek approached. "You know, that was impressive. But you must've buried a lot of valuables with the debris."

Nero wobbled. "Yes, probably. Anything that was on the surface is now a few feet underneath the stone, just break it with a pick and dig. If Your Highness allows, I'm tired and going to sleep. For a week."

The prince chuckled. "No can do. You are dismissed, but I expect you at noon for the execution. And leave me some coconuts."

Nero groaned. "I only harvested five. Here, the other four."

[1]: a bit more than forty-three hundred cubic feet of stone at a time at a speed of thirty miles per hour. He covered around twenty-five thousand square yards per minute dragging stone from a depth of a hundred feet. #mathRules