If I had the ability to command my creatures to ignore the presence of people with 0% karma level, I would have ordered my cherufe to keep out of sight. As the Party of cultists ignored anything not attacking them - which, due to said inability, meant they still killed all my creatures - having the Puzzle Guardian hide with its coin token would have been preferable. Without the coin they wouldn't be able to pass the next puzzle door without breaking it, making them waste energy and activating 'Cheaters Only Cheat Themselves' once again.

But regardless of what would have been the smartest, my magma golem went on the attack in its attempt to defend its token.

Naturally it died and its coin collected.

The puzzle door right behind the one needing the coin to open, was the 'Smart' Riddle Door. Said Door would always believe it had answered a riddle spoken to it correctly, but would only open once it actually had.

But! What no one had yet to realize was that this more expensive puzzle door would start 'slapping' people if annoyed. A stone hand would be formed from the Door and slap the most annoying person around.

But it wouldn't just be a light slap. It was powerful enough to potentially kill a person on level 1.

And not everyone had their Toughness Score raised at all as they leveled! So should it hit anyone not meant for close combat? Regardless of level they still might die.

Unless, of course, they had good enough reflexes to either avoid being hit or cast a spell to block the slap. Or good enough armor, I suppose.

And on higher levels having at least one of these was to be expected.

If! You were an experienced Dungeon miner, that is… And I highly doubted the Hypnotist entered Dungeons all that often with a Class like his.

I definitely preferred a result where everyone was free from mind control, but keeping them away from my Core even at the cost of some of their lives was the second best option.

While the Hypnotist could potentially be killed by the 'Smart' Riddle Door I highly doubt it. He's not alone, after all. Someone will save him, no doubt.

There were three ways to annoy the Door: take too long to give it a 'riddle' it could answer - a straight up question was fine too -, insult its intelligence, or attempt - successful or not - to harm it.

They chose the third option.

With an annoyed grunt the Light Hunter shot a Skill powered arrow at the Door after one too many idiotic answers. The arrow didn't destroy the Door completely - though it was certainly close -, which gave the Door the chance to slap her in retaliation.

Only for her to dodge the attack and finish the job before another slap could be attempted.

At least it had kept them in the heat a bit longer…

And by entering the last room of the 7th Floor the temperature rose another 5 degrees, and another two puzzles waited to be either solved or destroyed before the Party could leave the heat.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Agtius had no idea just how long he had been unconscious. As he was still in the Dungeon, the main piece of the goddess had to still be trapped. Otherwise he would have been forcefully teleported out as the Dungeon fell.

With that in mind, he couldn't have been unconscious too long, though it could potentially have been a whole hour or two.

They could be really close to reaching her prison! Maybe there's something in their way they need my help with!

I need to reach them! Quickly!

The nap had done wonders for the giant's health. While the first aid he had performed on his armless shoulder had certainly been necessary as it had stopped him from bleeding out while unconscious, Toughness being the Axe Master's second highest Ability Score had aided him in a swift recovery.

That being said, Agtius was well aware he was wounded. His exhaustion was made clear to him in every movement he made and dizziness seemed to cloud his eyes every 10th step or so.

Still, he had to press on.

As the 5th Floor had been cleared out by his flock and couldn't reset while he was still present, Agtius didn't have to fight the Boss.

Which he was naturally very thankful for.

The 6th Floor, however, had been reset, informing the Axe Master that his flock had either successfully cleared the 6th Floor or died in the attempt.

The latter of which seemed quite unlikely. The Dungeon was certainly dangerous. Just not that dangerous.

Nonetheless, it meant the giant had to fight his way through at least the 6th Floor while weakened and alone. He could only hope the others would still be on the 7th Floor as he arrived, so he wouldn't have to fight his way through that Floor as well.

If he were lucky enough it might even let him catch up with them.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

They?! What?!

The Light Hunter had been quick to stop her Party from showing the fake eyes violence by fighting each other or by breaking things, which would have caused a number of weapons equal to the number of people in the room to attack them.

It had then taken her two minutes to find the volcano wall colored cloth in the slingshot ammunition barrel. And the moment she saw the cloth she grinned, grabbed it, and covered up all the words on the wall in front of the fake eyes except for ‘violence’ solving the puzzle.

Apparently, wordplay was something one of her tutors as a child had been quite fond of. Meaning it was literally child's play for her…

I really need to come up with another Rule to delay them with if this keeps up!

Which it did. The high Awareness of said Light Hunter meant she almost immediately noticed the difference of appearance of the actual wall and its mirror image. Connecting that discovery to 'walking backwards while facing the mirror' took a bit of time, but not at all as long as I would have liked!

They only destroy my puzzles if they can't figure them out within 10 minutes or so. And at this point I want that to happen! 10 minutes on each puzzle, is still a 10 minutes delay! Those add up quickly!

Just as the group of cultists was about to begin descending to the 8th Floor, their abandoned comrade burst down the stairway and entered the 7th Floor.

Of course the group didn't know this and continued their march.

After waking up the second time around, the Axe Master had unsteadily walked through the remaining parts of the 5th Floor. Upon reaching the 6th Floor he had gotten a bit more control over his movements and changed his strategy.

The giant was now running. And despite his blood loss and stature he was actually quite fast. Fast enough that he could outrun all the creatures I had placed in the first room of the Floor and use a Skill to quickly ram through the Door of Politeness, so he could keep his momentum going.

The creatures in that room wasn't the fastest anyway.

I wonder if he noticed he got double EXP and loot for not killing anything?

It doesn't seem that way… He's running like nothing happened.

Maybe he's simply too focused looking at his feet to see where he's going while in my Thick Fog to give any attention to System messages?

The second room likewise didn't have any creature fast enough to intercept the running giant, but at least this time the puzzle forced him to pause.

The Fire blocking the entrance to the next room looked quite violent and menacing, so it was no wonder he didn't want to simply run through it.

As he considered the meaning of the words 'Trust me' next to the flames, he didn't do something as convenient as speaking out loud, so whether he too concluded the text was a message from the goddess or not was unclear to me.

He simply went from standing still, back to running, just in time to avoid being attacked from behind.

The Fire Fox from Trusting Fox's Pass was faster than the giant and jumped on his back as he was running, causing him to falter but didn't succeed in stopping him completely. Instead the Axe Master swung his secondary axe and with practiced ease decapitated my Fire Fox, causing it to burst into mana particles and loot.

The swing did, however, unbalance the giant, making him tumble to the ground and giving the rest of the creatures in the room time to catch up and attack.

Attacks which, besides reopening the wound the loss of his arm caused, mostly caused bruises and scratches. Which in turn meant the Axe Master eventually won, even while massively outnumbered and surrounded.

He was, however, quickly losing energy.

And while he decided to walk the remainder of the now creature-empty room, he clearly did want to waste any time considering how to solve my puzzles!

That, and he had clearly suffered no ill effect after having trusted the last message next to a puzzle, meaning the giant quickly decided to follow the words on the wall to decide the correct entrance to enter.

I don't think he even stopped long enough to even look at the illusions placed on the doorways…

Like with the previous room, in Pacifistic Eagle's Pass the only creature fast enough to keep up with the running giant - who was hyperventilating at this point - was the room's Mist eagle.

But again, it didn't really make a big difference as he simply cleaved the poor creature in two after the first - barely successful - attack. And while he still stumbled after making the attack, he didn't fall to the ground this time.

Putting his axe down on the ground before entering The Greedy Pacifists' Challenge Room had clearly made him reconsider following the written word, but the creatures closing in behind him forced him to decide quickly.

He decided to leave his weapon behind as he entered the last room of the 6th Floor.

A room he left so quickly he likely didn't notice, nothing tried to attack him.

Reunited with his secondary axe, the Axe Master hurried down the stairway and entered the 7th Floor seconds before the rest of his Party left it.

Here he stopped. Listened. And fell on his knees in relief, as he wasn't immediately attacked.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

They're still alive, and not too far ahead of me! Agtius thought in relief. This Floor has essentially already been completed for me so I should be able to catch up quickly! I just need to watch out for any remaining traps!

But as Agtius tried to get up so he could keep going, his legs refused to obey him and his eyes started swirling once again.

I was running on adrenaline wasn't I?

Am I sure I can't keep going?

Another attempt at getting up simply landed him with his butt in the wet swamp.

He clearly needed another break before he could keep going.

I should drink something too to combat the blood loss…

And then…

Perhaps…

Another nap…

…

No! I don't have time for that!

… But I can't keep going without a break.

Maybe I'll just…

Close my eyes for a moment…

And imagine how proud my family will be of me, when I return home after this…