The number of things on Duke’s “to do” list had been steadily growing but the list of “things I want to do” had dwindled significantly, pushing his mood towards melancholy. That lasted until his COSMIC NAVIGATION Ability informed him that another one of his dungeons had just disappeared. It happened on the same barren planet that the last batch had been taken from. But now, he understood what was happening more clearly and his course of action was far more definable.

  It only took a single TELEPORT to get to the planet. When he had first come here with Mira and crew, his maximum distance possible by OVERCHANNELING all his available Mana into the Ability had been around 10,000 light years. Now, he could move nearly 400,000 light years with the base Ability. The growth was remarkable but that was not what his mind was focused on. His DUNGEON SENSE quickly identified several teams on the planet but this time he spent the extra time and Mana to expand his sense to locate his true target – the ship orbiting the planet.

  What he found was not a single ship but what he guessed was twenty. The reason he could not be sure was that there was some sort of energy field blocking his senses around each object in orbit. As they each carried their own field, it was easy to identify them as separate objects, but he could tell nothing more about them than their presence. He suspected that their very presence was supposed to be hidden by the fields but the missing space that his senses registered pointed them out easily. Duke engaged all his stealth-related Abilities and Skills and headed for orbit and the twenty objects waiting for him.

  Stealthed as he was, Duke should not have shown up on any sensors so he was taken completely by surprise when he was instantly bathed in purely destructive energy lancing out from one of the objects. He felt his ARMOR SKIN resist the destructive energies for just long enough for him to TELEPORT out of the way of the beam. The brief contact with the attack had stripped away his skin over the entire front of his body and a quarter of Duke’s Health with it. His REGENERATION was working to repair the damage but would need several seconds to catch up.

  Duke changed his flight pattern, taking a more evasive path and changing his location with small TELEPORTATIONS. As he got closer, all twenty objects opened fire, making it nearly impossible to continue closer with the degree of evasion he needed to keep up. He was now spending all his effort dodging the attacks that were coming with increasing frequency. Duke finally retreated several light minutes away to give him time to regroup and reconsider his approach.

  What in the actual fuck was that? First off, I know I’m not the king of stealth, but they had no reason to even know I was there let alone spot me that quickly. And those weapons…so much stronger than anything they have ever shown before. Their dreadnaughts weren’t able to hit me. It’s like they have taken this to an extreme. Now how do I deal with them because sure as hell, I am not letting them to continue killing my dungeons! If I could only see past their energy fields, I could just TELEPORT to the ships directly but that doesn’t seem to be possible.

  Duke TELEPORTED directly between two of the ships, figuring that they would not fire towards each other and even if they did, a simple evasion would have them striking each other. It did not go as he expected. All the ships opened fire on him again. As he dodged, he noticed that the energy beams warped around the other ships, leaving them unharmed. As he arrived back at his “hiding point” he saw that he was not so lucky. He had been struck by no less than three beams even if they were glancing blows. The damage to his body was substantial. He was thankful that the pain was short-lived but his mind was working overtime to figure out a new approach. He had to try something different.

  As he ran different strategies through his head, he was informed of two more dungeons that had been harvested for their Cores. Frustration welled up inside him as he scrambled for a solution. I could just sling Abilities at them and see if anything works but I’m certain that won’t work either. If my TELEPORTATION Ability didn’t cancel momentum, I could capture a comet and unleash it on them but that’s not an option. If I can’t find a way to attack them, then I’m running out of options.

  Once again, Duke returned to the planet looking for a way to get to the ships and stop them. This time he kept his distance and really tried to study the ships. He focused on one single ship with all his senses, pouring everything he could into them. After what seemed like an hour, four more dungeons had vanished from the surface of the planet. But that extended effort told him something that he had never expected. The energy fields around the ship was acting like a dimensional barrier in a manner that was suddenly very familiar to him. It was acting like the aura of a dungeon – like his own DUNGEON AURA.

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  With newfound confidence, he turned on his own Aura and moved in. The first beam that should have struck him simply warped around his body and continued on into space. A smile spread across his face as he finally had a solution. Beam after beam struck his Aura and passed around him just like they did to the other ships. He accelerated towards the ships, eager for action.

  The beams came at him with increasing frequency and intensity, but the DUNGEON AURA kept them warping around him. In minutes, he was approaching the energy field surrounding the first of the ships he could reach. His DUNGEON SENSE finally began to register something as he got close enough to touch the field. What he was feeling was a sense of wrongness and pain, a feeling of warping and torture. He reached out to touch the field and screams exploded into his mind. The anguish washed over him, the trauma of pain an old acquaintance of his.

  He floated in space, at the edge of the ship’s energy field for longer than he could recall but finally he understood what he was dealing with and his ire only grew. These ships were powered by Dungeon Cores that had been tortured and warped into configuration. Forced through coercion and pain to serve those who destroyed their own brethren only to use their hollowed out, soulless corpses as tools.

  Duke extended his Psyche through his DUNGEON SENSE and finally connected with what was left of the Dungeon Core’s mind. Duke could feel the Core’s consciousness hiding in the darkest corner of its mind surrounded by the magical tortures that had forced it to surrender control of its own magic. Duke cut through the swirling demons, sucking them into his own subconscious as echoes of torment and fuel for the Reaper. Finally, he was metaphorically before the Core itself. It was small and gave off enormous fear.

  “Be at ease, little one. I am here for you.”

  “No! No more. I let you have it all. There’s no more to give. Please leave me alone!”

  Duke’s heart lurched at the fear permeating those words. He responded, “I am not here to take anything from you. I am here to get you away from those who tortured you. I am here to take you home.”

  “No more lies! No more pain! Go away!”

  The shouting of the Core’s remaining mind was enough to push Duke out of the shared mindspace. The next thing he registered was the pain of something impaling him. He looked down and an enormous wasp’s stinger was protruding from his stomach. He looked up to see a swarm of van-sized wasps that moved through space around the ship like it was air. He TELEPORTED himself off the stinger and turned to face the swarm. His DUNGEON SENSE was still active and showed him what he was up against. These were nothing more than dungeon creatures formed and directed by whomever was controlling the Core and the ship it had formed.

  Duke grit his teeth and, with a nearly effortless flexing of will, took control of the dungeon monsters. He then directed them to show him the way inside the ship. They obliged happily, bowing to the power of a true Dungeon Emperor. Minutes later, he TELEPORTED past the access hatch and into the ship portion of this mobile dungeon. If not for how they had tortured the Dungeon Core to achieve this marvel, he would have been impressed with what they had constructed.

  The ship interior resembled a mansion with fine decorations and opulence in abundance. Duke found himself standing on plush carpeting that traveled the length of the wide and tall hallway. Actual paintings lined the hallway depicting what Duke read to be leaders of the Syndicate over the millennia. Some were human or human-like but many were not. There was one that appeared to be some sort of sentient jellyfish. Duke shuddered just looking at the thing. He continued down the hall, emerging into a grand ballroom complete with sparkling crystal chandeliers.

  He proceeded across the dance floor, heading towards a pair of golden-framed double doors that he guessed would take him to something resembling the bridge of the ship. That he had not run into any resistance was somewhat confusing to Duke and he once again extended his DUNGEON SENSE to try and figure things out. What he found was odd. The entire interior of the ship was indeed laid out like an old mansion. There were kitchens, dozens of bedrooms in different wings, and one area which resembled the deck of a tallship complete with the wooden steering wheel.

  There were crewmembers scattered all over the ship but far less than Duke had expected. He counted no more than fifteen and only one on what he assumed was the bridge. He hastened his pace, heading right for the bridge and hoping for some answers before he tore this who construction down and returned control to the Core.

  The doors to the bridge were open and Duke stepped through them easily. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him no traps or other impediments, so he strode out onto the deck full of confidence. The scene before him perfectly resembled a wooden sailing ship at sea down to the waves and the smell of the sea air. A man in a colonial-era British Navy outfit, complete with dark blue coat with white silk facings and gold lace trim, silk breeches, a silk waistcoat, a white linen shirt with ruffle cuffs, a white cravat and white stockings. It was topped off by a gold-trimmed tri-corn hat. The man turned away from the wheel of the ship and faced Duke.

  The man spoke with an accent that Duke could not believe, “Thou didst tarry excessively in thine arrival. Dost thou find pleasure in the vista? It doth remain mine utmost preference amongst all the choices presented.”

  Duke’s XENOGLOSSIA translated the words for him, but he instinctively knew that the man was speaking English, Colonial English. And the man was speaking it natively. Things had just gotten even more interesting.