Well, there was only one thing to do with a wounded animal.
“Put him down,” I silently commanded my minions.
Gavin stumbled backward after Puck launched another shadow-sphere, this one smashing into his stomach, the sphere exploding into black tendrils that reached over the troll’s torso like grasping fingers. Blood splashed over my obsidian floor as Gavin swept his club in a wide arc. His movements were wild, his singular eye bulging. Bertha used the opportunity and slashed his shoulder. Her blade ripped open tendons, and even more blood spattered my floor.
“Traitor,” Gavin screamed at the half-troll. “Murdering slime. You will die!”
“Stay on him,” I conveyed to my champions. “Don’t let him breathe.”
Puck dived with his bone-white claws extended, and they tore at the troll’s face. Gavin was forced to swing recklessly with his free hand while his other used the club to keep him upright. Bertha’s poleaxe struck true again, ripping open his chest, puncturing stony skin, and spilling even more blood.
My dungeon floor was quickly turning crimson, but I loved every second of it.
“You watching this, Lilith?” My gem was gleaming brightly with bloodlust, and I hoped the goddess was witnessing this slaughter. No doubt she would be pleased.
Gavin’s pain was multiplied when another ball of Puck’s magic exploded against his chest. The troll groaned as Bertha tightened her grip, but before she could tear it free, he caught hold of the weapon. With a deafening roar, Gavin yanked the weapon free from Bertha’s hands with his fast-fading strength.
My champion stumbled forward, and she let her weapon slide free of her grasp. Gavin grinned for a split second before she barreled forward and used the momentum he’d given her. Bertha went low and smashed her shoulder into his gut, hitting him like a runaway freight train. Together, they crashed into the wall of my dungeon, and I felt the impact reverberate through every wall, and floor, and stair of it.
My hypothesis that Hell Trolls were impossibly hard to kill quickly became a solid conclusion when Gavin slammed an elbow down on Bertha’s back. She was forced to release him, but then the troll caught another shadow-sphere in the face. Whatever power had allowed the troll to shrug off the magical projectiles earlier must have faded because now the sphere enveloped his entire face like octopus tentacles.
Puck swooped in with Gavin completely unaware, while Bertha drew back her poleaxe. My two champions attacked the troll at once, Puck slashing at Gavin’s exposed neck while Bertha cleaved him in two. The halves of Gavin separated cleanly, and his severed entrails and disconnected organs splattered onto the floor.
My champions didn’t disappoint.
Bertha twirled the poleaxe in her hands as Puck blasted Gavin’s bottom half with another sphere of Infernal magic. The disfigured remnants of the troll painting my dungeon floor was the finest artwork, a fine tribute to Lilith’s honor.
I counted it the first of many, at least until I dethroned her.
Bertha caught hold of her stepfather’s head and lifted the severed torso off the blood-soaked floor. She gazed into Gavin’s single eye while her two hands gripped the head almost tenderly.
“Send Lilith Zagorath’s regards,” she said as a beautiful smile touched her savage face.
Then she slammed her hands together, and Gavin’s skull caved in, echoing like a gunshot. The sound reverberated through the suddenly-still antechamber, and Puck let out a delightful yip.
Damn, my champions were all kinds of brutal. I was a dungeon in this world’s version of hell, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how they’d taken to the job.
Bertha stood and rolled her shoulders as a sharp exhale flowed through her teeth. Puck spun chaotic circles in the air, and a savage elation filled my entire being. The feeling bathed my whole dungeon: the entrance, the floor, the stairs, and all the way to my glistening core.
Chapter Fifteen
A notification sprang into my consciousness.
Zagorath killed Gavin the Sand Pirate!
Infernal Essence + 1,000
Soul Essence + 500
My senses shifted a little, and the dungeon was bathed in darkness, illuminated by the Infernal Essence floating above Gavin’s remains. But there was another source of light that burned the color of gold. It was drifting up from the remnants of the tattoo on his back.
I drew it into my dungeon, and my gem flared. It had a different flavour to the others. Instead of the now-familiar darkness of Infernal Essence, and the robustness of Physical, it seemed to teem and bubble with a different kind of energy altogether.
It was almost intelligent.
Was this Soul Essence? I didn’t understand its function for my dungeon, but I consumed every last bit of it. The use of Soul Essence could be dealt with later.
Gavin’s body dissolved as the flesh peeled from his bones and melted into steam. His skeletal remains cracked into dust and dissipated into the obsidian floor.
It was a satisfying end for my toughest foe yet.
With the Infernal Essence I’d gained, I tended to the wounds of Puck and Bertha. I discovered I could continue the healing process while centering my mind elsewhere. It was a strange kind of split-consciousness, as though my mind might one day be capable of being truly in multiple places at once. I suspected I’d continue to grow in power until that was the case, but for now, I had what remained of Gavin’s gear to consume.
I cast my senses over his remarkable mace.
Acquired Item!
Savage Mace of Dark Agility
Rarity: Magic
Damage Type: Infernal
Seals: Swiftness
Swiftness channels the essence inside a wielder and increases their speed.
I almost chuckled at the name and wondered who cataloged these items. Did Lilith have some divine assistant who’d grown a little too fond of naming weapons with sinister adjectives? Despite my flippancy, the mace was nothing to laugh at.
It was a stout, powerful weapon, loaded with a hellish energy. I’d witnessed firsthand the power the seal could provide its wielder. The magical source was the rune I’d noticed carved near the mace’s stone head. I examined how the
