Dungeon Master (Karma System)

The transformed siege creature entered the Goblin Foundry by tearing the last Ant Hill gate from its frame.

Its front limbs struck the dark stone floor. The rest of its body remained compressed inside the tunnel, forcing layers of dead fungus and broken armor through an opening never intended to hold something so wide. Each movement shed pieces of the creatures Nethren had absorbed inside the colony chamber.

The Foundry crews did not attack.

They withdrew from the upper workshop along marked routes while the fungal mass pulled itself free. Armored goblins crossed narrow walkways and closed the doors behind them. Hobgoblin overseers released the catches on two suspended platforms, lowering both until they rested against the floor.

Nethren entered behind his creation.

The amber light beneath his chest plates had weakened. Thick cords still connected him to the siege creature and the guards following through the damaged gate, but the greater network remained trapped behind the Ant Hill collapses.

Hizon watched from the control room as pale growth spread around Nethren’s feet.

The first strands dried before crossing half the chamber.

Heat rising from the furnaces pulled moisture out of them. Other cords moved toward the walls and encountered stone that offered no soil or cracks deep enough to protect them. Cave moths entered above the guards, but the Foundry’s airflow dragged their spores toward closed ventilation shutters.

The Hobgoblin Artificer monitored the vents from a control station overlooking the middle workshop. Colored indicators marked pressure building behind each shutter.

The Artificer opened a channel to Hizon. ”The spores are collecting where we planned. I can send them through the heated exhaust shafts whenever you want the upper workshop cleared.”

”Wait until Nethren commits the rest of his moths.” Hizon said.

The Artificer kept the shutters closed.

Nethren directed the siege creature toward the center of the workshop. The layered remains covering its body blackened near the furnaces, but wet fungal tissue pushed outward beneath them. Water ran across the floor with each step.

Goblin archers fired from protected galleries. Their heated bolts disappeared into the creature without slowing it. The damaged flesh closed over the shafts, drawing material from its swollen rear body to replace what burned.

The archers changed targets without receiving an order. Their next volley struck the guards surrounding Nethren. Several fell before wet shields rose above the remaining formation.

Nethren looked toward the nearest gallery.

A thick cord passed from his arm into the siege creature. One of its front limbs separated into several narrow strands and climbed the supporting column beneath the archers. The goblins withdrew as the growth reached the railing. A moment later, the entire gallery sagged under the added weight.

The Artificer examined the strain indicators connected to the floor and support columns.

He reported what the measurements showed. ”The water is keeping the surface alive, but the creature is carrying all of it. Every layer Nethren adds makes the mass heavier, and he has moved it beyond the reinforced route.”

The observation changed Hizon’s plan. Burning through the wet covering would consume fuel and give Nethren time to replace whatever was lost. The Foundry already contained machines capable of using the creature’s weight against it.

Hizon issued new orders to the Foundry crews. ”Lower the western platform and open the partitions leading toward it. Keep the nearest furnace closed. I want that section cooler than the routes around it.”

The Artificer understood what Hizon intended. He issued the necessary instructions without explaining them to workers who already knew their assignments.

Metal partitions shifted across the upper workshop. Two closed in front of the siege creature while another opened to its left. Heat from the exposed furnace hall rolled across the blocked routes. The western platform rested inside the only passage not covered by shimmering air.

Nethren sent three fungal guards ahead. They crossed the lowered platform without triggering anything. Carriers followed and spread cords around its edges.

The siege creature stepped onto it.

The platform held.

Nethren advanced with the rest of his formation. More of the creature’s body crossed the metal surface until nearly its entire weight rested above the lifting mechanism.

The Artificer released the supports.

The platform dropped into its shaft.

The fall was less than the siege creature’s height, but the opening was too narrow for its body. Its front half struck the lower workshop while its rear remained trapped above. Plates cracked. Fungal tissue burst against the edges, and cords snapped under the weight of the sections they had held together.

Nethren reacted before the surrounding goblins could attack. Guards threw themselves into the opening. Their bodies softened as they touched the larger creature and became new layers connecting its divided mass.

Every repair reduced the number of creatures defending him.

Hizon ordered the upper crews forward. Goblins rolled weighted carts against the fungal guards and pushed them toward the open shaft. Hobgoblin overseers used long hooks to tear wet shields away from the remaining formation. Archers continued firing from the galleries that still stood.

Nethren sent his cave moths into the upper workshop.

The cloud was thicker than the one used in the valley. Wings filled the space between the walkways, and gray spores reduced visibility to a few paces. Goblins wearing filters maintained their positions. Those without them withdrew behind sealed doors.

The Artificer opened the ventilation shutters.

Pressure pulled the cloud away from Nethren and into the high intakes. The spores traveled through shafts running above active furnaces. Heat ignited the densest clusters before they reached the exhausts. Ember Slimes waited behind removable grates and consumed everything that settled along the cooler edges.

The moths tried to escape the current. Their wings carried them away from the nearest intake but pushed them toward another. Burning dust followed them through the upper chamber.

The siege creature pulled itself out of the shaft.

It left half of its lower body behind. What remained was smaller, uneven, and supported by four mismatched limbs. Nethren drew the surviving guards close and absorbed two more into the damaged side.

The connection between them thickened.

Hizon saw no independent junctions surrounding the formation. Nethren had concentrated every remaining command route into himself and the creature.

Brannik and the goblin king entered the Foundry through separate service passages. Their surviving Ant Hill units spread behind the fungal force instead of blocking its advance. Bombardier Beetles attacked the growth Nethren had planted near the broken gate. Trappers pulled cords out of machinery and sealed them inside heated containers.

Nethren continued toward the lower workshop.

He could not turn back without fighting through the goblin king’s strengthened units. He drove the siege creature through a moving partition before the mechanism could close. Its wet body bent the metal panel and tore it off its track.

The next chamber contained the Foundry’s largest press.

Nethren avoided the obvious space beneath it. He kept the creature against the wall and used one heavy limb to break the press controls before passing. The machine released early, crushing empty stone.

The action protected him from one trap and forced him onto another route.

Goblin crews opened channels carrying heated metal between the furnaces. The fluid never touched Nethren’s formation, but its heat drove the wet outer layers inward. Steam surrounded the siege creature. Its steps became slower as the tissue beneath its armor struggled to hold together.

Nethren sent cords across the channels. They blackened before reaching the opposite side.

He ordered the creature through them instead.

The first limb entered the heated metal and burned away. The remaining mass crossed by growing over the destroyed section faster than the channel could consume it. Nethren sacrificed the last carriers to provide enough material.

The creature reached the lowest workshop with only three fungal guards still walking beside it.

Beyond that chamber waited the Forgeguard.

Hizon closed the routes behind Nethren. Brannik’s units destroyed the remaining cords, while the goblin king secured the lower workshop exits. The fungal Dungeon Master had reached the final chamber, but nothing remained behind him that could reinforce the attack.

The inner door opened.

The Forgeguard stood between Nethren and the passage to Hizon’s core. His shield spike rested inside a locking plate built into the floor. Red lines extended from his boots across the chamber and ended at the walls.

Nethren sent the transformed creature forward.

The Forgeguard received the charge without leaving his marked position. The first impact drove his shield back against his shoulder. The locking plate held. Channels inside his armor connected with the Foundry floor and released stored heat across the shield’s surface.

Wet fungus turned to steam.

The creature pushed harder. New tissue replaced the layers burning against the metal, but its remaining body shrank with every repair. The Forgeguard twisted the shield grip and released the floor spike. He moved one step aside while keeping himself between the creature and the inner door.

The fungal mass stumbled into the chamber.

The Forgeguard’s weapon struck the cords connecting it to Nethren. Heated metal cut through the first layer. The second blow severed what remained.

The transformed creature collapsed under its own weight.

Nethren pulled the three surviving guards around him and tried to move along the chamber wall. The red lines shifted with the Forgeguard as he intercepted them. One guard attacked the shield. Another tried to pass behind the fallen siege creature. Neither reached the inner door.

The third guard dissolved into cords that spread across the floor toward Nethren. The Forgeguard planted his shield on top of them. Heat traveled down its edge and burned the connection before it formed.

Nethren entered the protected ground himself.

Dark plates expanded across his arms. He struck the Forgeguard’s shield with enough force to break the locking spike. The Forgeguard gave ground until one boot touched the inner door, then stopped.

Hizon did not send help into the chamber. The Forgeguard’s abilities strengthened while defending his assigned position. Crowding him with other creatures would restrict his movement and give Nethren more bodies to convert into growth.

The Foundry crews acted elsewhere. The Artificer released the supports beneath the remains of the transformed creature. The damaged floor collapsed, carrying most of the fungal mass into the service level below. Nethren’s last available source of replacement tissue disappeared with it.

The Forgeguard drove his heated weapon through Nethren’s chest.

Amber light spread across the blade. Nethren tried to pull away, but the Forgeguard locked his shield against the fungal Dungeon Master’s arms and held him in place until the light went dark.

Nethren’s body broke apart.

The system removed him from the Goblin Depths before the pieces reached the floor. His death outside Fungal Hollow did not release his core. It only prevented him from returning to the battle.

The remaining fungal creatures stopped moving together.

Brannik and the goblin king cleared the lower workshop. Other units eliminated isolated groups trapped inside the Ant Hill. Ember Slimes consumed dormant growth inside the ventilation system while the Artificer confirmed that no foreign cords reached the inner door.

The last fungal guard fell beside the broken Ant Hill gate.

[The Goblin Depths have defeated the attacking force from Fungal Hollow.]

[The defending Dungeon Master has earned the right to counterattack.]

[The connection to Fungal Hollow will remain open until the Dungeon Battle ends.]

The darkness inside the archway cleared, exposing the fungal cavern on the other side.