Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”I’m guessing this design is to reduce the wear and tear from time and frequency of use,” Ron said, walking over. He stood cautiously at the edge of the Teleportation Array, examining the patterns on its surface. ”If it were like that voice-activated Teleportation Array over there, this one would have run out of Magic Power long ago.”

”This seemingly crude device actually shows how important this place is to them—they can travel back and forth between both ends of the Teleportation Array to maintain your seal without having to worry much about the array’s degradation.”

”You know about Enchantment?” The queen gave Ron a surprised look. ”Interesting. Perhaps you should have been a scholar instead of a Lord. The complexity of Enchantment is nearly on par with the art of ruling.”

”I hardly think the latter deserves to be compared with the former,” Ron shrugged. ”With some skills, once you’ve learned them, you’ve learned them. With other ’skills,’ you can be immersed in them your whole life and still end up handing your domain over to someone else.”

”Are you mocking me?”

”I’m just stating a fact,” Ron said, motioning for everyone to gather around as he grabbed Queen Farama’s head. ”You’re like a ball now, so what is there to argue about?”

”Do you think I wanted to hand my kingdom over to hell or the abyss?” the head protested in Ron’s hand. ”I was just the last old horse pulling a broken cart. I—”

An immense humming sound pierced everyone’s eardrums, drowning out the rest of the head’s words. By the time they came to their senses, the scenery around them had changed completely. They now found themselves in an underground world.

”The Dark Territory,” Seymour said, slowly drawing his dagger. He scanned the surrounding darkness and fluorescent glows warily. ”Fungus... spores... I’ll never be able to forget the smell of this place.”

”Is this where you’re from?” Sera asked. Like most of the others, she was staring curiously at the bizarre and colorful scenery. ”It’s strange. We’re underground, but it’s not actually dark, is it?”

”Countless fluorescent plants and animals live in this subterranean world,” Seymour said softly. ”Just as the stories say, this place is an underground kingdom. It has a vast network of tunnels and caverns stretching for miles, along with subterranean rivers. It’s home to many creatures and communities.”

”At first, people thought this place was unique to our plane, but it was later discovered that many planes have similar or even identical structures. Spider Queen Rosalind’s power might not be enough to contend with the True Gods, but it can still radiate out to countless different worlds.”

”This is one of the planes She has touched, and we Zor are Her favored people. I wasn’t content to spend my entire life in the dim underground, so I went to great lengths to reach the surface.”

”But now it seems I can’t escape this place completely after all.”

Seymour braced a hand against the wall. ”As for calling it my ’home’...? Delusional Land and Carolina are both on the surface, but they’re completely different places. It’s the same for my home and this area. It looks like the demons and their followers built a massive labyrinth here, cutting this section off from the rest of the Dark Territory.”

”Even so, you’re still the one most familiar with this place,” Ron said, patting the Zor’s shoulder. ”Finding Quest and his group safely is going to depend on you.”

”I’ll do my best.” Seymour was clearly pleased by the remark. He gestured for the others to follow him. As he felt his way forward, Seymour left a variety of different markings on his surroundings.

”Man-made labyrinths of this scale are rare underground, but there’s no shortage of complex natural terrain.” Here, Seymour had all but taken over Delaford’s role, leaving the Goblin Hunter to simply assist. ”We have many strategies to deal with that and prevent accidents. Look here.”

Seymour stopped and pointed to a brightly colored mark painted on the corner up ahead. ”Mr. Sibach, did your group leave this mark?”

”I... don’t remember this one,” Sibach said, scratching his head. ”But I recognize this color! It’s unique to our painter, Jack!”

”Unique?” Ron repeated the carpenter’s words.

”You didn’t know?” Constance said. ”A good painter usually mixes their own pigments. They have their own unique formulas to match their style, making them extremely difficult for others to imitate.”

”Exactly!” Sibach nodded. ”I’m a carpenter, you see. I often have to ask him to paint things after I’m done, so I’m very familiar with his pigments.”

”It seems he has other hobbies and skills besides painting. The placement of the marks and the symbols used are quite distinctive.” Seymour wasn’t concerned. ’It’s normal for a Shapeshifter to have multiple identities,’ he thought. ’I wouldn’t be surprised if this Jack was also a locksmith or a cook on the side.’

”But normally, Quest should have been the one doing this,” Sibach said after a moment’s hesitation. ”He’s the leader, after all, and he was a Spy for many years. He should have been the one making all our trail markers to avoid confusion.”

”But Jack took over his duty,” Seymour said with a frown. ”I’m afraid our friend Quest must have run into some trouble. We’ll follow the trail of paint for now. No one fall behind!”

This was a labyrinth built by demons, far more dangerous than any haunted house. Splitting up would be suicide. Thus, aside from You—who could phase through walls and would occasionally leave the group—everyone else remained on high alert, careful not to get separated.

Along the way, the vibrant pigment gradually grew murky, the bright colors mixed with stains of blood. By the time they reached the last mark the painter had left, the palm-sized symbol had devolved into a blurry, bloody handprint.

A sense of foreboding settled over the group.

”Did... did you guys hear that?” Andre asked, tightening his grip on his shield. His teeth were chattering. ”It sounds like... chewing. Something’s crunching on bones!”

”It’s close,” the Black Dragon Aiksuuri said, his scales rattling. ”You, go take a look!”

”I already have,” The banshee’s translucent body phased out of the wall. Her face was paler than paper. ”You should see it for yourselves... I’ve never seen a creature so evil!”

The group quieted their steps, cautiously peering around the corner. In a dead-end passage stood three colossal, mountain-like creatures.

They had humanoid torsos, but massive bull’s heads sat upon their shoulders. They were currently sitting in a circle, devouring something.

CLANK.

The sound came from Aive’s armor. It wasn’t loud, but it was enough. The three Giant Bull Demons stopped eating in unison, their small red eyes swiveling toward them.

”You’ve been spotted,” the head in Ron’s hand gloated.

”Cut the crap!” Ron yelled, hurling the head like a projectile. ”Everyone, form ranks! Prepare for battle!”

MOO—

A furious, startled roar echoed through the labyrinth. The three demons didn’t even bother to stand up. They snatched the giant axes beside them and charged at the group on all fours!