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This redhead he’d been chasing around his dungeon was proving to be quite the hassle. She was detectable enough by the potency of her magical capability, thanks to Schezo’s own ability to detect such magic, but worse yet was that she seemed to be blazing through every opponent sent her way. She was hardly being delayed at all due to this.
So, as such, Schezo was a little annoyed at the fact that his underlings weren’t really doing their best work at all. He hired them for a reason! To assist him in the capture of others, and delay their progress if they ever escaped! Yet here they were, being trampled on by some teenager who decided she was going to be the one to get out of here. He’d admire her spirit if it wasn’t so damn irritating, in this circumstance.
Millu Holzo Benjamin, however, gave him a reason to be a little less annoyed of what was to come. Nicknamed Millu, as his full name was much too long for anyone to care to memorize enough (let alone speak the entire thing). Schezo didn’t particularly care for him in the slightest, but he was there, and as anyone else in this godforsaken dungeon, was to be compensated accordingly.
It surprised Schezo when he was told about a mysterious gem, in the ruins nearby his dungeon. Though, it would be more accurate to say that he’d overheard such a thing, when Millu explained it to the girl he’d captured. The Lyla ruins…not a place he had ever given too much of a thought to, but he did consider exploring the area around it at some point. He kept himself busy with his dungeon, however, needing more magic to sustain himself as he should please.
Still…if he could maybe, just maybe, keep his lackeys and guards around the dungeon long enough for them to prove their competence, he would try to go and see if what Millu had told him about was true. And if he’d gotten ahold of that gem, rumor was that he would acquire a staff of some kind. The Uranus Staff, as told to him by the small red bird.
Such an artifact had to have held some decently powerful magic in it, right? And isn’t that exactly what Schezo was meant to be looking for? This sounded like an expedition he just couldn’t pass up, even if the redhead that had escaped his grasp was still roaming about somewhere…but, if that was the case, he’d have to get to that staff first.
If he was quick enough, perhaps he could take care of her later. Provided the monsters he’d hired actually grew enough spines to do their job properly, this time.
Upon another warning to his hired dungeon employees, he prepares to set off for the ruins, sword in hand and mana-replenishment items at the ready. He does not doubt his health, but…hm. Actually, he will be cautious with this, as he doesn’t know the ruins very well. Health items for him it is, then.
He makes sure to lock down each important room before he heads out, and tries to put in extra security, but it proves to be a bit challenging. Thus, he instead goes for implementing further hindrances himself, so whoever may dare to enter during his excursion to the ruins may not be able to escape once he returns. All the more magic for him. He also makes sure to supply some stock for the merchants. He doesn’t want anyone in there dying without him around to do the deed himself. Too messy for his liking. And what if that girl were in dire straits? Should she need it, he at least wants her alive by the time he returns.
With everything prepared, he traverses onwards towards his new goal: finding the Rubelcrack Gem, and getting his hands on that staff. With it, perhaps he could become more powerful in ways he hadn’t yet reached before now.
It wasn’t difficult to find the entrance to the ruins. A small pit in the middle of tall, withering pillars of stone, once belonging to some great civilization. Now, they only stood as a reminder that time takes all, even materials that once belonged to the earth itself. Schezo knew this quite well, himself. In the pit he’d located was a small rope, meant to be what those looking to enter used to get inside. Come to think of it, it looked as though these ruins were mostly located underground, similarly to his dungeon.
No time to waste. He grabbed onto the rope, and hopped inside, ready to face off against whatever monsters infested the area. Anything for that gem, and in turn, that staff.
As expected, Lyla’s Ruins were infested with its own populace of monsters, ranging from Owlbears to Will-O-Wisps, what have you. There was far more in this place than he had initially anticipated. However, he did find himself often having to fall back for another minute or two in order to make good use of the stock he had carried along with him.
He would find this an irresponsible course of action for himself to take, normally speaking, but there did in fact happen to be a good few merchants located in this area, too. There was Yoyoyo, Momomo, and Nohoho. Odd names, Schezo thought to himself, though he really wasn’t one to be talking when his name was equally out of place. Ancient Ranian, everyone. He’s heard enough jokes about it, as of this point in time.
It was a good thing that these monsters just so happened to continuously drop extra currency when he defeated them over and over, so all of it went to the merchants once he had gotten low on his health. It should have puzzled him more that there were even merchants in this area in general, come to think of it, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak. He would take advantage of everything he could while he was down here.
A little while after heading down, however, he’d run into a sign on the wall, in a corner. “Please keep going left,” it had said. Why, exactly? Was this a trap? Schezo decided to investigate, but he remained on guard, his sword ready and at his side as always. Instead of any monsters, however, what awaited him at the end of that corridor was…another note. “Here is a gift for you. Please use it well.” And under it was…a plate of curry?
What kind of madman was leaving curry out to sit in the middle of a dungeon, let alone abandoned ruins? Schezo thought that whoever had left this must have been a lunatic. He didn’t take the curry, instead turning back around to head further in.
The monsters were all usual fare to him, nothing he couldn’t cut down with some extra legwork. He did have to dodge a needle trap at one point, though…which was annoying enough on its own. What was more annoying was the letter he found in the middle of a hallway later on, written by the perpetrator who had constructed the trap in question. This person, apparently named Rulue, merely seemed like another hindrance to gaining the staff he was after. He tossed this letter aside, though given that it warned him of another trap, he would remain on his guard.
Aside from some minor extra hindrances, he didn’t appear to see the redheaded girl he’d captured, even after finding a set of stairs and making his way further into the underground ruins. Perhaps that meant his underlings had actually been doing their job? He hoped that was the case, or else he might’ve been stalled further. She appeared to be a bit more rowdy than some he’d captured in the past.
He wasted no time in clearing what he needed to. He didn’t have the patience to go through each and every crevice of the ruins, though he did need to in order to find where he needed to go. All the traipsing around for keys when he should’ve been able to just break them down was becoming increasingly repetitive. Who needed to lock up a bunch of doors in an abandoned dungeon, anyhow? Maybe because of that gem, and then the staff…Schezo wanted to hurry it up.
He’d found another note from the mysterious letter writer, this time claiming that Satan was hers and hers alone. Though, this confused him. Satan? He met no such Satan, and the tone of this letter…Schezo would call her nothing short of insane, frankly. Another letter discarded on his way. Just before getting to the next staircase, he found another note on the wall. The next trial is Warping Hell,” it read. Urgh.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be long before yet another note was located. It talked of being wise and strong before getting the chance to meet the writer of these…Schezo would consider himself such, but he had no interest in meeting whoever this was, unless it would get him the Rubelcrack Gem in return. Onwards.
…and in another corridor, another note.
“By the way, I’m very beautiful, if you were wondering.”
Ugh.
Back around he went.
Floor four was confusing from the moment he had entered it. Having to push the walls around gave him some memories of a decidedly much less pleasant point in time, and he would rather forget about it altogether. Having grown since then, he couldn’t exactly remember too much as to how he had figured that puzzle out. At least that one involved levers, and not pushing on every single wall in sight and likely giving himself brain damage.
Floor five was practically a blessing in disguise when he entered, even if he was greeted by another note on the wall telling him to pick a corridor to go down. Smooth sailing on this one, at least, picking the right part of the hallway. When he got to floor six, however, he was surprised to find it completely darkened…and slippery as all get-out. Lucky him that he didn’t have to deal with any more knocking against walls, at least not for a bit. Though, after some skidding around, he heard the voice of a woman, and decided to stay put while she talked.
…she spoke of setting mines all around this floor. Great. Lovely. Schezo could surely use some explosive mines right about now. Though she made the mistake of setting multiple off, thanks to her failing memory at where they were placed. Her final remark about meeting Satan did confirm one suspicion, however: she was the writer of the random letters scattered around the floor. That was one mystery solved, at least, and she gave away part of her plans by accident, never noticing that the dark mage was present.
Once she was gone, Schezo remembered that he had access to a light spell. He hadn’t used it in forever, but it was sorely needed now. Perhaps a bit convenient, but it was appreciated as the simple solution to the darkness that it was. Making his way down after that went decently.
Floor seven was a hassle, to be sure, especially because she had placed even more mines around the area. Still, he could work his way through with little hassle, as long as he kept an eye out. That didn’t stop one or two from exploding in his face, though, and then there was that damned fog…which the note writer of the ones on the walls was kind enough to warn Schezo about, thankfully.
Then, floor eight. Still a hassle, as was everything else up until that point. He’d even fallen through some unstable portions, and wound up a floor further, though he couldn’t exactly progress much. Likely yet another trap. It took one use of a warp spell to get back up to the floor above, which he needed to continue searching.
Going down to floor nine proper, he was met with a mural of some strange, rabbity-like creature on the walls.Strange…and judging by the colored-in circles, this is some kind of puzzle hint, too. Time to get going if he wanted to find out more.
A more thorough exploration of floor eight was required, to which Schezo despised doing, given the amount of backtracking it necessitated. Three gems and an extra puzzle…and even when that was all done, he still had to navigate through a maze of doors on a tenth floor! And how another merchant was located down here bewildered him enough to curb some of his annoyance. But only some. He had not felt this exhausted in a long time, but it was catching up to him.
More navigation, and he finally made it to a small room, with a button on the wall. Pressing it, he overheard a message. “Now heading to floor one-hundred at high velocity. You may feel unsteady, so please brace yourselves.”
Wait, what.
“Hold on one moOO-”
Schezo did not get the opportunity to react, as the room began to plummet down at high speed, as stated before. Instead of bracing himself, he ended up bonking his head on the wall, and then tripped into the one behind him, effectively being rattled around by the shakiness of it. When the movement stopped, and the voice began to thank him for using it, Schezo shakily got up to his feet, feeling sick by how rocky it had been. Nevertheless, he pressed onwards.
He noted that the walls were different, and so was the floor. Red carpeting, and green under a purplish insignia that lined every part of the hallways.The monsters he would beat back insisted he turn and leave, claiming that those only invited by Satan may continue on. That cleared up the other lingering suspicion of his, at least. But by now, he’d come too far to turn back for this damned gem.
Thankfully, all that this floor did was spiral into a single room, with the only caveat being some more monster-slaying along the way. When Schezo finally reached the last room, he was greeted by the sight of a green-haired man, sitting on an elegant throne and drinking coffee. Schezo immediately knew who this was, judging by all of the context clues he had gotten throughout this trek. “You!”
Satan looked up from his coffee, and set his nearly empty cup down onto a small table next to the throne. “Yes? Ah…” He sat up in his throne, observing Schezo with curiosity. Eventually, a small smirk would show itself. “You there. What is your name?”
Schezo was, to say the least of it, baffled. He didn’t have time for this, he had a gem to thieve! “I–what does this matter?”
“Just tell me, if you’d be so kind.”
“...Schezo Wegey. The dark mage. Now, y-”
“Schezo Wegey? Is that not ancient Ranian I hear?” The demon lord spoke over him, eyebrows raised now. “I haven’t heard it in eons. I’d thought such a civilization was wiped out, wasn’t it?”
When he got no response, thanks to the white-haired of the two being struck with shock, he continued. “Well, your name suits you. Gorgeous, yes, but have you defiled any gods? I’d like to know.”
“...”
“...
what???”
Was this demon… flirting with him? Of all the-
“I am no god, but perhaps being the Dark Prince is enough of an equivalent?” Satan continued, and added a small chuckle to his own quips. Schezo was baffled enough by the entire ordeal that, at first, he didn’t speak. But then…
“...I’ve had enough of this!” He suddenly exclaimed, with Satan taken mildly aback by the outburst. “You know of the Rubelcrack Gem, do you not?!”
“Yes? What of-”
“Hand it over.” Schezo wasted no time with his demands, raising his crystal blade to point at the demon lord.
Unfortunately for him, this would only serve to enrage. “If you take that gem, my precious Carbuncle will die…” Satan muttered as he stood from his throne, stepping down to face Schezo properly. The dark mage took a couple steps back, but his sword was still raised, as now was one eyebrow.
“Even if you are to be a future spouse, by passing through all of my trials and tribulations, I shall not dare let you lay a hand on Carbuncle!”
Horns and wings made themselves present, and Schezo could feel the magic inside of the room thicken instantly with this disguise removed. He really was going toe-to-toe with Satan. This was going too quickly, but–wait, what was that about spouses.
He didn’t have any time to react, though, as Satan immediately cast an offensive spell, prompting Schezo to defend and return the fire. Their battle was rather hefty, but…Schezo eventually won, despite his looming exhaustion. With the demon lord knocked out, and with most of his mana entirely spent, he trudged on, noticing a door nearby.
The first thing he spotted was the gem he’d spent so long looking for. And, just under it…a pair of black, beady eyes.
The rabbity-like creature depicted in the mural on floor nine…was this creature. The Carbuncle that Satan had jumped Schezo to protect.
“...”
The creature stood trembling in the corner, letting out small noises. It appeared to only be able to say “gugu,” or at least something along those lines. It looked so afraid, ears drooping and mouth curled into a frown.
“......”
“.........”
Schezo may regret this later, but…
He crouched down, still standing near the door of the room, letting his sword fall.
By gods, this thing was too damned adorable.
“You need not be scared of me,” Schezo told the small beast, stretching his hand out to Carbuncle. “I have no need of the jewel upon your head. Would you like to escape from here, instead?”
How Satan could keep such a small thing cooped up like this…Schezo found it unforgivable, frankly. The only things he would give mercy to were small creatures like this.
When it appeared that Schezo was, indeed, not going to snatch the gem off of Carbuncle’s forehead, it immediately perked up. Its ears straightened, and it smiled, with a hearty “gugugu!!!” to accompany its lift in mood. Instead of going for Schezo’s hand, however, it decided to scamper up his arm, and perch itself on his shoulder.
The dark mage decided this was fine. He picked up his sword, walked back out to the throne room, and, just before giving Satan’s unconscious body a final kick, for keeping Carbuncle locked up…
They were out of Lyra’s Ruins, and into the surrounding forest.
…
Meanwhile, a familiar redhead planted her feet on floor one, intent on gaining the Uranus staff…