Chapter 205

Despite being ready for it, Natalie couldn’t help but be surprised as Malice disintegrated into pink motes of light. The energy drifted into the [Capture Core], sucking the wolf-girl into a magical pocket dimension, as if she were any old dungeon item.

At making their decision, Natalie and the rest of the team looked around the cavern, bracing themselves for something to happen. For the dungeon to announce its displeasure, and promptly vent it on them. But only silence hung in the large ash-covered room.

“I’d almost rather something did jump out at us,” Jordan said, after a long second of nothing happening.

“Don’t give it any ideas,” Sofia muttered. “The plan is the same. Get moving. I don’t trust this.”

“Agreed,” Ana said.

“Should I summon her back?” Natalie asked. “Or, actually, someone else? So they get the experience?”

“I don’t see why not,” Sofia said. “Capturing her is what should’ve annoyed the dungeon, not using her. We might need her help.”

Natalie tossed the capture core at Liz, who caught it somewhat clumsily, surprised at the action.

“Why me?”

“No reason. We’ll rotate.”

Liz held the orb up and furrowed her brow. A second later, pink light poured outward, taking the shape of a busty wolfgirl.

Malice looked around, then grinned at seeing them again. She rolled her shoulders. “Alright. Angry Crypt Keeper?”

“Not yet,” Sofia said. “But I can’t imagine it’ll be long. Natalie, please?” She gestured impatiently at the throne, which supposedly hid the trapdoor leading into the loot room.

Natalie jogged over. Indeed, she found the fixture on the ground behind the towering, ornate throne. She gripped the metal handle and heaved upward. A short ladder led into a tunnel. She took the fast path: she jumped down, grunting as she hit the ground. Scanning for threats revealed nothing, instead, she found exactly what she’d been expecting. A loot chest as well as four cages.

Four cages. Each with a person trapped inside. Leah’s teammates.

Two of them were conscious, a man and a woman, and two were not—two more men. They stared at Natalie with shock, eyes flicking down her body, and Natalie’s skin prickled at the obvious, surprised once-over they gave her. And despite the circumstances, clearly not of a fully professional nature. It was going to take some getting used to, running around in this bikini armor.

“All clear,” Natalie called up to the entrance of the trapdoor. Sofia was already in the process of jumping down after her—then Jordan next. The rest of her team clambered down in short order.

“Who are you people?” the woman in the nearest cage asked.

Natalie grunted, pulling out the keys she’d been carrying around. The first one with a woman’s name didn’t work, but the second did; it slid into the door’s lock. “Leah sent us,” she said, tugging the door open. “But we’re in a hurry, so explanations can happen later.”

“A hurry? Why?”

“We think something’s about to happen,” Natalie said. “But we’re not sure what.”

“Uh,” the woman said. “Sorry? What do you mean?”

But Natalie ignored her. Even if there were no obvious indicators of danger, her skin was crawling. They’d taken a risk by capturing Malice. Angering the dungeon, whatever came from that, wasn’t going to be pleasant.

She quickly went around the room and unlocked the four cages. The sleeping individuals were woken after some urgent, mildly violent shaking. Sofia, in the meantime, had thrown open the loot chest and was, without ceremony, dumping the contents of their victory into monster cores. Normally, they would make a show of inspecting the loot as it came out, but this time, they would appraise their haul after they escaped the dungeon.