Rey took a moment to process what she was hearing.

  "This only leads to more questions," Rey pointed out. "Where does this leave us? Why tell us all this? And what do you get out of this?"

  "Logical questions," Tu'Elda admitted with a sigh. "I, as the eighth, was sent just in case your dungeon was still displeased and demanded a head."

  Rey almost snorted, but she could not prevent the change of expression on her face.

  "And what has our dungeon done to ever make people think it required sacrifices?" Rey asked in amused bafflement.

  "Well, the last time you had dealings with the DDD, no bodies were returned," he reminded her.

  "They delved, and there were no bodies to retrieve," Rey immediately responded, before she caught herself. "I guess not everyone can see delves the way we do. But I can assure you that the dungeon was never actually offended by them or your representative. More like an exasperated parent at worst; at best, he was a curious child. You have nothing to fear from us."

  Tu'Elda released a breath neither of them realized he had been holding.

  "As for the why," he moved on, "my parents seek permission to move a garrison and population here. As the only dungeon not at war, this place will likely become the safest location for diplomacy."

  "And the safest place to train soldiers," Rey added.

  "There is that too," he admitted. "I even hear the leveling speed here is pretty good."

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  "I have no other dungeons to compare with," Rey cheekily admitted.

  "As for why now," Tu'Elda groaned. The tension within him seemed to redouble. "Since the DDD is collapsing, they are clinging to every scrap of power they can. That has led to a most unsavory new alliance. They made contact with Xalt, the Elder Lich."

  "The one that hunts souls from other worlds?" Rey asked, having heard the stories from Lucy and Chloe.

  "Indeed," Tu'Elda admitted wearily. "The remnants of the DDD have convinced Xalt that your dungeon has otherworldly origins."

  "I mean, he does not try to hide it all that well," Rey admitted with a shrug.

  "Damn," Tu'Elda sighed. "Then he will most certainly come here. He will lay siege to this place. He will stop at nothing to claim your dungeon's soul."

  Rey raised an eyebrow at that and studied him for a long moment.

  "No offer of aid?" Rey asked, more serious now.

  Tu'Elda winced before responding. "There is an ancient pact between him and the nations of the world. You see, no one was able to level up faster than Xalt in the past. He could lay low entire nations. So a pact was forged. He could claim all otherworldly souls. At the time, everyone thought him mad. No one believed such things were possible. So he stopped his war on the living, and other powers were permitted to rise. To stand in his way now would be to invite him to lay siege to our kingdom."

  "So he is a one-being nation?" Rey asked.

  "Yes," Tu'Elda admitted. "Still going to let me walk away?"

  "I don't see why not," Rey said with a shrug. "All you have told me is that a snack is making itself presentable for my dungeon once he reawakens."

  "Reawakens?" Tu'Elda asked.

  Rey stood and moved toward the door, then looked back with a grin. "He is undergoing a metamorphosis, and I am sure he will be plenty hungry when he awakens."

  Rey left, leaving Tu'Elda to stew on that information.

  Once back in the dungeon, however, Rey was a mess of nerves. An Elder Lich would not be an easy thing to defeat. They were beings inured to death, normally with more than one contingency in place. Her mind worked itself into a frenzy as she chewed her thumbnail.

  Then a pulse of warm energy passed through the dungeon.

  With a step, she was back in the core room. A pulsing light shone from within the egg that surrounded the dungeon core. It throbbed like a heart as nearly solid mana poured off its surface.

  As Rey watched, the egg wiggled—and cracked.