The bomb had really done a number on the inside of the nested dungeon. Theo maintained his barrier against death magic as the party entered, although he didn''t know if it was necessary. As far as I could see, it was flat land. It was surprising that the bomb hadn''t left a crater in the ground. But that was likely because of some dungeon shenanigans.

    The group set off in a direction led by Xol’sa. He claimed to have a decent line on the dungeon core and headed the expedition. Not that there was much to worry about; Theo''s bomb had obliterated any monsters in the area, and with the time dilation effects, they didn''t expect any new ones to appear soon. Walking across the wasteland was disorienting, and conversation was the only thing that made it bearable.

    The sky of the nested dungeon was a smear of pale colors, providing minimal illumination. Some adventurers pulled lanterns from their inventories, lighting the way and pointing out anything remotely interesting in the geography. Theo stayed in his own head, watching the future of the group one minute at a time. But his concern was for what would happen when they needed to escape. He assumed destroying the dungeon core would cause the nested dungeon to collapse, but he also suspected it might destroy the other dungeon. If that were the case, a hasty retreat would be necessary.

    The walk to find the dungeon core took far longer than he would have liked, but as time seemed to drift in this place, it was simultaneously over before he knew it. They arrived at a raised platform that hadn''t been touched by the bomb. It was clearly immune to the damaging effects.

    "This might take me a while," Xol’sa said, approaching the dungeon core.

    Of course, it was the first time Theo had actually seen a dungeon core. It was a floating orb of metal and stone, roughly the size of a man. It put off a faint light that splashed against the ground, fighting against the pale light from the sky. As he drew closer to the object, he heard a faint humming as it spun. Deep within that dungeon core, a weird and invisible power was barely perceptible to him.

    "If things go wrong," Zarali said, coming up beside him. "Both Xol’sa and I have committed a Featherfall spell to memory. We''ll be able to leap from the back of the monster and find the exit."

    Well, that sounded like a flimsy plan. Casting a spell on fifty different people wouldn''t be easy. And in the panic of the moment, they might miss someone or miscast the spell, dooming everyone. He wasn''t sure what to think about it, but as they were literally in the belly of the beast, he didn''t know what else they could do. Theo considered himself more of a ride-along than a core member of the group, and he wasn''t sure he had enough potions for the entire party.@@@@

    After a while of fiddling with the dungeon core, Theo checked on Xol’sa’s progress. "What''s this technique you''re trying to weave over the dungeon core?" he asked.

    “I''m trying to overload it so that it will collapse on itself.” Xol’sa said, "Somebody gave me this tip recently, and after much consideration, I decided it was a valid technique.”

    Theo watched the way the wizard injected his mana into the dungeon core. The core drank the energy happily, seeming to swell slightly with each addition. With nothing else to do, he had the wizard teach him how to do it. Before joining in, he might not have had the biggest mana pool, but he did have a lot of potions.

    "Now you''re getting the hang of it," Xol’sa said, clapping with amusement as Theo did his best. "We''ll be done by the end of the year."

    Soon after, anyone with a respectable pool of mana was invited to try their hand at the dungeon core. It seemed more like feeding the monster you were trying to defeat than actually fighting it. But, as Xol’sa was the group''s magical expert, the alchemist had to defer to his knowledge. It was several hours later when something finally happened. Small gaps appeared in the dungeon core, and the energy felt more overwhelming by the moment. Nobody on the strike team had destroyed a dungeon before, and most had only run the local swamp dungeon. This was all new to them.

    "That''s a concerningly large gathering of mana," Xol’sa said, inspecting the dungeon core. Thanks to his dungeon engineer''s core, he got more information than others concerning dungeons.

    When more cracks appeared in the dungeon''s core, things became even more concerning. Enough concern arose within the group that Xol’sa stopped adding mana to the core, yet the cracks still formed.

    "Yes, I do believe it''s time to go," Xol’sa said, looking around nervously. "We need to go. With haste."

    "Ruh-roh Raggy," Tresk said, looking around, "maybe you could cast haste on everybody, Theo?"

    "Crap," Theo said, opening his interface and getting to work. What was the point of learning everyday spells if he wasn''t going to use them? He had learned the haste effect while experimenting with imbuing his potions. Using that knowledge, he formed it into a ward to be cast with his mage core. Once he was done, he inspected the resulting spell.

    [Hasten Allies]

    [Advanced Ward] [Linked Ward]

    Everyone jumped.

    An unrecognizable sound broke Theo''s hearing. Frank had clipped the side of a flying island, crashed through it, and careened to the dungeon floor, slamming hard. The group floated down toward the ground at a reasonable pace. As he had seen in one of many futures, the velocity gained from Frank''s crash had been negated. They now sailed peacefully toward the ground, except for the gaggle of monsters that had noticed the commotion.

    A series of thin blades radiated from Xol’sa’s body, slicing through any approaching monster as Zarali chanted a blessing. The power of Tero’gal filled the group, enhancing their attributes and combat prowess. Theo watched in amazement as the elves fanned out, getting to work and dropping any pretense of stealth. Tresk teleported between monsters, driving a blade here and there to perform her deadly work.

    "Are you going to do something?" Tresk shouted at Theo, who shrugged.

    "Behind you," he said, gesturing. Tresk whipped around and stabbed a fox monster, killing it instantly.

    The group fought their way toward the dungeon''s entrance, but they had traveled far. Theo served his role, maintaining the haste ward and informing his party members when they were about to be attacked. To the group''s surprise, they linked up with the main force about halfway there. Aarok led the charge, bowling through a group of monsters and flashing a devious smile.

    "How long do we have?" Aarok asked.

    "Somewhere between a minute and a year," Xol’sa said. "We shouldn''t linger longer than necessary."

    “Well, what happens when a dungeon is destroyed?” Theo asked.

    “Absolutely no idea,” Xol’sa said with a shrug. “But I’ll say we shouldn’t linger. Even if there’s another core somewhere in this space, I can’t predict what will happen when it collapses.”

    “I wonder if we should’ve just zorped the dungeon core to another dimension,” Tresk said, coming alongside the group as they jogged. Under the influence of Theo’s haste aura, they all moved a considerable amount faster. Even at a jog.

    Before long, the entire group stood outside the dungeon. The dungeon’s entrance seemed normal enough from there, but Xol’sa’s senses told a different story. Something was happening inside the dungeon, and no one was eager to speculate. Although it could’ve been normal for the collapse of a dungeon, it was impossible to tell. Not with the fact it was a negative dungeon. The water was made murkier with the nested dungeon issue.

    Theo worked to erect ward barriers around the dungeon, layering them as many times as his mana would allow him. At least the dungeon wasn’t directly on top of town. Alongside the barrier, Aarok planned to station as many adventurers as he could. While the strike on the dungeon went well enough, something lingered in the air. An acknowledgement that the next dungeon they had to tackle would be at least twice as daunting. No one was eager to delve into the Ocean Dungeon.

    That place sucked.

    “I guess we’re on watch,” Tresk said, slapping Theo on the back. “Until the dungeon collapses or something interesting happens.”

    The only thing Theo was worried was about that ‘interesting’ thing. It might not have been an explosion at all. Instead, perhaps Frank himself would poke his head out of the dungeon to greet the waiting adventurers. It wasn’t something he wanted to see come to fruition.

    “Just keep your eyes open and your daggers ready,” Theo said.

    “Why? Your intuition itching?”

    “Yeah.”