Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 197 (Patreon)

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Chapter 197 – The Black Temple

Five figures staggered out through the portal. Five, out of a squad of ten, pared down from a force of seven hundred. Fatigue gripped them plainly, as they struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

Their armor was battered, and, in some cases, barely holding together. Continuous battle had taken its toll not just on their bodies, but their equipment as well. The enchantments that maintained them were not working, and the spells that could easily repair them in the field were too costly to consider, for the moment. All because of the damned dungeon laws.

Still, they were free of the thrice-damned Blight. At this point, the holy warriors were willing to take any small reprieve they could. They had never been pushed like this, by creatures that were so far beneath them in terms of power. It should not have been possible.

But the damned Demon was clever, Belkis had to give him that much credit. She knew exactly what he was doing. The challenges he had put in front of them were deadly dangerous, as could be seen by the fact that she no longer had half her squad, but the System did not allow dungeons to create instant death traps without a way to bypass them safely, and there always had to be a way to escape the dungeon.

So, the Demon had turned this into a war of attrition. The traps and monsters were not overpowering to the point where they could not triumph, and there were no sealed rooms that offered no escape. But, by stacking different effects, he had increased the difficulty of all the challenges manyfold. There was still a way out, but it involved beating the dungeon.

That wasn’t an issue, in and of itself, since they had already planned to defeat the dungeon and destroy its core, but it was the details that made it troublesome. Since there was a clear way out, the Demon wasn’t required to make the path forward safe or easy. The battle against his Vampire Lord had very nearly killed them.

They were weakened, and now they were facing the part of the dungeon she most loathed and feared, from the instant she heard the reports from the Guild. The Black Temple, the center of all this wickedness. It was here that the Demon took his first steps on the path of the Divine. It was here that he was strongest.

And they were already weak from the fights before.

Dungeon Law

On   Nightmare difficulty, all adventurers seeking to pass through the Black   Temple must complete all shrine challenges, as well as all bonus challenges.   In addition, to progress through the Black Temple, at each point where a Key   and Lock would be chosen, all potential Locks must be unlocked.

To: Crusader-Champion Belkis, and   accessories

From: Management, The Forbidden   Chambers of Exotic Pleasures

Subject: Admittance to the Black   Temple level of the Dungeon

It has come to our attention   that you, having one or more members of your party being Anathema to one or   more of the deities enshrined within the Forbidden Chambers of Exotic   Pleasures dungeon, are attempting to enter the Black Temple floor of the dungeon   while adventuring on Nightmare difficulty.

Unfortunately, all adventurers challenging   the dungeon on Nightmare difficulty must complete all shrine challenges, this   creates a paradox, as the System requires there be a path for all individuals   entering a dungeon to progress through. Because of this, the System has   increased available options for changing the dungeon while Adventurers are   present. As the Management prides itself on being fair, even to individuals   who are inherently antagonistic towards them, ‘KAREN Protocols’ have been   initiated.

Under KAREN Protocols, parties   may choose one of the following options, which will apply throughout the   floor:

Penance by Sacrifice: At the shrine of each deity   with whom a member of the party is Anathema to, the party will choose one member   of the party, and that member will amputate a portion of their body no   smaller than a hand. This sacrifice cannot be regrown or regenerated through   natural or magical means unless one is in a temple to which the individual is   not Anathema. Replacements via mechanical, magical, or technomagical means   are possible, if they are available.

Penance by Corruption: At the shrine of each deity   with whom a member of the party is Anathema to, the party will choose one member   of the party, and that member will submit to whatever uses the Shrine   Guardians subject them to, for one hour, while the rest of the party watches.   This use can be anything the Shrine Guardians wish, that does not result in   crippling injury and/or death.

Penance by Suffering: At the shrine of each deity   with whom a member of the party is Anathema to, the party will choose one member   of the party, and that member will be tortured by whatever means the Shrine   Guardians wish, for one hour, while the rest of the party is made to watch.   This torture may not result in death.

Penance by Conquest: At the shrine of each deity   with whom a member of the party is Anathema to, the party will choose one   member of the party, and that member will be forced to fight the Shrine   Guardians in combat to the death, while the rest of the party is made to   watch. The Penance is finished when one side or the other has been slain to   the last.

After the Penance has been paid,   the party may then move on to complete the challenge offered by that shrine,   thereby allowing them to proceed further into the Black Temple.

Under KAREN Protocols, the Boss   battle at the bottom of the Black Temple has been altered as follows:

· Prior   to combat, the party must satisfy the lust of every creature in the boss room.   Each party member must participate.

· Party   members who are unable to continue prior to combat will be teleported to the   Breeding Halls, where they shall be kept for no less than a year and a day   before being released upon the surface.

· Party   members who manage to survive to the end of combat will have all restrictions   on magic items rescinded for 8 hours.

If the KAREN Protocols are not   to your satisfaction, you may always choose a secondary path, fulfilling System-required   obligations on our part. This can be done by converting your allegiance to   one of the deities represented in the Forbidden Chambers of Exotic Pleasures,   entering into a contract with the entity known as the Demon of the Dungeon,   or by one party member voluntarily enslaving the others.* This   enslavement need not be consensual.

We understand that this may not   be to your complete satisfaction. Please understand that we, the Management   of the Forbidden Chambers of Exotic Pleasures dungeon, do not care about that   in the slightest. If you had not done something stupid, and ignored all the   warnings you were undoubtedly given, then you would not be in this situation   now.

As such, it is the considered   opinion of the management that this is all your fault. Complaints asking to   speak to higher powers will be met with mocking and scorn, as you deserve. Rest   assured, we do not care about you, your feelings, or anything you might have   to say on the matter.

To ensure fairness and   transparency to all others who may be considering entering the dungeon under   similar conditions, your party’s activities in the Black Temple will be   recorded, and broadcast to all others sharing your affiliation who are not   currently within the Dungeon, as well as being publicly available on the Internet   of Earth, and similar communications networks within reach of the System,   complete with commentary from the Demon of the Dungeon to describe what is   going on.

Thank you for choosing the   Forbidden Chambers of Exotic Pleasures for your suffering needs.

--Management

*Those   wishing to enslave their fellow party members may offer a silent prayer to Kuronoth,   lord of Dominion and Pleasure, and be provided appropriate slave collars for   that purpose. Kuronoth reserves the right to take one slave of his choice out   of the party as tribute in return for this boon.

The Crusader-Champion stared blankly at the message. Then rage began to boil over. “POFMIS DAMN THAT DEMON TO THE PITS OF WHATEVER HELL HE BELONGS IN! I SWEAR, I WILL DESTROY THAT BASTARD IF IT IS THE LAST THING I DO!”

“What’s the plan, Champion?”

Belkis grit her teeth as she forced herself to breathe, and think. Turning to look at Grimtooth, who had asked the question, she said, “It would seem that the Demon is forcing our hand. The different shrines in this level are supposed to offer different trials. Three trials on each subfloor, unlocking a challenge room which you can gain enchanted items from, and the path down.”

Yathrena nodded slowly. “The Guild report said that the floor is filled with demons, right? And that the stairs only open when a ‘lock’ is opened by the ‘key’. But there were no details on how that happened. We can guess, since it is common knowledge that you need both males and females for this floor, but the Guild report had no specifics.”

Trueheart spoke up, “That is because there are local taboos involved with openly speaking about sex in general, but especially when it is of questionable consent at best. They didn’t go into detail in the official guide, but if you accessed the human data networks, it is plain to see. Locks are females, and keys are males, and to ‘open’ the lock, the key has to rape the female in different ways.”

Holad nodded once. “So, not that different from other demon-infested dungeons, where succubi and incubi make people do horrific things to each other in order to pass their perverse trials. And since everyone has to join in, that means that Grim is going to be taking us all, at least six times, right?”

Belkis nodded. “Unfortunately, that is correct. That much is still worse than I had hoped for, but within the bounds of what we had expected. The Host has braved the depraved demon dungeons before, and rescued those souls still redeemable from such places. But these other things… they will make things more difficult.

“According to the Guild’s information, the trials themselves involve various degrees of perversion and corrupt acts that will require great penance from all of us when we are through, to cleanse ourselves in the eyes of the Chainbreaker. But these ‘penances’ we must do before we can even do these trials are a problem. I know you all trust me, and my judgement, but I would hear your thoughts on which of the four we should choose.”

Yathrena grimaced. “The Sacrifice is impossible. Nine shrines before we get to the Altar, means nine hands or feet, at the least. And we would have to fight our way through the rest of the dungeon that way, and return to the temple fleet above to get healed. In our current state, that is impossible.”

Grimtooth grunted. “Shrine Guardians in dungeons are often some of the strongest beings in the dungeon, as the deity does not want the shrine defiled. And the guild said that there are as many as three Guardians on some of the shrines. Taking the Conquest option on, especially as we are now, is too risky. I could do it, and Champion Belkis, but the rest of you would run a good risk of death.”

Belkis nodded. “And if it is just us two, we’ll get worn down before the end.”

Trueheart nodded as well. “Indeed. Which leaves only Corruption or Suffering. For one, whoever we chose would have to resist whatever pleasures the Guardians tempted them with, and for the other, they would have to endure tortures that might leave them crippled. Because the rule says that the torture cannot be to the death. But we all know a demon can find a great deal of room between the person being whole of body and mind, and their physical death.”

Holad sighed. “Then it is pleasure, I guess. Obviously, we can’t let one person shoulder the burden alone, or they will get worn down and worn out, just like if we were in battle. I suggest that we go around the group in turn, leaving Grim out of the selection.”

She raised a hand to silence any objections. “Grim is going to need to save his strength, and his stamina, for the other rooms. The rest of us will at least get some time to rest, but Grim is the only male, and will have to go through the process with each of us, twice per landing, and then still have enough strength to continue when we are made to satisfy the creatures before the Altar, which will include two succubi.”

Grimtooth groaned. When it was put that way, it seemed a daunting task, even if he was into the second tier, and had all the stamina that a Second Tier warrior-type class should have. The mind might be willing, but the flesh could only take so much before it began to give out, same as with lower-tiered people. “If ever again I complain about the lack of companionship as part of the Host, remind me of this moment.”