A Demon's Core

We have to wait a few hours before the humans show up, but it could still be considered morning when they eventually arrive.

‘The humans are here. They found the box.’ Violet reports through our connection.

How many are there?

‘Six that I can see. I know four of them.’

What do you mean?

‘It’s the four humans who were the first to find us. Don’t know the other two though.’

I feel anger bubbling up. Jenna and her friends. Why would they return? Everything is their fault. They must have told others about what they found here. That is how the other humans knew where to find us. It is their fault we were attacked. It is their fault my imps died! I should have just told my imps to kill them the first time they showed up. I may have lost some by doing so, but it surely would have been better than the massacre that followed. And we would have remained hidden.

Rose is likely to reach the same conclusion. She is already not happy about this meeting taking place. When she sees those four it is going to be even worse. Of all the humans they could have sent. Why did it have to be them?

Wait for them to enter, then follow. Do not let them see you and try to keep quiet. I do not want them to notice you coming up behind them.

It takes longer than I expect for them to reach a point in the stairs where I can perceive them. They are moving slowly as they wind their way back and forth, even stopping occasionally. Perhaps they are just as wary of this being a trap as we are. I consider hitting them with a mana shock wave just to see how they will react, but think better of it. They might try to leave and that is not the objective this time.

Rose is waiting for them in the hallway, Coal and Spiky by her side. When the door to our floor opens, I can finally get a good look at the humans as they file in. First is a man that I do not recognize. He has a gun holstered on his side, but I do not see any other weapons on him. If he was in the lead then he must be mana sensitive so he might not need other weapons.

Next comes Shield Guy who quickly moves in front of the other man with his shield raised. After that comes Jenna, Machete Guy, Bow Guy and finally a woman I do not recognize. She is equipped similarly to the first man.

Rose’s disproving frown deepens into an angry scowl as she recognizes the four from the original group. Noticing the change in her expression, Coal growls at the humans. Rose’s mana flares out which does not go unnoticed by the humans. Jenna and the two new humans raise their hands and a mana shield forms in front of the group. That other woman is also mana sensitive it seems. The other humans raise their weapons, ready for a fight.

Rose, please calm yourself. I know why you are angry. I am not happy about those four being here either. But do not forget why we allowed them to come here.

Rose takes a deep breath and tries to adopt a more neutral expression. Her displeasure is still plain to see, but she no longer looks like she wants to tear out their throats with her teeth. Coal stops growling, but he still glares at the humans. Her mana returns to normal. The humans look uncertain, but at a nod from the mana sensitive male, their shield dissipates.

“Call me crazy, but I don’t think she wants us here.” Machete Guy says.

“You are crazy, but I think you’re right in this case.” Jenna responds.

“Well they don’t seem to want us to leave either.” Bow Guy says as he looks back into the stairwell and sees Violet and the two hellhounds coming up the stairs behind them.

“We might have just walked into a trap.” Shield Guy states, not lowering his shield. Jenna moves to stand in the doorway, prepared to create another mana shield behind them if necessary.

“We don’t know that. They have not attacked us yet. We came here to talk about peace. Do not attack them unless they strike first.” The unknown man says, then he steps forward to address Rose. “My name is William Blake. We’re not here to fight. We just want to talk, as stated in the letter. Would you be so kind as to take us to the Dungeon controller?”

He wants to talk to the dungeon controller. I still do not know what that means, but I think it is best not to let them know of our ignorance so we will just play along for now. Show them into Room 1 so we can get this meeting started.

Rose glares at William but gestures towards the door to Room 1.

“In there?” William asks, pointing towards the door, but Rose does not respond further. He takes a step towards the door only to be stopped by a hand gripping his shoulder.

“We don’t know what’s behind that door.” Shield Guy says. William sighs.

“I know. But if we expect them to trust us, we need to show a little trust in return.” He walks over to the door but pauses with his hand on the door handle. He takes a deep breath then pushes the door open. He stares at the empty room then looks back to Rose.

“There’s no one in here. Will the Dungeon controller be coming later?” He asks, but Rose just gestures for them to enter.

William enters the room followed by the other five humans. In the middle of the room is the table with five chairs around it, three on one side and two on the other. The humans correctly assume that the side with three chairs is for them. William sits in the middle chair while Shield Guy sits on the left and the unknown woman sits on the right. Jenna is content to stand behind them but Bow and Machete guys turn the couch around to face the table and bring it a little closer before sitting down.

Rose and Violet enter followed by Coal and the three hellhounds. I had intended for only two hellhounds to be here, but three is fine. They are primarily here to be intimidating anyway, having one more will only help with that.

Rose and Violet climb onto the chairs, Rose on the left and Violet on the right. Only Violet sits. Rose stays standing on her chair so she can be seen easier. Coal attempts to climb onto the chair with Violet but she blocks him from doing so. He pouts and sits on the floor. After a while Violet relents and holds out a hand to pull him up. There is enough room for both of them on the chair after all.

Both sides stare at each other quietly for a while. After couple of minutes of awkward silence, William speaks first.

“Right, so will the controller be joining us soon?” He asks.

“Do any of you speak Balkret?” Rose responds. William slumps in his chair.

“They don’t speak English, of course. I guess you’re up Cass.” William says and looks to the woman on his right.

“Controller...meet...soon?” She asks. Her speech is slow and broken up with a pause between each word. She really does not know the language well.

Just tell them that the controller does not trust them enough to meet them in person so you will be acting as my representative. I tell Rose and she relays that to the humans. The humans look to the woman for a translation.

“Controller no trust. Represent. I think, that’s all I got.” She says.

“So the controller does not trust us enough to meet with us them self so they sent a representative? Is that what she is saying?” William asks.

“I think so, yes. How should we proceed? Demand to see the dungeon controller or just keep talking to her?”

“She could be lying.” Shield Guy interjects. When the others look to him he continues. “She might be the dungeon controller, but is lying about it to throw us off. Either way, I do not think demanding anything will get us anywhere.”

“Fair point, I guess we’ll just talk to her for now then.” William says with a shrug. “What about the other two. In your initial report you said that all the demons were red. Do you think one or both of them could be guardians?”

“I wouldn’t know. You’re the expert on dungeons here.” Shield Guy retorts. While the humans are talking I am relaying everything to Rose so she knows what they are saying. They turn their attention back to Rose and the woman speaks again.

“Name Cassandra Thorne. William Blake. Johnathan Crawford.” She gestures to herself and the two men beside her in turn. “You name?” She asks. Rose glares at Johnathan, finally having a name to go with the shield.

“I am Rose, she is Violet, he is Coal.” She replies. The humans look at her in shock.

“Those are English words right? It’s not like some kind of coincidence that they are names in the demon language that just happen to sound like English?” Jenna asks.

“Not unless you think it is a coincidence that the one with purple skin just happens to be named ‘Violet’.” Machete Guy adds sarcastically from the couch.

“That means there may be one among them who understands English.” Shield Guy says, looking between the imps with narrowed eyes. “They may have been listening to everything we’ve said up to this point and understood every word. Be careful what you say from here on.”

“Why did you bring them?” Rose asks, gesturing to Johnathan and his companions.

“Pay...guard. Here before. No kill. Friend...face.” Cassandra replies

“THEY’RE NOT FRIENDS! It’s all their fault. They’re the reason my friends died. They told people about us. If we had just killed them the first time they were here, some of my friends would still be alive.” Rose shouts, tightening her grip on the table. Her claws digging gouges in the wood.

“Cass, she seems pretty angry. What’s she saying.” William asks.

“I don’t know, she’s talking too fast. I think she is blaming them for something.”

I think I need to step in here before things escalate. I have an idea that might work. I may be able to communicate with the humans using mana the same way I talk to my imps. William seems to be the leader so I will try talking to him. I hope this works and I do not make his head explode or something. I reach out to him with a tendril of mana. The three mana sensitive humans perk up when they sense the mana but do not have time to react before I make contact with William.

Greeting William. I am Magentam, the one who controls this dungeon.

William lets out a pained cry and doubles over with his hands on his head. The other humans all stand up and raise their weapons. The hellhounds and Coal growl at their sudden movement.

“What happened? Is she attacking you somehow?” Cassandra asks, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“No, I think the dungeon controller is trying to communicate telepathically. It just hurt a little and I wasn't expecting it. They do seem to speak English though.” William says, sitting up straight again and bringing his hands back down to the table.

Everyone stand down. I will handle this from here. The hellhounds stop growling, but Coal continues until Violet tells him to stop. Violet reaches out and takes Rose’s hand.

“You okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, sorry. I lost control a little there.” Rose says, wiping tears from her eyes.

“I understand, I don’t like them much either, but Magentam will deal with them now. They’ll regret it if the make her angry.” Violet replies with a smirk. Rose glares daggers at Johnathan.

I turn my attention back to William, while I am not overly concerned about his pain, I feel like I should try to ease up a little or things will not progress. I reach out again with less mana this time, he still winces when I make contact but it is clearly not as bad this time.

I am sorry. I am not used to talking with humans. Will you please tell your companions to lower their weapons. He does so and the humans reluctantly comply and sit back down. As I speak to him I also repeat everything to Rose and Violet to keep them in the loop.

I am sure you are wondering why my representative was so angry.

“Yes, that was startling. We’re a little confused.”

It is because of Johnathan and his companions. Why did you bring them?

“We hired them as escorts. They have been here before and you let them go without harm so we thought you might be more comfortable if we brought familiar faces.”

Is that so? Unfortunately it had quite the opposite effect.

“So it seems. Can you explain the reason for such a volatile reaction?”

They were the first humans to discover us. Ever since then, we have been attacked multiple times. We have repelled these attacks, but we have suffered casualties. We have lost friends to the humans who attacked us.

“Ah, yes. We suspected something like that might have happened when our first scouts reported seeing human remains outside the front entrance.” He looks down with a sad expression. “I’m sorry that happened. It is unfortunate that other humans managed to stumble upon this place before we could officially make contact, but I don't understand what that has to do with Johnathan and his party.”

The ones who attacked did not stumble upon us by chance. They were very well informed. William looks up, glancing towards Johnathan with a stern look.

“What do you mean by that?” He questions.

They knew exactly where to look. They came straight to this floor without stopping at any others. Once here, they went directly to the room where the core used to be, before it was moved, without checking any others. They even knew what kind of enemies to expect. William turns to Johnathan.

“Did you tell anyone else about this dungeon, before or after reporting it to us?” He asks in an accusing tone.

“Of course not. We’re well aware of the rules.” Johnathan retorts.

“You’re sure none of you said anything to anyone?”

“No way. What kind of fools do you take us for?” Machete Guy snaps back.

I have a question for you Mr. Blake. The name of your organization ‘Dungeon Management Office’, is that ever abbreviated as ‘DMO’. I ask.

“Yes. That’s how people usually refer to it. Why?” He asks skeptically.

The men who attacked us, they were hired to do so. That is how they got their information. The client who hired them got that information from a contact in the DMO. So to be fair, it is not just Johnathan and his friends who are at fault. Your organization also shares in the blame for what happened to us. He clenches his fists and his expression darkens.

“That’s a serious accusation. Are you certain of that?”

That is what the humans said before they started slaughtering my friends.

“I see. If that’s true, I don’t have any excuses. Sharing information on unconfirmed dungeons is a direct violation of our rules, but I can’t say with certainty that it’s never happened.” He turns to his female companion. “Cassandra, it appears we may have a leak at the DMO that needs to be plugged.” He takes a deep breath and sighs. He leans forwards and rests his head in his hands. “So, Magentam, where does that leave us with our peace negotiation?”

I am not opposed to peace or even trade. But first you need to deal with that leak, find whoever keeps sending people to attack us and put a stop to it. Only then can we discuss peace.

“That’s reasonable. Thank you for bringing this situation to our attention. We will start investigating this matter as soon as possible. How should we contact you when we find something?”

I will create a meeting space on the next floor down. If you wish to talk in the future, wait there and I will send someone to greet you.

“Fair enough, I look forward to speaking with you again.” With that William stands from his chair and all the other humans follow suit.

One more thing. Going forward, any humans who attempt to reach this floor will be met with the full force of my aggression. I will not hold back anymore and I will not show mercy. William flinches at my declaration, but does not object.

“Understood. I will ensure that warning is well documented.”

As the humans make their way out of the room Rose glares at them the whole way until they are out of sight.

Violet. I want you to follow them. But do not let them see you. I want to know where these humans are coming from and how many there are. But do not put yourself in danger. If you run into any trouble, let me know and I will recall you immediately.