dinniman
patreon
Book 7, Chapters 77, 78, 79
🕑 Added 2024-10-18 19:46:44 +0000 UTCThis will be the second-to-last chapter dump for book 7, This Inevitable Ruin.
Retcon wise, not much to report. There was an earlier conversation with Ferdinand that now needs to be changed. I'm going to seed a significant amount of conversation throughout the book about two different things. One is the rules about how Celestial Attendants and NPCs in general are protected from the gods on the 12th floor, at least until the Ascendency actually starts, and the other may be a thing or two about Justice Light's two hobbies... puzzles and sewing.
Chapter 77
Meatus hasn’t exactly left the realm. He’s now mashed all over the realm. Holy shit. Still, the Scavenger’s Daughter looks away because even she doesn’t want to look at that. Luckily for you, the benefit fades. For the remainder of this floor, your penis is now protected from getting chopped off! Isn’t that great?
Rosetta: It’s in my teeth. It’s in my fucking teeth! Oh gods, I can taste it.
“Noooooooooooo!” came a deep scream, shaking the Nest.
Harpocrates. The god wasn’t mute after all. He raised his arms in the air. “My cock! My beloved cock! You will pay for this, Champion of Nekhebit!”
And with that, he too, disappeared.
Harpocrates has left the realm.
The Scavenger’s Daughter has closed her eyes. The benefit fades, though you now have it permanently, which, I gotta tell you, ain’t all that exciting.
I peered out into the night. Gore completely covered everything as far as I could see. Above, the paw dissipated, showering more blood and body parts over Shanty Town. The chains faded away, as if made of smoke.
Blood dripped from everything and everywhere.
At the same moment, it abruptly started to snow. At least I thought it was snow at first, but I realized it was actually ash. Ash from the eruption. It mixed with all the gore in the air, giving the impression it was literally raining blood. The entire night took on a red tinge. The river of lava seemed to be frozen, having mostly cooled, though in the distance I could see hints that the lava continued to ooze from the mountainous region and now moved off in other directions after having clogged the river.
This is hell, I thought. This is hell.
A notification came regarding a new Demon Eviction, but it was abruptly cut off by a strange notification that I didn’t get a chance to read.
“Okay,” Donut said as red ash fell over us. “Okay.” She sat up in her chair, and she was rapidly rubbing her paw on the side of the parapet as if she was trying to clean it. She still trembled, but I could see she was calming down. My own heart wouldn’t stop thrashing.
Donut did not have any additional player killer skulls. That was a relief. The spell was supposed to know who our enemies were. It seemed that part, at least, worked properly.
Below, the city defense towers were firing nonstop, and I knew they were firing at our people, but even as we watched, a fire lance tower tumbled away, followed by familiar dinosaur roar. Big Tina.
The toweres were getting taken out one by one by the sheer mass of folks crowded down there. A group of fairies, led by Elle, whipped through the air, shooting ice over the pools of steaming lava filling the upper levels of Larracos before spiraling back down to start shooting out the crystal of another tower.
“Okay, it’s done. It’s done,” Donut continued. She wasn’t talking about the assault on Larracos. She shook her head and blinked. “That... that wasn’t pleasant.”
“Donut...” I began, but she held up a paw, stopping me. Our views were absolutely spiked, despite the fight having moved to below us.
She sat upright and took a moment to compose herself. “At least I’m back in my rightful spot as leader of the party. I was worried I’d lost my Former Child Actor benefits, but it says I still have them. This new Oak Fell class and this champion thing are in addition to my original class. I don’t even worship Nekhebit, and it says I don’t have to if I don’t want to, but I’m not allowed to worship anyone else who’s not in her ‘court.’ Both the class and the title come with a bunch of weird spells. Plus, I just got another two Celestial boxes and a pretty amazing Lorena Bobbitt achievement.”
Mordecai: By his left fucking tit, Donut. By his left tit. Those spells you just gained are deity spells. You are... I think you’re now the most powerful crawler in the history of this game. You’ll have a few choices you need to make for both your intelligence and strength now that they’re both over 100. The notification probably won’t go away until you choose.
Donut: GOODNESS, I’M NOT GOING TO PICK THE SWOLE BENEFIT. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT IT DID TO CARL? CAN YOU IMAGINE? I’M GOING TO PICK MUSCLE MOMMY FOR STRENGTH SO MONGO IS STRONGER, AND FOR INTELLIGENCE I PICK BRAIN TRUST SO I CAN MAKE MAGIC MISSILE EVEN MORE POWERFUL. I ALSO HAVE ONE TO PICK FOR MY CHARISMA TOPPING 200. I’M GOING TO PICK ONE CALLED WHOLESALE DISCOUNT.
Mordecai: Uh, are you sure about that Muscle Mommy benefit?
Donut: TOO LATE. I PICKED IT. WOW! HAVE YOU SEEN MY CHARISMA?
Mordecai: Yeah. I think the Bopcas will be worshipping you again. Your charm and Love Vampire skills are stronger than that of most gods.
Donut: PLUS I GET EVERYTHING AT COST AT THE STORE. IT’S FANTASTIC!
“Holy fucking shit, Donut,” I said upon examining her.
Her level had grown to 135.
I could tell she was struggling, but the fact she was actively covering it was such a relief. That meant something. I hadn’t lost her yet. Plus she did seem genuinely excited about some of these new benefits.
She was dealing with this better than I was. We needed to get back out there, but first, we had to rest a minute. Still, my mind reeled at the amount of power she’d gained all at once.
Donut continued. “I was quite worried for a moment that they’d give all the credit to Li Na since she put all those chains out there, but Mordecai is correct. It looks like I am once again the strongest crawler in the dungeon. Mongo is going to be so proud, and with my new Muscle Mommy benefit, his strength is boosted by 25% of my own strength!” She looked over the edge and clicked her tongue. “Hmm. I think I’m going to keep him caged up for a bit. Carl, best keep Rend caged as well. If they manage to eat some of that, uh, Meatus gore, I don’t think I could look at either the same again. As the strongest crawler in the dungeon I have to maintain a sense of decorum, and both Mongo and Rend by extension must also maintain the same propriety. Goodness, the smell is quite repulsive, isn’t it?”
System message. A crawler has maxed out her base strength. Crawler Li Na now has 300 strength.
System message. A crawler has maxed out her base intelligence. Crawler Li Na now has 300 intelligence.
System message... yeah, I can keep doing this, but she maxed them all. Even Charisma, which is a hard one.
System Message. So, this has never happened before, but a crawler has reached max base stats. She can still raise her stats beyond that with equipment and bonuses and spells, but we don’t actually have a plan to deal with this, so I’m gonna have to come up with something.
I felt a deep, deep chill.
Elle: For crissakes, guys. We were only out of it for like an hour.
“Hey!” Donut exclaimed. “Carl, her level is only 87! How did she do that? And why didn’t I get one of those announcements for charisma? My charisma is way above 300!”
“Not your base, Donut. Not yet,” I said, looking over at Li Na’s chain tower, which had grown silent. My own level was only 79, just on the verge of 80. I was getting left behind.
It appeared Li Na had left her tower again. “You crazy asshole. Holy shit, Li Na.”
I now knew why I couldn’t mark those in the ball. I couldn’t mark them because Li Na had already done so.
She’d marked them all.
But, the moment I thought that, I realized there were two notifications we hadn’t received.
I looked over, surprised. Both Victory and Fopsy were gone. I hadn’t seen when they’d left.
“She used the Ring of Divine Suffering,” I said. “But she has a problem. I’m pretty sure she’d marked both Tagg and Fang, but we didn’t kill them. They both got away somehow. More might have gotten away, too.”
“Uh, oh,” Donut said. “Doesn’t that mean she can’t heal?”
“Yes. And every time she uses her chains, she loses just a little health.”
Donut grunted. “That doesn’t matter. She can just punch everyone to death now. And as soon as we win Faction Wars, they’ll all drop dead now because of that new stupid rule. Where is she anyway?”
That was a good question. I activated Find Crawler, but before I could even scroll over to her, we received the answer.
System Message: The Throne Room of Team Retribution has been abandoned by the War Mage Rebellion. The City Defense system has gone inert!
System Message: The Throne Room of Team Retribution is now occupied by forces from the Princess Posse. If you can hold for six hours, your team will win Faction Wars!
System Message: The Throne Room of Team Retribution has been abandoned. It has fallen back into control of Team Retribution.
Britney: Um, Carl. Li Na just tore through the castle. She’s glowing, and she’s not talking to anyone. The remaining war mages opened a portal and disappeared. We don’t know where they went.
Carl: Shit. I think she’s looking for Tagg and Fang. She can’t heal until they’re dead.
I moved to a private chat.
Carl: Hey. Li Na. How many got away?
Li Na: About 20 of them, including both warlords. There are several unaffiliated outworlders here, and they all disappeared. Where did they come from?
Carl: I saw them. I don’t know who they are or how they got here. Look. The NPCs still have someone in the Dream castle, and they’ll have the throne room captured in about four hours. Now that things are settled here, we gotta go to the Reaver castle, rescue Louis, and we’ll take their throne room, too. You’ll be okay. As soon as that’s done, we’ll finish the plan. We just gotta watch out for the remaining War Mages. I don’t know where they went.
She didn’t answer.
I moved to the main chat, and Donut was already in there apologizing to everyone about putting them in the ball, but everyone was claiming they didn’t have any memory of it.
Elle: Donut, you saved our asses. When we were in that Witness spell but all piled up, it was like we were paralyzed, and we could feel everything, but we couldn’t move. It was awful. The moment you cast that battle formation spell, it was lights out.
Chris: The Witness spell was just as bad as being controlled by Maggie. You saved us.
Donut: YOU WERE ALL SCREAMING. ARE YOU SURE?
Katia: We’re sure. The worst part was waking up because we were falling and didn’t know what was happening, but it was still better than where we were. That was truly horrible.
Donut: AND IT DIDN’T HURT?
Elle: My throat feels like I’ve been gargling sandpaper. And I smell like that god’s schlong. It’s worse than when you got sprayed by the skunk. But that’s it.
Donut: OH NO, I’M SO SORRY.
Elle: It’s not the first time I’ve woken up stinking like a stranger’s wang, believe me.
Imani: Elle!
Elle: Don’t pretend you don’t know what went down on Canasta night. Look, Donut. That was a complete shitshow. We lost people from the towers when we woke up. Some of us got burned by fleshers. Several lost limbs. It wasn’t pretty, but you pulled through for all of us in a way nobody else could. Not even Carl. What you did... Nobody is ever going to forget it. You are a goddamn hero.
Donut: LI JUN DIED. BOMO DIED. AND HUNDREDS MORE.
Elle: Yes, they did. And none of them would have it any other way. You know why? Because they died helping you. They died helping you save all of us. Don’t you even think twice about it. You rose to the fucking occasion, and there’s a reason why you’re now... Uh holy shit, Donut. I just saw your level.
Donut: SOMEBODY MAKE SURE ZHANG IS OKAY. HE HASN’T SAID ANYTHING.
Imani: I’m with him right now. He’s very upset, but he’s proud of his friend.
Zhang: Donut. Jun was always afraid he wouldn’t do anything important. He was afraid his sister would be lost without him. You helped her get strong enough to protect herself. That would’ve made him proud, and it makes me proud to have you as a friend.
Donut: ZHANG, I’M SO SORRY.
Zhang: You have nothing to apologize for. He was my best friend, and I have nothing but admiration and respect for you.
Donut was back in my arms, cuddled against me, her eyes closed.
“It’s okay to cry,” I said.
“Not yet,” she said after a moment. “We’re not done yet.”
“No,” I said. “No, I guess we’re not.”
Chapter 78
We now stood before the absolutely wrecked castle of the Semeru, who’d built it as a capstone against further intrusion toward the gods. The castle was originally made of living wood, and it had since been encased in intricately carved stone inlaid with gemstones. The wood was now gone, having rotted away. The remaining stones barely resembled that they were once any sort of cohesive structure. The roof was long gone. What remained of the cracked and sunken-in walls were covered in marks that looked like scars from electrical strikes. It was where tree roots had grown up along the walls and since rotted away.
The whole area was covered in wet, slimy goo mixed in with ash. The smell was indescribable. It was like burned fish mixed with rotten milk mixed with sulfur mixed with mulch. And even though none of the gore from Donut’s War Crime spell had made it down here during the initial attack, it still rained red ash, giving everything a dark, ghoulish dusting.
I thought of Priestly, the cookbook author who’d gone insane at the sight of this city after it had fallen. Stab, stab, stab.
Slam, slam, slam.
There was a statue here, once, at the entrance, but it had fallen over and shattered. The stones of the statue were still wet, and as the ash settled on it, it caused the rock to glitter in the light from the multiple Torch and Spotlight spells hovering over the bottom levels of Larracos. Far to my left, a large section of the second and third levels of the city were just gone, replaced by a hole. The massive dwarven digger, which was basically a boxy, god-sized robot covered in all directions with spiral digging arms and goblin-murder-dozer-like spinning wheels sat idle. A pair of Semeru stood atop it, doing something inside a control panel on the shoulder of the thing. They looked like bugs standing upon it.
“Watch out for the puddles, mate,” Florin said. “The bartenders are neutralizing them, but most are still acid.”
I’d just finished telling him everything that had gone down with Lucia. He’d laughed when he heard about the net trap. We were waiting for Imani to finish up in the hospital tent. Once she came out, a group of us were going to head to the Reaver castle to rescue Louis, who remained trapped and unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Samantha said she couldn’t get to him because the walls kept changing. She was in a constant, rolling fight with a bunch of robot dogs who had control of the castle.
Here in Shanty Town, the NPCs, the won-over mercenaries, the veterans, and the crawlers all worked together to help clean up the damage. We were rapidly repairing the towers that we’d destroyed.
There was still no sign of either Tagg or Fang. There was no sign of the War Mages.
I did, however, have a string of messages in my warlord chat. The bewildering conversation confused everything even further:
Warlord Akuma: Hey, underwear boy. Do me a favor. Kill that old lady for me, and I’ll forgive you and your pet for killing off so many of my brothers.
The Champion of Nekhebit: I AM NOT A PET, MR. WAR MAGE. AND WHY ARE YOU MAD AT ELLE? SHE IS DELIGHTFUL. ALSO HOW CAN I CHANGE MY NAME BACK TO WARLORD DONUT? IT DOESN’T DO THIS IN THE REGULAR CHAT.
Warlord Akuma: Is Elle the one on the Four Seasons path? Not her, dipshit. Keep her alive if you wish for us to face Scolopendra and survive. Agatha. The other warlord we were forced to accept in order to gain system access. She was forced upon us, and she is an enemy to you. She is an enemy to us all. We had no hand in those so-called “action items” other than the Conscription one. She slipped away before I was able to kill her. Do this for me, and we will be allies.
Warlord Carl: Us? If you wish for “us” to survive?
The Champion of Nekhebit: DID YOU JUST CALL ME A DIPSHIT? I’M A HIGHER LEVEL THAN YOU ARE, YOU SAGGY TWAT.
Warlord Carl: I’ll tell you what. Tell me where you are, and I’ll be happy to discuss how we can work together in person.
Warlord Akuma: You won’t be seeing me again on this floor. We never wished to keep that falling-down castle. We sought to test the potions we gathered and to find the Scavenger’s daughter, who was hidden within, and we found her. She is with us now. Once we had her in our possession, we left. That was all we ever wanted with this place, and we are no enemies to you. But Agatha’s actions continue to place everybody and everything in jeopardy, and she must be dealt with. She has a method that allows her to jump to the Waiting Room and reappear outside an open stairwell. You won’t likely see her on this floor again. You will have to find her on the 10th. Do this for us if you want to survive. She seeks to kill us all. Not just you and not just me. Everybody and everything.
Epitome Tagg: By the gods. That orc princess was right. We should have blown the failsafe weeks ago. By the gods.
The Champion of Nekhebit: HEY, HOW DID YOU CHANGE YOUR NAME?
Warlord Carl: Yeah, we’re looking for you, too, buddy.
The Champion of Nekhebit: NO, SERIOUSLY. THIS IS ANNOYING.
Epitome Tagg: For the sake of the gods, it’s in the notification menu. Section four.
WARLORD DONUT: IT WORKED! THANKS! WE’RE STILL GOING TO KILL YOU, THOUGH!
The conversation had ended there. I was so confused by the War Mage’s words, I’d copied and pasted it and sent it to both Victory and Zev, and neither answered me right away, which worried me even further.
Carl: Mordecai, who is the Scavenger? And who is the Scavenger’s Daughter? I know it’s the name of my patch, but I didn’t know there was more to it than that.
Mordecai: Are you talking about the in-dungeon one or the fairy tale? Either way, that’s a conversation that’s not going to matter if you don’t figure out how to find and kill those two warlords, or if you don’t figure out how to survive this floor without having to fight Juice Box and the NPCs.
Carl: That last part is already settled. I hope. I’m more worried about Donut and Katia. We still have to do the flower ceremony, but we can’t until everything is fully settled.
Mordecai: I know, son. Focus on that before you focus on anything else.
Florin laughed again, bringing me back to the present. “You’re lucky Lucia only cast two nets, mate. She’s the queen of the triple tap. Is she still in with the liaisons?”
“She is. Hopefully she stays there.”
He nodded. He stretched and leaned his shotgun over his shoulder. “We’ll see what personality she settles on when she comes back out. Hopefully they talk her into taking a deal at the beginning of the 10th. If not, I will volunteer to keep her safe.”
“You’re not planning on taking a deal?” I asked.
Florin scoffed. “I suspect most will take a deal if they’re actually offered. They’re tired, mate. But you and I both know everything is fucked, and it’s possible it’s all going to come crashing down. If that happens, I want to go down fighting. Not locked up in stasis or whatever. I think there’s a lot of us who feel that way.”
He nodded at the large, blond barbarian man who was helping to clean off the street. Jurgen.
“That one won’t ever take a deal, either. Not if there’s a chance that Lucia won’t. He’ll die protecting her.”
“Jurgen?” I asked, looking at the large man. “How does he know Lucia?”
“He doesn’t. But if Lucia’s fate is tied to that kinder facility where they’re keeping all the kids and the pregnant women, he’ll die protecting the girl. He came in with his pregnant wife, Heidi, and she disappeared. She’s up there somewhere with the rest of the kids. There’s a lot of men and women here who have kids who might be up there.” He looked at me, eyes intense. “It’s the most important thing one can do, don’t you think? Protecting the kids?”
I smiled sadly. “I hope she’s not as psycho now that the dogs are dead.”
He nodded. “We’ll manage.”
Across the way, Donut sat on the shoulder of the Sledge, who was staring sadly off into nothing. He still clutched on the repurposed, large-sized video game controller for the missile system. Chris, Clay-Ton, and Very Sullen were there, surrounding the sad rock monster. Edgar the tortoise was there too with Rosetta, and as I watched, Edgar shook his head.
Edgar: Sorry. He’s a rock monster. I can’t tattoo a rock, let alone extract anything from him. Not with my tools. It’s possible a changeling can get the spell from him, but it’s unlikely because it’s not a spell that cretins normally have.
Rosetta: It’s okay. We’ll have to manage.
Justice Light: GODSDAMNIT, WHY ISN’T ANYONE LISTENING TO ME? GET THE GATE BACK, AND IT WON’T MATTER.
Carl: Justice, I know where the gate is. We are going to grab it after I save Louis if we can.
Justice Light: Tell me where it is, and send the sluggalos back to me, and I will get it back myself.
Tipid: Until the threat has passed, I think you should remain in the tunnels.
Justice Light: This is the threat, don’t you understand?
Tipid: Justice, no. We don’t understand because you haven’t told us what you need it for.
Justice Light: Carl, tell me where it is.
I hesitated. I met eyes with Rosetta, who sat across the way. I remembered her, emerging out of the ground to throw the lasso around King Rust’s neck. I remembered her decapitating him. How long had she waited for that moment? Centuries?
And afterward, I remembered how she’d sobbed. She’d sobbed with such devastating relief that even though I didn’t comprehend it at the time, I’d felt it in my bones.
I didn’t understand what Justice Light was doing with this “antenna.” He clearly didn’t want to tell us, likely because it was dangerous. Or stupid. Probably both.
I’d told Rosetta, Tipid, and Donut, along with almost all of the other officers, everything that Eris had said to me. Tipid and Rosetta were both hesitant about the idea of getting the artifact for Justice. Both were overwhelmingly protective of the eccentric skyfowl. Still, I’d advocated for it if we could.
Who was I to stand between a brother and his revenge, whatever it may be? Because clearly that’s what this was.
Carl: It is in the stomach of a merchant named Paca in the Midnight Market.
Justice Light: I know who that is. She is an ambassador for the in-game’s version of the Apothecary. Thank you, Carl. I will have it shortly.
Carl: You know how to get there? You know how to get inside?
Justice Light: Oh, yes. There have been seasons when my shop was within the market. I know it well. With the help of the sluggalos, we will have it very quickly.
I still held onto Rosetta’s gaze. After a moment, she nodded. She nodded, and she wiped her eyes. She, too, understood. How could she not?
Across the way, Big Tina stood atop a pile of rocks shouting down at her mother, who’d come from the FUPA to gather her back. The ballerina dinosaur had single-handedly taken out a fire lance tower and protected dozens of crawlers from getting burned alive. Her magical, ever-repairing feather boa was black and scorched.
The massively pregnant Kiwi shouted up at her. Mongo was there, too, bouncing in circles around the allosaurus as she waved her wand angrily at her mother.
“They ain’t getting her back into the FUPA,” Florin said, chuckling. “She’s too big for the saferoom doors down here, and all them stairs are blown out. You should’ve seen her. She was a goddamn terror. She popped out of the ball and went right to work.”
I nodded. What was a worse fate? Disappearing with the collapse of the floor? Or moving from one war to the next?
“Did you really not feel anything while you were in the ball?” I asked Florin.
“As far as Donut is concerned, no. We didn’t feel anything, mate.” He hesitated. “Just don’t... just don’t let her do that to us again.”
I nodded. I figured as much.
Imani and Juice Box emerged from the hospital tent. Trailing behind them was Britney, whose nose was buried in a pile of papers. It was the plan for the last minute changes to the city’s defenses.
Carl: Anything?
Imani: Her health is 100%. I don’t see any sign that there’s anything wrong with her. She doesn’t have an axe, Carl. Or if she does, it’s in her inventory.
Juice Box: If she has a presence about her, it’s deep. It’s not anything I can feel. And believe me, I can feel most everything.
Carl: Do you feel anything when you touch me?
Juice Box: I don’t feel anything at all when I touch you, Carl. Britney feels like a normal human to me. If there’s something there, it’s hidden well. Perhaps the goddess lied to you. Didn’t she claim you were married? Assuming you’re not holding out on something, that seems like a life event most people are aware of.
That was true. Still... I had an uneasy feeling.
Elle: I don’t see why we don’t just ask Britney about it.
Carl: Not yet. Let’s just keep watching. If it’s a presence like mine, we don’t want it to hurt her if it suspects we know it’s there.
“We ready?” Katia asked out loud as she and Bautista walked up.
Prepotente landed heavily next us astride Bianca. “I found her. Li Na is in the woods, seeking those who got away. She appears to have some new hunting skills along with the ability to fly, likely a benefit from her dexterity. It is curious she is unable to find those who’ve been marked, however. It’s quite an unfortunate development.”
Across the way, sitting on the ground was a group of crawlers who remained unaffiliated. Osvaldo and his crew. The crawler was sitting there, glaring at Prepotente. I was going to talk to him about that memorial crystal, but I’d recently received an update to my quest from Emberus.
I’d been expecting Emberus to say something about my conversation with Eris, but he hadn’t mentioned it.
Quest Update. Find Out Who Killed My Son.
Memorial Crystal: Apito has fallen from Crawler Osvaldo’s hands and is now in possession of Crawler Prepotente. Retrieve it from him before he cracks the secrets and gives them to the Epicure.
I had no idea how the memorial crystal had gotten from Osvaldo to Prepotente without a fight. When this was over, I was going to sit down with Prepotente and explain everything to him, but now wasn’t the time. I suspected he was going to be an ass about it, so I had to make certain it was during a time when we both weren’t so keyed up.
“You coming with us to save Louis?” I asked him.
“I think not,” Prepotente said. “I believe I will assist Li Na in her search for the missing culprits. I will keep you apprised of any developments.” He pulled a potion bottle out, and he downed it. “I must say, this has been quite the day, don’t you think?”
I just looked at Prepotente. “You can say that.”
I was prepared for it this time. Still, his scream was piercing. It smelled like root beer.
Donut appeared, landing upon my shoulder. She felt strangely heavy, a side effect of her massively increased strength.
“Come on, Carl. Let’s go save Louis.”
Chapter 79
Samantha: ARE YOU GUYS COMING OR NOT? THIS CASTLE IS SPOOKY. ALSO, IT STILL COUNTS AS ME SAVING HIM IF YOU HELP. WE HAVE A DEAL, JUICE BOX.
Carl: We’re coming. We’ll be there in ten minutes.
We had to take a ground transport. Florin’s soldiers had actually captured a Reaver airship, one of the troop transports they used for paratroopers, but we didn’t dare attempt to fly it. That bleached drake monster still circled above the castle, and we decided to leave the monster be unless it attacked. Prepotente said he wanted to take a crack at it if we decided to leave it alone, and I told him to wait until we were done.
I’d tried messaging Li Na a few times, but she’d since stopped answering. I talked to Zhang, and he said she would answer him, but all she said when he asked was that she was “hunting.”
The land here was covered in gray ash, and the transport left tracks like we were cutting through snow. We drove mostly in silence as we bounced over the hills, which had already been cleared of traps. Knowing that all of the remaining mercenaries of the Reavers were dead was oddly disconcerting, and the plains didn’t just feel abandoned... They felt haunted.
On the transport was me, Imani, Katia, Dr. Bones, Holger, Splash Zone, Tipid, and Bautista, who was driving. I also had Rend out, who stood at the very edge of the platform, his mouth open like he was a dog sticking his head out a car window. Donut rushed alongside to the left astride Mongo with Twinkle Toes active. I still hadn’t had a chance to examine all of her new and approved abilities, but Mongo was decidedly more buff with the Muscle Mommy benefit. On the other side of the transport rode Dong astride Gonk, his Twinkle Toes also active, making the swamp yak run astonishingly fast. Bigs the sluggalo sat atop the head of the yak, whooping over and over.
Holding up the rear of our procession was Jamal, who could also run terrifyingly fast on his Katia-designed spider legs. Jamal kept accidentally spurting out little bursts of flame—so many, that I ordered him to face the nozzle backwards so he didn’t accidentally flame us.
Both Elle and Juice Box flew just above the transport, keeping low. Juice Box was in the form of a round wisp, and kept zipping ahead of us.
Juice Box was the only changeling in the group. The rest remained at the castle and were at work repairing the town’s defenses as quickly as they could.
We also had about two hours left before the team at the remains of the Dream castle would capture the throne room there. Tran and the 102nd were there now, surrounding the place to make certain nothing happened. The moment that timer ended, Epitome Tagg would—in theory—drop dead.
Florin, Boomer, Bodi, Britney, and Rosetta had all stayed behind, helping the others clear out the damage caused by the lava. We needed the top, defensive ring of the city prepared the best we could. We needed as many towers as possible repaired. And the ones we were repairing, we were changing out the spells.
Ferdinand had also stayed behind. He was currently “directing” the repair of the Nest tower. We weren’t yet sure if we’d be able to adjoin Shanty Town to Larracos, but Mordecai seemed to think it might be possible. Either way, it first required us to cede the territory back to the NPCs, which we’d already done.
Donut had several new spells that came with her Oak Fell class, which was triggered by her casting three atrocities. Mordecai and Rosetta both said they’d never seen a new class get awarded like that before.
Milk had a theory. “I do not know for certain,” she’d said. “But it’s likely a side effect of some posturing that’s currently happening on the 12th. The fact she was also named Champion means it was something that was set in motion by Nekhebit.”
“The Champion system isn’t something that’s normally used at all,” Rosetta had added. “Not with Dungeon Crawler World. They use it in both Battle Royale and Land War seasons. Bodi was a champion of some god or another during his season. And everyone remembers Ntumba from Battle Royale. Being a god’s champion comes with additional benefits ... and some issues. ”
“What sort of issues?” I’d asked, wary.
“It’s similar to worshipping the deity. Enemies of Nekhebit will receive a bounty if they kill her.” She’d lowered her voice, making certain Donut wasn’t in earshot. “Honestly, it’s not too unlike Conscription, but with a lot more autonomy for Donut. Should the goddess want her to do something, she can order her to do it or face a smite.”
“What?” I’d demanded, outraged. “And she just unilaterally put that on Donut? That’s bullshit.”
Rosetta shrugged. “Like Milk said, it was probably the result of a spell she had cast. Probably something along the lines, ‘the first crawler to cast three atrocities on the next floor gets the title and class.’”
Fucking Odette, I thought. I hadn’t talked about this yet with Mordecai, but I imagined he was incensed.
The spells Donut received with her new class were equally bewildering. They all seemed druid-like in their function. All of them had huge areas of effect. She’d gained one called Raise Forest, which caused trees and plants over a one kilometer area per level of spell to quickly sprout, which was just insane. She had one that turned water into salt water. She received a spell called Gather Ye, Vermin. It wasn’t a true summoning spell, but it was something that would draw all mammals within 10 kilometers under a certain size to her location.
The vermin spell had scandalized Donut. “That’s clearly made by the pervert AI so it can summon squishables to you, Carl. Or maybe you can use it in conjunction with your Pied Piper skill or whatever.”
“I didn’t get to keep Pied Piper until after that had happened, and the skill allows me to play musical instruments. It’s not like the fairy tale and has nothing to do with rodents.”
“Wait, you can play your bagpipes now?” Donut gasped. “We can start a band! We can play a song at Louis’s second wedding after we save him!”
“The bagpipes are in the probably-never-going-to-need-this-stuff folder, and that’s where they’re going to stay,” I replied.
“Is that where you keep the bucket of glitter and the Bea Arthur condom and the sushi-making kit?”
“Amongst other things, yes.”
The most intriguing spell, at least to me, was called Map the All Tree, which was said to only work on the deeper floors. All the others spells took at least 100 mana points to cast. This one only cost a single point, and the description simply said, Provides a map of the All Tree and all the nodes. This spell only works on the 12th and deeper floors.
“Still no word on Louis?” Imani asked me as we bumped along the plains.
“Samantha says he hasn’t moved,” I said. “His health stats haven’t budged. I think the security is holding him for the warlord, but now that the warlord is hiding, they’re just going to hold him indefinitely. At least I hope that’s what’s happening.”
“That, or it’s a trap,” Elle said as she buzzed right above us. “We still don’t know how that slippery fucker got away.”
I nodded. “It could be a trap. We’ll be careful.”
Rosetta hadn’t wanted Donut to go at all for just that reason, but Donut had announced that she and I weren’t ever going to be separated ever again, and that was that. Tipid had agreed to come along as our “bodyguard.”
Of all the warlords, Warlord Fang was the one we knew the least about. I knew he was like 99% cybernetic and that he could change his shape, kind of like a Terminator-style changeling. And that he and Tagg both were probably the two richest of all the warlords who’d come to fight Faction Wars.
I also knew, however, that if he did die, it wouldn’t be a huge deal for the Reaver corporation. They had a physical chunk of his brain locked up somewhere on one of their worlds. It was called “the Initial” and every year, they peeled microscopic parts off it to build new citizens. If Fang died, they’d just scrape another piece off the brain thing, drop it in a vat to grow for a year or two, slap a bunch of cybernetic parts on it, and call it good.
“You know,” I said to Imani. “Louis said something weird I don’t quite understand. He said something about a cop’s husband. At first I thought maybe he was talking about Frank and Maggie, but he never had any dealings with them.”
Katia slipped in next to me on the platform. She wrapped her arms around her legs. “He was talking about something else. Something that happened to him when he was a kid. You should have him tell you the story, but a police officer was shot and died protecting him when he was young, and at the funeral for the cop, her husband said something very cruel to Louis which has stuck with him.”
“Don’t tell sad stories about Louis’s past,” Donut shouted from her spot on Mongo’s back. “My goodness. Don’t you know how this works? You’re going to jinx the rescue!”
Ahead, the bombed-to-hell Reaver castle emerged, box-like and ominous. The thing appeared to be made of some plastic-like material, giving the impression it was a life-sized, evil lair playset for some 80’s action figure toy set. The fact it was still standing at all after so much punishment implied whatever this stuff was, it was tough.
I looked up. I couldn’t see the dragon in the smoky sky. But Donut could see it, and she let out a low hiss.
“We had drakes on my season,” Tipid said, also looking up at the clouds. Ash covered him, settling into the angry scar on his bald head. “They were mounts for a death cult of Illusionists.”
“Well, nobody is riding that thing,” Donut said. “It’s just circling over and over up there. Its wing is all broken and see-through, too.”
“Louis fired some missiles at it,” I said. “Donut, let us know if it starts moving toward us.”
The front of the castle was completely broken away and on the side, adding to the plastic toy play set illusion, giving us a cross-section view of the front. The interior was a strange sight. The very front part was a large, featureless room, which in turn led off to dozens of honeycomb-shaped hallways. None of the pathways were big enough for me to walk upright in, and they were stacked up to the ceiling, which was about three or four stories high. Each honeycomb was big enough for me to maybe walk in hunched over.
“Was it like this before?” I asked.
Juice Box reformed into her human shape and landed on the ground, looking up at the honeycombs.
“Yes. The hallways move, but there are multiple thoroughfares in there that are static. We have infiltrated this castle a few times, but we lost the asset who was most familiar with the place. The system is confusing, but it knows where you’re headed, and it creates a single passageway there for you.”
“One of those passages will lead to the throne room. You can’t isolate it,” Rosetta said.
Juice Box shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. We’re not headed for the throne room. Not yet.”
As we approached, one of the honeycombs closed off, and a group of four combined next to it, making a much-larger passageway. The motion was strangely jerky, like the castle itself was malfunctioning.
Our procession came to a stop. I scanned for traps, and I didn’t see anything. I cast Ping, and nothing popped up at all except Samantha, who was right in the middle of the castle, rolling our way. It would only show white-tagged NPCs, mercenaries, and off-worlders. Neither the robots nor Louis would show up on it. The drake, however, did appear. The dot blazed orange on my map. A pet.
Calliope. Cybernetic Bleached Drake. Level 130.
This is a pet of Warlord Fang.
“It says it’s ‘cybernetic,’” I said.
“I see that, too,” Donut replied. “It doesn’t seem like it’s a robot. Do you remember robot Donut? This thing is much higher quality than that. It certainly doesn’t look like a robot.”
“It’s a cyborg,” I said. “Like that bird thing with the dangling chainsaw on the fifth floor.”
Donut made a tsking noise with her tongue. “Only level 130. Pity. It doesn’t seem right that we might have to put down such a low-level pet. But like with that disgusting Rottweiler, it probably can’t be helped.” She sighed dramatically. “I never did come up with a good catchphrase for when that second dog died.”
Katia laughed. “I see you’re taking your upgraded strength well.”
“I just had the ultimate mommy makeover glow up, Katia. Of course I’m taking it well.”
Katia: How is she doing, really?
Carl: It’s been pretty rough, but she’s doing better than I imagined she would. I, once again, have underestimated her.
Katia: Good. She’s going to need her strength for this next part.
Carl: Yeah, by the way. She filled me in on the plan. ‘Carl it up?’ What does that even mean?
Katia: I don’t know, but I’m willing to bet we’re going to find out now that she told you.
Carl: You sure this is what you want to do?
Katia: Yes, Carl. Especially after all we learned today.
Victory cracked into existence near the front of the castle. She appeared alongside Drick and the antlered adjutant for the Reaver team. I’d seen the alien before, but I hadn’t actually met him or her. The furry thing seemed vaguely demonic, like it was the result of an unholy union between Harbinger the caprid liaison and a mule deer. The thing had large, glassy eyes that looked upon us impassively. The name over that third adjutant was Tart.
“Tart?” Donut asked, looking at me. “Do you see that, Carl? Can you even imagine having a name like Tart? Now that is a stripper name if I ever heard one, no offence guys. That’s worse than being named something like ‘Dallas’ or ‘Kitty!’ Well, maybe not worse than Kitty.”
“Is someone going to make the obvious comment here?” Imani asked.
“Not when she’s now level 135, I’m not,” Elle replied.
“We did once have a dancer named Tart at Bitches,” Splash Zone said. “A kobold.”
“I remember Tart,” Doctor Bones said. “Interesting lass. Whatever happened to her?”
Dong Quixote pulled up, still astride Gonk. “Tuesday-Two-For-One broke her jaw during a fight which fixed her TMJ, so they moved her down to the High Class Bitches bargain rack lineup. But I heard she couldn’t get along with the madam there. So she became a mercenary after that, and nobody has seen her since. Same thing that happened with my beloved Corcunda.”
“Tart was a kobold?” Donut asked. “Wait. This caribou looking lady here is most definitely not a kobold.”
“You sure? She sure looks like a stripper,” Bigs said from her position atop Gonk’s head, peering at the alien with antlers, who was looking more outraged by the moment. “But you know, the kind of stripper that doesn’t even bother pretending to dance and just goes straight to the hooker part.”
“I’m a gentleman, thank you very much,” Tart blurted out with a surprisingly proper accent. “I’ll have you know I am one of the galaxy’s foremost political analysts. For god’s sake, can’t you see my antlers? I am no prostitute!”
“We’ll see about that. I’ll give you ten gold to lick my tail,” Bigs said, turning around and waving her slug behind seductively. “Twelve if you lick against the grain.”
Dong, Doctor Bones, and Splash Zone all burst out laughing. I chuckled as well, as did Drick.
This was a very serious situation, but the fact everyone was in good spirits was a good sign. Still, not everyone appeared amused by any of this, least of all Juice Box, who stood there with her arms crossed. Bautista, too, looked especially annoyed.
The antlered alien rolled his eyes. He turned and whispered something, but he spoke to someone over his left shoulder. Victory and Drick were both on his right.
Huh, I thought. There’s someone else here. Interesting.
I exchanged a glance with Donut, but she’d noticed as well. She already had her glasses on. Victory let out a snort.
There were only two active adjutants that it could be. Judge Deng Bao, the grixist adjutant for the War Mage team and Fopsy, the adjutant for the Dream.
Donut: IT’S A TYPE OF INVISIBILITY THAT I CAN’T SEE, BUT WHEN I CHANGE TO THE POWER VIEW, I CAN KINDA SORTA SEE AN OUTLINE. IT’S THAT WEIRD ALIEN WHO LOOKS LIKE A BASKETBALL ON STILTS.
Carl: Okay, guys. Both the adjutants for the missing warlords are here, so the idea this might be a trap is starting to look more likely. It’s possible they’re both here somewhere, so no more fucking around.
Juice Box was suddenly by my shoulder. She’d changed so fast I’d missed it. She was now an ethereal, ghost-like creature. Something called a Hunter Wraith.
It was no damn wonder they could never find and catch her before Faction Wars started.
“Where is he?” the ghost figure demanded, the voice sounding hollow and far away.
“One moment please,” Dr. Bones said, suddenly serious. “I have your previous map of the place here.” The skeleton DJ pulled out a paper map. “Carl?”
I activated Find Crawler and found him immediately, still unmoving.
“He’s here,” I said, pointing to a spot on the map. “Can’t tell what the wall configuration looks like, but this is where he is.” On the map, the area was a line of cubicles. If the configuration was the same as before, Louis was in a room no bigger than a coffin. I touched another spot nearby. “Samantha is here, just on the other side of the wall.”
“Got it,” Juice Box said. “I’ll tell you when I have him.” With that, she went completely invisible, and a rush of cool air flashed across my skin.
“Has anyone ever noted that she is quite terrifying?” Doctor Bones said.
~~~~~
How will it all tie together in the end? Let's find out! Just a few more chapters, and we're done. Thank you so much everybody for your constant support.
Also a reminder for my upcoming appearances: 
Comments
PixelCoffee
Much later, recently read the book to completion, but the description says: "There is a 15-minute cooldown on the 9th floor, but there is no limit to the number of simultaneous marks." meaning you can mark everyone in the ball at the same time, and then you get a 15-minute cooldown.
Micheal A McNeal
1 grammer error. You wrote approved instead of improved for donuts new powers. When carl is checking out donuts new stats.
Jason
Okay, I know I’m way late, but just re-listening to book 3. When Carl gets the Ring of Divine Suffering, it says marking has a 15 minute cooldown on floor 9. No cap, but no way to plausibly mark more than a handful in that ball :(
Nicholas Sels
Prepotente didn't mark her, but when their counter spells kept going off it activated it and she was the only available target, iirc.
Dragan
Yep, Stephen Greenwood. The Ghost ship Guy.
Dragan
So he’s just moving the Npcs.
Christi Hinger
You're forgetting that all the children in that facility are in danger right now and somehow linked to Lucia. She won't risk that baby.
Robert Griswold
I asked this when the double marking thing first came up and Matt explained that in a retconed conversation it was stated that no double marks is a 9th floor thing. And yes, Douglas, the whole issue back on Floor 6 was that Prepotente had inadvertently marked Miriam. Double marks were allowed then.
paul klee
He’s said that he’s going to start book 8 right away. But he’s also writing another full book “Project Bounce House” which I think he committed to finishing by January… plus presumably more of the Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret novella for the Ace hardcover editions… He’s bonkers! Book 7 comes out in like three weeks and he’s still writing it and making changes and letting the community decide things.
Paul Wayne
It’s also been stated that crawlers can’t skip floors, well unless they pony it
Pheonixarcher
donut the buff mommy cat :D
Big I
She's probably talking about him being Primal
Big I
"Carl does something and sends everyone to the 12th floor very last minute" Quasar negotiated for Carl to have access to the Zerzura spell, it'll send a whole settlement down to the 12th. I assume he's going to use it on Laracos and the Shanty Town
Gabe
@Dennis. That was awesome. But then he was just a pile on the ground and had to get saved by Hellick. Still that sequence was great because he got to meet Milk at the end.
skindog
If you look back to Patreon posts from May/June 2023, he posted the final Patreon chapters for book 6 late May, and the first for book 7 in late June. So basically no break by the looks of it! Plus the fact he's already thinking about the recap for the next, doesn't seem far away.
Dennis Gregory
Blowing himself up in a god’s temple while immortal was pretty good…
Konlin Gappmayer
Normally he actually starts writing the next book next month.
Lauren
Does anyone remember what Donut’s ‘Sentry’ spell does?
Mogus
This is the first book in the series I've followed on Patreon. I'm sure Matt takes a well deserved break between books. Does anyone know how long that break tends to be?
Lewke
Miriam was marked by both Prepotente and Carl however we also know that the ring works differently on the 9th floor than on other floors so that might be the reason why it doesn't work now. Or it could be because when Miriam was marked by Prepotente it was due to the ring accidentally firing and she was the non NPC/Elite in the area.
Lessthan
Right, but Miriam had the spell to unfreeze him. Remember the spell tome? It was only the fact that Prepotente was under "Left to Fester" that stopped Miriam from healing and unfreezing him.
Douglas Erdman
Prepotente was holding onto her and frozen from the spell bounceback. Miriam was a vampire and going to die with the sunrise. If Carl broke her free of Prepotente, Prepotente would have died. Miriam sacrificed herself so Prepotente could live. Carl only marked Miriam because she was going to die anyway & he could get the stat boost with his ring. Carl did express how he felt like shit for doing it...,
Douglas Erdman
Remember Justice Light had the conversation with Juicebox to get her to go along with his plan and the Gate of the Feral Gods is key to that. I'm pretty sure that Justice Light is going to use the Gate to get the NPCs off of floor 9 & down to a lower floor, leaving the path open for the Princess Posse to capture the NPC throne room last, ending faction wars, and assuming Carl & Donut survive, a place on the Syndicate Council for future crawls (not that Carl & Donut would support future crawls)./
Lessthan
Then why did Miriam have to die?
Douglas Erdman
I don't think Prepotente marked Miriam Dom. That's when Prepotente ate his Ring of Devine Suffering in protest of her death.
Lessthan
I'm listening to Butcher's Masquerade and Carl is able to mark Miriam Dom, even though she was already marked by Prepotente. Is that different than what Li Na did ?
Russ Stevens
Well I'm now wishing, I didn't find this magical story till they were all done, then I could bring the audio books with the satisfaction of a complete series
Brent
This was never going to be the finale. Matt has previously said he is planning 10 books.
Russ Stevens
The gate is gonna come into play here really quick...
William Magee
The scavengers daughter moment was pretty epic!
William Magee
I think I’m six times through now. I was just thinking today that it’s gonna be great to have this book now for the loop. It’s gonna be a long one!
James
I was thinking that as well or Carl does something and sends everyone to the 12th floor very last minute
paul klee
The Epicure is the god Prepotente worships
paul klee
Matt wouldn’t do that. There’s the final chapters which will close out the 9th floor and then the epilogue will sink more hooks and give a hint about the 10th floor.
Russ Stevens
Second to last chapter dump?? This is gonna be a to be continued isn't it?? I thought this was supposed to be the finale??
Kelli
LOL thank you, love the visual!
Dragan
And that makes my 8th re-listen to the whole audio book series, onto the ninth!
Konlin Gappmayer
I think it would be hard to but if I remember right there is a passing talking point that the people on earth are trying to infiltrate and save the children. Something is going down there. Something worth mentioning. I could see katia being the story angle to explore that further.
Konlin Gappmayer
I’m weirdly kind of okay with that. Most books he’s the one that’s doing all the crazy shit. I feel like one of the aspects of this book is that Carl can’t do it alone. He needs help. I think it’s okay if other people do a lot of the crazy shit this time.
Gabe
I hope Carl gets an awesome moment or two by the end of the book. It's crazy to say (given how wild this book has been) but has Carl had any feats on this floor? He's been in the middle of things, but it seems like Shia Maria, Donut, Li Na, and the others have actually been getting all the achievements.
Gabe
Yeah - she said Britney feels like a human. So I think she can't get a read off of primals.
Grey Law
Nah I think she means in the sense shi Maria is there, so similarly feeling nothing in Britney is not a sure sign
thomas harvell
Ahh! Can’t wait for the last chapter. It does feel a little strange that there are like 30k crawlers left at the start of the book and we really don’t get a sense of what happens to most of them. Maybe I missed something?
Kelli
Louis might be my favorite underrated character. I think I’m gonna go relisten to when he was first introduced with Firaz. ❤️please save Louis!
Kelli
Lol that was just one guy? I honestly thought this fandom was obsessed with the ghost ship trap. I need to pay closer attention to usernames
Edwin Longwell
https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/s/BoRKjfYkY9
Kelli
Which post?? I’ve been avoiding scrolling through all of Reddit before the election for my mental health lol. I could use more dcc escapism though!
Paul Wayne
My bet is someone she marks gets away and she becomes a real glass cannon
Paul Wayne
It would be hard to keep her in the story. If she gets moved to the 12 floor then she would at least still be involved. The constituents bonus would be devastating and I’m wondering how that would go. Would she self delete or would they actually fight. Either way it wouldn’t be enjoyable
Paul Wayne
I don’t think the warlords are gonna make it out but she did mark some other off worlders that could theoretically be thrown out of the dungeon or just to the next floor or floor 12 meaning she couldn’t heal until that off worlder was killed
Ilya Taytslin
She does not get to choose. She can *ask*, but Huanxin Jinx decides what benefit Katia receives
Laurin Toohey
Picked up the first book at Target!!
Robin Draycott
"Prepotente landed heavily next us astride Bianca." Should read '.. next to us..'
Dennis Gregory
I suppose Samantha is the scavenger and Mrs. Ghazi is her daughter? That’s clearly who the War Mages collected. It always seemed odd we didn’t get a description of who the daughter was when Carl got the patch. And what’s up with Pony and the Epicure?
Immortal R.C.
I am pretty sure they are talking about Bono, since Edgar’s tattoo magic works on the remains of the fallen. They don’t have a ton of the weird yam ink to transfer powers between living folks
Konlin Gappmayer
I was thinking about this last night. Is there anywhere before hand where we’ve been told that only one person can mark someone at a time with the ring? When donut summons animals do they count as pets? Because even if it’s just a base level mob if their strength is raised by 30 percent of donuts over all strength and there is 1000 of them that’s insanity. I also hope that one of the two warlords escapes. Li Na being insanely god like powerful but having to be super selective with her most powerful abilities because she won’t heal from the damage that those ability’s cause is a very cool character development.
Jamal Jahabar
I'm calling it. Katia is gonna choose the pregnancy benefit and heading to the topside facility
Brooke M
Hey, Matt. In chapter 78, it seems like Carl is in the bottom of Larracos, and then he says “here in shanty town.” It’s a bit confusing.
Bru-
The point is at some point he checked to see "aboot" marking some people after the last thing he said was he wasn't going to mark anyone. That points to a change in the narrative. Maybe to the addiction point. I figure it is already fixed just asked to make sure. Do not really expect to see until the final book. When Li Na did the marking is not really important to the comment.
Jim
I think it means she can't get any read on him at all. It may be the primal thing.
chad hunter
they are still partied because she talked a couple times about being restored as party leader, and they never broke up the party.
Luis O
I agree but I think there’s going to be a curveball to force Carl’s hand to save the remaining Crawlers from Hwan-Chin Jinx or whatever the f. That’s when he uses the big bomb. If you remember the description ended with, “An Explosion so powerful that it will chatter the teeth of a God”
Teal
I thought the same. What about the spider bride!
Dragan
Yeah but they never left their party together. And he was right next to her when she did her omega attack.
Dragan
Even with a debuff, her constitution is higher than any thing. I’d expect her to have hp in the billions, or maybe immunity to poisons from reaching such a high number.
Kevin Thomas
I think the point was that Li Na marked everyone in between that time?
MD
He means Shi Maria, right?
Dragan
‘The Giant Penis of the Mute God’ yeah, that’s we’ll call it. 😁😂
Kevin Thomas
I’m a little worried it might backfire for her, which was what Frank had wanted for Carl. Either she can’t find the last marked person before she takes too much damage and dies, or she’s just driven mad from the ring’s influence. I hope that’s not what happens though.
thomas
I don't think they were in an official party at that time. Remember Carl has already done a couple of missions far away from Donut and with separate parties.
Christi Hinger
I think she joined the acsension for two reasons.. revenge against whats her name& to keep her from killing or sabotaging Carl/Donut.. I think Odette is gonna surprise you and she's gonna sacrifice herself to help Carl/Donut because she loves Mordecai and has never gotten over what she did to him..and Mordecai loves Donut. I hope she's not a big bad but we'll see.
Jim
I don't feel anything when I touch you Carl. Holy shit. Are we not talking about this?
Grace, The Bringer of Scalpels, Queen of Fuckeryy
Yeah that doesn't do it for me haha I wouldn't accept that from a boyfriend either
Dragan
I bet, especially with the AI primal, that he’s getting loads of achievements but isn’t bother because there’s more important things.
Dragan
Also several other people like Quasar and Zev have said it so it’s not a sky foul or kuatine thing.
Dragan
Not just you comrade. If Louis falls, Matt will know our fury!
Dragan
Just like those damn bagpipes.
Dragan
Then listen to it again and again and again.
Dragan
But relatively, yes. Primal’s are like an equivalent to gods.
Dragan
Carl got an extension to his contract for the bodyguards when they took Polly’s tote of nural-enhancements.
Dragan
Yeah he should be pretty high by now.
Guber
I wish I could meet u live, but I on the middle east coast and you are very far away. Sounds fun tho!
chad hunter
so if Donut acquired enough XP to hit 135 shouldn't Carl have gone up a few also from party XP sharing? Or did I miss that.
Dragan
To have a Ghost ship trap? No, just a really persistent commenter who really wanted to see it.
Levi
Matt commented down further that there will be “plenty of opportunity” for those kind of traps next floor
skindog
I assumed what they were talking about with Edgar was trying to come up with a way to get the zerzura spell off The Sledge and give it to someone else. Not sure in the need for that though? Actually how's he even still with them - wasn't he collateral for the Gate, which they got back at the start of the book? Does The Sledge still have zerzura?
Duke GIJOE
I just don't want to miss out on Jeff shouting "New Achievement" and reading ridiculous narrations/backstory elements. I get that as the teams progress... but Jesus Donut just jumped 30 levels+ and did 3 war atrocities, was in a safe room and no mention of boxes!? I was also frustrated earlier when they did box opening "of screen" for everyone and we missed out on some of the announcements. :-(
Erick Robertson
I had assumed it was someone from skyfowl mythology, but that doesn’t make sense to me anymore. Skyfowl were seeded on multiple worlds and birds don’t lactate. So I don’t even have a hint!
John Anastacio
I wonder who is stronger now, Donut with her level 135 or Li Na with her humungous stats. Can Li Na slap big bad monsters to death with her bare hands now?
Daniel Reiss
Yes. Which also connects to the marriage comment.
SoapCarver
Knowing Li Na, that's quite possible. 😅
Laura Hemly
I really hope that someday we learn WHOSE left tit we keep swearing by!
Carolina Vieira
I think it has to do with Shi Maria.
Jim Robinson
With sushi making kit and the condom. Lol. And most importantly, "amongst other things."
Dragan
Oh we’re all concerned about her. We’re just smart enough to not mention it. Lest she rips our souls out from across dimensions, and I bet she absolutely can do that.
Dragan
Reading these chapters always has my head flooding characters inner monologues, music screaming or just what I picture they have in the background of the safe room. But that scene was so silent, it scared me. And that’s what I live for.
Dragan
I would love to see that. Carl did say he was going to kill them all, clearly not just those faction wars.
Dragan
Yeah I wandered that as well. The immediate thought was the river, but because she’s a changeling I think it might actually be something to do with the primal race. Can’t wait to find out.
Bashberry
“I don’t feel anything at all when I touch you, Carl.” So many questions 🤯
Edwin Longwell
There’s a post in the Reddit sub that’s very appropriate after these chapters.
Rando
Also "new and approved" which should prolly say "new and improved"
Brooke M
They are going to take Larracos and all its defenses to the 12th floor, aren’t they? That’s why they are working to repair it and attach Shanty Town and the Nest. And probably take the former crawlers with it.
Bill Gullotti
It’s made clear that the anklet and Heklas crossbow are both important parts of the story
Ilya Taytslin
In "The Butcher's Masquerade" he does say it, just not in quite those words: “You know how worried you are about Mongo?” “Yes.” “That’s how I feel about you.”
Grace, The Bringer of Scalpels, Queen of Fuckeryy
I know the Florida fans are Sadddd
Grace, The Bringer of Scalpels, Queen of Fuckeryy
ANOTHER 2 boxes....I feel like that meant more before that..
Grace, The Bringer of Scalpels, Queen of Fuckeryy
Hmmmm great point
Grace, The Bringer of Scalpels, Queen of Fuckeryy
Matt I must say. Donut and Carl have been through so much and he risked and dropped everything to save her. It's driving me crazy he hasn't told her he loves her! Especially after the betrayal by Bea. I need to hear them say they love each other. It feels wrong they haven't, even the few times they were together and thought they were going to die. It's like edging bro, and not in a good way. Also, have you ever thought of having a character reference page? Sometimes it takes me a minute to recall who someone is. Could be because the reading is broken up, but I've had to stop and go back a few times to remind myself. I could just be dumber than others, that's entirely possible too 🤣 Great job man, dying to see the end!!
Jim Robinson
Exactly. The start of this book was the same. We will probably first have a scene with Carl and the offer8ng of the exit deal, and then the safe room where we will see tons of achievements and loot boxes.
The Literary Cannon
What happens at Canasta Night stays at Canasta Night ;).
Amy the cat Meowmy
https://youtu.be/gupUrQT_q-8?si=bs-SzrzCzgxRiShy BLUES played on the BAGPIPES!!!
Amy the cat Meowmy
What's Mongo's baby going to be? Half dino & half Ursine now that mom's switched back or still all 100% dino like at conception? Don't bears generally have twins? Would Mongo's type of dino generally have multiple births too? I think Mongo should be getting at least twins! 😊
Joseph Harris
Remember he still has all of Shi Maria’s power inside of him and she can’t control him anymore now that he boosted that skill up to god level a few chapters back.
Konlin Gappmayer
Oh, he’s definitely going to make us wait for book 8.
Chey Collar
I’m pretty sure we will find the finished version has been polished up a lot, and what we are reading now is more of the meat. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a loot box opening or two when all is said and done.
Joshua Ingersoll
I wonder if donuts new class could terraform the planet if she won
Luis O
Donut’s new class might be Odette’s way to manipulate the team during the 12th floor Ascension thing. Katia is tied up to whats her name and Donut to Odette forcing Carl’s hand to pick. I think this is where we find out about Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
Ilya Taytslin
Was this a poll at some point? I don't remember it.
Ilya Taytslin
I see. I wonder if that's where Liu Cixin got the idea.
Christine Brown
It's staying in the folder!
Luke Woods
What gets me is she is 99 and told Imani (early 20s) that she knew about kanasta night! So it wasn’t that long ago!
FauxLegs
Shi Maria cometh
FauxLegs
Sounds like it’s time for another read through of the entire series to look for clues again!
FauxLegs
I thought it was that the spell itself could not kill the enemy., hence the reference to it being used once and the NPCs were trapped in agony for two weeks. Donut had to intervene and do the killing when everyone stuck to her paw
FauxLegs
I feel like Matt met everyone’s request of that trap well. Not the way we expected, but in a much more horrific, traumatizing way. It’s been Dinniman’d
FauxLegs
book 6 and this book both began with loot reveals. I’m guessing it’s going to be a thing with each floor down to the wire
Scott Wright
Right? This killed me and i immediately I stole it and used it on my coworker.
Immortal R.C.
I do think that you are right that the AI is a primal, but the AIs are not all powerful. “We all have our limits!”
waterkangaroo
"Stab. Stab. Stab. Slam. Slam. Slam." god damn that War Crime seems to have affected Carl a lot more than Donut D: He's seen some HORRENDOUS shit, but he almost never throws up from it. He did for this though. That description of the scene in the beginning with the bloody ash and gore was so visceral, I LOVED it
waterkangaroo
LEVEL 135??? HOLY SHIT DONUT. There were SO many great Donut moments in these chapters! Donut best girl ❤️ her badgering Epitome Tagg had me dying 😂
Misty Roller
Please please come to Nebraska. Omaha would be perfect but I'll drive anywhere in the state. Or Iowa. Or south dakota. Or even Kansas. Pretty please? The restraining order that Jeff had on me has been removed, so bring him along! ;)
jrue
This was a great drop. I think we’re all on the edge of our seat.
null null
https://youtu.be/TE1yXY52jpY
granndfunk
Louis is going to die, and Donut is going to be separated from Carl somehow, like being sent to the 15th floor (Sheol) prematurely
SoapCarver
Man, Donut and the other's weren't wrong when saying that Li Na took the effects of the Ring of Suffering WAY better than Carl can. What was that, a few thousand troops? And Carl saying that he wasn't able to mark any of them meant that she marked nearly ALL of them. Am I the only one sweating bullets over Li Na's mental state, and not just because of the super buff she just recieved? The showrunners must be in a panic about her too. There's a lot of god-tier characters developing this floor.
Lauren J
Ah my poor heart. I hope you have a blast, it is well earned.
SoapCarver
What fills me most with dread is how that story ends. That she could only lie there, helplessly watching the ceiling slowly get closer to her and her companions, before they were all mercilessly crushed by an unstoppable force. Yeah, something's going down.
Jim Robinson
We probably aren't going to get any new achievement or loot box op3nings for this book.That's okay. He can open them next book like he did st the beginning of this one. Hopefully carl opens his presents from Santa to bond with donut and cheer her up.
Andrew L
Carl the Bagpipe Bard-Accompanier.
Grigorius of Tomsk, Devourer of Pop-Tarts, Victor of Many Battles
Yup! She'll become a glass cannon. Any crawler, regardless of their level, might be able to hit her with a health-sapping debuff, hide in a safe room, and then collect the champion bounty an hour later. :( Or a mob could debuff her, and that's it.
Grigorius of Tomsk, Devourer of Pop-Tarts, Victor of Many Battles
"Babe, wake up! New ringtone just dropped!"
Ilya Taytslin
Can someone explain to me what is Ghost Ship Trap? I thought it was a reference to the ship in Three Body Problem which sailed through a giant egg slicer made of carbon nanotubes, but looks like I was wrong
PerfectYarn
going into this book I really though Carl was going to do what Li Na did.
Preston Stokes
Amazing job!
Cheralynn Frazier
Am I the only one who thinks the AI is a person? Like - the AI is a primal. A super ancient race of creature so obscure and powerful that they couldn't be identified visually by the currently existing races, and who left entire galaxies that they had created in their wake? It's not an AI. Not a machine or system. It's a person and it's all-powerful and it's pissed.
paul klee
I kinda expect her to make it through the floor but keep the Left to Fester debuff. She’ll be hugely powerful but also very vulnerable. Sounds like the horrible sort of situation that twists Matt’s writing knobs.
paul klee
If you mean the Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret novella parts, that’s currently exclusive to the Ace hardcovers. Matt said he hopes they get a standalone release eventually which would open them up for an ebook (if I recall correctly).
Bru-
Hey, Love everything. Chapter 73 it says everyone was available to be tagged but Carl said he wasn't crazy enough to tag anyone in the ball. This drop said he was unable to mark anyone. I figure it is already fixed but just want to make sure you remember.
Ranen
Love it can’t wait to finish it, read it again, then listen to Jeff Hays read it to me
Joel Denning
Head out to Nashville!
Andrew Bartlett
Cum 2 Brazil
Katherine Van
Elle: It’s not the first time I’ve woken up smelling like a stranger’s schlong. So wrong, and so hilarious.
Andrew Bartlett
"The toweres were getting taken out one by one by the" - towers "There was as statue here, once," - a Couple of mistakes! Love the chapters. I feel the tension ratcheting up.
Patrick Turner
Ellie's water spell and Donuts change fresh water to salt combo for when the Slugaloos get turned upon the crawlers
MD
“Don’t tell sad stories about Louis’s past,” Donut shouted from her spot on Mongo’s back. “My goodness. Don’t you know how this works? You’re going to jinx the rescue!” Everytime Matt offers meta-commentary on his own story through Donut, an angel gets its wings.
Dennis Gregory
The valtay/borant corp are getting absolutely fucked with all the celestial boxes. I’m concerned Zev has gone silent.
skindog
It's gonna be a massive let down if he makes us wait to book 8 for them to open achievements/boxes!
Matt D
Believe me, next floor will have much more opportunities for such fuckery.
Kevin Veldman
I was working on a theory that Nekhebit was the scavenger, based on the description of Katia's / Hekla's Crossbow. It's the "Enchanted Crossbow of the Scavenger Mother of Mothers"
Kevin Veldman
Idk if she didn't get *any* credit. She's a pretty high level, just nowhere near Donut's.
skindog
Yeah good point! From memory her strength and intelligence go up +1 each time she levels up, and charisma goes up +2. She went up about 70 levels and her charisma was already well over 100, so she must be at about 250 base charisma (plus buffs). So I guess at 300s across the board, Li Na is effectively a god in everything but player level.
Laurin Toohey
All I’m doing is screaming “check on Brittney!” But for real if Louis dies I’m going to be worse off than Juice Box
John Stevenson
Didn't Carl and Prepotente both mark Miriam Dom with their rings of Divine Suffering? Or did it not count because Prepotente's misfired?
Erick Robertson
Oh I missed 75 and 76! By his left tit, that explains it!
Dragan
I just realized, Stephen Greenwood, next drop is the last chance to get a Ghost Ship trap. We cannot allow this! Matt hear the pleadings, and do what you must!
Dragan
Glurp glurp!
Dragan
Wait isn’t carls patch of a centipede, I don’t think an ooz looks like that.
Dragan
Bagpipes, bagpipes, bagpipes. We want BAGPIPES!
Erick Robertson
Just wanted to let you know, I’m starting to lose track of what’s going on. I don’t know if it’s switching to reading a couple chapters at a time rather than tearing through whole books, or if it’s because it’s a first draft and additional details will be added. Either way, I look forward to reading it all again once it’s finalized!
Dragan
Holy shit, that makes so much sense.
Dragan
Yeah but imagine the beginning of the next floor. They are going to be stacked.
Dragan
Yeeeeeeesssssss baaaaagpiiiiiiipes!!!!! Play them Carl you cowaaaard!
Dragan
I keep wanting to see Carl get absurdly strong like all these others are, and I had it for a little bit thanks to the ring of divine suffering, but now it’s lost again😔
Dragan
From how Mordecai was describing Donuts power level, I expect it is the limit for gods as well.
Dragan
It felt so good that the first thing that they all did when they got out of the ball was immediately agree to not talk about it and instead support Donut and make her feel better.
John Coyle
The title of the book is This Inevitable Ruin. It’s a reference to the story about the cookbook author who was tricked and betrayed and crushed in the tower. I have to think there is another (bad) shoe yet to drop… kinda like Shi Maria bursting onto the scene at the end of The Eye of the Bedlam Bride.
Zauz
The spell description said it will not kill the targets. Li Na putting her chain there killed them. She deff got shafter. Should have at least given her a few levels
Tom Keul
Feels like we have fewer new achievements throughout this book, but hard to tell without seeing the whole book at once. I'm always looking forward to those, but this war tempo makes it hard to sprinkle them in. Also not sure if caught yet but "Twinkle Toes active. I still hadn’t had a chance to examine all of her new and approved abilities, but Mongo was" intended to be improved?
Dragan
I guess it’s just the law of relativity. Because donut attacked, moving the enemy’s through the chains she got credit. Kinda like if you dragged an enemy face first through the spines of a monster. In that scenario you’d get the exp.
Terra
also, also!! warlord akuma!!! what the fuck do you mean, *us*??? carl and i were totally on the same page. my jaw dropped open. AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaa
Terra
i love how donut says all this stuff out loud, too. like girl, stop, you're giving it ideas! XD
Terra
okay, i'm not done yet. AAAAAAA i love being right!! i knew the Oak Fell anklet would come back! from what i remember, weren't there three little balls on the bracelet, too? almost like... three atrocities? maybe it wasn't odette at all. maybe it was just that donut was wearing it! and omggg the All Tree! so much about the tree and what it is! *is* the tree the river of souls!! we don't know! i'm excited! also, carl, i'm so sorry. i formally apologize for saying you "never ask". you clearly asked mordecai wtf was going on and he was like "i'll tell ya later". im sobbing. mordecai he never asks on camera. idk what is going on. pls tell him, and us, what is up with the scavenger's daughter. also!! i thought she'd end up being an actual, real, person! i'm looking very hard at the vulture goddess that donut just became a champion to, too. you weren't lying when you said a lot of shit would be happening at once.
Zauz
How did Li Na get no exp for any of that? Her Dreds have to have gotten some of the kills there. Wtf
Terra
another great set of chapters!!! woo!!! so many awesome things happened this chap drop! so many hilarious moments. a particular favorite was donut's "it'd be a shame to kill such a low level pet" XD girl, you're five levels above him! i love her. she is keeping a brave face on for now, but the "Donut had announced that she and I weren’t ever going to be separated ever again, and that was that." didn't sneak past me like it did with Carl. she's really going through it right now. also, this exchange - "The vermin spell had scandalized Donut. 'That’s clearly made by the pervert AI so it can summon squishables to you, Carl. Or maybe you can use it in conjunction with your Pied Piper skill or whatever.'" hysterically funny
Magnus
I still think the Scavenger is either Scolopendra or Nekhebit and that the Scavenger's Daughter was split into multiple goddesses. The war mages mention that they need Elle to face Scolopendra because she's on the 4 seasons path and there are multiple crazy goddess that have elemental powers and that people have suspected of being the Daughter. There's Samantha, Ysalte, and at least one more I'm forgetting that have been mentioned so far. So I think the war mages think they have the Daughter, but really they only have a part of her. Who they have isnt Samantha because they said they have her with them and Samantha is in the Reaver castle by herself. Maybe it's Eris they have?
Joseph Harris
I think he may have done that just for you. 😂
Timothy Vorhoff
These chapters were such a relief! I loved the dialogue with Elle and Florin and Katia! I had really missed these interactions and it felt so good to have the team back together!
Immortal R.C.
Any one else thinking that the paw through the chain was an active reverse Ghost Ship trap?
skindog
Shame about the 300 max stats - Li Na probably would have maxed everything out with just marking 100 or so for death, so would have had much less chance of some getting away. She could've at least left 100 for Carl! With 15,000 kills she'd have levelled the ring up to 5,000 points per kill if there wasn't a limit. Will be interesting to see what the AI does about it. I wonder if the 300 max is a limitation for Gods as well?
Jon C Salyer
Can’t wait to read all of this over again in a few weeks!
Joseph Harris
Man, I needed a moment after chapter 77…..Goddamnit Matt…
Treamayne
Well, they implied going to the next floor. . . So some reason there to need a Sand Ooze Demigod?
Donny Duncan
Wow.. just wow. So good!
E13design
“Twelve if you lick against the grain.” How the hell do you come up with this stuff. Best line in the whole book.
Betty
I don’t believe you Matt
Norma Rubio
Now the only thing we are missing is overpowered carl
Betty
Okay but is Mongo’s baby still going to be born?
Betty
BAGPIPES. GIVE US THE BRAVEHEART SPEECH
Duke GIJOE
Love the chapters, but I fell like it's been ages since anytime opened a loot box! That is some of the most amusing things in the series!
Konlin Gappmayer
I should have just waiting a few day and a lot of my questions from last release were answered. Now I’m wondering If Samantha is the scavenger and the ooze is the daughter; how that will affect carls patch when Samantha has her body again?
Konlin Gappmayer
That’s what I was thinking too. Now I wonder why they would want her daughter?
riyon hutton
Matt do you know if the kindle books are getting the new material? I have a hard copy and paper back. I prefer my kindle so I can make it easier to read
riyon hutton
I hear it in my mind now
riyon hutton
Holy 💩
Laura Hemly
Great chapters, Matt! I'm really looking to reading the published version with all the retcons and edits. And between Li Na and Donut, it's a real toss-up to see who can do what crazy thing next! I think a chart at the end showing all Donut's spells and powers and levels would really be helpful, by the way -- and TWO new Celestial boxes???
Dragan
Hooray it’s here 😁
Rane Wallin
It's so good!
Bill Gullotti
Dude when are you gonna come to Massachusetts?!
Jeremy Gray
Brilliant and again a cliff hanger, so excited to see how this all ties up.
Crystal Donak
"The smell was indescribable. It was like burned fish mixed with rotten milk mixed with sulfur mixed with mulch"... oh no it's described ...I gagged lol 😆 😂 goog job. Sometimes I can't quite imagine what's going on... this...I literally gagged when reading lol. Lol 😆 🤣
Matt D
by the time the 9th rolls around, I will be in VEGAS.
houff
So... We're 100% getting bagpipes at some point then.
Edwin Longwell
That ending to chapter 77. Fuck, right in the feels.
Parker Cobb
“The bagpipes are in the probably-never-going-to-need-this-stuff folder, and that’s where they’re going to stay,” I replied. That was Matt, not Carl
Nicklaus Lindemann
The hardcover gonna be a thicc boi
Treamayne
Thanks again kind sir. So, looks like Psamanthe may be the Scavenger, and her Ooze daughter is in the hands of the Warmages? Bet that goes over well. . .
Charles McDowell
Ahh ya totally going to the Powells meet up next November! Last time I was there to see Brandon Sanderson for WoT releases.
Stanislem
Thanks for the generous release schedule
Rik Crosby
I can't wait to hear Jeff read “My cock! My beloved cock! You will pay for this, Champion of Nekhebit!”
Daniel Brian
You’re on a roll! Great chapters!
Lauren J
MATT, I am flying in to San Diego on November 9th. Please let me know if you do any other events while you are out there. Sincerely, a neglected Florida fan who has never been closer to getting her book signed. But still... not close enough. Actually about as close as you get to coming to Florida but never do.
Stephen Greenwood
Was thinking the same thing! FUCKING SLAYER! 🤘
Craig Carey
Damnitt Matt, I am reading this at a bar and shedding a few tears....this is good
Douglas Erdman
GLURP GLURP!
Alice
I'm loving this can't wait to see how you tie this up, and I will love the audio book so I can listen to Jeff's lovely voice again........ And again
Jacob Edward Neutz
Similar one in the sentence " I still hadn’t had a chance to examine all of her new and approved abilities". I think this should say Improved instead of approved
Stephen Greenwood
Same 😢
Stephen Greenwood
Great read, as always. Couldn't help but laugh out loud during the stripper/prostitute jokes. Damn, lvl 135?! And Li Na maxing out her base stats! She's definitely scarier now.
Twiztid_Angel730
Found a misspell perhaps? "... followed by familiar dinosaur roar. Big Tina. The toweres were getting taken out one by one..." No extra "e"
Christine Brown
I kept getting so many chills I feel like I have a freaking fever. These were good! And watching this process has been so fun. I can't wait to reread it next month to see what changes and then listen to it in February. Cheers Matt!
DB
This is lovely
Michael Grimmett
Awesome!! Would love to see a stats sheet at the end of the book to see how they have changed!!
Alex
I have a feeling Li Na may not make it
Katyna Smith
Okay, as someone who's name is Kitty, it's hard to argue that there is a worse name.
Joseph Slaughter
Superb work, nice change of pace from previous too
chase howell
Thank you so much! Also right after the where they hear Tina roar, there's a flub in the next paragraph "toweres". Again thank you for making this series, I'm addicted.
Magic Jake
Woooooo!
Vickie Rashvand
I’m so excited for the ending!
Katyna Smith
I'm sobbing
Jim Bowen
Woohoo, thanks Matt
Parker Cobb
There goes my production for the rest of the day!
Levi
Let’s fucking go! I knew I was gonna love Jurgen.
Ben Woolbright
Slayer would be proud of Donut
Ryan Zarnowski
New chapters, can I get a GLURP GLURP!
Andrew Bartlett
So blessed with the rate of chapter releases. Hell yeah Mr. Dinniman! I have loved watching you find your groove as an Author.
Tom
Lunchtime reading, yum yum.
Paul pollard
Thanks Matt
Stephen Greenwood
Yeah, something to read while I carpool to work!
