Fantasy Dungeon Builder's Harem

Halia found the bound king lying in the wreckage. The paladin grabbed him and slung him over her shoulder with ease. Her strength enhanced by her Goddess, she marched away from the wreckage towards where the other few surviving monster girls had gathered.

The camp lay in tatters. So many were dead, killed by the dragon's rampage to protect her own king. The army had fled in all directions. It would be days before they rallied and regrouped, but they had a powerful hostage.

The king didn't resist. He lay slumped in her arms as she marched towards where Leo stood in his gray robes. He had a new monster girl at his side. The dragon in her human form. Kassie had already joined him, talking with the others who had survived. Paetu flew in the air around them, a lone sentinel looking for danger.

"Lord Leo," Halia said. "The King of Myreman."

Halia tossed the king down before her lord's feet.

The king rolled over and gasped, "Agubnamus! What are you doing? You stand with my enemy."

"Your conqueror, King Thanitis," she said. "By ancient rites, he has claimed me as a spoil of war for defeating your mightiest champion, me."

The king swallowed.

"Cut him free," Leo said. "He doesn't need to lie in the mud like a dog."

The king blinked.

"We have much to talk about, Your Majesty," Leo said.

"About how you will conqueror my lands?" demanded the king. A fierceness spread over his youthful face. He brimmed with defiance.

Halia used her blessed blade to deftly cut the bonds. The king rose, shaking free the ropes. He stood before Leo, tall and back straight. Pride filled the king. His hands balled into fists as anger shook his body.

"I will not give over my people! Strike me down! My successor will defy you!"

Her lord sighed. Halia smiled at the exasperation spilling over Lord Leo's face. "I don't want to conquer your lands. What would I do with them? Administer them? God, that sounds like a headache."

"Big time," Alizee said. "I mean, ugh, that's like all that study you'd have to do. Fara would love it! And Hagane! She would do it!"

"Not the time," Lana Fulmine said. "Let our Lord speak."

"Oh, right!" Alizee giggled. "Sorry. This is all so new to me. You're a king. That's so neat and... Right, right, shutting up."

The king frowned at her.

"I don't want to conquer your lands or rule them," said Leo. "I want to negotiate a peace treaty. One that promises each other mutual defense."

"What?" gasped the king. He looked even more flummoxed now. It didn't fit his regal bearing. He had a nobility that lent well to standing proud before a conqueror, but now it made him look almost piggish. A dullard.

"I want to be your ally, King Thanitis." Leo grinned. "I live in your lands. I want to help defend them. Work with you to make Myreman safer for everyone. I want to protect you and your people from the dungeon builders."

The king shook his head. "So, what, I agree to be your ally and you let me go home?"

"Yes," Leo said. "Back to Myrecilla. We can work together from there. Help each other. I know there are other dungeon builders in your lands and your neighbors that I can help to deal with. I want to change things. We don't have to be enemies."

"But you have enslaved Astovin!" The man thrust his hand towards the wall. "The villagers are suffering beneath your boot."

Lord Leo snorted with laughter.

"Who told you that, Your Majesty?" Halia asked. "Because I am from Astovin. I'm Halia, daughter of Anguin Vobria. I carry his blessed blade. The Blessed Blade of Light. This man is not evil. He protects Astovin, and they have sworn to him."

"But Lord Shorvin said--"

"That pig left these people to the mercies of the dungeon builders," Leo growled. "Jindag and Mthunzi were predating on them when I showed up. I put an end to it. I extended the people of Astovin the hand of friendship. They have returned it. What did Lord Shorvin do? He huddled in his estates to the south of here and let them suffer!"

The king swallowed and looked down at his feet.

"You did the same," Lord Leo said, his voice pitched lower. "I can see it. You wanted to help your people, but that leaves you vulnerable to dungeon builders. We have to change that. We have to break your people out of fear. That's what I want."

The king swallowed. "The Gods hate you."

"I know. And?" Lord Leo faced him with such certainty. He thrust out his hand. "I'm not your enemy, Your Majesty, not if you don't force me to be. I want to help this world, and I can't do that if I have to fight it. Things need to change. Dungeon builders can't be despots. They have to work with the people of this world. Serve them."

"And if they don't?" demanded the king. He straightened again.

"Then we must crush them. The ones of us who are good. We must deal with the ones who have been corrupted by their power. With your help. Adventurers and monster girls working together to protect the innocent."

The king stared into Leo's eyes. Halia held her breath. Leo kept his hand extended. The king swallowed. He stared at the hand then at Lord Leo.

"You truly believe that," the king said. "You truly want to protect the people."

"Isn't that why you're here, Your Majesty? To protect the people?"

"Yes." The king clasped Lord Leo's hand. "Yes, it is."

Fuegin stared at the image of Leo shaking King Thanitis's hand. The battlefield had been chaotic. When the ancient dragon had erupted from the tent, Fuegin thought it would be the end of Leo. The young idealist had worked hard to uncover the secrets of why the builders were here.

Fuegin had hit a wall. He needed someone young and passionate to drive towards it.

But now...

"He has a fire dragon," Amante said. She put her black hand on his wrist. Glowing cracks of lava covered her stony body. "Where did he get her?"

"I don't know," Fuegin growled. "But now he has two of them. And one is an ancient dragon."

"Your plan is falling apart." Amante stroked up Fuegin's arm. His wife had been with him from the very beginning. All those decades. All that bloodshed. "It is time to kill him."

"Maybe," Fuegin answered. Leo's usefulness was running out.

"Maybe? He's holding secrets. He's gained glyphs without telling you how. He doesn't trust you any longer. It's time to end him."

Fuegin stared at the image and thought long and hard on what to do with Leo Baldwin.

Therodin planted his boot on the dungeon builder's throat and rammed his sword through his heart.

As the man died, Therodin felt power rushing through him. Power that flowed back through his bond to Barany. His puppet dungeon builder just gained himself a new glyph. Ice. It was the start to turning Barany into a monster

Into a dungeon builder with the strength to kill the deadly ones.

Fuegin, Tuerien, Wai, and Leo.

Blood dripped from Therodin's sword as he turned back to the Company. His band of adventurers stood with three of Barany's surviving cockatrices. He flicked his blade and grinned at them. They would do it.

They would save the world from all those pigs.
​

The End of Season Five​