Hou Zheng stumbled out of the rift into the dungeon, his bracer burning on his arm. This was the same dungeon he had left from, just moments ago, and he thought he might vomit from the sudden return. Of course, he felt that way even when using the bracer correctly. Rifts had never really been meant for casual travel.

  “Are you all right, Hou Zheng?” He refocused and saw Jael, the assassin, looking up at him with a blank expression. Then again, she almost always had a blank expression.

  Behind her, the dungeon chamber was filled with a number of other mercenaries and hirelings, all sourced from this world. None of them knew the full extent of his plans, but they accepted his payment well enough. In fact, except for Jael, none of them even knew that he wasn't from this world. They all stared at him, wide-eyed.

  Hou Zheng blinked, then reached up to touch his face. His helmet. He had forgotten that he wasn't wearing his helmet. He had taken it off before stepping through the rift, wanting a moment to breathe. He wasn't even wearing a basic mask to hide from scans. Indeed, he could see many of the mercenaries with the tell-tale expressions of people who were using the Identify skill. Several of them almost jumped in surprise when they only received basic information. Had they expected him to be a monster?

  He sighed internally. Dwarves. No matter what world they were on, they were always the same. Solid, reliable, and so unimaginative. At least they were easily motivated by money. He might have to pay them extra to keep this quiet, but that was no great loss. On a world like this, in the process of burning away at the end of its life, his money might as well be unlimited.

  “I'm fine,” he said to Jael. “Your niece says hello, by the way.”

  She stiffened. “What?”

  “Well, not really,” he admitted. “She was too surprised by my popping out of a rift and busy trying to kill me to pass along pleasantries.” He smiled, careful not to show teeth. Dwarves were so skittish about that. “I'm sure she misses you, however.”

  “How did you see Ruth?” she demanded, her professional mask slipping a little. “I thought your bracer takes you somewhere random.”

  He licked his lips. “It's... more complicated than that.” He raised the bracer. It had cooled off, thankfully. He could even use it again right now if he really needed to, but he would prefer not to risk that. “This controls the dungeon, and through it, the rift. The rifts are infamously chaotic, so it's easy to think of the dungeon as naturally ordered.”

  “You're lecturing again,” she interrupted.

  He smiled. “Apologies. It is not easy to put my teaching days behind me.” It had been decades since he took a Scholar class, and yet he still found himself gravitating towards it.

  Before he could continue, Jael clapped her hands, getting everyone's attention. “You all know why you're here,” she said. “We're almost done with our preparations. The second we're ready, I want you all ready too. Check your gear, your spells, and anything else you might need.”

  They got the hint and retreated to the next chamber to sort through their supplies. All the monsters were already dead, of course, so they'd be perfectly safe.

  Hou Zheng shook his head sadly. “I apologize for the need for secrecy.”

  She shook her head, more emphatically. “Irrelevant. Ruth. Why did the rift take you to her?” She considered. “Or was it the dungeon?”

  “The dungeon.” He sighed. “I should have anticipated this. Dungeons don't like being controlled. They're prone to... acting out.”

  “You make it sound as if they are intelligent.”

  His lips quirked. “Something like that, perhaps.”

  She nodded. “So, when you forced it to send you through the rift, it rebelled. It knew you had a connection to Ruth.”

  “Unlikely. Dungeons cannot see outside themselves. I find it more plausible that it sent me to Mary, as I did a dungeon with her before.”

  She gave him a long look. “Dungeons... remember each other?”

  He chuckled. “Now we are getting into the realms of theories and philosophy. I do not know the answer to that question.” He waved a hand. “Irrelevant. How is our progress?”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Continuing apace,” she said, accepting the change of subject. “The mercenaries will be ready to march within a day or two. In fact, they are ready now, if you want to rush.”

  “I do not.” Rushing always caused more problems than it solved. Slow and steady, that was the way to do things. “We still have not found an appropriate rift.” They could force it, but that would cause many problems. Among other things, he would destroy his bracer, which was almost irreplaceable unless he was willing to pay a rather exorbitant price.

  “Mayor Hawkins is continuing to make noise.” Again, her face was completely dull, but Hou Zheng thought he could detect a hint of exasperation in her voice. “He has repeatedly expressed the idea that this plan will never work. He keeps bringing up the fact that the siege of monsters failed to kill Hundredborn.”

  Hou Zheng groaned. “Remind me again, why am I keeping that idiot around?”

  “He has important connections to various mercenary organizations.”

  Hou Zheng groaned louder.

  Jael raised an eyebrow. “How old are you? My niece would be more mature about this.”

  “Yes, well, your niece hasn't had to deal with an ugly little dwarf talking about how wonderful his Slaver Collar is.”

  Before she could respond to that, he heard an entirely different voice.

  “Hou Zheng. We have much to discuss.”

  Rather than crude English, the voice spoke in Hou Zheng's own language, perfectly and without a hint of an accent. The voice echoed around the room, making Jael stiffen, and he was happy that she had sent the mercenaries away.

  It was also coming from the rift.

  “Lord Flamebreak,” he said, turning to the rift with a smile. “It is a pleasure to hear your voice once again.” And not rattling his skull like a bull in a porcelain shop, he didn't add.

  “I have no patience for niceties. Report.”

  Briefly, Hou Zheng wondered what could be keeping a dragon busy when he was still trapped in a dungeon, before deciding he didn't want to know. It would be either something stupid or something horrifying. “The Crafter and his allies are currently penned in a town far from the central human settlement. It is unclear what they have told the locals, but we have been intercepting anyone leaving. Their knowledge will not spread.”

  “Sufficient. And the girl?”

  Hou Zheng was surprised the dragon remembered the deal about the girl. Hou Zheng had received permission to broker the deal with Jael, but he had assumed that the dragon would forget about it moments later. “Still with the Crafter. Unharmed, but also a thorn in our side.” He had been genuinely impressed with how she integrated runes into her combat style. Rune Warrior and its advancements helped weaponize runes, of course, but it still took quite a bit of skill to pull it off.

  “Capture her as soon as possible,” the dragon said, somehow making mercy sound like an execution order. “Once she is out of our way, our allies will be able to aid us without reservation.”

  And they'd have a hostage if Jael got any ideas. “Of course, Lord Flamebreak. Do I have permission to extend the offer to the others in the Crafter's party?”

  “You do. They do not need to die. They simply need to be removed from play.”

  “I suspect it will be easier if I have something unique to pay them with, my lord.”

  There was a pause. Then, without fanfare, four small red stones were spat out of the rift, one by one. Hou Zheng caught them all easily. They were bloodstones, and a quick scan told him what kind. None of them were particularly rare or interesting. He could get these for free on most worlds.

  But they were all [Utility] bloodstones. On this world, burning away the last of its life, there were people who would murder their own families for a chance at these stones. Jael eyed them greedily, clearly guessing what they represented. Hou Zheng just tucked them away without looking at her.

  “These should be sufficient,” he said calmly.

  “Good. Do not fail me, priest.”

  Hou Zheng bowed before the rift for a long moment, until he was sure that the dragon was no longer paying attention. Then he straightened and gathered himself.

  “Well,” he said with a smile. “Let's get this attack ready to go, shall we?”

  After all, as much as he would like to ensure the [Crafter] and his friends survived, he did not think it likely. The man had already rejected too many offers, from too many parties, to be tempted at the last moment.

  No. This world was burning, and Josh Hundredborn was going to burn with it.

  Hou Zheng sighed. It was such a shame. Such a bright spark, lost too soon.

  Well. No one had ever said the world was fair. No one had ever said that any world was fair. He put his helmet back on and got to work.