My Dungeon Daddy System: Raising Monsters and Waifus Underground-Chapter 45 – The Gallop

Chapter 45: Chapter 45 – The Gallop
Reed checked his pockets one last time as he jogged up the tunnel.
Left Pocket: Void Shard (Class: Apocalyptic). It hummed against his hip like a radioactive cell phone. Right Pocket: The Spicy Purse (Grika’s Bag of Holding filled with scrap metal and gunpowder). Chest Pocket: Grease Scroll (x3).
He stood at the threshold of the dungeon’s exit. Behind him lay the safety of the dark, the warmth of the vents, and the smell of pizza. Ahead lay a jagged hole in the wall, leading out into the twilight forest.
He took a breath. This was it. Since waking up as a Dungeon Core, and later downloading himself into this Avatar body, he had never actually left the property line. He was an indoor cat. And it was raining outside.
"Hold still, Boss," Grika grunted.
The goblin was kneeling in front of him, aggressively tightening a leather utility belt around his waist. She yanked the buckle so hard Reed wheezed.
"Grika, I need to breathe," Reed gasped.
"Breathing is secondary," Grika stated, securing a pouch of flash-bangs. "Retention is primary. If you drop the bomb while riding, you explode. If you explode, I have to scrape you off a tree. I hate scraping."
She stood up, wiping grease on her overalls. She looked at him, her yellow eyes wide and surprisingly serious.
"Bring it back," Grika said, tapping the bomb pouch. "Or throw it. Just don’t... be it."
"I’ll be fine, Grika."
"And if the Paladin tries anything," Grika added, handing him a small, jagged piece of metal, "shove this in the horse’s ear. It triggers the emergency brake."
"That’s a shiv, Grika."
"It’s a manual override."
Reed pocketed the shiv. He looked up. Seraphine was blocking the exit.
The Lamia General looked miserable. Her magma armor was cracked, her scales were dull from exhaustion, and she was leaning heavily on her spear. But her eyes were burning with a green, possessive fire that made the air temperature rise five degrees.
"My Lord," she hissed.
She slithered forward, circling him. She didn’t look at his face; she was inspecting his scent. She leaned in, sniffing his collar, his hair, his hands.
"You smell of ozone," she murmured, her forked tongue flicking out to taste the air near his neck. "And void rot. And... her."
She growled low in her throat.
"I haven’t even touched her yet, Sera."
"You are leaving with her," Seraphine corrected. She loomed over him, seven feet of jealous muscle. "You are going into the Outside. The world is cold. It will try to eat you."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down. It wasn’t a gentle hug; it was a constriction. She pressed her forehead against his, her golden eyes boring into his violet ones.
"Do not let the Light burn you," she commanded fiercely. "Do not let her claim you. You belong to the Dark. You belong to us."
She bit his lip. Hard. It stung, a sharp jolt of pain that instantly faded into a thrumming heat.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Buff Applied: MARK OF THE GUARDIAN.]
[Effect: +10% Resistance to Holy Damage. +50% Intimidation Factor.]
[Duration: Until you wash your face.]
Reed pulled back, tasting blood and ash. He grinned.
"Loud and clear," Reed whispered. "Guard the house, Sera."
She uncoiled slowly, looking like she wanted to drag him back into the Nest. "Go. Before I break your legs to keep you here."
Reed turned and walked toward the light.
The Outside
Stepping out of the dungeon was like walking into a freezer. The air in the forest was thin, crisp, and smelled of pine needles and wet dirt. It lacked the heavy, mana-rich humidity of the dungeon.
Reed stumbled. The moment his boot hit the grass outside the tunnel, a wave of vertigo hit him. It felt like someone had unplugged his life support.
[SYSTEM ALERT: CONNECTION SEVERED.]
[You have left the Dungeon Territory.]
[Core Link: OFFLINE.]
[Avatar Power Source: INTERNAL BATTERY ONLY.]
He checked his HUD.
[MANA: 280 / 150 (OVERCHARGED - VOID).]
[DRAIN RATE: -5 MP per Minute.]
Five mana a minute, Reed calculated, steadying himself against a tree. I’m leaking. I have about an hour of high-performance time before the Void starts eating my health instead.
"You look green," a voice observed.
Reed looked up. High Inquisitor Kaelen stood at the edge of the clearing. She had donned her helmet, the visor up, revealing her pale, determined face. Her white cloak snapped in the wind.
Beside her stood a monster.
It was a horse, technically. But calling Valor a horse was like calling a tank a scooter. The beast was massive, eighteen hands high at the shoulder, clad in gleaming silver barding etched with runes of the Silver Flame. Its coat was white, its eyes were intelligent, and it was currently stomping a crater into the dirt.
Valor looked at Reed. The horse snorted. It wasn’t a normal snort; it was a judgment. The animal smelled the Void on him. It smelled the Rot.
Valor reared up, striking the ground with a hoof the size of a dinner plate. THUD.
"Easy, Valor!" Kaelen snapped, tightening her grip on the reins.
"He hates me," Reed noted, walking closer.
"He senses the corruption," Kaelen said, struggling to hold the beast’s head down. "He is a Warhorse of the Holy See. He is bred to trample necromancers."
"Tell him I’m a consultant," Reed said.
He stepped into the horse’s personal space. Valor bared his teeth, flat, herbivore teeth that looked fully capable of crushing a skull.
Reed’s eyes flashed violet. He didn’t use a spell. He just let a tiny sliver of [Overlord Mode] leak out.
"Sit," Reed whispered.
The horse froze. The animal instinct to flee warred with the animal instinct to submit. Valor shuddered, exhaling a long, terrified breath, and planted all four feet firmly on the ground.
"You terrified him," Kaelen accused, stroking the horse’s neck to calm him.
"I reached an understanding," Reed corrected. "We don’t have time for a rodeo, Inquisitor. Mount up."
Kaelen swung herself into the saddle with practiced grace. Her plate armor clanked against the saddle horn. She looked down at him.
"Well?" she asked.
"Well what?"
"Get on."
Reed looked at the horse. There were no stirrups on the back. Just a sloping, armored rump.
"I don’t have a ladder," Reed said.
Kaelen sighed. She offered her hand. "Grab my arm. Step on my boot. Swing up. Do not touch the sword."
Reed grabbed her forearm. Her gauntlet was cold steel. He stepped on her armored foot, hauled himself up, and swung his leg over the back of the horse. He landed hard behind the saddle.
CLANK.
"Oof," Reed grunted. The saddle was designed for one person. Reed was sitting on the horse’s loins, basically riding bareback on top of the silver barding. It was slippery.
"Where do I hold?" Reed asked.
Kaelen stiffened. "There is a strap on the back of the saddle."
Reed found the strap. It was a tiny piece of leather the size of a belt loop.
"Inquisitor," Reed said dryly. "If we hit a bump, I’m flying off. And I’m holding a bomb."
Kaelen was silent for a second. The tips of her ears turned pink. "Fine," she grit out. "Hold... the waist."
"Tactical hug. Got it."
Reed slid forward. He wrapped his arms around her waist. It was awkward. Her armor was bulky, but beneath the breastplate, her waist was narrow. He had to link his hands over her stomach to get a grip. His chest was pressed flush against the back of her cloak.
He could feel the rigid steel of her backplate digging into his ribs. But he could also feel something else.
Warmth.
She was a Paladin. A battery of Holy Light. Even through the steel and the cloth, she radiated a steady, clean heat that was the exact opposite of the cold Void rot in his veins.
[SYSTEM ALERT: PROXIMITY TO HOLY SOURCE.]
[EFFECT: VOID CHILL REDUCED.]
[Drain Rate: Slowed to -3 MP per Minute.]
Reed instinctively pressed closer, burying his face into the fur collar of her cloak.
"Do not... snuggle," Kaelen warned, her voice strained.
"I’m leaching heat," Reed mumbled into her shoulder. "Drive the car, Inquisitor."
"It is a horse!"
Kaelen kicked her heels. "Valor! Hiyah!"
THUNDER.
Valor didn’t trot. He exploded. The horse went from zero to forty in three seconds. Reed was thrown backward, his grip the only thing keeping him from becoming roadkill. He tightened his arms around Kaelen’s waist, squeezing so hard the metal of her armor creaked.
"JESUS!" Reed yelled as the wind tore at his face.
"Hold on!" Kaelen shouted over the roar of hooves.
They tore through the forest, a silver-and-black blur. The trees became streaks of green. The rhythmic thud-thud-thud of the galloping horse vibrated through Reed’s entire body. It was terrifying. It was exhilarating.
Reed looked at his mana bar. It was ticking down. 275... 270... 265...
He tightened his grip on the Paladin.
"Faster!" Reed shouted, the violet light trailing from his eyes like smoke in the wind. "We have a bridge to burn!"