They were two weeks out from their next group dungeon run when a universal alert appeared in the System interface.

UNIVERSAL ALERT

Incoming miasma surge.

Dungeon payout rate increased to 80,000 credits per delve.

Fight for humanity.

Rodrick and Zelda appeared fifteen minutes after the notification appeared, finding him on the secluded rooftop garden he liked to use for cultivation.

"We need to get into the dungeon right now."

He smiled at his friends. "Hello, Rodrick. Nice to see you, too."

"Come on, Hector, let's get going!"

Zelda folded her arms. "I think we should get in touch with Conrad first."

"He already scheduled a delve for today," Hector said.

"Then… do we go ourselves?"

"Yes, Zelda. Yes, Hector. This is the big event. We are getting close to the end of our time on Union Central. If we're going to delve during a dungeon surge, this is it."

Hector frowned. "What do you mean 'the end of our time'? Are you planning to leave as soon as our year at the hotel ends?"

"Sorry, Hector," Zelda said. "We didn't want to distract you before the next run."

"You're both leaving for Maya?"

Rodrick scratched his neck. "Yeah, Hector. But can we talk later? We need our heads in the game. This is the big event I've been hoping for ever since we got here."

Hector looked to Zelda. "We're doing this?"

She nodded. "Our last delve."

And that was that. Rodrick rushed to the basement to retrieve his armor. Zelda went to her room to change into a shirt with a gap on back for her wings. Hector put on his combat fatigues and went to the lobby to wait.

He wasn't the only person thinking to wait for a team there. Hector groaned as he witnessed the crowd of people overflowing into every available space. A capsule hotel dedicated to delvers would of course become busy after a surge was announced. The place was swarmed with human bodies. He remained near the elevators until both his friends were there.

Then they plowed through the crowd to get to the street. They had to wait half an hour for their turn in the elevator next door. It took another hour for them to get onto the train and into the dungeon complex. They barely managed to exit the train against the crush of humanity. The place was hot and steamy, the cooling systems unable to keep up. Loud as well, with people shouting to be heard over the incessant squawking of the public announcement systems and occasional screams.

Men with batons stood on raised platforms and directed traffic, pushing the flow of humanity around jams and towards less congested regions of the complex. They wormed their way towards the circumnavigating train and rode to a destination promised to have delvers sparser on the ground.

"I think the hardest part of a surge might be getting into the dungeon," Rodrick complained.

A massive Titan turned to rumble at their group. "Don't lose your caution." The giant's brow flew up when he spotted Hector. "Even a Xian showed up this time? Wonders never cease."

They finally made it onto a packed moving sidewalk and were ferried down a tunnel towards the dungeon proper. Hector wasn't sure what to expect, but he was already on edge from the three hour long struggle to get here. Rodrick was bouncing on the balls of his feet, eager to begin. Zelda, on the other hand, was chewing a lock of hair, which was out of character for the usually very proper woman. Hector bumped her with his elbow.

"I've always been curious. Why bat wings? Your general aesthetic seems like it would go better with pure white dove wings."

Her response was short. "Aerial combat. I prioritized maneuverability over efficiency."

They joined the mass of bodies exiting the tunnel. The sea of delvers around them moved forward in awkward jerks due to the jostling of those behind them. The combination of so many lights brightened the dungeon to a degree he'd never experienced. A dark oily haze floated on the air.

Beasts charged into the cluster of humans from every direction. Most prevalent were giant porcupines that threw quills the size of javelins. Lasers and plasma pulses peppered the beasts. Swords and spears and axes and arrows and hammers landed. A heavyset Titan punched a porcupine's face hard enough to instantly fell the beast.

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It was utter pandemonium.

From the air came clouds of life-sized mosquitoes. The tiny monsters killed dozens of people before an Arahant fried everything in the air with a burst of chain lightning. The ground shook with distant footfalls, giving Hector a Jurassic Park moment.

The porcupines fell under the combined attacks. The packed humans surged out into the dungeon, getting the space they needed to effectively attack or evade. Then came swarms of rodents of various sizes. A gerbil the size of a compact car bowled through the front ranks to grab the heavyset Titan and start chewing on his head. Jinn incendiary rounds tore apart that beast and the Titan emerged – covered in slime but otherwise unharmed.

Rats sized like large dogs scurried forward, biting randomly. Hector experienced his first action of the delve when one came close enough that he could explode its head. They continued rushing forward, gaining distance from the dungeon entrance and their fellow delvers.

A couple of capybara the size of school buses rushed forward. Hector worked together with his friends to take one down. He tripped the beast, Zelda forced it to duck its head to avoid her flames, and Rodrick sliced along its neck to sever its arteries. They made quick work of it, but Rodrick ended up covered in dark blood that was rapidly gassing into miasma.

They took a quick break to pour every bit of water the three of them carried over Rodrick as a sort of emergency wash. It took away the worst of the mess. Then they had to continue onward.

An anteater large as a skyscraper stomped in the distance, its prehensile tongue darting about the ground and then pulling back in with humans stuck to it like insects. More immediately, jackals charged towards their group. Hector took out two right away. Zelda burned the face off another. Rodrick managed to slay three in a row with his over-sized sword. Some random people who'd begun following them after their capybara victory mopped up the rest.

More of the porcupines came at them. Zelda had to return to the ground and move to the rear of the group as the spikes began flying. Hector took the front and drew their aim while some of the Jinn who'd fallen in with them shot back. Long minutes passed as Hector's clothing was torn to shreds and the Jinn depleted their ammunition.

Finally, the porcupines ran out of quills. Rodrick charged forward, wheezing hoarsely as he chopped off legs. Hector used his cables to prevent any return strikes from reaching his friend. Fire fell from above, taking out one of their foes. They mopped up the rest shortly.

Then they took a breather, huddled with backs together to watch their surroundings. There was a lot of panting, but none so bad as Rodrick. The Jinn slapped Rod on the back, praising his sword work even as footsteps thumped in the distance.

The break ended when a murder of crows descended on them. Hector took up the task of defending, flailing his cables to present a barrier. The Jinn emptied their ammunition into the sky and Zelda threw fire for all she was worth.

That emergency didn't so much end as merge into a different one. Alligators replaced crows. The trade proved a major problem. The Jinn were almost out of ammunition. The alligator scales proved nearly impervious to harm. Zelda was critically low on energy reserves. And Rodrick was not moving nearly so well as he usually did.

Hector, unable to harm the gators, resorted to maneuvering his teammates out of danger. Miasma hung thick in the air, floating like motes of dust caught in a beam of light. The gators got one of the Jinn followers, so Hector switched tactics abruptly and flipped one of the beasts over.

As it struggled to right itself, Rodrick heaved a dramatic overhead strike and opened the gator up from stomach to neck. It thrashed a final time and went still. Having discovered a strategy that worked, they took care of the rest of the alligators, losing an Arahant follower who was too slow to dodge while Hector was otherwise engaged.

One of the Jinn shouted to them as everyone was gasping for air. "Nearest exit is that way!"

"Yeah," one of the others said, "time to get out of here!"

Hector couldn't agree more. He still had seventy percent energy reserves remaining but the rest of his team were looking ragged. They jogged in the direction of the promised exit, but found their escape repeatedly postponed.

First they were surrounded by kangaroos. They lost another Jinn before they could bring down the monsters. Though the kangaroos hadn't possessed immense size or hardened flesh, they moved with supernatural speed, making it hard for Hector to hit them. A rhino charged at them before they could resume their run.

They avoided its charges three times, not managing to cause any injury in return.

A Jinn seized Hector by the arm. "Xian! I have a grenade!"

"Then throw it on the next charge!"

"No, listen! I pull the pin and then you use your domain to move it!"

"Yeah, that's a much better idea!" On the following charge, Hector seized the grenade when the Jinn held it forth, carrying it to the side of the rhino's head, where it exploded and caused the beast to collapse. It tried to struggle back to its feet but appeared to be mortally wounded.

"Good enough. Let's get out of here," he said.

"Hector!"

He turned at Zelda's call. Rodrick was on the ground, coughing violently. Hector rushed over, his lights illuminating the mix of red and black around Rodrick's mouth. Rodrick struggled to focus his eyes on Hector. Then he turned and reached a hand towards Zelda. When he attempted to speak, only a hoarse wheeze emerged.

"Hector, you have to carry him," Zelda said.

Without hesitation, he scooped up his friend and ran. At least until the line of cobras blocked their path. Then he had to put Rodrick down and charge into battle.

The cobras were resistant to head trauma, but he managed to force cables down their throats to blend their organs. All he had to do was let them try biting him while he flared his aura. That kept them still long enough for him to do his grisly business. By the end of it, he was covered in miasmic viscera like a child who had played in the mud. Some had even gone into his mouth, tasting of ash and filth and toxic waste.

Hector lifted Rodrick once more and let one of the Jinn guide them towards their destination. They made good time and were almost there when the Jinn skidded to a sudden stop. Hector almost ran the guy over. He was about to erupt into criticisms when he saw what was before them.

The thudding of footsteps had stopped a while back. Hector assumed that to be a good thing. Perhaps a group of elites had taken down the beast. But no. Of course not. An anteater the size of a skyscraper crouched not far ahead of them. Its snout was pressed up against the wall.

The beast backed away, rising high, and its tongue retracted from the exit tunnel. At least a hundred humans stuck to that tongue as it slid upward. They disappeared into its mouth and the tongue emerged with no trace of its victims remaining.

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