Hannah emerged from the shadow of a boulder while Mateo came jumping off the wall. He landed with the lightweightness of a cat and turned just in time to see the wall of green-tinted acid hurtling toward them. Penny joined them on the ground. Rather than cower while Luke set everything up with Lifeweaver's Sacrifice to protect everyone, she raised her hands, lightning sparkling in her eyes.

  Coward's way out, what a joke!

  Almost as if you were a bloke!

  Wind! Gale! Feel the roar!

  Wind whipped her long hair, and small bolts, like static electricity, surged between the strands. The wind grew from a gentle breeze to a veritable storm in an instant and pushed against the coming acid death. The wall of oncoming destruction bulged away from them just as it reached the group. A wet pop told Luke the acid substance lost its form, and when the suicide attack hit them, it was more of an acid rain than them being swallowed by an ocean of green agony.

  It still hurts. A lot.

  With such a large group, there was no escaping the burning touch. All injuries transferred to Luke, who, in his infinite idiocy, had forgotten to numb his own pain. The screaming didn't stop until his body knitted itself back together again, and the numerous holes in his robe regenerated from the drops that'd landed on him.

  Hannah had the foresight to remove her robe, even if the acid passed right through her, but everyone else stood there watching him scream with clothes full of holes.

  When the long, agonizing moment passed, Luke looked up at them and croaked. "You look stupid as hell."

  Nymh's shirt had burned right off. She wore a sports bra underneath, but judging by the flush in her cheeks and the grim set of her jaw, she wasn't happy about the exposure. His sister got spared most of it, but a decent chunk of her hair had melted off. The smell of burnt hair mixed with sizzling ant corpses was not pleasant.

  Mateo's spear was no more. Clutching the metal tip of his weapon, he stood watching the destroyed pieces of what had been the haft on the ground, by his feet. Luna looked like she'd made it out well enough, except for a couple of burn holes on the arms of her shirt and a few patches on her thighs.

  Penny, at the centre of the storm, was untouched.

  "My spear," Mateo said, his eyes half-closed, as in mourning.

  Milla walked right next to him. "Be glad we're alive, Mateo."

  Quest complete: The Queen’s reign has ended.

  Reward: Neverending water.

  Dungeon closing in 240 minutes.

  "What's never-ending water, anyway?" Penny asked, taking something out of her inventory. The item looked like nothing more than a dark wooden cup full of water. She sniffed its contents and then took a sip, nodding to herself after. "Tastes good."

  Mateo poured his cup out and kept pouring and pouring.

  "Uh, what are you doing?" Luke asked, taking his reward out as well.

  Neverending water: Draw water vapour from the atmosphere to produce endless liquid freshwater.

  He poured some out, too, just to check, and the water just kept coming. "That's neat, I guess. Not much of a reward, though."

  A sob broke through the silent testing of their new toys. Tears ran down Luna's cheeks, somewhat silent at first, but then she became a blubbering mess.

  "What's wrong?" Nymh asked, drawing her weapon and looking around. "Are you hurt?"

  Weaver's Perception told Luke she was fine.

  "No," she said, followed by a wail as she dropped to the ground. "I'm not hurt."

  Milla and Luke exchanged a glance before she got down on her knees next to her. "What's wrong, Luna?"

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  At that, Luna let out a small laugh, but the tears didn't stop. "I didn't dare hope."

  "Hope for what, my new friend?" Mateo asked, shaking his head, bemused.

  Luna took a few deep, stabilizing breaths and wiped at her eyes before bringing out her own cup. "Don't you see what this means? What is it? Endless water?"

  "What's the big deal?" Nymh asked, tipping her own mug over to create a steady stream of water, which she used to clear off blood and ichor from her face.

  "I work for an NGO. We deal in ecological relief and water access planning for developing countries."

  Luke held up his cup, eyes widening. "Infinite clean water."

  "That's right," Luna said, nodding. "A thick stream like this must top five litres per minute. Enough to sustain a small village if managed. But that's not all."

  "No?" Nymh asked.

  Luna shook her head. "The method. Taking water from the atmosphere. It's genius, honestly. If it created water out of nothing or took it from some other world or dimension, it would add to Earth's water supply. Over the years and decades, it would be catastrophic."

  "With this little?" Penny asked. She'd cleaned herself off, too.

  "Five litres per minute equals around 7000 litres per day. Over just a single year, that's massive." She eyed the group. "And there are eight cups."

  "Cool," Hannah said.

  But Luna wasn't finished. "If it, say, pulled water from the sea instead, cleaning it, that would bring with it a host of issues, like what happens to the salt? The sea levels would go down, and water would be redistributed across Earth. Disaster. With this method, though, the ecological impact will be manageable. This could change the lives of so many people."

  Dungeon closing in 230 minutes.

  Luke walked up to her and held out his cup. "Here."

  "What?"

  He proffered it. "Sounds like you've got a good idea of how to use this. Take it."

  "You sure?" she asked, getting to her feet.

  "What am I supposed to use it for? There is running water everywhere."

  "Clean yourself," Milla suggested. "You always smell."

  He glared at his sister.

  She just grinned back at him. "Just saying."

  "Go ahead," Luke said.

  "Thank you," Luna said, accepting the mug.

  It didn't take long before the others offered theirs as well.

  Dungeon closing in 220 minutes.

  "Maybe we should start walking back," Luke said. "Don't want to get trapped in here."

  Penny flew back to the Queen's corpse as the others started up the sloping tunnel. When she returned, she looked irritated. "No loot."

  "At least your prediction about Mateo's premature death didn't come true," Milla said.

  Dropping to the ground next to Mateo to wrap her arm around his waist protectively, Penny glared at her. "We're not out yet! Don't jinx this beautiful man!"

  "Isn't it a little strange?" Luke asked.

  Hannah stifled a yawn. "What is?"

  "The reward."

  "These will help so many," Luna said, still experimenting with a cup.

  "Yeah," Luke said, unable to shake a strange feeling off. "But is it a coincidence that you're here, Luna? And we just happen to get a reward that's perfect for you?"

  "But we got the quest before she was even in the dungeon," Penny noted.

  He thought for a moment before continuing. "That's true..."

  "Also, all we saw was desert," Penny added. "Hearing that old man talk about some apocalypse, maybe that's all there is. Water would be a pretty nice thing to have here, then."

  "Now you're just all logical," Luke complained. "Fine, you win. Never mind."

  Still, the feeling in his gut remained. Something about this whole thing wasn't a coincidence. This said something about the system. He just knew it, but without more evidence or information, there wasn't much he could do about it, at least not for the moment. Perhaps it wasn't even important.

  "Messages outside are working again," Milla said as they walked.

  Penny nodded. "Since the Queen suicided all over us."

  "You've known this long and didn't inform us?" Nymh asked, shaking her head as she sped up for some reason. "I need to make a report."

  Luke and Penny exchanged a glance, and she shrugged. "Thought you knew."

  Luke: "Hey, Dot. I'm in a dungeon, and messaging didn't work until now. Just so you know, in case you tried contacting me."

  Dot: "Hiya! I didn't, but that's good to know! Just been so busy with work. Drained now, so going to catch some sleep before getting up and doing it all over again tomorrow."

  Luke: "Right, Milla said you were coming to visit her."

  Dot: "Uh."

  Luke: "The DIA."

  Dot: "Oh, yeah. Sure."

  Luke: "How are you liking the job? Healing for the guild?"

  Dot: "Yeah! All sorts of people come, and it feels rewarding to fix injuries. Getting experience from it is great. Kind of slow, though. Someone suggested going into dungeons with a lot of protection, but I don't know."

  Luke: "Who suggested that?"

  Dot: "My lieutenant. Charles. I can kind of tell that they're not satisfied with my level."

  Luke: "You shouldn't do it if you're uncomfortable."

  Dot: "No, I know. Thanks. Sleep now. See you tomorrow?"

  Luke: "You know where to find me!"

  "What the hell?" Penny groaned.

  The group came to a stop as they rounded a corner in the tunnel, not far from the entrance. There was no way forward because the damn ceiling had fallen in, blocking the entire tunnel.

  "Who did this?" Hannah asked.

  "Perhaps it fell when the Queen burrowed in to face us in lethal combat?" Mateo suggested. "Yes, that must be it."

  Weaver's Perception allowed Luke to pick up on someone approaching from a tunnel, then someone else, followed by more. A lot of people. Hundreds. Several small side-tunnels opened up at that spot, heading in different directions. From each of them, Integrated came pouring out in great numbers, wearing the dirt-covered rags identifying them as the willing subjects under ant rule.

  "There are a lot of them," Milla said, her eyes shifting nervously from tunnel to tunnel.

  Luke and the others formed a small ring, standing back to back in anticipation of what was to come.