The still in-pain prince winces as he looks at his companion, disheartened by the sight of Norlash's blood soaking his light armor. "We have no time for bargains, jester! If you are not going to fight us, then get out of the way so that we might tend to the man!"

The masked harlequin shakes their head while keeping their hands planted on Norlash's back and shoulder. "The performing arts are a very recent hobby of mine - my true talents are as a healer. And right now, I'm the one keeping your friend here alive. Your Body Mage may be talented but even he can't press a split lung back into one piece. If you wish for Norlash to survive, I recommend you listen closely to what I have to say."

Thaddeus frowns at the jester's changed tone of voice, suddenly very strict and professional when five minutes ago they had a mocking air to everything they said. Still, that's a mystery to be considered another time. "...Fine, say your piece then."

"We will end the fight here, declaring you the victor of the floor, and we'll take Norlash away for healing. He will not be allowed to rejoin you until the intrusion is done, but more importantly - this will involve forfeiting half of the tokens you would have earned from this fight." Their head tilts slightly, and they clarify. "Rounded up - you'll receive only four of the nine you would have gotten for the charms you currently wear."

Norlash groans, although he tries to keep his movements to a minimum. "I...I think they're right. Egck...this...this is worse than a potion can fix. I'm sorry to put you, agh, put you into this position, my lord..."

"You're only in this position because you were defending me! Just...give me a moment." Although the stress of the situation isn't ideal for doing mathematics, Thaddeus still does what he can to consider the numbers at play. When they started the floor they had seventy-five tokens out of the hundred they need. If they go up to seventy-nine, they need twenty-one more. If three dungeon guardians remain - the Floor Nine guardian, the rumored second Wandering Boss, and the Core Guardian, it's still doable...but if there's any more losses or if the Wandering Boss doesn't appear, more of the party will need to double up using their extra charms. Which, theoretically, increases the chances of them all meeting a fate like Norlash's.

On the other hand, is it worth losing another ally for a mere five tokens? An ally who literally just saved his own life? Thaddeus looks into the eyes of each of his remaining followers, and none of them say anything, each trusting him to make the call. Even after everything, all of the losses so far...they trust him. Seeing that look reflected half a dozen times, the prince knows he has to return that trust in turn.

"...Very well. But you best hold up your end of the bargain, dungeon creature. If I find out he died out of our sight..."

The harlequin shakes their head. "I may need a quick bodyswap to gain the magical strength required for the job, but my usual body's already been prepped. I guarantee you I can save this man's life."

"Then take him, and your tokens." Shifting around a little, Thaddeus looks into the warrior's wincing eyes. "You've done well, Norlash. We'll reunite when the raid is done - and with only one floor left, it shouldn't be too long."

"I look forward to celebrating with you, prince..." For a moment he looks as if he's about to say more, but instead his head begins to droop and his eyes draw closed, and Mixmux begins increasing their spell strength.

"He's losing consciousness. I'll see to him immediately. And...good luck, prince. This performance may have gone to hell, but I'd say you played your role well for at least the final act." As they say that the markings of a portal ring appear around the pair, and Mixmux revives Norlash to consciousness just long enough for him to activate it. The half-orc vanishes from sight followed by the jester a moment later, leaving a rather awkward-looking party behind.

'Prince Xenon Darkstar' clears his throat as he sheaths his blade. "Well...wasn't expecting both of us to still be alive at the end of that fight. But the master of the dungeon has spoken - you've earned credit for this floor. Or half, at least." He gestures towards one of the few parts of the throne room floor not covered in mimic gore, and as he does a chest suddenly appears there. "Your tokens and loot. For the record, I still hope you fail, and given the next floor I feel like that has pretty good odds of being how it plays out. But Del was right, you made the right call there."

"I'm glad to have earned some of the dungeon's approval, at least." Thaddeus sighs and shakes his head before issuing orders. "Reed, recover our prizes. Tizzy, Hylii...I seem to be in need of another arm."

The surviving monsters begin to make their exit from the room, and as three false princes stand around idly Tizzy rushes over towards the true nobleman. "I'm - sorry, Prince Thaddeus, that was - that had to have been an attack with some serious magical juice in it, there's no way it would've had that sort of reaction otherwise! Worst case, a normal sword attack should've just shattered part of the barrier!"

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"The reaction was...disarming, true, but the shield did save my life. Is it possible to re-craft the arm and shield again?"

Tizzy waves over Linda, and the two again have a quick, whispered discussion before Linda turns back to the prince. "We can, but we'll need to dismiss another of the decoys to fuel it. The reaction...well, the technicalities are complex, but a feedback effect stressed the amount of magic we can project at one time. It'll recover in time, but not time enough before we challenge the last floor."

"Do it, then." Thaddeus forces a smile to his face. "I suppose we can somehow make do with just three of me for a while."

"On it!" Tizzy begins to re-cast the barrier and illusion strapped to Thaddeus's arm, while Hylii focuses on soothing the re-injured wound, and begins muttering to herself as she works. "From the sounds of it, you'll probably be glad to have a shield on the next floor..."

The party takes a fairly long twenty minute break before leaving the floor, consuming potions, eating snacks and simply catching their breaths. With only a single floor left to go - and six of them left to explore it - it's not the time to be rushing into things. When everyone's ready to continue however it's all business, with Tizzy taking the lead through the portal ring they find behind the throne.

What they find waiting for them on the other side does seem to match the vague descriptions they'd heard of through rumors, but those rumors still failed to accurately portray the changed atmosphere in the dungeon's final floor. Plenty of floors have had dim lighting before but none have felt this oppressive, with architecture apparently designed to increase the number of shadows and dark corners around the entry chamber. The metal door leading to the next room is sealed shut, but even so Tizzy's face scrunches up as if she'd smelled something foul.

"Ugh. This is...this is a weird one."

Hylii takes a sniff himself, lightly enhancing his senses as he does so. "It does smell...well, unusual for a dungeon, certainly. A bit chemical, a bit organic? Is there something in particular that you recognize, Tizzy?"

The scout shakes her head. "Not exactly, it's just...the humidity is weird for a dungeon. Or a cave at least, not like I've been in any others. But it feels more like a swamp. But even then, never been to a swamp that smelled like this."

Thaddeus keeps his sword at the ready, although there's no sign of threats waiting for them in the entryway. "Hrmm, well keep alert, it could be that a good sense of smell could be useful in all this darkness. Nalain, Tizzy, you two are in the lead. Hylii, Reed, watch our backs, Linda, stay by me and...the other mes and keep your barrier spells at the ready."

The party follows along with the ordered formation, with the decoy Thaddeuses watching the flanks while Nalain opens the hatch out with a groan from both herself and the door. The next room has a flat metal floor but puddles of water dot it, along with larger pools trapped by organic-looking growths of a dark material. Surrounding those pools are large, egg-shaped fungal pods, which Tizzy points out quickly. "Apparently the dungeon might hide floor keys or stuff in those, but it also hides tiny monsters. Also there's larger ones that ambush from holes around the ceiling...like those four up there. Want me to just blast the mushroom thingies, prince?"

The man considers it but decides against. "A magical blast might damage something we need. Reed, you should be quick and precise enough to slay anything lurking within without damaging a prize, don't you think?"

The fencer steps forward to begin testing that theory, but Hylii raises a hand to stop him. "Just for the record - there's monsters hiding in those three there, that one, and the two over there." The dark elf quickly points out half a dozen pods around the room, and Tizzy follows up by marking them with magical lights, grinning as she does so.

"Ah, it's nice to have a cheat on our side for once. You got it, Reed?"

"Won't take a moment." With his targets clearly marked the man steps forward and thrusts his blade into the nearest pod, and is rewarded with a squealing cry from inside as it penetrates all the way through. Two of the nearby pods begin to open, the four flaps holding them closed at the top starting to spread wide, but in a flash Reed's blade slays whatever lurked within those as well. It doesn't take much longer for him to finish off the last three, and the adventurer has a satisfied look as he cleans the blood off his blade.

"Clearly reliant on surprise, or perhaps swarm tactics. Shall we search the rest for tokens or whatever?"

Thaddeus nods, and the party gets to the task of peeling apart the remaining pods. Nothing seems to be waiting for them in this room however, and for the most part they only find themselves slightly disturbed by the oddly...meaty appearance of the fungal flaps as they get pulled apart. With nothing else to do they're faced with the last challenge of the chamber - the exit portal out. Thinking, the prince asks Tizzy a question.

"Could we send one of the illusions ahead? That would be useful in triggering any ambushes early, I imagine."

Tizzy frowns, unfortunately. "Actually, illusions can't trigger the portal rings at all. You need conscious thought to do it, which is why that juggler or whatever needed Norlash awake for him to portal out earlier. You can carry that arm with you, but the full-body ones we actually had to disperse and then re-create on the other side. I could go through invisible, though."

"Perhaps do that, but not in the lead. Nalain, would you do the honors? We'll be right behind you."

"As you order, my lord." The heavily-armored orc goes through the portal, and it's triggered a second time by what seems to be nothing at all a moment later. Soon after Tizzy and the extra princes fade out, and Thaddeus chuckles.

"Well, either she's recreated the illusions on the other side, or she ran into trouble quite quickly. Let's not keep her waiting!" The rest of the party follows through soon after, and Thaddeus attempts to hide his relief when he sees that Nalain, Tizzy, and the false princes are fine and not under attack.

...A state which may not be true for much longer. As Hylii comes through the portal last, a loud, echoing screech begins to echo through hidden tunnels or passages. Peering at the sinister-looking walls and ceiling for signs of ambush points, Tizzy sighs.

"Well, looks like this floor's about to get serious..."

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