Rupegia

Chapter 177: A New Dimension – Part 2

Urmeie comes back, but our collective sadism makes Ciel hesitate for just a couple seconds, which is just enough time for Urmeie to open her large, fanged mouth and unleash her breakfast upon the deck of the ship. Then Ciel casts [Purify Body].

But the Princess' bodyguards don't even react, for some reason. It's like they're tired parents who knew that their child was about to have a bad time but didn't have the energy to stop the kid, so they just let it happen to teach her a lesson. I don't remember if I've heard them speak even once, but right now, I feel deep sympathy for them.

Anyway, I honestly really, really hate that people are dirtying my baby's/lover's deck, but Urmeie deserved it, but I just summon a light-Ciel to thoroughly clean the boards.

"That was a riveting experience," the beary woman solemnly states as she stands up and then casts [Clean] on her mouth.

We… don't know how to respond to that, so we just blink blankly at her. But then an angry, roasted cinnamon loli gets impatient and loudly demands, "Okay, explain!"

You know what? I'm tired of being the bridge between Earthling and Rupegian, so I just let Ciel do it, and she's quite happy to calmly explain, "It was like every single one of our senses were confusing and contradictory, which is extremely disorienting."

"Couldn't have said it better," Urmeie grunts and snorts. Then she walks up to the railing and leans on it as she observes us, clearly not feeling like joining our discussion.

Which begins with a very wise question from Kellogs, "Well… now what?"

"Please tell me we're at least on the right path," Chesa tiredly begs as she glances back, and then she returns to stopping the tornado from crushing us.

And for her, I decide to answer myself to grace her with the sound of my soothing voice, "Yes, we are. We found the portal to the next level and also discovered that there is someone actively trying to stop us from reaching it."

"Why can't they just disable the portal?" Thant asks a smart question.

"There is always a path to the core," Yunia answers matter-of-factly, and the wives hum in agreement as if this is just basic common knowledge.

The Earthlings turn to me, but I just shrug. "Seems like a limitation of dungeons."

But then Oritiki interjects with a reasonable worry, "Is there anyone on the other side of the portal? We need to set up a base over there before they remove our [Gate] coordinate."

And I immediately agree, "Yeah, that's wise. I guess I can just send some elemental-wives and monsters over there and hope for the best."

"I'm surprised you didn't waifu a monster yet," Lily quietly remarks with a raised eyebrow.

"Only because monsters are almost always fugly," I casually hum as I unsummon the wind-Alissas and replace them with an assortment of summons. Then I remember something very important, "Oh, wait, Aoi is a monster."

And the crass loli glances at my little blue wife, who is currently cradling the two sister-wives with upset stomachs. "Oh, right, I forgot that you fu-… that you're married to a dragon."

So I have to make sure to lewdly rub it in, "I'm also a dragon myself, so remember that when you try to imagine the physics of how we make it work."

"I'd rather not," she dryly replies.

Anyway, the results of the experiment are exactly the same as before; both elemental-wives and monsters all start flailing in confusion, though at least now we can carefully analyze what they're sensing without puking ourselves. And we quickly realize that there is a pattern to things; it's just… mindfucky.

I unsummon everything and send a new wave, which fares a bit better than the last one. Instead of flailing about in confusion, these new summons stay as still as possible and carefully observe things, then attempt to test moving their limbs very slowly.

It's still disorienting, but it goes from extreme to aggravating, which is below the "I'm going to puke" line for us. But the really important thing is that it allows us to finally come to a consensus: there are two "realities" overlapping each other in the same place.

The summons are all seeing double, but what they actually see is the same for every one of them, though it's still a confusingly laid-out room of dark stone with pillars, holes, and protrusions everywhere. Well, two confusingly laid-out rooms. Perhaps deliberately confusingly laid out rooms, designed to trap newcomers for as long as possible.

Now, the second thing that's puzzling is that "moving" in these rooms also doesn't make sense. Instead of it just being a superposition of solids, as in, you can only move through open spaces in both rooms, moving your limb "forward" doesn't actually move it "forward" in either of the rooms. Sometimes, repeated movements don't even have the same results, which is insane.

It's like the summons are missing something… it's as if they aren't able to see it because it's too mindfucky. Like the inside of a soul. Almost like… there's an extra variable that controls movement that they only access by accident.

Like… a fourth dimension?!

I suddenly jerk my head towards the Earthlings, who twitch back in surprise. Then I shout, almost hysterical, "It's a 4D space! And we know that the dungeon has a thing for [Space Magic] with the teleportations, voids, and the [Warp Space]!"

"Wolfy, please explain," Yunia "kindly" requests while Alissa pulls the reins on the nerd inside me.

My claws clack against each other in excitement as I promptly begin a nerdy explanation, "Depth, height, and width are the three dimensions of physical matter, but what if there was a fourth? You can move left-right, forward-back, and up-and-down, but what if you could also move in a fourth way? For example, if you move along this fourth dimension but can only see in 3D, you'd see the world slowly change into something else, but the summons are seeing in four-dee; it's just that they aren't used to it, so they see two things at the same time."

Then I realize that my tail is smacking against the deck, so I stop it before it can leave marks on the wood.

"Because their eyes are apart, they see one room in one eye and a slightly different room in another eye?" Roxanne tentatively suggests, which is surprisingly smart.

I grab my chin and tap my cheek with a claw as I attempt to clarify further, "Well, that is happening, but they're also being fed the fourth dimension directly into their eyes along with their normal sight, so they might actually be seeing four different rooms. There's one slightly different room for each eye, but there's also the extra dimension, which is also slightly different for each eye, resulting in seeing quadruple."

"Wait, I only see three things," Hana confusedly interjects.

And Lina calmly advises her, "Concentrate harder. I believe the 'fourth dimension' is the one that's harder to see, so it's even more difficult to spot the differences between them."

"Hm…" Hana hums thoughtfully and squints, even though she's focusing on the summons' sight instead of her real eyes. "Hmm…" she hums harder and decides to close her eyes to not let her real sight get in the way. "HHMMM~…!" she hums even harder, sounding angry that she can't see it… but then she suddenly spots it. "HMM!"

It's harder to see things like this than if you were just being fed double. Our minds aren't ready for this type of information, so even our memories about what we just saw become blurry, like when we saw the alien that came through [Otherworldly Summoning].

"Can you send me there for a moment?" Thant tentatively requests, sounding a bit curious.

"Sure, step on the black circle," I hum. Then I wave and smirk as he comes forward. "Have fun!"

And he disappears.

"Man, this fucking thing fucks with my brain," Hana grumbles frustratedly and sits down. She isn't alone in this sentiment, though.

Then Alissa notices the Earthling staring, and a foxy idea occurs to her. "Are you not curious, Miss Lily?" she foxily asks.

"[Nope]," the loli immediately hums in English.

"Send me back…" the summons hear Thant beg, so I open the [Gate] again.

Ciel promptly casts [Purify Body] on him before he can puke, but he still remains on the floor for a moment as he takes deep breaths.

"Yeah, that's nuts," he mumbles weakly, but his furry tail is swaying, indicating that he might actually be quite content.

"But was it riveting?" Urmeie asks as she continues to lean on the railing.

"I don't know what that word means…" the teen replies with a snort.

The Princess sighs softly and rephrases, "Was it interesting?"

"You could say that…" he softly agrees and slowly begins to stand up.

"Do we need to keep the airship here?" Chesa suddenly questions in annoyance.

"Right…" I blurt out in realization.

We return to the fortress portal room because the tornado portal island is too noisy to talk there, whereas the fortress is now fully under Sky Lander control, and it's been cleaned of the bodies and blood, so it's a nice place to rest. I also summon Jarn back since it doesn't seem like it'll be useful to leave her floating in that void.

The summons in the 4D room have suffered enough, so I replace them with fresh ones, which are even better at resisting the disorientation and testing how to move in the fourth dimension. They've learned how to remain standing, though they can't make any sudden moves, or else they'll immediately fall over.

"Sir Samkelo, wouldn't your Gift be useful in this situation?" Yunia stabs the gnome with her words once again.

"Noo… I don't wanna go there," he whines like a child, which perfectly fits his cherubic face.

"Come on, a quick adventure, in and out," I mumble playfully in an attempt to encourage him.

But he skeptically frowns at me. "You're gonna fuck with me, aren't ya?"

And Lily sighs loudly, then glares at manchild as she begrudgingly reassures him, "I'll make sure they don't do anything bad to you."

He can't argue against her, so he lets out a childish grumble and agrees, "Fine…"

And then I send him there.

"I can't see shit! I don't understand shit! Fuck!" he angrily swears and groans as the nausea quickly intensifies.

So I pop into the 4D room real quick to give him some stern advice, "Stay still and focus! Don't move, or else you'll just get dizzy!"

"Okay, I get it!" he grumbles back and obeys.

And we let him soak there for a minute.

"I still have no idea what the fuck I saw," he dismissively replies, then pulls out a cushion with a *poof* and promptly drops onto it.

"Really? Not a single guess?" Yunia whips his baby ass again with her sharp tongue.

But now he's getting legitimately angry. "How many times do I have to repeat that I have no idea what I see with my Gift?"

"At one point, you should be able to start making assumptions," I state with a conciliatory tone.

And he pouts childishly as he grumbles, "That's easy to say."

Well, he's infuriatingly useless.

Alcander waits the perfect amount of time to make sure that our bickering is over before he politely requests, "May I go to the next level to see if I can get any insights?"

"Sure, but we didn't detect any mana or spells being cast, so don't expect much," I temper his expectations.

But he's a lectured mage, and he categorically explains, "Such complex alterations of reality can't be done without magic. Dungeon magic or not, we should be able to detect that something magical has been done, which might open the door for further insights with time."

And I hum in approval, mildly pleased with his mindset. "Very well, I'll send you there for a minute. I only wish that some people had a positive and proactive mindset like yours." Then I glance at manchild, who's not even paying attention as he stares at the ceiling, still looking a bit nauseous.

The imperial nobleman proudly lowers his head in appreciation of my compliment, then steps into the black circle and disappears. He's clearly paid attention to our explanation as he doesn't move a single muscle and manages to remain standing, and it's only after a couple of seconds that he very gently starts moving his hand.

"Why don't you two also go there?" Lina sneakily asks the two girls of The Four.

Lily snorts and promptly begins to banter, "Obviously because-…" But my gloomy loli's intense and very dark stare makes her stop. She wouldn't dare remind a Queen and fellow woman of such an embarrassing moment, and also, she can't not be a dutiful person, so she definitely feels an obligation to go there, at least for a short while. And she folds immediately, "Alright, we're going there after your man comes back."

"We are?" Chesa asks her motheru with a frown.

And Lily acts like a strict parent. "We're the only ones who haven't, so we need to."

"Then we may as well also go after you, Miss Lily," Oritiki chimes in, sounding mildly eager, and Paraaone nods along. I'll never not love how helpful the Horns are.

Then I turn to the six Companions and Hukarere, specifically. I can see mixed reactions from under their helmets, so I gently offer without pressuring them, "We're going to stay here for a while, so, if you want to experience something completely new, now's the time to volunteer."

"If a [Purify Body] is also part of the offer, I'll skydive into it," Hukarere amicably requests, and I expected nothing else from my cheerful white wolf.

There's no Cock involved in this, so it's understandable that these thirsty women would hesitate, but Hukarere's enthusiasm pushes them to give it a try.

Alcander doesn't immediately glean any insights, but he does become quiet and pensive when he gets back, so the jury is still out on that one. Chesa becomes cutely tense when it's her turn, but mommy Lily reassures her daughteru, and the two get through it without a problem. Oritiki and the Horns have some fun, for some reason, but they're more soldier than mage, so they don't learn anything new. The Companions fare better than The Four and even find it interesting, but I guess they just have a more adventurous nature than the Earthlings, similar to the Horns.

The summons improve their understanding of the 4D room little by little, but it's quite tiring to summon and resummon so many and so often, so I decide to reduce their numbers to just an earth-Lina and a light-Ciel. One physical-focused and one magical-focused summon should be enough to keep our bases covered while the light-Ciel also provides illumination.

I'd rather do this back in our mansion, but it's a bit far from the dungeon, and I don't have [Space Magic] high enough to do this efficiently from there. I could mess with my points and put some in the mana skills, but I'd rather not while we're in hostile territory.

And, about an hour later, we get a surprise visit from Prince Hekeman and my lovely Kaatohe.

Since I'm focusing on the summons, we let Yunia greet him, though first, she makes sure to give our naked cat a kiss from everyone and a quick fondling of her nice ass from me.

"Royal Ryders, how are you faring? Are you currently busy?" the rhino-headed Prince greets, and the cannon in his semi-transparent pants starts to arm up at the sight of such beautiful lesbianism, though he gets it under control a second later.

"Prince Hekeman-u. We're using summons to explore the new level, but I can spare the time," our elven Queen informs him, and I have her sink a long finger into Kaatohe's warm pussy to tell my naked cat that I'm here.

The Prince flashes a smile, pleased with the news of progress, and promptly offers his aid, "I won't bother you with talks of trade deals, then. Do you have any need of our assistance? It's in our best interest to give you our full support to deal with this dungeon as fast as possible."

I want flirty maids that give me blowjobs while they wash me, but you can't have everything.

So Yunia cordially answers, "We're dealing with a very puzzling and extraordinary situation in this new level. Perhaps Alteration mages or even anyone who has deep insights into [Space Magic] would be useful."

His leathery little ears cutely flick in surprise in response. "I believe our Space mages are nothing compared to yours, but we have plenty of choices for Alteration mages. You've also got me curious about what kind of problem you're facing."

And Yunia hums as she absentmindedly searches for Kaatohe's G-spot, "It's actually hard to explain…"

But she does so anyway (both things), and then we let him experience it firsthand.

"Was it a riveting experience?" Urmeie asks solemnly as she approaches the Prince.

"Yes, it was," the rhino-headed man answers with a tone full of wonder. "My mind was instantly overwhelmed by my senses, but I could definitely feel a 'connection' as the pieces attempted to merge together."

"Oh? You seem to have gained an insight into the four-dimensional room," Yunia casually hums as she intensifies her fingering, making Kaatohe leak lewd fluids onto the floor.

And Alcander perks up his ears at that. I mean, at the comment, not the fingering. Also, it's only figuratively, as his ears don't actually move.

The Prince proudly adjusts his little vest over his muscular body as he gracefully brags, "I do have some levels in Alteration along with a breadth of experience in all kinds of magic."

"Your Highness, send me again, please," Alcander quietly requests.

I hold back a smirk and simply open a [Gate] under him. A little bit of competition doesn't hurt as it's a good source of motivation.

"Do you have any advice for us, then?" Yunia calmly inquires.

He glances at the panting bronze cat, his cannon twitching at the lewd sight, but he maintains his composure as he politely declines, "Not really. I'd need to spend more time there to organize my thoughts, but I'd rather gather the Alteration mages for you instead, if you don't mind."

And she gently nods. "We don't."

So he nods back. "I'll return later, Queen Yulania."

She flashes a smile and rubs Kaatohe's G-spot, making her moan loudly. "Until then, Prince Hekeman-u."

This grabs Kellog's attention while Thant tries to discreetly stare and the two Earthling girls attempt to ignore things. Chesa seems to be curious about the lesbianism, though, so there's hope for her.

Then Alcander closes his eyes and seemingly starts to meditate. An interesting choice; perhaps he's trying to cut his senses so that he can focus on finding the magic of the room, which would be Kellog's job if he wasn't so uncooperative.

And Yunia finally makes Kaatohe collapse on a puddle of her own juices, so it's time to let our cat rest.

"Alright, send me again…" the manchild suddenly requests, though it's quite obvious why. I just hope he isn't planning to masturbate in the 4D room because we'll all be able to see it.

"While riveting, progress seems to have stalled, so I'll also be taking my leave," Urmeie also requests after I've sent him and when it's obvious that there'll be no more lewdness for now.

"This is an adventure, too, Princess Urmeie," Ciel remarks, trying to encourage her.

But the bear knows what it wants. "Not of the exciting kind. If I wanted mysteries, I'd explore the Great Labyrinth, which I already did."

It's never easy to please this Princess, except when it relates to my Cock.

We briefly stop our exploration for lunch, and we request a light, salad-heavy meal because of how much nausea the 4D room causes us to feel. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened on our first delve, so we all take the choice of our food very seriously.

Things then slow down as we continue our… adaptation? Anyway, there's a scheduled after-action review about the battle for the fortress that we need to participate in. Sandoro, the Commander of our Lordsguard, has read and reviewed each report, and now we'll talk about his recommendations on how to improve our army further.

It sounds awfully close to the endless cycle of meetings from Earthling corporate culture, but here it's actually necessary since people will die if we don't push our men to be their absolute best, and those "people" could be us. It's just one of the many requirements for a fully functioning Lordship, but boy, am I glad that I have so many wives to help with this.

The one who seems to have the least affinity with the 4D realm is Lina, so we send her to the meeting. Hihiriwa, Kaiia (his XO), Oritiki, Paraaone (her XO), Alcander, the senior Companion officer, and the senior Lordsguard officer are all participating here.

"Queen Lina, thank you for joining us," Hihiriwa greets as she enters the room. As the royal, she's the last one to arrive, which means all eyes fall on her, and we help her walk so that she doesn't look like a robot.

"The rest of my family watches over me, so my words are also theirs," she replies with a rather tense tone, preemptively reminding them in case they might question why a girl of her age was chosen to represent us for this meeting.

The others would never dare question her to her face, but it doesn't hurt to occasionally remind them.

"I'll read Commander Sandoro's letter for us," Oritiki volunteers once Lina has made herself comfortable in her seat.

And there's basically just one area that he really wants us to focus on: more Field Guns. They were the star of the massacre, and he knows that they're over-engineered super weapons, but they don't need to be. We also told him that the actual physics behind the Field Guns could be achieved without a single particle of mana being used, and his letter emphasizes how important it is for us to achieve that.

Considering that we're still far from defeating the pseudo-orcs, and there's likely a whole civilization of them hiding deeper in the dungeon, we really do need more… a lot more. We'd also benefit from making them portable enough that a single soldier could use one, and maybe we could even come up with an automatic firing system…

What a happy coincidence that Lina was the one chosen for this meeting because she has a lot to say about this specific topic.