The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet
Side Chapter Blazers 4: Let the Show Begin

Side Chapter Blazers 4: Let the Show Begin

“Hahahaha. To pull off a stunt like this!” Aluber laughed. He stared at the floating images of the fleet of ships that flew in. “They must really be desperate.”

Hidden away in the large main tower of the first segment where the auction was taking place, was a small group of individuals who orchestrated Nexus Marques auction; the remaining members of the Blazers band and an old goat who was convinced to help everything run smoothly.

Craftalot asked his granddaughter, “Is your friend okay?”

Susan lied, “Yes…” 

In many ways, the auction’s primary purpose was a success. Before even all the artefacts were revealed, Dominous Hood had made their move.

It was a shared expectation between the group that if any item was going to make Dominous Hood act early, it was going to be Divider. However, even to the Blazers' surprise, they started moving much earlier.

The first attempt happened during the auction of ‘My Meal Only Ends When I Say So’.

Some had replaced security on the day, while others had infiltrated months ago and signed up ages ago. That was a little annoying for Susan to learn that some had gotten past all the background checks, but Aluber didn’t care, he expected as much, and the main barrier of people between them and the rest of the staff wasn't compromised beforehand, so everything was fine in his eyes.

It was a secret where Craftalot’s items were stored, but they were believed to have been stored in different locations in the tower, each under heavy security. And in truth, there were items stored there, but they weren’t Craftalot’s, as they were still stored on his person.

Four of the fake locations were attacked, and two were successfully infiltrated, but nothing of importance was lost, and a few of the attackers were captured. However, they didn’t stay among the living long after the capture.

Jordan believed that even though they weren’t confident in the information about where the items were stored, and so they only sent people of less importance.

“Everything is working as intended.” Said Aluber as he watched one of the ships be slingshot into the second segment.

In the middle of the room was a large hollow hemisphere, within which three objects were floating. A large disc that had thousands of lines crossing it and microdots placed everywhere. Above it was a large purple crystal with a golden band around it, and finally below the disc was a large hulk of machinery with lights constantly flashing.

Jordan, who was sitting down on a sofa, asked, “Craftalot, are there any problems with the artefacts?” 

Craftalot chastised, “Of course completely not, if there were any fatal flaws you would notice before I even articulated an announcement.” 

Aluber turned away from the screens for a moment and said, “Speaking of artefacts, can I borrow a few more of those stasis cells?”

Craftalot replied, “You want more?”

“Yes, it would be good to ensure the right folks are captured.

The plan was to capture some more knowledgeable members, so Aluber wasn’t upset about the loss of the prisoners from the initial attack.

The trap Aluber prepared existed in multiple layers, and he knew the chance would come soon.

One layer of the trap was a large-scale powerful magic formation created via the use of two of Craftalot artefacts, one of which was supposed to be sold today, and a standard dungeon artefact that was perfect for the job–provided by Aluber’s family vault.

Within the hemisphere, the massive machine at the bottom was connected to and had hijacked the station’s barriers. Increasing their strength while also being able to adjust their properties at a moment's notice. The machine also connected the three artefacts and linked their effects together.

The first artefact was an enhancer that strengthened the range of both artefacts and the machine connected to them.

The second item was the sister artefact to ‘You Fucked With Me, I Fuck With You!’, the second iteration that was built around detecting hostility within a location. It could even detect a lack of hostility towards people. It did have its issues, which was why Craftalot even considered it worse than its sister, but with the machine at the bottom handling some of the calculation, those problems were mitigated.

The final item, the Delusionary Amethyst, had been a part of Aluber’s family for generations. An artefact that caused a lot of pain and confusion in an attempt to reclaim Earth over a millennia ago.

A dangerous item that confused, disoriented the mind and caused people to go astray within its extremely large radius. It made trying to explore the dungeon it was active in a nightmare. However, after acquiring it, it wasn’t a useful reward as the effect wasn’t controllable.

Records at the time were basically non-existent and Albaz Songfield, his ancestor, managed to keep the item and have it hidden in his future family’s vault, along with many other artefacts gained during the years of exploring. These were split by the myriad of descendants of the years, and luckily enough, Aluber’s possessed this item along with the note of its use.

Aluber brought this item to Craftalot specifically to see if he could utilise it in a more effective way, and miraculously, he was able to. Importantly, making the effect more purposeful. The machine that connected the items was also a masterpiece in its own right, that was able to link the three artefacts effects and with a powerful AI system, make decisions that would benefit its directive of eliminating intruders and protecting their location.

Aluber asked, “Jordan, are you ready?” 

“Yeah.” Jordan picked up his axe and swung it onto his shoulder. Just because they were in the tower didn’t mean they were safe.

While chaos was happening outside the segments, a noticeable quiet force had infiltrated the first segment and was raiding the tower as they spoke.

Aluber didn’t expect Jordan to fight directly; he wasn’t going to let another one of his friends die, but he did need someone he trusted in an important position.

Aluber turned back to the screens and laughed. “The actors, cast, and crew have all been gathered! Time for this puppet show to commence!”

Craftalot poked Susan’s shoulder. “I’m going to reply to my response in a different direction, are you sure your friend is okay?’

Susan, while being very unsure, replied, “Yes.”