Dungeon Crawler Carl, #7
This Inevitable Ruin
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 15
Overview
Carl’s recon team destroys a rolling formation of skunk mobs in the expanded map, successfully feeding Rend enough kills to reach level 8. The fight backfires when Donut knocks out the skunks’ controlling wizard, triggering a mass spray that leaves several allies debilitated and miserable.
The chapter shifts from comic battlefield chaos back toward strategic danger as the group moves toward Katia’s rehab saferoom. Elle’s final message reveals that the enemy’s interest in accelerated pet leveling has produced a new threat on the naga side.
Summary
With thirty-three hours left before the ceasefire ends, Carl leads a mixed recon team to the edge of the expanded map to eliminate a rolling mob incursion. The group includes Donut, Chris, Jamal, Bodi, Griffin, Morales, Mongo, and Rend. Carl notes that the new area is filled with strengthened, recycled monsters from earlier floors, and this target resembles the old Ball of Swine but is now called a Rolling Battle Formation Ball.
Before the attack, Jamal breaks another prototype walking harness by trying to hop, leaving the air-breathing hammerhead shark stuck flopping again. Donut is impatient because Katia’s rehab treatment is about to begin, and Carl intends to be present for it while also handling another task. Carl prepares to split the rolling formation apart so Rend can safely feed and gain levels.
Carl’s first explosive only wounds the rolling formation, sending it charging toward the group, but a second blast shatters it. Dozens of small skunk warriors rain through the forest, dazed but alive. Carl confirms they are not undead and starts feeding them to Rend, who rapidly grows, while Donut, Mongo, Bodi, Chris, Griffin, and Morales join the fight.
Donut spots a smaller wizard skunk called Fancy Boy, whose description suggests he controls the other skunks. Donut knocks Fancy Boy unconscious, but this removes the restraint on the rest of the skunks, causing them all to spray at once. Carl escapes by using Gloom Wraith Phase and Walk on Air, while Donut, Mongo, Griffin, Morales, and Jamal are caught in or near the cloud; Bodi disables the mobs so the allies can survive the aftermath.
After the fight, Rend has reached level 8 and is large enough to regenerate if killed, though Carl still wants him stronger. Donut, Mongo, Griffin, and Morales suffer the Skanked debuff, which makes them stink horribly for three hours and causes vomiting, while Jamal is mostly spared because he cannot smell. As the group heads toward the saferoom near Katia’s rehab site, Elle messages Carl that she has found a new naga-side threat connected to why the robot forces wanted pet leveling accelerated.
Who Appears
- CarlLeads the recon hunt, breaks the mob formation, protects Rend, and coordinates the return to Katia.
- DonutFights the skunks, knocks out Fancy Boy, gets Skanked, and worries about supporting Katia.
- RendFeeds on skunk mobs, grows rapidly, reaches level 8, and remains unaffected by the spray.
- JamalHammerhead ally repeatedly breaks his walking harness by hopping and later eats Fancy Boy.
- BodiTaciturn battalion commander and spear hunter who disables the mobs after the skunk spray.
- GriffinTalkative former crawler with unit tattoos; fights eagerly before being Skanked and sickened.
- MoralesFormer crawler healer and saber wielder; joins the fight and suffers the Skanked debuff.
- ChrisLava rock crawler who hides underground, drags skunks beneath the soil, and avoids the spray.
- MongoDonut’s dinosaur companion attacks the skunks but gets sprayed, vomits, and falls from a tree.
- ElleReports finding enemy artillery and a new naga-side threat tied to accelerated pet leveling.