THE INEVITABLE RUIN by Matt Dinniman Novel HC

Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal . . . It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

The ninth floor. Faction Wars.
Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy.
The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very centre of the battlefield.

But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different.

For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own.

And it’s not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars. Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.
If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help.

This is it.

This is what they’ve been fighting toward. This is war.

The crawlers are given a new task: Find and capture six monsters, each of which will be turned into a card. The stronger, the deadlier, the better. At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, made of some of the most powerful cards available. So it’s crucial for crawlers to assemble the toughest squad possible. But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch.

If Carl and Donut want a winning hand, they’ll have to capture the most lethal and terrifying monster of them all: Shi Maria. She was once married to a now-missing god. Her special attack is known to drive one insane. They call her the Bedlam Bride.

But even if Carl and Donut can capture her, they know all too well that just because someone has been captured, it doesn’t mean they have been tamed.

Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the eighth floor of the dungeon.