Unless she could find a way to even the playing field, they were doomed to defeat, even when every creature and Raider in the arena was there to fight against the invaders. They had to try, though, didn’t they?
* * *
Sterge was enjoying the show today, just like he had enjoyed the last week of entertainment the arena had provided. He never thought he would be one to actually enjoy watching Raiders fight against the monsters inside of a dungeon, but there was just something about witnessing a well-organized defense against odds that seemed doomed to failure. As each group participated in their fights, ramping up the difficulty by having two separate groups work together to defeat overwhelming numbers of dangerous targets, it was exciting to see how they performed and succeeded. In addition, while Sterge and his group didn’t participate themselves, they were learning a lot from those they watched, even if it was seeing how Melee classes blocked attacks with their shield, to how they saved their strength for the larger threats, to applications of abilities or strategies that they had never thought of before.
Take these three groups working together at the moment: while they were fighting more than twice their number of beasts, they were taking advantage of their 4 fully armored Melee classes to control where the wolves and other canine-like monsters went. Arranged in a circle facing outwards to provide coverage, the Scouts filled in the gaps between the Melee, while the Casters and Healers were in the center, healing where they were needed or sending out various spells to hit their attackers where they could do the most damage. They must have practiced this, because they look more like a 15-person group than 3 5-person groups. It was that teamwork that was so impressive.
Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention just as a small figure appeared in front of his face. Sterge fumbled to pull out his mace attached to his side, because he recognized it immediately: it was one of those Fairies he’d seen help those monstrous creations that looked just like people that the dungeon had produced somehow. Now that had been a crazy fight.
Suddenly, a tiny voice came from the Fairy. “There’s no time to waste; those invaders that Tacca told you about when you first came back have found us! They’re on their way here now!”
Who? Tacca? Wait…invaders?
Oh, no.
“Those six-armed monsters we warned everyone about?” Gwenda immediately asked, and Sterge turned to the side to see that it wasn’t just Gwenda that had seen the Fairy. There were open stares as dozens of Raiders around them saw the fluttering figure, even if they couldn’t hear it over the noise of the arena.
“Yes, exactly! You don’t have long before they arrive…” the little guy said, his tight-fitting clothes all sorts of shades of yellow, with some black streaks thrown in here and there.
Gwenda was on it before Sterge had even caught on to what was happening. “What do you need us to do?”
“I don’t know, but you need to be prepared. There’s…a lot of them. I can only assume that Tacca is going to release the rest of her creatures from the rooms around here, so be aware that they will be coming. Try not to attack them first; she can give them an order to attack these invaders, but if you interrupt that, they’ll turn on you.”
That’s just wonderful.
With the message delivered, the Fairy flew straight up toward the ceiling; Sterge looked to see where he went, only to see what appeared to be another handful of them waiting for him. Even from so far away, he could see the fear practically radiating from their bodies in the way that they shook while trying to maintain a stable altitude.
“To arms! Ready for battle! The invaders to the north have found us!” Sterge immediately shouted, which was luckily taken up without any hesitation by those around him. Sometimes it pays to have a bit of status, though normally I would rather it didn’t exist.
In less than 30 seconds, the word was out – just as the fight in the arena ended. The confused look on their faces as hundreds of Raiders streamed out to the arena was soon erased as they understood what was going on, and they joined the waiting crowd of people getting into position. Sterge, Gwenda, and the rest of their group joined the streaming masses, and within a few minutes half of the Raiders were on the floor while the others were spread out along the stands.
The two Hill Dwarves made sure to spread the word not to attack any of the dungeon monsters that came out to help, which everyone understood immediately; if the dungeon had built a place for them to stay, fed them, and gave them entertainment, then it surely would do whatever it could to save them. At least, it sounded reasonable.
The next few minutes were tense, as everyone stood in separate groups, all awaiting the arrival of the invaders. From behind him, he heard a whispered, “Are you sure there is something—” but whoever it was cut off as the sound of multiple pounding feet could be heard in the otherwise silent arena, coming from the tunnel where they traveled from the Hall. The sounds got louder and louder, until the echoes seemed to wash over the assembled Raiders groups, sending more than a few of them into shivers.
The first one they saw didn’t even bother to use the stairs on the side of the stands, as it jumped up the 50+ feet to the top. Admittedly, Sterge wet himself just the tiniest bit at the first sight of the invader – and it was so much worse than he imagined. Standing at least 8 feet tall, it had six arms like he had been told, and the horrendously disturbing eyes in their sunken eye sockets – enhanced by their shiny, blue-skinned bald heads – were enough to give him nightmares. Though, it was what it did next that would likely prevent him from sleeping at all…if he lived long enough to sleep again, of course.
One of the Raider groups in their lower teens Level-wise engaged the first invader, and the Melee fighters immediately had his head taken off by a swift slice of a sharp-looking sword. Multiple spells crossed the distance from the Caster of the group, who appeared to be an Elemental Mage, striking the monster perfectly in the chest – only for the spells to be absorbed by a strange bright glow that surrounded the figure. An arrow from the Ranger in the group met the same fate, though Sterge could tell that the glow was just the tiniest fraction dimmer. So, only about 50,000 more arrows and that should do it.
In the next few seconds, the blue-skinned monster rushed forward, its teeth-filled mouth wide open in what Sterge could only describe as glee as it proceeded to slaughter the rest of the group, taking another few hits in the process, which did absolutely nothing other than slightly dim the glowing shield around the invader.
As another one, and then another jumped up onto the stands, Sterge heard familiar *thumps* as the areas holding the dungeon monsters were unlocked, and beasts of every kind they had been watching battle the Raiders slid down their tunnels, along with some that they had only seen a few times. Minotaurs, some walking bears, and a powerful Gnoll mage among others ran out, making a beeline for the incoming forces, going so far as to weave around the various groups of Raiders waiting on the arena floor. At one point, an entire group of these large Rat-like things passed within inches of Sterge and his own group, and it was all he could do to stand his ground and not instinctively attack.
With things as bad as they were, he didn’t think they could get any worse – until he saw the head of something deep red cresting the side of one of the stands. The next moment, he heard another *thump* that he thought came from the one tunnel slide they hadn’t seen anything emerge from up to that point.
When he looked to see what it was, his body abruptly decided at that time that it was better to fight with an empty bladder.
Chapter 30
Tacca was understandably nervous, but she was glad that the Raiders had assembled in time; in fact, they were so prepared that some of them appeared to be annoyed that they had to wait so long. So, she was glad, but she was also envious that they were nominally ready for the arrival of the invaders – because Tacca certainly was not.
Considering her options, she realized that there wasn’t much she could do at that point. Traps were basicall
y out of the question, because they took entirely too long to appear, unless they were extremely weak – and weak ones would be a waste of time and Dungeon Force. Not to mention that she couldn’t create any traps in the arena while any Raiders were inside, and that threw the potential for them right out the window.
Creatures were basically out as well, even if she had approximately 50 of her Control Limit left after the creatures that had just been fighting the Raiders had been killed; creating another relatively powerful creature would take too long – hours perhaps – so she left the Foxes, Coyotes, Jackals, and Wolves that were killed to recreate themselves automatically, as they would be inexpensive and fast-forming.
Looking at her options as a Dungeon Core, there really wasn’t much there to combat these invaders. Aside from placing traps, creatures, and environmental objects, the only things she could do was Carve Earth, Dissolve Assistant Bond, and Teleport. The first two wouldn’t do her much good, and as there wasn’t any safer place than her Core Room at the moment, Teleport was next to useless as well – though it could bring her to the arena if she dared to. There was only reason that she might be tempted to Teleport to the arena, however: her Fairy abilities.
Almost all of her options as a Dungeon Assistant were location specific, such as the Healing Aura, Electrified Pacification, and Flame Wall. She needed to be in the same room at least, if not closer, for them to work. The one exception to this was the Mass Confusion ability for 700 Fairy Mana per minute, but she was hesitant to use that even though it affected her entire dungeon. For one, she wasn’t sure if it would even affect the invaders through their Personal Force Fields; second, it would affect everything inside of the dungeon, including all of the Raiders and her creatures, which could end up with Raiders attacking Raiders, creatures attacking creatures, and creatures attacking Raiders. Not a great idea overall, unless she had nothing else to lose, of course.
There were other abilities that didn’t require her to be in the same room, of course, like Repellant Shield, Invisibility, Assistant Information Meld, and Hibernate, but she didn’t think they would be of much use at the moment, since it seemed as though the invaders had been able to find her no matter what. There was always Translocation, which cost 1,000 of her FM, but that was something that she would only attempt as a last resort. While it might save her by moving her somewhere else, somewhere safe, she would abandon everyone inside of her dungeon – including the other Cores. Not to mention that she wasn’t sure if it would even work, based on the fact that she was connected to those same Cores, and whether it would destroy her in the process if she tried to leave.
So, she was at a loss of what to do. She would be able to contribute to the defense if she was inside of the arena, as long as she stayed safely far above everyone else and hoped that the invaders weren’t accurate enough to hit her up there – which she thought was possible, but it would be dangerous. The problem was that if she Teleported inside the room, that was it; she wouldn’t be able to Teleport out as long as there was any type of Raider in close proximity, meaning inside of the room, itself.
“Wait, what was that other ability you gained? What about that?” Shale asked, listening in to her internal conversation. Since he was specifically Bonded to her Core, he had access to those kinds of things if she didn’t actively work to block them; right now, that wasn’t really a priority.
You mean Omen Charge? I still have no idea what it does.
“Well, why don’t you find out? You said that you’re still regenerating your Mana, so it shouldn’t be that much of a waste.”
Might as well, I guess. The invaders were still a minute or two out from arriving at the arena, so she had a bare moment to experiment.
Thinking about activating Omen Charge, she imagined pumping 10 Fairy Mana into it. Instantly, the outside of her Core seemed to be surrounded by some kind of lightning, crackling and undulating in strange patterns; luckily, it didn’t seem to harm her in the slightest. If anything, it felt warming and like it was a part of her that she hadn’t realized existed before.
For 5 seconds, the lightning continued to surround her Core, before it condensed momentarily and exploded outwards in a spherical wave, dissipating approximately halfway to the walls of her Core Room, which meant that it traveled approximately 10 feet. Not bad for 10 Fairy Mana, even if she had no idea what exactly it did. Even pumping all 1,550 FM into it, though, she doubted that it would even reach the arena, as it was approximately a half-mile from her Core Room. She had originally started creating it that far away so that she would have plenty of room to expand her new section, but now she regretted starting it so far away.
Tacca still hadn’t really made up her mind by the time the invaders arrived at the arena. As she had feared, it was immediately apparent that it was going to be a slaughter. Dozens of Raiders died within the first minute, with more dying as additional invaders managed to jump on top of the stands or make their way down to the arena floor. Releasing her creatures to attack the monstrous six-armed people helped to stem the tide a little, giving them some breathing room, but nothing seemed to make much difference.
Not long after the battle started, creatures from the other dungeons started to appear, starting with the Giant Spiders that Brandon liked so much, which were remarkably fast. They landed lightly on the stands, before starting to build a large web that was connected to the nearby pillar and the wall.
What are they doing?
“Well, do you want the other creatures coming to go splat?”
Good thinking.
A few seconds after the webbing was done, the Giant Spiders left to go join in the battle, as the first of the other Cores’ creatures arrived – an Ape – which fell into the web, bouncing off of it like some sort of blanket. Tacca could tell that it was a little sticky, but not enough to stop it from rolling off and proceed to jump into the fight as well.
Unfortunately, by that time, the red-skinned invader had arrived, after lagging behind the others because it had needed to nearly crawl through the tunnel. After it stood up to its full height inside, it immediately jumped forward, squeezing between the quartz-covered pillar and the southern stands, landing on the arena floor with what she could only guess was a smile on its face. As soon as she saw it appear, however, she had released the last creature in her arsenal: the Level 75 Mastiff.
Those still waiting on the arena floor saw it emerge from the tunnel and ran out of its way, instinctively understanding that if they didn’t move, they would get run over. Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened, as a Raider Healer didn’t move fast enough as the enormous dog clipped her with its paw accidentally, sending her flying. She survived both the impact with the paw and with the ground, though whether that was a blessing or a curse was yet to be seen.
The giant dog was more than twice the height of the large invader, who seemed to wait for the beast to arrive. As the Mastiff built up speed over a few steps, it seemed to dash forward faster than it should’ve been able, colliding with the comparatively miniscule invader, sending it flying backwards into the eastern stands, the glowing shield around it flaring brightly at first yet dimming to what Tacca estimated from previous experiences to about half of normal.
That was it? A full-on attack and its Personal Force Field is only halfway down? It was disappointing, but it unfortunately made sense based on what creature had done the attacking. Her Mastiff was a bit of a “discount” boss and wasn’t meant to be the most powerful of creatures – just large. That’s why she had made it for the current inhabitants, because they were low-Level for the most part; it would’ve been a massive challenge, but not an impossible one.
As the red-skinned invader picked itself back up and then jumped back into the arena, Tacca saw that her humongous creature hadn’t come through its own attack unscathed. Blood dripped to the dirt-covered floor, and her dog limped a bit as it backed up, readying another attack. It was favoring its left front leg, which seemed to have gotten a decent-sized slice in it f
rom one – or more than one – of the invader’s weapons.
This isn’t good. My best defense is wounded, and the Raiders are continuing to die without making much progress. I have to do something.
“What do you think you can do—?” Shale began.
Tacca ignored him as she activated her Teleport Core option, moving her Core into the arena behind a pillar holding up the ceiling. It wasn’t that great as far as hiding places went, but at least it wasn’t fully exposed.
The change in the room was immediate, as the 4 purple-skinned invaders immediately stopped what they were doing and turned as one in the direction of where she was hiding. Some unintelligible shouting and pointing came next, but the other monstrous people in the room barely acknowledged the information. Either they didn’t hear, or they were so caught up in the battle frenzy that they didn’t care.
Regardless of the reason, it allowed Tacca to do what she went there to do.
“Are you insane! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Brandon shouted into her mind, which was echoed in different ways by the other Cores, as well as Shale. She ignored them all, only responding with one thing.
Not really, but you only live thrice, am I right?
With a prayer to anything that might be listening, she activated her Omen Charge ability, pumping 500 Fairy Mana into it. She wanted to put even more into it, to ensure that whatever it did worked, but she was cognizant enough that she needed to save at least 1,000 Mana so that she could Translocate as a last resort.
The lightning sprang up around her again, this time much more intense, powerful, and concentrated. It was almost too intense, as she felt herself starting to vibrate along with the crackling, but she didn’t think it would cause any harm. A few seconds later, as Raiders and creatures from 7 different dungeons continued to die below her, the lightning condensed again, before exploding out in a powerful shockwave that left her amazed that she hadn’t been shattered in the process.
The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) Page 28