Eli hadn’t led a squadron of less uniform soldiers in his entire life. His specially trained knights all held the same combat skills and possessed proper military training designated by their position. The complete opposite of the many adventurers the dungeon had hired to fight in this war. Every single party was structured differently, with what looked like every skill under the sun belonging to at least someone present. But while his men were used to fighting other people one couldn’t ask for a more experienced army of monster hunters.
Standing atop the still under construction wall of Brooksdam’s interior Eli had a good view of the battlefield. Much as he’d like to engage the enemy directly he was the most tactically experienced man present and would be asked to give countless orders as the tide of battle shifted. Deciding to make use of their traditional party structures Eli had designated the surrounding fields into zones. Several parties had been assigned to each zone to periodically swap with each other to minimize skill strain and heal. Completing the formation Eli had his spies turned scouts darting around the battlefield to update him on how each zone was faring against their foes. Mainly the Rocket Imps, Oberons, Erlkings, and Parasitic Pixies with of the dungeon’s other monsters thrown in. If judged to be performing poorly the royal knights would be dispatched as reinforcements.
Currently the most prominent threat was the Rocket Imps. Standing around 4 feet tall the dirty flying rats were black and red all over with sparking, yellow, pointed teeth and nails. Similar to normal imps they had overgrown leathery wings behind their back they could clumsily fly through the air with. What made Rocket Imps more dangerous than their demonic cousins was their fuse like tails and wing tips. Using their sparking mouths and claws the imps will ignite their own appendages. to gain impressive bursts of speed. The disadvantage being they can’t fly for a short time afterwards. Equipped with axes too heavy for them to properly wield and several debuff skills the Rocket Imps were an annoying foe in large groups. It didn’t help matters they could fly over most zones unharmed and needed to be shot down from the wall.
Down on the ground were hordes of Erlkings with Parasitic Pixie familiars hiding within their autumnal wings. The Erlkings ranged in height from 5-6 feet but all had sickly pale decaying bodies, sorrowful expressions with thousand yard stares, and wings with dark brown or red leaves for feathers. Despite their appearance Erlkings possess above average physical strength for their size and most often fight hand to hand with dark magic constructs. But what truly made the Erlkings dangerous was their strange detachment to the world. Their forms jitter and buffer as they move, becoming momentarily intangible just as unpredictably as they accelerate. Fighting up close with an unreadable opponent has proven difficult for many less experiences adventurers.
Needing to ride along with their Erlking masters the Parasitic Pixies take the form of small salamanders with leech like heads and teeth. While incredibly slow and weak on their own it only takes a single bite for a Parasitic Pixie to either drain all life from a person’s body or take control over it. Once a body has been taken over the small salamander shaped pixie will hide within their clothing and begin brawling with reckless abandon for the host’s body. Soon as the body begins to falter they call over their Erlking master and abandon the corpse. Eli had been briefed on all monsters likely to be found in the enemy forces and even he had gotten queasy at the description of host bodies caved in chest, missing eyes, and bones forcibly cracked from the suction of a Parasitic Pixies mouth.
Rounding out the rogues gallery were the Oberon’s. Large man sized fairies with an instinctual obsession with royalty and greed. Each fought with what they considered the most noble weapon and bore crown topped outfits made of expensive or shiny materials they’d stolen from their victims. Light magic, strong bodies, and impressive martial skills made for impressive foes but fortunately those present were widely spaced out by their [Commanders]. This was due to the strange characteristic Oberon’s have of hunting each other down for “the right to rule”. Combined with the behavior to “elope” with attractive women and why Oberons were studied in regard to dungeon monster intelligence made sense.
“BOOOM!!!”
Right beside Eli a Rocket Imp ignited its wings and exploded into the side of the wall. Doubling his efforts Eli reached into his quiver and took another feather tipped arrow in his hand. While by no means an archer the captain was at least good enough to pick a few demons out of the sky.
“Captain!” screamed a scout running vertically up the wall over the sounds of battle “We believe we’ve located a [Commander]!”
Bagging another Imp before it could ignite Eli curtly asked “Species?”
“Imp sir! I have a report saying the Oberon [Commander] was spotted but has fled to the northeast. A party has been sent to go find out why.”
Nodding before pulling the scout under a passing golden covered spear Eli continued “So where is the bastard? My kill squad is ready to go once we clear them a path.”
“That’s the thing sir...”
“Out with it!” the captain roared as another chain of explosions lit up the battlefield before them.
Gulping the scout apologetically answered “It’s in the sky captain! We estimate about 350 feet in the air!”
“Damn... That makes things a bit, TRICKY!” Eli grunted as he shot an Oberon climbing up the wall with its bladed silver knuckles through the forehead.
Only one capable of getting so high into the air would be a powerful mage with some sort of flight skill, someone Eli would already know about if they existed, or with a mount. Currently a few Pegasi were indeed within Brooksdam from carriers passing through, but none were war mounts. And the amount of people capable of riding while engaging a powerful opponent are few...
“Call Valentia back in and get your hands on a Pegasi owner willing to donate. If the steed falls I’ll personally reimburse them and they’ll be doing an honorable service. Also send an order out requesting a chariot if we can find one. If nothing pops up get me a big, sealed, wooden bathtub with some thick ships rope.”
Trained to act over question the scout ran back down the wall and pulled aside some other scouts to carry out Eli’s orders. Around 10 minutes later a blood soaked and feather covered Valentia hopped over the wall in a massive leap.
“Sir?” she asked barely winded.
Handing her a second bow Eli ordered “Talk and shoot. Too many are sitting up in the clouds for us to kill them all.”
Rubbing her bloodied gloves on her armor Valentia took the bow and began periodically sniping the demons flying overhead.
“We’ve got confirmation that the [Commander] is holding out in the sky, estimated at 350 feet. Currently waiting for a Pegasus and a chariot or something similar. Execution squad is standing by and I’d like you to personally go help take it down.”
Giving the captain a strong side eye Valentia clarified “You don’t mean them?”
“Lucas and the others are the best and most trustworthy I can supply right now.”
“They’re kids! Barely upper C rank!”
“I can’t just send anyone. Our enemies here may look like monsters but the humans that sent them doubtless have allies in our ranks. That doesn’t leave us many strong options.”
Valentia seemed to mull over the decision before Eli added “Aurora is an ice mage fighting a buff fire demon, she’d be the perfect choice anyway.”
Conceding the decision with a sigh Valentia asked, “Can she ride?”
“You know she’s a quick learner. I’ll hold the frontline while you’re gone.”
Valentia was without a doubt the strongest fighter currently on the field and had been responsible for luring away any Oberons or [Commanders] that propped up. Once the enemy noticed her absence they’d make a push for the weaker zones. Eli would need to leave one of his veteran knights temporarily in charge while he personally picked up her slack.
“I’ll do my best but other than [Gale Slash] I can’t do much in the air.”
Nodding the captain returned to firing in silence before a new scout appeared next to him.
“Sir! We’ve acquired 2 Pegasi and a large wooden bathtub as requested. It is currently being outfitted to be carried between the two mounts. We’re lucky the merchants still has their weight reduction harnesses.”
“Good work. Valentia go get the execution team and head out at your discretion.” Shoving his bow into the scout’s hands Eli unsheathed his great sword and with a motivating grin said, “I think enough are downed for me to join the fray.”
“Happy hunting sir.” Valentia said with a salute before leaping over the railing and bounding off towards the rest building the 3 youths were currently standing ready in.
---
“You want us to what!?” Gelm yelled out in dread.
Pointing exacerbated at the tub Valentia repeated “You three and me are going after the Rocket Imp [Commander]. Once it is defeated the Imps should lose direction and be easier to eliminate. Since it is currently flying we will be climbing inside this tub and flown up into the air to combat it in close quarters.”
“Who’s idea was this!?”
“Captain Eli’s. He has the utmost faith in us to accomplish this task.”
No more time to waste arguing Valentia climbed inside the leak proof tub and motioned for the others to follow suit. Luckily the scouts had also procured two Brooksdam residents crazy enough to fly the untrained Pegasi for them. This way the party could focus all their efforts on fighting.
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Slapping Gelm on the back with an excited look in his eyes Lucas said “Come on man this will be a great story! Talk about a good adventure!”
Hopping into the tub beside Valentia the usually quiet Aurora bluntly said, “If we don’t go more people will die.” Then followed with a smile and shrug “Plus this does look kind of fun.”
Tightening his grip and gritting his teeth Gelm gingerly made his way over the rim of the tub on shaking legs. Once inside he began fiddling with his throwing knives to calm his nerves.
“H-how high did you say the target is again Valentia?”
“30-35 stories.” Motioning to the two riders to begin ascending she added with a bit of unprofessionalism “It could be higher now though.”
His stomach turning to let him know it was too late to jump out of the tub Gelm groaned and slid down the side of the tub to hug his knees.
---
Down on the battlefield Eli stood near his knights and 2 adventurer parties in zone 7. He’d already activated [General, a combo skill buffing al nearby allies with the [Soldier] family of skills and was prepping to swap out with the current frontlines. It had been around 3 hours since the last switch and even with an entire cities worth of buffs they were beginning to tire. Equipped with his great sword and pearl white armor emblazoned with the Illian crest on the front Eli was feeling confident.
While getting a brief report on how they were faring the adventurers noted they’d all heard a loud “caw” from deep in the forest that had made them all take pause. As they’d been experiencing a lull in enemies they wondered slightly into the trees and spotted an enormous shaft of light in the distance toward the dungeon’s entrance with creatures diving in and out.
“Captain are we expecting more enemy forces from the east?” the paladin leader Zach asked.
Not going into the full nature of the alliance for now Eli answered “Anything from that direction is likely the Unnamed Dungeon’s monsters trading blows with the enemy. Scouts noticed those forces just in time and we decided to let the dungeon do the dirty work for us by luring some of its monsters that way.”
Nodding with an impresses smile the spearman said “I get you! Let the beasts wear each other down so we can commit to one front instead of fighting on two.”
“But can the Unnamed forces hold them off? They are certainly stronger than average but it’s still a young dungeon. Who knows how many monsters it could summon on such short notice...” the female rogue pondered aloud.
Playing her theories off as the first Rocket Imps began to dive towards them Eli answered “I’ve got plenty of “scouts” updating us on that battle. Despite heavy losses on both sides the Unnamed forces seem to be faring well all things considered. Our real concern would be them letting their batch of assailants change to target us.”
Sliding a foot forward to carry his built momentum Eli impaled the first Rocket Imp on his sword. With his strength the flying demons were little more than annoyances. Mere distractions against the capable Oberons, Erlkings, and Parasitic Pixies.
3 more demons charged towards him while a pair flanked on either side. Not even activating the skill consciously Eli began [Tempered Form]. Glowing marks appeared on the ground around him accompanied by several long streams of light for his sword to pass through. [Tempered Form] would provide a visual indicator of how best to move within a battle. Useful as it was the glowing lights would not be met automatically, Eli himself would need to swing his blade along the pathways and step on the marks accordingly. It had been a tough skill to acquire within his dreams but knowing where to strike in the chaos of a melee had saved his life countless times. A counter skill that would reveal the lights to an enemy did exist but Eli had never encountered someone who bothered to learn it.
Accurate as ever, when the initial 3 Imps sharply turned upwards in a feint as the other 2 burst towards him from both sides, the lights from [Tempered Form] changing in accordance. Deciding to show off a bit Eli kicked the charging demon on the right and used the momentum of his kick to spin and slice the left demon’s body in two. From raw strength rather than finesse both imps were killed instantly and the still airborne 3 took pause.
Taking advantage of the confusion on their sparking faces Eli activated [Hurricane Slash] and sent a green wave of mana crashing into them. 2 were killed instantly but the lone survivor sacrificed a wing to escape below the strike.
Suddenly the arched lights for his sword to follow turned angled behind him and Eli reacted on their guidance alone. Even if he had no idea what he was swinging at the lights had never lied to him before. So without any reservations Eli spun around and slid his sword across one of the beams of light into the oncoming axe of a dual wielding Oberon.
“Shiiiiii!” the glittering silver fairy cried as its golden armament was swatted away. Despite being a monster capable of trading blows with any B class the greedy beast couldn’t handle the strength of Eli’s blow and buckled its knees from the weight of the blade’s collision.
On instinct Eli almost activated [Ghost Blade] but held back at the last moment to conserve his energy. While it may be cheap by his standards wasting a skill like [Ghost Blade] on an opponent he could defeat without it would only lessen the time he could spend on the battlefield. So with a grunt of extra effort Eli put his full weight into the blade and pushed, snapping the axe head off its handle and the Oberon’s skull along with it.
“Captain! Oberon’s have been sighted in zones 3-5. Could you take them out for us?”
Wrestling his sword out of the quickly absorbing corpse Eli nodded and yelled back “On it! Don’t let a single one of these bastards into town!”
---
“Time to target approximately 20 seconds.” Valentia announced as the wooden tub precariously swung in the air hundreds of feet above the ground.
“Charging [Arctic Assault] now. Time to release is 25 seconds.”
“Gelm get up and ready to defend man.” Lucas said already holding his shield out in front of Aurora.
Still hugging his knees Gelm steadily tried to stand up inside the swinging basket. At first his attempt was faring well, then he looked over the edge he was holding with his white knuckles and almost passed out.
“Just watch the Imp and you’ll be fine you big baby.” Lucas said over his shoulder, careful not to interrupt Auroras chanting.
“U-u-u-u-huh...” Gelm said bleakly looking towards the fiery demon to ease his nerves.
Wreathed entirely in the sparks usually segmented to the species claws and mouths the commanding Rocket Imp was difficult to miss. The sparks from its body would long extinguish by the time they reached the ground but the waterfall of fire below him was still intimidating. Long thin claws of heated obsidian metal hung limply by its sides, inching ever closer to the meter long rope shaped tail that could ignite at a moment’s notice.
“Focus guys. That thing should feel the mana coming towards Aurora right now and blast towards us. From what our scouts getting intel on the Dungeon of Fireworks are saying this son of a bitch can keep its speed burst up for a full minute. After that it’s easy pickings but that minute could cost us our lives.”
“Y-y-yeah, Aurora’s just got to land this attack and it’s done so. Then we can go back d-down...”
As they group officially entered the [Commander] Imp’s attack range it dramatically held its left arm outward fully conveying its intent to burst towards them.
“Brace your-!” Valentia began before being interrupted by the explosion that rang out in front of them. Without any warning the imp had instantly caught its fuse early and began its minute long countdown of enhanced performance.
The sparking form seemed to flicker out of existence only to reappear against Valentia’s outstretched rapiers. The volley of sparks and metal screeching immediately caught the newbies off guard, but Aurora was skilled enough to continue her chanting.
“[Slicing Stream]! Valentia yelled while the monster was still in her attack range.
Purple lights signifying previously hidden runes on the rapier’s handle illuminated and Valentia began to blur in motion as she swung her twin blades in rapid succession. Sadly even such a showing of skill proved incapable of finishing the demon off as its form began to blur and match her speed.
Awed by the display of power the two martial rookies could do little but watch the titans exchange blows. What took them out of it was when Aurora yelled “[Arctic Assault] is charged, activating [Lock On]. Time to completion 30 seconds!”
Soon as she’d finished speaking the Imp suddenly shifted from in front of Valentia to screeching its jaw on the top of Lucas’s buckler, something he’d been lucky to raise in time. The demon was soon chased off by a thrust rapier and with another shower of sparks the leather winged monster had blinked to the left Pegasi.
“Oi shit!” screamed the more fool hardy than brave merchant that had volunteered his mount for the cause.
Swatted away with a backhand the man began his rapid decent to the battlefield below and with a lucky miss the Pegasus did not follow him down. The sparks cascading from the strike still caused the Pegasus to panic but it did not drop the tub, sparing everyone standing within the fate of the merchant. Falling back on his duty as the tank Lucas spammed 3 of his taunt skills and called the Imp back to him.
Impressively predicting Lucas’s action Gelm had already thrown 4 knives in front of Lucas and sure enough 3 of the 4 landed in the Imps shoulder. Letting loose a hiss that sent more sparks bouncing within the tub’s basin Lucas could only focus wholly on defense against the terrifying opponent. From the side Valentia launched several [Gale Slashes] towards the demon, something made different given the curved angle of the tub and the beast’s speed.
“H-HEAL!” Lucas grunted out as he propped the melting shield up with his entire body.
Fumbling slightly with motion sickness Gelm tossed a medium grade healing potion the party had bought with their joint account and saw it splash against Lucas’s back. Usually magic healing was preferred sense it cured any scars in the moment but with Aurora occupied Lucas would be lucky to complain about it later.
“Hold on for 7 mo- “Gelm started but before he finished every cell in his body screamed to parry behind him. Time seemed to freeze and all of Gelms terror was purged from his body as he kicked the wall of the tub behind him, launching himself into Valentia accidentally.
While he fumbled on the floor with Valentia for a moment Gelm realized how lucky he was to have his training. The Rocket Imp had pretended to still be under the taunt as to catch them by surprise and it was his trust in various scouting and danger skills that had saved his life just then.
The section of the tub Gelm had previously had his back to was now completely gone and the edges were singed red from the claws that caused the damage. Behind the hole hovered a scowling imp readying another attack.
Activating [Positioning] Lucas quickly slid across the wooden floor of the tub and once again began keeping the Imp occupied while Valentia shoved Gelm off her and began trying to land [Gale Slashes].
“READY!” screamed Aurora as the waves of cooled mana rolled off her, creating a thin layer of frost on the tub’s sides. Given how dense mana was at higher atmospheres and the high rank of the spell she was casting, it was not wonder the magic was beginning to affect her environment.
“Lucas! Dive!” Valentia yelled as she pressed a button hidden on the hilt of her left rapier. In doing so she activated the skill [Paralysis] and launched another [Gale Slash] with the enchanted effect.
Flying from her blade the yellow streak of mana caught the edge of the leather wing and locked the demon’s motor skills. When combined with [Lock On] Aurora’s magic was now guaranteed to land.
Beginning to fall downwards from the lack of wing flapping the demon began shaking slightly as it attempted to undo the paralysis. Lucas hopped backwards and stood before Gelm and Valentia with his buckler raised. Aurora would never intentionally hurt them but with how much magic she was about to use the results could vary.
“[ARCTIC ASSUALT]!” the ice mage screamed as the mana around the tub condensed into a single point in front of her staff. With a final twirl of the weapon she thrust the spell forward with her entire body.
Instantly the pressure surrounding everyone disappeared and a fierce roar of howling blizzard winds burst from her staff. In front the astral white form of a massive polar bear with its claws outstretched, behind it the full beauty of the northern lights pushing it forward and stunning everyone on the battlefield below. Her mana spent Aurora immediately passed out and was caught by Lucas as she fell backwards from the force of her strongest spell.
Breaking free of the [Paralysis] milliseconds before the magic bear ripped out its throat the Rocket Imp commander used its final moments to reignite one of his rope like wingtips. Using this burst of speed he charged into the still mounted Pegasi and impaled the majestic creature on his sparking obsidian claws.
Thanks to [Lock On] the polar bear and light show changed direction and still eviscerated the [Commander], curving upwards at the last moment to not kill the rider. Unfortunately the deed was done, and the white steed began to fall limply down to the ground below as the Imp was absorbed in a sizzle of fireworks.
Supporting the entire tub and all its occupants the unmounted Pegasi could do little but be tugged down with them as gravity took hold. Momentarily giving each other a panicked look the freefalling rider, Valentia, Gelm, and Lucas all felt the tub slip from under them.
And then they began to fall.