Pouring every single point of mana into the Mortar Monkey template Megun brushed some sweat off her forehead. The process of resource allocation wasn’t very taxing itself but how often she’d had to replenish her forces was beginning to generate stress. Hadn’t she just summoned another 100 Blast Golems to the same area? Why did they already need back up?
Suddenly her core released a burst of green sparks catching her off guard. This happened every time Leol contacted her with [Alliance] but the nature in which her core chose to create the phenomenon was hard to get used to. Hopefully he would bring good news...
“Yes Leol? How goes your front?”
“HELP! I need back up now!” he screamed, pure terror and panic in his voice.
Furrowing her brow Megun put on her calmest tone and asked slowly “What’s happened?”
Stammering as he tried to force out his words Leol eventually got out “I-I-I’ve got an entire army around my island! All the dungeon’s aquatic monsters and that man we spotted the other day! Except he’s no man. That monsters a massive fucking eel!”
“So? Just take them out with your own aquatic forces. Doesn’t matter how they got there or who leads them. Your monsters own those seas.”
“I DON’T HAVE ANYMORE MONSTERS BITCH!”
“...So make more? You’re a dungeon master in case you forgot.”
“With what?! My mana is tapped out from the last battle and I can’t get anything offshore to go harvest more. Even my fliers are grounded with all the rays schooling up above. All I’ve got left are 3 [Commanders] on the mainland but 2 of them are on death’s door.”
Pulling up her war map Megun pursed her lips and asked “Where did they encounter enemy forces? Mine have been trading blows back and forth with a group to the south of my entrance. If you’re nearby I could send a squad over.”
“Don’t bother. My Erlking and Parasitic ran into a squad of around 200 royal knights to the west. Having them flee was a grand miscalculation on our part.”
“And the Oberon?”
“Safe but outclassed. Even if he could get to the island running across his light constructs he wouldn’t stand a chance against that eel...” Leol’s tone became less angry and more scared when he added “It managed to kill Makara and the Undine [Commander] alone.”
At this Megun’s blood ran cold. Makara the Berserker was the Dungeon of Fairies [Named One] and held a fierce reputation amongst adventurers. Hundreds of promising A class had fallen victim to her over the years and even more had lost part of themselves in the process. One tale told of a man severing the Selkie’s arm while it was in human form, only to be beat to death with the very limb as Makara picked it up and swung it around as a weapon. She was an incredible monster.
“Shit... Looks like this was their plan... With you isolated they can fully commit to fighting me.”
Grimly Megun asked herself if dropping Leol now was the correct decision. He was all but useless right now but the threat he could pose meant the Unnamed Forces needed to leave at least some stationed around his entrance. If she could keep the monster strong enough to take out Makara away from her own entrance keeping Leol was still beneficial. In fact declaring war on him soon as the war ended might not be a bad idea...
“Should we surrender? If things stop here we can reimburse the master with our fortunes and make a better plan for another attempt. The king will penalize us but we can probably escape the death penalty if we call in some favors.”
Waving a hand in instant rejection Megun answered “No. Remember what the terms of this war are? Complete ownership of the losers core. If we surrender our cores are forfeit, and I doubt any dungeon master would just hand them back.”
Despairing Leol said “Then what do we do!? I have no options left Megun! All the adventurers and S class I’ve contacted have turned down my offers to intervene.”
Taking her [Population Control] tablet from her Blast Golem attendant Megun looked over her assets. During her exchanges with the approaching forces she’d fared better than Leol. Mana was running low but she still held the number advantage when adding in her defenders. If she could lure in this attack squad, massacre them, send out her own squad, and take the core before the siege team guarding Leol returned victory was still possible. That is if her forces could defeat the attack team.
“Here is what you are going to do Leol. Send your remaining Oberon [Commander] to my entrance so he can fight with my forces against the approaching forces. That shadow monster is leading them so he’ll have an advantage. Throw in my centipede [Commander] with Ivan and taking them out is easy. I’ll send you around 1/3rd of the mana I make from the battle. You resummon Makara along with some generic forces to keep the eel busy. Even if she loses again that’s fine. If we can just injure or distract them enough for me to take the entrance victory is in our grasp. That eel is no doubt the strongest monster in this young dungeon so keeping him in check is key.”
“What about the bird? And for that matter the albino slime kid? The bird fought 4 [Commanders] at once and the kid traded blows with my Erlking [Commander] before he escaped just fine. If the dungeon has too many more monsters of that caliber even Ivan won’t stand a chance.”
“You forget I killed the bird. Next I’ll kill the shadow, and then the albino is all that remains. This won’t be a back to back battle like before.”
“If you say so...”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Just follow my command and we’ll win this thing yet.”
---
Crabro could hardly believe his eyes. It didn’t take more than a single glance around the room to know the other masters all felt the same. All except for Claire, the master of the Dungeon of Nimbus. Somehow she’d known the Unnamed Dungeon’s strength before anyone else, and the uncharacteristic grin plastered across her face told him her grand plan was coming to fruition.
Jastog’s face was another that stuck out to Crabro. The old war veteran was enjoying the festivities but had gone silent at the defeat of Makara. Crabro had only heard the rumors but some witness testimony claims Makara was the one responsible for taking his eye. In fact that loss was what drove Jastog to hone his skills and distinguish himself enough in war to be gifted control over the Dungeon of Crustaceans. It may have been Crabro’s theatrical side acting up but one could say Jastog owed his success to that Selkie. Seeing a monster he bore such a history with fall would leave anyone with mixed emotions.
Claire broke the atmosphere by chiding Ringley “That rings you up to 35,000,000 before the end tally of an additional 300,000,000 when Unnamed takes the win.”
If looks could kill Crabro thought Ringley would have ended the entire Remwell lineage. He’d been on a losing streak, betting solely on his fellow legacy masters victory. Unfortunately the “safe” bets he’d been making had all but emptied his private coffers. In fact the bet on the eel’s death had lost him 5,000,000 Rhilos alone.
Making good use of his meal voucher with Jastog Crabro took another bite of lobster tail before saying “You have to give it the dungeon, it’s putting on a good show for us. I would have this 2vs1 war would end in a week at most. Proved me damn wrong.”
High off her winnings Claire replied “Yes I’ll have to thank them in person one day won’t I? Forming an [Alliance] with such a promising master seems prudent don’t you think?”
Crabro nodded “I was thinking much the same Ms. Remwell. If it can hold its own with just 3-4 floors by our estimates who knows what this thing is capable of.”
Bitterly Ringley spat out “That’s why we should ally against it now! Imagine when it has over 10 floors. If it stays around the same in proportion to our strength all of us would need to ally against it at once. At worst we’d need help from outside Illia.”
Jastog set down his drink and hurled a finger at Ringley “Well leave me the hell out of it. I’ve had enough fuckin wars in my life. Lost a lot of good men and women for no good reason looking back. Heed my warning boy. No one wins in war.”
The conversation died down again as Ringley huffed and turned back to the Monitor. Currently they were following the attack force heading north for the Dungeon of Fireworks. In the lead was Mary the shadow monster they’d seen fight in what was now named “The Battle of the Pines”. Her forces consisted of the dungeon’s terrestrial creatures along with several aerial units trailing behind.
“I’m surprised the bird hasn’t been brought back.” Murmured Crabro scanning the skies for the incredible fighter “You’d imagine the dungeon has generated enough mana by now.”
“Aye, that white salamander is staying back at the entrance too. Pretty confident to send only one [Commander].”
“She’ll do just fine.” Claire answered pulling out a book to read “If I’m right that one scarred Everest during his short trip. I doubt she’s on that level but a wound speaks for itself.”
As she hadn’t been proven wrong yet the dungeon masters all reclined simultaneously in their chairs, ready to watch the fireworks.
---
“Do not just charge in there.”
“I know! Honestly Master it wounds me that you’d think me so reckless!” Mary huffed into the link.
“Then what is your plan of attack? Please enlighten me as to your grand strategy.”
“Kill every enemy we seen on the way there.”
“Ok.”
“Make them think we’re going for another Starvation by making a false camp.”
“So far so good.”
“And once they let their guard down we charge in and take the place in one fell swoop!”
“There it is....”
Mary was very gung-ho about her role as general in this battle. After Almar, Mulan, and even Irwin had managed to square off with and hold their own against several [Commanders] Mary was eager to prover her own worth. She’s never said so herself, but I have a feeling she’s self-conscious about being the only [Named] monster who’s also not a [Boss] monster.
“You need a plan going in. Even Almar struggled against the enemy [Commanders] and has been stuck recovering for days. You aren’t exactly facing weaklings either. As we understand it Mulan took out almost all the Dungeon of Fireworks lower [Commanders] but that leaves the high levels. Expect 2-3 tough fights back to back. I’m sure you can win but we need a plan. Losing this battle is not an option.”
Waving a hand I couldn’t see Mary replied “We’ll figure it out! Besides... our maps are out of date, we don’t know the terrain, or even the enemies species. What exactly can I form a plan around?”
“How about unit composition and formations?”
“Guerilla warfare all the way.”
Ignoring her attitude with a sigh I dropped my shoulders and said “Fine, I give up. Just minimize casualties and capture the Fireworks core. Then we try to force a surrender from Fairy. They turn us down we attack.”
“Sure Master.”
Letting the link fade into the back of my mind I focused my attention on the matters at hand. We currently hold the advantage but unknown factors could change that at any moment. Simmons had warned me about other masters joining in to garner favor towards the end of the war but none have revealed themselves. At least not to me. There’s also the matter of what to do when the masses come asking about my existence. I know for a fact the king was choosing someone to manage me so I’ll need to deal with them. In a perfect world I can just speak with the king and work everything out peacefully. But that’s unlikely. Asking Simmons about such matters given I don’t understand the political structure of this world perfectly yet is probably my best bet.
Currently I have General Irwin, I bought him a napoleon style hat for his promotion, organizing our forces outside the dungeon entrance with the humans. My hope is that positive public opinion could force the kingdom’s hand moving forward. If the people regard us as comrades in arms the king would face backlash if he had me executed. Assuming any of the speaking [Named] return before the wars end I’ll have them walk around and speak with people as well. Every little conversation proves we’re more than mana constructs and deserve rights. The headache getting sapient monsters like Lamias to be treated fairly is already rearing its ugly head.
Other than war strategy and post war planning I’ve all but finished the design of Covenant Cavern and have just begun work on the safe zone. As Lamias will be such a large part of the floor I’m hoping to make it into a town of sorts. A place for humans and monsters to meet and trade between each other without conflict. Selling people on the idea may take some time but it’s our best move to garner understanding. Getting them to understand we’re monsters but not “monsters” is my end goal.