“Mary! Oh thank God... I think we got cut off. Are you alright?” Master screamed in her ear.
Mary closed the dungeon doors behind her “Yeah I’m good. Looks like the enemy can shut off our little mind radio whenever they want. Since it’s back now I assume the effect is limited to within their borders.”
“It looks like that’s the case. More importantly how did the deal go? I haven’t received any notifications.”
Before answering Mary signaled a nearby Apparition to take command while she slept “I’m not taking that deal. She wanted one of our [Commanders] in exchange for our surrender. Bitch actually thought she was in a position to make demands of me.”
“Good thing you both said no...”
Jumping onto what was likely Megun’s bed on the top floor of the tower Mary teased “Aww! Were you worried I’d leave you Master?”
“N-no... Besides we don’t even know if that’s possible.”
“...”
“...It’s not right?”
“I’ll head in once everyone’s properly rested Master. From our little chat I know she won’t surrender. I need my beauty sleep before the real battle if I’m going to use that.”
“Hey! Answer m-!”
Severing the link with a though Mary broke out into a laughing fit at her master’s desperation. How could she even consider giving up such fun reactions? Honestly... all Megun wanted was a strong monster, not an actual comrade. All things considered Mary had been really lucky to be created by a master who treated her like family. Unlike the other dungeon masters he didn’t think of his creatures as murderous tools and resources. She’d been lucky alright...
Growing embarrassed at her own sentimental thinking Mary violently turned over in the bed to clear her head. The time to get sappy and celebrate could come later. Right now she needed to focus on the battle ahead.
---
“Leol, I’ll be using the Oberon [Commander].”
Through her core the voice of an exhausted Leol echoed “Knock yourself out. He’s set to follow your orders right now anyway. More importantly what about the shadow? Is Plan B a go?”
Megun grit her teeth “We had a... disagreement. One that cost me a squad of 100 mature Mortar Monkeys. What about the eel?”
Before the war Leol would have cracked a joke as he answered, but the Leol facing their current circumstances could only despair “He didn’t. Said if I wasn’t offering at least a kingdom, personal access to my coffers and shops, along with something called a casino he’d be sticking with his current boss.”
“What pompous little shits! Who are they to think a monster can want anything more than power? They should’ve jumped at the chance to join a larger, more prestigious dungeon over that freak of nature!”
“Pretty loyal aren’t they? Not sure I’ve ever thought about needing that from my creatures. I mean, I made them. Why wouldn’t they listen to me?”
“Exactly! If having personalities breeds monsters that act like this the cons outweigh the pros.”
Sighing over their connection Leol asked “We should move on. Taking power away from the Unnamed Dungeon was a long shot anyway. I’ll ask you straight out. Can you win this battle? If you lose I have to surrender now. Last of the Blight Fairies got taken out last night by the rays.”
“Hard to say sadly. Counting the Oberon I’ve got 3 [Commanders] left to fight the shadow but she’s much stronger than expected. Executed an entire squadron of Mortar Monkeys without difficulty so she’s likely comparable, if not stronger, than the eel. I think the flaw in her shifting armor is that she must see an attack coming to dodge but even if Ivan can hit her she has a ridiculous amount of skills. The remaining troops are my strongest and we have the home advantage but I honestly can’t call it.”
Leol let out a groan “No word from the other masters either. I tried Ringley but he’s apparently in a bad spot right now. He’s lost big betting on this war against the others and can’t afford to join a lost cause. All he could do is warn me that Claire and Crabro are more likely to aid the Unnamed Dungeon than us right now. No word from the skunk or dwarf yet either as expected. We’re on our own.”
“I’d have welcomed the help but this isn’t over yet! I’ll send you the mana from tomorrows battle and we’ll buy time to replenish our forces. In the meantime continue trying to recruit adventurers to our side. Their willingness to aid the enemy was a major miscalculation on my part. Once our armies are restocked we’ll make our comeback!”
“Give em hell fire cracker.”
“Will do.”
---
Absorbing the last shadow inside the tower to restore her supply Mary turned to the mismatched troops behind her and gave a simple nod. There was no need for a speech or grandiose planning. Everything had been talked over in advance and everyone understood their roles. Now was the time to march and ready themselves for victory or death.
Mary was anticipating a lengthy walk down to the final floor. If it had been her making a last stand the first step would be tiring the enemy. In this way dungeon’s were built for war. Even during times of peace a dungeon’s main goal is creating a fortified defense so laying traps depending on the enemy further down should be child’s play. Or it would have been if the Unnamed Dungeon was normal. Having such a chaotic assortment of monsters and elements makes preparing defenses that won’t in some way assist a portion of the enemy borderline impossible. Making the safest strategy to weaken the enemy as much as possible before an all out attack with your most powerful forces. Or at least that’s what Mary could come up with.
4 hours later on the 22nd floor the strike force came across their first wave of enemies. Similar to where her prior battle had taken place this floor was a massive canyon with a river of lave flowing at the bottom. What made this floor distinct however were the massive coal deposits lining either side of the canyon and the hundreds of bridges connecting them. It was while walking through the series of winding paths the army was fired upon by several Mortar Monkeys lying atop the canyon itself.
Megun had ordered the attack hoping to destroy the bridges and drop several hundred invaders into the lave below. This plan was ultimately cut short when several Bouncing Billy’s, Coal Cats, and even some hawks hiding within the Reapers shadows flew or climbed up the canyon walls and dispatched them.
The hawks were the first to arrive and decimated the Mortar Monkey snipers. When their enemy could slice through cannonballs midair with relative ease there wasn’t much they could do. Even more so when goats moving at blistering speeds were headbutting them into the fiery river below while morphing the terrain in their favor. The Coal Cats finished more than one of the apes by grabbing their arms in their tails and turning the organic weapons back on their owners or surrounding allies. These had been the still maturing apes but Megun had likely been expecting more from their pitiful performance.
Next on the 26th floor the army encountered several pitfalls dug under them by the Concentrated Centipedes. This floors gimmick was its pitch darkness and random fireworks that would burst and startle adventurers off the solitary safe path. But when you have a [Commander] that absorbs shadows the confusing floor layout hardly matters. In just a few minutes Mary was feeling bloated from the amount of darkness she’d absorbed and half the floor was left purged of the abnormal darkness.
As for the centipedes the water attuned Elemental Elk and Kirin made quick work of them. Simply filling the tunnels exposed by the army with water and then sending lightning magic through the flooded network took out most of the enlarged arthropods. A few tunnel collapses managed to snap legs or ankles underneath the Unnamed forces but the evac squad of Reapers could handle the number of injured just fine.
The master wanted low casualties so Mary had designated several Reapers and Anomalous Anacondas to medic duty. Using their shadow magic they would hide the wounded inside their subspaces and escort them behind the frontlines or safe until the battle was over. While not enough to store the entire army many lives would be saved. The Vacuum Hippos could have helped with this effort as well but they would serve a different purpose in this battle.
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Yelling into the artificial sky Mary chided “Come on now Megun! Surely this isn’t all you’ve prepared? We’re getting bored up here.”
No response followed but Mary had become quite good at pissing people off and could feel in her soul she’d irked the girl. While indeed for her own amusement making the enemy emotional was hardly a bad tactic. Emotions cloud judgement, especially in the heat of battle.
Possibly as a direct result of her taunting the army next encountered enemies on the 27th floor. They were a simple mismatch of the last upper floor monsters like Soot Sowers, Rocket Imps, and Bomb Beetles. A good warm up for the real battle as they numbered around 250 in total.
Mary left the fighting up to her troops to gauge their odds and was happy to see the average Unnamed monster was faring better than the Firework’s.
For every Lupin Spider lost they’d take down 3 or 4 small Soot Sowers, and for every Bomb Beetle Detonation 5 flaming barrages from the Volcanic Salamanders would fly overhead. The only place this wasn’t the case was in the air. While powerful in short bursts, the Rocket Imps simply couldn’t match the Honed Hawks speed and were decimated. Any stragglers were taken out by the Ethereal Elk’s blasts or Kirin’s lightning calls.
Some lives were lost on the invaders side but they were just the unlucky Peryton or Greater Solar who dodged poorly. On average Mary’s forces were winning. Once the stronger monsters came out to play in large numbers that may change but it was a good morale booster. Not that her master’s forces needed it. Every single one was ready to fight to their last breath. Half their strength could be attributed to their ferocity when compared to the mana constructed defenders. At the cost required to earn loyalty the Unnamed Dungeon had built an army filled with overwhelming determination and conviction.
The next floors were quiet. So much so that Mary felt uncomfortable. Seemingly abandoned the next 2 floors were almost apocalyptic in design before they reached the second half of the 29th floor. Soon as they emerged from the salt covered trees into the Valley of Ash a bombardment of organic metal fell upon the frontline.
Responding to her order a wall of solid stone several feet thick separated them from the several hundred Mortar Monkeys fire. They could deal with some canon fire here and there but almost a thousand rounds? That would be unsustainable.
Just as she was about to give more orders several of the Rocket Imps flew over the wall and began dropping Bomb Beetles gunpowder orbs into their ranks. These caused less damage as most could be detonated before they reached the ground by the Ethereal Elk and Volcanic Salamanders but several slipped through costing more lives. In anger the hawks took to the air and slew the last of the dungeon’s imps in quick succession. This too may have been part of Megun’s plan however as another volley of canon fire was sent over the wall into the hawks.
Clicking her tongue Mary ordered, careful to keep a steady tone “Everyone behind the Vacuum Hippos! They’ll hold up their shields as we advance!”
Separating to follow the 30 or so lumbering purple hippos as they rose from their spatial magic pools the army got ready to advance. Many fell into the Reapers shadows to lower the odds of shots landing and to add a surprise element when they emerged later on. Roaring in front of themselves as one the hippos created wormholes to absorb any attacks coming from ahead. From their previous battles Mary knew the monkeys could only fire for so long before needing to rest and hopefully they’d waste most of their ammunition in this initial onslaught.
The Bouncing Billy’s lowered their wall and the fire immediately resumed. Just as planned most of the shots fell into the spatial portals and popped out of the hippos as harmless sponge orbs. Just as the forces met, a few of the monkeys began firing in tall arches to hit the army over the wormholes, but it was too late. Most of their ammo spent the apes were left to use their physical combat skills and engage the invading forces in a melee.
What ensued next could be described only as chaos. Flame met horn, gunpowder met thread, and shadow met steam. The Hippos fell back into their pools and would emerge at random spots across the battlefield to dissolve approaching attacks into their portals. Lupin Spiders would dart around the battlefield in dog form before leaping, changing into arachnids midair, and biting down on their target ape. Perytons would burst into separate foes, rescue injured allies, and ram centipedes with their antlers all before gliding away. A Mortar Monkey would fire it’s canon arm directly into a Coal Cat’s chest only for the shell to lose momentum as an eruption of steam pushed it back down the barrel.
For her part Mary hung back and only made easy kills to conserve energy. She would dart in, take out some enemies about to deal critical damage, and head back behind the hippos. At this point she stuffed was so full of shadows that her quiver was almost unending and she was watching out for any sign of the [Commanders] from her place amidst the chaos.
Both armies continued to clash amidst the Valley of Ash for several hours. When the time the [Commanders] finally appeared Mary’s troops had been reduced to about 1,400 out of her 2,700 while the Dungeon of Fireworks had gone from an estimated 4,200 to around 2,000. They were losing troops proportionally to one another for now but the battle was far from decisive.
Bursting out of the ceiling of all places directly above the Unnamed Dungeon’s army came the [Commanding] Concentrated Centipede. It must have been hiding on one of the earlier floors underground and only now appeared to pincer the invaders. Easily 40 feet long and 8 feet wide with hundreds of lance sized legs anchoring the massive crimson beast to the ceiling it struck quite the figure.
Spewing bright white flames from its mouth the centipede began laying waste to the front lines indiscriminately. As the magic wouldn’t affect others of its species the other Concentrated Centipedes were fine. For the poor apes, incubi, succubus, and beetles however, not a thought was spared.
Her prey in sight Mary hopped of her Kirin and ran straight at the dungeon wall. Melding her legs into the flat surface she began sprinting vertically and then upside-down at the commander. Despite the difference in size Mary was feeling pretty confident against the 15th floor [Boss].
Halting its barrage of flame as it noticed the other [Commander’s] appearance the Centipede turned its massive pincers menacingly at Mary and screeched so loud the battle below paused for the briefest of moments.
“SKRRRRRRRRCHHHHHH!”
“Let’s go!” Mary yelled back, spreading the mass of shadows inside her to blanket the ceiling, coating it in malleable darkness.
Activating a skill with another shriek the centipede launched several pairs of legs towards her as missiles. At easily 2 feet in diameter at the base those legs would impale anyone more solid. But with her honed reaction time dodging the projectiles wasn’t overtly difficult for Mary.
“[Shadow Anchor!] +[Dodecagon!]” she cried as 12 identical Mary’s rose out of the shadowy mass, each with a bow and arrow trained on the [Commander]. Following the original’s motions all 12 released the anchored arrows upon the gigantic mass of the centipede. Chains of shadow flew out from where the projectiles landed, trapping the commander in place. Not wanting to waste excess energy Mary yelled down to her forces to attack in her place.
“Fire away everyone!” she ordered as the reabsorbed the ceiling back into herself to replenish her supply. No sense wasting so much stored power on an opponent the others could take out given the foes ahead.
Responding to her call for assistance around a hundred long range magic attacks of various attributes flew up into the centipedes carapace. The attacks chipped away several layers of the [Commander’s] natural armor but a large amount was absorbed and recycled into the monsters own magic. Apparently this [Boss] had more changes than just size.
As its very skin cracked under the weight of so much magic it hissed even louder than before “SCCCCCCCCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
Pulsing red as if heated in a forge the centipede began struggling against the [Shadow Anchor]. Under the monster’s strength 8 of the 12 chains broke, and with a loud “Snap!” it ran out of the binding for the wall.
Hanging its front half on the wall at a 90 degree angle the monster turned its head towards the twelve Mary’s and used its most powerful skill, [Flamethrower]. White hot flame soared out of the beast’s mouth and the Mary’s independently raced across the ceiling to dodge the deluge of flame.
Unable to jump while hanging upside down the only real way to dodge was rushing the mouth while staying above the [Flamethrower] as its head arched upward. Feeling parts of her hair singe away Mary growled in anger before producing a war hammer in both hands and swiping downwards as she ran under the monsters flaming maw.
With the added density of all the shadows currently swimming inside her the blow sent out a shockwave of air as the beast’s jaw broke with a crack, severing both its front pincers. Making use of the painful momentum the massive creature rolled its head onto its back before igniting the flames on what remained of the carapace. Having fallen off the ceiling the segments wrapped Mary inside a living turbine of flame, falling to the valley below.
Her body was quickly using up its shadow reserves to take the damage for her but trapped inside a ball of fire she had little access to more darkness. Without a way to escape Mary decided to implode the darkness and break her way out of the falling death trap.
“[Impale] + [Malleable Body] + [Sprouting Spear] + [Black Hole]!”
In an instant her bloated mind felt release as all the shadows being held within her body fired off from random points along her body in the shape of spears. Not only was their piercing strength and speed multiplied by [Impale] but they quickly drew in the flame magic into themselves with [Black Hole], a skill that absorbed other magics. This attack would release the supply in her body getting rid of her extra defenses but giving Mary the firepower needed to escape.
To the forces below the white meteor of flame and arthropod that was the Concentrated Centipede first, exploded as several hundred shadow spears burst from its innards, and second, was engulfed in a second meteor of darkness as all traces of the flame were eviscerated. By the time the orb hit the ground almost the entire battlefield had halted to watch the impact.
Crashing into the valley’s ash covered floor with such force a crater formed the ball of darkness dispersed immediately into the surroundings as a massive centipede’s corpse was left in the center. Standing atop it a single monster. Foot resting on its punctured head in a valley of ash, in a cloud of evaporating darkness amidst a dungeon of light and sparks, stood her.
Mary, the personal defender of the core.
Licking her clawed hand for added effect as she drew the shadows across the battlefield back into her body she spoke in direct challenge “Next.”