Now that the mages are off the wall, Ace and the rest are able to approach the wall. Not completely uncontested, though. The kobold mages might not be on the wall, but that doesn’t stop them from arcing a few spells over it with the archer acting as the spotter. Though Ruby and Kelly are more than enough to counter these attempts as only one or two in a volley come close enough to the group to matter.

Once the group reaches the gate, though, the other mages take over as the two place their hands on the hinges at both sides. Then, after only a bit of charging they release a surge of fire that extends a bit inward but mostly expanding up and down, taking out said hinges. Maybe if the walls had been made of metal, this would have been harder, but the wood stands no chance as it hasn’t been magically reinforced at all.

At that point, Jack and Sammy both smash into the gate itself. Jack with his mace and Sammy her shield. Now lacking the hinges to keep it in place, the gate is bashed backwards a little and falls over, crushing a couple kobolds who hadn’t retreated quickly enough.

Of course, the kobolds hadn’t been completely unprepared and a volley of much more accurate spells flew through the now open gate. Ace steps forward to meet the spells with his wooden shield and four of the nine spells splash against it. This destroys the summoned shield but through the magic Ace had created it with the damage was mostly tanked as he suffered only a few singes from a fire spell that clipped the edge.

The other five spells had gone a bit wider and passed by Ace into the back line. Four more of the spells ended up being warded off through various means with only an ice shard managing to give Bill a nasty slice on the head as he tried to dodge it. From the wound, copious amounts of blood began to spill out as head wounds tend to do and Tess panics as she pulls her boyfriend out of the line of fire towards Doctor.

Ace can hear someone has gotten hurt behind him, though the fact he can hear it at least means the person isn’t too badly hurt and so he focuses on what is in front of him. The rest of the kobolds had gathered together in a basic formation with the ranged at the back and the melee in front. A quick count shows a truly stunning number of enemies have gathered in front of him.

With only one patrol taken out there are still about 40 kobolds holding down the fort. Though the one at the back that seems to be slightly taller than the rest and fully armored up raises the hair on the back of Ace’s neck. That one had to be the boss but it seemed to be holding back to protect the mages and healers. Despite meaning they aren’t having to fight the boss right away, Ace isn’t sure if this is a good thing.

Not that he has much time to think as four fully armored kobolds, each with a different weapon, simultaneously roar out and order as the wall of shield kobolds begin to advance, spear kobolds behind them ready to get their point across to anyone that approaches. More dangerous to Ace at the moment though are the kobolds dual wielding daggers that have begun to flank around both sides.

It is a good thing for him that he isn’t alone. From behind him, Sammy and Jack step forward to help tank the crowd while the ones behind them begin to thin the herd with ranged attacks. Except, of course, for the Barrais. They instead split up and move along the walls to play with the dagger kobolds, getting into the thick of things. Not because they have to, but because it prevents the kobolds’ ranged support from chipping in.

Then a grease slick appears under many of the kobolds. This wasn’t the first time Kellinger had played that card so the kobolds had learned to deal with it. Still, the way to deal with it involves moving slower, which gives Doctor those critical moments to finish healing Bill’s head wound and allowing him and Tess to join the front line.

Just in time for the battle to truly get underway. Ace summons up a new vine shield and plays interference with the spears as vines from his shield are able to entangle them. Jack isn’t exactly one for defense and so focuses on bashing aside the enemies shields. A task that he is more than strong enough to manage all by himself.

With the kobolds shield line broken up by a wide swinging mace, Tess is able to insert her staff deep into the enemy line and poke at the troublesome spear kobolds behind them. Her first attack struck true, smashing through a kobolds eye and into the delicate bits behind it. Though after that, the kobolds were more cautious of her weapon despite the lack of sharp points.

The heavy fighting, however, doesn’t stop the sides of the shield line from curving inward to try and surround the melee fighters. Not something the kobolds had originally planned to do, but with all eight of the dagger kobolds being held up by the Barrais the boss didn’t have much choice. Not that this went to plan, either.

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The mages on both sides had been squaring off against one another with Ruby, Kellinger, and Kelly managing to just stay ahead of the nine enemy mages. On the other hand, when it came to more physical based ranged attacks the founders had the upper hand with both Jim and Og, while the kobolds only had a single archer. This meant that while Jim and the kobold archer were having a standoff, Og was free to rain down terror on the kobolds.

Sure, the kobolds’ frontline all had helmets on, but Og had always been one to go for the trickier shots, anyway. He might not have been able to one shot the enemies with the handful of pebbles he had picked up, but the shield and spear kobolds suffered as those rocks seemed to find every gap in their armor, especially the helmet. Even when they hide behind their shields, the rocks still manage to find a way in, bruising up the legs right where the boots and the greaves meet.

Og could have gone for more damage of course. A well-placed rock can kill just as easily as any other properly used weapon. Instead, though, he focused on crowd control since Kellinger had to worry about enemy magic. The impressive part about Og taking up the role is how well he is managing it. All without grasping vines or slick grease. Through just a simple application of rapidly thrown rocks, he is managing to hold back eight or more armored kobolds from flanking his teammates.

The kobolds, however, aren’t stupid, especially not on this floor. So when the kobold archer notices the disruption, she breaks her standoff with Jim by dropping to the ground and rolling to the side. While sudden, the movement doesn’t escape Jim’s eye but his arrow only catches her in the thigh as he misjudges the direction she plans to roll.

It pains the kobold archer to stand back up but she works through the pain and releases an arrow towards Og. He was warned by Jim but the sudden attack manages to hit him in the side. As Og tries to pull back and get healed by Doctor, the kobolds on the side rush in on the flanks.

This not only pincers the melee but also works to cut off the Barrais from the rest. Not that they are having any problems with their own fights, with Susan having killed two of her kobolds and Jeremy slicing down three. However, now that most of the dagger kobolds are dead this shifts the priority of the kobold mages.

While it was still four on one they felt that things were going well enough to ignore. Now a couple of them manage to separate themselves from the mage duel so as to try and burst them down. Of course, the mages on the founders’ side aren’t going to let this go uncontested. But not having to focus on multiple directions they start to miss their counters.

The first spell to get through is blocked by Ace as the ice shard explodes against his shield. Unfortunately for him, this left his side open and a spear slammed into the opening. Ace’s armor does a decent job of protecting against the bronze spear but it is still enough to open up a cut that begins to bleed.

Jack doesn’t let this go unanswered though and with an overhead swing splits the line of kobolds with his mace, knocking more than a few on the ground with broken bones. At this point, though, one of the kobolds’ biggest advantages shows itself. Six healing spells fall on the injured kobolds, bringing them back to fighting shape as they scramble to their feet.

On the delver’s back line, Doctor is doing his best but as small cuts and bruises start to pile up, he is being forced to focus on the serious injuries like Ace’s most recent stab wound. If this fight stays a battle of attrition, they are going to be on the losing side. Though speaking of Ace, he doesn’t plan to let things go that way.

With a shout, he redirects the Barrais. Jeremy had just finished his and Susan wasn’t far behind but after hearing Ace’s shout and looking around, they changed targets. The four special kobolds were staying near the center of the frontline mass of kobolds so they couldn’t target them. On the other hand, the healers and mages just had the boss to guard them.

So coming in from either side the two go in to thin the herd. Something the boss isn’t taking lightly. Though to her distress, she isn’t able to be in two places at once and so has to make a choice on who to face, in the end choosing Susan as her opponent. This leaves the mages to handle Jeremy as the four kobolds in the frontline try and rush to help.

Jeremy isn’t having any of it and after dodging through a handful of spells reaches the first healer and slices right through its neck before grabbing its head and pulling back to prevent a quick fix healing spell. Though it isn’t just him having luck in his attacks.

You might have noticed that more than a few spells had been thrown his way. At first, the kobold mages didn’t pay enough attention to this detail. Though when a nasty fire spell burst in the middle of their frontline, they realized their folly. They hadn’t managed to get off those spells; they had been allowed to as the enemy instead focused on a much more destructive joint spell.

Those flanks the kobolds had managed to get in place are suddenly looking a lot less sturdy when the main line isn’t quite there to anchor them. Nevermind the fact another healer soon falls to Jeremy’s blade, the fact that the number of kobolds has dropped below half causes them great distress, and rightfully so. About the only thing going their way is the bosses attack on Susan who, despite her many skills, is soundly being driven back.

Along with that, the bosses four companions have gathered and are moving to join her. A wise decision as Ace and his team are making quick work of all the normal kobolds. From there, it doesn’t take long for the fight to move into its final stage with the boss, her four melee captains, and the healer captain being surrounded.