Explosions range out behind Mud as the artillery were wrapped in chaotic energy.

"Jabrax, is that how those devices function normally?"

"No, Mud. No it is not." Jabrax hopped down from her perch in the air and ran to the back of the bunker, followed shortly by Cob and Novus.

"Wow, it's beautiful," commented Ego from her position on Novus' side. Her scabbard had been mostly restored to its original state as a result of careful polishing on Mud's part, although the leather still looked aged. Ego had said she liked the new look, saying it was refined.

While Mud thought about the aesthetics of the equipment, the golem was distracted by the screaming and disordered scrambling of the humans in the wake of the explosions. An illogical reaction, thought Mud. Running around and screaming incoherently are both unlikely to improve the current situation.

Mud had much more respect for those that steadfastly continued to perform their tasks despite the disruption. The elites on the front lines of combat were able to quickly reestablish order among their own ranks. Church personnel also showed remarkable stoicism in the face of the unexpected event. Those who reacted the most poorly were the younger and less experienced among the delvers, who had no rigorous formal training.

"It's unthinkable that an accident would happen at all of those emplacements at the same time. Someone must have sabotaged them." Jabrax rubbed her chin as the magic slowly faded, revealing the ruined remains of buildings and platforms upon which they had rested.

"Couldn't The Great Magician restore them? Like he did the staircase?" A hint of panic was clear in Novus' voice.

Jabrax shook her head, but Cob answered for her. "What are you, a moron? If Mag fixed it, they could just blow it up again."

"It's possible this was something they could only do once, but it's not worth the gamble. Magnus is too important to waste energy needlessly when an unknown enemy has arrived."

"This might be a stupid question but..." Novus hesitated for a moment. "There's no way that the dungeon did this, right?"

"I should think not."

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Within the sewers of Geltheas stood an ant the size of a horse, clad in an unadorned grey military uniform. It stood in a fugue state, antenna swaying wildly. Around him, tightly packing the wide tunnels, stood multitudes of human soldiers, resting in preparation for the upcoming battle.

Compared to most militaries, the Republic's uniform was rather simple. Conscripts were expected to provide their own armor, resulting in wide variations in style among the troops. What unified the disparate soldiers was the tabard which each wore; the slate grey of the Republic, emblazoned on the breast with the symbol Phagia in stark black. A downward-pointing triangle, symbolizing the many being above the few.

This symbol represented the core ideal of the Phagia Republic. That the common people were the ones with power. There was no king or ultra-wealthy or ruling class in Phagia. All things were a matter of popular vote, and all property was owned by everyone. The powerful, those with high tiers or who held the responsibility of command, were servants of the masses.

Even the general of this very excursion, Vale Farwind, could be removed from command by a majority vote of his soldiers. Of course, they would never even think of doing such a thing; they were loyal to the general. He had gifted the troops with countless victories before, and today they had no doubt he would bring them yet another. Capturing this city would be a great boon to the people of Phagia. And, should the citizens of Geltheas join the Republic willingly, it would be a boon to them too.

While the soldiers performed their various activities, all eyes remained on the ant. After joining the Republic, the ant-men had quickly integrated themselves into the nation. Due to their large population size, they enjoyed greater rights than most species. Their kind also displayed remarkable solidarity, forming a powerful voting bloc. In the military, their unique ability to perform long-distance, untraceable communication was also invaluable.

Finally, the communications officer exited his fugue state. All conversations in the tunnel immediately stopped as the soldiers awaited the general's command. The distinctive clicking voice of an ant-man quickly filled the echoing tunnel. "We are to commence the attack immediately. Artillery has been destroyed." A short cheer spread through the troops. They had all heard the reverberations of a blast moments ago, but this confirmation was very welcome. "Wave is less than projected. Expect heavy resistance."

The elected commander for the detachment, a veteran of countless battles under General Farwind, quickly called the men to formation. Within moments, the disorganized mob was arranged in straight lines, three abreast. Although the tunnels were wide, this was the most that could fit on the paths without wading into flowing water. With another sharp command, the troops began their march.

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On the ocean coast of the city Geltheas sat several large boats, as well as the corpses of those few guardsmen left to watch the seas. Beside the corpses lay the thick, reinforced, and heavily enchanted bars which would normally block access to the sewers. Now they were little more than mangled and torn metal.

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Jabrax stood with a calculating look on her face for some time. Eventually, she seemed to have an epiphany. "Mud, we should return to the mansion. Now."

"Are you suggesting we abandon our post!?" Novus was shocked at the idea.

"Why?" Mud response was more subdued.

"A foreign nation is taking advantage of the wave to attack the city. It's not even a rare tactic. I can't think of any other explanation of the explosions."

Cob scratched his head in exaggerated confusion. "Who would even attack Pancal? They're not at war with anyone."

"Who cares?" Jabrax crossed her arms and looked sternly. "I don't want to get stuck in some war and die pointlessly."

"But it's our patriotic duty to protect our homeland of Pancal!" Novus proclaimed proudly.

Everyone just stared at her for a moment in silence. Under the glare she withered, eventually letting out a weak "nevermind".

"Right, so let's get out of here. We need to split before they attack again or troops arrive." Jabrax punched her open palm as she paced back and forth in the small pillbox.

Mud considered its options. A human had told it to come here and assist with holding back the dungeon wave. While it had never been directly ordered to remain until the end of the wave, it was implied as such. It was a matter of guessing at intent, but all things being equal Mud would prefer to remove all doubt by remaining where it was.

Seeing that Mud wasn't reacting, Jabrax tried a different tactic. "Mud, if an enemy nation takes over Geltheas, they'll be coming to loot Cithlar's house next. We need to secure our defenses."

That was enough to convince Mud. Unlike the ambiguous order to remain, the order to protect the estate was clear. "We will return to the Cithlar estate."

"Great, I don't want to die in a war either. I'll come with you guys." Cob quickly gathered his equipment and as much of the Association provided gear as he could carry.

Novus eyed the front lines of battle. "I don't know about this..."

Without hesitation, Mud once again blasted Novus with mind magic, eroding her ability to resist compulsions. "Do as I command. Leave with me. Do not question my orders."

Novus took on a slightly dazed look for a moment. "Yes... I shouldn't question. You know what's best."

After Mud released the spell, the light of rationality slowly returned to the girl's eyes. The golem was slightly concerned that she was taking longer than previously to regain her senses, and a mild madness seemed to remain in her eyes even after the effects had fully faded. Mental degradation, in all likelihood.

But that was a concern for another time, under less pressing circumstances. "We're leaving now." With rapid steps, Mud made its way out from the back of the pillbox, followed shortly by its minions. Quickly spotting the group, an Association employee approached.

"Mr. Mud, don't worry about the explosions, we have it under control. Return to doing your task and put it out of your mind."

"Cob-" Before Mud could finish its sentence, the heavily scarred swordsman replied.

"No, you don't need to follow that one."

"What-?" Cob rudely pushed the employee to the side as the group walked briskly away from the front lines and in the direction of the road. By now, order had mostly been restored to the field. As such, a group of fighters moving away from the front lines stood out as strange.

Before anyone could approach to question them again, however, a useful distraction appeared.

Arcing over the rooftops west of the field came a rain of arrows. While some few noticed the incoming projectiles, including Mud itself, the warning cry came too late. Countless soldiers and delvers were skewered by the wide spread of projectiles. Mud's group came out unscathed, thanks to the golem's quick action.

Immediately sending a mental warning of the danger, Mud stretched its body to create a dome of rock above its companions, deflecting the steel headed arrows. Dropping a majority of the stolen goods from the pillbox, Cob began running east in a full sprint. The rest of the group soon followed his example.

Mud's party was not the only group fleeing, either. While delvers were very willing to participate in monster subjugation, they often had very little regard for nations. As it became clear that matters were escalating beyond what they were comfortable with, those with weak loyalties began to flee.

Quickly lost in the flow of bodies, Mud's group managed to escape the battlefield. As Mud rounded the corner onto the cobblestone road, it saw another volley of arrows falling towards the field behind it.

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Valefar examined the state of the battlefield from his position at the top floor of the bank building. As expected, a large amount of delvers were fleeing. Phagia would need to pay reparations to the Association for hitting their personnel during this sneak attack, but the Delver's Association's laws regarding unintended casualties during acts of war provided some leeway. Ironically, there would be fewer repercussions from the Association for killing fifty delvers during an act of war than for killing a single delver in times of peace.

The delvers now scurred down the streets and away from the area of conflict, and would likely flee entirely out of the city. Of course, Valefar would make no attempt to stop them. Why should he? There was no need to waste manpower on a pointless engagement. Besides, once the Republic established control over the city, those very same people would likely return to work the dungeon. Delvers are notoriously fickle.

As the troops below finally began circling around the buildings to the west for their melee strike, only one thing truly concerned Valefar. Hopefully, his battle today wouldn't mess up whatever plans Jabrax was working on in the city. Inconveniencing a real life would be truly regrettable.