Honestly I am completely speechless right now, okay so for context I am currently at my dungeon entrance and I witness a standoff between eight ruffians dressed in ornate plate armor that's got some elegant patterns engraved on them, forming a tower shield wall against fourteen Dragdville City Guards, their only armor is a simple breastplate, shin guards, and blue plumed morion helmets. And yeah don’t think that I didn’t notice that shattered pedestal on the ruffians shoulders. Oh and did I forget to mention that ALL of them have The Black Mark? And they have it engraved on their chest plates, they’re not even hiding it!
Man those plate armor look thick enough to stop bullets, if not then maybe lessen the impact… I see the National Guard and the Landwehr already formed a line much further ahead.
Then the shieldwall separated before quickly reforming again, revealing a tall figure no less than 6’7” and this figure unlike the rest has gold pattern trimmed on his armor and his helmet has twelve black feathers attached at the back. He began speaking in a loud voice that's been amplified, like a megaphone. “You fools, stand down now and your lives may be spared. You are merely delaying the inevitable, which is the destruction of this dungeon. We shall succeed where the bandits failed!” The person declared.
Excuse me what!? What the hell did I do to deserve this? I seriously don’t remember pissing anyone off and If I did then I’m sorry! Oh my god this is serious business right here! And those poor Dragdville City guards are completely outmatched here considering the fact that there's only two with swords and kite shields, while the rest just have spears going against tower shields, longswords and straight up full plate armor. Yet despite this massive disadvantage, they look determined to hold their ground.
“You bastards have been coming here, killing OUR dungeons every time one appears, HUMILIATING us kicking us while we're down!” Somebody from within the city guard yelled, “Well guess what? No more humiliation! No more dungeon killing! We the people of Kurz are going to defend this dungeon till our last dying breath! We have a second dungeon in our country and we’re not gonna let you or ANYONE ELSE take it from us!”
As soon as the man finished his impassioned albeit impromptu, speech his comrades in arms began cheering.
I appreciate the sentiment, but my guy they are not going to last long against them…
The feathered guy turned around, “Crush them.” The person said, before all hell broke loose, as the plate armor guys rushed the guards. It was a completely one-sided fight, and despite the guards valiantly fighting, not a single one hit.
The aftermath is let's just say, quite brutal and I’ll leave it at that. After they had dealt with the guards, they continued down the road.
“Sir, what should we do about any incoming reinforcements?” A ruffian asked.
The head ruffian looked as though he was contemplating, at least I think so. Couldn’t tell with that armor. “Ignore them and keep pressing forwards, we’re only here for one mission, eliminating this dungeon while it’s young.”
By now they’d spotted the militias plus Helen, and they immediately formed into a shieldwall, and began slowly advancing as the militias opened fire.
OH MY GOD THE BULLETS ARE JUST BOUNCING OFF THE SHIELDS! And just like that, my creatures didn’t stand a chance the moment the armored ruffians made contact. I get this dreadful feeling that they’re gonna just breeze through the first three floors. Man I’m seriously hoping they get completely stymied by the oceans of my fourth floor! And the non armed farmers wisely stayed out. Besides, they're not even supposed to fight. Once they reached the floor two entrance, they met some resistance from the militias, but they were easily dealt with.
I hope Isabella and her Guerrillas will get some potshots at them, preferably from the back… oh god I just realized I’ve never seen them use magic. Oh no I dread to think of what would happen if they begin using magic…
CODE RED CODE RED, I’M AT DEFCON 1, ok deep non-existent breaths in and out. Don’t panic Amelia, maybe they’re magic isn’t actually strong oh who am I kidding of course its...
I teleport myself to the fourth floor entrance, where the artillery camp is. Everybody is anxiously staring into the city. I quickly gathered every single artillery crewwoman to assemble around me, “As soon as those ruffians enter, begin shelling them immediately!” I exclaimed, with my incorporeal self flailing around.
Everyone saluted and scrambled to position the cannons. Though I think the howitzers might have more of an advantage here.
Time to check back on their progress, and - OH NO, they’ve defeated the Black Watch at the bridge, and have just crossed it! Ok at least the Black Watch managed to put some serious damage on their armors. If you can call medium sized dents damaged. Oh but where’s Isabella and her Guerrillas! The only thing standing between them and the entrance to floor 3 is Annabelle with her Nockgun, who is standing in front of said entrance.
I desperately searched far and wide for any signs of the Guerrillas, when I spotted their corpses on the road just before reaching the bridge. And yes! They took one of them out! Err well not really man’s still alive incapacitated, looks like they’ve left man for dead. GOOD RIDDANCE! My only saving grace so far is the fact that none of them have collected the keys to enter my core room, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s gonna matter…
Time to check on Annabelle. Ok they still have not reached her, though they are getting close, albeit they’re walking very slow. Not gonna lie they look very paranoid and are watching the foliage like hawks, good that means the Guerrillas have done their job of instilling fear and conducting psychological warfare.
Huh? Why is Annabelle surrounded in a ray of bright light? Why have her eyes turned gold and shining? You know what it doesn’t matter, as long as these guys get evicted!
OhmygodthegrouphasreachedAnnabelleohmygodohmygodImscaredImpanickingImactuallyshakingrightnow. DON'T HUG ME I’M SCARED! Okay okay Amelia calm down, okay, you're gonna be fine - Annabelle has somehow become supercharged, which means she’ll be able to take them on right? Right!?
The group of seven upon seeing Annabelle, were hesitant to approach, that was until their leader shouted an attack order and charged at her.
Annabelle meanwhile, aimed her Nockgun, which was also glowing gold, and fired seven gold projectiles, all of which hit someone, completely shattering their shield. She then blinked out of existence, and then reappeared right in front of the person who’s shield had just been shattered, and she punch them square in the face.The person reacted by swiftly raising their longsword in an attempt to block the oncoming strike. It did nothing as Annabelle’s fist split the blade in half and then landed a very severe blow to their face. This completely dented their helmet and trickles of blood could be seen pouring out of the gaps. Not long after the person dropped to the ground.
Annabelle looked around, finding that the rest had disappeared. She clicked her tongue and sat down on the ground. “Cowards.” She muttered.
Wait if they’re gone, then oh crap they’ve made into the third floor! The cannibals should slow them down, but I highly doubt it. They’ll only prove to be a nuisance at best.
Saying a quick goodbye to Annabelle, who’s clearly still very pissed off. I traveled to the first floor and the six of them are now scrambling to get out the house before it collapses. Good, looks like the artillery is doing their job.
In the end six managed to get out by destroying a piece of the wall, where they entered a street filled to the brim with cannibals. Though I admit some are dying due to the artillery fire…
“Undead! Remember your training.” The Leader said, as they formed a circle, shields up and weapons drawn, and the leader deployed some kind of force field which deflected an explosive shell that would’ve landed in the middle.
Touche man touche. Anyways they continued moving down the street, in a slow and steady pace, all the while staving off cannibals. The good news is that they have no idea where they’re going and are unknowingly traveling in the direction of the barracks. Good, this’ll put them in contact with the Opolchenyie, and my very own regiment which I created. Additionally the Austrian and Ottoman regiments will arrive to assist, nearly doubling the numbers.
“Forget the formation, we need to get to the Core Room now!” The Leader said, “The barrier isn’t going to last long.”
True to the leader's words, cracks are beginning to show on the barrier.
Good! I hope it breaks, while you're at it LEAVE! They didn’t comply at my polite and reasonable request, and continued doubling down, by hustling further into the street.
They made some turns here and there, till eventually they reached the barracks, but they very quickly ran past it. However a cannonball struck one of them in the leg causing him to collapse to ground, but the others just straight up ditched them as cannibals instantly swarmed them all while being pelted by musket balls.
I almost feel bad for that person… almost, too bad it wasn’t the leader. That armor is saving them from being eaten alive. Aaand uh oh here comes a French cannibal sapper!
The group of six soon reached the outskirts of the town, spotted my floor four entrance, and began beelining towards it. Seriously, do they not see the camp? Are they blind? Am I stupid?
I see the cannon is now firing canister shot, forcing all six to raise their shields, but oh no! The howitzer is still alternating between round shot, so they can't bunch up to make the shields more effective. Really a conundrum. And of course the pellets from the canister shot just bounced off the shields.
As they grew closer to the camp, the Young Guard began firing volleys at the frontal assault led by their feathered leader.
“Just disregard everything and rush to the entrance, if they stand in front, kill them. FOR THE GLORY OF THE LAZIRAN EMPIRE” The feathered ruffian said, as they vaulted over the sandbag wall, completely walking through the stakes that have been planted on the ground.
Just what exactly is that armor made out of? They’re strong enough to block bullets, they’re strong enough to absorb cannonball hits! Yeah like that person from earlier, he should’ve lost, no he would’ve lost his leg! It was a direct hit as well.
And wait a minute! What’s this about ‘The Glory of the Laziran Empire’ argh! Forget about it, I have more important things to worry about than where these ruffian scoundrels originated from! Like you know, NOT DYING!
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Of course they’re slaughtering everyone with complete ease, my god I just witnessed one of them slice a cannoneer in half. They are exactly twelve steps away from entering my fourth floor.
The only thing standing between them is Jeannette, Marie, and Jean. Since when did Jean get her hands on a spontoon? Regardless, that half-pike should keep them at bay.
“VIVE LA FRANCE” Marie yelled, as she charged the six, wildly swinging her saber, she was soon followed by Jean and Jeannette, both pointing their bayonet/spontoon forward.
Yeah safe to say they were instantly killed in the most gruesome way ever. I’ll uh, spare everyone the details. I just hope that more die on the fourth floor. I hope they all drown.
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Meanwhile outside the dungeon.
The fledgling city of Dragdville is thrown into utter chaos, the streets bear the telltale signs of a battle with an occasional dead body littering the street.
Several hours had already passed after the invaders went inside the dungeon. Currently a battalion of soldiers from the Kurzian Union Army has been deployed to the city of Dragdville to confront the invaders.
A man with a brown handlebar mustache, wearing decorated plate armor and a Morion helmet with blue, white, and green tricolor plume at the back, stepped forward to address soldiers. “Men and women! On this day, a band of dungeon killers have launched their most brazen attack yet.” He declared, causing the crowd to murmur amongst themselves. “Eight Foreign knights have dared to attack the good people of Dragdville, nay all of the Union! The city guard had put up a valiant defense, but they were no match for the Laziran Empire’s most finest and decorated soldiers. As such it is our duty to avenge them, but to also thwart their efforts to shatter our country’s second dungeon. For Kurz! For the Union!”
As he ended his speech, the man unsheathed his bastard sword raising it high in the air, as the gathered soldiers cheered loudly raising their various weapons high.
Soon after, the man entered the dungeon, and the rest of the battalion followed suit…
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Returning back to Amelia :)
You know the only reason they’ve made it this far is a combination of two things: one just rushing to the entrance, two straight up ditching their teammates the moment they become a liability.
I mean seriously, Annabelle would’ve been able to wipe the floor with them easily had they stayed and actually fought her. COWARDS!
On the bright side the entire crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge is outwardly hostile to them but can’t do anything because the ship is necessary to even progress on the floor. With the exception of Muriel who is actively engaging with the ruffians.
And the former for the past twenty minutes or so is acting like a sarcastic jerk towards them. At least I think, I can’t really tell with her pirate way of speaking.
“Aye tis true, ye could kill us. If we were on land, that is, sides ye know how to run me ship?” Muriel said, responding to a threat that the feathered guy said earlier.
His response was to unsheathe his longsword, but Muriel doesn’t look worried, if anything her smile grew wider and she just raised her hands.
“I will cu- you know what, why are we even bothering with talking with you dungeon creatures, just get us to the entrance.”
Muriel lowered her hands, until they sat rested upon her hips “Helmswoman, set sail across the briney deep, and double it.” She ordered.
“Aye, aye cap’n” the helmswoman responded, but the ship is not moving… oh right the sails are still not raised.
“Why is the ship not moving?” The leader asked.
Muriel put on a shocked expression, or that's what it looks like, I think I know what’s going on! She’s intentionally delaying that group of ruffians until the other ships arrive, that i’m one hundred percent sure.
“Ah curses, me mateys responsible for raising the sails got down with severe scurvy and had to be taken down to the brig. And ye must scale the rigging to unfurl the sails, tis the only way.” Muriel sobbed, crying fake tears.
Ok I know for a fact that none of my creatures can contract diseases, so this is just a bold faced lie. Buut I’m not gonna tell them that.
The feathered guy clicked his tongue and ordered one of his buddies to climb. To their credit, they started scaling the ropes and even made it halfway up. However, the weight of their armor proved too much, causing them to lose their balance and crash down onto the deck leaving a gaping hole.
The feathered person facepalmed, even with his helmet on. I could tell he was about to say something when a cannon ball struck the foremost causing it to come barreling down!
Oh wow we have all the navy ships that prowled this floor had arrived, yeah fellas good luck surviving this encounter! Especially since the crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge aren’t doing anything to help.
Oh wow the smaller ships aren’t even engaging, they’re just letting the bigger ships do all the work, and oh what's this more people entered my dungeon? Oh great, as if I need any more problems, I’ll go check it out just in case.
Teleporting myself to the first floor an- Holy crap that’s a lot of people! And oh look at this they’re all wearing different styled plate armor and morion helmets, I think that man with a long flowing beard wearing fancy armor with a blue, white, and green tricolor plume on his helmet must be the commanding officer, or somebody similar. And I see a couple of people who all have the same tricolor plume on their helmets, but they’re armor is less fancy. Must be lower in the command structure.
He went over to inspect the grizzly scene of the slaughter. “Poor guys didn’t even stand a chance.” He commented.
Oh right a different version of Permadeath mode is currently active, meaning 14 Dragdville city guards just died and aren’t respawning damn… or maybe they will, considering how none of them have The Black Mark and are definitely not associated with those eight.
The man motioned for everyone to continue down the path, ignoring my dead creatures. Ok looks like these guys aren’t a threat to my existence. Let's check back to the fourth floor. Alright the British ship-of-the-line had dealt the final blow to the Queen Anne’s Revenge, as she began sinking good riddance! I hope those guys sink to the bottom of the ocean and never come back!
She sank till all that’s left were lifeboats filled with her surviving crew, not a single armored enemy in sight. That was until a huge ball of light rose above the water, soon the lights dissipated revealing the feathered ruffian, to be levitating.
YOUR JOKING! YOUR ABSOLUTELY JOKING! I cannot believe this, yeah this person most definitely saved their last few tricks till their teammates died… and they just propelled themselves toward the fifth floor entrance.
Oh my god that battlefield is the only thing standing between me and that feathered ruffian, if it comes down to it, even if my fighting abilities are nonexistent I will fight till the bitter end!
Let’s see, the person has entered the battlefield of Waterloo, only to be met by a wall of muskets and cannons aimed right at them.
“FIRE!” Someone shouted.
The person didn’t have time to react as every single musket and cannon fired simultaneously, creating a thick blanket of smoke covering the field.
It took a couple of agonizingly long minutes for the smoke to dissipate, but once the smoke cleared the person was on their knees holding their sword as crutch. Furthermore their armor was a complete mess, riddled with dents, some actually penetrating, yeah I could tell where the cannon balls landed just by looking at the big round shaped dents that littered their armor.
The person stood up, trembling violently with each movement. They were struggling so much that a light gust of wind could probably knock them over. Slowly, they lifted the battered remains of their helmet and tossed it aside.
What the heck!? That person coming to kill me was a cute girl! No way, are you being serious right now? Look I’m sorry but cute girl or not you're trying to kill me and I can’t have that. Judging by the long pointed ears, chiseled face, fair-skin, this girl must either be a wood elf or a high elf. I can’t really tell, but it doesn’t matter since my life here is on the line!
the girl hadn’t had time to get her bearings straight, struggling just to even stand then bugles could be heard playing a reverie, followed by the ground shaking as the thunderous cacophony of hooves from a massive multi-nation cavalry charge filled with all types. In that mix there’s light cavalry to heavy cavalry, lancers, dragoons, hussars, cuirassiers, you name it.
She raised her longsword and swiftly parried a strike from a Prussian Death’s Head Hussar, she turned and knocked a Polish Lancer off her horse. Till finally a French Dragoon had pierced her throat, causing the invader to drop to the ground, clutching her throat tight. And before long she succumbed to blood loss.
Yeah, I’m not gonna cry over her death, however I am gonna cry for the fourteen guys that stood zero chance yet stood their ground. Also I dismissed the system notifications. I'll look at them later, I’ve got some business to attend to.
Time to check on that battalion, they are all standing in front of the floor four entrance. I then re manifested my avatar in front of them. This caused some of the soldiers to jump in fright at my sudden appearance.
The commander, who was about ready to address his soldiers, turned to face me. “So I’m assuming you’re the avatar for this dungeon, yes?”
I nodded, “Yes the invaders have all been dealt with, even if you are quite late to the party.” I said, placing my hands on my hips. “And also who are you anyway?”
The man coughed, then spoke, “Well, I am Commander Lucius Pelt of the Union Guard, we were deployed to Dragdville the moment the capital received word of highly armed, highly armored dungeon killers rampaging around Dragdville.” Lucius replied, “It sure is lucky that your creatures dealt with them before it’s too late, as we wouldn’t have arrived in time to stop them.”
I nodded, with a grim expression visible on my face, I dread to think of what would happen had I not created my fifth floor… well no use in musing over the what if’s
“We will be on our way now, as I have a report to make to the Grand Council, it is likely that we’ll be stationed here for the foreseeable future.” The commander continued before ordering the batalion to begin marching back. Though I swear I heard him mutter under his breath and I quote ‘this is going to cause a political shitshow when I send the report.’
Again I could’ve misheard him and he muttered something completely different.
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City of Kurz, Grand Council Hall:
The council hall was unnervingly silent, a stark contrast to the usual buzz of debate that typically filled the space. The only sound that could be heard came from a glass orb resting on a podium in the center of the room, placed on an elevated platform overlooking the marble seats arranged in a semicircle where the councilors sat.
Inside said orb is the face of Commander Lucius Pelt as he relayed his report to those present. “As such it is imperative that Dragdville be reinforced in case any more terrorists would launch another brazen attack on the city and the fledgling dungeon in a more brazen manner. Furthermore we’ve confirmed a total of twenty-seven casualties, all of whom were members of the city guard and there were fourteen city guards that perished inside the dungeon. They have since respawned and are currently incapacitated due to severe phantom pains. Furthermore we’ve identified the armor worn by the terrorists to be of Laziran origin, though we will not rule it out the possibility of a third party wearing Laziran armor with the express purpose of causing chaos, and thus a thorough investigation will be immediately conducted. That is all.”
Right after Commander Lucius Pelt finished delivering his report, the entire hall erupted into chaos, with councilors shouting and arguing among themselves. Then, a man in a powdered wig and wore a black gown stepped onto the platform, picked up a gavel, and delivered a powerful strike to the sound block. The room instantly fell silent.
“Order, there will be order!” The man in the gown spoke, “Now if there is anybody who has any suggestions for our next course of action, please raise your hand now.”
A set of hands immediately rose up. Then the man pointed to a young woman with fiery red hair dressed in an elegant silk dress. “Representative Mikaelya Rose of Kurz, the floor is yours.”
She stood up, “Mr Speaker, I say we summon the Laziran ambassador and demand an explanation for their empire’s bold and brazen transgression upon the Union!” The woman proclaimed, followed by a chorus of yeah’s.
“All in favor of summoning the ambassador, raise your hand.” The Speaker said, he began counting the number of raised hands, and by the end the Speaker only counted ten raised hands out of the thirty-four representatives, and thus the motion to summon the Laziran ambassador failed.
before the Speaker could announce the result, another figure stood up wearing a blue justacorps jacket, it was Councilor Nicholas Antelik of Bognan sitting at the center-left "Now now, let's be all rational here, they could be dissidents or some nefarious actor wishing to cause trouble to our two states, or worse a false flag attack to draw us into a bloody war with the Lazirans. Let us wait until the good commander finishes his investigation." he said getting a chorus of agreements.
The Speaker nodded, “I agree Councillor Bognan, we shall wait on the conclusions from Commander Lucius Pelt investigation doing making any rash decisions.”
The Speaker redirected his attention onto the ensemble of representatives, “Anything else?”