Red would smile with pride if not for the undead hoard approaching his fae army. He was happy that Lotus was able to truly direct her first action as princess, instead of allowing the higher power in the room to do it for her. He frowned though as he looked up and saw three more zombies enter through the door, their shambling forms only unique in the lives they lived before becoming undead. A human, a Dragonborn, and a dwarf stumbling in with milky eyes and outstretched hands as they desired the flesh of the living.
Red suddenly felt his stomach lurch, his vision swimming with vertigo as he felt something change in the dynamic of his dungeon. He felt faint, and there was no doubt in his mind that if he were still flesh and blood he would be sweating. He wiped the imaginary droplets from his brow, taking deep pointless breaths as he tried to understand what was happening. He looked around the room, his eyes going wide in shock as he realized that the battle had frozen in place. As if time was a faulty router and the universe itself a computer, everyone sat mid action to buffer. A chill went down his spine as three notifications popped into view.
New Intruder Detected! Zombie Mob
Random Raid Event Triggered!
An unrelenting mob of thirty zombies has entered the dungeon, and seeks to bring ruin to those within! The dungeon must muster its forces and beat back the unrelenting tide.
The first two made perfect sense, since it mirrored how the flies on his first day had become a swarm simply by increasing their numbers. He was certain that this meant that the zombies now had bonuses applied to their group. The unfortunate feature of that, if he remembered correctly, was that all individuals involved with a group buff need to be killed for it to falter. So even if he were to slay all but a single zombie, it would still have the buffs applied to it.
The third notification was odd, in the fact that it was still buffering and trying to give him information on the battle at hand. An instinct crawled across his mind as he began to feel what his duties as a dungeon were. While this was Lotus’ [Lair]. It was still in the confines of his dungeon, and only he could make certain decisions for the summoned individuals. This new kind of pop-up would become the control board for his side of the war, and he would need to give it his all or face destruction yet again.
War Mode Activated
Enemy Forces:
10 Human zombies
5 Dwarven zombies
5 Elven zombies
10 Dragonborn zombies
Auto-Generated Enemy Special Units:
Lesser Necromancer
Zombie Berserker
Haunted Corpse
Enemy Leadership:
Lesser Necromancer
Allied Forces:
15 Soldier Fae
5 Scout Fairies
23 Fairies
32 Crawdads
1 GemCraw
4 Rock Lobsters
1 Metal Lobster
3 Slime
1 Demonic Slime
Allied Special Units:
Princess of Poison Lotus
Brave Warrior Snips
Archimedes Vampiric Raven
Leadership:
[Free] Princess of Poison Lotus
[Open Leadership Slot]
[Open Leadership Slot]
[Open Leadership Slot]
Leadership Bonuses:
1. Hold Court: Gather round ye huddled masses to hear the royal decree! A royal in attendance is able to unify their subjects under one banner. +50% Unit Cohesion, -10 Group Size Requirements
2. Off with their heads!: Someone has been painting the roses blue! Or was it red… A royal in attendance is able to declare a number of enemies equal to their ascension level. All selected enemies will receive additional damage from allied forces. Slots: 4/4
Unit Groupings:
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Soldier Fae Company; 25/20 (+10)
Fairy Swarm 33/30 (+10)
Crawdad Swarm 43/50 (+10)
Red frowned a bit deeper as he read through the entire sheet of the battle dynamics. The most distressing thing seemed to be the system was actively working against him. “Whose side is the system on?! It upgraded the enemies, and made it to where they have unique creatures. Not to mention the Snap Drakes don’t count as allied forces?! They are some of my strongest monsters!” He growled as he gripped the box by the edges, wanting to snap it in half with the rage that he was experiencing. As he gripped the box, suddenly he was hit by a wave of instinct that he had not experienced before.
He was suddenly aware of the cost and benefit of his troops, the way that they operated as individual units, and so much more. He looked at the Soldier fae and observed the group dynamic. The soldiers wore two sets of armor, they were either colored red or blue based on which side of the Alchemical oak they lived on. Red was aware that the elven-like soldier fae worked better under a direct leader, and thus focused their efforts towards combat. He selected a single red soldier, the eighth of the unit and thus the odd woman out.
“You will be named Arabella, and you will be the Captain of this company. Be prepared for combat soldier, it is time to go to war!” He said firmly, feeling his mana twist around the soldier still frozen in time. She changed only in the garb that she was wearing, her red armor and fatigues became a purple uniform with a single star on each shoulder. Her hair was still in a messy orange bun, bucket helmet, and the face paint she wore as stripes beneath her eyes. She was now a Captain, and thus he added her to the leadership pool so that her bonuses would affect the entire defending side.
“Now, next I need someone who is brave! None better than you Snips. You might be a lobster with no way to muster the troops, but I'll be damned if you don’t have heart! Go get’em soldier!” He shouted at the golden lobster, the form remaining still as the addition of the leadership slot did nothing to actually affect a creatures’ appearance. He wouldn’t have gone with this decision if it was not for the instincts pulsing within his mind, confidence filling his heart. For once, he had no actual fear for the battle that was at hand.
“Finally, while I would love the air support of Archimedes, I don’t have the trust to bank on his dedication in this fight. So there is one person that I think needs some actual acknowledgement.” He said with a ruby-toothed grin as he floated over to the demonic slime, the purple goo sitting at the back of the army since it was too slow to stick with the charge. He put his hand on the slime’s body, considering the options before giving a resolute nod.
“Bulwark Glut! I expect you to handle as many hits in this combat! Get to it!” He said firmly as he watched the slime transform in frozen time. The ball first gained a set of gelatinous horns once the name was added to his system. As with the other times that someone got a title, the newly named demonic slime ascended to the next stage of his evolution. The purple ball extended upward, taking on a semi-humanoid shape as it bulked up to take on the blows of the unrelenting mob. To finish it off, the slime was added to the leadership roles, before Red checked that section once again to see the fruit of these sudden changes.
Leadership:
[Free] Princess of Poison Lotus
Brave Warrior Snips
Captain Arabella
Bulwark Glut
Leadership Bonuses:
1. Hold Court: Gather round ye huddled masses to hear the royal decree! A royal in attendance is able to unify their subjects under one banner. +50% Unit Cohesion, -10 Group Size Requirements
2. Off with their heads!: Someone has been painting the roses blue! Or was it red… A royal in attendance is able to declare a number of enemies equal to their ascension level. All selected enemies will receive additional damage from allied forces. Slots: 4/4
3. Inspiring Presence: A brave hero rallies the troops! +25% Health to all allies
4. Leadership: A leader is not made, they are born. A true leader is a force to rally under. +25% Damage dealt to enemies.
5. Bulwark of the Damned: A sinner knows no pain other than the abandonment of heaven; and the embrace of hell. Allies being defended by {Bulwark Glut} receive an additional demonic damage to their next attack equal to the amount {Bulwark Glut} absorbed.
“That’s right! I am finally a dungeon! A real dungeon that knows how to muster forces against invasion. There is going to be no more deaths on my part, and I am gonna live to ripe old age!” Red shouted to the world as the war time pop-up disappeared and he felt another notification appear before him. He felt a weight with it, the gravity almost suffocating like the flow of instinct that he had received when the war notification had first appeared.
Begin Combat?
Yes No
He took a stuttering breath, looking around between the gathered forces and his own army of random individuals. A familiar sensation filled the area where his heart should be, his finger hovering over the yes button. He would have vocally announced his readiness, but the confidence had melted away once the preparatory instincts had faded. Dread filled his heart as a trembling crystalline finger pressed against the button that would seal his fate.
After the finger retracted from the fading box, he realized that his own hand was fading away as well. “W-what? What’s happening?” He asked the air as he watched his hand begin to dissipate into mana and flow out across the army. Time was slowly beginning to move forward again, the blink of an eye, the battle cry born aloft from the back of a throat, the rage. He could feel that his creatures were angry with those that would dare sully their home, and despite his fear it bubbled within his own chest. His arm was completely gone at this point, and he knew the rest of himself would be gone before the battle truly started. His mind was spreading out to the whole of his dungeon, making everything more real.
He choked back his fear as the rage burned in his fading chest, looking at his creatures and knowing that this was their first stand of many. They had been given direction by Lotus, but that didn’t excuse him from adding to the thundering roar of a dungeon’s forces.
“I’ve done everything I can! Given you every advantage I could muster for you, my friends! I cannot be part of this battle, but I am with you. Defend me. Defend your home. But most importantly defend yourselves! I believe in you all! Fucking tear those cocksuckers apart!” Red screamed with all the fury in his core, feeling the entire dungeon shake as he gave his last cry before the battle began. As his torso disappeared, a new pop-up appeared, and he could only smile for a moment before his mind faded into the mana mist.
The mana of Red’s dungeon flowed away from the consciousness that controlled it, lulling that clever mind into a peaceful state. Across every individual in the allied forces, backs straightened, scowls deepened, and their eyes flashed crimson with an unearthly glow. For the moment there was no Red of the Dungeon. There were only the heaving chests of warriors, metal coated wooden armaments raised high in defiance against the undead mob. As the charging forces continued their attack, emboldened by new leaders, they felt Red’s essence pour into them. He would be with them every step of the way, fueling their fury.
Rally Unlocked!
Rage of the Red Core: Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.
All creatures experience the inner fury of their creator, and rage against all those that defy him. All Melee allies receive the [Rage] buff without negative mental effects.