I'm alone in the empty guild hall. Even mana that can always be felt is absent. It's just me. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. I'm once again feeling battered and bruised. Thankfully, my wounds from the fight with Bones are mostly healed. That left plenty of canvas for death to paint its grim scene. Externally, I look fine. Internally, I feel the wounds of the artisan. Pure mana holds me together. I use my mana to keep me upright when I want to slump and fall.
Funny enough, I hold myself by picturing three versions of myself lifting and supporting me. The more concise and realistic the images are, the easier it is to wield the mana to do so. I may be the story's damsel, but I carry my weight.
There is still plenty of fighting outside the walls. Through the scoured glass that now has a gray tint, I see our Wolvs fight off the invading army of demons. The demons still count in the thousands, though our battle has been fierce and one-sided. What can a thousand demons do against a mage? And we have two, maybe three. Still, the denizens of shadow continue to prove their ambition and thirst for power hold no bounds.
Slaughter can't hold back the tide. When one wave is repelled, another launches. Under the constant assault, Wolvsden gains no ground. Our backs are still at the guildhall, and fighting occurs all around. Gavin leads our defense, sending orders telepathically.
Now, on the guild hall roof, Sages send down massive attacks that tear through demons and change our town's landscape with boulders, craters, scorch marks, and icebergs. Fire and death feast past fullness. On the ground, our templars and lancers remove survivors pushing forward. Gene assists Fury in the sky. Bones and his curtailed death mana carve a deep wake into the demons near the guildhall exit. His reanimated soldiers bolster his strength, and they plunge deep into the demon ranks.
I allow myself a couple more breaths of respite and join the fight. I build a platform near the exit and use Bo to support our defenders. Demons are picked off before they can finish their attack. I fire explosive arrows into bunched-up enemies when I get the chance. As my primary focus fights an endless battle, my secondary focus searches for an end.
Trixie, the beastmaster supporting the sages and Fury, is targeted by multiple hit squads of ashenwalkers. Fen intercepts the first squad, intercepting their veiled attacks with bone shields and plating. The guardian's webbing ensnares half of the attackers while Nette's tether enthralls the other half. A second assassination attempt is foiled similarly. Before Fen and Nette can intervene on the third attempt, two squads of ashenwalkers work together to plunge their instruments of death into the beastmaster. Fen falls back to the safety of her sisters as more and more walkers strike.
Noticing growing pressure on the roof, Carlin turns his attention from the forces in front of him and shields the artillery sages with a ring of red fire thick as a wall. The burning barrier halts the shadow assassins in their tracks. The intense heat is unbearable to cross over, even in shadow. Disrupting their kill attempts, Carlin becomes the new focus of the ashen walkers. Hands covered in smoke and body ablaze, the fire templar burns squad after squad until his flames are sputtered by an enchanted arrow, and he is stabbed through the chest, stomach, and arms by multiple shortswords.
Fighting beside Carlin, Coleman cannot protect his squadmate as he is under just as much pressure. That same pressure does little to dissuade Corrin from fighting recklessly as she aggressively tries to recover the corpse of her grandfather, now being eaten by hounds. Corrin conjures stone and iron to bash the enemies before her. The thick protection covering her body keeps her clear of assassin blades. A dog pile of demons forces the granddaughter to the ground, where she is hacked upon by axes and pikes.
No longer concerned about his life, Coleman abandons his defense and rushes to Corrin's aid. He fires ice bolts repeatedly from his reloading crossbow and cleaves bodies in half with his battle ax. His cold aura slows the demons, preventing them from countering and allowing him to claim more lives. Despite his weapon mastery, the soldier cannot save the fallen blacksmith. Now out of position and no longer supported by immediate squadmates, Coleman Fights alone for his life.
More pockets of tension are created as we lose fighters one by one. Pressure is alleviated as Bones grows his dead army. Roxi takes lead of the dead army, charging them into the center of the demon's force, allowing our artillery sages to spread their attacks elsewhere. The respite allows our grounded defenders to reposition and reclaim losing ground. Rays of light spear through demons, shadow wolves, and golems give us more fighting support.
Still, the demons continue to come. Tracy and Nico fall claimed by the numberless foe. Then Noth, Izzy, and Jaken. We are forced to consolidate our defenses around the front of the guild hall, leaving the back open for demons to climb. As they do, our sages must change their focus from the ground to the threat attempting to flank them. I consider whether I can defend the north side when a presence towards the east grabs my attention. Miles away, an avalanche of life surges down the mountains.
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Defensive formation. Gavin commands. Our focus on defense encourages the demons to push forward. Acting like their promised feast is finally delivered, they ravage our shields and barriers. Our tanks stay close and stand their ground. All the mana that can be contributed to our protection is given. More and more demons push forward, hoping to break through our defenses. The force of the aggression can be felt as the pressure within our barriers increases. We grit our teeth and endure as the demons recklessly attack.
The life presence gets closer by the minute, quickly growing in size and power. No longer trying to repel the demons, our defense is tight and unshaken. Mana of all kinds shelters us. Demons die at a slower rate, but we aren't going anywhere. Thunderous footsteps draw closer until the storm can no longer be ignored.
Released by the snare of power, the demons turn to see the charging golden spiders. The avalanche of arachnids has too much momentum. The life empowering them is too vibrant. The spiders can't be stopped. Demons are trampled and buried under the powerful force. Life blooms brightly from a goblin in gilded bark armor atop a giant spider. Charging at the front of his spiders, Cru's razors of golden leaves seek out and cut demons. His commanders weave death by his side. Trees of the forest join the goblin's charge, sending roots and branches to attack the disrupted demons.
"Wolvs. Advance!" Gavin's command is heard loud and clear.
Bones is the first to attack, clad in behemoth armor, and swings two massive battle axes. Death accompanies his attacks. Each swing cuts deep into the demons. Fury collides down next to the dungeon boss, and the dragon ravages with an equally devastating strike. Colby charges next, followed by Gavin, Colemen, Becky, and Brunson. We all follow only a step behind, abandoning the security of the guildhall and rushing forward to destroy the demon army.
The demons break. Gaps are not filled in, and death takes a toll. Once surrounded, Roxi and her dead army now flank the demons anticipating attacks from the north and east. Roxi's force easily cuts through their backs. The demons caught between the dead army and us are quickly slain. Our counterattack expands south, east, and west, pushing to the river, lake, and Cru. Our sages destroy the demons cut off from the masses at our backs. Death doesn't get a chance to pool as Bones, and his dungeon claim it all.
Our forces grow in strength as the fighting persists. I can feel deep within the dungeon core aching to expand. Several lancers break through to the templar rank, and we no longer have members lower than a squire. Gavin and Fury both break through to sage. Even Bones is entirely on a new level.
On the east side of the battlefield, Cru's spiders feast on the life carelessly spent by demons refusing to flee. First, his commanders awaken, turning into full-fledged lancers, and then his spiders evolve, each reaching the rank of superior and then grand. Then, the goblin's drones awaken in a vast vacuum of life energy. Each one of them becomes a full arachnoid like Cru's priestesses and Nette and her sisters.
Through it all, Cru changes as well. Spider legs extend from his back. Each appendage is a fully functioning arm. Like a spider, the goblin has expert control. His razor leaves morph into eight golden arrows, which he directs with his new limbs. The arrows plow through demons, never losing momentum as they pierce through thick skin and armor. So deadly are his arrows; the goblin doesn't swing the cane he holds or unholsters the sword at his side.
We drive the demons back and continue to pursue past the river and deep into the southern forest. It's a grim and dirty affair, but we can't be so casual with the intruders. Gene informs us that our objective is to destroy our connections to the Greater Shadow Realm. The routed enemy guides us to two of them. Gene, Becky, Glimmer, and Lana work together on the runes and rituals that connect our realms. When the connection is weakened, Fury's black fire severs it.
Our demon trio leads us to the last three. Two are destroyed the same as before. The last we decide to leave open. One portal will not be enough to send another invading force; it will provide a natural hunting ground for our developing spiders and youth to grow in power. Any demon that enters our realm will become fodder.
Since our base has been essentially sacked once more, we leave a contingent of volunteers to watch over the remaining portal. The rest of us journey back home. Minions of death gather cores, gear, and weapons all along the way that have yet to be claimed or absorbed by the dungeon. I try to speak with Gene, but she has retreated to her shadow, and I don't feel good about summoning her. Likewise, Lana is nowhere to be found, leaving me unable to do any reconciling.
My attempt to seek out Cru is foiled as he and Bones discuss his new position as a dungeon boss and his power to create sub-bosses. I can't help but smile as the goblin gleams with pride. Even his regent and herald share kind smiles.
I walk alone, watching humans, spiders, demons, elves, and orcs share laughs and highlights over the battle. There is no sadness over the life that we lost. Only jokes about demotions and power rankings are made. In the end, death has brought our dungeon great power.