Chapter 396: A Slime with Balls
Later that morning the Domain finally resumed their assault on Floor Two. New sets of equipment had been passed out to the soldiers mustering on top of the mountain, but on top of that - a reinforcement wave of the 'Dungeon Legion' had arrived. Monsters which had died in the early days of the invasion had had time to respawn and make their way back north, and those suitable for delving into a dungeon joined the demons, kobolds and slimes.
Xenia had made some changes to the floor during the wait, of course. The platform layout had changed, the traps had all been swapped out, and the ambush points had all been moved. Unfortunately, it was still nowhere near as effective as it was the first time a wave of soldiers had attempted to scale the shaft. After what had happened earlier that week every soldier present now knew the meaning of 'caution', and displayed it thoroughly as they worked their way down the vertical floor. Once again earth mages were brought forward to search for hidden rooms, and the dungeon's commanders had to shift their approach to match. It was now too dangerous to throw mortals directly into the fight, and so ambushes were paired up - a sacrificial wave of monsters would attack first, drawing the attention of the invaders and buying mortals some time to launch ranged attacks of their own. As soon as the monsters were destroyed the mortals would immediately retreat, not offering the Domain a chance to take a shot at them.
The defenders do claim their share of blood, but it's nowhere near what had been achieved on the previous attack. The first two squads take sufficient casualties that they swap to playing defense, but eventually Squad Three lands on the shaft floor, tired but reasonably intact. A yellow-scaled kobold examines her team, just to ensure that everyone is uninjured.
Two kobolds including herself, one slime, four demons, and a humanoid being of fire grace the floor which so many had died to reach. The commander herself isn't exactly sure what the monster on her squad is, but the mute creature lacks the personality of an elemental, so she settles for classifying it as something capable of following orders and leaves it at that. Shaking her head, she looks next at the slime, a pink-colored woman being poured out of a bag held by one of the demons.
"Healer Pyllyup - ready to join in? Hope we weren't making it too hard for you to nap while we were climbing all the way down here."
Despite the difference in rank, the slime scoffs at the comment. "Hey, I could heal people just fine from inside the bag, Commander Dresdin! If it wasn't for me, you'd all be too tired out to keep going!" Having said that, the healer looks around and frowns. "Although that might not be for the best. Really - we're the ones who are going to have to be the first in against the boss?"
An incubus laughs as he stretches, making sure his heavy plate armor is still fit and snug for the battle ahead. "Hey, don't get defeatist on us! The dungeon might've changed things up, but it's still only the Floor Two boss. Entirely within the capability of a full team of Advanced to beat - and we have Matchstick here as a secret weapon! Besides, Squad Four will be right behind us, so if shit gets too tough, we just beat a hasty retreat back through the door."
A young arcane demon narrows her eyes at her companion. "Early boss or not, it's still one of the most lethal in the dungeon."
"Exactly!" Commander Dresdin shouts in order to regain control of the conversation. "Treat this slime as if she was the Core Guardian itself! Now, does everyone remember the golden rule for this fight?"
Everyone speaks in unison, save for the flame monster. "Don't trigger the Challenge Mode."
"That's right! Expect ambushes, acid, elemental attacks, and potential melee combat if we get in close. Don't get cocky, watch for an opening, and take her down when it comes! Now, Vanguard Nylesus - lead us in!"
The incubus nods before readying his shield and making his way down the short hallway leading to the boss arena. The other kobold dressed in mail armor comes next, with Matchstick and the others filing in after. Scanning quickly across the room, Nylesus shouts out what he sees.
"Still has the four acid pools - wait, no. One on the left looks like magma, and the one on the back right seems...shiny? Mercury, maybe?"
Dresdin frowns. "Mercury's bad, but nowhere near as bad as dungeon acid. Keep an eye out for tricks - hold on, what's this now!?" As she speaks the floor begins to tremble, and the four pools in each corner of the room begin to swirl like whirlpools. The party instinctively begins to pull back, but they still get an excellent view as those whirlpools turn into tornadoes - with each batch of fluid rising into the air ten, fifteen, twenty feet tall. The magma tornado begins to boom with the sound of fiery explosions, while the mercury pool crackles with electricity. The pool in the far left turns out to be filled with frozen water, with dagger-like lances of ice jutting out before sinking back in, while the last pool...appears to be the traditionally expected acid. Somehow that doesn't calm the soldiers down any, as it climbs towards the ceiling not far away from them.
"This is a Challenge Mode, isn't it!? But we didn't trigger it! Dungeons can't just sneak that shit up on you, can it?" As the kobold shouts out her question, a voice answers her from a hidden corner of the room.
"Normal Challenge Modes, sure! But raid Challenge Modes? Fun fact - those things require eight mortals for us to use them, and if it was just you seven and that sprite-thing there, we'd be out of luck! But with dozens of you on the floor? Well, that lets us make things interesting."
Upstairs inside Lollyp's apartment, still hidden directly above the boss arena, Trush makes an aside to his boss. "I can hear the excitement from here - but my squires and I can't just slide through some cracks like Lollyp here! You gonna open a way through for us, Worthy?"
Xenia shakes her head. "Not this round, Big T. A surprise only works once, and Lollyp's upgrades plus the Challenge Mode ought to be enough for this squad. We'll save you for...hrmm, the third? Assuming she doesn't need backup."
A few feet away, Lollyp tosses the pair a smile before working her way into one of the larger cracks in the floor. "I think I should be able to get that far easily enough..."
Back down below, even before Lollyp arrives the squad already finds themselves being pressed just to survive. The elemental tornadoes aren't conscious and can't directly attack the soldiers, but they do still occasionally launch random strikes which would be devastating if they managed to land. Balls of magma, lances of ice, bolts of lighting, and globs of acid get flung back and forth across the chamber, and shields of both the physical and magical variety get put into place to deflect those which come too close.
Some of which are far too close for comfort. "We can't just sit here and wait to get worn down!" Dresdin points towards the rear of the room. "If the slime doesn't show, we just make for the exit and break it open if we have to! Not our problem if we skip past a guardian fight!"
"So impatient! Can't a lady make a dramatic entrance anymore?"
Most of the squad had actually missed Lollyp's appearance thanks to the projectiles flying around, but as she shouts out the attention latches on to her immediately. While she's still vaguely similar to the slime mage she had always been, the chunks of ice in her left arm and the rocks in her right are hard to miss. "Fuck, she's got new tricks - don't let her play them! Attack!"
Lacking the fear response of their mortal teammates, it's Matchstick who responds first. Stepping forward, the monster presses forward both palms and fires a pair of flame jets in Lollyp's direction. Of course, this has little effect upon a master of the elements. With a wave of her wand the flames are deflected to either side, before Lollyp extends her left arm like a sling and fires a chunk of ice at her opponent. It's a small one, not much larger than a golf ball, but as it impacts the creature it explodes into jagged shards which tear out a piece of the monster's chest. It's still not enough to fully kill the thing, but it does make Matchstick waver.
In the meanwhile the squad's two tanks rush forward, followed by a succubus rogue. Nylesus has to come to a sudden halt in order to deflect a ball of magma that flies in their direction, but the chainmail-wearing kobold continues forward, swinging a flail. At first it still seems as if the slime mage has plenty of room to play with, before the spiked head of the weapon extends with stunning speed and lands in Lollyp's shoulder, sinking several inches deep. To which Lollyp responds with...amusement.
"Really? A crushing weapon against a slime? You'd need a seriously-oversized warhammer to worry me with something like that! But hey, since I've got you here..." With that said Lollyp simply taps the chain of the weapon with her wand, and a current of electricity shoots through it, knocking the kobold off his feet. The rogue leaps over the squadmate-turned-projectile, launching a few daggers in the guardian's direction, but again Lollyp's reaction is a grin. "Oooh, these are poisoned, aren't they? Neat, but I don't have a circulatory or nervous system! You know, you soldiers are really raising my opinion of the Challengers I've had to face the past couple years. Their tricks were a lot better than this!"
A sudden gust of wind flings the leaping succubus into the mercury whirlpool, but before Lollyp can check on her fate the voice of the squad leader calls out to her. "Us soldiers!? We've been briefed - we know you were one of us! Why are you killing us now, when you should be helping!?"
The question manages to drain all of Lollyp's good cheer in a moment. "What, you think this is the first time I've had to kill Domain soldiers down here? I've killed friends down here. So fuck you! The Domain told me to help serve and protect the dungeon, and now you want to act offended that I'm doing too good a job!? You know what? Eat my balls."
The party's mages begin launching their own attacks at the slime, but sensing that a larger attack is coming, Nylesus pulls back to shield his companions. "She's prepping something big, get ready to dodge!"
"Hah. Dodge this." While Lollyp is an elementalist, not a conjurer, her new 'Quintball' spell is quite unlike anything she's used before. It starts with a magically summoned ball of rock, which freezes over with a layer of ice, which then...sets itself on fire, somehow. Crackling electricity adds to the dangerous aura, before finally a heavy gust of wind shoots the elemental frankenstein towards her opponents. Seeing that it's a physical attack Nylesus attempts to deflect it with his shield, hoping to deflect it away from the rest of the team, but that proves to be entirely the wrong move.
Upon impact the tenuous balance holding the elemental energies together is entirely disrupted, and the entire thing explodes like a bomb - but with effects far worse than simple pressure and shrapnel. Electric current practically burns Nylesus's arm from the inside out, while shards of ice turn one nearby demon into a pincushion and flame ignites another. Pyllyup, the slimy healer, manages to dodge the worst of it only to get taken off guard by a ball of magma flung from one of the arena's whirlpools, splattering her instantly.
The attack doesn't immediately kill the entire team, but the survivors are far too disoriented to put up much defense after that. Another few ice grenades from Lollyp finishes off the 'dungeon legionary', and bolts of lightning finish off most of the other soldiers who are still moving more than the slime would like. Until eventually she reaches Dresdin, finding the kobold crippled by an ice shard sticking through a large chunk of her side. Coughing, the commander hurts Lollyp the last way she knows how - through her words.
"You're still a traitor. Does service to the Dragonlord mean nothing to you?"
Lollyp pulls the soldier close, so that she can stare directly into her eyes. "I died for the Domain. Can you say the same?" She pauses, before shrugging. "Well...I guess now you can." With a not-so-simple toss, enhanced by a bit of earth magic, the kobold goes flying into the whirling storm of acid making up one corner of the room.
Back up above, Trush swallows heavily as he watches through one of the larger cracks. "...You know what? Maybe we should let her handle the next four or five squads before we join in..."