Worthy Core

Siegecraft had of course been a major school of magical practice ever since the first city walls were built - magic being older than cities, of course. Even mundane stone can often hold up against typical spells, never mind enchanted barriers, so specialized spells were needed for the purpose. Magical projectiles which were larger, heavier, more explosive, at the cost of generally being less accurate and far more mana-expensive.

They are not spells which the Association typically teaches to Challengers, although a few barely-used classes do exist on the books. Not only are most dungeon encounters at fairly short range, but dungeon combat is almost always far too fast-paced for the slow buildup such spells typically require. Generally speaking if someone stands in one place for ten seconds to fire off a Siege Fireball, a dungeon will typically reward them with death around the seventh second.

On the other hand, military mages do learn the spells once they reach higher tiers. And many Domain military mages had died in the dungeon in recent weeks. This had given Xenia a flood of new skillsets for her library, most of them duplicative or not particularly useful, but they had included a few spells of particular interest. All to say that it's not Rabbit Rogues who back up the Challengers today.

It's Rabbit Mages.

Xenia herself stands before her Artillery Squad, invisible to the Challengers but with the full attention of her monstrous minions. This far away and with a number of walls in the way the mages have no direct line of sight to their targets, but that's something of a moot point when your spotter has perfect view of everything on the battlefield.

"They're creating a corridor through what's left of the woods! They'll be moving fast, but they've funneled themselves! Teams Green and Orange, pull back your range a little bit! Amber, a bit further. Aim where I'm pointing, and - fire!"

There's a whoosh of heated air as massive fireballs fly above the heads of the defenders, landing amongst the enemy parties. In a way, it's actually helpful that the Domain had preemptively burned the lower section of the forest down. Yes, they had destroyed quite a few traps which Tinsel would be sure to curse about later, but they'd also destroyed their own cover. Of course, being Supreme-tier combatants, many of them brought their own. Barrier spells of various kinds flicker into place, while others like the lead party's kobold increase their personal durability with magic.

It would be far more effective were they simply defending against arrows and low-tier lightning bolts. Instead each spell crashes against them with the impact of a one-ton stone, and with enough flame and smoke to ruin their visibility. None are killed this early into the battle, but two mages do find themselves stunned as feedback effects stagger them, and one Vanguard-type warrior is put in need of immediate healing when their enchanted shield proves to not be as durable as they thought.

Their leader only seems to be excited by the violence though, as do a number of his followers. With a whoop the incubus drives them forward. "Run! Run like the hells are at your feet! Get to that cliffside! Fliers, prepare to launch!"

As the invaders get within sight of the cliffside defenses, pushing their way through the concealing smoke, the first real blood of the conflict begins to be drawn. Enchanted arrows backed up by the right kind of magically-enhanced bows manage to pierce through the Domain barriers, and a Master-tier goes down almost immediately. At the same time the Domain mages begin to fire back with their own spells, and although they're not quite siege-level strength, there are several holes immediately blasted in several of the walls built at the top of the cliff. For the most part only monsters are slain by the blasts, but one archer does tumble to the ground with an arm and a leg missing.

As he reaches the nearest trail leading up the side of the cliff, Grenwald curses. "Ice!? They coated the damn thing in ice!?" The kobold tests the path with a cautious step, but even moving carefully he finds himself slipping almost immediately. In calmer circumstances he might still attempt the climb, but this is hardly those circumstances. "Fidelia! Can you melt this shit?"

"On it - and next time say 'please', kobold." The Infernoist steps forward to do just that, and has quite a bit of success - until it ends up literally blowing up in her face. As her intense flames melt through the ice, traps buried below activate and tear gouges out from the stone. The fire-based explosives do little to her but at least one of the traps seems to have been acid-based, and Fidelia howls as some splashes into her open, fire-breathing mouth.

"Agh! Muh - muh tonng!" She whirls on Grenwald with murder in her eyes, but he just shrugs and pushes forward.

"We'll heal you a new one when we get through this! Now get on up there!"

Feeling the need to do just that so that she might find herself an opponent to tear apart, Fidelia leaps into the air. Nor is she the only one - several other draconics and demons decide to skip the booby-trapped trails and make for their destination more directly. In some ways it's very similar to the first battle for the floor, in terms of overall strategy. What's different is the level of power displayed on both sides. The walls which had survived the first battle with just a bit of wear and tear are now quickly torn to pieces through spells, projectiles, earth magic attacking their foundations, or spatial shifts changing the direction in which gravity pulls at their weakened supports.

The weaker members of the defense soon find themselves pulling back, finding more security in the obscurity of the upper-level forest than behind the obvious targets the wall positions have now become. That does not hold true for the stronger members of the dungeon's force, however. As he steps up to one crumbling wall, the Mountain Crusher Grim finds that he's been handed the ideal weapon. "Ha! If the walls must fall, let them be on our own terms! Defenders back!"

With a roar the man begins smashing at the remaining stone with his reinforced metal gauntlets, and each blow causes shockwaves as they land. It's not long before the remaining blocks begin to fall down the cliff - but not in just any random direction. As gravity takes hold he smashes each crumbling pillar one more time, sending them flying into groups of soldiers attempting to make their way up the trails. An uppercut even sends one small boulder in the direction of a flying demon, and she plummets with a cry as one of her wings is bent in a direction it was never meant to go.

As Bandages works on healing the increasing number of wounded, his companion Yellowbelly steps forward to shield him and his patients from the fly-by attacks from Fidelia. As a Firestormer her own magic is nearly up to the task of deflecting the flames of the Infernoist, although their skillsets don't quite overlap. Fidelia's mastery of heat generation means that the kobold begins to feel slightly cooked even though none of the flames actually touch her. "Fuck! No way I'm gonna even singe a fire-focused draconic - can somebody get this flying oven for me!?"

"On it." To Yellowbelly's surprise it's not one of her teammates who steps forward, but the dungeon's favorite monster slayer. The kobold isn't entirely sure how the warrior intends to combat a flying opponent, but that question is somewhat answered as Beatrice points a hand at the draconic and somehow launches a net made of ice at her. It doesn't quite pull her from the sky but it does drastically slow her down, and as other defenders turn their attention on the fire-breather Yellowbelly raises a browridge at her new protector.

"I wasn't aware you knew ice magic."

"Don't. That was a net-launcher from one of my storage rings, with a Winter's Grasp enchantment on it. I do have some fire magic, but I doubt it'd work any better against her than yours."

"Oh." Yellowbelly pauses to shoot off a number of spitfire projectiles at another flying demon who seems to be getting too close, but does find time for one more question. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve like that?"

Despite the woman's helmet, Beatrice's grin can still be heard. "A few. Good thing I already tested upward mobility with this one..."

Before Yellowbelly can ask what she means, the warrior is moving - really, really moving. Her form becomes a ghostly blur as she rushes towards one of the half-collapsed walls and uses its fallen stone as a ramp. By time she's become fully solid again Beatrice is already flying through the air, and although gravity is quickly reasserting itself she does have time to grab on to one of Fidelia's ankles. With another move that probably has more to do with magically enchanted gear than with physics the monster slayer practically spins in place, flinging the confused draconic directly into the ground.

Of course, that mostly only serves to make her angry. After a blast of flame destroys what's left of the icy net holding her Fidelia turns to face the woman who lands only a few feet away. "Ha! You think you'll have better luck against me in melee than at range? Stupid human! The flames are only hotter up close!" Or at least, that's what the woman attempts to say. With her mangled tongue it comes out as more of a "Ba! Noo ink oo af etter - agh, ack..." before her pain and frustration cause her to decide to skip the banter stage of the duel.

Moving to the combat portion, Fidelia displays the hazards of her ruined mouth by bathing Beatrice in flames from point-blank range, scorching the area so hotly that everyone else within thirty feet of the fight quickly moves to find even more distance. When the breath attack ends Fidelia steps back to admire her handiwork - and is confused to find not a pile of ashes and slagged metal, but of a woman in armor...armor that's glowing orange-hot. Stunned, she asks a question that would probably translate to "...You cannot possibly be alive in there still, human!?"

In answer, Beatrice raises her blade. "I've bathed in dragonfire before. A true dragon, not whatever...knock-off version you are. I'll admit, you've probably put this suit's enchantments to more of a test than anyone ever has. And I suppose you do at least count as enough of a dragon to trigger my protections. But losing a friend to dragonfire is not something I intend to have happen again." Her head tilts towards her blade, which seems undamaged by the flames. "You ready to kill a little dragon, Nalina?"

The blade answers affirmatively. "Let me take her head!"

"You've heard the lady!"

With that said Beatrice rushes forward, and it only takes a few moments for Fidelia to realize that something she had believed in all her life is perhaps...not as ironclad as she had imagined. The motto of her life had always been 'if fire doesn't solve your problems, you're not using enough of it.' It's something that's never failed her...until now. Flamebreath and flamejets from her palms do nothing to the slayer as she steps forward. Fireballs are deflected from her armor, impacting her no more than a light shove would. Even explosive attacks are hardly helpful, considering that at this range they risk stunning her as much as her opponent. Of course, even without magic a dragon is never truly unarmed.

After the third glancing blow from the warrior's sword draws blood, Fidelia moves to attack with fang and claw instead. Beatrice leaps over a attack from the draconic's tail, only to be knocked aside by a blow from a muscular left arm. The Domain soldier attempts to capitalize on this moment, leaping on her foe, but a magical lightning shock tosses her back on her own ass instead. Both are back on their feet a moment later, but one is clearly happier about it than the other.

"You've never actually learned to fight, have you? Supreme-tier, and you swing like a bar-room brawler!" Beatrice laughs as the draconic roars. "You're a real one-trick dragon, you know that?"

"Ill yoo!"

Fidelia opens her mouth in an attempt to crush Beatrice's head between her jaws, but a blast of the slayer's own flame magic blinds her for one critical moment. Fidelia blinks at the flames...and that fire is the last thing she sees before her head slides from her shoulder, tumbling onto the charred grass.

Nalina cheers at their shared victory. "Woo! First kill and it's a Supreme! I must say, you really know your moves, Lady Beatrice."

"I've learned a thing or two..." Catching her breath, Beatrice looks around at the rest of the battlefield and quickly realizes that not everyone has been having as much success as her and her new blade. "...I don't know if that will be enough, though..."