A Dungeon’s Survival

Cameron

The explosion I had set off outright killed many of the invaders, and Adraugon managed to finish off another two in the aftermath. The group recovered enough to chase him off shortly after, but it didn't matter. The damage was done.

Between what my Bloodthorn Vines had managed and the explosion that followed, roughly a quarter of their numbers were no more. Additionally, somewhere around another quarter of their initial count were forced to stay behind and bandage themselves up. That left nearly half of the group to press on, a major improvement but more than I would have liked.

After a small amount of reorganizing, a man stepped forward. He was human with a face that that reminded me of a pug's, and he led the bulk of their remaining forces. I recognized him as the one who had been interrogating the first wave of invaders. Seemingly, neither my Horned Draco sending him into the spike pit below nor the subsequent explosion that had caught him at point blank had been enough to do him in. From the way he acted as he marched his group, it appeared to have just made him angry. Having had enough of my tricks and not wanting to put up with my bog gasses anymore, he gave his men an order.

“Fire!”

At his command, the remaining archers shot flaming arrows into my testing grounds. One hit a patch of gas and exploded. The archers reloaded their bows and fired again. This repeated for some time, giving me a moment to gather my thoughts. I needed to figure out how I was going to deal with the situation. I didn't have any grand plans set up in this room, so I looked to my new achievements for answers.

[Achievement: Kill Zone

Description: 5 individuals have simultaneously been killed within your Dungeon.

Reward: All monsters gain +1 to every stat!]

[Achievement: Mass Grave

Description: 10 individuals have simultaneously been killed within your Dungeon.

Reward: All monsters gain +1 to every stat!]

Those rewards were excellent. Combined they were the equivalent of a few levels for most of my monsters, the equivalent of five for my Horned Dracos with how few stat points they gained. In fact, with those boosts, the lizards that had started out barely even strong enough to qualify as monsters were now stronger than my Shadow Vipers had once been, in terms of stats at least.

As good as those rewards may have been, they weren't immediately helpful. They did give my monsters a slight edge, but it wasn't anything that would greatly affect my course of action. Dismissing them, I moved on to check the last achievement.

[Achievement: Deadly Alchemy

Description: 10 individuals in your Dungeon have died from chemical reactions.

Reward: You have unlocked an item or piece of equipment related to alchemy!]

I needed to check what the reward was before I would know whether or not it would be helpful. I could possibly get some use out of a potion similar to the Elixir of Minor Strength I had, but I kept my expectations in check. I had been offered an empty vial once before, so a piece of trash was equally possible for me to get. Knowing it would be a toss up, I checked my available items.

[Item: Potion Base

Cost: 10 MP

Description: A common starting point for alchemical concoctions.

Effect: A sterile liquid imbued with mana. It is receptive to change and perfect for brewing into potions.]

I figured it fell somewhere between the two extremes. It could potentially be useful in the future, but it was useless in the immediate. Also, I was out of time. The pockets of gas in my bog had all been detonated, and the group was realizing it. Soon, they began moving forward.

I couldn't make changes to the room anymore, and even if I could, I only had nine points of mana to work with. That left me with my four Shadow Vipers and an only sometimes cooperative lizard. Without any elaborate strategy, I ordered the snakes to aim for the attackers' legs while performing hit and run tactics.

The Shadow Vipers I had in the room were the results of my experiments. I had been trying to create a monster that could take advantage of the watery terrain. That meant departing somewhat from my usual design philosophies. Unlike every Shadow Viper I had modified before, I didn't prioritize their vitality. As good as their venom could be, I had seen other possibilities that warranted exploration. That's why I boosted their strength instead.

Just as I had envisioned, the monsters tangled themselves around the invaders' legs. Then, they pulled. Three bandits lost their footing and plunged face-first into the shallow water. With a smaller group, my monsters could have piled on them afterward. Sadly, there were too many people to safely exploit that opening. The created chaos alone would have to do.

While the three snakes were surging into their ranks, the fourth remained motionless. It was wrapping itself around a person's legs like the others had done, but unlike the rest, they couldn't bring their target down. Their target was the pug-faced man who seemed to be in charge.

A moment later, the spiked club he carried was raised and swinging downward. It was encompassed in a dark aura, and as it connected with the submerged ground in front of him, the surrounding water cleared away in the form of waves. The weapon didn't touch the Shadow Viper, yet it was torn to shreds all the same by the darkness that erupted from the club's impact.

Rushing water swept some of the other invaders off of their feet. It hampered them, and the effect served me well, but that wasn't enough to make up for the loss I suffered. The snake that had been killed in the attack was one of the stronger ones, one of the two that had reached level four from its previous kill. It was gone just like that. That didn't bode well for me.

I didn't hesitate because of the display. I capitalized on it. Ordering the remaining snakes forth, I had them switch targets and continue to bring people down. Unfortunately, the weakest one got swept up in the wave and a bandit got a lucky hit, bringing it down. It was up to the remaining two.

They knocked a few more people down before I called then off. I didn't want to lose them yet, and they had done what I needed of them. With each bandit they had plunged into the bog, they had made sure a bite accompanied their fall.

With their lower VIT, the venom of the snakes wasn't overly potent, but it was still sustained damage. Once they used antivenom, it would clear up, and even if they didn't it would take minutes to kill. I waited, fully expecting the group to start pulling out vials of the stuff that had become so universally used in my Dungeon, but no one moved to. That confused me. This army seemed much more prepared than my other adversaries had been. The idea that they hadn't brought any hadn't so much as crossed my mind.

The flailing about in the couple feet of water was slowly coming to a halt as the men pulled themselves together. I wished Adraugon had capitalized on the opening, but he simply watched from the holes in the ceiling above. As much as I would have liked to try and convince him to join in on the attack, I couldn't argue with his previous results, so I reluctantly left him alone. Instead, I focused on directing my snakes' tactics.

I had them vanish back into the bog where they could safely hide. So long as they were still around, they were threats my opponents couldn't ignore. They would be forced to proceed with caution, and that was perfect. If they weren't going to cure themselves of the venom, I was intent on dragging this out and making the most of the situation.

“Let's move you cowards! Payday isn't going to–”

“Ahh!” a faint shriek interrupted the pug-faced man's words.

He turned and looked over his present group trying to figure out the same thing that I was. The scream hadn't come from any of them. That left a question: where had it come from?

Another blood-curdling cry of pain rang out, and I was able to find my answer. It came from the previous room, back where a portion of their forces had stayed behind to recoup. I brought part of my Dungeon into focus and was met with an unexpected sight. The moth girl was there. More importantly, she was tearing through the injured forces like a whirlwind of blades.

The leader of the raiders didn't have the same perspective shifting capabilities that I had. They, couldn't see what was happening in the room behind them from the middle of my swampy terrain. As the screams and loud sounds of futile resistance from the invaders continued, he was forced to make a choice.

“We're going back!”

Oh, no you don't. Adraugon, if you'd please.

“No.”

I heaved a mental sigh, but I didn't dwell on it. Instead, as the bandit group turned to rush back, I ordered my Shadow Vipers to target a random person at the edge of the group. They, unimpeded by the hard to walk through terrain that slowed the enemies, surged forth. They each grabbed one of their target's legs. Then, they pulled in different directions. The unlucky beastkin woman with a scar running across her face let out a yelp and dropped her axe as she fell. She was then promptly dragged off into the bog.

The invaders watched the scene play out with concern, but no one moved to help her. Instead, they visibly attempted to pick up their own pace. Once she was well out of the way, I had the snakes circle back around and grab another bandit. They carried the flailing mass of anger that was their target off in a different direction, and I was able to have them repeat the process one more time before the group managed to file back the way they had come.

With the room now devoid of anyone who could help the three, I ordered my snakes target them one by one, making sure each was dead before moving on to the next. Then, I shifted my concentration in full to what was happening in my second room.

The moth woman, the girl who I had been starting to think of as my rival, had laid waste to the recovering invaders there. Of the initial fourteen injured, only five were left alive, and four of them were so heavily wounded, they wouldn't be causing any unexpected problems. The last of those five were trying and failing miserably to match the bug girl in close combat. A blade to the jugular later, they fell limp.

“What do we have here?” the leader spoke as he entered the room not far from where Flur was still standing.

“Not much, just getting in my daily exercise,” the girl replied cheerfully.

“Do you have any idea how hard this is going to be for me to explain to Gor without you adding to the death toll?”

The girl gave an overexaggerated shrug and asked, “That's the name of the marauding giant that's attacking the town I take it?”

The pug-faced man's scowl intensified. Those around him started to step forward, towards the rogue, but he put out a hand in a gesture for them to stop. They did.

“Girl, you really shouldn't stick your nose in places it doesn't belong, but it's a little late for that. You've killed my men, so now you're gonna die. Everyone else, go find that Dungeon Core!”

After a pause, the bandits began heading back for my bog room. That wasn't ideal. My snakes in there hadn't finished off the people they had taken yet. I had been hoping I could have them killed and absorbed their bodies before things wrapped up here. It would have been nice to refresh my mana and summon reinforcements, but clearly, that wasn't happening.

“You haven't found it yet?” Flur sounded perplexed, “It was in that room behind you a few hours ago.”

“You messin' with me!?”

“No, of course not. If I was, I'd just point out that ugly, smashed in mug of yours.”

Her words elicited a growl from the man. The hulking figure took a step forward and raised his club. Flur steadied herself and took a deep breath. Then, the scene before me exploded into action.