Chapter 35 : No hope II
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Ore opened it.
She immediately noticed his expression.
"Tolu?"
He walked inside. "The war is tomorrow."
Ore’s face changed. "What?"
"The Dungeon War." He looked at her.
"It’s tomorrow night."
Ore stared at him. "How do you know?"
"The Dungeon Heart told me."
She closed the door behind him.
Tolu began pacing. "I thought we had more time."
Ore followed him with her eyes.
"Tolu..."
"We needed that Ironfang." His voice became strained. "We needed it."
He turned toward her. "Do you understand what this means?"
Ore didn’t answer.
Tolu continued.
"It said our chances of winning are extremely low."
"Tolu—"
"And if we lose, I die."
Ore’s expression softened. "I know."
"No, you don’t." Tolu’s voice cracked. "You don’t understand."
He ran both hands through his hair. "I spent weeks thinking I could solve this."
He laughed bitterly. "I thought if I could just get a Level Two beast, we’d have a chance."
He pointed toward the forest. "We couldn’t even capture one."
Ore stepped closer.
Tolu kept talking. "I had a plan."
His voice grew quieter. "It was stupid, but it was a plan."
He swallowed. "I thought I’d get stronger. I thought the dungeon would get stronger. I thought we’d have time."
His eyes became wet. "But we don’t."
Ore moved closer.
Tolu looked away. "I don’t know what I’m doing."
That sentence came out almost as a whisper. "I’ve been pretending I know."
He shook his head. "I’ve been acting like I have everything figured out because everyone expects me to."
Ore said nothing.
Tolu continued. "But I don’t."
His voice trembled. "I’m scared." He finally admitted it. "I’ve never been this scared before."
Ore’s eyes softened.
Tolu looked at her. "I keep thinking about tomorrow."
His breathing became heavier. "I keep imagining the dungeon being destroyed."
He clenched his fists. "I keep imagining myself dying."
Ore reached for his hand.
He didn’t pull away. "I don’t want to die."
His voice was barely audible now. "I don’t want to leave Uncle Aremu."
His eyes lowered. "I don’t want to leave you."
Ore stepped closer.
Tolu looked at her. "I don’t want to leave Akin and Temi either." He laughed weakly. "We’ve only known each other for such a short time."
"But they’re my friends." He squeezed Ore’s hand.
"And you’re..."
He stopped.
Ore looked at him. "And I’m what?"
Tolu couldn’t answer.
His emotions were too tangled.
Fear.
Frustration.
Regret.
Anger.
And beneath all of it, the desperate need to know that he wasn’t facing the end alone.
Ore stepped forward.
Before Tolu could say anything else, she kissed him.
Tolu froze.
For a moment, his mind went completely blank.
The fear disappeared.
The dungeon disappeared.
The war disappeared.
There was only Ore.
She pulled away after a few seconds.
Tolu stared at her.
Ore looked slightly embarrassed, but she didn’t look away.
"You’re talking too much."
Tolu blinked.
"What?" She smiled. "You’ve been standing here telling me why we’re going to die for the past five minutes."
"I..."
Ore placed a finger against his lips. "We’ll figure this out."
Tolu stared at her.
"I’m with you all the way." Her voice was calm.
Not because she wasn’t afraid.
But because she had decided not to let fear decide for her.
Tolu’s eyes began to sting.
He looked down. "You really mean that?"
Ore nodded. "I do."
Tolu breathed out slowly.
For the first time that night, the pressure in his chest loosened.
Only slightly.
The fear was still there.
The war was still coming.
And he still had no idea how they were going to win.
But Ore was standing beside him.
That mattered.
Tolu gave her a small smile. "I’m happy you’ll be there with me..."
The following night arrived far too quickly.
Tolu stood inside the dungeon with Ore beside him, staring at the creatures scattered throughout the chambers.
Just Mirefangs and handful of slimes.
That was everything.
Compared to what a proper dungeon should have, it was almost laughable.
The dungeon was still small, its tunnels barely developed, and there were no powerful monsters guarding its depths.
Tolu folded his arms.
"We need to use everything."
Ore nodded.
"We’ve already moved the Mirefangs into positions."
"Good."
They had spent most of the day preparing.
The Mirefangs had been placed in different sections of the dungeon rather than kept together. Tolu didn’t know how much their instincts would matter during the war, but having several creatures scattered throughout the dungeon gave him more options than keeping them all in one place.
"They’re still in the side chamber?"
"Yes."
Tolu nodded.
"Good. Keep them there."
He glanced toward the chamber.
"But the dungeon is absorbing energy. Maybe that will help."
Ore sighed. "That’s a lot of maybes."
"I know." Tolu looked deeper into the dungeon.
The first thing they had done was make the dungeon difficult to navigate.
The entrance remained obvious, but the path beyond it wasn’t.
Tolu had ordered the slimes to be spread throughout the first chambers.
They were weak.
Almost useless in a direct fight.
But they could still slow an enemy down.
A creature stepping on a slime could lose its footing.
A group of slimes could obscure the ground.
And if the invading dungeon sent weak creatures first, the slimes could at least consume some of their energy.
Tolu pointed toward the entrance.
"That’s our first line."
Ore nodded.
"And the Mirefangs are the second."
"Exactly."
The Mirefangs were positioned farther inside.
Not at the entrance.
If the enemy had stronger creatures, throwing their strongest monsters at the first wave would be wasteful.
Instead, Tolu wanted the Mirefangs to attack anything that made it past the initial defenses.
Ore looked toward one of the larger chambers.
"What about the .....?"
"They’re our biggest gamble."
"Because we don’t know how they’ll react."
"Or what they’ll become."
Tolu looked at her.
"But if even one fights during the war..."
He didn’t finish.
They both understood.
Ore smiled faintly. "You’re really hoping tonight."
"I’m hoping for anything."
He walked deeper into the dungeon.
They had also prepared the terrain.
Tolu had spent hours digging shallow depressions and narrow trenches.
Nothing sophisticated.
Nothing that would stop a powerful creature.
But enough to disrupt movement.
Enough to make an enemy stumble.
Enough to give a Mirefang an opening.
They had also loosened sections of the ceiling.
Not enough to collapse the entire dungeon.
That would be suicidal.
Instead, certain sections had been weakened so that if enough force was applied, rocks and dirt could fall.
Tolu pointed toward one of the darker passages.
"If something powerful comes through there, we bring the ceiling down."
Ore looked at him.
"And if our monsters are underneath it?"
"They won’t be."
"You hope."
"I really hope."
She shook her head.
Tolu smiled faintly.
They continued walking.
Eventually, they reached the inner chamber.
The Dungeon Heart glowed softly.
Tolu stopped in front of it.
"What happens if we lose the entrance?"
The Dungeon Heart answered.
"The dungeon can continue to exist."
Tolu’s eyes widened.
"For how long?"
"That depends on the damage."
Tolu thought about it.
"So the entrance isn’t the real objective."
"No."
"What is?"
The Heart’s glow intensified.
"Me."
Tolu swallowed.
"Then everything we’ve done is just buying time."
"Correct."
He stared at it.
That changed things.
The dungeon didn’t need to kill everything.
It didn’t even need to stop everything.
It simply needed to survive.
Tolu looked at Ore.
"We don’t have to win."
She understood immediately.
"We just have to survive."
"Exactly."
For the first time since the Dungeon Heart had told him about the war, Tolu felt something resembling hope.
It was tiny.
Fragile.
But it was there.
He didn’t need his dungeon to destroy the enemy.
He didn’t need to defeat an entire opposing dungeon.
He needed to keep the Dungeon Heart alive.
If they could slow the enemy.
If they could trap some creatures.
If the Mirefangs could kill a few.
If the dungeon could withstand enough attacks...
They might survive.
Tolu looked around at the tiny dungeon.
It still looked pathetic.
But now he saw something different.
Not a battlefield they had to conquer.
A fortress they only had to defend.
"We’ll make them work for every step."
Ore smiled.
"And if they break through?"
Tolu looked toward the inner chamber.
"Then we fall back."
"And if they reach the heart?"
He was silent for a moment.
Then he looked at the four Mirefangs waiting in the darkness.
"We make sure they don’t."
A distant rumble suddenly passed through the dungeon.
The Dungeon Heart pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Tolu’s expression changed.
Ore looked at him.
"What was that?"
Tolu slowly turned toward the entrance.
"I think..."
Another pulse shook the dungeon.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Tolu tightened his grip around his sword.
"...they’re here."
Ore drew her bow.
The Mirefangs began to growl.
And for the first time, the dungeon that had once been nothing more than an empty collection of tunnels felt like a fortress preparing for war.