Part Twenty-Three – True Assault

“Geez! Why'd ya go and destroy that perfectly normal chair?”

“I didn’t mean to do it. You startled me and the spell just fired off.”

“Why were you even trying to use something like that in the first place? You could’ve really hurt someone.”

“I wasn’t trying to. I was only poking around and it went off without any input from me.”

Honestly, Alicia was the most upset by me destroying that chair. It had actually taken me an hour to calm her down. The others were mostly surprised I managed to use magic so easily. Though that’s half because of my sword. I’d love to be able to practice more, but there’s nothing to practice on.

*Gong…gong...gong…gong…gong…gong…gong…gong*

“Oh shit.”

“Now, of all times?”

It was the alarm, signaling another monster assault. Damnit, didn’t they have enough earlier? Is the monsters’ leader a battle junkie?

The fact that the signal went off so many times was also worrying. The first time we went on watch duty, we got a thorough lecture about proper conduct from the NPC in charge. Some hadn’t taken it seriously, but once someone got caught slacking off and subsequently whipped for it, no one was looking to break those rules any time soon.

Eight gongs means…..a full assault. Ah shit.

[Kalia’s POV]

It all happened so quickly.

She and Jansen had been stationed on the southern watchtower. While you couldn’t leave your station, casual chatter or training was permitted, so long as you kept an eye out.

“How didn’t that scare you? That chair just fell apart!”

“There’s worse magic out there than that. The chair only rotted so much because it had no mana and therefore no defense against magic. It wouldn’t have worked so well against a human.” What she didn’t say was that it probably would’ve left someone with at least a missing limb, if not worse.

“I’m just telling you, there’s something off about him. He didn’t even bat an eye when the chair fell apart. And what about when he challenged that monster to a fight? You weren’t there for that, so you can’t know. The amount of mana its roars carried was insane and yet he still challenged it. He can’t be sane!”

“From what he told me, he didn’t think a C-Rank would show up so early into the Dungeon and he admitted he’d been reckless. As for the chair, I think he was pretty surprised. He just doesn’t show it well.”

So this is Healing Magic’s first-grade Ritual, [Soothing Aura]? Its description makes it sound like a cross between [Heal] and [Detox], but it affects an entire area and even soothes the mind. These Grimoires are amazing. There’s details about each spell I never would’ve guessed about. Though this might be a bit too advanced.

With all her hard work, she had figured out how to use up to the sixth-grade of Healing Magic. Without any concrete instruction, it had taken months of constant practice and experimentation to achieve even that. And for the last two weeks, she’d been stuck without any progress whatsoever. But now there was infinite possibilities right in her hands.

Hm hm hm🎶! Now that I’ve gotten this, should I try to learn Blessing Magic? Or maybe Nature Magic? Ah, but that one requires a specific Catalyst to properly use, so maybe not. Ooo, but I couldn’t go wrong with Holy Magic. So many choices! Maybe now I can finally start to feel uesful again.

“K-K-Kalia!”

“Huh? AH! Quickly, ring the alarm!”

What they’d seen was that alarming. Monster in the thousands were swarming at the edge of the forest. Dozens of siege ramps had come out as well. This was an actually attack, nothing like the tepid battles they’d experienced before.

“Ah-oh-,anhs.”

Even as Jansen ran to signal the alarm, fear shot through her body. The last four months had been full of continuous stress for her. She’d been exposed to countless dangers, but had tried her best to overcome them. She felt a great deal of gratitude for Braddock and the others for saving her, which led her to trying to find the best way to pay them back.

She’d thought her Magic could cover for her weakness, but she’d been forced to see that it wasn’t enough. Even if she could save others, there wasn’t anyone to save her.

Mama, Papa. Please pray for your little girl. I don’t know if I’ll live to see you again.

[Braddock’s POV]

Hmph, looks like I’ve finally found somewhere to die.

Thousands of monsters were marching towards them, each one as hungry for blood as the next. Even with the mages firing spells, there was no way they’d stop the attack.

*Badum badum badum*

I don’t think my heart's beaten this hard since that time my squad got ambushed. This, this is it. The greatest battlefield. Yes, this is what I’ve always wanted!

Braddock was probably the world’s most experienced veteran. Name any war in the last thirty years and most likely, he’d fought in it. Even now that he was well over fifty, he still fought. But for different reasons.

Twin desires warred inside him. One, to try and ensure the survival of the human race. The other a twisted hope for a glorious death in battle.

You could say that he had a sickness. For thirty years, everyone he’d fought beside had died, while he lived. Maybe it was a combination of survivor’s guilt and PTSD, but he yearned for a place to die. For a way to join his fallen comrades.

I’m sorry Kalia. Jansen, Eileen, Mark, Grant, Evelyn, Yasmin. I’m so sorry, but I might have to break our promise.

[Sampson’s POV]

“Gahahahaha! Well they’ve certainly brought along plenty of friends. But will they amount to anything?”

Even as the horde of monsters approached, Sampson and his men weren’t worried. Fighting a defensive battle like this was easy for them, as their preferred way of fighting was to simply keep pushing until the enemy was dead. But here, the enemy would keep approaching. It was perfect!

“Let’s show everyone why we’re the top dogs around here. Crush everything in your path!”

“””“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!””””

The sheer enthusiasm the men had after his shout was concerning. All of this was actually due to an effect Sampson had used, one which boosted not only a person's strength, but also their bloodlust. It was similar to the magic that the Berserker-Creating Shaman that Michael fought in the Labyrinth used.

“Show no fear! Show no mercy! Give no quarter! That is our motto!

“””Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”””

His men fully empowered, he allowed the effect to do the same to him. The man who would soon be known to the world as the Berserking Berserker was ready to fight.

[Finnél’s POV]

“Well this is more than expected.”

The entire Dungeon had been odd from the get-go. The fort being so big and having a Named NPC were enormous red flags. And there being three Mid-bosses only made it worse. But the sheer number of monster approaching cinched it.

“Hm, I suppose that means this is indeed part of a series. How insufferable.”

Sometimes what seemed like a perfectly normal Dungeon was in fact something much more dangerous. These were known as Serial Dungeons and usually contained a higher degree of danger. The worst part was that they looked like a normal Dungeon on the outside. Though there were rewards for clearing the whole series…..

“A pity. I had hoped to steal away the clear rewards, but with this level of danger, that is no longer possible. I will not overly endanger my own life for a House that does not cherish it. We might even have to abandon the plan.”

That was indeed a shame. The drop rewards were particularly good for a C-Rank Dungeon, but not worth almost dying for. After the first week was up…. Well, these Dungeons were notorious for a reason.

[Protag’s POV]

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit! That’s a lot of monsters. I’m actually a little scared here.

Their numbers easily dwarfed what they’d thrown at us before. I estimated that there were about twice the monsters heading towards our wall segment. While I had never gotten an actual count for the first two attacks, I figured we probably killed about four thousand monsters all together.

Which meant we were up against a whole lotta monsters. They’re still coming towards us, so they have yet to take their assault formations, which makes it hard to judge just how many are there. I think each segment will have close to a thousand to deal with. Oh look, birds.

In a repeat of the first attack, a flock of birds had taken wing and charged at the fort. Obviously, the mages and those with bows wouldn’t just let them get close, but no one could compete with my companion.

*Twang twang twang twang twang twang twang twang*

Alicia stood beside me, relentlessly firing arrows at the Murder Crows flying towards us. Each arrow speared through one bird before hitting another. How is she doing that? Wait, her bow’s different!? When did that happen?

“Finally noticed? This was in my drop box yesterday. It’s only E-Rank, but its at least a little superior to the one I was using.”

Well it’s about time! We’ve been fighting for months and she’s just now getting a bow? Stupid System.

The one good thing about all the birds? I had all the test subjects I wanted for my Grudge Magic. No one was going to care if the monsters were rotting, right?

I tried to repeat my earlier success only to meet an immediate roadblock. I couldn’t find the repository filled with Grudge. It wasn’t like it had emptied, it just wasn’t there. Why!? But I just sorta figured it out, so how the-. Er, what?

It turned out that only the black sword had the repository. A confusing but momentary blunder that I hoped no one had noticed. Nothing to see here folks, just move along.

Once I’d figured that out, it was surprisingly easy to draw out the requisite Grudge to cast spells. All I had to do was use a little mana to pull out some Grudge and then mix them to make Miasma. After that I just had to use it to fire projectiles at the birds flying towards me.

I don’t see what’s so dangerous about this. Sure they cause decomposition when they hit you, but it’s not like there’s Miasma just swirling around the battlefield. Though watching a bird’s feathers all crumble away and the bird fall to the ground is pretty scary.

I think each cast of [Rot] is costing me about two minutes worth of Sword Aura. So I can use it about thirty or forty times before running out of mana. Can’t tell if that’s good or bad.

“Holy crap! INCOMING!”

The shout from one of the lookouts was my only warning, as a shadow soon swept over me. I had no idea where it came from, but a large bird was flying over me.

Carnivorous Pigeon

Rank: E

Description: An avian monster with an enormous appetite for flesh. Goes to extremes to eat meat, even eating its dead allies. Despises those who ruin meat.

What. In. The. Living. Hell. WAS THAT DESCRIPTION!!!!! Who makes these!? If I find them, I’ll kill them! I’ll cut them up and feed them to the pigeon! It’s after me because I ruined that crow's meat by rotting it, isn’t it?

“Sqwaack!”

Even if it was much bigger, it was still a pigeon. It swooped straight at me, which was exceedingly easy to dodge and cut it in half. Well that’s done. Now to turn around and not see any more pigeons.

“Squack!”

“Cooo!”

“Sqwaak!”

“Coo Co cocooo!”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me! Where the hell did you guys even come from!?”

Over a dozen pigeons were glaring at me like I’d killed their mothers. They began to dive bomb me in synchronized waves. It wasn’t actually that dangerous though. The pigeons were only E-Rank after all. If I’d still had my armor, I wouldn’t have bothered to dodge every attack.

While the Scaleblade Armor had been destroyed by the Orc’s attack, I was pretty sure it was all the Miasma that had ruined my Moray Gauntlets. They no longer registered as an item with the System, making me believe that their enchantment had been destroyed. The loss of two pieces of my armor had hurt, even if I did have backups.

“”“Coo!”””

“Oh for hell’s sake! Why the fuck are there more of them!?”

Even when I killed one, another would take its place. It was like there was an unending swarm of pigeons hell bent on killing me. Even if it only took one slash to kill each bird, their sheer numbers were slowly whittling my Stamina from me.

*Thunk Thunk thunk*

“Well it’s about time!”

“Excuse me! I was kinda busy dealing with all the other birds you know!”

"Is this really the time for us to be bickering? We’re still getting swarmed by birds here!”

Alicia’s timing couldn’t have been better. Her opening salvo took out half of the birds around me, but we now had a new problem. The ramps had reached the wall and monsters were rushing up them. Even as we killed the last of the birds, dozens of Wolves, Goblins, and even a few Minotaurs were approaching.

Crap, most of these monsters are E-Rank and those aren’t cubs, they’re full grown Minotaurs! This is going to be rough. It’s a good thing we already killed all the birds, the last thing we need is to get attacked from behind.

“Cameron, help me hold the line! Alicia, get back and give us some covering fire!”

“Got it lad.”

“As if I’d do anything else!”

Cameron had stayed back while we dealt with the birds. His axe just wasn’t suited to fighting the agile avians. But here, his skill with his weapon could really shine, especially since each of his swings killed several of the weaker monsters.

“Hey kid, where do you want us!?”

After the first battle, the mercenaries on our segment came to an agreement that if more ramps appeared, each group would be responsible for one of them. Now since we had no idea how many ramps would come out each time, we’d also made arrangements for different groups to work together. Our segment had twenty-six groups and there were nine ramps, so one group would get shorted. And obviously, it was us.

“Support Cameron and focus on the E-Ranks. Let me and him get the D-Ranks."

“Got it. You heard the kid, get moving!”

You’re like, two years older than me, so stop calling me a kid! I know I look young, but I’m still twenty-two.

The three of us being so strong had actually backfired on us and we’d been saddled with the weakest group on our segment. Each of the twenty men were still using the Vagabond’s set and were, in my estimation, barely in E-Rank. I’d told them to focus on killing the weaker monsters and acquiring drops to improve their equipment for the time being.

“Gyaaaa!”

“Arooo!”

Good, they’re actually holding them back. I was worried that they would break or wouldn’t listen to me, but they’re following my directions surprisingly well.

Because each ramp was large enough for three people to comfortably walk abreast of each other, there was an awful lot of space to cover. I’d ordered them to pair up and to tag out after they killed a monster, so as to preserve their stamina.

“Mraaaaaa…..”

Cameron was doing even better. In the time I’d been watching, he’d killed three Minotaurs and twenty Goblins. Add in the fact that Alicia kept shooting down monsters near the base and we were looking pretty good.

“MRAAAAAAAGH!!!”

I just had to open my big mouth.