Dungeon Robotics 112

Morning!



 

Alara

“We’ll be there in an hour.”

I nodded. “Thank you, Jarvis. Hopefully, we can finish this and head home. The scouts say that it is a field dungeon?”

“Yes. That will mean we can enter via the sky much easier than it was in your case. If Sir had allowed us to drop a Starfall, we could have ended this in a moment, but given the damage we caused with the first. He has ordered it sealed.”

“That hurt,” I said as the memories of the weapon that fell from the sky flashed through my head. It managed to cut through nearly half of my dungeon in seconds and completely obliterated the top twenty floors. I felt like someone had ripped my limbs off and started to beat me with them. Actually, the necromancers had done that to me, and it hadn’t hurt as much as Regan’s weapon.

“My apologies for the sir. He just wanted to get to your core as quickly as possible.”

“I know. He has apologized… many times since then.” Regan had done a lot to help me. I knew he only had good intentions when using the weapon. He had just underestimated its power. Not the first time I’d seen that happen over my life.

“Visuals coming in!”

I turned towards the screen and saw the Northern Capital Selmore in front of us. Or at least, part of it. A sphere of darkness dominated a large section of the old city. Specters could be seen flying around the phenomena. Black arcs of mana covered the sky around the capital.

I stood from my seat and moved closer to the screen trying to get a better view. “What is going on?” I asked the officer.

“Unknown. If the readings are accurate, there are two dungeon cores there.”

“That’s not possible. How could a dungeon core get that close? Once their aura touch they get locked in place,” Jarvis said. He moved to another terminal and started going through the data. 

“I can sense two… minds close by. I believe… the officer is correct,” I said with a shake of my head.

“Should we stop the advance?” Liz asked worriedly.

“Its too late,” I replied. A moment later, Alpha came to a violent stop as the aura of the core made contact with the aura around the city.

“We should have another two kilometers before we contact the aura!” Jarvis shouted getting agitated for the first time.

“The situation has obviously changed. We need to stay back until we can get some information on what exactly is happening,” Wilson said from Liz’s side.

“Looks like I’m about… to find out,” I commented before my mind slipped into the dungeon communication link.

After my side formed, a tree with Regan’s circuits engraved on the surface. Likely due to me using his core at the moment. I looked up expecting to see the lich. What I got was the Specter Queen from when Regan freed my dungeon a few months ago.

She sat on a throne that appeared to be made from living shadows. I thought I could see faces form as if something was trapped in the shadows. The rest of her side was blank. A black canvas that hadn’t been painted with color yet. 

“Lady Alara. I was not expecting to see you again. Where is the one that core belongs to?”

“He allowed me… to borrow his core. What is going… on here?”

She ignored me and started muttering to herself. “Damn it. This wasn’t part of my plan! I was hoping the one that defeated you was coming!”

“You got me! What is going… on!?” I said with some anger.

“REVENGE! I am going to kill those that caused this to happen to me!”

“That doesn’t answer… my question,” I replied. I wish Regan was here. He had a talent when it came to dealing with crazy females. Myself included. I missed him.

She glared at me for a second. “I fused with a dormant dungeon core and ripped part of the lich, Tzulxuc’s aura from him. I want us to join forces and kill this bastard once and for all.”

I looked her over but decided she wasn’t lying. She didn’t have much to gain from lying other than her own life. This was would put pressure on the lich core either way. I would have to watch my back until this was over. I wasn’t a stranger to not trusting people. The only being I would fully trust would be Regan. 

“Very well. We will help… you. For now. Do anything to betray… this trust and you’ll find that… Regan’s children are Very capable.”

She seemed to calm down. “Of course, Lady Alara. I knew that you were like me. Trapped and being used against your own will. I have no reason to fight with you.” I narrowed my eyes are how fast she backed down. Something was happening in the background. 

“Then I will talk to you on the other side.” The link broke and I slumped back in my seat as the bridge of the Alpha washed over me. I quickly sat back up and turned to Jarvis. “The second core is on our side for the moment. It is the Specter Queen from… my dungeon. She is seeking revenge… against the lich.”

“Fighting amongst themselves will make it easier for us,” Jarvis said with a nod.

“Yes. We need to secure our position for now. I think she is more danger than she lets on. She shouldn’t rely on her to be a wall against the lich.”

“As you say, Ma’am,” Jarvis bowed then started giving out orders. I hadn’t intended to take command from him but with there being two cores, I needed to be able to respond to any changes that might happen. 

The forces we brought started to land in the forest around us about seven kilometers from the ruined capital. There were minor undead that blocked our path, but they were cut to pieces and burned for extra measure as we moved through the outer layer of the dungeon. As the lich was a field dungeon, the layers of his dungeon acted like floors. They would get more difficult the further we got. 

Regan’s tanks, I thought that’s what he called them, and the floating city’s turrets started bombarding the castle. Their weapons were able to cross the distance easily. At seven kilometers, the rounds would generally miss their intended target, but given the target was the entire city. Any damage they did was fine. 

Mechs moved among the ground forces dealing with any of the giant undead. Weapons that looked like a sword only with teeth that moved rapid along the edge would rip the undead to pieces. As I looked at the destruction and the ease with which they carved through the enemy force, I realized that Regan’s forces excelled at frontal assaults like this compared to the tunnels and caves of my dungeon.

After about an hour, the area around Alpha was cleared of all hostiles and they were setting up a camp for the rest of the forces to land with greater safety. I was impressed with how fast Regan’s forces worked. It was almost comparable to a dungeon core with how fast the stone walls went up around the camp.

The foothold had been finished when Spare asked. “Where are the airships?”

Jarvis looked up from the console where he was working. “We have readings from the other side of the capital that appears the specters are keeping them occupied. Those floating pieces of wood are like target practice for them after all.”

“Make sure you scan for them. They knew how to go invisible when they blocked your path to me. I doubt they’d forgotten that little skill,” I said tightening my gripped hands. 

I turned my gaze over to the Sphere of darkness and saw that the battle over there was even more intense. Spells were causing explosions and we could see groups of undead fighting each other. It seemed the Specter Queen had some control over them whether she would be able to maintain that control against a lich remained to be seen.

We needed to get further in while she was occupying them. Plus, the more pressure we put on them out here, the more of a chance we give our potential ally. With the foothold established we had could start cutting into the real dungeon. This area had only just recently been claimed as the undead were weaker than weak. 

I turned to Benjamin as he was the more military minded of the captains. “How long until we push… through the next layer?”

“We’re going for a full clear as we don’t want to get flanked. This is going to take us some time, but the further in we go the less area we have to cover. I wager five hours to reach the city, Miss.”

“I see. Keep me posted.” Not that I would need to be told. I was doing my best to watch every part of the battle that I was able to see with my dungeon sense. I had to do my best to make sure as many of Regan’s children make it home as possible.