Deathforged Dungeon [Dungeon Core litRPG] Book 1

The forest was still with the disturbance of the marching army. Hundreds of foot soldiers marched between the trees, creating a low rumble in the ground. Plants were trampled, animals scattered, trees trembled ever so slightly. The early morning ground fog swirled and shifted to make way for the encroaching army.

None bothered to hide their presence. They didn't need to. Muscular minotaurs marched on cloven feet, dressed in thick plate armor over their most vulnerable areas. Heavy weapons rested in their gauntleted hands, ready to cleave or crush at will. Gibbering goblins, savage feral things, moved in disorganized groups in hide armor. Their grubby hands clutched rusted and jagged daggers or short swords. Each one eager to draw blood. The orcs were dressed in a mix of leathers and steel, their weapons ranging in variety. Harpies flew overhead, their talons clutching weapons to drop on their enemies. And the trolls, though few in number, lumbered, standing head and shoulders taller than even the biggest minotaur. Each carried a massive club, clad in only pelts. They were ready to start their attack. To assault the adventurers in their budding base so they could take it over.

That was until a harpy dropped from the sky.

Like a sack of rocks, the dead harpy slammed into the ground with a hole in its chest. At the same time, its bundle of fletched darts landed on its former comrades in arms. The three foremost goblins dropped dead with the iron darts sticking out of their bodies, along with an orc clutching their punctured shoulder. The rest stopped in their march, surprised by the sudden appearance of not one but four corpses.

They all stood confused, surprised even that they were the ones being attacked. Then another harpy came crashing through the trees overhead, along with its bundle of darts, to rain down on the regiment. The commander for the group stepped up, trying to rein in his troops by barking orders at them. The orc in charge tried to bellow his words to be heard, getting them organized and finishing his orders to send a message to the rest of the forces about the encounter. It was when the last order was made that an arrow of steel struck him in the chest, hitting him with the force of a tree being swung as he got pinned to the base of a tree from the impact. Their attacker could have also struck down the runner with the message for backup, plucked their life from them mid-stride, but they wanted the rest to come this way.

With the leader now in the process of dying and very much silenced, their attacker called out.

"Hellooo, boys~!"

A feminine voice called out loudly, gaining the attention of the regiment, with them all turning to the side to find the source. It was then they found a humanoid woman, dressed in light leather armor gear, and a thick mane of bright red hair that fell about her shoulders. She stood maybe two hundred and seventy yards away. Too far away to be seen clearly, but just close enough to be seen through the foliage as she waved her arm in the air to further gain their attention.

"You make excellent target practice. Now, be sweet and hold still... I want to see if I can knock the helmet clean off one of you," the woman called out.

In one fluid motion, she readied her bow, drew and nocked an arrow, sending it flying straight into the chest of a minotaur, where the arrow punched through the center of its chest plate. Further taunting the invaders by showing them who had killed some of their numbers with a live demonstration.

"Oops... I missed. How clumsy of me. Don't worry... I'll get it on the next one," she called out, drawing another arrow.

With an enraged roar, the taunt having worked, the regiment charged at her, heedlessly running into the awaiting traps that were set for them.

***

Eorlas ran deeper into the dungeon, excited to begin their deadly game. It wasn't often the cat allowed themselves to be chased by the mouse. But then the Master had appointed Aegisthal in charge for a reason, and that reason was proving itself already. The enemy was following her like the good little lambs to slaughter that they were. She just needed to keep their anger up and stay just in sight to keep leading them by the nose.

She continued to mock them, tease them, and occasionally take a shot or two at the glorified pigeons overhead, getting them to drop their fun little toys on the fools just below. Enraging them further as she saw the first clearing coming into view along with all the traps between her and said clearing.

Oh, this is going to be fuuuun~.

She thought while dashing at full speed, careful to hide that she was jumping between and over the hidden trip wires, poisoned caltrops, and other little surprises.

***

Aegisthal watched when Eorlas broke through the foliage. He had long heard the charge of the enraged regiment approaching before he saw the Hunter. Seeing her had been the signal he had been waiting for. The forty archers and zombies he had behind him were all standing with the Snapfang gremlin repeating crossbows in hand, each one with twenty crossbow bolts that had been coated with paralytic poison. It was not honorable, but honor had no place here. This was a war of survival, and he was given a task by the General to crush them. Or in the words his General would say, "have them look at this hand, then smack them with the other."

With a raise of his hand, the forty lesser undead raised their crossbows and took aim in the air, all waiting for the command to make eight hundred poisoned bolts rain down on the enemy. Aegisthal merely waited for the enemy to show themselves and navigate the traps.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The sounds of vile curses could be heard from stepping on the caltrops, piercing bare feet and the soles of boots. The enemy tripped on the trip wires, with some falling prone as others fell on spikes, causing them to trample their own troops or use the bodies of their fallen or paralyzed just to make it over the traps. It would have slowed them enough for Eorlas to escape the foot troops for certain. The harpies, though, were another matter.

They would need to be dealt with separately.

Aegisthal stopped his musing when he saw the enemy forces break into the clearing as he sat atop his mount Ironhorn. It was when most of the force was in the clearing that he gave his first order through his command ability.

"Rise. Restrain them," he commanded.

The lesser undead that were shallowly buried stretched their limbs, catching and tripping more of the enemy combatants. Some of the undead were quickly killed, but they weren't expected to fight and win. Only to stop them long enough for what was to come.

"Fire," he ordered his crossbowmen.

Without hesitation, the forty undead pulled the triggers of their repeating crossbows. The Snapfang repeaters fired much faster than he had anticipated. Within seconds, the undead crossbowmen emptied their first ten rounds and were dropping remaining bolts into their weapons. They fumbled due to the nature of their form, but it was fine. They reloaded all the same, and bolts would rain down again.

The wave of bolts took a few seconds to reach their targets, but the results were satisfactory in Aegisthal's mind.

The enemy forces screamed and panicked as the bolts rained down on them. Some tried to take cover or use some means to escape. Yet they were kept in place by the undead they had been killing rather easily before. Even if they wore armor, they were cut and scraped by some measure and had to split their focus between the undead that were hounding them or the bolts peppering them. A good many had bolts sticking out of their flesh or were cut and bitten by weapon-wielding undead.

They were disorganized and unsure where the next attack would come. More importantly, the trolls they had were now starting to fall, paralyzed from the poison, as were many who were hit fully by a bolt, while others who were cut or scratched found the afflicted limb quickly becoming numb.

Good, they are softened.

With a wave of his hand, his crossbowmen dropped their weapons and drew shortswords, axes, and daggers.

"Kill most. Leave some to escape," he ordered, patting Ironhorn's side to have his mount turn to leave.

There was no point in staying. Phase one was complete. Fear had been instilled in their enemy and gave them a bloody nose. Now they would ignore the town to come after the greater threat, luring them further into the dungeon where they would meet their end.

Now he needed to relocate to prepare for phase two.

***

Omnus was absolutely DELIGHTED for this whole debacle to be over. Well, not quite over, but they were starting to resolve the matter, and that's what counted.

He stood in position two as instructed by their master strategist Aegisthal. Omnus was eager to begin using his newly formed spells, but that wasn't until later. It would be a difficult wait, yes, but Omnus had never known Aegisthal to lie. So that just left the thing that Omnus struggled with the most:

Waiting.

He waited by the stream as instructed, keeping his eyes open for Eorlas, along with Halyndra by his side. He had already set up his surprise for any adversaries that made their way and was now observing Halyndra.

She fascinated him. Even though she was a sentinel of the Primus Sage, while he was a construct and undead, she was also a celestial. That made her unique compared to the rest of the sentinels. She wasn't entirely corporeal for one, and she did not bear the same presence of undeath.

Currently, she was crouched near the stream, her elegant fingers outstretched to the water. She was humming a melodious tune that was both sweet and soothing, one that could bring peace to even the most troubled soul. She smiled as the silver notes of dust and light danced about her while her finger broke the surface of the stream, letting out a small giggle when a fish followed her finger.

"Does it fascinate you, wise Omnus?" she asked with a welcoming smile, catching him off guard. "All the mysteries of magic at your command, yet you are entranced, as I am, by a curious little fish."

Flustered and clearing his throat, Omnus refocused himself as he stood awkwardly.

"Oh… yes, well… truthfully, it was not the fish that held my attention. It was you. I… ah… did not mean to stare. That was rude of me. I simply needed something to occupy my thoughts. I am not particularly skilled at waiting quietly. My mind prefers puzzles. And with no offense meant, you should not be. Not by any known law, magical or divine. That is precisely why I find you so endlessly fascinating. In his infinite wisdom, the Primus Sage has achieved the impossible. And you... you are the proof."

To her credit, she only giggled some more, pulling her finger away from the stream as the fish swam away.

"Then let your thoughts wander freely, dear Omnus. If I am the puzzle that brings your restless mind some peace, I welcome the gaze," she said, her smile faltering a bit. Not out of sadness but from pity, yet her voice still tender and sweet. "But you are wrong about one thing... I should not be? No, I must be. My Lord's will made it so. His faith shaped my soul, and your wonder helps me believe in it all the more."

She then took a moment before a soft chuckle escaped her.

"Though next time, perhaps stare a little quieter. The fish was starting to feel neglected."

He looked to the stream where the fish once was but had swum away, realizing that they had, in fact, neglected the fish, making it awkward for it to stay.

"That is... beautiful. And deeply unfair to my studies. You are a far more distracting enigma than any scroll I have ever read," he replied courteously when a thought struck him. "Tell me, Faithful Halyndra… what drew your gaze to the fish? It is but a humble creature, no grand riddle, no arcane complexity. Simply one of earth and water, living as it was shaped to live. What did you see that held your attention so?"

She stood up and brushed her phantom robes, for some reason shaking off dirt that was not there, clasping her hands in front of her while slowly drawing closer to him.

"A fair question. It is also one I've yet to fully answer myself, if I'm honest," she said with a shrug of her shoulders and an easy air to her voice. "I believe it is a gift. One our Lord saw fit to place within me at the moment of my creation. It allows me to see things, not just as they are, but as they might become."

"Fascinating. I believe we might uncover something remarkable if we were to collaborate—" Omnus said, cutting himself short when he heard the sounds of Eorlas sprinting through the woods along with what sounded like wings beating in the air.

Halyndra didn't need to say anything. She only nodded to show she understood, her serene smile becoming a slight frown while she took her position. When the minor flock of harpies became visible, chasing Eorlas through the woods—

Halyndra began to sing her siren's call, making the majority of their flying adversaries become enthralled, causing them to fly right into the trap Omnus had laid. It was only when they were between the two meshes of threads that he cast his lightning through them, creating a miniature lightning storm that fried the unprepared harpies. With their limp and charred bodies falling uselessly to the ground, the remaining harpies retreated, dropping their weapons to fly faster. Meanwhile, Eorlas rejoined Omnus and Halyndra, commenting that the charred bodies smelled rather enticing.

It was a wonderful start, but it was just that—a start. Hopefully, everything else would go just as smoothly.