Peter was set up at his station at the top of his headquarters. Clock works and others were positioned ready for things to begin. Even Khan had calmed down. He had an extra screen on his personal interface, where Boris and himself would be able to listen or mute the other 5 allied cores. It was just one more aspect to make this battle more chaotic than it needed to be.
There were only a few more moments for him to contemplate what might have been a series of rash decisions. How had he gone from a one on one battle with Bonefiend to a six on seven battle against the demon faction. Then he had even coerced… or well led Elyra to coerce another core to join in the idea. Finally, they had agreed to the core burn through condition which would be a great thing if they won, but if they lost…
Creature’s exploded through his dungeon entrance the second the battle began. It looked like the Beastfiend had been responsible for opening things up in his dungeon. Soon however it became apparent the beast fiend had started things in all 6 of the allied dungeons. All only C and B tiers at this point, but beasts were excellent for assaults. Likely the beast core had spent a lot of its resources to begin the assault on all six dungeons.
However they were not the only ones to attack. Peter’s forces would spearhead the attack on the Pitfiend core, while Elyra would spearhead the attack on Baelrock. Gabriel would work with Eli to attack the rock demon core. They were the 3 easiest cores to take out. Flame whelp and frozen gates had lost their tutorial but had 7 years worth of resources to burn through. Their chosen targets had participated in multiple battles meaning their numbers should be lower. Beastfiend was somewhere in the middle; he had won his tutorial and 1 additional battle, and Bonefiend was easily the strongest as one of the millennial proteges.
Gretchen would provide support for Elyra, since she had excellent auxiliary capabilities. She could supplement for Elyra who was still needing to make up for lost ground in that area, and Predator would offer the raw force of his units to Peter’s attack. The goal was to quickly turn this battle into a 6 on 4, while successfully defending their own dungeons. Predator was leading the way on their attack, so Peter currently only had the battle in his own dungeon to watch.
Just like the last battle he had brought some elites up to the front to deal with whatever came through. The mostly C tier demon beasts did not stand a chance. Winged beasts, demons with long dagger like talons, Multi limbed units, the demon beasts came in every shape or color They all were promptly ripped apart. Perhaps due to complexity of the battle the slaughter went on for a bit longer than Peter would have expected. However soon the enemy dungeon answered with a force of Pit fiends and flame whelps.
Several dozen A tiers and hundreds of B tiers. It was an excellent counter since the pit fiends were heavily armored and could push into his defender’s ranks and the flame whelps streamed in overhead like fireflies, making pulling back his forces a real concern. The flame whelps were various flying flame elementals or birds. The pit fiends were savage fiends that had marinated in the deep hell energy. They were humanoids for the most part. The main difference between them and the demon beasts was that they walked upright. That and their skin only came in darker hues of various colors. Peter’s best comparison for the pit fiends was abyssal energy, but the hellscape version.
Fortunately, Peter had thought about this. The Saint flame dragon had been present in the initial cavern but had not made a move until the counter came. Then it swept its white hot holy fire over everything that got close. The flame whelps had even higher resistance to fire attacks than most of the demon faction, but the holy energy was enough to turn the weaker of them into black char within seconds. The A and B tiers were forced back, just like any normal being would to real flame. The pit fiends caught in the white flame also weathered it well if they were strong enough. Their skin charred and cracked, the weaker of them collapsing into cinders. It might be an S tier attack, but with it sweeping back and forth most B tier and above would likely survive.
The flame continued for a good 45 seconds consuming or holding back enemies. As soon as it winked out the dragon turned and lumbered down the tunnel in retreat. The demons surged after it. The flame whelps quickly caught up and started hounding the S tier dragon as it raced down the tunnel. They caused more than a few serious wounds before the dragon made it to the puddle room. The dragon immediately started circumnavigating the pools of water as it ran for the exit, snapping with its jaws at any whelps who came too close. Water mancer salamanders started firing water at the fire based units breaking some of them off. Enough to allow the dragon to get through the exit to the second floor.
A half dozen A and B tier whelps had followed it through, but they were cut to ribbons by Glenda and the other mages. The water mancers on the first floor fought to the death, delaying the approaching demon army. Peter relaxed a bit as his S tier made it back to safety. He had almost had to use one of his resurrect cards so early. The Saint flame dragon did not have near the defensive capability of the holy armor dragon or even the armageddon dragon. If it came under a coordinated attack it would die far more easily.
The pit fiends and flame whelps pushed onto the second floor. Glenda only directed moderate resistance, with forces in the alternate realm mirroring the advance. Peter decided that he would soon need to supplement the first five floors with far more floor units like the water mancer and quarter off hippos. Glenda’s constant fall backs while harassing the enemy were just awkward. It would be better to have set expendable units, that he could supplement to keep enemies on their toes.
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Not too long after the battle began, Predator gave word that his forces were moving onto the second floor. Less than a minute later, the word passed to Peter’s assault army who started entering the first floor of the pit fiend dungeon. Krista the S tier archangel was in charge of the physical realm while Delilah was leading the other side of things. They had only taken 2 other S tiers with them, but one, the nightmarish creation would only be in charge of guarding the dungeon’s entrance against a counter attack.
The pit fiend’s dungeon was a world of flame similar to Peter’s own floors 6 through 10. Laval pools interspaced with stone. The difference was that the demon core had taken it up a level or two. Peter could instantly tell that the other’s floor maintained a far higher temperature. Luckily Peter had accounted for it all, with thorough preparations. For the most part, Krista was in command of a beast army, along with nearly half her angels and Gnther’s forces.
Peter had correctly assumed that the beasts as well as the others would need some consideration to be able to make it through 10 floors like this. Near the very end of his forces were some charger elephants carrying sleighs of water and a few other odds and ends. Interspersed inside the forces were hundreds of units carrying water barrels like a St. Bernard. The B tier Berserker apes would be able to use their hands to open them up as required. Then there were hundreds of Tier 2 water scrolls and other items available to use by the angels themselves. Peter was not so concerned about having enough for finishing the pit fiend dungeon. He was more concerned about the dungeons that followed.
His beast army proceeded forward cautiously, even as Predator’s forces cleared out the second and soon the third floor. By the end of the third floor, Predator’s forces began to fall back. His units had run out of steam due to the hostile environment. They would all grab some water near the entrance and retreat back to rest before entering no man's land for further use.
It was during this changeover that the demon forces began their assault on his fifth floor. Weary of the tricks used last year the demons had proceeded far more cautiously. Flying units crossed over in small batches. The demons did not even bother with the stone lily pads. Units clearly based on the fourth layer of hell or the frozen gate started rapidly freezing the water. A move, Peter would have never suspected.
Peter wished he had the magnesium catapults to frustrate their efforts, but he had not even prepared them this year due to who they expected to battle. However the ballista bolts and arrows all had high level sigil and holy magic based enchantments. Demons would not only be hit by the projectiles, but would suffer as if they were poisoned.
One thing had become clear at this point. Just like their own strategy, the demon cores were not actively trying to take out all the concept dungeons. After taking the initial floor or two, they had merely formed a defensive hold on four of the dungeons. The only two dungeons they were pushing forward on were his own and Elyra’s. Apparently, the demons were attempting to knock out their 2 most difficult contenders first.
The freezing of the water of the fifth floor proceeded smoothly and surely. Despite his own magician's efforts breaking up the ice, it was quickly reformed as the ice mages continued to push their way forward. The ice was not only expanding forward but was also getting thicker. Even an S tier would have difficulty breaking through, so the hippos stood no chance at all. Peter’s ballista and archers were taking their toll, but it was not like there were not thousands to take the place of any that had fallen. The C tier hippos eventually retreated up and out of the water, even as Glenda pulled her forces out. The hippos would fight and die on the far platform.
Their last stand proved unnecessary. The demon forces took their time after taking the fifth to push on their attack. Peter had no doubt they were pulling back the frozen gate units as they pushed forward standard forces. Perhaps his situation might look a bit desperate for those watching the battle, but they could not begin to understand the leaps and bounds that his capabilities had progressed over only one year.
Krista sent the new S tier ape berserker through the entrance to the pit fiends fourth floor first. The giant ape bellowed as it led its charge with a massive Cobalt shield the size of a garage door. Instantly flames blasted it as dozens of spells went off all at once. The S tier pushed through the wave of flame even as weaker beasts started streaking around it.
Gnther led the gnomes and tempest fowls through immediately they created hurricane winds that fanned the flames making them stronger, but also successfully swept them back toward the demon forces. With high fire resistance most of the demons would likely be just fine, but it did cause the demon forces to shy back.
Hundreds of demons took to the skies racing forward to attack Gnther’s forces, but Krista and her personnel forces were waiting for the very thing. The ape berserker would take care of things on the ground easily enough, Krista would clear the skies. Krista herself met an A tier Demon, whose sword burst forth in black flame. Krista’s holy sword swept right through it and then the opposing demon’s body. Like carving through butter the divine masterwork in the hands of an S tier began cutting demons from the sky.
With no demon able to match her in the air, the demons started focusing all their mages on the S tier, but Gnther and the tempest fowl countered. Both had control of winds, but the tempest fowl added the water aspect that directly countered the mostly flame attacks. Enemy ballista targeted the archangel, but Krista proved difficult to hit despite there being twelve enemy batteries launching the spear sized projectiles at the rate of several a minute per battery.
A few that happened to get close were intercepted with Krista’s sword. She was knocked back in the air each time she was forced to deflect one, but it left no noticeable marks on her sword or injuries on her. The bolts just did not travel fast enough to get through her guard, or hit hard enough to do damage to her. With a hundred B tier angels working with her, she was making short work of the demon air forces. The ape berserker was similarly not encountering anything that could prove its match. The fourth floor of this demon’s dungeon would fall in quick order.
