Chapter 269: Great Fortress (Part 1)
Cold wind cut across endless gray stone the moment the gate deposited them inside. Massive fortress walls stretched toward the horizon in every direction, towering battlements rising overhead, broken siege towers scattered across the outer field, ancient banners still hanging despite whatever centuries had passed since anyone last raised them.
[B-Rank Dungeon Found.]
[B-Rank Dungeon: Great Fortress.]
[Status: Active.]
Kai looked around slowly. "...A fortress."
Raze grinned. "I like fortresses."
Elden studied the wall closest to them. "...They’re designed to funnel attackers into narrow kill zones."
Kai smiled. "Then we stop acting like attackers."
The three of them started forward.
Alarm bells rang out across the battlements without warning.
DOOOOOONG!
DOOOOOONG!
DOOOOOONG!
Stone soldiers appeared along the walls, crossbows and ballistas swinging into position, heavy shield infantry lining up at the base. Unlike every previous dungeon, nobody rushed out to meet them.
The monsters stayed behind their fortifications.
Kai laughed. "...They’re actually defending instead of charging."
Raze rested his greatsword across one shoulder. "...Then let’s knock."
Hundreds of bolts rained down the moment they got close, and Kai Air Stepped between them, weaving through the barrage without slowing. The Ashen Seal sent Tempest Fang streaking toward the nearest ballista.
BOOOOOOM!!
Lightning tore across the wall, the ballista’s frame collapsing outward in a shower of splinters.
Raze didn’t bother dodging at all or changing direction. Bolts hammered into him from every side.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Blood Armor spread over his shoulders, his chest, his arms, every impact vanishing into the crimson armor. His grin only widened. "KEEP SHOOTING!"
A second volley answered. Even more arrows. Even heavier ballista bolts. They slammed into him like battering rams. Blood Tyrant pulsed, and his muscles visibly swelled, crimson veins glowing beneath the armor.
[Blood Tyrant.] [Stack 18.]
He laughed. "...My turn."
Battle Roar erupted, the pressure wave rolling across the battlefield, loose stones exploding, burning debris scattering, several defenders stumbling backward from the force alone.
Warstep.
The earth shattered beneath him, and he became a crimson comet, the front gate filling his vision. The defenders braced. Too late.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
His greatsword struck the gate. Iron bent. Wood splintered. The impact echoed through the entire fortress. Before anyone recovered, a second swing, Blood Wave, and a massive crimson blade of energy carved straight through the gatehouse, the watchtower behind it splitting apart, chunks of burning stone crashing into the courtyard.
Kai laughed. "...He’s making his own entrance."
Off to the side, Elden never looked at the gate. His attention stayed on the battlefield itself. "...Too predictable."
His staff touched the ground, and arcane circles bloomed one after another. Gravity doubled beneath the fortress wall, and stone shifted, ancient support pillars groaning. Then entire sections of the approach changed. A charging squad of shield soldiers suddenly found themselves pulled sideways, and instead of reinforcing the gate, they marched directly into one of Elden’s prepared kill zones.
Stone spikes erupted.
CRACK!
Rows of soldiers were launched into the air. The survivors tried regrouping, but gravity changed again, and their own formation collapsed into chaos.
Kai noticed immediately. "...You’re dismantling their defense."
Elden adjusted his glasses. "...No. I’ve convinced them to abandon it."
Sure enough, the commander blew another horn, and the defenders left the walls, shield soldiers rushing outside to engage them directly. Exactly what Elden wanted. "...Fortresses only matter while people stay behind them."
The three advanced together. Kai became the knife, and wherever Raze tore open the line, Kai slipped through it, Fractured Blade flashing. Commander. Crossbow captain. Signal officer. One after another, entire defensive formations collapsed before they could reorganize.
Raze became the battering ram. Every swing flattened another barricade, and every hit he absorbed made the next attack even stronger, until soon Blood Waves stretched across entire courtyards, carving through walls and defenders alike.
Elden became the battlefield. Walls collapsed where he wanted them. Bridges fell beneath retreating soldiers. Gravity fields trapped reinforcements before they could reach the front. Even the fortress itself seemed to be turning against its defenders.
Retreat horns sounded instead, and the surviving defenders pulled back toward a second wall visible further inside.
Kai watched them go. "...They’re preserving their forces."
Raze laughed loudly. "...This dungeon actually has commanders directing it."
"Which means it has real strategy behind it too," Elden said quietly.
They pushed deeper, and every courtyard became its own battlefield, every gate another defensive line to break through, every guard tower another obstacle standing between them and the center.
After clearing another brutal engagement, the final defender of the outer fortress collapsed, and a familiar notification appeared.
[Level Up.]
[Player: Kai Rosefield.]
[Level: 63.]
Kai exhaled quietly. "...Another one."
Raze clapped him on the back. "Still climbing."
"We all are," Kai said, smiling.
Another notification followed close behind.
[Distortion Applied.]
[Drop Quality: Optimized.]
Several high-quality drops scattered across the fallen wall, and Kai gathered them by hand, mostly rare metals, mana crystals, and pieces of what looked like ancient fortress infrastructure.
Elden picked up one particular crystal, turning it in the light. "...That might help Lily’s relay work."
"Take it," Kai said, already moving on.
They pushed deeper still, and massive ancient siege weapons activated without warning, stone cannons swinging into position along the second wall, mana ballistas charging, rotating towers grinding into new firing angles. The fortress itself had joined the fight.
Kai reacted immediately. "Elden!"
Already prepared, Elden threw up arcane barriers just in time, gravity runes bending several incoming projectiles off their original trajectories. Two cannons ended up destroying sections of their own wall trying to compensate for the redirected shots.
Raze burst out laughing. "I like your way better."
Kai used the resulting chaos to full effect, Tempest Fang tearing through another tower, Rootbreaker smashing straight through the reinforced gate ahead. The fortress started collapsing from the inside out, structural supports giving way under the combined assault.
After pushing through wave after wave of defenders, the trio finally reached the fortress’s center, and unlike everything behind them, this inner keep stood completely untouched. Larger. Higher. Noticeably stronger than anything they’d already broken through.
Its massive gates ground open slowly, and rows of elite defenders marched out in tight, disciplined formation, far more organized than anything they’d faced up to this point.
[Elite Commander Detected.]
[Iron Legion.]
[Level: 65.]
Behind them, a gigantic figure rose from the central keep itself, dwarfing every previous defender by a wide margin. It carried a massive tower shield in one hand and an equally enormous warhammer in the other, its armor built in overlapping plates that resembled an entire castle wall folded into a single suit.
Kai smiled slowly, looking up at the looming figure. "...Looks like we’ve reached the halfway point."
Raze cracked his neck, grinning. "...Now it finally looks fun."
Elden raised his staff, studying the assembled Iron Legion with quiet focus.
"...Let’s see what this fortress has actually been protecting."