The first order of business is furniture. Cain isn't certain the system will recognize an empty castle as anything more than abandoned structure, so having a good section of it decorated before trying to register it as a Guild Castle is at the top of Cain's to do list.
[Dimnys, can you get me a bunch of furniture? Whatever you can get on short notice is fine.] Cain sends his request. They've got a furniture maker in Graska, so they're should be at least something available, and if not the Dwarves have a pretty good stock.
[Most of this order is spoken for, but we have about a dozen bedroom sets and some assorted couches and tables.] She sends back a few minutes later. They were fairly popular after getting the approval of the Dwarves in Montauk, so he shouldn't be too surprised.
[That will do. Pay for them out of the Guild fund. I'll grab them as soon as you put then in the Guild Bank then I should sleep.] It's not like he's never pulled a double all nighter before, but Cain wants to try out one of the other dungeons tonight, and that will need a clear mind.
Leaving a bunch of unexplored portals inside the castle is just a bad idea. They might have been blocked for a good reason after all.
With the transferred furniture, one floor of the keep is mostly decorated. A bit sparse and the kitchen is totally empty, but it's a start. Cain retires to the nearest bedroom for a quick nap, planning to see what the white portal has in store when he wakes up.
The Green one was Elves, the Blue one was Dwarves, which he had yet to clear. The White portal next to the Elven dungeon, which has now settled to a regular appearance instead of green, seems the least threatening, so Cain is going to do it next. He has two theories, either the colors indicate the species trapped inside, or the difficulty of the dungeon. Green was Elves at his level. Green is also common level gear, so either could work.
If white is below his level one theory will be confirmed. If it's at his level and not Elves, the other should be right.
Cain heads to the window of the room he picked for the day and looks out over the newly built castle, seeing nothing that concerns him at the moment. The earth Elementals leveled and cleared the area exceptionally well, and the ring of posts seems to be doing its job, as he doesn't see much sand blown in to the new construction.
Soon they will have water available and be able to get plant life growing in the area to help secure the surface sand, but not today.
After a quick breakfast from the random foodstuffs kept in his inventory, Cain walks out into the courtyard, checking every room he passes through for signs he missed something important. Everything looks like it's in place, so he jogs over to the White portal and double checks his equipment. A few things have taken damage, or gotten worn from use, but it's all in serviceable shape, so Cain enters the portal and calls his summons.
That was his first mistake of the day.
"Die vile Demonic Horde." Comes a voice from above and a winged warrior in a toga descends upon his Lamia, spear thrusting forward in a vicious attack pattern. That cry has brought more reinforcements, and Cain quickly realizes he's brought a wealth of demons into a seraphim populated dungeon.
"Vala, head back outside for a bit. I'll call you when we're ready." Cain calls, recalling all the demons. He keeps 6 Oath Breakers merged with himself, one Summon Cloned and tripled, but replaces the other with a pair of Epic Diamond Elementals, upgraded to Legendary by his skills. The Wrath Bringers are changed for Greater Golem quality Granite Elementals, upgraded to epic and the Lamia are switched out for Dire Crows, a carnivorous flying beast they encountered in the Beastkin dungeon. The Plague Mages are again exchanged for Fire Elementals.
That gives Cain at least a few flying units other than the Dragons, as Fire Elementals care little about gravity, and it has also calmed down the attackers. They're still calling out tactics to deal with the intruders, but they're no longer in a frenzy because of the demons.
They're quite determined to destroy his summons though, much more than most dungeon residents are. Plus, they're tough, level 184. In fact, everything in here is. So not only is it a different species, they're tougher than the last dungeon too.
If it weren't for the fact that Cain's jewelery has all been chosen specifically for bonuses to construct damage, his summons might be in real trouble here. These winged warriors are incredibly skilled, blocking or avoiding three quarters of the attacks that come their way.
They're not high in defense though, and every attack that lands does significant damage, littering the ground with bodies in mere minutes.
A second wave of creatures has arrived, Golden armored soldiers with shining skin, like they were painted gold. Which, on closer inspection Cain suspects is actually true. They've got winged helmets on, but are otherwise looking like golden versions of the Roman Legions. They even form a phalanx, shields up in front with archers in the rear beginning to rain arrows on Cain's forces.
"Diamond Elementals, break the shield wall. Granite Elementals, get to the archers. Dragons and Drakes, assist the crows and Fire Elementals in dealing with the flying fighters." Cain calls out orders by type, keeping only his Companions and the Dread Spiders near him in the end, everyone else has been sent to the front lines.
"You've left yourself vulnerable." Comes a voice above him, from a six winged giant version of the first attackers they met. The female flying giant, the system simply calls Seraphim. Where the first group were Seraphim warriors and the ground troops are Holy Warriors.
"Not so defenseless." Cain responds, using Cloud Dancing to meet his opponent in the air after mentally directing the Companions to lead the summons. Laura has taken charge of the Dragons and Drakes, while Nila has joined the Kone Clones near the Phalanx, where they're assisting the Turtles in breaking the lines.
The Diamond Elementals crushed the human sized warriors without issue, but the lines quickly reformed behind them, leaving the Turtles a hard battle to join the Elementals. But still, it's the aerial fight that's the most savage, as those winged warriors are much better fighters.
There's no more time to survey the battle though, as the six winged Seraphim has lashed out with holy fire.
"I can smell the blessing of the Laughing God on you. We know they were last seen here when the system appeared, tell us where your Master is and we might spare your pathetic human life, in the name of the two righteous hosts."
Two righteous hosts? Does that mean they're not the only army that's here looking for the Laughing God? The other must be the Red Portal. Cain knew that thing was bad news.
Cain chuckles at the creature's mistake, parrying the attacks with minimal difficulty.
"The Laughing God has been missing for centuries and you're trapped in a dungeon spell. Don't threaten me, Seraphim."
"You think we're trapped? No, he is here somewhere, and we will find him." The creature responds, adding sword strikes to the bright light of the Holy Energy whip it has been using.
That whip is tricky, it doesn't follow the laws of physics, like it's a living thing, not a length of cord being swung.
The two exchange attacks for a while, Cain taking multiple light hits before landing a solid strike across the belly of the Seraphim. Golden blood flows from the wound and the creature is enraged, glowing with bright golden light and increasing the speed of its attacks.
That's more than Cain can handle, and the wounds start piling up to the point he can see his life globe start to drain before being refilled by the healing Aura and a long duration heal cast on him by a Su. The first actual healing he's needed in a while.
This thing is ridiculous. It's Legendary, and level 184, but even combined, a pair of Oath Breakers wouldn't be its match in combat.
[Legendary is a fairly wide category. This Seraphim is nearly beyond that.] The Oath Breakers Cain is merged with reply with a mental shrug.
[No kidding, there's six of you in here and we don't have the upper hand.] Cain sends them a snarky reply before he notices the golden light around the being flicker before disappearing.
The Elementals have taken the center of the Phalanx, and killed whatever was casting the buff. Apparently it wasn't an innate ability of this being, which is a bit of a relief. If it had been able to overcome all that Cain threw at it alone he would have been very, very worried.
Without the enhancement spell, the holy army is on the back foot. The Dragons and Drakes have mostly controlled the skies, while the ground army is starting to look thin when Cain gets the opportunity to spare it a glance. The last hold out is their six winged Commander, who is slowly losing health as Cain gets more hits in on it, getting used to its fighting style even as the Seraphim loses strength with the loss of the buffs from its army.
The final strike doesn't leave a corpse, instead it fades into a blinding Golden light before vanishing, taking the remainder of the forces with it.
[Dungeon Complete]
