Rupegia

I open a [Gate] to the fortress and keep it open while the girls help everyone else organize. I find it oddly suspicious how this happens just as we're finishing our breakfast. It's almost like the Titans leisurely ate their meal and then came to visit us… though that doesn't sound like a bad thing now that I think about it.

The men are tense but obediently holding steady since the alarm for an attack hasn't been rung yet. Still, the quick response teams are teleporting in to reinforce the firing ports, and it pleases me that they're all carrying rifles.

The command room is right next to my coordinates, so I just walk in and ask the commanding officer what's going on.

"We've spotted a small group of Titans outside, in the… north… second north direction," he hesitatingly answers with a deep frown as his brain cells struggle to put things into words.

Ah, yes, 4D space. Every time we deal with it, we're forced to learn something new.

I sigh and accept, "I understand, but I still might not know which north you're talking about, though I'll just go take a look."

"Let me accompany you," he stiffly volunteers, afraid of making his King feel lost.

Then we leave, but although the interior of the fortress is in 3D, the outside isn't, so we still end up in the wrong north.

"Over there, Your Highness!" the officer exclaims and points to our "right."

I squint and try to follow his finger, but there's still a whole extra dimension to look through, so it takes me a couple of seconds before I find the little tin cans on the other side of one of the many bridges out of the fortress. Then we finally go to meet with the waiting Titans.

There are ten tin cans standing in a grid, and I recognize that they're of the kind that can resist the nail-to-the-limbs-freezing dude, but the one in front of them is a simple, gray-skinned, bald Titan man wearing a white shirt and pants, and also wielding a shiny greatsword. As we get closer, I notice that the bald one has a little gray gem in his forehead, which wasn't a thing in the other Titan corpses we saw, but we only recovered the ones in the Gothic fortress as every other Titan corpse was taken by the dungeon's portals.

"[Worms]!" the bald Titan shouts in Reo once we get within uncomfortable-shouting range.

I already put on [Reo Language] as I was expecting this, but thankfully, we have a Chimera translator for the commanding officer accompanying me, who frowns angrily because, as an elf, his pride is as fragile as a virgin's hymen when around me.

Still, I don't take this insult lying down, so I shout back with a sneer, "[Speak, you curse of the land]!"

Then the Titan points his greatsword at me, and I feel our men all flinch tensely at the same time. "[I challenge you to a duel]!" he unhesitatingly replies.

What in the fuck. Why would a monster ever do that?

"[Who are you, and why are you doing this]?" I question skeptically with a frown.

And even from this far away, I can clearly see his wide grin. "[I'm the Wretch of Onslaught, and I'm here to curse you]."

That just rings alarm bells in my mind, and I reflexively ask, "[What if we refuse the challenge]?"

"[I'll curse you regardless of your cowardice]," he barks back, his grin turning into a scowl.

I don't like this. I really don't like this.

"[I'll convene with my comrades before we answer you]," I make a tactical retreat.

And he snorts, and then his tone loses a bit of its edge. "[Take your time. I'll be here until I die]."

 

We return to the fortress and see that our diverse group has fully assembled in the command room, so we all sit at the table, and I relay to our [Bind]-challenged comrades what happened.

"It's a trap," Lily obviously remarks.

"Obviously," I obviously reply, holding back the meme because even Samkelo is serious.

"Yet he made it clear that no matter what we do, he'll curse us," Yunia adds with a pondering tone.

"So what's even the point of the duel?" I ask out loud, liking this even less the more we speak.

"An excuse to murder one of us?" Lily makes the obvious suggestion.

"Maybe it's related to the dungeon's rules," Urmeie casually interjects.

"What rules?" I hum back, and everyone turns their eyes to her.

The big bear gives us an annoyed glance, as if this should be obvious to everyone, but still helpfully explains, "The Blessing from Creation. It ensures that dungeons are conquerable, though this one grew so big that it has become a threat, so the Blessing isn't absolute, but we can trust that there's always a reason for everything they do, and this challenge will affect how we'll progress further into the dungeon."

Yes, we had a hunch that things were like that, but dungeons are still somewhat mysterious to us, so we weren't sure of it.

And then Belind voices the concern I had been dreading, "Avoiding the duel could make things worse, especially if we use underhanded methods to kill this 'Wretch' monster."

"You two are the ones with the most experience with dealing with dungeons," I humbly state, and the two Princesses stiffen.

"Even I don't know that much about dungeons because those in our territory are very tame," Yunia follows up, making them even more uncomfortable.

"Same as my birthplace," Alissa adds before they try to use her to get out of this.

So the two Princesses turn to each other, and they start to look like dogs getting ready for a fight, but thankfully, the bitches keep their emotions under control and prioritize everyone's safety.

Urmeie looks away first and advises, "I say we take the duel, but keep in mind that he might still curse us even if we win."

And then Belind shares her thoughts, "'Outsmarting the dungeon' is always an option, but what's there to outsmart? The Titan said that he'll stay there until he dies, so what's the hidden choice?"

Kill, wait, flee, or capture him. These are the options we can think of, and I feel like none of them will be enough to stop this "curse."

"What if he's immortal?" Lily innocently suggests.

"Impossible. Nothing is immortal," Ciel piously answers.

"There was that monster we couldn't kill when we explored Legado," Lina quietly points out.

"Oh, yeah. We used an earth elemental in the shape of a coffin to restrain her," I hum nostalgically.

"We still 'killed' her by completing the 'scenario," Ciel retorts.

Then Belind pulls us back on track, "I think the Titans are pushing the boundaries of the dungeon's rules. They intend to have the 'Wretch' die to trigger something."

"Trigger what?" Lily immediately hums.

"What was his full name?" Urmeie asks.

"Wretch of Onslaught," I grimly answer.

And then we all fall silent for a minute.

It continues to get worse the more we talk about it!

"The fuck, this is like a game," Samkelo suddenly blurts out.

"It always is," I wryly hum.

And Lily's gamer brain promptly gets turned on, "We kill him and trigger horde mode; we don't kill him and trigger enrage; we assassinate him and trigger the bad ending."

Ah, "enrage," a mechanic from MMOs. If you take too long to kill the boss, he goes berzerk, and the point of it is to counter slow/bad/under-leveled groups from winning by chipping away at the boss. But it isn't that big of an assumption that this is at play here, considering how many "scenarios" in the dungeons of Rupegia are time-sensitive.

Which puts so much pressure on me that I'm convinced that the Titans have deliberately cornered us. "I fucking knew they were holding back. They just wanted to save their strength to overwhelm us all at once!" I angrily exclaim and clench my clawed fist.

"So they really are 'pushing the rules' of the dungeon," Yunia remarks out loud.

"Weren't you always joking about 'war crimes'? Now's the time to do that," Hana immediately encourages me, and I chuckle embarrassedly.

"Three Horned Guardians are ready, and the M2 Field Guns are being given high priority," Aoi follows up more seriously.

"The first 'Es-Em-Gee' is about to be assembled, and we'll have a new rifle in a day or two," Lina piles on.

But I try to temper their bravery, "We're still not fully ready."

"We'll never be," Sandoro suddenly chimes in.

"There's always something to improve," Oritiki hums in agreement.

But I frown angrily.

I've always been in control of the situation when dealing with dungeons, but now things are becoming unpredictable, and I hate it. Sending my men into a battle where I don't know the odds of their survival is the one thing I hate the most.

Then I sense the conflicted emotions leaking through [Bind], and I know that I'm not alone, which helps me steady myself. The girls are as afraid as I am of what's to come, but now we need to support each other because our hands must be steady as we make this decision.

We're the royal Ryder family, four times Blessed by the Gods, and leaders of the revolution that will bring this world into a new era, so we can't afford to waver now.

I breathe in as Gify feeds me memories of me breeding my women, and the weredragon that I am regains full control of my heart once again. So I begin to lay out our plan with deadly determination, "Sandoro, prepare for a horde attack. I want the men to be ready for a multi-stage retreat in case the horde is too big and starts to overwhelm our positions, so ready whatever explosives we have to cover our eventual retreat. Don't waste time on this fortress; we should focus on making our first real defense on the island the Sky Landers were using to attack the floating pillar fortress two levels before this one.

"Also, recruit all of the Sky Landers to build fortifications as fast as possible. We need bunkers, large fortifications without an entrance but with innumerable little ports for us to fire our guns through. There's no point in meeting them in the field with an army in formation anymore."

Then Yunia makes her own declaration, "We'll get the Hau-Hou royals to participate in this battle. If we don't hold out against the horde, they'll spill out of the dungeon and threaten the Sky Lands, so we'll station the Carrier at the exit, but it'll be our last line of defense."

And Hihiriwa nods solemnly.

"Good thing I brought my knights," Urmeie gleefully remarks now that things are becoming "interesting" for her.

"I'll call for mine to come through the Network," Belind soberly follows up.

"I'll ask for reinforcements," Caterina adds.

But Ciel redirects her, "Ask for healers. They'll be more effective since our combat doctrine is changing, and we'll need to retrain any new Templars you bring."

"Very well," she calmly agrees.

"We still need to choose who's going to duel the dude," Lily eagerly chimes in.

But all eyes fall on her.

And Princess Belind very tactfully explains, "Considering the Titan's phrasing, there's an unknown risk for our chosen champion, so it has to be someone who's very resilient."

"Okay, I guess that'll be me," Lily dryly remarks and sighs.

Then Ciel uses her angelic aura to soothingly reassure her, "We'll be watching over you, so you won't be alone in case he tries to do something underhanded."

But Lily's pride forces her to immediately clarify, "No, I'm not scared. I just thought it was dumb that I even considered that someone else would be chosen."

And Ciel smiles sweetly, which unnerves the loli a little bit. "Well, even if you aren't scared, know that we'll be there to support you."

"Uh… thanks…" she awkwardly hums.

 

As the girls spread out to help organize things, we receive word that someone related to Vanea wants to speak with us, and even though we're very busy, I'm suspicious of the timing of this visit, so I have Alissa receive them.

We're in a hurry, so she immediately asks them to come in, and two men enter the room. One is a bearded, dark-skinned raven-type demon with a large pair of black wings on his back, and the other is a young-looking, red-skinned devil-type with a crooked, mischievous smile that looks awfully familiar to us.

"Your Highness Alissa, it's a pleasure to meet you again. I'm knight Marduk, and I'm here under Dame Vanea's orders to assist you," the devil greets and bows a bit exaggeratedly while his raven companion does a proper, polite bow.

"Rise," Alissa commands, and she narrows her eyes at Marduk as his name tickles her memories. Then she suddenly remembers, "Ah! You're the knight that accompanied us during the raid to kidnap Darean's woman."

Which pleases him greatly. "I'm honored that you remember me, especially since we fought side-by-side."

But then her tone becomes sharper. "And what a curious appearance, considering we've been searching precisely for someone who knows [Martyrism]."

"Well, yeah, Dame Vanea heard about your search and had me find Avtande here to aid you. The fact that I know [Martyrism] is just a coincidence," he happily replies, and I've gotta give him points for being so nonchalant in front of a queen.

"Greetings, Your Highness Alissa," the raven man stiffly declares.

But Alissa ignores him for a moment to confusedly question Marduk, "How… how did you find him faster than us?" We won't even question how Vanea found out about our search, as this isn't the first time she's spied on us.

And the knight of questionable morals promptly explains, as if he's been expecting that question, "You'd never have found him. He's a master of unseen curses. Very popular among the middle nobility and merchants as it's obscure enough that most people won't have heard of it while its subtlety makes it perfect for long-term sabotage."

Lina raises her head curiously at this. She's the one who knows a bit of [Cursing Magic], but none of her spells work like that.

"I smell a charlatan, like those of [Alchemicism]," Roxanne skeptically shares through [Bind].

"Nono and Petra did find a way into the Cycle of Souls," Ciel points out.

"I'll only believe what I can see," she stubbornly grunts back.

And the raven man in question seems to get even more tense under Alissa's suspicious stare.

But we can't really afford to question him thoroughly, so Alissa lays it out, "We're about to enter into a battle with a monster who freezes every living person when the monster gets their limbs stabbed by stakes, and only spirits and summons seem to be immune to it. It isn't a spell that we can interrupt, and it isn't related to [Weaverism] or the particle the elves call Life, so we have no idea how to counter it. Our lives and those of our men depend on finding a counter to it."

Avtande hums curiously, his black wings twitching just like Belind's, and then he quite eagerly shares, "Ah, so you have a Weaver with you? Well, I know the elves get very annoyed at [Martyrism] because we can do the same thing as [Chain Soul] without using Life. It's all about the 'intent.' If you wish harm upon someone hard enough, you can connect to their Thread without having to use 'Life.'"

"What?!" Yunia exclaims in disbelief in my soul space, and her pride as a Weaver has also been wounded by his unbelievable claim.

We won't waste time trying to confirm or deny it, so Alissa sternly affirms, "We need to find a way to counter it. The monster can put a whole army in danger."

Her tone gets to him, so he prudently confesses, "I've actually never tried to because I specialize in cursing people, not protecting them from it, but I can try something."

And she solemnly states, "Do it, and you'll be rewarded handsomely. But we're very busy right now, so if that's all, I'll leave you to it."

"I have nothing else to add," he replies and lowers his head while Marduk just flashes a smile.

So she nods and returns to her duties.

 

I shift our production line to focus on bullets and rifles as that'll be the workhorse of this war. The M2 120mm Field Guns will be perfect for dealing with hordes of enemies, but I want to ensure that we'll be able to arm every soldier with a gun before I focus on that.

The Titan didn't give us a time limit for our answer to the duel, so we just ignore him and pray that he doesn't lose his patience. If he starts to complain, we'll send Hana to stall things as long as possible, but we'll also keep an eye out in case he tries to kill himself and trigger the horde, or something.

Then Chesa volunteers to help build the bunkers, and once her Gift kicks in, we watch in awe as she conjures a tsunami of earth that envelops most of the island. It's like a huge wave that becomes an upside-down whirlpool, ending in a mostly conical shape. Then she adds two more "lumps" to the sides.

She isn't dexterous enough with her power to make the firing ports and room divisions, but she's already completed the most costly part of the construction, which is conjuring all the earth, so the Earth mages only need to finish it up. We'll actually be ready in just an hour at this rate, but you can always add more, so their work will never truly be done.

And the Hau-Hou royals arrive soon after.

"What has happened here?" Prince Hekeman asks out loud as he looks up at the huge brown mass before them.

"Chesa used her Gift to help us make a fortress," Yunia amusedly explains.

"Delightfully impressive!" a young, light-blue, deer-headed woman cheerfully exclaims. She's the spitting image of Queen Venison, but in a pastel blue color scheme, and also with deeper curves and more defined muscles than her slender mother, making her a juicier piece of meat.

"We're in a hurry, so we advise you to seek out the planners and find an area to help, no matter where," Yunia continues more seriously, though she takes a second look at the Princess to feed my endless thirst for pussy like the good, little, obedient slutty wife she is.

Queen Patika turns to her and states, "I think I understand what you're aiming for with this shape. I'll ask for more of these islands to be built around the portals."

And Yunia nods. "Yes, we expect that we'll need multiple lines of defense."

 

So the hours pass, and the Titan's expression gradually becomes angrier and angrier. But we won't send Lily yet because we can still have Hana stall for a bit longer.