Less than a week later, I found myself standing at the gate to my Deep Sea Palace. The vanguard of the Flood Dragon army had arrived and formed ranks several hundred meters away, rows after rows of armored spirit beasts holding up spears and standing rigidly. Behind them, two massive Flood Dragon Behemoths towered over the foot soldiers, resembling kaiju from several of my favorite movies. At the front was a single Flood Dragon commander, a "champion" or "hero" of sorts.
This was becoming more and more like Dungeon Odyssey. The only thing I was missing was a dragon descendant hero of my own.
"Damn, the dungeon isn't fully upgraded in time." I frowned as I glanced at the system window, which had a countdown timer. 2 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds. So near, yet so far. Also, I wasn't sure what the new upgrades would give me. If it was more territory and new siege towers, they wouldn't be of much use – I would still have to assemble the siege towers with my Construction Crabs, and in the middle of battle, no less. And more territory just meant my enemies would have more stuff if they conquered my dungeon successfully.
Speaking of Construction Crabs, all of my spirit beasts were out in full force. The Construction Crabs were manning the defensive siege towers, watching the foe warily and waiting for my instruction. The Collector Crabs formed a final line of defense further in, their pincers clacking nervously as they waited for the inevitable. With no combat capability, they would just die in droves if I sent them to the frontlines.
Instead, the frontlines consisted of the Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes, who had set up in a naval formation to boost their elemental techniques, such as water and lightning attacks. On either side of them, Phantom Stumps and Ghost Pumpkins formed up in ranks, bolstered by their respective evolved forms, the Tree Revenants and the Pumpkin Wraiths. At the very front were the Guardian Golems, their towering forms casting long shadows across the cavern floor and walls. They were accompanied by the Colossal Crabs, who formed an orange and white wall between the Little Anglers-Lantern Fishes formation and the Flood Dragons, their massive pincers resting on the ground as they awaited orders.
Hei Ba had stayed further back, coiled somewhere as he waited for a worthy opponent. Despite his defiant attitude, he would move into action the moment he saw a strong enemy. Already he had stirred at the sight of the Flood Dragon Behemoths. Da Hai and Xiao Ke were flanking the aquatic armada, serving as sub-leaders alongside the Lantern Fishes. Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long were further up, accompanying me as I watched the approaching Flood Dragons.
There was no sign of the Flood Dragon King…yet. That made sense. This was just the vanguard, a scouting force to speak. Not those tiny scouting parties, but an actual army vanguard, meant to probe our defenses and test our strength. Yet it wasn't the main force.
I didn't feel insulted. Rather, I was relieved. As long as I could buy more time for the upgrade to kick in, perhaps we might stand a greater chance of surviving. The more advantages I could get, the better. Furthermore, the system had just notified me of a new mission.
-New quest issued. War Between the Flood Dragons and the Deep Sea Palace: Survive the invasion of the Flood Dragons and defeat the Flood Dragon King. Completion of this mission will grant the appropriate rewards. –
System, we would be lucky to survive this invasion. How are you expecting us to win?
Shaking my head, I focused on the Flood Dragon vanguard force in front. They had stopped a few hundred meters away, not taking another step forward. I tried not to chuckle, knowing the reason for their hesitation. Behind me, at the gates, Long Wang, Sylvie and Silvia stood, operating the spirit arrays. The three of them were best at handling the spirit arrays that had been set up in my dungeon, and they would direct them to attack and defend. The barriers continued to crackle stalwartly, as if daring the enemy to attack.
The barrier type spirit array was the only passive one that didn't require operation because it was so simple. However, the attack type spirit arrays, such as the Nine Heavenly Coiling Dragon spirit array that Long Wang was wielding, needed someone to operate them. They were active type spirit arrays, as opposed to the passive barrier kinds.
Sylvie and Silvia had also improved and modified the existing spirit arrays to better suit their purpose. They had assured me that they had enhanced the firepower of the spirit arrays.
"I can't wait to unleash them on the Flood Dragon army!" Silvia had said excitedly, rubbing her hands gleefully. Sylvie had given her younger sister a dark stare before turning to me.
"We'll do our best to protect your dungeon, Jun Wen. Leave the spirit arrays to us and Sir Long Wang. Focus on fighting off the enemies!"
"Thanks."
With that, I was taking charge of my summoned spirit beast army as I faced the Flood Dragons. This was the first time I was bringing the full might of my entire spirit beast army to bear, having every single one of them present on the battlefield at once. It felt almost humbling, somehow. At the same time, I also felt a great sense of pride.
It took me over a year and a half to assemble such a mighty force.
The Flood Dragons might seem more formidable. The Merchant had provided me accurate intelligence – not that I had ever doubted his services. Even the lowest of the Flood Dragon soldiers were Yellow ranked, minimum. This wasn't even their main force, and yet the vanguard already seemed formidable.
I narrowed my eyes, remaining defiant even in the face of such a terrifying enemy. This dungeon was my summoning space. A haven for my spirit beasts to dwell in and rest whenever I didn't summon them. A place where they could roam freely, enjoy themselves, eat, drink, play, interact and sleep without worrying about danger. Unlike most summoners from other stories, I had carved out an actual, living habitat for my summoned spirit beasts, a place they could truly call home. Unlike a personal summoning space where they stayed dormant, my dungeon was a real, physical place where they could truly live and be happy.
And these bastards had the audacity to threaten all that…for the sake of their selfish ambition and greed. Rage filled me and I clenched my fists, azure qi crackling around me in response to my emotions. Even the Flood Dragon champion took a step back at the sudden flare of promised violence. Swallowing, he turned back to the forces under his command.
"Priests, to the fore!" He bellowed and swung a clawed arm. "Bombard the dungeon with everything you have! Let's finish this before his majesty gets here! We will present our king with the dust and remains of our enemy…and obtain victory in his stead without him having to lift a talon! For the Flood Dragons!"
A small contingent of Flood Dragon priests stepped forward, their reptilian figures largely shrouded in black cowls and cloaks. Unlike the majority of Flood Dragons, who had lost the ability to launch long range techniques and relied on their armored resilience and great physical strength to prevail in close combat, the Flood Dragon priests were similar to Sylvie and Silvia in that they had retained an affinity for the esoteric. Mystical qi gathered around them like a tempest before coalescing in the shapes of torrents and streams.
With a unified hiss, they launched watery spears and liquid lances at my dungeon, the highly pressurized jets hurtling forward like bullets or missiles.
However, the shimmering barriers turned from transparent to a tinge of azure, withstanding the stormy bombardment from the Flood Dragon priests. Water splashed and diffused harmlessly over the dome-shaped arcane walls, cascading down like rain. The Little Anglers, Lantern Fishes and Colossal Crabs enjoyed the shower, with a few of them wading out of the barrier to drink in some of the water before retreating back under the protective aegis.
The Flood Dragon champion clicked his somewhat forked tongue in his elongated jaw, glaring at the barrier. He probably was even more incensed by the bold move of my marine spirit beasts to dart out of the aegis to drink the water, because that was basically a slap in the face, telling him that they weren't afraid of his army.
"If the spells can't penetrate the barrier, then we will charge in!" He growled. "Punch through the barrier physically and get into close combat!"
Uh, he did realize that physical projectiles wouldn't work against my dungeon, right? Then again, the barriers only reacted against attacks they perceived as threats, so like arrows, elemental techniques, weapons, bullets, explosives, missiles or more. a Flood Dragon soldier simply waltzing into the territory of my dungeon wouldn't be detected as a threat because it would be too slow to cause any damage upon entry, and so it would simply marched in.
As powerful as the barrier was, it did have that dumb weakness. Which made sense, otherwise I could just turtle in my dungeon and never have to worry about fighting a war until the Flood Dragon King showed up and broke the barrier with brute force. I mean, that was also how the other inhabitants of the Celestial Labyrinth such as the Merchant visited the bar in my dungeon. They could walk through the barrier as long as they weren't speeding into it like a bullet, and then be directed to the bar by my Guardian Golems. There was a limit to what the passive type of spirit arrays can do, and it wasn't as if cultivators could install any advanced artificial intelligence to identify enemies and bar them from entering.
It was also how my marine spirit beasts could walk out of the barrier and back in.
Nonetheless, despite the weakness, I wasn't fazed when the Flood Dragon champion led the charge. Unlike the foot soldiers, the champion wielded a sword, which he pointed in our direction as he bellowed an order.
"Charge! Smash through the barrier and massacre them in their own dungeon!"
The Flood Dragons moved as one, the champion leading the advance over the hundreds of meters of no man's land between us. They were flanked by two Flood Dragon Behemoths, who left tremors with each crunching step.
Most of them never got near before they were blasted to pieces.
I didn't even have to give the command. Long Wang, Sylvie and Silvia reacted on their own initiative. The moment they spotted the enemy moving toward us, they manipulated the arcane qi that flowed from the surroundings and into the spirit arrays, activating them and launching energy dragons, wind blades, fireballs and lightning bolts. The mystical attacks crashed into the ranks of the sprinting Flood Dragons, detonating violently and hurling their bodies into the air. several crashed onto the ground and didn't move again, but surprisingly, most who had fallen down simply picked themselves back up and resumed their charge.
"They really are disgustingly resilient," I remarked snidely. Despite being on the opposite side, I had to admire their tenacity. The Flood Dragons roared their defiance as they closed in, just braving through the elemental and esoteric bombardment from the spirit arrays that floated across the dungeon. The Flood Dragon priests were not idle. Though they didn't keep up with their warrior brethren, they followed in the rear, chanting incessantly as they raised their claws and gathered more qi into their formation.
My eyes widened when I realized what they were about to do. They weren't adept at weaving a protective shield over the Flood Dragons' phalanx, but they could nullify many of the spirit arrays' techniques with their own ranged spells. Water jets canceled out fireballs, and lightning neutralized lightning. A tsunami washed away a couple of silently roaring energy dragons. Though their spells couldn't cancel out all of the attacks from the offensive spirit arrays, and many arcane projectiles still inevitably got through, their firepower was drastically reduced.
Against the durable hides of the Flood Dragons, that made a significant difference. They laughed sinisterly as they shrugged off what little spells made it past the colliding elements and esoteric energies that raged above them, closing the gap by another hundred meters. At this rate, they would literally be at our doorstep within the next minute.
Not unless I had something to say about it. Holding up my right hand – which was gripping Azure Dragon – I barked out an order.
"Release the Kraken!"
Everyone turned to stare at me. I blinked, and then coughed sheepishly when I realized I had given the wrong command. It would be awesome if I did actually have a Kraken among my summoned spirit beasts, but I didn't, so…that sucked. Shaking my head, I corrected myself.
"Activate the defensive siege towers!"
"Yes, boss!"
The Construction crabs were more than eager to obey. As they hustled along the height of the towers, their pincers grabbing sticks and stabbing at controls, the ten siege towers began to hum and glow with ominous energies. Converting the qi into destructive blasts, they then fired in unison.
It was almost as if a supernova had just flared. The lenses of my glasses darkened automatically to protect my eyes from the glare, but I could see ten comet-like lances streak across the cavernous space, leaving fiery contrails. Even the desperately cast spells from the Flood Dragon priests were smashed aside by the siege strikes, the elemental techniques dissipating in the face of such vast forces.
And then…titanic explosions that consumed the entirety of the no man's land. Even the legendary durability of the Flood Dragons were no match for such destructive power, and entire companies simply ceased to exist, disintegrated by the superheated blasts. Only the Flood Dragon Champion and Flood Dragon Behemoths remained unscathed, their immense amounts of qi drawn around their scorched silhouettes as a protective aura.
Unfortunately, the majority of the Flood Dragon soldiers weren't as lucky.
"Impossible…"
The Flood Dragon champion turned around in dismay to survey the remnants of his vanguard force. Where there once had been over a hundred of them, less than thirty remained, the rest having been erased from existence by the assault from the siege towers.
"Siege towers are in the process of cooling down now, boss!" A Construction Crab reported to me, fighting the controls as the rest sprayed foaming bubbles in order to cool the smoldering mechanisms of the now red-hot machineries. "We have an estimated thirty minutes before we can fire them again."
"That's good enough," I replied with a smirk as I watched the stunned and reeling remnants of the Flood Dragon army's vanguard. "We'll wipe out the rest before the siege towers cool down."