Dungeon Overlord (OLD Version) Chapter 10 - Invaders at the Gates (Patreon)

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

[Congratulations! Your Dungeon Creature has killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

While the slaughter on the upper floors of the Tower of Storms continued and he was receiving tons of notifications that he was dismissed in hundreds, Archaon didn't even realize that the overall number of the Dungeon Echoes that he had harvested had already crossed 25,000 Dubngoe Echoes.

This means that more than 2,500 people died in his Dungeon within just one hour or one and a half hours after the start of the invasion, which was a rather staggering number, and he was immensely pleased by such a good harvest.

The number of the remaining people in the Dungeon was still something around 4,000.

Archaon decided once he had dealt with these 4,000 invaders, he would lead the Monsterphhilia to deal with the Ironborns outside because, from the 7,000 men that entered the Dungeon, he noticed that only a minority were the Ironborns, as most of them were camping just outside of the Dungeon, creating a perimeter under the command of their commander.

He had to admit that it was pretty smart.

They were using the levies from the Riverlands as their meat shields, while the trusted Ironborn would go inside to bring back the treasures.

And even if something went wrong by any accident, then they had already prepared the perimeters, and if someone decided to betray them, then he would be skewered by the wave of the arrows from the 3,000 men that were encircling the entrance to the Dungeon.

This would also make it a bit harder for the Monsterphilia to break out, and he had to applaud the commander of the men out there for the strategy; it seemed that he had underestimated them a bit. 

Only a bit.

For him to break, the encirclement was rather easy. The only thing that he needed to do if he wanted to preserve the number of these Dungeon Creatures as much as possible was to unleash the Terminus on them as the angry tarasque would make a short job of them.

Yet, he decided against such a strategy because he wanted to drastically lower the number of the Goblins and Kobolds that were nearing overpopulation, and he had decided to drop their Gnolls, too.

Their population also became a bit higher due to the lack of natural predators and constant human presence in the Dungeon. Because Archaon was in the Low Magical World, chances of people regularly culling down the number of these species that were living in the Tower of Storms and Cavern of Bureoza was rather low.

Rather, really, really low.

If he was in some Middle Magical World where people could use Magic, then, for example, they would be able to locate the Key Parts to open the Gateway to the 4th Layer of the Dungeon, the Overlord's Shrine that was locked permanently and only through the Dungeon Teleportation one could move around through the Dungeon that was accessibly only for the people with the Dungeon Clearance that was given by the Dungeon Fairy, Dungeon Master or Dungeon Overlord.

Archaon then prepared the Burial Blade as he thought that it was time to have some fun with the invaders before he led the Monsterphilia. In the end, already enough Goblins were killed in the Tower of Storms, which greatly balanced out things. 

He was rather surprised by the fact of how easily the Ironborn and Riverland Knights were killing the goblins once they learned their weak sides and everything. In the end, though, the goblins were just the weakest of the weakest, and Archaon wasn't particularly keen on spending Dungeon Echoes to strengthen such Dungeon Creatures.

Even when the goblins got stronger, it was just a change in the Parameter Dimensions, and they rarely gained any new abilities that would make them special. While a few of them could become Goblin Shaman or Goblin Mage, they had relatively limited capabilities, and in fact, spending Dungeon Echoes on strengthening their potential was a waste, in his opinion.

It was too costly.

He would rather use the Dungeon Echoes to create entirely new Dungeon Creatures starting at Level 1 and cultivate them to the higher Levels. In fact, what Archaon planned to do, was to create some powerful Dungoen Creautrues with a high potential and use the goblins within the Dungoen as their targets for "Leveling Up".

Most of the Dungeon Creatures, most of them had the very straightforward concept of getting stronger, which was mainly through devouring the corpses of the other Dungeon Creatures no matter how crude and barbaric it may sound.

Yeah, they could get stronger like anyone else through training and so on, but that was limited strictly to the species with high sentience. Dungeon Creatures, like goblins, didn't have this kind of luxury. 

Though, even Archaon could get much stronger if he ate the corpse of some powerful Level 4 being, because such flesh was filled with the vibrant Life Force and Magic Power of higher Level Creature. 

He was rather unlucky that in this world, there was nothing that he would meet his criteria, aside from the Valyrian Wyverns, maybe. However, he would rather need some source of food, because right now, what he was doing was spending the Dungeon Echoes on creating food through the Dungeon Heart.

Archaon in fact ate a lot and needed a high nutritious food, similarly to Ornstein or Artorias.

***

3rd POV, Tower of Storms, Around the same time

Grag was rather an ordinary Knight in the service of the House Hoare even though he originated from the Riverlands. However, the only thing that he was interested in was Gold and his ambition of becoming Lord.

In a certain twisted sense, the coming of the Ironborns into the Riveralnds was rather a blessing for him because he could finally fulfill his ambition of rising through the social ladder and becoming a Lord, and having his own Castle.

So when there was a call to arms by King Hoare, he answered because it would be another priceless opportunity to obtain more merit that would raise his social status, and maybe if he performed well, he would be named Lord and given fiefdom.

He was also chosen to be part of the elite team together with a few other Knights in the service of King Hoaere and Captains from the Iron Islands. One could tell that everyone who was part of the team was an elite combatant, and their task was simple.

To go as deep into the Dungeon as possible and collect as many treasures as possible, and bring them back to the Kingdom.

At the start, everything went rather well, because only after a few hours of exploration they managed to discover several treasure chests and get their hands on some Magically Enchanted Weapons that everyone was talking about. 

After they obtained those miraculous weapons, they switched their gear to the Enchanted Weapons because they knew that being armed with the superior weaponry would give them an edge over the Golbins and whatever that the Dungeon had prepared for them.

With the powerful Magically Enchanted Weapons, they started descending through this place, which was called Tower of Storms, from the inscription on the walls. Grag had to admit, that orienting in this place was very hard, because it was one huge labyrinth of endless corridors and pathways.

One of the worst things about the Tower of Storms was the cruel reality that everything in this place looked exactly the same. It was very hard to have any sense of orientation in this place, mainly because every single dammed corridor looked the same as the other one. 

Practically the entire place looked almost the same, and if they didn't start making some marks along the way, then it would be even harder to move around. Still, after around fifteen hours, Grag and his party of fifteen men managed to reach the 12th Floor of the Tower of Storms, to their surprise and shock.

And they still had rather a good number, in his opinion, as they lost only ten men, though right now, due to their lower numbers, every single member of their party was armed with the Magicall Enchanted Weapon, and some of them even had some armor parts that were Magically Enchanted. 

It weren't just weapons that they found within the Treasure Chests. There were also many pieces of armor and other things that they found within the Treasure Chests, and they were far better than the ordinary weapons.

And the armors and other pieces of equipment were equally wonderous as the rest of the weapons that they had found within the Dungeon because even for the Valyrian Steel, it was problematic to damage the material of the Magically Enchanted Armors. 

So once they were armed with the weapons and armor of the Magical Nature, everyone felt far more confident in their task as they were descending deeper and deeper into the Dungeon, their goal being to find what was on the bottom and gather the treasures. 

However, after some Grag, as one of the more intelligent men around, started having certain doubts because right now, they were stuck in one place for around ten hours or so. They were constantly walking in circles and could find their way out no matter where they went. 

As if the entire place was somewhat cursed, and they were not allowed to leave this place, and it was slowly getting to them. Some of their group were becoming restless because many started realizing that they were trapped in this dammed place, and some started already praying to their Gods.

Grag was one of the few rare people in the Riverlands who didn't believe in any Gods. 

He had never seen one, and even if he prayed to some God, he never received proof of their existence or any help. The only thing he believed in was his sword and his armor; aside from that, he didn't believe in anything. 

Still, in the situation they were in, he wasn't really surprised that many of them started turning to their Gods, being the Seven-In-One or the Drowned God. As they were walking through another of the exactly same-looking corridors, they exited to the enormous empty stone room. 

It was in the same architectural style like the rest of the Tower of Storms, but it was huge, probably big enough to house at least a few thousand people with ease. At the same time, it was totally empty, and there was not even a single goblin present.

And that was something that wasn't sitting well with Grag. 

He felt that something was amiss in a situation like this, and soon enough, he would be indeed proven right.

***

Not long after Archaon decided to deal with the invaders entirely, he manipulated the Dungeon Doors and opened the Dungeon Doors in the strategically placed locations that were transporting all invaders into the huge room within the Tower of Storms that was capable of housing around 10,000 people.

It was all prepared for this trap.

Archaon was rather surprised that there were still 3,500 humans remaining in the Dungeon as he started transporting them all to the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms. There, he had already planned to ambush them, massacre around 99% of them, and let the rest escape from the Dungeon.

Even when he would exterminate the Ironborn on the God's Eye, he planned to let a few tens of them alive and take the treasures with them because they would be spreading the rumors and everything...

"Dungeon Overlord! I came here with all my henchmen. Kobolds are stronger than goblins."

A Kobold was a reptilian humanoid, standing between 60–75 centimeters tall, weighing 16–20 kilograms, with scaled skin between reddish brown and black in color and burnt orange to red eyes. Their legs were sinewy and digitigrade and they had long, clawed fingers and a jaw like a crocodile. They also had small white or tan horns protruding from their head, and they had rat-like tails.

"Dungeon Overlord! I came as well. Goblins are strong, unlike the snot-nosed kobolds."

Goblins usually stood between 1‒1.1 m and weighed about 18‒25 kg on average. They had flat faces, sloped back foreheads, broad noses, pointed ears, and small, sharp fangs and their eyes varied in color from red to yellow. Their skin color ranged from yellow through any shade of orange to a deep red, though they also came in shades of green.

"Dungeon Overlord! I am the best. My Gnolls are the most durable and strong, unlike these two weaklings."

And lastly there were Gnolls. 

Gnolls were extremely tall, with the average member of the race standing on average between 2.1-2.3 m. Though gnolls were relatively lean for their height, weighing in usually between 127kg-145kg, they cut an impressive visage. In part because of their height and lean musculature, gnolls were very quick compared with many other races, such as humans.

Gnoll skin was greenish-gray, and their furry hide had a light or dark brown hue, sometimes marked with spots or stripes. Many gnolls also had a dirty yellow to reddish-gray crest-like mane that stood on end when they were angry.

Archaon ordered several of the Chieftains of the Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnolls to gather some of their best warriors in front of him, and everything was ready within a few hours as he transported them to the place where he observed around 5,000 Dungeon Creatures.

Archaon gathered three of the strongest Chieftains from the respective species and ordered them to be ready on standby as they would be attacking the invaders under his leadership on the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms.

As the Dungeon Overlord, Archaon was able to command all of the Dungeon Creatures and even understand their language, which sounded like gurgling, hissing, and some other weird sounds that were not really like any language...

However, he wasn't really interacting with the Dungeon Creatures like Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnolls as that was rather beneath his stature.

"Prepare yourself for the attack on the invaders."

With one command from Archaon, the three bosses of the Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnolls started chattering among each other and boasting about who would kill more invaders. 

All of them knew very well, that if they performed excellently during this time, they would obtain riches and rewards from the Dungeon Overlord, an untouchable figure that they were worshipping like a God. 

"By your command, Dungenon Overlord! I am honored to serve!"

The Kobold Chieftain was quickest to react, but the other two were not really that far behind.

"The Gnolls are honored to serve Dungeon Overlord! And we would fight till the last gnoll, not like these cowardly lizard abominations!"

The more Archaon listened, the more annoyed he became because the situation looked like these would start killing each other at any given moment if not controlled properly.

The relationship between the Kobolds and Gnolls was the worst, because both species lived primarily in the Cavern of Bureoza due to the optimal living conditions for their race and thus, they were competing for the resources and the living space, which often led to the Gnolls and Kobolds clashing against each other as they tented to wage wars.

Then there was also the fact that neither of the two problematic species liked Goblins because Goblins had the entire Layer of the Dungeon for themselves, and they didn't have any competition. 

On the other hand, Goblins hated Kobolds and Gnolls because they found that the Cavern of Bureoza was a much better environment compared to the Tower of Storms, where it was hard to grow food and hunt for anything to eat. 

And the ecosystem within the Tower of Storms was also pretty shitty. There were not many animals or other beings that the Goblins could hunt for food, which often led to food shortages, which was something non-existent in the 2nd Layer, the Cavern of Bureoza. 

Due to that, the species had many, many, many conflicts with each other and hated each other to the core. Archaon really wondered that if they would kill each other before they would get even to the humans on the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms. 

"Humans are already at the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms; we will be departing there shortly."

Archaon stated as he started preparing the Dungeon Gates to transport the Dungeon Monsters to deal with the humans on the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms.

The heads of the 3 Chieftains of the Gnolls, Kobolds and Goblins nodded in unison. They weren't nervous about the intruders and were rather eager to prove themselves on the battlefield.

"I cannot wait for them to feel my cub!"

"It is disgraceful."

"I'll obliterate them."

Their hostility was excellent. There was a common enemy, so the troops weren't going to be split apart... at least he hoped so. Archaon really hoped that in the face of the human invaders in the Dungeon, they would at least for the time being work together and not start fighting amongst each other. 

Soon enough, Archaon finished with connecting the Dungeon Gates and opened the pathways for his army to pass through and enter the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms.