Dungeon Overlord (OLD Version) Chapter 11 - Blood Echoing (Patreon)

13th Floor of the Tower of Storms

On the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms, more and more people were gathering on the 13th Floors as they exited many corridors that were leaving the huge area within the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms.

Soon enough, hundreds upon hundreds of people were arriving at the area within the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms from the various corridors, and everyone with half a brain realized that something was wrong in this place.

Many of the people that arrived here were from the various Floors of the Tower; some were from the 1st Floor or 2nd Floor, and yet at the same time, there were also people from the lower Floors, like from the 9th Floor or 10th Floor.

Yet the result was the same as everyone ended up in this particular area on the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms. Most of the people who arrived on this floor looked around in utter wonder because it seemed that many of them had figured out that they had been transported to another floor of the Tower of Storms.

Among the people, Knight Grag was looking at the people present curiously as he realized that everything went to fuck. Obviously, when they arrived at this Floor, they met with the rest of the Ironborn and people from the Riverlands.

Now that the bad promotion he had was confirmed that everyone went to fuck. Suddenly, the entire area was being filled with a weird mist, and suddenly, the gurgling sounds were heard across the area and clanking of weapons and everything.

Not even a few moments later, Grag saw there countless Goblins and a new types of creatures that he had seen only on the murals of the Tower of the Storms, and he knew that they were called Kobolds and there was also another last type of creature called Gnolls.

Judging by the number of them, there were a lot of them, and they had the advantage of the terrain. Still, as quickly as Grag was able to look through the place, he counted that in this place, there were around three thousand people. 

If he had to guess, then practically every single Ironborn and Riverlandman was somehow transported here so the Dungeon Creatures could easily ambush them.

Unbeknownst to Grag, he was indeed right, but unfortunately for the Riverland Knight, he didn't have much time to ponder over the other things because, soon enough, Goblins started shooting arrows at them while Kobolds were throwing spears at them.

Because the Dungeon Creatures were mainly covered by the mist, it was very hard to see through and to see further than several meters. The only thing that Grag knew was that he could hear the sounds of the falling arrows and spears...

What followed were the sounds of anguish when the arrows started falling on the unsuspecting humans like nothing, and the spears were piercing through the armor like nothing. 

It was clear that there must be at least a few thousand of the Goblins and Kobolds altogether, based on the barrage that they were released on them, as Grag used the opportunity to use the corpses of his fallen "comrades" as a living shield to hide behind.

 Fortunately for him, he was pretty quick with that, or else he would be skewered by the barrage of arrows that the Goblins were shooting furiously.

However, when the Dungeon Monsters stopped sending arrows and spears their way, another thing happened as the Dungeon Creatures started rushing towards the weakened defenders through the mist and fog.

Just as everyone was gathering together after they were ambushed by the Dungeon Creatures, the very same Dungeon Creatures now rushed at them furiously and started attacking the humans, not caring for anything.

They didn't care if they were injured or if the humans were fighting back or whatever... hundreds of Goblins, Gnolls, and Kobolds rushed towards the humans in anger and rage, as they started slaughtering the humans with fervor.

Grag quickly grabbed his sword as with one swing, he severed the head of the goblin that jumped on him with a rusty dagger. He had to admit that while the Goblins were not particularly powerful, they were rather dangerous because of their small bodies and build.

Yet even though the Goblins were pretty small, they packed a hard punch, and they were pretty powerful even for adult men to handle. The sole saving grace of the entire situation was the fact that the Goblins, like the rest of the Dungeon Creatures, were not particularly smart.

One could say that the Goblins were rather stupid in most cases, and they could be easily fooled, lured into traps, or killed. Still, Grag saw that situation as devolving into pretty problematic because the Dungeon Creatures were overcoming their forces.

What was even worse was that on the battlefield, anyone who was fighting against the Dungeon Creatures well, was decapitated by a huge scythe as Grag caught a silhouette of a person wielding a scythe who was literarily jumping through the battlefield and killing anyone who was fighting back against the Dungeon Creature assault.

During that time, more and more of the human forces of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers started falling to the Dungeon Creatures, and their numbers were getting lower and lower.

***

Archaon was rushing through the battlefield with the Burial Blade in his hand as he was decapitating one man after another at lightning speed. When the army of the Dungoen Crreautes ambushed the humans that were transported to the 13th Floor of the Tower of Storms.

He wasn't going to let the Dungeon Creatures have all the fun as he personally participated in the attack and was slaughtering the humans in tens. As he was someone at the peak of Level 3, he was completely superhuman, opposite to the ordinary humans in Westeros and Planetos as a whole.

Not only he but even the Dungeon Creatures were doing a good job as they were steadily advancing, and because the entire place was locked down the moment after he attached, there was no escape for the humans that dared to venture into his Dungeon.

It was one way ticked to the grave.

Or in this case, their corpses would be basically serving as food for the Dungeon Creatures because during this time, Kobolds, Goblins, Gnolls, and other animals and creatures living in the Dungeon would have their fill with the human flesh. 

Nothing would be wasted, one could say.

[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! You have killed Level 1 Being. You have obtained 10 Dungeon Echoes.]

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

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

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

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

He was being swarmed with notifications from the system as he was advancing through the battlefield. He had already received hundreds of notifications after a short time because the Dungeon Creatures were pretty efficient in their fight.

Especially due to the mist that covered the entire area where they were fighting, as it was part of his strategy. Because all of the Dungeon Creatures like the Goblins, Kobolds and Gnolls had Magic Power and were also strengthened by the Magic Power, they were able to see through the mist that he had released onto this place.

He was searching primarily for the ones that were rather apt at fighting as he was helping the Dungeon Creatures.

Even though most of the few thousand people that were in here were just levies or the people who knew just the basics of fighting and combat, there were still some skilled Knights or combatants from the Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers mixed in.

Those ones were his primary targets that he was searching for and killed.

Till now, he personally had around twenty Knights from the Riverlands that were in the service of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers; it seemed that gold could indeed buy the loyalty of anyone. 

Not only Archaon was present, but Artorias was also on the battlefield and targeting the Ironborn as he wanted to test the skill and power of the natives of this world, though he was seriously disappointed because they were weak and their skill was non-existent.

With such a setup on the battlefield, it wasn't that long before the last of the invaders were killed, which left Archaon with a whopping 70,000 Dungeon Echoes.

This was a rather staggering number because originally, when he had transmigrated to this world, he had just 100,000 Dungeon Echoes, and most of that was used to create and re-adjust the Dungeon to his specifications.

With such a high number of the Dungeon Echoes, he could significantly boost up the defenses of the Dungeon or create some new Dungeon Creatures. Possibly, he could also use the part of the Dungeon Echoes to increase his own power through some special means, but for that, he would need to fully scour the catalog of everything the Dungeon Heart has to offer.

Right now, though, he planned to save the Dungeon Echoes for later use because the thing would be to invest it all back into the upgrades of the Dungeon. Because he was located in a relatively Low Fantasy World like the A Song of Ice and Fire, and for the time being, he didn't need to invest in bolstering the defenses or making the stronger Dungeon Creatures.

Archaon knew that due to the fact that the sole real threat for the time being in this world were just the sheer numbers of the humans and perhaps a few half-assed Magic Users that were scattered through the Essos, there wasn't much.

So he planned to invest most of the Dungeon Echoes into the improvement of the Dungeon's environment, especially increasing the density of the Magic Power, which would, in turn, make the entire training in the Dungeon much easier.

Though right now, with the last of the invaders from the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers laid dead, the invasion of the Dungeon has come officially to an end. The only thing that remained to be done was to clean out the soldiers who were creating the blockade outside of the Dungeon. 

Of all the humans that participated in this invasion, around 7,000 or more precisely 7,198 entered the Dungeon, and only something around 30 made it out alive, and that was only because Archaon had explicitly allowed it and made conditions for their successful escape from the Dungeon.

All of those who escaped from the Dungeon were the ones that were carrying Magical Weapons and Armor from the Treasure Chests that were placed across the Dungeon, so they could spread the rumors and entice the greed in the other humans and kingdoms across the entire world.

He needed some of the survivors, so he created a way for the few selected ones that were carrying a lot of treasures from the Treasure Chests to escape when he created them Dungeon Gates right in front of them, for easier escape.

While the rest met the unfortunate demise here.

Archaon sighed in relief that the first phase of his "master" plan had been completed successfully and observed how the Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnolls were scavenging everything from the killed humans.

Everything from the underpants to the weapons was taken from the corpses and claimed by the Dungeon Creatures. Not only that, but they also started dragging the corpses of the humans back to their lairs as Archaon created a Dungeon Gates for them so they could drag the corpses back to the lairs.

For the Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnolls, the human corpses were the best source of food right now, as the flesh of humans was highly nutritious for them. At least far more compared to their average repertoire of the foods that they were eating in the Dungeon, which mainly consisted of some animals and what was scavenged.

There were not many sources of food for the Dungeon Creatures that were on the level of human corpses, so for the Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnolls, the human corpses were the ultimate rewards because they would have their fill.

Archaon observed the Dungeon Creatures cleaning the place as he was approached by the Artorias, whose armor was dirty from the blood of the humans and Dungeon Creatures alike this place was indeed a bit too gory, and there was blood and pieces of flesh everywhere.

Even the corpses of the Dungeon Creatures would be eaten by their compatriots... 

Goblins, Gnolls, and sometimes even Kobolds were species that were not really shy of cannibalism if there was a lack of food. They were a rather barbaric species, so eating their own ones wasn't really something unusual for their race.

"The ambush went splendidly, My Lord."

Artorias coolly stated that he was a man of few words, and he never really talked too much if there was no need for that. Now that the thing was done, they were already preparing to clear out the humans that were making the blockade around the Dungeon.

"Yeah... I love it when everything goes according to the plan."

Archaon stated as they continued observing the Dungeon Creatures doing their things before they would move outside. Only when the Dungeon Creatures cleaned out the entire place and transported all of the corpses of the humans back to their lairs did Archaon give the order for the Monsterphilia to begin officially.

***

Outside of the Dungeon, within the encampment of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers

Outside of the Dungeon, where the remaining troops of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers created their encampment, waited impatiently for the first people that were exiting the Dungeon. 

Among them, their commander, Harwen, was probably the one who was feeling the worst about the situation because the entire place was too silent. Something inside his head was telling him that this situation wouldn't end well because there wasn't even one single person who managed to exit the Dungeon.

Harwen observed the encirclement of the Dungeon's entrance as everything was prepared for the case if someone of their own, especially the ones of the Riverlands, decided to attack the Ironborn with the Magically Enchanted Weaponry that could be found within the Dungeon.

They were already waiting for a few hours already and some were beginning to grow restless about the situation, because it was already too long. And if something like this was taking too long, it meant that something went spectacularly wrong. 

The original orders that Harwen gave to some of the most trustworthy Ironborn officers were to return as soon as possible after they obtained the first pieces of the Magically Enchanted Weapons and Magically Enchanted Armors from the treasure chests and deliver them to the command tent so they could be shipped off to the Harrrenhal.

But even after six hours or so, nobody was leaving the premises of the Dungoen and returning to the command tent, which signaled something wasn't going according to the plans.

But Harwen was patient man, but at the same time he was also very cautious and ordered the Ironborn present to bolter up the defenses and start laying down traps around the entrance of the Dungeon.

Something in his mind was telling him that the mission in the Dungeon was really wrong and only the monsters would be common gout of the entrance of the Dungeon. Thus, he decided to take a few more precautions, as his men had been digging up places for the traps for the past four hours. 

He himself was right now standing at the barricades as they built a mash-up palisade around the perimeter of the encampment in case they were attacked by a larger number of monsters from the Dungeon. 

Just as he was about to issue a few more orders to his subordinates, his sharp eyesight noticed that there were some people exiting the Dungeon. Or rather, it would be more correct to say that they were escaping from the Dungeon with everything in their power as they were running towards the encampment of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers as fast as possible.

That was all that was needed for Harwen to know that something went terribly wrong as he saw seven Ironborn soldiers running for their very own lives. All of them were carrying some weird items from the looks; all of them were weapons or pieces of armor, similar to the ones that were previously obtained from the Dungeon. 

And the suspicions were confirmed almost immediately after the Ironborn arrived at the camp of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers. It seemed that all of their troops were ambushed within the Dungeon by hordes of monsters, and everyone was massacred till the last one. 

Harwen immediately commanded the remaining 3,000 troops to prepare for the combat because it was almost certain that the creatures from the Dungeon would soon emerge and attack them.

At the same time, he took one of the Magically Enchanted Weapons for himself as he commanded for the rest to be transported to the Harrenhal with the request for more men to deal with the crisis on God's Eye and, at the same time, to inform the Kingdom about the developments with the Dungeon and creatures.