Everything was in place, as it should be. With the structure fully cleared just the day before, the wave would be manageable. It was still unclear what lingering effects the removed artifact might have on the stored mana of the dungeon. Leader Ghul hardened himself for a difficult day. Standing on an elevated wooden platform with high priest Dicidiam and guard captain Lgur, he examined the arrayed defenses.

The only good news was the quality of personnel available. This was, without a doubt, the strongest force that Geltheas had ever brought to bare for a wave. The Great Magician Magnus alone was incredibly valuable. Anyone who earned a title from the Bibliotheca was a power that can rival entire nations. It was only unfortunate that Magnus' area of expertise was not particularly suited to large scale combat.

If the hermit Cithlar could be convinced to assist in the efforts, the defense would have been trivial. The Great Enchanter had even said as much, once bragging to the city council how he could devise mechanisms that could fully automate the defense of the dungeon mouth. He had gone on to say that the city could not afford it, and that it wasn't worth his time besides.

Despite his tendency to be an ass, Cithlar had still managed to provide valuable assets for the defense of the city. His golem, the sword, and his so-called 'niece'. Leader Ghul already suspected they were not truly related. Jabrax and Cithlar looked nothing alike, and their smell was completely different. Although when Ghul had visited Cithlar recently, the only thing he could smell on the old man was the overwhelming stench of preservation salts, as if he had been completely doused in the stuff.

Of course, Magnus was not the only useful personnel sent by the king. Prince Cain himself was a skilled front line warrior. He would be extremely useful for stalling beasts long enough to be struck by artillery. His bodyguard, the invisible Sibilia, would be useful in assassination key targets. The black-armored samurai Shin was simply straightforwardly skilled at combat. No matter how bad things got, Ghul felt comfortable trusting the front lines to them.

Several hundred other delvers, priests, soldiers, magicians, and mercenaries also filled the city in various strategic locations. Ideally, the vast majority of enemies would be killed as they exited the initial fortification, with only rare stragglers needing to be hunted down in the city at large. To that end, several large emplacement weapons had been constructed on rooftops, aimed to strike the killing zone in front of the dungeon entrance and into the tunnel itself.

Unfortunately, static traps were largely useless. They would only activate once, killing a small number of enemies at best. Even enchanted ones, designed to reset themselves, would be seen as an enemy by the gestalt of the dungeon and destroyed by the beasts. Still, deep pitfalls and trenches had been dug in front of the dungeon. They wouldn't last long before filling with corpses, but they would at least buy some time.

"Quite a turnout, wouldn't you say? This is the best prepared I've ever seen it." Beside him, Lgur spoke in a chipper tone. Ghul had known her long enough to know she was faking it.

"Yeah, I have a bad feeling about this too." The massive man fiddled with his thick grey handlebar mustache.

"Put your faith in the demiurge. This is a trial to make us struggle and grow stronger. It does the Archons no good if we simply die. The gods will send no test that can not be overcome." High priest Dicitiam spoke confidently from the side.

"I appreciate your faith, father. But what about when humans interfere in the Archon's plan to make things harder?"

"Hmm..." Dicitiam looked off into the sky. "I suppose we can only do our best, can't we?"

"Well, at least I know I can count on you to give a good strike. I really felt that one at the tournament, you know?" Releasing a booming laugh, Ghul slapped the high priest on the back, causing him to stumble slightly forward, and nearly off of the platform.

All assembled forces stood with tense focus as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the high mountains to the east of Geltheas. The black of night slowly shifted to the orange twilight of morning. Clear skies matched with and a cool salty breeze from the ocean. It would have been a nice day today.

A deep rumbling shook the surface. Subtle at first, but growing in intensity until the ground visibly shook. Already, the echoing of insectoid shrieks echoed down the long halls of the dungeon fortification. At the end of the long straight tunnel to the dungeon entrance, a mass of green could be barely seen.

Despite the many light sources set into the walls of the tunnel, the swarming form was quickly blanketed in darkness, as their bulk covered and smothered every source of light. It seemed to Mud less like a horde of individuals, and more like a flowing liquid spraying at high pressure from the dungeon mouth.

"Artillery one, launch!" The magically enhanced voice of Leader Ghul cut through the clicking and screeching.

The artillery resembled large hollow cylinders pointed towards the dungeon entrance. Mud had unfortunately not had a chance to examine them closely. From a distance, they each appeared to be situated on a swiveling base which allowed them to be aimed in any direction with considerable effort, although they had already been locked in place aiming directly down the dungeon fortification hall. In terms of length, each was as long as thrice the height of an adult human, and the interior was large enough for an adult human to fit inside with their hands to their side.

The dozens of devices all activated nearly simultaneously at the Leader's order. A large spherical projectile rocketed out of each, the only sound a light whistling as they cut through the air. As each projectile struck the oncoming mass of insects, explosions of various elements covered the horde. From one shell a blast of electricity. From another, a burst of fire. Another still seemed to simply crush the insects back with an unseen force.

Mud sent a paracusia to Jabrax, who stood nearby, watching the carnage with a bored expression. "Jabrax, why do they not simply use the most effective element?"

"Those things may all look the same from the outside, and with how they act, but you need to remember that they're each individuals. There may be some who have picked up a resistance to some element or the other. If you only use one or two elements, then the ones resistant to that magic will simply slip through. See for yourself, look through the damage as the spells fade."

Mud focused on the areas where the spells had impacted as the flames, frost, and steam that blocked vision slowly faded.

While the horde of enemies had been momentarily pushed back, already they flowed back forward. Although the areas struck by the artillery was almost nothing but corpses now, Jabrax's words proved to be true. Sprinkled sparsely through the area of destruction were insects that showed little or no sign of damage. Likely those that coincidentally had the proper resistance to survive the shell which struck their area.

Examining the elevated artillery, Mud noticed humans sliding metal spheres into the open ends of the cylinders. Judging by the large pile of similar spheres beside each artillery installation, they could likely keep this up for some time.

"Artillery two, launch!"

Whistling, then explosions. Again, the wave of insects was pushed back. Still, they only stalled for a moment before flowing again forward.

Mud did some quick mental math. The golem considered the reloading speed of the artillery, the number of artillery installations, and how much they inhibited their advance speed, as well as the amount fired in each simultaneous launch. Based on the golem's calculations, the enemies would reach the end of the tunnel within the next ten minutes.

"Artillery three, launch!"

Mud had to adjust its predictions after the third wave. As the projectiles struck, the wave of enemies barely slowed at all. The first two shots had cleared away the low tiered enemies. The front of the wave now consisted of higher tier and resilient beasts that could tank artillery blasts without dying, acting as a bulwark for the horde. At this rate, they would reach the front in five minutes.

As the horde reached the halfway mark of the tunnel following several more rounds of artillery fire, Ghul gave a new order.

"Delver's, attack conservatively. Don't waste resources."

This was an order that included Mud. Using as much external mana as it could grab hold of, the golem activated the Kill Pest spell, billowing clouds of yellow mist flowing down the tunnel in the direction towards the approaching insects. Force Bolt would be a waste of focus, being a single target attack.

At the same time, countless projectiles and spells flew down the tunnel towards the approaching insects. Arrows, balls of elemental magics, flashes of light, phantasmal bat swarms, and countless other offensive abilities flew down the hall. Again the horde slowed slightly, but it did not stop.

This war of attrition continued for nearly half an hour as the insects pushed indomitably forward through the hail of attacks. At one point a Worm of the Tower pushed rapidly forward, nearly reaching the exit before Ghul himself dashed forward and killed the beast by crawling into its mouth and destroying it from the inside.

All the while, Mud gained a constant trickle of small amounts of experience. The contribution for the stronger enemies like the tier five Worm of the Tower was so small that Mud only gained one or even zero experience, but the gains from the tier two Corpse Worm or the tier three Glutton Worm had been a consistent source of income.

That being the case, Mud gained four levels during the first half-hour of the wave. This time, Mud decided to focus on leveling its class. Reaching level eight of Muster Butler, Mud felt its physical and mental abilities increase greatly.

Before Mud could reach the next level, the tempo of the battle changed. The wave had finally reached the open entrance to the fortification.

"Hold the line!"

Ghul himself stood at the front of the swirling mass of enemies, alongside the delvers most skilled at physical combat. Shin, Cain, the bear Ursala, and many other physical powerhouses held the wave in place as mages and priests continued to provide support. The artillery now focused only on the upper half of the tall hall, making sure now to strike their own side with the volleys.

Safe within their defensive structure, Cob sat casually while eating a piece of chocolate. Beside him, an antsy Novus shifted her weight from side to side while looking with sharp focus towards the ongoing melee.

"You want to be out there on the front lines, don't you?" Cob asked the girl between bites of his candy.

"Yeah, they're so cool." Novus replied with a light tone.

"Idiot."

"Screw you!" Novus spit back, but didn't turn her eyes from the fight.

"Novus, your task of protecting my position is also vital. I am tactically significant."

"Yes, sir. I understand that, sir." Novus nodded at Mud's reminder. "But standing back as a guard just isn't as romantic. Nobody tells stories about a bodyguard."

Mud once again considered eliminating this annoying human. Her preferences were so illogical. Why would you do something dangerous just so other people would spread intelligence about you more easily?

Refocusing on the task at hand, Mud corrupted more free mana with the Ideal of Home. There was plenty of the stuff around for Mud to use. Hidden below the golem's muddy exterior pulsed an inscribed dodecahedron.