Chapter 386

“Raiders, with me!” Rue’s voice reverberated on the battlefield as draconic roars and the sound of cannon fire continued. The ship’s she’d been utilizing as her transport, as well as those filled with melee-based players, had landed on the other side of James’s ocean. From them, these players spilled forward on to the beaches, weapons drawn, ready to do battle.

The battle had been raging for close to thirty minutes already, and now that his players had seemed to deal with most of the defensive dragons, Rue had urged the melee players forward. Those with ranged attacks who were getting buffs from the ships could obviously remain, as they were vital for providing anti air support, but many of the melee characters weren’t getting much action, given how the fighting was going.

As such, they’d pushed past the forms of fallen dragons, broken ship shards, and the occasional enemy player, in order to launch a ground assault on the Dragon Dungeon. In short, James’s players were extremely confident, and they wanted blood. What had been thrown at them so far, wasn’t enough to discourage them, and they wanted to get to the players. They were done playing with the mobs.

Rue, had of course, been quite persuasive in this manner. She obviously wanted to make the players pay. Particularly a group of five that he figured had to be around somewhere. The five cultists who’d summoned Tiamat on her. Which, thinking back to that trick, was likely also a reason why she’d encouraged his players to move forward. There was no telling what triggered that Tiamat summoning, and it was safer for everyone if, in theory, they rushed the Dragon Dungeon’s players and didn’t let them sit back.

Considering the rules of the skirmishes, and the passive essence gain rules, it made sense. If they stuck to the water, just killing what was launched towards them, the Dragon Dungeon players could slowly, but surely, likely build up a massive amount of essence, in order to make some battle changing summons all at once. If they caught James’s players and kept them from returning to their own base area, and using their essence, they would be in trouble.

Currently, because they were still in the first hour of the battle, both sides had gained an additional 3 essence per player. Meaning, James’s players now, technically, would have enough to summon another Avatar, if they wanted to. He wasn’t sure how much the Dragon Dungeon’s draconic army was costing them, but there was a chance they were actually at a higher amount of essence now, than when they started.

What James was most worried about would be the summoning of multiple Avatars to overrun his players, or a high-level World Boss Summon. The Dragon Dungeon only had access to its first three floor’s World Bosses, thankfully, but still, a World Boss was no joke. And depending on what it did, what it brough to the battlefield, it could cause troubles for James and his players.

Because of this, he fully approved of Rue’s tactic, but still felt remorse as he watched her lead the valiant charge. He wanted to be down there. He wanted to be battling alongside his players. He wanted to rub the Dragon Dungeon’s cultists faces in their hubris. But, more than anything, he just wanted to be playing alongside Rue. Sitting and watching the action from above, just wasn’t the same.

Still, he knew there would be more skirmishes today, and that he should let Rue have her moment. Additionally, there were still a few hours to go in the skirmish, meaning he would likely be summoning sometime during it. He was just bitter that he didn’t get to have the fun right away.

After all, part of the fun of new content, was being able to play it and take part in it right away. Watching others enjoy it before you could, was slightly painful. Though, he figured, it also gave him time to assess the enemy forces and see how well their core actually played. Was it the dungeon that was cocky, or just its players? Come to think of it, he’d never actually interacted with the Dragon Dungeon, so he didn’t know what the player was like on the other end of this battle.

A loud roar drew his attention away from his musings, and back to the battlefield. His fog of war had lifted as Rue’s forces charged the beaches, and he was able to see the Dragon Dungeon’s players weren’t idle during the time they’d been launching dragon mobs at his armada. On the enemy’s side of the Fields of Battle, contrary to his watery expanse, the dungeon had created a rolling, rocky crag type area. Rue and his players were rushing through a wooded area, but he could tell they were going to quickly be funneled into that valley. A valley which, similar to his own design on the ocean, would condense players, and provide the opposing side an easy way to attack them.

On either side of these rocky crags, James could see more draconic mobs set up strategically, waiting to rain down attacks on his forces. Additionally, ranged players sat hidden behind defensive structures, waiting, patiently, for James’s forces. They’d of course all watched Dungeon Wars. They knew what his players were like, and it was obviously, from Dungeon Wars, that James’s players weren’t the type to sit around. Meaning, they were likely to go on the offensive, and as such, creating a defensive position, such as their dungeon had for them, was ideal.

That being said, James didn’t feel this was the correct type of plan against his forces. His players, after all, were still the stronger of the two sides. Of that, he was certain. Plus, he highly doubted they would blindly rush into what was very obviously a trapped area. There were entrances in those rocky cliffs, showing countless hiding spots for dragons and players. Furthermore, the likelihood of burrowing dragons was high. James could already figure that much out, meaning Rue, and his players knew it too.

And so, as he watched Rue and her forces slow, coming up to the area, he had to wonder what the Dragon Dungeon’s forces were planning. After all, there was no way they could…

“Oh, shit.”