The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) by Jonathan Brooks (the false prince TXT) 📕

Hundreds of arrows flew through the air, shot by all sorts of Archers, Scouts, Rangers, Elemental Archers, Snipers, and other high-Level Classes.  Sneaky Assassins, Thieves, Brigands, and other stealthy Classes appeared behind the enemy, stabbing with swords and knives – really anything they could get their hands on.  Additional spells also shot out from the Caster types, in a variety of shapes and colors as individual targets were identified and focused upon, while even the Healer Classes sent out what offensive abilities they had to join in on the action.

Combined together, the attacks took a toll on the glowing shields of the six-armed people, until one after another blinked out and left them vulnerable.  Wounds appeared on them as they were impaled, sliced, hacked, or had arrows or thrown knives embedded in their flesh.  Tacca saw three of the blue-skinned invaders fall to the ground in death, even as the fourth had its leg practically severed from its massive trunk of a body.

The Raiders were winning…which was when everything went wrong.

The weapons of the invaders were deadly, hacking into and through armor and shields like they weren’t even there.  Tacca couldn’t see it too well from Shale’s position so far above, but she thought she saw some sort of glow around the weapons as well, though instead of an off-white color, it was a deep red, almost crimson in appearance.  Wherever the weapons landed, limbs were hacked off, armor was ruined, faces were smashed, and even magical defenses were pierced through as though they weren’t even there.

While they did massive amounts of damage to anything they managed to hit, the six-armed people were still being overwhelmed, despite the carnage they caused.  It appeared as though thousands of strong opponents were exactly what needed to be applied against these invaders, which Tacca was relieved to see.

Unfortunately, the now-less-than 50 blue-skinned figures weren’t alone.  As though they had been hidden by some sort of Invisibility like the Fairies near Shale, 10 purple-skinned invaders appeared behind the line of the others.  Not only were they a bit larger than their blue-skinned companions, but from what she had observed of them in her own dungeon, they were also more intelligent and strategic.  While the blue-skinned ones had died in her previous defensive room, it had been the single purple-colored one that had managed to reach her Core and shatter her into hundreds of pieces even as it died.

The warning of their presence came too late, as the rear crowd of Scout-type Raiders was hit with the full might of the 10-strong purple-colored invaders.  Heads went flying as they failed to avoid being hit, and the crowd was so thick with surprised Assassins and Thieves that a few swings of a massive sword wielded by one of their 6 arms was enough to kill 2 or 3 at a time.  Within 30 seconds, despite another 5 of the blue-skinned invaders falling to the onslaught, the battle had turned into a rout.

Shale – and by extension Tacca – could hear shouts of “Retreat!” echoing through the small valley where all of this was taking place, and individual groups started to peel off and flee, flinging spells and arrows behind them as they ran.  The invaders started to slaughter all of those that were left, either abandoned by their groups or unable to flee for some reason, which helped hundreds of others get away.

Or so she thought.  “Oh, no – look!”

Shale focused in on something behind the battle lines, as another invader appeared – though this one was a bit different from the others.  Instead of blue or purple, this figure was a deep red, nearly the same color as what Tacca had seen on the monstrous peoples’ weapons.  That wasn’t the only difference, as it had eight arms along the sides of its body, which was nearly twice the size of even the large purple-skinned invaders.  The weapons it wielded were proportionally bigger, as well, with one of its swords at least 8 to 9 feet long, along with it being 2 feet wide.

A second after it suddenly appeared, it started running towards the battle line, which was still undergoing a slaughter of those Raiders that had left.  Instead of joining in, it jumped, practically flying nearly 100 feet into the air as it sailed over the remnants of the Raider army, landing at least 300 feet away from the line – and right in the middle of two Raider groups that had been fleeing.  Two quick attacks at the startled groups with all 8 of its weapons was all it took to bring them down, and the red-skinned invader started running after another group further away.

Shale…I think I’ve seen enough.  She hoped that some of the Raiders got away, but it really didn’t matter, did it?  As far as she knew, that army of Raiders had been some of the best that there were, or at least the best of who they could get together in such a short time.  There were hundreds of thousands of Raiders out there, though, but even if they were able to get them all together, it seemed an impossibility that they would be able to defeat these invaders without a lot of luck on their side.

The Perception Link disappeared after that, and she was left looking at her Core Room in concern.  A minute passed before both Shale and Lapis appeared, and for once she couldn’t find the strength to hate the Head Instructor.  She still didn’t like him, but the hatred required some effort to bring forth, which she didn’t have it in her.

“That…wasn’t good.  How could they lose like that?”  Shale was nearly breathless in shock.

“Malachite did say that they had most likely killed the entire Conclave of Sages, who were the most powerful Raiders in the world, without appearing to have too much trouble,” Lapis said matter-of-factly.  He sounded calm, but