The Third Dungeon Battle: The Battle (2)

Team Dragon King's Side

A black armor suddenly appeared and started crushing snakes and frogs.

"Uaaaaaah! What is this black thiiiiing?! 666, what did you summon?!"

"Calm down, 650. It was moving underwater, so it's probably a Living Armor type. Surround it with numbers and attack all at once!"

"Like this, 5-samaaaa?!"

However, the difference in raw power between it and the snakes and frogs was too great. Each time the black armor swung its sword, snakes were split in two and frogs' tongues were severed, crippling them one after another.

Some individuals were simply trampled and crushed flat under the full weight of that armor.

Following Core 5's instructions to attack from all directions with frogs, a few blows finally landed. The snakes also managed to sink their fangs into its legs.

But whatever that black armor was made of, the Bite Snakes' fangs and the Big Frogs' tongues didn't seem to affect it in the slightest.

"Tch, this is practically like fighting God's Vanguard. The monsters can only manage to slow it down."

"5-samaaaa, the water's settled down! Should I send monsters on the offensive too?"

"Alright, 652, move your snakes to invade… Can you prepare monsters that can operate in water? Hey! Can you summon Sea Snakes?!"

"Y-yesss! I can! Summoning now!"

Core 650 summoned snakes that could swim underwater. These underwater-specialized snakes couldn't survive on land, but they were perfect for the current situation. She sent several of them straight into Team Demon King's dungeon… Actually, come to think of it, he had a feeling Sea Snakes could only live in seawater… Probably just his imagination. Core 5 decided not to think too deeply about it.

"651, you go on offense too. 652, attack Team Sovereign. 651, attack Team Demon King. 650, keep defending… Damn, we don't have enough hands. Why don't you three have any subordinates?"

Right now, this dungeon had only three cores operating it.

In a three-way team battle like this, three was already pushing the limit. Normally, you'd summon subordinates to help out, but—

"""B-but there's no way we thought they'd eat each other!!"""

"You cheapskates! That's why you should have summoned intelligent monsters with reason! Thanks to that, we're short on both workers and DP!"

—That's right. The support monsters they'd used their precious DP to summon were, respectively, a snake, a frog, and a slug.

"We figured a little training would make them usable," but those low-intelligence creatures only needed to be left alone for a moment before they engaged in mutual cannibalism, leaving only carcasses behind.

Even Core 5 could only hold his head at this.

In the end, their optimistic thinking that they'd manage somehow with three cores led to this.

"Alriiight, I've taken control of Team Sovereign's first room! Advancing!"

"Geko, the black armor is in the way on my Team Demon King side… I'll leave that to you, 652."

The Bite Snakes controlled by Core 652, the slug. They almost attacked the skeletons by accident, but here, enemies of their enemy were allies. They advanced deeper together.

"Alright, alright. Here we gooo, climbing the sloooope!"

Just as they were climbing the slope, a viscous liquid came gushing down. There was no time to dodge — the snakes and bones were all engulfed. The bones got washed away, but some snakes managed to cling to the slope and avoided being swept down.

This put them one step ahead of Team Demon King… or so they thought.

"Ugeh! Wh-what is thiiis?! Uwaah, uwaaah!"

"What's wrong, 652? Report properly!"

"The snaaakes can't move at aaall! It's so sliiimyyy!"

Engulfed by the slimy liquid, the snakes writhed and wriggled, but only managed to slide backward down the slope.

Their momentum gradually built until…

Splat!

They crashed into the skeletons that had been trying to get back up.

"Th-thiiis… what am I supposed to dooo…"

The slimy liquid stuck to the ground in a gooey mess. The snakes' bodies inevitably got tangled up in it. Even with all their effort, they couldn't climb the slope. Core 652 lamented that maybe slugs could have done something, but unfortunately, all he had were snakes.

"Aaaah, the bones are in the waaay! Ugeh, they're stepping on me!"

"Use the bones as footholds! Coil around them, 652!"

"O-okaaaay!"

Following Core 5's orders, she had the Bite Snakes coil around the skeletons, but they just became dead weight. The skeletons slipped on the slick ground, sliding all the way to the bottom.

"It's no goood, the footing's too slipperyyyy!"

"Hah?! Slippery?! Switch with me, 652! Snakes can move on water! Bad footing like this shouldn't stop them, you amateur!"

"Ah, sw-switch! Switching! — Uwaaah?! The black armoooor!"

Having switched, Core 652 panicked at the black armor's rampage, but Core 650 remained calm.

"Alriiight, here I go! If the floor's no good, I'll just use the walls! These stone walls are more than enough!"

Controlling the snakes, Core 650 had them climb the walls. Avoiding the slimy floor, she thought they could finally break through—and then it happened.

Water came crashing down, filling the passage and washing everything away.