Chapter 224

Misha and Mythryll share a bewildered look when Cain steps through the portal, before Misha lets out a long suffering sigh. "Why couldn't he have started like this. The whole handsome, strong and confident thing really does it for me." 

"It's not like he's going after anyone else. You worry too much." Mythryll laughs at her overthinking friend. 

"True, but I wasted so much time. If I'd known he had it in him to take charge, I would have tried to move things forward before."

"Alright, lovebird. Let's get in that dungeon and get some levels. He's got some plan in mind for after he levels up, I'm certain of it." With that, Mythryll leads Misha into the dungeon, where they face an unexpected sight. Cain is holding a conversation with a transparent image of two small, winged children. 

"Good, everyone is here. Since you had such an easy time of it during your last visit, we've changed the dungeon up a little. Welcome to the Historical Battle Simulation dungeon Mark 1." The White-winged girl announces, and both disappear. 

[Selecting Scenario from the database.]

[Battle of Fizzboom Defence Force Selected.]

[Dungeon Completion Condition, hold the Fizzboom Air Base for 25 hours until reinforcements arrive.]

"25 hours? That's not a dungeon. That's a marathon." Evangeline grumbles just as the scenery changes to leave them on a hill in a deciduous forest. 

There are a collection of stone circles around them that look like helipads to Cain, and one has some sort of hot air balloon with a propeller sitting on it. The south side of the hill has a few small hangers, but no other defensible spot is visible. 

"Well, this is a terrible position to defend. Let's see what we've got available for materials. If nothing else, I can have giants pull down the trees and build obstacles."

[Notice: attack commences in 5 minutes] 

"Well, no time to explore. I will have earth mages build a wall." Two Dwarven Earth Mages, with assistance from their Golems and a full complement of Epic Granite Elementals, have a crude wall up around the hill in under a minute.

Since the objective is defense, the giant Granite Elementals with near-indestructible bodies seem like the best option to be the Frontline troops today. Misha will undoubtedly choose flame wielding demons, and Mythryll has Haunted trees for crowd control. Lamia Scourge casters again fill the Lesser Golem spot for Cain, as their range makes them an excellent option for fighting from the walls. 

Now, he has to choose what to duplicate. With nine copies of Kone, 18 of Su, plus 2 of Laura, Dragons are the immediately obvious choice. The category increase will also triple their Bonded Forces of Drakes, giving the defense team overwhelming air power. 

"Has anyone heard of this Battle? What we might be facing?" Cain asks, to be sure. 

"I read a little about it in a story I found in Muzz. Two hundred gnomes held off an Ogre invasion for 18 hours, killing tens of thousands before the airbase fell. The story I read was fan fiction, but it has a disclaimer saying they weren't insulting the actual martyrs." It was technically gnome vs. Ogre porn about the aftermath where the Ogres destroyed the stored airships, but it seemed to be based on actual events. 

"Good enough for me. We know how to fight Ogres. I will try my new [Ancient Resistance] skill to increase the number of Dragons and Drakes. It says it will change me to a form more suited to the summons, so don't be surprised if the skill turns me on to a Dragon."

"Go, team Dragons!" Laura cheers, and Cain summons all his remaining supporters before activating Ancient Resistance. 

He can feel his body shift, and an intuitive knowledge of flying and using Dragon Breath enters his mind. When his eyes open, Misha and Mythryll are far below his sight line, while Laura flaps lazily beside his head. 

"This is bullshit. You've been a Dragon for like 3 seconds, and you're huge. I demand justice!" The Opal Prismatic Dragon screams in his face, making Cain laugh. 

The rumbling noise travels through his body, gently shaking the ground at his feet. The effect startles him, making Cain look down at himself, finding a thick scaled Golden body nearly twice as large as even Danni was. Laura wasn't exaggerating; this Dragon form is enormous.

"What is a Proto Dragon? That's what it says you're transformed into when I scan you. You almost look like a flying golden dinosaur; look at the spikes on your back and tail. I wonder if that form is the ancestor all Dragon-type creatures evolved from? But more importantly, does it get any cool new attacks?" Mythryll asks, her voice sounding distant from this height. 

[Racial Attack Skills] 

[Claw] 1400 percent attack power to each target hit.

[Tail Slap] 800 percent of attack power as damage with a high chance to knock down targets hit. 

[Fire Breath] 2500 percent spell power per second as fire damage in a cone 50 meters long starting from the nostrils. 

The damage is ridiculous, and the range seems to be until Cain realizes it's barely his current body length. But doing a fly-by should incinerate a vast area. 

Since he can't triple demons right now, Cain releases the Oath Breakers and calls for a dozen copies of Danni the Legendary Ice Dragon, merging with four of them to increase his abilities. 

"Well, hello, Big Gold and Sexy. Oh, Master Cain, I didn't recognize you in that form. I take it you don't need a ride?" Danni jokes, his voice in Dragon form surprisingly similar to his human form. 

"Not today. Today we're doing a dungeon defense. A 25-hour endurance Battle." Cain's voice rumbles like his laughter, impossibly deep, with an echo like his vocal cords are at the base of his long, scaled neck. 

"That explains all the Dragons. What would even dare to attack this hill with all of them here?"

"Ogres, we think. It's a historical battle reenactment, but we don't know much about the battle of Fizzboom." Misha informs Danni, walking over to see what the golden scales of Cain's belly feel like.

In close, he gives off a pleasant warmth and smells like cinnamon and nutmeg. The scale is glass smooth under her hands, despite the dull finish, so she decides to lean against Cain for the moment, enjoying the warmth. 

"I wish I could help, but Gnomish history isn't one of my strong points," Danni says sadly, his Dragon form not giving away any other emotional cues.

The wind shifts slightly, and a foul smell fills the air, a combination of rotted fruit and unwashed armpits. "What in the world is that? That is rancid."

"That would be Ogres. The disadvantage of a Dragon's sense of smell." Danni snarls and all his clones take to the air to join the other Dragons. 

"Dragons, Drakes, move out. Find and eliminate the source of that smell." Cain roars, a hint of magical power filling the air and compelling them to obey. A hidden perk of the Proto Dragon form.

"Everyone else, spread out around the hill. Ogres can be decent strategists, and I don't want them finding any weak spots to attack us from."

The Granite Elementals and Lamia spread out, evenly spaced around the walls and joined by Misha's Flame-wielding demons. The rest of the defense force waits scattered around the hill for news to come in from the Dragons about the direction and strength of the attack. 

"The First batch of Scouts has been eliminated. Enemies are level 160." Laura reports a few minutes later, coming back to the hill to give her report in person. 

"We can live with that. Keep the Dragons on patrol and let us know when more enemies are coming."

"Too late. The other me says we've got large forces from the East and South. Ogres to the East and a mixed army of giants to the south."

"Split up then. Half and half, the Seraphim will join you. I'll deal with anything flying that attacks the hill."

"What could be so important about this hill that so many would attack it?" Mythryll wonders out loud. 

"If this is a historical battle, there must have been some reason. There weren't supposed to be many gnomes guarding the place either. Should we check the warehouses?" 

"Good idea. Why don't you both go search them and look for underground rooms? There might be more to this place than there seems to be. Like a weapons cache or an experimental device."

Misha and Mythryll hurry off to the nearest warehouse in search of goodies while Cain flies slow circles around the hill, much too large to go indoors in this form. The Companions are all sad they've got to miss out on the treasure hunt, but they don't have to worry about being bored for long.

"Incoming Ogres. North side. Ladies, please keep searching, and we can handle this. Nila, since you can call Dark Fae as your Bonded Forces, get us some Trolls for the front lines. The more heavily armored, the better."

Cain changes one of the two Dwarven Earth Mages he had called to help build defenses for another clone of Kone, giving the base defense force back their ever so helpful healing auras while he decides what to hold back in case of ambush.

"Nemu, have half your assassins guard the hill and the others against sneak attacks and play us something good. I'm thinking an attack bonus with a nice catchy tune."

"Got it boss.. I know just the song for the occasion."