Chapter 232

The Goblin General has no problem holding his own against the bloated and monstrous forms of the Lord of Decay, crushing them as fast as they can disengage from battle and reach him. 

He's smart as well, heading for the Plague Mothers, eliminating the source of the Demonic reinforcements. Cain keeps sending more and more to replace what has fallen before ordering the Oath Breakers to four on one the General instead of searching the city to destroy artillery. 

The rate of ranged fire is already way down, enough that the demons are reaching the city without issue, but if they can't control that General, they are in danger of being pushed back. 

Outnumbered by Legendary Demons, the General is hard-pressed, taking a lot of damage, but able to heal or be healed enough to hold on for now. The horns of the palace sound again, and he increases his attacks, desperately holding the Oath Breakers in combat while the next wave of forces charges. 

Only, they're not coming. They've turned East to reinforce the Noble District, all three hundred highly equipped Mole Dog Riders. Even from this distance, Cain is sure he can see the General's heart break as he is abandoned. But still, he fights on, rallying the troops behind him and limiting casualties at the cost of a good portion of the southern city. 

Cain doesn't see any civilians, so either they've all been drafted, or they've fled well in advance of the battle. 

The attempt to limit casualties is working, the force led by the General isn't shrinking by much, but they're losing a lot of ground, the demons leveling the city around them to give more room to fight. No more mortars are firing at the troops pouring into the city from were Cain and the others are hiding, so he diverts a few more of the Plague Mothers to the East Side to keep the reinforcements away from the army. 

Half of the Oath Breakers have joined them, leaving only two in the south who aren't devoted to keeping the Goblin General at bay. It is slowing the advance, but again when the horns sound, the troops go East and not South. These are infantry and look much less polished than the last batch. The palace must have sent out all their Elite forces in the first wave. 

The third time the horns sound, a wave of militia joins the southern battle. They're a ragtag bunch with mismatched weapons and little armor, but there are a lot of them. That only speeds their demise, though. Between Vala and the Lords of Decay, [Pestilence] is spreading from everywhere. They don't have much if any resistance to it, and even with the devoted healing from their Clerics, they're slowly losing health without anyone hitting them. 

[The East is Clear] comes the message from the Oath Breakers. 

[Charge the palace. Everywhere else has been abandoned in favor of defending the Nobles. Don't bother crushing all the houses; the important occupants must be in the Palace.]

The sight of the demons skittering up the walls with their long-clawed fingers sends screams of terror through the palace guards for the few seconds they live. Seconds later, the screams are followed by the booming crash of the Eastern Draw Bridges being dropped open for the other forces to enter. 

The forces led by the General are retreating more quickly now, calling commands in Goblin that aren't being answered. The Oath Breakers have already made it to the South Gates and killed the guards working the doors, making a furious stand to keep the palace from letting the General in while the Plague Mothers rampage in the Eastern Gardens, facing off against whatever defenders they've found. 

"We need to move closer. The city has mostly fallen, and it's taking too long to get new demons to the fight from way back here in the trees. Spiders, keep Mythryll safe at all costs."

Cain leads the charge towards the city, his black wings carrying him across the distance with Misha in his arms in mere seconds. The sight has drawn the attention of the General, who roars in frustration. Dozens of horns sound at the sight of Cain, the Gnomes finally identifying the enemy General. The tone doesn't sound like a victory to Cain as he lands among his Oath Breakers inside the south Palace Gates. They sound of desperation and fear. 

Two more Goblin Generals charge out of the main palace towards him, and Cain lifts his spear in a challenge. It has grown to match his form, twice as long as when he was a human, and the Pestilent Scimitar is now large enough to be called a great sword in the hands of a human. 

Cain takes to the air using [Cloud Dancing], finding that the skill is almost unnecessary with the mobility afforded by the wings of his Demonic Form. His agility and movement speed are quite noticeably higher than before the skill point increase, and his blade is a blur as he fends off the first attacks of the two Generals. 

Everything else in the area quickly backs away, not wanting to get caught up in this vicious engagement between Commanders, despite the commands to kill him at all costs that are being screamed from the balcony.

The Gnomish King must not understand military strategy because he's clearly visible, shouting orders at his overwhelmed castle guards while the Nobles try to flee out the far gate. 

There's no need to stop them yet, the victory conditions didn't specify annihilation, so Cain orders the summons to let them flee. The sight should help break what little morale the troops do still have. 

Minutes pass as Cain squares off against the Generals, periodically refreshing summons that Misha calls out as getting low. He's taken and done some damage, but nothing significant, and both he and the Generals are still near full health. 

They're so strong on defense that even the boost from [Might of Many] isn't enough with his low hit success rate to whittle away through their healing. That changes instantly when a Lamia manages to wrap both ankles of one General just as Cain is striking, pulling him off balance and sending Cain's Spear deep into his belly. 

The added damage effect from the Spear activates at that moment, along with a full dose of [Might of Many], sending dozens of defenders to an untimely death, single blows from the attacking demons being enough to kill the brave Goblins. 

Cain no longer sees any Gnomes. Even the King has disappeared from his balcony. All that's left are a handful of Goblin Dragoons with a few surviving Mole Dog mounts and the two Generals. 

Cain pushes the attack, inflicting a flurry of brutal strikes against the wounded General that ends with a [Decapitating Blow]. Now alone, the last General is in a tight spot, pushed into an ever closing circle with his remaining few loyal warriors. It's only a matter of minutes until they fall when a single lonesome horn sounds in the distance. 

The General knocks Cain back with a shoulder charge before retreating to disengage and stab his blade into the earth. "Vermont has fallen, and the King has fled. Do you offer terms Demon Progenitor?"

Cain can see that every one of the remaining Goblins is terrified but determined to fight to the very last, should it be necessary. 

[Dungeon Compete: Mission Successful] 

[Calculating Experience] 

"Go and live to fight another day. Take your men with you." Cain decrees, pointing at the back gate of the palace, the direction the Gnomish Nobles fled. 

"The Goblin Kingdoms are that way." The General points out the main gate, clearly meaning that he no longer serves the Gnomish King. 

"This doesn't make us friends, Demon, but we will take your mercy."

"I look forward to seeing you in battle again one day." Cain agrees, and the last handful of defenders leave the Palace in defeat. That was a brutal fight, and as close as Cain can guess, under a hundred Gnomes escaped, fewer than fifty Goblins survived. Plus, however many civilians might be hiding in the city. 

Having these historical battles available is a lot of fun, certainly much more fun than simply grinding the same ones repeatedly for the experience. Cain hopes the experience is worth it; that battle was brutal. 

[Original outcome: Attack Failed. 300,000 demons dead. 13,000 defenders dead.]

[Current Outcome: Attack Successful. 84,000 demons dead. 29,000 defenders dead.]

[Awarding bonus experience] 

Was the battle that much more difficult the first time? They must not have had anything like the Oath Breakers who could get into the artillery. That or they were spotted on the way in and didn't understand the danger posed by the magical mortar launchers. 

[Mercy Bonus: Gnomish Monarchy was overthrown. Goblin Monarchy restored.]

So they were more than just allies; the Gnomes controlled the Goblin Kingdom. If they're going to start doing more of these dungeons, Cain needs to read a few history books. 

[Special Supporter Form Gained: Gilly, Knight Commander of the Goblin Royal Guard]

[Special Legendary Summon Form Gained: Crown Prince Mark, Lord General of the Goblin Dragoons.]

That's pretty awesome.. Typically dungeon mobs would only record by class or type, but these are explicitly recorded by name.