While in On Taram, adventurers prepared to tackle the challenges of the new floor, armies marched to push back warlocks and their forces. It took a lot of time to amass enough people and supplies, even though much of it was prepared beforehand, exactly for this situation. The hordes of orcs and other abominations weren’t as mobile as hordes of undead. Mostly because monsters need to rest and eat, and there was little to plunder in the villages. The main food supplies were stored in the fortified cities, and although some of them were besieged, not a single one fell. However, the warlock’s army had competent commanders, and while their progress was slow, they managed to launch attacks on the surrounding cities after besieging the adventurers' city. In a way, warlocks managed achieve more than the necromancers, who still try to break through the line of citadels.

  General Minsar was a minotaur, and even among his kind, he was tall and imposing. Right now, he was studying the map on the large table where pieces of wood represented his and the enemy forces. It took them some time, but finally, they managed to pin down the forward warlock’s forces. Right now, both sides are preparing for tomorrow’s battle.

  The messenger entered the tent.

  “General!” He saluted. “There is a platoon of sun elves, marching under the On Taram Dungeon Mistress banner. Their commander is asking to see you immediately, sir.”

  “What!?” He almost stormed out. Outside, he saw a ten-person team of sun elves approaching him. And they indeed were marching under the banner of the newest champion of the gods. Soldiers around gawked at the newcomers in shock, and the general was not less surprised.

  “I’m Commander Sallanis.” He presented his path. “I presume you, sir, are the general commanding this army?”

  “Greatings, commander.” Minotaur immediately composed himself. “Yes, I’m the general Minsar, and indeed I was tasked to command those men.” He answered and presented his path. “Can I assume that sun elves decided to join the effort to fight cultists?” General asked.

  “We always were hunting them whenever we spotted one.” Commander smiled. “But yes, after the recent attack of necromancers, it was decided we need to take a more proactive stance. I have crucial information that can change the outcome of the incoming battle. I need to ask for some of your time, despite ongoing preparations, General.”

  “Understood. I will gather all commanders.” General nodded. There was a strong possibility that the sun elves had a message to deliver from the gods themselves. He hoped that what they had to tell him would not pose a problem for his battle plans.

  Gathering commanding officers took some time. Commander Sallanis's explanations were simple and, at the same time, difficult to understand. The ability to kill someone a few thousand steps away was unheard of. But there was proof. A rifle lay on the table, and although none of them had the opportunity to examine it closely, it was obvious that it was a priceless artifact. And half of the sun elves had them.

  “Thank you, commander, for your explanations,” The general answered. “Now we need to think about how to incorporate your men in our ranks.”

  “I don’t want to be disrespectful, but we don’t have time for that. We must attack the cultists tomorrow. Otherwise, they will attack us.” One of the officers said.

  “Or run away.” Another added.

  “I have a plan ready, and it doesn’t need any changes in the placement of troops.” Commander Sallanis spoke.

  “Please, explain, commander,” General asked.

  “It’s a simple plan. I intend to do exactly what we did to the necromancers attacking On Taram. Expect this time to achieve much better results. Back then, we didn’t manage to kill the lich, and Dungeon Mistress was forced to intervene. We would hunt down their commanding warlocks. Without them, your forces would be able do with the monsters as they please.”

  “It would indeed create chaos among the ranks of cultists, but can you pull it off?” General asked.

  “With ease. We were chosen exactly for that.” Commander smiled, taking the rifle from the table.

  Early in the morning, soldiers started gathering for an incoming clash. It takes a few hours to form the ranks. The army numbered over ten thousand men, after all.

  “Do you think, Lord, that the sun elves will be able to do what they have said?” One of the officers assisting him asked.

  “I hope. But most likely, they create some disturbance and extra chaos. Either way, there are a few thousand monsters, and regardless of the outcome, this fight would be hard.”

  “What a shame. A little divine intervention would be welcome.”

  “You are too lazy.” General laughed at his old friend.

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  Their casual conversation was interrupted by a messenger.

  “All commanders reporting they are ready. General!”

  “Understood. Sound preparation to charge.” Minsar ordered.

  The sound of horns echoed across the battlefield, and the soldiers began to prepare for a fight. But when the sound stopped, and the general wanted to give an order to charge, something impossible happened. From his elevated position, he saw how the grand warlock and his four helpers, standing on the platform, suddenly died. A heartbeat later, chaos erupted among the ranks of cultists. Orcs, goblins, and other monsters were magically enslaved and connected to their master, forced to obey any order. Without the seal, they were raging, bloodthirsty monsters. And right now, hundreds of them start attacking everyone indiscriminately.

  “Well, my friend. I guess your wish came true.” The general said to his aide.

  “And I intend to visit the first temple I find. But what about our plan? Maybe we should wait for them to kill themselves?”

  A few more warlocks died, and in five more places, monsters started raging.

  “For now, we need to surround them. Send the orders to our cavalry. I need them to charge forward and hunt down any cultists and monsters trying to run away.

  “Yes, sir!” two runners answered and ran to detachments of cavalry on the right and left wings to convey orders.

  “Sound slow march forward. Order mages and archers to open fire when they are close enough. Don’t charge forward, we will kill them from afar.” The general gives more orders.

  The battle took a whole day. Despite the chaos among the ranks of cultists, slaying all the monsters wasn’t easy. Shortly before sunset, a platoon of the sun elves showed back. Judging by their appearance, they must have also taken part in direct combat.

  “Commander Sallanis, I’m glad to see you and your platoon back,” The general said after the elf reported his return.

  “There were some cultists and monsters that needed to be hunted down. Your cavalry did a good job trampling most of them, but they couldn’t reach some spots.”

  “A few cultists?” General laughed. “Commander, your men are responsible for the deaths of half the cultists and monsters. We expected heavy casualties on our side, and instead we ended with fewer than two thousand casualties, and most of them were wounded, not dead.”

  “I admit that the ambush worked exactly as planned. However, we would be able to repeat it only a few more times before cultists find a way to defend against our attacks.”

  “True. Sitting on these platforms makes them a prime target. I always dreamed that someone would find a way to reach them. Regrettably, it’s as you say, my Lord. They need to stop using them and hide, with what they are good at doing.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Anyway. Commander, take your men and rest for now. It takes a few days before we will be able to march forward.”

  “We would be ready.”

  In On Taram, a fully prepared exploration team reached the seventeenth floor. The first reports don’t tell too much, so adventurers prepared themselves for anything.

  “Fuck. How does Dungon Mistress expect us to hunt anything here?” Achille cursed when an invisible fireball exploded after hitting the earthwork.

  “It looks more like we are the prey, not hunters.” Someone answered.

  “That's why we have shields,” Nurmela answered. “Get ready. Nonisa, I expect you can cast a shield strong enough for those spells?”

  “Ha, ha, ha.” Sorceress wasn’t amused. “Good joke. I’m a grand master, and those spells are on an advanced level at best. They are dangerous only for your beard, not my shield.”

  “If they can singe my beard, that means that they are as dangerous as fuck.” Nurmella answered.

  Forming a tight formation wasn’t easy for adventurers. They weren’t used to working in tightly coordinated formations. And mysterious shooters don’t give them time to practice.

  But after a lot of shooting and coursing, they reached the edge of the forest. They couldn’t find the shooters, but something else attacked them. It was a golem wolf.

  “Fucking shit!” Jillax swore when they fell back after destroying the golem. “This floor is crazy!”

  “Yes. But look at this.” Achille pointed at the chainmail, which was armour of the wolf. “From that, you could make one of the best armours ever.”

  “First, you need to deal with all those mages hiding in the woods,” Nurmela said.

  “The regular spells aren’t that bad. The most dangerous are illusion spells. No one ever threw a shoe or other things at me.” Nonisa complained.

  “We have supplies for a few days. Let us try a few more times. Maybe we would find a way to deal with them.” Nurmela decided.

  “Maybe a range attack?”Nonisa suggested. “A few fireballs should make a difference,” she was eager to make the scores even.

  “Yeah. We could try it. At worst, it smokes them out.” Achille agreed, and the rest of the adventurers decided to try.

  The second try went much better. Shooting spells in the direction of the forest reduced the number of attacks, but regrettably, they didn’t hit anything. When they reached the edge of the forest, they finally saw some movement.

  “On the left!” Nurmela shouted.

  “I’m seeing it!” A sun elf warrior who joined them shouted and threw a javelin. The projectile hit the running shadow, knocking it down.

  “We got the fucker!” Achille shouted.

  “Ok. Now slowly forward. Let’s see what we got. But watch out for the wolves. I bet they jump on us any moment.”

  They indeed needed to fight a wolf while they were under a constant barrage of spells.

  “We need more people,” Nurmela huffed when the fight ended.

  “I second that idea,” Nonisa answered.

  “Let us see the mage golem before we retreat.” Nurmela decided.

  When they approached the mysterious golem, all stopped in disbelief. Their stupor was short because of a new wave of spell.

  “What the fuck.” Achille said. “This golem looked so scary that I had goose bumps.”

  “Agree. I think I will have a nightmare tonight.” Nonisa added.

  “We are taking its head.” Nurmela decided. “Also, the rifle and the bag.”