Chapter 97 Dungeon Core: “The Eternal Training Ground”

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It was close to sunrise in a city now called Eternal. When the sun sets and the sky is colored blood, it has been said that this happens because a large battle had occurred and much blood was spilled. This day, however, the sky was already blood-colored, as if the world was already certain that a lot of blood was going to be spilled.

Inside the city walls, a lot of people, the defenders of this place, visited a dungeon entrance and walked out with small crates full of items. Some were rushing as fast as they could, yet some seemed to be exceedingly careful about what they transported.

They were trying to be as sneaky as possible, as Ace and the generals in charge were certain that a lot of spies still were inside the city, even if they tried to hunt down and kill as many as possible.

Unknown to them, there weren’t any spies left. The dungeon offered the defender quest to anyone who wanted it, even if that person had just entered the dungeon and bought the necklace of some enterprising adventurers.

At first, this person wanted to figure out where he had gone wrong and then perhaps help clear his name and reputation. Yet, as time passed, he understood he was also the problem. Too complacent he had become, and he could see potential here that would hopefully also allow him to grow further.

It was not hard for him to find the spies, as he knew every one of them. What was harder was keeping his involvement secret. He was quite certain that no one in this city would be happy to see him, even if he was helping them. No, he was going to help this place stay free as much as it could and then start from the beginning.

There was so much opportunity down below that it made him vibrate with excitement. It didn’t take him long to decide to make his own shadow guild when this business was over and see how big he could make it.

Because of this, enemy commanders haven’t been able to get reliable information inside the city for about two weeks. Their long-range scouts could tell that something was going on, but they did not know what, so they proceeded with their planned assault. They had made it abundantly clear by yelling to every commander they had that this assault needed to work, and if it didn't, some heads were going to roll.

The auspiciously colored sun had not been up for long before the blood color disappeared, and the sounds of horns were heard by all in the vicinity. What followed was a deafening sound of marching soldiers.

They had special moving barricades to protect against enemy fire. Many were carrying ladders to help with getting on the wall, but many more were pulling thick lengths of rope or pushing large siege towers.

They had plenty of soldiers to spare, which allowed them to build many of these siege towers. The city walls merged with the mountainside, allowing the attacking army about 200 degrees of wall that they could attack.

From up high, it looked like a sea of soldiers approaching a large rock that was hollow from the inside. They had attacked like that before, but never had there been so much pressure put on them to succeed.

Because of this, the morale of the individual soldiers fluctuated quite a bit. Some were relishing the challenge, while others were just doing what they were told because running away would have been a worse option. Some had tried to run away but were made examples of. Yet all of them hoped that this would be the last battle after which they could go home.

The defenders on the wall, who just 12 hours ago were dreading an assault, were now more afraid of the things they were holding. Not all of the defenders had seen what the terrifying cylinder of death could do, but now many held this device while others held more conventional damage-dealing devices.

What was even more scary for them was that they had boxes of them nestled up against the parapets. While they were worried about the approaching soldiers, actual trembles of fear went through their bodies when they looked down at those boxes.

It was never easy to ask an adventurer to give up his rewards, but many were willing to at least sacrifice some of their points so they could enjoy them later. However, it was different for soldiers employed by Ace.

Their job was to defend, so the contribution points were not theirs. While many grumbled about this, they still spent their points as they were instructed and purchased the available devices at the reward station. From there, they were transported all over the walls, just waiting for the approaching army.

All were trying to do their job to the best of their abilities, but there was a lot of wall to cover, and they were still trying to bring more devices to every location. This weakened the defenders' overall combat capabilities, as many strong warriors weren’t at the wall. It was a gamble the city leadership was willing to take.

This time, the defenders waited longer and didn't start with the cylindrical devices. Even without them, the different acid, fire, and explosive bombs did plenty of damage and held off the ladders from being deployed for long enough for the siege towers to get close to the wall as well.

Then the defenders deployed the most terrible weapon most of them had seen. They also didn't stop throwing them even after the first ones landed, releasing their swarms of bugs from inside.

The results were truly terrifying, as almost immediately the fruit flies activated their skills, making them glow and allowing them to pass through basically every object. Many soldiers quickly ran as they had already seen the results, but still, many died.

More importantly for the defenders, the abandoned ladders, and the siege towers were left devastated. Before the attackers could return, the defenders destroyed the remaining siege towers and ladders.

The cost for the defenders in contribution points was incredibly high, and they would not be able to pull off something similar, yet the attackers didn't know that. The attackers had not lost too many soldiers this time, but it would take a while to build up the siege equipment again.

What was even worse was that they now needed to accept the peace talks and could only pray that they would not be offered too good of a peace deal; otherwise, they could not reject it.

The dungeon had been observing all of this, and after the battle was over, it was quite certain that it was never going to offer the fruit fly containers ever again. They were simply too dangerous.

The other devices that it had offered in exchange for contribution points were copies of the adventurers' own consumable devices. Some even recognized makers' marks of their own products. However, they did not complain because, otherwise, they would still be fighting against terrible odds.

The death toll was still almost 19,000, and for as little results as it got, it was actually the worst engagement in the war for the attackers. This gave Ace a lot more leverage during the peace talks. Once again, the adventurer guild master accompanied Ace, along with his hired generals, to go outside the city walls.

This time there was a table set up where both sides could sit. The attacking generals wanted to begin, but Ace cut them off.

"Here’s the peace offer: you leave and declare the Eternal City State an independent nation. If you do so, your kingdoms will be granted movement and trade rights for as long as you don't once again declare war, and you will be taxed 15% for land-based trade and 20% for air-based trade."

That immediately silenced the generals of the attacking army. The movement rights would allow any citizen and adventurer of their kingdoms to come here and enter the dungeon or stay in the city.

Trade rights would allow them to always do business here. Those were quite basic terms, but not always were movement rights given so freely. The 15% and 20% for trade tax was stupendously good, but they could have denied it if Ace had asked for reparations for the damage they caused, which was normal.

Ace didn't do this, for two reasons: 1) it would make it incredibly hard for them to reject the peace deal, and 2) the city here made so much coin that he didn't actually need any help to rebuild everything.

He even still had plenty in his war chest to continue this war. The attacking kingdoms had no choice but to accept the peace deal; otherwise, they would be facing way too much pressure from the other nations.

So, on a sunny evening, the papers were signed, and the war officially ended. Ace had achieved what he set out to achieve. He was now the sole ruler of this land. It was a decently sized piece of land, encompassing the whole mountain range and its surrounding lands.

He almost had enough land to be called a Duke, even if about 70% of it was treacherous mountains. What the Kingdom didn’t know was that Ace was going to offer the same trade tax to anyone, as he wanted to make this a truly prosperous city.