When I’d left the Dungeon, and gotten an update, it had been about the third Dungeon. We’d sent a team to the second Dungeon and they had managed to get their way past the Grimdar blockade and into the Dungeon. That wasn’t the case with the third.

  We’d tried to hit all three at the same time. And that plan had worked. It’s just that the forces around the third Dungeon were too much for the team we sent. They’d been pushed back and had suffered some casualties. Which was not good at all, since each of the teams sent to the Dungeons had been one of our best Delving teams along with enough muscle to help them punch through the blockade, hold the portal for the team and then punch back out again.

  They’d been stopped, a lot of the supporting soldiers killed.

  Luckily the delving team had all survived.

  I hated losing anyone, but losing any of them would have been devastating.

  The team and soldiers were set up about a half day’s travel from the Dungeon. The Grimdar weren’t chasing after them. Why would they? Waste of their time, Resources and people. They knew we had to go to them. They’d be reinforcing their positions.

  And in the meantime, they were pushing harder along the battlefronts. We were still waiting on our reinforcements to arrive. They were a couple days out. The troops we’d brought with us were already on the front, but we hadn’t brought that many fighters. Most of the people on the Phoenix’s Feather had been support and builders.

  We had people on one of the islands just off shore constructing the site and fortifications for the portal. John XXX, the resident Solace Fellowship portal expert, was on his way here and would get that up and running. The docks were built on shore and the island.

  It would have been easier to have the portal on the mainland, but in the off chance we were pushed back by the Grimdar, we wanted the portal to be harder to get to.

  Maria had the map spread out before us. With our positions, the known Grimdar, the Dungeons and all the good stuff marked. The probable locations of the Grimdar portal was marked. We really needed to shut that thing down or they’d just keep sending reinforcements after us.

  No matter how strong we were, eventually we’d lose. It was a numbers thing.

  The Grimdar had far more than we did.

  Jeriyan and the Sunrise Formation didn’t have exact totals on the number of Grimdar. The problem was that they had their own planet, so there was that population, and they’d conquered a couple of Resource planets and a couple of smaller ones. So there was that population. Add in the various people that left their own planets and Factions and joined up with the Grimdar, like Payton and whoever was behind him were planning on doing, and it was a sizable force.

  Of course not all would be soldiers, but enough would.

  The problem with Earth, and it was only a problem in situations like this, which to be honest no one had expected for at least another decade, was that we weren’t one unified Faction. There were dozens, all with their own agendas. I could call Fred and ask for help from his Faction, but that would come with favors owed.

  No way would Subudai help me out. He’d let the Grimdar wipe us out and then step in and try to claim victory. He’d probably lose but Subudai wouldn’t think that. In his arrogance, he’d never consider the possibility of the Bounding Dragons Sect losing. There’s no way he’d ever ally with me to take out the Grimdar.

  If Earth was unified? We’d have the entire world’s forces to call on.

  Wasn’t meant to be. We’d have to manage with what we got.

  The main thing was finding that damn portal.

  “Where do you need me?” I asked Maria, looking down at the map.

  Maria studied the map. I knew she already had a place for me, but she was double and triple checking against the latest updates we’d gotten. The map was a projection from the crystals mined in the Solace Territories. Part of our crystal tech, running off the same ideas as the codex we all carried. It was constantly being updated as Derek funneled the info he was receiving from the folks in the various fields and then onto the map.

  “The Dungeon,” she said. “We’re going to need to push hard to get through and will need all the power we can get.” She looked at Mason. “I’d like you to go there as well.”

  “Where’s my team?”

  She pointed at one of the towns on the eastern edge of the Grimdar advance. It was a couple days from the Dungeon. Mason sighed.

  “I’d prefer being with them.”

  “I’m not going to force you,” Maria said, both of them glancing at me to see if I would. I shook my head. “But right now it’s about allocation of resources. Next to Nick and the elves, you’re the strongest around.”

  “What about Nathan and his team?”

  “Yes, they’re stronger, and don’t take this the wrong way, overall stronger than you and your team. That’s why they’re going to be the ones going into the Dungeon. Just like the first one, speed in clearing it is critical.”

  “I understand.” Mason sighed. “I’ll go to the Dungeon.”

  “Hey,” I said, getting his attention. “Once this is over, your team along with Nathan’s are going to get all the Resources you need to push to hit Level 100. I want you all in the Tower.”

  Mason nodded, smiling a bit.

  ***

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  The Feather started coming down to land. We’d kept low, just over the treetops. The village the Solace soldiers had claimed was visible from miles out. It was set up against a mountain, a couple of mine entrances visible up on the slopes, with the forest ending a couple miles away. The mountains ran north to south, the village almost in the middle of the range. The cleared space between mountains and forest was a couple miles wide, a well-kept road along the edge of the forest.

  The village was small, by current post-integration standards. It was more of an outpost for the mining operation. From what I’d been told, there was a lot of Aquairon and Skycopper pulled from the mountain. Those were two of the Gray Wolf’s main exports. Solace Fellowship had a couple contracts for the ores. I wonder how those were affected by us taking over the Gray Wolfs?

  That was something for Kat to worry about.

  There was an airship dock, a couple dozen buildings, the large smelting operation, a couple storage warehouses and a log palisade wall around the whole thing.

  The region was packed with monsters, so there were some defenses. Those were in the process of being augmented by the Solace soldiers. There’d been a good sized Gray Wolf defensive force stationed at the outpost. Their barracks and support buildings made up half the buildings there. Also being close to the Dungeon, there was a large Inn and traders to support the visiting Adventurers.

  The village was pretty empty. Smoke curled up from only a couple of chimneys. When the Grimdar invaded, the place had been evacuated. Only the soldiers had remained, now strengthened by the Solace contingent and some engineers. I could see folks working on the walls, adding runes and materials to make them stronger. Arcane cannons were being mounted along the wall.

  As soon as the gangplank was lowered, I was down on the ground, followed by Mason and Sunie. Two soldiers met us at the bottom. One of them was dressed in Solace armor, the other in the traditional Gray Wolf armor with the fur cloak.

  Did everyone have one of those?

  Maybe I needed to get one.

  Naw, it wouldn’t look good with my leather jacket and would just get in the way. I never understood why people wanted to wear cloaks. The added stats and stuff were nice, but they were just things monsters or others could grab and yank.

  No thanks.

  “Lord Howell,” the Solace Soldier said. “I’m Lieutenant Jenkins.”

  I shook the man’s hand. He was maybe late thirties or so, about my height and size. He had no visible weapons but was most likely a swordsman. Most of the soldiers were. Not an Adventurer, had just gone through the normal Tutorial. To get the rank of L-T, Jenkins would be around Level sixty to seventy. And he’d have to maintain that Level to keep the rank.

  As much as it was possible, the Solace Fellowship tried to give positions of power based on merit. Experience, ability, all that. But this was the world of the Celestial Challenge System. We had Levels and those Levels mattered. It didn’t matter if the Level Thirty soldier was a better swordsman than the Level Forty. Those ten Levels made a huge difference.

  The Level Forty would easily kill the Level Thirty, not because of skill but because of sheer power.

  We had to make allowances for that. Rank was based around Level but without that rank was a hierarchy based on experience and ability. Two Level Forty Swordsmen would not be the exact same. One would be stronger because they were a better swordsman and could use their Abilities better.

  I didn’t know Jenkins but assumed he was competent or else he wouldn’t have been put in charge of the assault force.

  The other guy was older, a bit of gray in his hair. That meant he’d been older when the System integrated. He was a tall man, built. Not Nathan or Mason size, but a head taller than me, and broader.

  “Lord Howell,” he said, nodding. “I’m Sargeant Hudson, commander of the Mountainside Garrison.”

  “Good to meet you,” I said, shaking his head. “Wish it was under better circumstances.”

  “Yeah,” Hudson said, sighing. “Not at our best.”

  “We have a map set up in the command center,” Jenkins said. “Our scouts came back earlier today so it’s pretty up to date.”

  “Excellent, let’s go check it out.”

  ***

  From the deck of the Phoenix’s Feather, high enough to look but too high for the Grimdar to shoot at us, the Dungeon looked just like Jenkins’ scouts had said. And it didn’t look good for us.

  The Dungeon was in the side of a small hill which was on an island at the bottom of a small valley with steep sides. There was a single path that snaked around the valley, the sides too rocky and steep to easily climb down. What was with the Dungeons in this area having only one way in or out? Surrounding the valley was nothing. Just plains.

  And a ton of Grimdar.

  They were a dozen deep around the valley, again leaving a single area open for the dungeon surge to run out. And to try to lure us into a trap. It was the same set-up as the first Dungeon. The difference was there were no trees or anything to help provide cover. Once on that island, we’d be trapped. All the Grimdar would need to do is come down into the valley, dying by the dozens as we blasted them, but then they’d just fill up the space with numbers and we’d never leave.

  We could do a suicide drop onto the island, like we did for the first Dungeon, but then the same thing. We’d end up trapped on the island. If this Dungeon had the same amount of Grimdar as the first, maybe we’d be able to deal with it. But this one had far more Grimdar.

  They probably thought it needed more defenses to block it off. The first Dungeon had the natural barrier of the mountains around it. This was open on all sides. The only thing preventing people from going down the sides was the steepness.

  It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.

  Now we’d have to fight our way through a thick wall of Grimdar.

  I leaned against the railing, watching the Grimdar forces around the valley. Lots of anti-ship emplacements and even some walls. They’d chopped down trees and laid them length-wise along the ground just to mess us up some more.

  “So,” I said to the collection of people along the railing with me. “Anyone got any bright ideas?”