Monsters, stronger than normal from the Zealot’s device, were spawning and surging towards the entrance to the third floor. There are more monsters than normal, but even this large a group would be defeated by the 25 dungeon delvers in their forward base. The first wave might catch them unaware, but sound and detection skills may give them away anyway. Add in a natural chokepoint from the stairs, then they might suffer minor losses at worst. The Zealot’s actions will ensure that my dungeon is too much of a threat to continue existing. I don’t know if even adding mana crystals would be enough to justify the danger. Ideally, I could command the monsters to stand down and stay in their original rooms, but every attempt results in a screen saying “User lacks Authority.” Did the mana from the Chaos Infuser interfere with my dungeon master's authority over monsters? I use ‘Identify’ on one of the affected Hobgoblins to see if anything obvious pops up.

  ?

  Name: [Nameless]

  Race: Goblinoid (Hobgoblin Shaman [Lvl. 1])

  Blessing: Madness of Chaos

  Skills: Manipulate Mana, Project Mana, Fire Magic, Club Mastery

  HP: 400/400

  MP: 600/600

  ?

  The first thing that sticks out to me is obviously the new blessing, “Madness of Chaos”. The flavor text from identifying it further can just be summarized as being infused with too much mana, leading to a berserk state and attacking all humans. This blessing must technically place them outside of the dungeon hierarchy, so I can’t control them using my authority as dungeon master. I might be able to control them with possession if they’ve truly lost their minds, but that’s my limit. I don’t want them to leave to get reinforcements, so I need to cut them off from reaching the second floor. Vulcan and his team can be given that role, so they can finally have time to shine with their training. It’s probably better to leave enough dungeon delvers alive, so they have enough to charge forth to the bottom of the dungeon, allowing me to handle them in the mazes of the fourth floor with Vulcan’s team. The second strong party returning to the surface is still on the fifth floor, so I can’t change it from its linear design. Okay, I just have to walk on a tightrope, and it’ll end up fine, right?

  ?

  Dungeon Delver POV:

  ?

  Coryn was the dungeon delver delegated with the authority to lead the main force in the investigation of the dungeon. He didn’t want to bear that responsibility, but he had the most experience compared to the rest of the delvers, and he was the leader of his party. So, despite his wishes, he took up the mantle and aided in the preparations. Now, he was in the dungeon that could possibly lead to a monster flood. However, not a single piece of evidence could be found to confirm the danger. The scouts had already gone down to the fourth floor, and another party had reached the bottom of the dungeon and confirmed that the dungeon had expanded, but there were no indications of an impending flood. Normally, this would have been enough evidence to wrap up the investigation and return to the guild to report their findings. However, the presence of a Radiant Inquisitor from the Eastern Radiant Theocracy complicated matters. The East, although excessively faithful to the Tristar Pantheon at times, was an important trading partner to the Dungeon Delvers Guild. Their country alone made up a sizable portion of purchases of monster materials and equipment. In times of peace, they are the largest individual purchaser amongst all nations, so keeping their wandering inquisitors happy is a silent requirement for a dungeon delver to accompany them. Thus, Coryn continued with the investigation to satisfy the Inquisitor. He still had final say in the fate of the dungeon, but he needed to be thorough in his investigation until the end.

  ?

  He was taking stock of the expedition's supplies when he saw the Inquisitor walk out from the stairs to the fourth floor. Confused as to why he would go down alone, he made his way to confront him. Before he could ask his question, his detection skill went off. Monsters were ascending the stairs, dozens of them, and would soon be upon them all. Pulling the Inquisitor behind him, he yelled out his commands to the rest of the dungeon delvers.

  ?

  “Dungeon Flood! Everyone, get in position! Use the stairs as a chokepoint! Scouts, watch our back!”

  ?

  Instantly, the whole camp began to scramble for their weapons and armor, snapping out of their resting states. Frontliners gathered around the entrance, backliners right behind to support them. The sounds of running monsters and weapons scraping the dungeon walls echoed from the staircase. Everyone could feel the danger looming over them, and in what felt like an instant, all hell broke loose in the dungeon. A surge of monsters burst from the opening: Hobgoblins, Lizardmen, Quazits, all with their eyes set on their prey.

  ?

  “Variants!”

  ?

  Yelled by one of the more experienced delvers, the danger of the dungeon was finally settling in. Should they survive, there was only one recourse to the state of the dungeon. But first, they needed to survive. Magic from Hobgoblin Shamans and mages alike flew across the room. Bodies of man and monster clashed against each other, the shrill rattle of weapons against metal, and the ripping of flesh as both sides gave everything they had to fight. The dungeon delvers held formation in a semi circle around the stairway, keeping the monsters penned in. They outnumbered the monsters for now, but each wound required one more delver to move back. The dungeon delvers held, but they were slowly losing ground to the surging wave ascending from the depths. They didn’t know how long they would have to hold out, so they stayed on the defensive to conserve their stamina. Coryn knew they were losing ground, but a reckless charge would just see any individual surrounded.

  ?

  “Push! We need to keep them on the stairs.”

  ?

  But he knew something had to be done. As the delver with the most experience, and his party backing him up, he took it upon himself to lead the charge. Rushing into the fray, his sword arced through the air, whistling as it sliced through monster flesh and bone, trusting his armor and comrades from a fatal blow. The rest of the dungeon delvers, only a moment behind, followed his lead and fought with all their might, taking more damage in their pursuit of survival. Magic flew through the air, monsters and humans alike burned and bloody, but they still took one step forward, then another. They would have a few dungeon delvers too injured to continue, but they would have enough to push to the core. Eventually, in what was only a few minutes but felt like hours, they were able to push the monsters back to the stairway, just one step away from being able to position spearmen to completely cover the stairs. Just one more step, and this flood could be managed. When they each got their hopes up, a small ball of light formed in front of each delver on the right side of the formation, perfectly appearing in front of one half of those fighting. Then, with a flash, half of the dungeon delvers were blinded.

  ?

  The flood, effectively being kept back by the cooperative efforts of every delver, seized this moment and flooded to the dungeon delver’s right flank. In the span of a few seconds, the course of the battle was beginning to flip. Each second saw another blinded delver fall, spears and swords flashing before they connected with their target. The monsters were beginning to push out, threatening to envelop the dungeon delvers themselves. Coryn wasn’t blinded, so he bore witness to the chaos that began to unfold. He was losing people with each passing second, so he resolved to follow his backup strategy to save as many people as he could.

  ?

  “Fall back to the room's entrance!”

  ?

  He would have preferred to keep using the stairs as a chokepoint and high ground, but the next best option was to use the connecting tunnel as another chokepoint, although it was wider than the stairs. With that, at least, they could rotate bodies from the frontline without worrying about backs. Fortunately, the flood of monsters was only coming from below, and their numbers weren’t increasing as quickly as they were initially. There was still hope, so the remaining dungeon delvers followed his command, performing a fighting retreat. Still, they were being overwhelmed from the front and above, so they suffered damage either way. Eventually, they’d be able to back up all the way to the tunnel, the rear lookouts having joined the battle to make up for lost numbers. Only the Inquisitor remained in the back, watching over the proceedings with apathetic eyes. More dungeon delvers fell than he anticipated, but there was still enough to accomplish his goal as long as their new line held.

  ?

  Battered and bruised, the remaining delvers held, as the flood of monsters began to dwindle until the last one was eventually slain. Coryn and the rest survived, but now he had to take stock of those who remained. Eight dungeon delvers were dead, another six were too injured to fight, and the remaining eleven suffered minor injuries at best, and treatable wounds at worst. They weren’t in prime shape, but they could still fight if they needed to, and they needed to fight. This flood could be just a precursor for an even worse flood in the future. The danger of a flood with second-evolution variants posed too much of a danger compared to the current material production of the dungeon, so destruction was the only valid choice. Resolved to get the core, he announced his decision to the remaining dungeon delvers and began dividing them into teams to advance, stay, and return to the previous base. All the while, the Inquisitor smiled as the dungeon’s fate was sealed, and his mission was a success. Another dungeon would be eradicated.