I have been informed that the horde is expected to arrive today.

What preparations I could make had been made. I have strengthened and reinforced some of the traps and spent the last few days refining my core to help deal with the coming influx of void corruption. I knew that either numbers or corruption would be the end of me if I handled this wrong.

My intelligent minions knew what was coming as I had told them, and they were making their mental preparations. The others, due to my tense and anxious mindset, were all restless. They knew that the battle coming would be intense.

I was trying to distract myself. I rechecked the shutters on the windows, and they were all sealed. The tower was also sealed off. The two sets of hatches at the bottom and top are closed and locked. The doors were also closed and locked. I had moved the table, cupboards and chairs in the entrance room to the door, creating a rough barricade. I was doing everything I could think of to slow the assault coming.

Larry was up in his rafters. He was tense. I could tell because he was sitting up with his ears perked up, listening for any signs of danger. His actions will alert me if the horde arrives without me realising it.

I looked down at the fire-infused mana stone trap. I'd enlarged it from 3 to 5 stones. It was primed and ready. As soon as the void corrupted reaches the door to the tower, they will trigger. I hoped that the blast would eliminate a significant number of attackers, at least slowing the numbers down for a time.

I knew that the Dungeon was also ready. I started at the bottom, moving up through each floor, checking that every defence and minions was prepared.

"I hate waiting."

I said to Larry. And it was true; this was the time before something happened that I hated. I was always happiest when something happened and I had to deal with it. I hated waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I knew I was doing the mental equivalent of fidgeting. I had nothing else to do, so I was looking for a distraction—anything to focus on instead of just waiting.

Had I done enough? Could have done more? If I had the time, I would approach it differently regarding my Dungeon layout.

These are all questions and concerns that were racking my mind. I could have configured my Dungeon more defensively. Using the more classic concept of walking across each floor to reach the means to reach the next. These and other thoughts and worries wracked my mind, but I was forced to focus myself.

Spiralling would not help me.

I was looking over the surface building, wondering if I could enlarge the fire mana stone trap more. I might have…

Larry dashed from the rafters and hurried down the stairs.

This alerted me that the horde was here. I started to hear sounds of crying and roaring. The assault would….

I heard a thunderous rumble and crashing sound. It sounded like an avalanche. What was happening out there?

There were a few moments of terrible silence.

The cries and roars returned, and the horde sounded to be on the move again.

It was not long before I sensed the monsters attacking the walls. More explosions were echoing as the monsters attacked my walls. They were trying to get in. They were swarming around the building, while others were scaling it.

The windows were too narrow to allow them to enter, despite smashing the shutters. It was the main doors that were taking the brunt of this assault. They were reinforced as being Dungeon the Dungeon and were far stronger than normal words, but even they were starting to be smashed and broken as the frenzied attack continued.

Soon, the doors were ripped clean off, and the furniture inside was being brushed aside. I shifted down to the first floor, knowing that my first surprise would soon be triggered. I had kept the minions on the first floor away from the stairwell room. On the other floors, they were preparing themselves.

There was suddenly a flash of light down the stairs, followed by fire and rubble. The ground above rumbled with the force of the blast. A rush of void essence slammed into my core. It momentarily caused me to lose focus and track of my thoughts. I checked my account and saw it was at 28%. I cursed loudly as I was far higher than I wanted to be at this point. I hope the improvements to my ability to process the corrupt essence would come into play, but I didn't count on it. I knew that I couldn't place void stones on the surface building, as they would be destroyed in the blast that had just taken place.

I didn't bother going up to see the damage, but did inspect the top of the stairwell. It was now blocked with stone and other rubble from the tower. This pleased me as it was an inadvertent additional barricade that would slow the void-corrupted monsters more. I could hear them digging.

I summoned my minions. It was time to make my stand.

The void corrupted monsters upstairs were ripping through the stone as fast as they could, and it wasn't long before they started pulling in enough of it away for me to begin to see them. They conjured up every possible nightmare and horror imaginable, and then some more. The stairwell was acting as a means of defence, blocking them from flooding in, causing them to stampede and strike out at each other in their desperate attempts to reach my core.

There was a void stone located here, which I checked. I could see it was starting to absorb the first examples of corrupted essence that were coming down the stairwell. The wasps of the first floor were in position and ready to fight.

The first of the void corrupted monsters slipped through and came rolling down the stairs. It was covered in burns, and I could see other wounds from the frenzied action above. My wasps didn't give it a chance to get back to its feet before they were attacking. The Guardian was holding back, but the other wasps were striking out furiously at it. It began striking back wildly, missing nearly all of them but catching one towards the end. The unlucky wasp was torn from the air and was ripped to shreds as the void corrupted monster pounced on it.

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I rechecked the void stone trap and saw it was actively absorbing void corrupt essence. As I did this, the other wasps were striking furiously at the back of the void corrupted monster, but they were barely doing anything to it. It was shaped like a dog but longer and larger, with other tentacles and appendages protruding from its back. They were holding back the wasps, but a few managed to get through and sting. However, this thing has barely scratched its hide.

Another corrupted monster came down the stairs, and the Guardian engaged it. The Guardian had more success in injuring these things, but it was still not enough. Soon, more were coming down, and I knew the floor would fall quickly. I decided early on that I would focus on the void-corrupted monsters that had penetrated the deepest into my domain. So far, none have got through; it was only a matter of time.

One of the new ones bypassed the fight and pushed down to the second floor a few moments later. I was forced to leave the battle here and move down. I can still sense the fight above, but my connection to my minions was slowly disappearing as they were killed. Some of the void corrupted monsters were spreading out across the floor, trying to seek other ways to get down deep into the Dungeon. The traps of the first floor came into play. If they continued this pattern, it might work out more in my favour, especially on some of the floors.

On the second floor, the toads had arranged themselves around the stairwell. Their status attack croaks and whips of the tongue quickly filled the air as the monster appeared. The void-corrupted monster that pushed the room seemed less potent than the first, and it was starting to take injuries here. It too was burnt and blackened from above. It tried to push through the toads, wounding many, but the Guardian was positioned above the stairs leading down. It attacked this monster, combining with its floor minions to overwhelm and kill it.

I was expecting another rush of void corruption into my core, but thankfully, the stone was able to absorb nearly all of it. I did receive a small trickle of void corrupted essence, but it is nothing compared to what I should have got. I could not check the ring of void stones around me.

Above, more monsters were breaching the gap in the rubble and were starting to swamp the first floor. I can only sense the Guardian above, but it's weakening rapidly.

More void corrupted monsters were pushing their way down the stairs, and the toads were engaging. Unfortunately, their numbers were now countering mine, and my toads started to die.

The void corrupted monsters were wounded and burnt like the ones that first arrived, but they were tougher and stronger. They received some injuries as the fight continued, and the first was able to push down to the next floor, forcing me to go with it.

The boars on the next floor engaged the intruder. I could sense above that the Guardian of the first floor was dead, and more void corrupted monsters were pushing down. The second would fall soon as well.

I turned my attention to the battle now on the third and found the boars were achieving some measure of success. The first void corrupted monster to get downstairs was killed by two boars charging it and ripping into it with their tusks. More followed, and the board continued the pattern of charging and withdrawing. Their thick hides protect them from the monsters' counterattack.

Another monster falls and then another. The boars are taking injuries, but they are holding far better than I hoped. The void essence trap was absorbing most of the essence that was intended for me. I had received some, and my thought process was being disrupted, but I was managing to hold on and push through it.

I checked on the stone and saw it was soon to be filled. If the other two stones above were doing the same, they would be working far better than I ever imagined.

The first of my boars died, but took another monster with it. Multiple bodies littered this stairwell room, but the battle still raged on. I could sense the increasing number of void monsters now pushing through the Dungeon. They were coming down the stairs fast, but were still getting in each other's way and were striking out wildly. This was adding to their injuries and increasing my chances of survival.

Above on the surface, I could send some of them to try digging down to bypass the stairwell. The structure was far stronger and more durable than a normal one would be. But their assault was relentless, and I suspected that they would eventually reach the point where even the enhanced stone would break. This would take them down to the first floor en masse.

I turned my attention back to the boars as they triggered all their skills and abilities, including the Guardian, and were engaged. The Shadow Boar was a serious step up in lethality, and he was reaping a brutal tally amongst the invaders.

Combined, they had managed to bring down an additional four monsters at the loss of one of their own. Unfortunately, more bodies were pouring into the stairwell, and one of them was getting through to the fourth floor. That means I have to shift down again.

The spiders hadn't hesitated. They were using all of their abilities and skills to swarm the single intruder. Queen was coordinating the battle and was manoeuvring her minions more effectively than the floors above. The second floor had no more defenders, and the third floor was now starting to be swamped.

I checked my void corruption counter: 33%. If I didn't have the void stones on the stairwell and around my core, I would have been overwhelmed by it. The 10th and 11th floors had five stones arranged on each of them. It was one of the two last-minute changes and was made. The rest of the voice stones I had created that were not in use or located around my core were sent to the city.

The second was already triggered. I had 10 void stones arranged around my core, and I had enchanted them, tying them together. From now on, they would be absorbing the bulk of the void corruption being sent to me. A little will get through, but it would be nothing compared to what I should be receiving. I had set up the enchantment to activate when I hit 30%.

Another void corrupted monster died, but it was replaced by two more. The boars above were falling now as numbers were against them. They were being drowned in a tide of madness and twisted flesh.

Queen was engaging herself now. The spiders were injuring and slowing the intruders, but with the top two floors fallen, and now the third floor was more of a void, corrupted matter was pouring down the stairwell. They were unable to pass through to the fifth as Queen and the spiders had covered the route in spiderwebs so dense that they became a wall. Some of the void corrupted monsters were tearing at it, but this allowed my minion to strike at them.

A massive and loud crash echoed from above. My awareness of the Dungeon changed as I realised that the void corrupted monsters had compromised the floor separating the surface building and the first floor. This had caused a cave-in. Several void-corrupted monsters were killed by it, but more were now getting added to the Dungeon. They began to assault the first floor, now seeking to gain access to the second as they had above.

"That's not good."

The last of my minions on the third floor had fallen. The Guardian was the last one still fighting, as he would soon die. The spiders on the fourth floor were now starting to die, and more void corrupted monsters were pushing down. They had taken their own tally, adding four more bodies to the invaders' ground. Queen was now fully committed to everything she had, but I could see from the injuries she sustained that it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed her.

The wall of webbing was finally breached, and I moved to the next floor.

The worms of the fifth floor were ready to welcome these most unwanted guests.

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