No sooner had I taken a step into the fort than I heard the sound of distant fighting. There was a boom, and the ground shook, raining dust and debris from the ceiling. The fighting seemed to be getting pretty bad out there.
“What’s the plan, commander?” One of the skeletons, who I assumed was currently in charge here, spoke up.
“The princess is going to show herself on the wall. This will cause Bernard to begin his largest assault yet. We will allow him to break through, make a strategic retreat, and then let the fort be destroyed. Are our mages ready?”
He gestured into a room, where five mages had drawn a circle and were currently chanting while mixing up various herbs. I had never done anything that difficult to cast a spell, but then again, I had never tried to cast a spell outside of my ability before. If I still had access to the dungeon store, I would have switched to Meteor and used that. Instead, the mages were creating five explosive runes which would all erupt at the same time. It wasn’t nearly as damaging, but it would be enough to make the fort unusable to them and wipe out just about anyone inside.
I wanted to guarantee that one of the people inside was Bernard, which was the only reason I ultimately decided to allow Carmine to take a risk. With five skeletons guards flanking her, she walked up onto the wall. I remained behind the wall, not because I wanted to, but because the guards insisted that both of the fort’s most valuable people, the princess, and the commander, shouldn’t be in the same visible spot. I reluctantly agreed and watched the forest through a murder hole.
“Demon Prince Bernard!” She cried out.
No one on the skeletal side knew the Demon Prince’s real name, so when we called him Bernard, it sort of just got accepted. I wondered if the demon side knew his real name, or if our presence somehow upset and changed his name. It was a mess.
“Gladiator Carmine…” A distant voice, hidden behind the cover of the forest called back. “You look well.”
I breathed easier knowing that he was still here, trying to crack this fort. Up until now, he still didn’t know the fate of his fort.
“Your reinforcements are about two hours away…” he said…” By then, this fort will be nothing but ash. The dungeon has promised me this.”
“The dungeon?” I mouthed the words, my eyebrows rising in confusion.
Did he enter a safe room too and sees some mural of him with Carmine? It was really difficult to get a read on this guy, but it only pissed me off more and made it more necessary that he died quickly. If he had been civil, I would have happily worked together and escaped this dungeon as a group. I’d have even let him take the victory for his aid. However, he wanted to do things the hard way, so he couldn’t blame me for being aggressive. It was his fault that he was a meathead used to brawling rather than strategy.
“I’m sorry, but you have already lost.” Carmine shot back. “Give up, and I’ll show you mercy.”
“You speak of the forts you have taken.” Prince Bernard shook his head. “I’ve never cared about those. Did you think you were the only one who asked for reinforcements?”
My expression soured, and I felt worried. Did he have some plan I didn’t know about? While we were here, was he conquering the two forts we just took?
At that moment, there was a massive fireball that erupted from the sky. It looked much like the fireball that had once wiped out our party, but it might have even been larger. I watched in horror as it fell, not on our fort, but theirs, across the river in the distance. There was a resounding boom, and the ground shook as the place we’re planning to flee to was reduced to cinders.
“It’s a trap!” I cursed.