Chapter 81: Reinforcements arrive

It had been hours of fighting, the enemies were flagging, slowing to a trickle now, but the corpses of the lizardmen were stacked up so high you couldn’t see passed them. I was flagging, so tired it was hard to keep my eyes open. At some point, I reached level hundred and upgraded to uncommon. The importance of the decisions wasn’t something I’d select lightly, but I needed the levels upgrading would give just to stay awake.

I could only read the beginning modifier before I was knocked out of my menus by an attack, but I knew my class had changed as well. It wasn’t something I thought was possible; most people could only change one thing about their class, but I changed two. Dungeon… Something. I was a dungeon-something class.

I was one of the only fighters left standing. Most had reached their limit, some even going beyond after getting potion sickness. We were on the verge of being overwhelmed, and only the suddenly slowing amount of monsters was why we could still fight. I had lost track of time; was it minutes or hours since I upgraded my class? I was sure; all I knew was that if something didn’t happen soon, we’d have to abandon the farm and the village shortly after.

I opened up my menu again and purchased another level ten skill, hoping it would give me a little advantage over the small stats I’d lose by purchasing it. I had done so a few times already and had almost purchased all the level ten skills. That’s how fast I was leveling, how much of a difference I was making in this fight, that I was still rapidly growing in power at an almost impossible level.

I wiped blood and sweat off my forehead as I watched Leaf cleave through another lizardman. Her bow ran out of arrows so long ago that it just made sense for her to swap to melee instead of picking up the arrows that lay all over the battlefield. I saw her grab her head for a moment before falling over again. “Damnit! She’s going into status recalibration as well!”

With her, every single one of my wives was down for the count. Sure, they’d be stronger after the recalibration, but we’d need to survive long enough for them to come out of it. One of the wicker golems rushed over and dragged her off the battlefield as I covered their retreat. We hadn’t lost many men yet, but each one was a blow to our fighting force.

I was ready to call for a retreat, or at least tell the mayor to call for one. Losing my strength but getting behind the defenses of the village might be worth it. That was when the enemies shifted. We had been fighting lizardmen with only fur loincloths up until this point, hours of fighting, hundreds if not thousands, but they were all the same. Like someone had duplicated the same monster over and over again instead of letting it grow naturally.

Now they were wearing armor, at least the ones at the front were. The female lizardmen at the back were wearing robes and holding staves. They were so much stronger, almost twice as fast, and my eyebrows raised when I saw some of the lizardmen I killed move to stand up again. We were going to be overwhelmed, and I didn’t think we could even retreat at this point.

Before I could warn them, buy them time with my own body, with my own life, I heard the cry of men behind me as they rushed passed, slamming into the lizardmen as they started making quick work of them.

…

3rd Prince's Point of View

“What do you mean we have to help them? We’re here to kill the harem farmer. So, go kill them!” My knight sighed at me as if he was disgusted by what I said. “We can’t, my prince. If the kingdom finds out that we saw a dungeon break, and not only did nothing, but also killed the adventurers fighting against it, we’d all be put to death, and not just us, but our families as well.”

He grabbed his spear, and before charging, he whispered to me. “We’ll help them, what happens after the dungeon break won’t matter then, maybe he’ll meet with an accident… But the dungeon break comes first.” He kicked his horse before charging forward with the rest of his knights, out of the forty, twenty were horse-mounted cavalry, while the remaining twenty were ground troops/archers.

My eyebrow twitched as this was the first time I could see a rival; I could physically see someone who could become a harem lord in the future, but couldn’t kill him… Not just yet. I pulled out my weapon of choice, a bottle of purple poison glinted in the sunlight before I tucked it back into my pants. Well, sit back, conserve my energy, and wait for this to wrap up, then I’d make my move.

…

Third-Person Point of View

Dozens of merchants arrived shortly before the knights did, and they looked out at the fight taking place. One of the more well-seasoned merchants asked. “Which one is the farmer we’re supposed to get under the wing of the second prince?”

The main bodyguard of the well-seasoned merchant spoke up. “I’d assume the one wearing the farming gear, but… That is a dungeon break… We’re required by law to help…” Only those who had adventured before and knew the rules would know that. A dungeon break was an all-hands-on-deck situation, and if you weren’t there actively fighting it, your job would be to flee and tell people stronger than yourself to go stop it.

“If we’re spotted in town not doing anything, not only we, but all of our families will be at risk of dying as traitors. We can leave right now to warn others, but if the worst does come to pass and the dungeon break destroys a city or two… We’ll probably be made an example and have our heads removed.” The merchants paled in fear as they overlooked the situation. “Well… It doesn’t seem too bad, get down there, and he-.”

The merchant leader was cut off as stronger-looking lizardmen came rushing out of the dungeon. He gulped before stating. “Half of the guards go help, we’ll take the rest to the nearest village to warn them, in case the worst does happen.” The head guard laughed as he ran forward. It had been forever since he had been in a life-or-death fight, and he was craving it.

…

The single knight sent by a noble working under the first prince whistled as he left the closest village to the one where the farmer was. He rode a mule as he sipped at a canteen full of whiskey. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was only sent here to placate the whims of his lord; he just wondered how long he could milk this mission before he’d be sent back. He thought it should be a few months at least; who would care about a farmer after all?