章節 240: Legion vs. Adventurers (3)
20'000! That's way too high. How did they even get so many people killed without noticing?
<The gate was enshrouded in thick fog so they couldn't see anything. They thought it was an ambush and sent heavily armored units in first. Naturally, they were too heavy to swim up to the surface and drowned. By the time they noticed, 15'000 had drowned while the others were killed by the undead legionaries manning the galleys sailing around the gate.>
Sounds unfortunate. Still, for them not to have any countermeasures in place, does seem a bit strange.
<Vespasian's tactics are just that insidious. Despite the dungeon giving the feel of having been created by a war-crazed megalomaniac, he is much more than that. He sees war not just as a contest of brawn but also as a battle of minds. Hence why he has taken a liking to your daughter, Quinn.>
So Vespasian likes to trick people?
<No, he calls it letting them see the part of the iceberg that's above the water and letting them capsize from the part below. He doesn't aim to trick. Instead, he just hides part of his capability until it's too late for you to realize.>
That's what tricking is.
<It's more nuanced than that. Now watch the battle, it's about to get heated down there.>
Indeed, the soldiers have arrived only steps away from the undead legionaries making up the front line. The legionaries have already closed their rows that had previously been opened up to throw the javelins.
Their signature bend square shields are flawlessly interlocking with one another and the back rows press their shields into the legionaries before them to brace for maximum impact.
Now that I am observing more closely I notice a blue sheen covering their shields. Are those energy shields?
<You noticed! The undead legionaries in this dungeon all have a skill called energy layering. This skill allows them to layer multiple energy-based constructs over one another. It's pretty useless in open combat but in a tight formation like this where there is only one direction attacks can come from, it becomes very effective.>
The massive number of soldiers crashes into the legionaries' shields. Shards of blue energy erupt like confetti and quickly fade away as the layered energy shields take a serious beating. However, unlike the soldiers who had been forced to block with their physical shields after the energy ones were broken, the legionaries managed to endure the first contact without having all their energy shields shattered.
What happens next, scares the living crap out of me.
The moment the soldiers' momentum from their charge ebbs and they take a second before fully entering the melee, the undead legionaries all move the right side of their shields to the front by just a bit. This creates a tiny gap for each legionary to stab forward with their short swords.
Like a well-oiled machine, the shields move to create the openings, the swords rush out to stab the enemy, and before I can even blink everything returns to normal. The shield wall is restored without any gaps and from the increased blue sheen around it, the energy shields have been reapplied and layered to maximum capacity.
Then, as if time had been stopped and was just beginning to run again, the entire front line of soldiers collapses. Each of them has been stabbed in one of their vitals and most of them are dead or in the process of dying.
The soldiers behind the fallen front line immediately spring forward and throw themselves at the legionaries' shields. They appear to be throwing everything they have at these shields. Shouldn't they try to be more strategic?
<Against a legion in a head-to-head battle on open plains that is considered fighting strategically.>
Desperately throwing away lives is a strategy?
<Guy, in their time, the Romans were the single greatest force in this kind of battle. To win against them isn't impossible but unless you are superior in all regards you will need to fight unfairly to win.>
Unfairly, in what way?
<Change terrains, have longer reach, do not engage from the front, break through the shields to disrupt their formation, and if possible, exhaust them. However, since our guys are undead they won't get exhausted.>
So to summarize, can't change the terrain because they want to occupy this floor, don't have longer reach because they weren't prepared, can't circle around them to attack from the sides or back because the floor has borders that constrain their movements, and can't exhaust them because they have infinite stamina.
This leaves only the disruption of their formation which I assume this crazed attack is supposed to be. What even motivates them to do this? Will they be killed if they retreat?
<Most likely, yes. However, most of them were sent here from the closest cities and towns where they were stationed. Most have family and friends there. If Vespasian's forces reach the first floor and leave the dungeon those cities will be the first to suffer.>
And we are really not the bad guys here?
<We are. But so are they. All beings that have an instinct for self-preservation, be it on an individual or a collective basis, are ultimately bad guys because they will harm the interests of others to further their own. The concept of a good guy is the machination of the winners who got to tell the story.>
Looks like we are the good guys then. Because those soldiers are not doing well. Every time one of them stops attacking the shields in front of him for even a second, a gap appears and a quick stab of the short sword later, the soldier drops dead.
The legionaries don't look as coordinated as before but they have yet to let a breach of their shield wall happen. However, the pressure those soldiers are putting on them is there. As the soldiers collapse only to be immediately replaced by new ones, the blue sheen on the legionaries' shields grows faint or disappears altogether in certain places.
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