=========================================================== Dungeon Keeper Ranma
Chapter 09: Showdown
By A-kun
===========================================================
Ranma looked at the castle forged from a mountain. Even on a
map, he had to admit that the sight was very impressive. King Reginald
could no doubt already see the army gathering around the mountain.
"All right, this is where everything comes down. From what I've
heard, Reginald has gathered every single person capable of fighting in
his castle, but it's divided into two sections. The first is the
castle above and the second is the inner sanctum. They both have
gateways to allow his men to partol both the castle and the inner
sanctum." Ranma began, "Which is why we're going to split into two
groups and finish this fast and hard, just like we did with
Butterscotch and Cherry Blossom. I'm going to take Horny with me,
because those Stone Knights are probably going to be too much for
anyone else to handle."
Ranma motioned to Zenobia, Zachariach and Almeric, "Almeric is
going to be in charge of the overall battle plan for the castle
invasion. Zenobia will be in charge of coordinating artillery while
Zachariach will be in charge of coordinating infantry. You three, I
want to see as few corpses as reasonably possible. That way, we'll
have less problems to deal with when this comes to an end."
Ranma folded his arms over his chest, "But don't risk yourselves
trying to capture a few people. If you need to, blast them into
unconsciousness, then let an imp drag them to the prison," Ranma turned
to Lunder, "Lundar, I want you and the monks of St. Cuthbert on hand at
the prison to heal _ANYONE_ who's severely wounded or worse. Any
healers not associated with the St. Cuthbert group will be at the rear
of the invasion," Ranma turned to his two best blacksmiths, "Knud,
Bloz, I want you and your kin to make some iron buildings for the
injured to take refuge in."
"Just take and hold the castle. I'll send word to Almeric of our
progress every hour or so and vice versa. I want you all to do your
very best, because this is the final battle. There is no pulling back
and there is no stopping until we've captured the castle and inner
sanctum, defeated the king and obtained the final portal gem." Ranma
stated.
"That's all." Ranma finished.
As one, the various leaders exited the room. The only ones who
remained were the princes and the princesses.
"Something up?" Ranma asked.
"Ranma, we need to discuss our father." Timothy declared.
"I know what you're going to ask. I won't kill your father.
Hell, if at all possible, I won't take his kingdom either." Ranma
replied.
The six siblings blinked.
"What do you mean?" Mina asked.
"This has never been about killing your father or conquering his
kingdom. Those just happened to be side effects of gathering the
portal gems so I can go home." Ranma told them, "A stupid perverted old
man on my world cast a spell that wound up banishing me here. Why do
you think I kept asking for the portal gems?"
"You're serious about not wanting father's kingdom?" Honey asked.
"I'm not a ruler. I've been helping out the towns and villages I
come across, but ultimately, they're still the same towns and villages
they were when they were under your father's rule. I just had to kill
some of his lords." Ranma responded, "In any case, we've still got to
deal with your father. Hopefully when I get the last portal gem and
still offer his kingdom back, he'll understand too."
Ranma left the room, leaving the six siblings to contemplate his
words. They'd been dreading a fight with their father, but now... it
seemed as though Ranma truly wasn't after the kingdom or their father's
head, like all the other keepers.
If that were the case, they would still fight beside him, this
time, it would be without doubt.
Zenobia felt it was strange seeing Princess Mina preparing a
super firebomb to launch at her former home castle. It was nice to see
that the Princess was just as honest as everyone else on the field,
even if Zenobia knew that the princess wouldn't even be out of the
torture chamber yet if she'd been at all dishonest in her changing
loyalties.
It just felt a bit surreal for all of Reginald's children to be
in the lines of the army that would assault the castle. Had the keeper
been anyone save Ranma, Zenobia sincerely doubted that the princesses
would have given in at all.
Throughout the entire army, nervousness and tensions ran through
everyone's mind. Though they'd been a figurative tsunami in crushing
the rest of the continent, this was the last battle and there were very
strong possibilities that most of them would be wounded or killed.
Indeed, having Horny on the battlefield would have eased these
thoughts and tensions, but everyone understood that the Reaper was
needed against a more powerful foe.
The frontline knights were wearing the best armor forged. A line
behind the armored warriors were the rogues and thieves, who were
prepared to give the hero forces something to fear as they prepared for
the acrobatics needed to flip over the knights in front of them and
strike from behind at the enemy frontline. Goblins, salamanders,
dwarves, skeletons and giants all stood ready behind the thieves, ready
to fill in for any holes in the frontline so that the imps could drag
the fallen back for healing.
The archers, wizards, vampires, and other spellcasters, such as
the mistresses who did not want to be on the front or fairies who were
too afraid to go up close or even bile demons who had nothing else left
to do, were high on nearby hilltops, preparing for their assault. The
vampires wore magical cloaks that protected them from sunlight, the
only problem of which lay in the fact that the cloaks only worked once
a week.
Zenobia knew everyone in the artillery understood where to launch
their spells, but she felt it was important to reiterate, "Everyone,
listen up. I know I don't need to repeat myself, but I want to stress
this. Even if the frontline begins to crack, DO NOT FIRE near our
frontline. Archers who know Guided Bolt, you are the ONLY exception
and I want you to ONLY use that technique when helping out the
frontline. Our boys on the frontline have enough to worry about."
As one, the entire artillery unit nodded.
"All right, fan out. Choose a spot, cast a barrier spell on
yourself and if anyone manages to bust through or evade our lines, I
want you all to pull back to me. If you feel an attack, but no one's
there, pull back to me. If anyone who is not a fellow wizard or a dark
angel approaches, shoot them on the spot. Don't worry, everyone on our
side is very clear on that particular rule." Zenobia explained.
The unit nodded in unison. With a nod from Zenobia, the group
fanned out along the hill tops.
Almeric appeared next to Zenobia, "Word from Ranma. He's found a
massive torture chamber beneath the castle. He believes Reginald may
have converted some evil creatures to his side. He also has the
majority of Lord Pureheart's men. He might try and crush us with his
army."
"That would be suicide, considering how well trained we are."
Zenobia explained.
"Yes, but he has the entire Elite Royal Guard with him.
Furthermore, it's repetition that we would least expect from the
King." Almeric responded.
"I don't think so. Even the Dragoons know better than to tangle
with this many warriors at once." Zenobia disagreed.
Almeric considered that, "Well, one thing is for certain, he's
probably loaded the entire mountain with various traps. He'll want us
to charge up in his defenses, which will weaken our forces
considerably."
Zenobia nodded, "We should send imps to check the mountain."
Almeric agreed.
Ranma was impressed with the winding layout and the number of
staging posts that King Reginald had created beneath his castle so that
his men could search the various areas for Ranma's Dungeon Heart.
Ranma was no fool, though. He'd chosen his Dungeon's location
carefully so that it was surrounded by solid rock on at least one side.
That way, he knew which direction the enemy could NOT come from. His
imps had already destroyed almost all of the advanced staging points.
The only ones remaining were the ones that were around the king
directly.
Ranma knew there were others because he could sense gate energies
still activating from time to time. No doubt the castle guard
reporting on his army's positioning. There were only two things that
were keeping Ranma from invading the castle from below and finishing
the war. The first was the fact that he was outflanking King
Reginald's forces to make certain his new forces weren't ambushed. The
second was the insufficient training of his forces. They'd take
another few days.
Then, Ranma felt Almeric sending him a message requesting some
expendable imps to set off the traps surrounding the mountain. Ranma
glanced at the spare twenty five he had and sent them to Almeric with a
notice that he'd send more as they were destroyed.
Meanwhile, King Reginald looked at the two stone knights, Glynn
and Erdrick. The line of Erdrick had lasted hundreds of years,
possibly even millenia. Indeed, in even Reginald and his children lay
the blood of Erdrick. Erdrick and his descendents were famous for
hunting down and destroying evil. Glynn had been one of Erdrick's
descendents who'd proven to be a great king as well as a great hero.
Thus, the two stone knights had been named after the two legendary
figures.
The two knights stood around the final portal gem, guarding it
against all who sought to capture it. It had been that way since the
construction of the two stone golems. They could see through illusions
and invisibility spells, they were immune to all attack magics and
being solid stone, were not easily damaged. On top of all that, unless
the stone knights were successfully destroyed within one hour, they
would regenerate from all damage dealt to them.
"Sir, Ranma's army gathers around the mountain base. They are
using imps to discover traps and dismantle them." Armace declared,
entering the room.
"Then you have permission to fire at will. Slay anything that
gets within firing distance." Reginald declared.
Armace bowed.
King Reginald looked at the two stone knights and wondered if
there was anything he had done that his ancestors would have done
differently. He shook his head.
It was a little too late to do the second guessing.
When a rain of two hundred arrows and fifty fireballs flew down
on the imps, a blizzard of quarrels, arrows, lightning bolts, firebombs
and fireballs flew up at the castle. Shortly following the descending
arrows was rubble from the castle's walls and towers.
It was then that the secret doors around the base shattered,
allowing a horde of goblins, skeletons, mistresses, warlocks, bile
demons, dark elves and dark knights to race out to meet the army,
followed shortly by knights, guards and royal guards.
Zachariach let out a war cry to match that of the enemy's, echoed
closely by the entire frontline as they charged forth to meet their
enemy. Just as the enemy frontline met that of Ranma's army, fifty
rogues and thirty eight thieves leapt over both frontlines to strike at
the enemy's back as long distance attacks were exchanged by the
supporting magical and non-magical artillery.
Bagor found himself on the frontline rather quickly as warriors
on both sides dealt fast and heavy strikes. It was no longer a
question of who had the most skill, it was a question of who could take
damage and dish right back with greater feriocity.
The relative strengths of both sides ripples like a wave and
Bagor found himself in the center of a swarm of knights. He blocked
and dodged as best as he could, but a blade found his stomach while
another severed his right arm.
The world turned into sky as Bagor toppled backwards to the
unforgiving ground. He barely acknowledging the sudden steady tug on
his leather armor or the distinct sight of an imp picking up his right
arm and carrying it along.
Michael and Lotus too found themselves in the center of the
enemy's knights. Lotus blocked a sword while casting a lightning bolt
straight into the knight's helmet. The knight screamed and stumbled
backwards, allowing another knight to take his place. Michael grit his
teeth as he slashed wildly. He felt his sanity slipping as his
opponents scored more and more hits through his enchanted armor.
As another blade bit into his side, Michael roared, smashing away
every knight in front of him as if they were paper dolls before a
tornado. With that, his strength failed him and Michael toppled
forward onto the ground, his blood beginning to pool around him.
Lotus took only a second to glance at her lover, but it was a
fatal second as a firebomb struck her leg and a knight's blade buried
itself into her collarbone. Lotus choked out a whimper as she fell
back onto Michael's fallen form.
Luckily for Lotus and Michael, they weren't standing when the
torrent of gas missiles struck several of the knights who'd surrounded
them square in the helmets. The smell rose quickly, causing all of the
knights to keel over, emptying their stomachs on the dirt, just before
seventeen arrows and quarrel struck down each of said knights.
Twelve imps appeared, grabbing Michael and Lotus first, then the
fallen enemy knights. The enemy knights were teleported to the nearest
prison while Lotus and Michael were dragged away to the makeshift
hospital.
Maidel was on the wrong side of a swarm of enemy goblins, but
that was not a problem for her as she gathered magical energy in on
herself and unleashed a storm of lightning, striking down every enemy
goblin within a thirty foot diameter.
Zachariach and his fellow dark angels swooped down and cleared a
path for Maidel and every other warrior who'd fallen inside the enemy
frontline, using Skeleton Army and various other attacks at their
disposal to widen gaps enough for the swarmed warriors to retreat.
At least they did that until a figure wearing blazing red armor
appeared in the sky, followed by five others, each wearing winged armor
of a different color. The colors of the others were Purple, Green,
Blue, Black and White.
"I guess these are the Elite Royal Guards." Zachariach commented.
The leader of the elite Dragoons, Dart, raised his sword in one
hand while gesturing at the dark angels with the other, "YOUR EVIL
REIGN ENDS HERE!"
"Can you not say something that clichèd?" Zachariach requested.
Dart growled angrily, his blondish-brown hair whipping wildly
behind him as he dashed forward and slashed at Zachariach. The Elite
Dark Angel blocked and was amazed as he was thrown earthward by the
force of the strike. He managed to spin out of his descent and flew
back up at his opponent, just as the white armored female Dragoon, who
was armed with a bow, fired a shot into the sky and called out, "Star
Children!"
The Dark Angels were struck by hundreds of minute meteors, each
with the force of a twenty pound sledgehammer. The ten flying warriors
found themselves cratering the landscape below.
"Good work, Shana." Dart told the white Dragoon.
Shana blushed. The black female dragoon, Rose, spoke up as she
pointed her rapier at the rising Dark Angels, "We're not finished yet.
Don't pat yourselves on the back until we've beaten them."
Honey helped Zachiarach up as her brothers helped up the various
other Dark Angels.
"I didn't think we'd be facing the Dragoons." Honey growled just
as Mina teleported herself and Relena to the frontline.
"Any ideas on how to beat them?" Zachiarach inquired.
Mina spoke up, "The Dragoons are boosted by the souls of Dragons,
making them that much more powerful when fully realized. We need to
hit them with overwhelming power. We're going to be beaten back
otherwise."
"Signal Zenobia to attack them. We'll charge in just
afterwards." Zachiarach told Mina.
Mina fired a blue fireball at the Dragoons. Dart snorted and
swatted it aside just before over a hundred similar spells started
flying at the Dragoons. The group dove under the spells only to be
forced lower by a hail of arrows and quarrels. So low, that they
didn't notice that they were near the ground until a giant grabbed
Green Dragoon's leg and slammed him into the ground. A swarm of giants
surrounded the Green Dragoon and began stomping him and striking him
with their heavy clubs.
"ALBERT!" Purple Dragoon called out.
Purple Dragoon dove at the giants in an effort to break them up,
only to be bodychecked by Daniel.
"Haschel!" Blue Dragoon cried, followed by Dart's panicked call
of, "MASTER!"
"MERU, DART! IT'S TOO STUPID TO GO DOWN THERE!" Rose shouted.
Meru the Blue Dragoon and Dart dove as well, ignoring Rose's
warning. Rose slapped a hand over her eyes in disgust as both Meru and
Dart were ambushed by Timothy and Honey.
"Sire, the Dragoons are engaging the enemy." Armace told King
Reginald.
"And what of the patrols around the Inner Sanctum?" King Reginald
asked.
Armace paused, trying to figure out how to best phrase it, "Um,
they haven't reported in."
"In over three hours?" King Reginald inquired, arching an
eyebrow.
"Um, we could send-" Armace began.
"No. If they haven't reported in, that means Ranma is here.
Gather up everyone not aiding in the fight at the castle down here. We
make our stand here." King Reginald told Armace.
"You can call them, but they won't come." Ranma responded.
Armace turned, only to catch the butt of Horny's scythe in the
stomach. The court wizard keeled over, coughing heavily, just before
Horny struck him in his shiatsu sleeping point.
King Reginald faced the boy who had conquered his kingdom. Ranma
was amazed that much venom could fit into a single glare.
"King Reginald, I hereby challenge you to a duel for the final
portal gem." Ranma declared.
King Reginald huffed as he pointed one of his two swords at
Ranma, "I couldn't give it to you, even if I wanted to."
Ranma arched an eyebrow, "How so?"
King Reginald smiled for the first time in a long while and it
was not a kind smile, "I've instructed the Stone Knights to defend the
portal gem against ANYONE who tries to take it, even me."
Ranma took that in stride, shrugging in an unconcerned fashion,
"Eh. Then, I hereby challenge you to a duel for access to the Gate
Room and for the complete surrender of your forces."
King Reginald was almost awestruck by Ranma's audacity. If it
didn't remind him of Nemesis' declarations, he might have openly
gawked.
"Very well. If I win, you leave this land and my children, never
to return ever." King Reginald responded.
Ranma nodded. The King lunged, slashing an intricate pattern
that Ranma couldn't easily dodge. He had to leap backwards...
Zenobia growled under her breath in frustration. Either King
Reginald had managed to capture or recover EVERY SINGLE MONSTER that
Ranma's army had crushed, as well as some old types of monsters that
Zenobia had heard of, but never seen, such as dragons, giant beetles,
giant flies, giant spiders, demon spawn, orcs, and tentacles (which
were basically claws with four legs) or there was a lot of summoning
magic known to the remaining wizards in Reginald's army. Who or
whatever was summoning those creatures had to be a wizard, and a very
powerful one at that. The problem was finding the wizard responsible.
The fight against the Dragoons was getting worse and worse as the
Dragoons proved themselves very resilient and capable of unleashing
attacks, even when thoroughly overwhelmed.
Even the Dark Angels found themselves wishing Horny was present
to aid them. The Horned Reaper would have put all six Dragoons on the
ground and kept them there.
The annoying thing was that the armor allowed them to heal
gradually. Further frustrating matters was that both Rose and Shana
had the ability to heal the others, Shana by simply using healing magic
and Rose by draining the health of a particular target.
Haschel and Albert were down for the count, at least. Both
warriors had been the first ambushed and thus, the first successfully
defeated.
If only the others were so easy.
In terms of skill, King Reginald had all of his lords beat hands
down, save for Lord Pureheart. However, had Ranma allowed himself all
of the magical abilities and spells that he'd gained from his minions,
he would have already won.
Ranma slid under one of the crosscuts aimed at neck-level and
launched a palm-heel strike that dented the old king's armor and sent
the proud warrior stumbling back, but not before one of his blades
nicked Ranma's forehead and cut some of his hair. Ranma was about to
cast a healing spell, but he stopped himself. Healing the scrape would
also revitalize him and that would be unfair to the King.
Ranma wanted Reginald to feel he'd had a decent chance of
actually hurting Ranma, which the king apparently did, as no one else
from his forces had so much as scratched him. Ranma ducked and rolled
away as Reginald nearly beheaded him.
"You were distracted." Reginald noted.
Ranma apologized, "Sorry, just impressed that you actually
scratched me. Your other men didn't so much as hurt me. Save for your
friend Pureheart, who managed to knock Horny around, I was getting to
think no one was near the level I am at."
"You're an arrogant brat and an egotistical monster." Reginald
commented.
"Hey, I'd understand the arrogant and possibly the egotistical,
but I'm not a brat or a monster. True, I have killed some of your men,
but I was trying to save as many as I could." Ranma retorted, dodging
Reginald's dual swords and noting that had the king been faster, Ranma
probably wouldn't have the leisure of talking while he dodged,
"Besides, I've heard about the training you and your men underwent and
I realized why I was beating you guys so easily."
Reginald grew more and more angry as Ranma dodged his every
strike with an inch to spare, "How's that?"
"I've been training since I was able to walk. The level of
training you went through at fourteen was the same that I went through
at eight." Ranma responded.
Reginald wasn't focusing on the conversation anymore. He was
simply attacking Ranma as fast as he could. Ranma decided to shut up
and focus on dodging, as Reginald's slashes became faster and more
unpredictable.
It wasn't long before Ranma found himself deflecting Reginald's
swords with pokes or flathand chops at the flats of his swords.
Growing more and more frustrated at the fact that Reginald's speed was
steadily rising, Ranma shattered the sword in Reginald's left hand.
Reginald tossed the broken sword away and continued slashing at
Ranma with renewed vigor. Ranma had heard of second winds, but
Reginald seemed to be having a second youth, as Ranma found tears in
his clothing appear. Ranma grimaced as he noticed that the king was
managing to nick him as well.
Ranma decided that enough was enough. He spun and lashed out at
the king with a powerful sidekick, sending the aged monarch crashing
backwards into a wall. The king groaned, but did not get up.
"Sorry about that, King Reginald, but I couldn't just let you
kill me." Ranma responded, before turning to Horny, "Horny, time to get
us the final portal gem."
Erdrick and Glynn's eyes flared yellow as the two fighters
approached. Ranma ducked Glynn's blade while Horny slashed at Erdrick.
Horny's snarl faded to a sorrowful expression as Erdrick pulled the
scythe away from the Reaper, then struck the giant demon, sending Horny
spinning away.
Erdrick charged Horny from behind, but the Reaper was more
infuriated than terrified. He lashed out with a powerful mule kick
that cratered Erdrick's chest as it catapulted the stone knight against
a wall, where the golem shattered.
Ranma danced around Glynn's blade. The stone knight was fairly
quick for something made out of stone and had a resistance to even the
Welcome Gate Iron Fingers technique (which only left three holes in the
stone monolith) and the Demon God Assault Bomb (each blade sheered
about a fingernail's thicknes off), however, it's speed was nothing to
Ranma's, resulting in a temporary stalemate.
At least until Horny charged and smashed the stone knight to be
pieces.
"Thanks, big guy." Ranma said, wiping sweat from his brow. He
was more exhuasted from the number of Yamasenken techniques he tried
against Glynn.
Horny grabbed the final portal gem from it's pedestal and handed
it to Ranma. Ranma touched it to the Gate Gem, completing the
artifact. With that done, Ranma approached Reginald's fallen form.
King Reginald blinked in surprise as he felt as though someone
had not only healed him, but given him a spa treatment. He felt
revitalized, he felt younger, he noticed who'd healed him.
"Why?" King Reginald asked.
"This may be hard to believe, King Reginald, but getting home was
my only goal. Conquering this continent was a side effect. I never
had, nor would I ever have, any intention of killing you or taking your
throne. I'm a good Keeper, but that doesn't equate to being a good
King. That's why you can have your kingdom back." Ranma responded.
King Reginald stared into Ranma's eyes. Ranma had beaten him and
the stone knights, taken his land, had his children as possible ransom
and despite all that, he was giving King Reginald his kingdom back.
The monarch sighed deeply, "I suppose you are right. I'd known
that since Titus had sent word that you wanted to trade the rest of the
continent for the other portal gems, but I was too proud."
"Hey, I wasn't exactly understanding of your feelings either.
Truce?" Ranma asked, offering the king his hand.
"Aye." King Reginald took it and allowed Ranma to help him up.
"Well, then, we'd better stop the fight outside." Ranma declared.
King Reginald nodded, then paused, "Ranma, you're a good man.
Would you consider staying on as a court advisor and general? I seem
to be lacking a large number of worthy people."
"Well, I'm going home using the Gate Gem..." Ranma began.
"Then we'll just have to go back with you." King Reginald
responded.
"EH?!" Ranma asked.
"This land is from another world anyway. And I don't think it
wouldn't truly matter, your minions and the people would follow you
anyway. I would have no kingdom." King Reginald responded.
"Well, if everyone agrees..." Ranma replied reluctantly.
"Then it's decided." King Reginald stated.
The war was at an end. And though it wasn't exactly an ending
everyone was comfortable with, it was an end nonetheless. Keeper Ranma
became General Ranma and Lord Titus became General Titus.
The vote was cast, and literally no one refused. Even the moody
hermit trolls and the fireflies did not refuse.
And as soon as the celebrations were finished, the Gate Gem was
used.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hidden Puns
Leichas, the Dark Angel who aided Nemesis, is actually Sachiel
backwards (and the 'c' and the 'h' being swapped), who is a real angel,
specifically, the Angel of Water. He's the first Angel seen in Neon
Genesis Evangelion.
Kain, the Royal Guard, who fights with Titus, is actually Kain, a
dragoon from Final Fantasy 2 US (or FF4 in Japan). His jumping attack
is actually an ability granted to all Dragoons in that series. To make
the Royal Guards seem so much more powerful, all but the elites have
been replaced with Dragoons from the FF series.
Dart, Rose, Shana, Haschel, Albert, Meru, the Elite Royal Guard,
are also Dragoons, but from Legend of Dragoon. Unlike other Dragoons,
the LOD characters have Dragon Souls, which grant them the use of
specific elementally-based magic and special charge attacks, as well as
the ability to fly. However, these powers can only be used in combat.
Erdrick and Glynn are from Dragon Warrior. Erdrick is never
seen, but he's supposed to be the great hero that all the legendary
stuff belonged to. Glynn is a character from DW2, the first ally you
gain.
Explanations
Demon God Assault Bomb is one of the most deadly attacks in the
Yamasenken. It unleashes a massive swarm of vaccuum blades, which were
ultimately useless against the Stone Knights.
Welcome Gate Iron Fingers is a technique meant to break locks or
ribcages.
Next time, on Dungeon Keeper Ranma!
Homecoming.
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