"So… any ideas of how to deal with the chorus?" My question creates a sudden and uncomfortable silence.

Sitting in the same cafe we usually meet, I look at Ricard to my right, asking for his opinion, expecting the self-called 'Great Tactician' to contribute with ideas. But instead of answering, he looks at Laura. She, too, passes the hot potato to her right, to Clara. And as it couldn't be in any other way, Clara gets flustered when everyone looks at her, waiting for her to solve the problem, and she pleads at me, making puppy eyes.

Like this, in just a few seconds, the hot potato makes a whole round and comes back to me. And no, I don't have any idea either.

I shake my head. "Is this… a dead end?"

Nobody argues against my words. Still, not wanting to accept defeat so easily, Ricard timidly proposes a way out of this mess.

"Can't we just bring a silencing aura with us, or something similar, and be done with it? If we can't hear the chant, nothing will happen."

Clara and I exchange a look and shake our heads at the same time. His question shows how little he knows our older sister.

"Haaah. You say it as if that were even an option..." I say, rubbing my temples. "We've already sent the list of our Champions and monsters, simulating the real event. We can only use those. Knowing my sister, she'll check the list and make sure we didn't spend even one more cp point than allowed, and contrast it with whatever we bring into her dungeon. And now, you're suggesting cheating? Against Anthemia!? Are you crazy!?"

Fuck! I don't even want to imagine the smug face and condescending attitude she'll have for the rest of my days if I were to get caught cheating!

Don't misunderstand. Cheating itself is okay. I'm up for it anytime. The problem is doing it when you'll get caught for sure, and have to suffer the consequences and humiliation for it.

As long as the other party doesn't notice, all is fair game.

Oh, by the way. According to the rules, after knowing about the enemy's dungeon, we can bring some of our monsters with us, as if it were a normal Dungeon Battle. During the event, what we bring with us can't be used to defend, but depending on the match and information we get, certain support monsters can be the key to our victory.

"Andreu is right. Our sister offered to help us, and now you want to sully her good will, Baldy?"

"N-no. I'm just throwing out ideas…" Ricard looks around, anxious. "Please, don't call me like that in this place…"

Having learned his lesson from the previous time, he's now doing his best to avoid standing out. He doesn't shout, nor does he suddenly stand up, catching everyone's attention.

Good work, buddy. You can learn from your errors, after all. I was starting to doubt you could do it.

"There must be a way... Taking into account what you said about your sister and what I felt when we met her in person, she won't design an impossible challenge. We just need to find a way…"

Finally, someone who can use her head! Laura's monologue awakens us of our despair – and Ricard's foolish antics – and we all turn our heads in her direction.

"...there must be a way, but I can't find it."

And our hope is shattered as quickly as it formed.

Not you too, Laura! You were our only hope!

…Not that it means much. I can't rely on Clara, Ricard is too unstable, and I threw the towel long ago, after reading the summary of 50% of all the monsters, traps, etc, in Marta's dungeon.

I slam the table.

"Fuck this instant-death chorus of doom! Why did she even choose them as one of the monsters we had to know about before diving into the dungeon? Did she want us to throw the towel before the match even started!?"

Other things are… questionable, for lack of a better word. Like self-destructing angels falling from the sky like meteors. But they're nothing compared to the death chorus.

A chorus formed by basic monsters that make you die if you listen to them? That's bullshit! What kind of devilish and deranged mind comes up with something like that!?

She's playing the angel's faction! Her roleplay is completely off!

Those chanters have a single skill, and their cost is low, so there are quite a few of them. The problem, though, isn't their numbers or stats but the skill they all share. Like all ritual skills, this one requires quite a bit of setup, and its use is very complicated. But knowing my sister, there's no way she made a mistake there, so we can't rely on luck to survive.

The complete explanation is very long, so I won't go there, but I'll summarize the effects. The ritual requires two things: time to charge the effect, and a minimum of units with the same skill, which can't move or do anything else while the ritual is underway.

Once the ritual is charged, the chorus can target a single unit within range, and that unit dies.

Instant death. Kaput. You're gone. The end.

After a while, they can then target another unit, and the same happens, repeating for as long as the ritual isn't interrupted and the chorus stays alive.

Only skills that resurrect or prevent death work against that, and only I have one of those, Indomitable Will, but it will save me just the first time they target me and only if I haven't triggered it beforehand due to self-harm.

If this were all, we could still manage somehow. For example, we could use a sacrificial pawn to trigger the first death, and target the chorus during the cooldown…

…but there's a big obstacle. An obstacle called Auditorium, a room Marta so 'kindly' revealed.

With plenty of obstacles that hinder vision and places to hide, but that don't prevent sound from spreading. As long as we're in sight range of one of the chanters, they can target us, but we can't kill them all, because we can't see all of them at the same time.

What the fuck was my sister thinking when she thought it was a good idea to use them against us!? Is she really trying to help us, or is she just venting her frustrations on us!?

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"So… any other ideas?" I repeat the same question.

I look at my right, at Ricard. He in turn looks at Laura, who throws the question at Clara with her eyes, who inevitably looks at me for the answer.

…Fuck.

Here we are, the gate to heaven. My sister's dungeon.

I step forward and start fiddling with the engravings on the door, following Marta's instructions. "Wait while I open the secret path."

Meanwhile, Clara, Laura, and Ricard start calmly chatting behind me. They're calm because we've come up with an infallible tactic to beat the death chorus. The infallible tactic of 'We'll do our best'.

What did you say? It isn't infallible. It isn't even a tactic. Who cares? It's the best shot we have at this, so we're going with it anyway.

I finish my work, and a new portal appears right next to the massive gate to heaven.

"Everyone, it's done! Stop chatting and let's move!"

As usual, Ricard takes the front, followed by Laura. I and Clara take the rear. One by one, we step into the portal and start the invasion.

"I don't know about you, but… It's the first time I've got so much information about my target in a Dungeon Battle, but it's the time I'm less confident in my victory." I chuckle. "Don't you find it funny?"

I know this isn't a Dungeon Battle, but we're playing it as if it were. We're using the self-imposed rules from the event, which are very close to them.

Clara nods beside me. "Hehehe. Yes, our sister is that great!"

"Of course she is! She's the great Anthemia, one of the top pro players! The next time I meet her, I'll surely ask if she can teach me how to improve. I can learn so much from someone with such vast experience and amazing skills! It isn't fair that only you two can enjoy such benefits."

Yeah… Keep dreaming, Ricard. There's no way she'll agree.

And no, that isn't training. It's something else, something called Hell. Although I wouldn't mind you joining in the pain, there's no way she'll ever agree, so there's no use in looking forward to it.

In her own words, 'I'm too busy to waste time with a lost cause like you, but I'll make an exception because you're my brother and I don't want others to think you're weak'.

Only Marta can make a help offer sound like an insult this skillfully.

Massive white pillars, reaching to the clouds, greet us as soon as we cross the portal. Equally perfectly white tiled floor and clouds around us are the only things we can see.

This is something like a heavenly temple, but we already knew this. It was one of the revealed areas.

According to Marta, the entrance room is always revealed. This way, the players can't complain, saying it was 'unfair', if the other team prepared a nasty surprise to greet them when their team is crushed by it.

"Ugh, my eyes!" I quickly cover them with my hand. "It's too bright."

Everything in this place is white or gold, reflecting the light pouring through the clouds above us.

"Hahaha, that's because you're spending too much time inside your dark cave." Ricard laughs at me.

"Shut up you damned undead! You're the one who spends all the time within shadows. Light is the bane of your existence! Act a bit like you should and wipe the stupid smile off your face."

"Hey! Nobody tells me how to act like an undead. Furthermore, my Champion is from a special corpse, collected with much effort from one of the most dangerous places for us, with divine blood coursing thro–"

"Stop fooling around." Laura interrupts us. "Remember, speed is important to get points."

She's right. If this were the real thing, time is of the essence. We shouldn't waste it.

Ricard and I lower our heads in apology.

"Hehehe, you got scolded."

Damn traitor! You should defend your brother in times like– Wait, aren't Abyss monsters weak to holy power too…?

You know what? I don't know, and don't want to know.

Undead, demons, and otherworldly aberrations. Isn't my faction the only one that should be able to contend with the divine? In fact, I can use angels to create my units…

"Don't forget there were traps in the list." Laura points out. "They can be anywhere, but they must be somewhere. Be careful."

After listening to her, Ricard steps forward with confidence. He starts rambling as usual.

"Hahaha, don't worry about that, Lily. There's a trick to traps you need to know. I'll show you."

Ricard starts taking slow steps forward. With every step, he first presses the tip of his foot on the ground, then waits. When nothing happens, he finishes the step and repeats the process with the other foot.

We observe him, silently laughing at the way he walks.

"To avoid traps, the standard procedure is to always follow behind a teammate. This way, if the first teammate didn't trigger a trap, it means the path is safe. Then, for simple traps like the arrows on the walls or pitfall traps and the like, you must be careful where you step. Just place the tip of your feet and put just a bit of weight on it, using your other foot to support you. If you hear a clicking sound, it means you've triggered a trap. When that happens, immediately jump back, using the foot you kept back. If you do it like this, there's nothing to worry about, hahaha!"

*Click!*

When Ricard takes another step forward, we hear the sound of a trap activating. He immediately jumps back as the ground opens up.

But the pitfall trap is way larger than usual. Normally, they are between a meter and one and a half, and a well-timed jump should be enough to put you into safety. But this pitfall is large enough to engulf a whole party. Ricard's backward jump moves him closer to the edge, but he still falls inside it.

"Uaaaaah…!"

We're left watching the large, dark hole in the ground as the false floor slowly returns to its original position as if nothing happened.

"...Is this what you call 'lead by example'?"

"Hehehe, you're right!"

Laura glares at Clara and me. "Now isn't the time."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." I shrug my shoulders. "He made it too easy. I had to say it."

I open the dungeon map and show it to Clara and Laura.

"There should be some stairs going down around here… Ah, here they are. Let's go find our lost teammate before he gets himself killed."

"Taking into account the distance from here to the stairs, the two aren't necessarily connected…"

Clara starts poking at my shoulder as Laura and I analyze the situation.

"Hey, hey, brother."

"Not now, Lemon…"

She keeps poking at my shoulder with her disgusting tentacles. "But it's important! Look, it's a meteor! It's coming our way!"

Startled, Laura and I raise our heads from the map simultaneously. We see a large ball of fire falling through the white clouds, coming our way.

"Wait. Why does that meteor have wings…?"

Oh, right. The angels.

"Iron Shield

Difficulty: Low

Special Characteristics: Jack of all Trades

Although they can't achieve anything truly unique, the greatest advantage of the Iron Shield is that they can do everything. From tanks, to archers, to assassins, to mages, and even an aerial strike force, there's nothing the Iron Shield can't do as well as any other faction if they try hard enough. You'll never be at a match-up disadvantage with this faction.

Other good parts of this faction are the easy access to low-tier units, especially useful for any new player, and the slightly higher average stats of their units. The latter is particularly relevant, as stats are everything. This gives the Iron Shield the edge in balanced fights with equally powerful units, something that can't ever be underestimated."

- From 'A brief introduction to all factions'.

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