- An Unlikely Alliance -

A unique scenario befalls the dungeon and the nearby town. An army approaches the idyllic hamlet and dungeon that usually gets, at most, five adventurers at a time.

Two days remain before the arrival of the Oni army.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

A town meeting was called with all of the town’s leaders and all able bodied warriors were gathered to an open area just outside of the town. The meeting was arranged by the justiciar knight.

“Justiciar Elaine!” the mayor calls out to the knight, “Why did you gather us all out here? Why not at the city hall?!”

“Yeah!” an adventurer adds, “Out here we could get ambushed by those Oni again!”

“I wouldn’t risk it, if this wasn’t important.” the knight states. “... There are people I want you to meet. Again I must urge for your temperance on this matter. Remember, the Oni army will be upon us soon, think of your sons, brothers, sisters and mothers...”

The crowd sits in quiet anticipation. She takes a deep breath, and takes a few steps back. From the dark shadows the residents of the dungeon emerge..

“I will now introduce everyone from the left. Taro, Akari, Dusty, Lapis, Knapp and Shion…” Elaine says, “These… Are all members of the dungeon… and their Dungeon Lord respectively, that sits just beyond the treeline.”

A great commotion arises from the crowd and panic ensues.

“Ah! Demons!” one villager cries,

“An Oni!” another one screams.

“I must w-warn the others!” an adventurer yells,

Seeing the risk of failure Shion took swift action. In a flash she turned into her giant serpent form and wrapped her tail and body to the circumference of the crowd, cutting them off from running.

“SILENCE!” she bellows.

A deathly silence fills the air. All of the towns’ people freeze in fear of death.

“Nice one Shion!” Taro cheers, “Very scary!”

“Taro!” She says embarrassed, “*Ahem…”

“I know of your plight. The Oni army is coming, make no mistake.” Shion continues, “They are a nomadic clan of warriors that pillage all they come across, if left unchecked they will tear through all of the land. Run as you might, they will follow once they’re done with this place."

“We must take a stand.” the justiciar adds,

“B-But what can we do? We are but fifty at most to their three hundred?” the mayor cries,

“Er… I can answer that.” Taro pipes up

Shion descends her head so that Taro could climb on top of it, when she raises it Taro continues.

“Positioning, the element of surprise and strategy!” he announces, “Out in the field, with no cover and positioning; yes, we would normally have no chance. However in a dungeon - our domain, it may be possible, if nothing else, to enable a retreat.”

“Naturally all the children and non combatants must continue along to the southern cities. You must temporarily abandon the town so they cannot pillage for resources during their campaign.” Elaine adds,

“We’d have a fighting chance if we join forces. If their armies can be directed towards the dungeon, it is our best chance against our enemy!" Shion says,

“How can you be sure that they will be routed to the dungeon?” A lanky adventurer scoffs,

“They’re looking for someone.” The knight says, “Her.”

Elaine points to Akari.

“An Oni?! You’ve killed us all!” a woman says in horror, again another worried buzz aggravates the crowd.

Akari, who was worried half to death, looked over to her friends who wordlessly encouraged her, she gathered her strength to say something.

“The Oni army follows one man!”
Akari says proudly,
"Ryo, the Four Horned Demon, is the head of this “serpent”. They look to him alone as their beacon of strength. The Oni pride themselves on only respecting the strong! Removing him or somehow making him look weak is the key to victory!"

The crowd was once again in a furious murmur.

“B-But how can we trust demons?!” a nun cries,

“Asking a dungeon to help… This truly is the end times..” someone laments,

“They’re outsiders! Not even human!” a portly man with a mustache adds

“Stop it already.” A sudden voice demands.

All eyes were directed to the voice. The person who spoke was a smoking nun. She was sitting on a small box nonchalantly.

“They were born in this village believe it or not. Or at the very least the Dungeon Lord was…” she exhaled smoke, her eyes directed towards the serpent. “Not too long ago…”

“A woman came to this village. I was still a child then. She was a beautiful woman, pale as the snow, unearthly if I had to describe her. This stranger carried a child and pleaded for help from the chapel. I remember a large fuss and only glimpsing a peek. The child who bore the same pigment as her mother had tiny horns atop her head.” she continues, as she looks up to smile at Shion,

“That was you wasn’t it?”

“...” Shion could say nothing, at the sudden revelation,

“W-What now?” a terrified citizen cries out

“Where we stand…” the smoking nun gets off her crate, “The sisterhood is with the Dungeon!”

“Sisters!” Taro cries in joy,

The crowd looked to each other and one by one agreed to the plan, or at the very least the idea of collaborating. Those that could not stomach the idea would join the evacuation effort.

“Haah…” The knight sighs. “It worked… somehow…”

…

Work was underway almost immediately. Major fortifications were underway by dwarves with a collection of humans that would aid them. Adventurers would be fitted and equipped with weapons and armor for war. The skeleton army could be revived far more quickly with more hands. And the sisterhood prepares themselves to apply boons and healing when necessary. The Refugees would be led to safe rooms within the dungeon.

In a quiet moment Taro takes another break and spots Akari sitting alone wistfully outside, he promptly invites himself to sit beside her.

“Oh it’s you…” Akari says,

“Why the long face?” Taro pokes,

“Oh… I don’t know. My father is coming to take me and we're tasked with killing or shaming him?” Akari doesn’t bother to look at the boy,

“Ah… S-Sorry,” Taro says startled,

“Ehehe… No, it's okay.” she laughs, before becoming serious again, “I was only teasing… My father has gone, as have my own clan… ”

“I used to blame it on my sister who ran away…” Akari continues, “Now I see that it was always there. Those that cannot stand - do not live. That was their mantra.”

“Oh… you must’ve had a harsh life…” Taro tries to sympathize,

“In a way I understand it now. Without strength you cannot defend your family, and those you love….” Akari pauses then continues, “But their pursuit of power for power’s sake has turned them mad.”

“But…” she tears up,

“Akari!” Taro shocked by the sudden tears yelps,

“I… I’m scared…” she trembles, “What if we’re not strong enough? What if I am not enough? What will we do, if we can’t do it?”

“We can.” Taro says confidently, she turns to taro with watery eyes,

“How can you be sure?!” she cries,

“Because, we have each other!" Taro shouts, “Believe in us! Our bonds are as strong as steel!”

He wipes a tear from her face.

“Isn’t that right?... Big sister?”

“Ehehe… That’s not fair…” she looks away bashfully.

A nearby sister walks by as the cheesy lines are spoken.

“Ahh youth,” she sighs,

Taro became almost red as Akari.

…

The dawn of the war day came. The sun rose on a lone red oni on a hill overlooking the invading army.