Dungeons:The Rise of the Arch-Illager/3CHP
Chapter 15
As the other Illagers in the party congratulate Archie, Thord looks at him in silence and disbelief, but soon decides to thank him. Thord orders the party to report back to Walda with the news, but Archie requests to speak with her at Highblock Keep. Thord accepts, and soon, the Illager group begin heading back to their mansion, while Archie and his three remaining redstone golems begin heading back to Highblock Keep. Archie finds some lava fields to the west, intent on using them to repair and create redstone golems, but decides to head back to Highblock Keep out of fear that the Illagers might not be interested in joining him. Eventually, they make it back to Highblock Keep, with Archie falling asleep in a bed soon after. The next morning, Archie goes to work, summoning numerous items such as beds and carpet to make Highblock Keep look more lively for the Illagers. By sunset, Archie realizes that it’ll take some time for the Illagers to arrive, so he decides to head back to the lava fields with the three redstone golems. One of them enters the lava, surprising Archie, although it remains unharmed. Archie then climbs on the shoulders of the partially submerged redstone golem, who leads Archie underneath the surface toward a cave. The cave leads to a giant pool of lava that was formed by a "cataract" that fell from the ceiling. Archie then waves his staff, causing diamonds to break away from nearby rock, floating over to him and shaping into a mold resembling a redstone golem. Some nearby redstone breaks away and becomes part of the mold, which eventually falls into the lava, creating a redstone golem.
Chapter 16
Archie orders the newly created redstone golem to start mining materials to create more redstone golems. He begins to leave the cave, but the Orb insists that he stay and oversee the operation. Archie refuses and decides to head back to Highblock Keep along with his three redstone golems. On the way back, the Orb refers to the Keep as Archie’s throne, that he is a ruler, and that the Illagers would soon be his subjects, all of which don’t seem right to Archie. Nevertheless, they make it back to Highblock Keep, with Archie noticing a group of Illagers marching toward the Keep from the south. Acting quickly, Archie heads inside, retrieving the rest of the redstone golems, and makes it back to the drawbridge. By dusk, the group of Illagers finally arrive, led by Walda and Thord. Archie welcomes them to the Keep, with Walda thanking him for the Illager party surviving an attack from hostile mobs, as well as the offer of hospitality. Archie cordially invites the Illager group into Highblock Keep, promising to keep them fed and safe, as well as grinding down villages, conquering land, and claiming other’s riches as their own. Walda hesitates, but reluctantly accepts Archie’s offer. The group of Illagers then enter Highblock Keep, with Archie telling them to prepare themselves for battle.
Chapter 17
Archie tries to make the Illagers comfortable, but the Orb counsels him against doing so, saying that if the Illagers get too used to Archie being in charge, then Thord and Walda might begin to work against him. Despite this, Archie, Thord, a small group of Illagers, and Archie’s remaining redstone golems. head out for Fiery Forge the next morning, leaving Walda in charge of Highblock Keep for the time being. At the Fiery Forge, Archie showcases to the group the creation of a redstone golem, making the Illagers cheer in delight. Archie decides to let a few Illagers stay behind so they can work on creating some more while realizing that it’ll be better off to enslave the villagers and have them work here instead. The rest of the Illagers cheer at the remark and soon, the group make their way back to Highblock Keep, with the rest of the Illagers welcoming the newly created redstone golem. Archie and the Orb then convert one of the rooms into Archie’s throne room. Thord, by surprise, mentions to Archie that he is weak and that just because he "lucked" his way into making Highblock Keep, it doesn’t change him.
The Orb asks for Archie to kill Thord, saying that he is a threat to him and his power. Archie tries to speak, but Walda questions Thord’s actions, saying that he should show his gratitude to Archie. Archie ignores the Orb’s request to kill Thord, and instead mentions to Thord that he was letting him heal up from being attacked, whilst also mentioning that they’ll leave for the village in the morning due to him being so eager to enter battle. Thord is surprised by Archie’s remarks and bows at him, quickly leaving to inform the other Illagers. The next morning, Archie, Walda, Thord, the Illagers, and some redstone golems begin to make their way toward the village on Squid Coast, leaving one redstone golem behind as a means of guarding Highblock Keep. Over the next few days, they eventually make it to just outside the village, preparing to destroy it.
Chapter 18
By Archie’s orders, the Illagers and redstone golems charge into the village, with the Illagers setting fire to the houses, and the redstone golems battling the iron golems. The villagers immediately sound the bell, but Archie sneakily heads over to Yumi’s house. Arriving, he notices an iron golem next to her. Yumi mistakes Archie for an Illager at first, but the two engage in a hug. Archie then says to Yumi that she needs to leave, but Yumi quickly realizes that the village is under attack because of his actions. Archie practically begs for Yumi to leave, but she refuses. Archie then notices a voice hollering at him. Turning around, it is revealed to be Smacker, ready to fight with an iron sword. Archie motions a redstone golem to attack him, but Smacker gets the upper hand and is able to lop an arm off of it. Archie then stumbles toward the center of town, noticing that Illagers were fighting not just the villagers, but a group of skeletons and husks that appeared to have followed them from the desert temple beside Fiery Forge. Archie immediately orders a retreat, but Thord swiftly refuses on the belief that they are winning. Archie's attempt at a rebuttal is cut short when two arrows pierce his body; one in the back, and the other in the chest. He claws toward Yumi, who does her best to keep Archie on his feet, but his knees buckle beneath him as his eyes slowly begin to close. Yumi says to Archie that he deserves it just before he is presumed to be dead.
Interlude 2
The POV switches to Karl, just as the Illager raid is beginning. Karl is asleep in a villager’s house when he hears the bells ringing. Waking up and getting the sword equipped, he soon leaves the house to aid the other villagers. As the village gets swarmed by Illagers and the group of skeletons and husks, Karl asks for the villagers to retreat back into their homes. Yumi appears to refuse, but eventually accepts and hurries back into her home. The Illagers, along with their redstone golems, soon retreat, leaving Karl to fight the group of hostile mobs alone. Unsurprisingly, he kills them with relative ease. The other heroes show up soon afterward, thinking that Karl took down the hostile mobs all by himself, but he admits that he didn’t, mentioning that the Illagers were fighting the hostile mobs as well. The other heroes then mention that they saw some hostile mobs marching away from the village, appearing to carry someone with them. Karl feels like he made them run off, while Pinky hopes that whoever was being carried is okay.
Chapter 19
Archie wakes up, discovering himself to be bound by hand and foot to a skeleton. Although he struggles to break free, a necromancer notices this and knocks him out by smacking his head with its own staff. Some time later, Archie wakes up inside the desert temple. The necromancer motions to Archie to follow him, and he cautiously does so, heading deeper into the desert temple. Eventually, the two meet with "a gray-skinned figure dressed in a blue-and-green outfit that covered its shoulders and legs but left its chest bare", wearing "a large, ornate crown with an enormous emerald set in the middle of it", and baring "a staff that resembled Archie’s, except that it had a black shaft with an emerald orb hovering atop it", revealing itself to be the Nameless One. Archie asks the Nameless One as to why it brought him here, and it responds by saying that if they made an alliance, that they could guarantee their destinies. Archie hesitates, but the Nameless One mentions that the Orb of Dominance has the power to make its husks and skeletons immune to sunlight. Archie accepts, on the conditions that he is escorted back to Highblock Keep, and that he needs a "proper army".
Chapter 20
Walda greets Archie upon his return to Highblock Keep, nervously noticing the husks and skeletons behind him, but is impressed that Archie brought an army of hostile mobs with him. She also mentions to Archie that Thord is looking after the redstone golems in the dungeon. Archie then questions Walda as to why she had banished him from the tribe, and she says that if we were villagers, then Thord would’ve been banished instead, but also says that Thord is a better Illager than Archie. Walda apologizes for this, and Archie accepts, reminding her not to get any ideas about replacing himself. Archie then briefly talks about Thord and how his last few raiding parties didn’t go so well. Archie then orders the hostile mobs to protect the entrance to Highblock Keep, which they seem to do, albeit wandering around a bit. Archie and Walda walk around Highblock Keep for a bit before Archie excuses himself for an important matter. He heads up to the chair on top of the Obsidian Pinnacle, peering into the Orb, which is showing a bird’s eye view of Fiery Forge. Archie quickly notices that one of the redstone golems that had been set up to watch over the forge wasn’t there, so he searches around the area through the Orb. Eventually, he finds Thord atop a redstone golem which is pulling a sled of diamonds and redstone away from the forge, shocking him.
Chapter 21
Archie quickly leaves Highblock Keep with one of the redstone golems, heading off toward Fiery Forge. Upon noticing the hostile mobs guarding Highblock Keep, he considers ordering them to go after the Illagers there, but scraps that idea, and instead orders them to protect the Keep until he returns. By nightfall, Archie and the redstone golem arrive at Fiery Forge, eventually finding a path leading up to a mountainside with a cataract of lava flowing down toward a lava lake. Archie then finds Thord whaling a large vein of diamonds near the lava lake. Thord’s redstone golem quickly notices Archie, and Thord draws a bow whilst dipping an arrow into lava. Shooting the arrows at Archie, they either miss or get turned into ash by the Orb of Dominance. Thord then orders his redstone golem to attack Archie, but to his surprise, the redstone golem betrays him, immediately joining forces with Archie and his redstone golem. The redstone golems then back Thord to the edge of the peninsula overlooking the lava lake. Thord attempts to plea with Archie on a compromise, but he doesn’t budge. As Archie waves his staff toward Thord, the redstone golems surge forward and press him between themselves and the lava, presumably killing him (the book leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not Thord was killed by the golems or if he slipped into the lava).