The Counterattack Begins
Kieeeek! A camel monster blocked my path. I swung my fist, smashing the beast’s head into the wall. Thud, thud-thud! A gargoyle appeared from a side passage, wings spread wide as it dove at me. I didn't even break stride; I whipped my leg out and kicked it, splitting the creature in two. Skreeee! The goblins, terrified by my charge, scrambled away. I pressed forward, trampling and bursting the backs of any fools who dared to obstruct my path. Ryun—had Ryun escaped safely? Was she being held up by some powerful monster near the portal? I was anxious, but I remained calm, systematically eliminating Gremory’s minions one by one as I advanced.
Finally, the end of the long corridor. Beyond a field of corpses riddled with arrow holes, the shimmering portal came into view. "Uraaaagh!!" I sprinted toward it with everything I had. The last remaining camel monster reached out to grab my ankle, but I barely shook it off by hurling a stalactite from my shoulder into its elbow joint. Crash! I tumbled through the portal. A rainbow-colored light enveloped me, my consciousness grew hazy, and as I rolled forward, I tripped over my own chin and came to a halt.
"I recognize this ceiling."
Thankfully, I had arrived back in the tunnels of my own dungeon. The tension in my body drained away in an instant. "Master!!" Ryun was sobbing over my face. I struggled to sit up, catching my breath. The fatigue from the infiltration and escape remained, but the relief of being out of the enemy dungeon made my heart feel light.
"Father."
"...Yeah." Arthur supported me, and I grabbed his hand to pull myself up. Arthur alone wasn't enough, so it wasn't until Ryun and Lime both rushed in to help that I could finally stand and lean against the wall.
"......Sorry for being so heavy." I apologized first, seeing their strained faces. It wasn't like I wanted to be heavy, but seeing the three of them struggling, it was only right to apologize.
"Papa, go and rest. We'll hold the line now." Meari brought a wooden cup of water and handed it to me. It was just plain cold water, but it tasted as sweet as Ryun’s honey. My feverish body felt like it was cooling down, so I let out a deep breath and pointed my chin toward the portal. "We can't stop yet. It’s not completely over, so we need to stay focused."
"But your wounds..."
"They'll heal soon enough. Meari, do you know how to use healing magic?"
"Yes. I'll use it right away." Meari pointed her staff at my shoulder and channeled mana. A shower of light particles flowed from the tip of her glowing pink staff, settling onto the wounds on my shoulder.
"The wounds are a bit deep."
"I'll recover if I just put some spit on it. Back in the day, I’d sleep off wounds worse than this and be fine by morning."
"But!"
"'But' nothing. Meari, the war isn't over yet. This was just the opening skirmish. We can't let our guard down." This was for my subordinates, but also for myself. We had completed our reconnaissance, but we hadn't won the war. However, now that we had assessed the enemy's strength, this war would soon be our victory. I adjusted my robe and looked over my subordinates.
"Nothing happened while I was gone for the day, right?"
"Yes. We caught everyone who tried to enter. The female adventurers are being held as prisoners, though they're all refusing to enter Las Village. The male adventurers all resisted, so the Harsus unit took care of them."
"That's fine. As long as you're all safe, that's what matters. As for the female prisoners... I have a plan for them, so don't worry." If dungeon masters learn from each other to increase their strength, I had learned something good from Gremory’s dungeon: a professional spawning ground. I had only thought of it as a simple chicken farm using harpies and stud hunters, but I had never considered building a professional facility using tentacle monsters. 'It would be nice to have a subordinate like that, but for now, I have to win the war.'
And now, it was time to overcome that adversity. I pointed toward the portal, which was now capable of two-way travel. "Alright! Now it's our turn to attack!"
"...Yes!" At my declaration, all my subordinates raised their weapons. They were so fired up, it looked like they were ready to rush through the portal and force Gremory to her knees right then and there.
"Wait a minute!!!" I panicked and calmed everyone down. "...Starting tomorrow! We attack tomorrow!"
"Pardon?"
"We weren't going right away?!"
"Uh, no." I had been in enemy territory for a day; surely, a man needed to rest.
"Father, what will you do if Gremory attacks us first?"
"Then, of course, we respond. Ryun, Lime. You aren't hurt, right? Then you two take the lead. Unless Gremory’s main body or a clone comes through, it shouldn't be hard to handle." And whether it was her main body or a clone, she would surely be distracted by the tentacle monster. I didn't know what kind of monster it was, but wasn't it the type that laid eggs inside the host? 'It's a shame I didn't get to see it directly.' I'd find out how Gremory escapes the tentacle monster once I catch her later. Since I had no intention of counter-attacking Gremory's dungeon immediately, the choice was now hers. Will she attack again? Or will she defend her base? Whether this becomes a silent truce or a continued battle depends on Gremory's choice, but I would welcome either.
"Master, when are we going to attack?"
"Tomorrow. The moment Andras wakes up."
"Andras? Are you waiting a day just to bring her along?"
"No." I corrected my subordinates' misunderstanding. "We need to fight with our full strength, don't we? Tomorrow, after Andras is born, we'll go in after reinforcing everything we can."
So, we wait until then. I rested in the tunnel, waiting for Gremory's choice.
[Andras's Awakening]
📍 Location: Kumcheoku's Dungeon
🎁 Reward: Birth of 5-Star Unit [Andras]
* * *
"Ah, so the Skatology went to Gremory's side..." The succubus watching the battle frowned and shook her head. Although she had dispatched it herself while managing things, the 'Manager Tentacle Monster' was one of the most repulsive monsters in existence.
"If it weren't for the Demon King's direct lineage, someone would have surely killed it by now." The succubus couldn't understand. She couldn't fathom why such a filthy, disgusting thing was a '1st Generation' monster born directly from the Demon King's seed. 'I'm so glad I was born a succubus.' The succubus hugged herself and nodded.
"What are you praising yourself for?"
"S... Estu-nim?"
Estu, a woman in a black suit, appeared beside the succubus. She looked at the situation of the war the succubus was spying on through the crystal and frowned deeply. "Seriously, that thing is... ugh, it's so dirty."
"Estu-nim, you shouldn't say things like that."
"Even if it is an egg I birthed with my own pain, dirty is dirty." The succubus had a lot to say, but she kept her mouth shut. Estu put her arm around the succubus's shoulder and pointed to the battlefield. "Hey, who do you think will win?"
"Wouldn't Gremory win? She is a renowned elementalist, after all."
"Really? Then I'll bet on... this Orc."
The succubus tilted her head. "Even excluding Gremory, the power ratio is only 2:8, isn't it?"
"It's fine. Want to make a bet? If you win... I'll lend you the Demon King's bed for a day."
"Really?! *Ahem*, am I finally receiving the Demon King's grace? Hoho." The succubus laughed lecherously, her head filled with dreams. Estu poked the succubus's cheek with her finger and mocked her. "What are you going to do if you lose the bet?"
"Eh, there's no way I'll lose, right?"
"If you lose... hmm..." Estu pointed to the fat Orc waiting in front of the portal beyond the crystal. "You'll be working underneath him, getting pinned down?"
"This f..." The succubus couldn't manage her expression.
* * *
The time had come. Gremory had only sent a few scouting goblins and no main forces. Perhaps she was shocked that her clone had been violated by me, as she hadn't even sent another clone. In the end, we spent a very comfortable yet tense time. We spent the hours anxiously, wondering when the enemy would appear. And that time, too, had come to an end. We welcomed a new comrade.
Monster Synthesis Complete.
Synthesis Target: [Andras] ★★★★★
The cocoon opened, and a woman wearing a dress-like wing garment that looked like a black dress opened her eyes. She had a gentle appearance with slightly drooping eyes. As the meaning of synthesis implied, she looked like a perfect blend, yet her face resembled the harpy that had been the center of the process. She was the first female-type monster I had summoned since Harsus.
The harpy had been reborn as the pinnacle of the Andras species. "...It was a truly long time, Master." The harpy who had risen from the shell—the woman I now had to call Andras—placed her hand on her chest and bowed softly. Except for her sharp claws, she looked more human than the Andras I had killed. "You waited a long time, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I never imagined it would take seven days."
"Fufu, is it easy to be reborn as a 5-star? But thanks to that, I was able to be born anew. Thank you so much." Andras knelt before me and bowed her head. Although her tone was still casual, her actions were like a knight being granted a title. As the harpy born in Solomon's dungeon had been reincarnated as a new being in our dungeon, her loyalty to me was stronger than before. The more they were reborn thanks to me, the more my subordinates became truly mine.
"Rise."
"Yes, Master. What should I do? Shall we do it here to celebrate my evolution? It's fine even if the others watch. Fufufu."
"We are in the middle of a war."
"...War? What are you talking about?"
I briefly explained the situation. "We have to go out and attack someone called Gremory. You... it would be awkward for you to fight at the very front." Although she was a 5-star, her level was incredibly low. It was a subtle figure, as if the levels of four people had been added together and averaged. Her level was too low to face a 3-star camel monster. "You're in the second string."
"Second string?"
"Yes. It means you aren't the vanguard." I pointed to the subordinates behind me. I had already organized my subordinates into three large squads, and those capable of evolution were all lined up, waiting.
"Alright, everyone! Don't cut in line and wait! I'll do it for each and every one of you!" The seven days of running sub-dungeons, the adventurers invading the front gate, and the battles with Gremory’s subordinates had been enough to turn my followers into elite soldiers. And among them, there were those who had become capable of evolving to the next stage.
"You, get on the summoning circle! Next, wait! If you cross the line, I'll push your evolution to the very end of the queue!"
Like a factory press, I mechanically hammered the evolution button. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. White light flashed continuously on the summoning circle.
* * *
Gremory, who had barely saved her clone from the tentacle monster while in a state of ecstasy—or rather, had effectively killed her clone—reorganized her battle lines. "Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I would have summoned some banshees..."
Information regarding the enemy's force composition was extremely limited. And during the day that the two-way portal was open, the enemy unexpectedly did not attack. "If only my body were intact... Damn it."
Gremory lay in her bedroom and struggled to sit up. Like the women in the tentacle monster's spawning ground, Gremory had also been impregnated with the tentacle monster's seed. Thanks to this, Gremory was currently in a very dangerous state. If the fat Orc attacked again, it would be difficult for Gremory to respond as she had before. 'But they haven't attacked yet.'
Are their wounds deep? Are they regrouping their strength? Or were they scared after seeing the power of the Gremory army? "Either way, as long as I can buy more time..."
Gremory checked the time when the seed sown within her would sprout and be born as fruit. Six hours left. In six hours, she would spawn the tentacle monster's offspring indiscriminately, and they would all become new forces, standing at the vanguard to attack the fat Orc's dungeon. 'Come as much as you want. I won't be careless this time.'
She wouldn't let them dig an ant tunnel into her dungeon again. Gremory grabbed her pregnant-looking belly and barely managed to stand up. Through the shared vision with the goblins, she could clearly see the portal shimmering. "Fufu, yeah, come on over!"
From the entrance of the portal to the deepest parts, goblins, 'Jokamels', and monsters summoned in a hurry using magic stones were waiting at the entrance. Even the path the fat Orc had cleared was fully manned. She had gathered her strength to the very limit of her garden, pulling together her very soul. She had emptied her warehouse and even used the magic stones she had kept as payment for the tentacle monster.
Flash.
The portal erupted with light, and Gremory shouted to her entire army. "Advance! Kill the enemy—"
ROOOOOOOOAR!!
The moment Gremory's soldiers raised their weapons, three slime dragons poked their heads out from beyond the portal and roared.