The Unicorn and the Dullahan (1)
Insubordination. While I had mentioned that our legion was under attack, it wasn't my own dungeon that was being raided. It was Flauros—the dungeon of the Flare Panthera, a tribe of flame-leopard beastmen—that was facing an act of rebellion. The perpetrator was none other than Amducias, ranked 67th.
Setting aside the 65th-ranked dungeon, which had already had its head cracked open by Flauros, it was highly unexpected for the 67th-ranked Amducias to skip over the 66th and immediately point his blade at the 64th. There was only one conclusion to draw from this.
"Oh, so we've got someone who knows how to pull off a coup, huh?"
Given the circumstances, one could only assume that the 66th had been defeated by the 67th. Otherwise, why would he even think of jumping three ranks at once? Having taken down the 66th, he must be overflowing with confidence in his combat prowess. For me, currently occupying the spot of the Andras dungeon, there were only two ranks left. He probably thought he’d climb up one step at a time, but...
'Flauros is already part of my legion.'
Having recovered from his wounds, Flauros had reorganized his subordinates, sent me a messenger to report the situation, and immediately set out to face the enemy. Since I held his sister, Amour, hostage as a Tentacle Tree, Flauros had no choice but to fight the enemy with everything he had. 'And I don't intend to just let them fight it out on their own.'
The original Flauros dungeon had a simple, linear structure and consisted solely of Flare Panthera. It was a decent enough battlefield and troop composition if you were confident in a direct head-on clash, but you couldn't just keep bumping faces with attackers forever.
"Rashil. Are you ready?"
Kkeureureuk.
I tapped the trunk of the Tentacle Drasil, which was situated almost exactly in the center of the communal area. Since the first button must be fastened correctly for the rest to align, I left the collection of the remaining Slime Dragon residue on the first basement floor to my other subordinates and headed out to intercept.
"Hmph, what are you planning? Do you want me to help?"
"That won't be... necessary. Gremory, bring your children."
"......Didn't you say they were too filthy to use just a while ago?"
"I have to use everything I can. I'm not the one who's going to be using them. I'm going to use them against the intruders."
At my words, Gremory scratched her cheek and left the communal area. Due to the location of the portal, it was a bit of a hassle, but to relay the situation to the main body, one had to cross over to the portal in the passage behind the first floor.
"Hehehe. Then let's begin, Rashil!"
Kkeureureureuk.
The Tentacle Drasil lifted three roots toward me. Two were handles for my hands, and the third was a leg for injecting the white, sticky fluid that the Tentacle Drasil would spray through transpiration.
"Docking!"
Slurp, slurp!
The roots connected to my body. As my senses expanded, the tree trunks of the Tentacle Drasil began to sway and move in the exact same form as my hands.
"Tentacle Drasil, sortie!!"
I thrust my vine-like hands toward the portal. It was as if a VR headset had been strapped to my face; the vision of the vine-hands that had 'crossed over into the Flauros dungeon' unfolded before my eyes. As I continued to extend my hands, I saw Flauros giving a speech to his beastman subordinates.
[Do not forget, we will never lose.... Aaaack?!]
Flauros and his subordinates fell, screaming. I waved my tentacle-hand to greet them and then reached toward the dungeon entrance—the portal Amducias had opened.
Thump, thump.
My heart was pounding, and my breath was short. My chest throbbed as if I were a child playing a claw machine. "Heh, Ryun. It seems your mount has arrived."
"My mount, you say?"
"Yes. There's nothing quite like that for an elf maiden to ride."
It wouldn't be visible to them, but through the tentacle fingers, the vision transmitted to the system was crystal clear.
"A unicorn."
A monoceros. A unicorn. The unicorn, its entire body white as if to prove its purity, appeared at the entrance of the dungeon, wearing a black muzzle held by a man in black armor. Since the man didn't seem to be a maiden, he couldn't ride the unicorn, but he stood in front of it, gripping a chain connected to the muzzle and collar.
Behind them, headless soldiers with their entire bodies dyed black followed the unicorn. The number was roughly 50 at a glance.
"Heh, a unicorn..."
I wondered how many in our dungeon would actually be able to ride it, but it would serve as a great test to prove Ryun's potential for a 4-star evolution. 'Of course, if it's a male, I'll just test it against Ryun and kill it.'
Was Solomon's system truly perfect? It was time to prove whether the maiden-detection system in front of a real unicorn was genuine or not. The unicorn would end up being used for that test, and then...
"Ryun. I'm only saying this because Gremory isn't here."
"Yes?"
"If Gremory creates a clone, would it be judged as a maiden, or as 'used'?"
"......Either way, wouldn't we have to catch it ourselves to find out?"
"That's true, isn't it? Hehehe."
I spread my arms wide to welcome those who had invaded our legion's territory. "Welcome to the Legion of Las. Hehehe."
* * *
"*Hiss, hiss.*"
Kimeries, the master of the 66th-ranked dungeon, felt irritation rising at Amducias—the unicorn—who kept taking ragged breaths beside him. Even though he was a Dullahan, as a high-ranking entity that possessed a head, Amducias's harsh breathing was incredibly grating.
"Shut up, will you?"
"A maiden, there's a maiden. Hehehe."
Amducias grinned under his muzzle as if his mouth would tear, his body trembling. As expected of a unicorn, Amducias's horn began to sparkle with excitement at the scent of a maiden.
'We're doomed.'
No one could stop Amducias once his eyes turned because of the scent of a maiden. Considering the racial characteristics of a unicorn, it wouldn't be a big problem, but Amducias was an entity that only thought about mounting maidens directly.
'He used to go crazy and run wild like that when he got excited.'
Kimeries lacked the power to suppress the rampaging Amducias. Even though he was one rank higher as a dungeon master, he lacked the combat power to face Amducias, who had become stronger after becoming a dungeon master on his own.
'This rutting beast...'
Thanks to that, Kimeries had been violated even after death. After holding a grudge from being raped and becoming a Dullahan, only to finally rise to the position of a dungeon master, the mad maiden-mounting unicorn had forcibly mounted Kimeries, claiming, "Since you were reborn as a Dullahan after death, you're a maiden."
'To think of mounting a corpse.'
Did he not care about the race, as long as it was a maiden? Kimeries didn't know how far Amducias's insubordination would go, but he sincerely hoped that a hero-like entity with normal reasoning would appear and break Amducias's horn. If there was any hope, it was the legion. While Amducias preferred maidens, he also had the ambition to take the seal of the Demon King's daughter as a monster. And the power of that legion would surely be able to stop and crush Amducias.
"Moo, moo-hehe, a maiden, I smell a maiden...! The scent of a maiden who hasn't been touched by a man's hand...!"
If only someone would blow this mad horse's head off. Kimeries followed the chain leash around Amducias's neck powerlessly. To others, it would look like he was holding Amducias's reins, but in reality, the end of the chain was wrapped around Kimeries's wrist.
Thud.
The army led by Amducias arrived in front of a massive iron gate.
"Open it."
"...Yes."
Kimeries quietly opened the iron gate. Inside, leopard beastmen with flaming hair were glaring menacingly, each holding a weapon.
"......Pfft."
Amducias was sniffing the air, his eyes bloodshot. Kimeries closed his eyes, thinking to himself that a huge mess was about to happen.
"Are there only men in this room?"
Amducias stepped back and snorted on the floor. "I don't even like bumping bodies with guys. You guys handle it."
"......Yes."
Kimeries gritted his teeth and gave orders to his subordinates. All the Dullahans around him were his soldiers, but they were also comrades who had been defeated by Amducias along with him and had lost their 'maidenhood' as Dullahans.
"All troops, char-"
Grab!
Something descended from the ceiling and coiled around Amducias's horn. Seeing the sight of what looked like a hand grabbing Amducias's horn, Kimeries felt a sense of schadenfreude.
'But what is that shape?'
It looked exactly like the hands of trees inhabited by Ents or forest spirits. But the shape of the fingers looked like tree branches, yet also like tentacles, and also like the male organ of a human, which Kimeries loathed above all else...
"REEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
Amducias began to go berserk. He started clattering in place, running back and forth, and the dungeon floor was gouged out. But the vine-hand that had descended from the ceiling didn't let go of Amducias's horn.
Squeeze!
Instead, it lifted Amducias up into the air, ignoring his thrashing. It was the hardest part of his body, but since it was connected to the bone, Amducias had no way to detach the horn like a lizard shedding its tail.
"Kieeeeek, Pweeeeeeeek!!"
Amducias let out strange, inhuman shrieks and resisted violently, but eventually, he was suspended in mid-air by the power of the tentacle tree. Because of that, Kimeries's hand, connected to the leash, was dragged up along with him.
Thwack, thwack-thwack!
Amducias kicked at the air, struggling. Kimeries, who was being dragged up below, was almost hit by the kicking.
Thud.
Kimeries's head, which had been kicked toward his face, flew off with a hollow sound. "......Huh."
Kimeries's head, which had been tossed into a corner of the clearing, was dumbfounded by the sight unfolding on the ceiling. The tree branch extended from the other side held the unicorn's horn with one hand, while the other hand grabbed the chain connected to Kimeries and twisted it until it snapped.
"Ah."
Tears welled up in Kimeries's eyes. Although his body was falling in free-fall from the ceiling, the sensation of the restraint that had forcibly bound him to Amducias being severed brought a feeling of freedom—
Squish.
"...Ah, damn it."
The touch of the tentacle extended from the ceiling grabbed Kimeries's torso. And Kimeries could instinctively feel it. "This sucks."
Even though his body and head were separated, as a Dullahan, he could clearly feel it. This shitty sensation was definitely that of a male organ. It was so hideous and massive, similar in shape, size, and thickness to Amducias's, that it made him feel disgusted. 'Now, on top of being dead and suffering at the hands of a horse, I'm being...'
Thump!
His torso was laid down gently on the floor. And Kimeries's torso, which had fallen to the floor, was quickly suppressed by someone else's touch.
"Listen well, my comrades. Suppress the enemy, and tie their hands like this."
The leopard beastman with flaming hair climbed on top of Kimeries and suppressed his hands by pulling them above his head. Although he had climbed on top of his body, there seemed to be no lust involved; he seemed more focused on suppressing Kimeries.
"Take them all alive!"
"......."
Kimeries, watching the leopard beastman's roar from a distance, quietly closed his eyelids and squinted. Now, the unicorn, with his horn stuck in the ceiling, was running in mid-air.
"Kk, Kk-uuuugh!!"
Amducias began to cry sorrowfully. It would be disgusting enough for him to be wrapped in such tentacles, so how much worse must it be for Amducias? Moreover, it wasn't just one or two bundles of tentacles that began to extend toward Amducias.
Slurp, slurp.
Dozens of tentacle branches extended toward Amducias's white body, beginning to wrap around his entire frame. Excluding the hands holding the horn and the ones strangling his neck, the remaining branches began to wrap tightly around Amducias's four legs like ropes.
"Kk, Kk-eeeek...."
Amducias's resistance began to weaken. Kimeries's subordinates, the Dullahans, were flustered as two of them were captured, but they drew their swords and began to fight back against the flaming leopard beastman troops who were pointing their claws at them.
Clang, Claaang!!
Sparks flew every time the Dullahans' swords clashed with the leopard beastmen's claws. They were locked in a desperate struggle, and all the Dullahans were fighting back, waiting for Kimeries's instructions. However.
"......."
"Kk-weeeek!!"
Watching Amducias being wrapped in tentacles, Kimeries quietly closed his eyes. Capture. Kimeries decided to surrender.
* * *
"Whoa, jackpot. From unicorns to Dullahans, they're all female?"
"AAAAAAACK!!!"
Gremory, who had been trying to engage in beastiality play with the unicorn for the first time in a while, collapsed with a shriek.