The Siege of Las Vegas
The owner of the 58th-ranked dungeon, Amy, had launched a rebellion against Gremory. Gremory, notorious as a vicious witch, was a powerhouse who had held her rank for a long time, but the one she feared most was Halpas, who stood behind her like a shadow. If I attack Gremory, I might face Halpas's retribution. Halpas had gone around bragging that he had a secret pact with Gremory, and through that pact, Gremory had been borrowing Halpas’s power one by one to expand her influence. Amy could have struck Gremory at any time, but she had been too afraid of Halpas to try. But the leash had snapped.
"Hehehe, you foolish girl. To think you’d conspire with Andras to resist Lord Halpas."
Gremory had betrayed Halpas. Although they had formed the pact with the intention of using each other, even after Halpas had lent her a 4-star high-level monster, she hadn't returned it—she had killed it, and she hadn't even paid the price for the deal she’d made with Halpas. Foolish thing. If she had simply attacked Andras and offered her to Halpas, she wouldn't just be holding onto the 56th rank; she could have aimed for the 45th or higher. "You’ve ruined everything because of your pride, Gremory!"
But Gremory hadn't attacked Andras. In fact, according to Amy’s cold-blooded insight, it was more accurate to assume she had formed an alliance with her. "You joined hands and stabbed Lord Halpas in the back!" It was no exaggeration to say that Andras had staged an invisible rebellion to survive Halpas, and Gremory had done the same to escape his shadow. "Therefore, I have come to nip the bud!" Amy swung her flaming whip forward. Contrary to the rumors, Gremory—who met Amy directly—wasn't riding a camel; she had come out to intercept Amy, grimoire in hand.
"Good grief. I’m speechless."
Whoosh! No sooner had the pages of Gremory’s grimoire turned than a massive torrent of water surged upward. The whip of fire struck the barrier of water and lost its strength, and Amy began to swing her whip in a fit of rage. "My rank might be lower than yours! But my forces are far stronger! Everyone!"
Monsters began to appear one by one around Amy. They were all holding flaming snakes like whips. "Smash them to pieces!" As soon as Amy’s order fell, her subordinates began to swing their burning snake-whips indiscriminately. The water barrier soon began to emit steam and weaken, and Gremory bit her lip, taking a step back. "Ugh...!"
"You are weak!" Amy lunged through the whips and swung her own snake-whip vertically. As the water barrier split left and right, Amy dashed like a bolt of light and grabbed Gremory by the collar. "Hahaha, how many clones is this now?!"
"The third. Can’t you even count? You idiot."
"You can’t even grasp reality when you’re being overwhelmingly defeated! And all you can do is insult me!"
"Ptooey."
Gremory spat blood-mixed saliva into Amy’s face. Even though it was a clone, the will behind it was more than enough to be conveyed. "...You cheeky bitch!"
Slap! Amy struck Gremory’s cheek with her whip. Not only did a red line appear on her cheek, but the flesh of Gremory’s face was gouged out. Ever since she realized it was a clone, Amy’s attacks had grown increasingly cruel. "Be grateful you’re alive thanks to your magic! How long do you think you can keep sending clones?!"
"Haa, haa."
Gremory let out a panting breath. Despite blood streaming down her face, the sound was as if she were lost in ecstasy, and Amy was momentarily taken aback. "W-what?"
Was Gremory the type of being who felt pleasure from being hit? An absurd thought flashed through Amy’s mind, and, surprisingly, that guess was the truth. "Haa, haa. Damn it... I set the sensory settings on the clone wrong."
Plip, plip-plop. Droplets began to fall from under Gremory’s skirt. Amy realized the nature of those droplets and was horrified. She threw the Gremory she was holding by the collar far away. "You filthy bitch! I thought wrong when I considered taking you as my subordinate, Gremory!"
"Haha, haha. That’s too bad. Sorry, but you can’t handle me."
Gremory rolled on the ground, covered in dust. Her grimoire began to burn away, and there was no longer any way for her clones to be effective. "And don’t get it wrong. You haven’t won yet. You think you beat me with just that? That’s a miscalculation."
"I should whip you until you come to your senses... no, wait, you’d probably just enjoy it and piss yourself. You perverted bitch!"
"To survive in this hellish world, I had to become a pervert. Hehe, you know what? They say Lord Solomon actually likes guys who go around sowing their seeds everywhere."
"YOUUUU BITCH!!"
Amy’s face turned beet red as she swung her whip. The flaming snake grazed Gremory’s shoulder, and Gremory dropped her head, blood gushing from the wound. "Kuuuugh, hng, hnggg! To turn pain into pleasure...!"
"You’re not normal, you’re abnormal! If what you say is true, doesn't that mean Lord Solomon likes someone like you?! I cannot accept this! Do not tarnish the honor of the Demon King!"
"...Considering he’s starting a war with the Human Alliance just to fuck the Goddess, you’re the one being ridiculous."
Gremory barely managed to get up. Her legs were trembling, but she still had the strength to stand. "Do you know why I kept buying time with clones...?"
"Hmph! No matter what you do, you are no match for me!"
"...Is that so?"
Clap. Gremory clapped her hands. The clone scattered into mana, and on the other side, Gremory appeared, her red hair fluttering as she rode a unicorn. "What? The pervert appears riding a unicorn...?"
"'Pervert,' that’s a bit harsh."
Gremory crossed her legs on the unicorn standing sideways, acting relaxed. "What do you think I did while I was buying time with the clones?"
"I told you, no matter what you do, it’s useless—"
Amy instinctively turned her head to the side. A burning sensation flared in her earlobe, and the object that had grazed her earlobe embedded itself in the forehead of the subordinate standing right behind her. Thwack!
"T-this is...?"
"Yeah, it’s called stone-slinging."
Whir, whir-whir, whir-whir-whir— Behind Gremory, a swarm of orcs appeared, spinning stones inside black stockings. "Try taking exactly what I was dealt."
"Where did these orcs come from?!"
"Where do you think?" Gremory shouted, spreading her arms. "Las Vegas!"
We had to retreat quickly. Other than grabbing the Dimension Stone, there was no time to pack anything else. "Legion Commander, what about this woman?!"
"Ah, damn it...!"
The unconscious Valac was, to put it bluntly, dead weight. It wasn't as if Valac was the only fallen angel, and she was just a being I’d had a quick taste of, but I felt guilty about leaving her behind now that she had become a demon. If I had time, I would have taken all the magic stones, but all I could carry in one hand was either the corpses of the lions or Valac. "Damn it, whatever! Galahad, Guinevere! Take her!"
It was impossible to run while carrying the giant lion. So, I boldly gave up on Vapula’s corpse and ordered them to take only Valac, who was relatively lighter. "Thank you!"
Guinevere, who was in a similar boat, happily took Valac. As a priest of the Goddess, I could see a sense of duty in wanting to take care of an angel who was once a follower of the Goddess. Priests are amazing. There wasn't a hint of lust in Guinevere. As Lancelot’s husband, he should be like that, but I thought it was amazing that he was putting it into practice in such an emergency.
"Guinevere, I leave the response to the enemy to you and Galahad."
"Yes?"
"Luna needs time to recover her Holy Power. You two must buy that time."
Because she had poured out so much Holy Power, Luna’s reserves were now hitting rock bottom. It was because she had wasted it by using it almost like a machine gun, but if I had known this would happen right after the dungeon raid, I never would have done that. "Ugh, damn it, this is taking forever!!"
I was furious at the winding, linear path of Vapula’s dungeon. While we were running backward through Vapula’s dungeon, I was so worried about what might be happening in my own dungeon, and whether Gremory was okay. "Damn it, I can’t even contact anyone through the system right now."
"Master, please calm down."
"Yeah. We’re almost there."
We were running at full speed, using every ounce of strength we had. If we had to fight the moment we arrived, we would have to do it without recovering, but that was a problem to judge after we reached the dungeon. "Ryun, where did I open the portal for Vapula’s dungeon?!"
"Next to the Slime Sub-dungeon!"
Toward Las Village. It was a location where we could pass through the cavern and go down to the first basement level. Thinking about what Shaitan had said, the enemy must have installed the portal at the furthest point of the first basement level. It’s completely empty right now! Other than Shaitan, there were no executive-level entities to command the troops, and the troops that could be called core forces were deployed elsewhere. The closer I got to the portal, the more anxious I felt, but my legs didn't stop, thinking that we were almost there.
"Master, the portal!"
"Yeah!"
Since the dungeon battle had already ended in our victory, the portal had changed into a two-way portal. "Woooooo!" The owner of the dungeon has returned. To let my subordinates know my voice and reassure them, I roared at the top of my lungs on purpose. If there was anyone in front of the portal, I would blow them away immediately. "I’m coming!!"
Whoosh—! My vision went dark for a moment, and as soon as I arrived in my dungeon, my heart sank at the bleak atmosphere. Had it already been taken over? "SHAITA———N!!"
[You have arrived!]
Shaitan responded immediately upon hearing my voice. Around Shaitan, the sound of orcs shouting and the smell of blood from the battlefield where swords and spears were clashing were thick. [Please come to the basement!]
"Alright!"
There was no time to be suspicious. Since Shaitan said the basement, I had to run to the first basement level no matter what. The members who had attacked Vapula’s dungeon returned through the portal behind me. Vwooom! As soon as the attack squad returned, the portal closed mercilessly. It might be because the Dimension Stone, the core of Vapula’s dungeon, was in my hand, but it must have been a phenomenon that occurred because the battle for the other dungeon had begun. Thank you for letting me return. If the portal had closed, I would have had to cross the entire continent to return to my dungeon. It would have been fucked if the portal closed as soon as the battle started. Fortunately, such a disaster didn't happen, and I sincerely thanked Solomon, who had designed it to be dungeon-owner-friendly in this regard. And since I had been given a one-coin chance, I had to rotate my brain furiously and move quickly.
"Luna, put Valac in the prisoner jail and rest in bed! Come down as soon as you recover some Holy Power!"
"Okay. Don’t overdo it until I get there?"
"Of course!"
Luna herself was strong, of course, but recovering her Holy Power was more important. Guinevere handed Valac over to Luna and followed me to the cavern. There was no one in the cavern. Instead, for some reason, Amducias, who had changed her appearance into the form of a unicorn, and two war-wolves were looking at us and smiling brightly. "What is this?"
"Lady Shaitan sent us! Get on!"
"Alright!"
I hugged Ryun and quickly climbed onto Amducias. Galahad and Guinevere also climbed onto the backs of the war-wolves quite stylishly. Amducias started running as soon as I climbed on. "What’s the situation?!"
"I don't know either! Lady Shaitan told me to wait here and bring you when you arrived!"
"Tch!"
It wasn't a problem to be angry at Amducias, but I kicked Amducias’s belly with my foot in regret and urged her to run. "Just run!"
Amducias and the two war-wolves passed through the cavern, made a smooth U-turn, and arrived at the stairs leading down to the first basement level. Amducias changed her appearance into a woman upon arrival, and I grabbed Amducias’s waist and hurried down the stairs. "I’m sorry!"
"This is not a matter to be sorry about! It’s just that the dungeon is shitty!"
As I jumped down three steps at a time and entered the first basement level, a thick scent of blood stung my nose. While my vision went dark for a moment as I entered, I thought of our legion soldiers lying on the floor bleeding and Shaitan being caught in the enemy’s grip, and my anger flared up. "SHAITAN——!!"
"You have arrived."
The voice that responded to my shout was a voice that was too relaxed, dignified, and trustworthy. And it was a voice I couldn't have expected to be here. Shaitan was smiling faintly next to the owner of the voice. "Why are you...?"
"My mission is the protection of Las Vegas. However...."
The blonde princess knight, Eila, was holding the sword she had stuck into the floor and smiling all over her face. "Where there is Las, there is Las Vegas. I am not a bitch who will just stupidly guard the city. Master."
"I love you, Eila!"
I ran to Eila and kissed her, feeling grateful and proud. Smooch, slurp, mmmmuah! ...I only intended to bump our lips. Eila was the one who used her tongue.