Chapter 412: Dragonian Ghoul
To empty our bags, which had filled up again, we headed back to the main base.
[My apologies, Legion Commander. I shouldn’t have said anything...]
"No. It’s not your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s those slime dragons for moving at that pathetic speed with the enemy right in front of them."
Rastujad was beating himself up over the leisurely farming that his comment had caused. But it wasn’t Rastujad’s blunder; if anything, it was mine.
’I got the wrong idea because our guys are too good.’
Slime dragons are only called slime dragons in name. I’d forgotten that they’re really just worm-like creatures.
I’d momentarily forgotten that the slimes our Legion operates are the elite of the elite, rigorously trained by Lime and me.
...And that’s where I went wrong, assuming the slimes left behind in Baal’s old dungeon would be on the same level. I never imagined they’d literally crawl around like grubs.
"Damn it. Should I just summon some 3-star monsters and steamroll them?"
"We don’t have any good 3-stars, do we?"
"Not right now, no. ...Wait, actually there is a way."
I checked through the system to see if two facilities were available. Fortunately, both functions were still intact.
Magic Stone Summon.
And Monster Synthesis.
"Rastujad. The time has come for you to become a High Priest."
[What do you mean by that...?]
"You’re exactly at 3-star, so the timing’s perfect. I’m going to summon Ghoul Mages."
Necromancers, dark mages, and beings destined to become liches once they advanced to 4-star. Our dungeon had grown considerably by now, and we couldn’t keep leaving Rastujad to handle all the human corpses by himself forever.
"I’ll increase the number of subordinates under your command. They’ll be your dedicated mages."
[Thank you. In that case, Master of the Legion, if it pleases you, might I suggest summoning twelve?]
"Twelve?"
I was the one who threw out the High Priest thing, but when Rastujad came back with twelve, something felt off. Shaitan wore an ambiguous expression, glancing back and forth between me and Rastujad.
"Is there a particular reason it has to be twelve?"
[The Goddess Church possesses exactly twelve Holy Swords. If we deploy the same number of liches to match the Holy Swords, it could serve as a desecration against the Goddess Church.]
"Well, if that’s the reason, I’m on board. Phew, I thought you were trying to create twelve disciples."
[Disciples... Disciples who serve under a High Priest? I like how that rolls off the tongue.]
"Let’s just call them the Twelve Apostles."
After a brief squabble over naming, I used the mid-grade magic stones Rastujad had earned to summon twelve Ghoul Mages. Since they were a common species, nothing special or unique, the summoning went quickly.
[We greet the Master of the Dungeon.]
They all knelt before me, the master of the dungeon. I lined up the twelve Ghoul dark mages and pointed to Rastujad.
"All Ghoul Mages are hereby assigned to Rastujad’s squad. You will serve under Rastujad as your squad leader, and you shall address him by the title of High Priest."
[Believe in me and follow. The Master of the Legion shall guide us down the path of lichdom.]
Rastujad seized control of the Twelve Apostles at once. Having slaughtered the slime dragons to reach level 55, the max level for a 3-star, he stepped before the summoning facility as if it had been arranged in advance.
[Behold! The baptism the Master of the Legion bestows upon me!!]
Flash!
Rastujad knelt atop the summoning facility and spread both arms wide. His dramatic gestures made me feel needlessly embarrassed and sheepish.
"...Aren’t you taking this a little too seriously?"
[It just looked like fun, so I got carried away.]
"...Tch, maybe this whole synthesis thing was a mistake. Ahem."
I cleared my throat with a fake cough and decided to play along with Rastujad’s act. Part of me worried this might make things worse, but the Twelve Apostles had their eyes completely glued to us.
"In the name of the Goddess and the Demon King!! I am the one who rules the Legion of Wrath! Under my guidance, you shall be reborn! Mon, Ster, Syn, Thesis!!"
Whirrrr.
I placed the Levis’s Egg I’d prepared in advance before Rastujad. The Twelve Apostles also knew through the system that a synthesis was taking place, but this was surely a spectacle rarely seen in any other dungeon.
"A ghoul becomes a dragon!!"
ROOOOAR!!
A massive cocoon formed around Rastujad’s body. The dark bluish-green membrane was as pale as if a ghoul’s skin had been stretched taut, and inside, Rastujad’s body began to slowly contort.
"Heh heh, take your time and behold the baptism I have bestowed... Hm?"
Hissss.
Purple mist began seeping from the cocoon. It looked like a rice cooker venting steam, and I stood there dumbfounded.
"Since when does synthesis happen this fast...?"
Crackle!
The cocoon’s membrane dissolved into purple mist and scattered. Rastujad, who had been standing in the center, slowly began to rise into the air.
[Behold the miracle of the Legion, you ignorant dead.]
The influence of Levis’s Egg was blatantly showing through in his words, but there was genuine authority in Rastujad’s voice as he spoke while suspended in midair.
[This is the power of the Legion.]
There was unmistakable power behind Rastujad’s words. His voice rang in my ears, and an involuntary chill ran down my spine.
"Could this be...?"
"It’s a Word of Power. He didn’t sprout wings or horns, but it seems Rastujad has gained vocal cords of his own."
The voice of a dragon.
Having gained the voice of a dragon, a creature at the pinnacle of all living things, through monster synthesis, Rastujad extended his hand toward the Twelve Apostles.
[Swear eternal loyalty to the Legion. Offer your spines to the Legion, and you shall gain the power of dragons and be reborn.]
[[[For the Legion.]]]
The Twelve Apostles bowed their heads before me.
They were freshly summoned, still-warm level 1 Ghoul Mages, but they were already prepared to lay down their lives for the Legion.
"Hmm... Rastujad, how many corpses can each of them control?"
[They should each be able to handle roughly one Big Slime.]
"So anything more than that is too much. Well... fine. Now that you’ve become a Dragonian Ghoul, let’s pick up where we left off and resume the conqu..."
"Legion Commanderrr!!!"
The entire dungeon rang with the thunderous shout. If Rastujad’s voice had a power that weighed on the mind, the voice that just echoed through was raw vocal force on a dragon’s level.
"Heh heh, reinforcements are here."
"W-we’re here."
"Welcome. Harpuia. And glad you could make it, Gray."
"For the Legion."
My harpy daughter Harpuia, who had grown even stronger after becoming a Dragonian, joined the dungeon conquest alongside Gray.
***
[At that moment, in the Baroness’s chambers at Raspica Castle.]
"Isn’t this my chance to shine?"
Luna, who had been lying in bed, clapped her hands with eyes sparkling.
"The second basement floor of the underground dungeon? Then I should be the one to go. The first basement floor is mine, after all. So doesn’t it make sense for me to handle the second floor too?"
"Admit it, this is really just a convenient excuse to go see Dad, isn’t it?"
"Meri, you already know, so can you cut me some slack? Please?"
Luna winked and clung to Meri’s side. Meri waved her hands dismissively at Luna, who was hugging her from behind and rubbing her chest against her back.
"No way. Do you have any idea how urgent things are right now? Hases, is the second basement dungeon tough?"
Grrrk.
"Hases says he rushed over the moment he found the second basement floor, so he doesn’t know either."
Lime spoke in a rather polished manner. Dressed as Baroness Virginia Virgo and handling administrative duties, she looked so natural that anyone seeing her for the first time would have no doubt she was the real Baroness.
"Then we don’t even know if it’s dangerous or not? My gut is telling me. It’s saying I’m needed wherever there’s danger!"
"It’s true that if Mom Luna went, things would get wrapped up in no time, but..."
Meri gauged the portal’s location and shook her head.
"Even if you go through the Avalon underground and reach Ras Vegas quickly, you’d have to run the rest of the way to the dungeon on foot."
"I bet even if I carried Hases on my back, I’d still be faster than him running."
Grrr.
"Hases says he agrees on that one."
"Where did she pick up that way of talking... Sigh. Fine. Things aren’t that dangerous here, so..."
"Luna, we have a problem..."
Beyond the door that was flung open stood the Cream Elf, 2nd Elder Nifela, bowing her head with a troubled expression.
"Your Majesty, we have a problem."
"When it’s just us, you can speak casually, Sis."
"But how could I possibly..."
Nifela glanced nervously at Lime and Meri, the mother-daughter pair. If the two of them, who were far closer to the Legion Commander than she was, found out she’d been treating the Queen casually like before, things could get quite awkward.
"We don’t mind."
"If you two agreed to keep things relaxed in private, that’s fine by us..."
Fortunately, Lime and Meri didn’t make a fuss about it. Nifela patted her chest in relief and continued.
"...It’s a report from the Guard members who were scouting the Leo Marquisate. A large number of soldiers are massing on the Marquisate’s side. It’s likely the Marquisate’s knight order."
"What? That can’t be right. You told me yourself they were fighting the Goddess Church, Sis. So why would the Marquis...?"
"What the Marquis is thinking is anyone’s guess. What should we do? Intercept them first?"
Luna’s expression soured at the enemy’s sudden movement. With the Legion Commander unable to respond immediately, a knight order gathering in the Marquisate posed a major threat to the Legion.
"...I think Mom Luna needs to stay at the castle after all."
"Me?"
"We need a deterrent against the enemy forces. Yes, if the Elf Queen is standing alongside the Baroness, they won’t dare try anything reckless. The people of Raspica are citizens of our Legion, but to the enemy, they’re essentially hostages."
The Queen’s power and authority. Those two things were what Meri planned to use to protect Raspica.
"Then what about the main base?"
"Simple. Hases."
Meri lifted the enormous Watermelon Popsicle that had been leaning against one side of the room.
"Would you mind carrying me on your back?"
Grrrr.
"Eek, EEEEEK?! What IS that thing?!"
"It’s a ghoul... It’s been here this whole time..."
"Phew. You scared me. If you came as a messenger, hurry up and take Miss Meri back with you."
"...Miss Nifela. Hases is the most senior member of the Legion. He became Dad’s subordinate right after Mom Lune, you know. Way more senior than you, Mom Luna."
"..."
A brief silence fell.
Grrr.
"Hases says you don’t need to worry about it."
"I’m sorry..."
Nifela, who had lived for thousands of years, apologized to a ghoul for the first time in her entire life.
***
"As expected, having more people really does speed up the hunting."
With the number of members in the raiding party for the second basement floor increasing, the hunting speed more than doubled.
[As you command, Master!]
Rastujad’s Twelve Apostles used dark magic to slaughter the slime dragons without mercy.
Despite being able to control only a single corpse at a time with dark magic, they manipulated the bodies of slime dragons whose magic stones had been ripped out and used them to devour other slime dragons.
[Kill them all... Harvest the magic stones... For the Legion...]
Rastujad chanted as if reciting an incantation, urging the Twelve Apostles onward. He continued controlling a Big Slime corpse to blow open the bellies of slime dragons, and the dead ones immediately became our prey.
Slash, slash!
An iron sword traced crescent arcs, carving through slime dragons without mercy. Despite having no magic power whatsoever, the slime dragons had their necks sliced clean through like jelly.
"Keh heh heh, witness the true power of a dragon!"
Gray was swinging his sword with pure glee. Unlike the others, he perfectly embodied the qualities of a dragonkin, displaying overwhelming might befitting his 5-star rank.
But the one producing the best results in this dungeon conquest wasn’t any of them; it was Harpuia.
"La, la, laaaa..."
Harpuia’s clear singing voice echoed throughout the entire cave. The sound bounced off the long corridors, passed through the slimes, and reverberated back to our ears.
And the sound that returned was distinctly different from the voice that had left Harpuia’s lips; it was the sound of slime dragons being torn to shreds.
Shred!
The slime dragons dropped like flies, as if being ground to pieces by invisible blades. The slime dragons that Rastujad, Gray, and the rest of us were killing were merely the stragglers that had survived Harpuia’s sonic attacks.
’She’s power-leveling like crazy.’
Maybe it was payback for her sluggish growth up until now. Every slime dragon torn apart by Harpuia’s sonic attacks became her experience points.
"Ah, so this is what they call a dragon’s breath."
Thanks to Harpuia’s breath, we had an incredibly easy time clearing out every last slime dragon in under an hour. Rastujad had already cleaned up a good portion of them, but Harpuia’s help shaved off a massive amount of time.
"Good work. We’re almost there. Shaitan?"
"Yes. Based on our position, this corresponds to the dungeon’s entrance area."
We arrived at the depths of the second basement floor. There was no door blocking the way, and we stepped into a massive cavern.
"...Just as I thought."
Strings of sticky fluid stretched in every direction inside the cavern. Trapped within slime cocoons were all sorts of monsters, and beyond them sat a small portal.
"So that’s the fate of the lowlifes who attacked our dungeon. ...But something’s odd."
"There are no enemies."
Only captured monsters, and no captors in sight. Had these creatures simply been caught by the slime dragons?
"Something’s..."
Plop.
Something sticky dripped onto the crown of my head. A hissing sound followed, and my scalp began to burn.
"Gah, shit?!"
I frantically ran my hand through my hair. My palm came away full of hair, bubbling and melting away in a fistful.
"Ah, damn it."
I couldn’t help but retch.
"Ambushing from the ceiling is MY signature move?!?!?"
Rummmble.
Slime dragons began plummeting from above, their maws gaping wide.