Chapter 408: Coming In Was Your Choice
All preparations were complete.
I had finished inspecting every key stronghold within the legion and perfectly positioned all available troops for defense based on each stronghold’s assessed combat strength.
"I’ve dispatched every soldier in the legion to their respective strongholds. Ironically, that makes the home base dungeon the weakest in terms of fighting power."
"But you are here, Master."
"Heh, well, that’s true."
Currently, only five people remained at the home base dungeon.
Me, Shaitan, Lune, and Rastujad and Hases, whom I’d kept at base just in case.
One representative from each of the four species stayed behind: orc, succubus, high elf, and undead.
If you swapped Shaitan for Lime, it would essentially be the original founding members of our legion, but Lime had to manage her barony as baroness right now.
"Once we start this, there’s no turning back. Are you ready?"
"We’ve been ready for a long time."
"If anything happens, we’ll be right by your side to help. Please begin without worry."
"...All right. Let’s go."
Once you’ve made up your mind, all that’s left is to act. I steeled my resolve and opened the system window.
"Minimum required facilities, clear. Danger level, clear. Combat strength, clear. All conditions... clear."
[Renovation: Would you like to raise the dungeon’s rank?]
[Expected Result: Grimfang Shek’s Dungeon (C)]
[Required Time: 24 hours]
[Reward: ????]
[Notice: Some facilities and functions will be unavailable during dungeon renovation.]
"Yes."
Ka-throoom!
The instant I pressed the button, the dungeon ceiling began shaking violently. It trembled so hard I thought an earthquake had struck. Clumps of dirt from the ceiling rained down on our heads.
"...Uh, um, shit?"
Just as the thought crossed my mind that I might have screwed up.
Crackle!!
A violet mist began spreading throughout the entire dungeon.
***
Dungeon Lords never stopped multiplying.
For the Dungeon Lords ranked 65th through 72nd, whenever one lost its lord, the system would automatically grant the authority to use the system to some random demon.
The lower the rank, the longer the resurrection interval, but once enough time passed after the previous lord’s death, a new Dungeon Lord inheriting that name was all but guaranteed to appear.
"The Demon King whispered to me through the system. He said I am destined to become the lord of the legion."
The man stood at the center of the clearing and raised his voice. The monsters gathered around him clapped in unison, echoing their enthusiasm for his words.
"My beginning may be as the 72nd, Andromalius, but my end shall be as the second Solomon. I will bring every Dungeon Lord to their knees before me."
The man, Andromalius, began to swagger as he pointed at his subordinates kneeling before him, one by one.
"Dantalian, Seere, Decarabia, Belial, Amdusias, Kimaris, Andrealphus. I defeated every one of you in uprisings, yet I did not kill you. Do you know why?"
"Because our lord intends to devour all 72 Solomon Dungeons whole."
Decarabia, a star-shaped jewel monster with a massive eye set in its center, began heaping praise upon Andromalius. Those beside it chimed in one by one, adding their own words of agreement.
"Hm? Belial, why have you nothing to say?"
"...My lord, you did indeed defeat us. No one would dare question your skill in marshaling troops and tactics."
Belial, a small, black-haired girl demon, bowed her head with a trembling voice.
"But please reconsider. From rank 64 and above, they possess a distinctly different level of power. In the past several weeks, ever since the lords of the 63rd and 64th changed, not once have their names been replaced. That is because they already launched their own uprisings and have since fortified their dun..."
"Shut your mouth! How can you hope to achieve greatness with that kind of mindset!"
Andromalius cut Belial off with a roar.
"So what if it’s the 63rd! Andrealphus was 65th! How long do you expect us to keep climbing one step at a time, crushing one enemy after another! It’s time to start taking two steps at once!"
"But...!"
"I will entertain no further objections. If you try to defy my will one more time, I will cast you into the system’s hell, where not even reincarnation will be possible."
"...I’m sorry."
Belial lowered her head. Once you became a Dungeon Lord’s subordinate, you were trapped forever in the system’s registry with no hope of reincarnation, unless that Dungeon Lord died.
For Belial, who longed for death, all she could do was hope that Andromalius would either succeed in becoming Solomon, or that this reckless and audacious path of uprisings would come to a swift end.
"Let us go! Open the portal gate! Our target is...!"
Andromalius shouted in a booming voice.
"Andras!!"
Whirrrr.
The portal opened. The elite soldiers Andromalius had gathered took up their weapons and assembled before it, one by one.
"My lord, allow me to take the vanguard!"
Kimaris, a twin-headed ogre, stepped forward wielding an enormous club. Andromalius mounted his war horse and pulled the reins taut.
"All forces, advance! Charge!"
Andromalius led his soldiers through the portal. As always, he crossed through with absolute certainty of victory.
"Huh...?"
Squirm, squirm.
"What... is all this?"
Squirmsquirmsquirmsquirmsquirm.
"Wh, FUUUUUUCK!!"
There, thousands upon thousands of slime dragons lay tangled together, writhing and squirming. What’s more, these were nothing like the slime dragons he knew; each one easily exceeded 16 feet in length.
"I’ve never seen anything like these! Are these really slimes?!"
"Eee, eeeeek! My lord, th, this isn’t right! There are way too many!!"
"I know! But, but...!"
Wham! Andromalius pounded the portal with his fist. It stood firm as a sealed iron wall, refusing to let anything pass through.
"We can’t go back for three days, DAMMIIIIIT!!"
At Andromalius’s scream, the giant slime dragons began pressing their bodies against one another. As they parted to either side, an enormous shadowy figure revealed itself through the gap.
"Ah... I’m fucked."
Andromalius nearly fainted at the sight of a colossal snake-slime that stretched all the way to the ceiling.
"Um, I’d like to leave now, please."
Andromalius waved his hand and knocked on the portal once more. Perhaps the system itself had grown irritated by his incessant pounding, because a red warning message appeared before him.
[Notice: Coming in was your choice, but leaving is not.]
[Notice: 71 hours and 58 minutes remain before the portal’s direction reverses!]
"Ngh, AAAAAAAAGH!!"
With Andromalius’s scream, the slime dragons squirmed forward and surged toward the soldiers like a tidal wave.
***
"No, seriously, isn’t this world just too damn unfair? How does someone snipe me with pinpoint precision the exact moment I upgrade my dungeon’s rank?"
"Maybe it’s just a coincidence?"
"No way. The world is clearly out to screw me over. There’s no other reason a portal should have opened."
Just in case, I had scattered my entire army to locations beyond my reach. And then, right on cue, as if sniping me with a scope, an uprising was launched against my dungeon. And by none other than the 72nd, Andromalius.
"This really pisses me off. Where does a measly 72nd-ranker get the nerve to start an uprising against me?"
"Wouldn’t every opponent you’ve ever challenged have thought the same thing? So please, let us move on and decide which name to seize with your new title. As a personal recommendation, I suggest the 36th, Stolas; the 31st, Foras; or the 25th, Glasya-Labolas."
"Too on-the-nose! I hate it!"
"Gasp.... I’m shocked...."
"What’s there to be shocked about?! Every one of those names ends in ’-ras,’ which is basically the same as slapping ’sex’ on them! Stol-sex, For-sex, Glasya-Labol-sex! Besides, I already have a name in mind, so don’t worry!"
If I were to abandon the name Rok Grimfang Shek and claim a new one, a Dungeon Lord’s name, there could be only one choice. I swallowed my frustration and reached the far end of basement 1.
"Halt. From this point, we begin the aggressive welcome party. Ptoo."
I spat on the floor and raised my axe high. The Seax Mk.2, newly forged after the one destroyed in the fight with Levis Ann, gleamed with its crescent-shaped axe blade.
"All right, prepare to charge...!"
I broke into a run. I took the lead and rounded the corner. If someone had crossed through the portal, my halberd would split their skull in tw...
Whoooosh!!
The Seax Mark 3 sliced through empty air. The halberd’s axe blade cut through nothing and carved into the ground. Contrary to our expectations, there was no portal.
"What the hell?!"
"The portal... isn’t here?"
The deepest point of basement 1. In other words, the spot farthest from the summoning facility at the dungeon’s center. By rule, the portal was supposed to appear there.
But the portal didn’t exist? Why?
"Did the system glitch? If it did, the administrators should show up."
"Hmm... Master, this is just a hunch, but."
Shaitan pointed one hand upward and the other downward.
"The portal has already opened. If so, it may have appeared somewhere deeper than the center. Not here, but at a point even farther from the core than this."
"...Shaitan, are you saying what I think you’re saying?"
Thump, thump. I lightly stamped my foot on the floor.
"You’re telling me that when the dungeon expanded because of the rank upgrade, a portal from the enemy’s uprising just happened to appear right there? Isn’t that a bit too contrived?"
"And yet that contrived scenario is exactly what happened. Coincidentally."
"Damn. My life is unbelievable. If we’re not careful, the new floor could become enemy territory."
Since my opponent was Andromalius, lord of the 72nd-ranked dungeon, I wasn’t particularly worried. Still, I didn’t think the lord of the 72nd dungeon would deliberately skip over everyone below him to target the 63rd on purpose.
"He’s got to be a shrewd one. That’s the only reason he’d come at me. ...But Shaitan, something’s strange. The portal should have formed along a path ’connected’ to our center, right?"
"That is precisely what I’m saying. ...The path may have already opened."
Shaitan pointed downward, her face pale.
"...It’s possible that a stairway to the next floor appeared somewhere in the underground tunnels the Flare Panteras dug out, or in the ceiling that Lime broke through."
"Ha."
I sank into deep despair.
"...We dug a crapload of holes, and you’re telling me we have to search every single one? With this many people?"
"Possibly...."
I should’ve gone easy on the traps. I let out a deep sigh and pointed downward.
"...Let’s search. We’ve got to. Let’s just go."
"Mmm, it’s going to be rough searching all of them."
"Indeed."
The two undead had no complaints whatsoever. But just as I was dreading it, Lune and Shaitan couldn’t muster the will to comb through the entire dungeon.
So I had to lead by example. I descended into the earthen burrow beneath basement 1 that the Flare Panteras had dug out, shouting as I went.
"Dammit, I was planning to spend the dungeon renovation just having a threesome!!"
""...!!""
Patter, pitter-patter.
The sound of Lune and Shaitan running reached my ears. Without looking back, I watched the retreating figures of the two heading up to the first floor and sighed involuntarily.
"I am going to kill those intruders."
[Were you truly planning to spend the time having sex?]
Rastujad, the Ghoul Lich, one of the two who hadn’t left yet, asked me through magic.
"After finishing up all the things I needed to do, if there was time left over?"
[What things would those be?]
"Enhancing you two. Why do you think I deliberately kept you both at base? I was going to use the dungeon renovation period to strengthen you."
[Enhance us... but we have limits.]
"Helping you break past those limits is my job as Legion Commander. I’ve already stocked all the necessary materials in storage. The only question is how much of the summoning facility’s functions are still available during the renovation... Dammit."
I continued descending and gave the two their orders.
"First, let’s find out where these bastards opened their portal. We’ll figure out whether to enhance you depending on how strong they are."
[We thought we’d been abandoned.]
"Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I abandon you?"
For ghouls, they sure said some strange things. I got up and walked over to the two, gently patting their shoulders.
"Did you really think I’d throw you away just because you can’t do Ras? Well... even if it’s not possible now, who knows? Maybe you’ll get it when you hit 4-star. Heh heh heh."
And that 4-star was exactly why I’d kept these two behind.
"Hey, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to give you guys your manhood. Even dullahans, fellow undead, are out there going at it with unicorns. You think I’d let the founding heroes of our dungeon miss out? Right? A world where even ghouls can have sex: Rastopia! Heh, you’re part of this legion too. You think I don’t know that? I’m actually a little hurt."
[....]
Rastujad said nothing. I patted both their shoulders once more and headed down.
"Well then, I’m counting on you. Someday, I’ll definitely evolve you two into Denalich and have you out there cracking the skulls of those human alliance bastards."
I threw myself into the earthen burrow the Flare Panteras had created. From above, the sound of the two ghouls clacking their jawbones echoed down into the pit.
[I never had one to begin with.]
"...Am I hearing things?"
The enemy’s arrival must have driven me out of my mind. I crawled through the burrow, searching for any sign of where the portal might be.
A short while later.
The first to discover where the portal had opened was Hases, and its location was a place I never could have imagined.