A hidden space spread out beyond the abyss of darkness. A group of troops was advancing through a crumbling corridor lined with sheer stone walls. There were about fifty of them, and all of them were elite soldiers clad in thick armor and armed with sharp spears and blades.

They continued forward, stepping across the moss-covered stone floor as magical lights illuminated their dark path. After a long while, they arrived at a vast space, like the plaza of a buried underground city. Half-destroyed statues stood scattered around, and the remnants of collapsed buildings served as pillars, supporting the ceiling of the massive cavern.

Sir Mark, red knight of the Kretas Order and leader of the group, frowned. "This place feels wrong."

An inexplicable chill ran down his spine.

Glancing around, Sir Mark issued his command. "Everyone, stay on guard!"

As if on cue, faint wails began echoing from every direction. At the same time, countless shadows materialized and surrounded the soldiers. The soldiers clenched their teeth as they raised their spears and swords.

"They’re here!"

"Damn wraiths!"

Battle erupted immediately. Swords and spears clashed from all directions, while flames and lightning from spells swept across the field. Even against these fearsome wraiths, the imperial troops did not retreat.

Sturdy soldiers raised their shields, blocking the wraiths’ assaults, while swift soldiers thrust their spears and blades between the gaps to counterattack. Weapons clashed with wraiths, sending shockwaves rippling in every direction.

Their weapons had been imbued with magic from the imperial magic tower, allowing them to cut down even wraiths. The weakened wraiths were finished off by knights and mages.

Powerful fire spells belonging to the imperial magic tower burned away the darkness repeatedly, while crimson aura blades slashed down the abominations. The wraiths screamed in anguish as they were struck down one after another.

But the wraiths were not easily defeated. Even the slightest gap in defense was enough for them to slip inside like winter’s chill. Cries of pain erupted from the soldiers here and there.

They had barely finished dealing with the emerging wraiths when Sir Mark, who was trying to catch his breath, witnessed a despairing sight. "Th-that’s...!"

A massive knight, clad entirely in pitch-black armor, was dragging an enormous greatsword as it approached them. At a glance, it appeared to be just a towering knight, but there was one clear difference. The black knight had no head.

"A headless knight!"

It was a monster among monsters, known only in the empire’s legends. A Dullahan had appeared.

"Don’t tell me... even monsters like that show up in this dungeon?"

That was not the end of it. From the opposite end of the plaza came a seductive laugh, and a beautiful woman appeared from the shadows.

Long, red hair swayed down past her shoulders, framing a graceful and enchanting smile beneath heavy eye makeup, and her light armor revealed her slender waist, thighs, and alabaster skin in a tempting display.

One of the Kretas knights clenched his jaw. It was a monster he had often heard about in legends. "A succubus!"

Everyone was stunned. A dullahan and a succubus appearing together? Even for a dungeon, this was an extraordinary occurrence. Though a few soldiers briefly had other thoughts...

A succubus?

Seriously?

For some reason, her seductive expression looks oddly awkward...

All such idle thoughts were instantly swept away by what happened next. The succubus suddenly swung a blue aura blade while charging at the Kretas knights. A dazzling swordlight flared brilliantly, slicing through the darkness in a burst of brilliance. The knights recoiled in shock.

"Gah!"

"How is a succubus using aura?!"

It was a situation that was difficult to comprehend. Wasn’t a succubus supposed to be a monster that seduced men with its inappropriate attire and inappropriate body, leading them into pleasant acts? The results might not be pleasant, but at least the process was said to be enjoyable.

And yet, this succubus was suddenly attacking them with a sword. Knights, caught off guard, fell one by one. And the succubus wasn’t simply strong either. It was extraordinarily skilled with the sword.

Despite wearing a revealing, indecent outfit, her swordsmanship was at a level far beyond what they could handle.

What kind of succubus is this?

Did she spend her time training with the sword instead of seducing men?

The knights were stunned by the turn of events, but they quickly made a decision. If they had been facing aura users from Search Black, they would have staked their lives to fight back, for the honor of the Kretas knight order. But since these were dungeon monsters, reporting the situation took priority.

"Retreat! Fall back!"

The soldiers withdrew first, followed by the mages and knights. True to form for dungeon monsters, the Dullahan and the succubus did not pursue them as they retreated. Most dungeon monsters were like restless spirits, rarely leaving their domains. But that was the case for normal dungeon monsters. As such, they couldn’t help but wonder if it applied to dullahans and succubi.

Who knows...?

Leaving their doubts behind, the Kretas knights and scouts disappeared into the darkness, planning to retrace their path out of the dungeon. Once they had retreated far enough that all traces of them were gone, the Dullahan’s voice changed. "Well, that’s over."

It was no longer the eerie voice of a monster but the ordinary voice of a human. The heavily armored figure began squirming and twisting, and soon, the face of a sturdy man popped out from the neck area of the armor. It was Varos.

"Ah, my neck. I’m going to get a hunchback at this rate," he said.

In truth, it was simply armor made with an unusually thick section around the shoulders. He had created a hollow space and kept his head lowered the entire time. If one looked closely, the shoulder placement was much lower than normal. Not that anyone would have noticed such details when their lives were on the line.

The succubus’s demeanor also changed abruptly. Just moments ago, she had been flaunting her alluring figure provocatively, but now she covered herself with both arms, tiptoeing over to the side of the plaza.

She quickly pulled out a cloak, wrapped it around her body, and let out a deep sigh of relief. "Ugh, that was embarrassing."

Varos spoke to her as she vigorously wiped off her makeup. "Good work, Lady Serati."

Serati, now having removed all her makeup, wore a sullen expression. "Do we really have to do this?"

Varos shrugged. "But it’s effective, isn’t it?"

"Well, yes, but..." Serati didn’t actually have any complaints about the operation itself.

If all it took was a bit of disguise to repel the enemy without taking lives, then so be it. It was just that she felt a strong sense of self-loathing the entire time she was carrying out the plan.

After quickly changing clothes, she glanced at the succubus disguise armor she had worn earlier, and her self-loathing deepened further.

She muttered, "This... it doesn’t cover anything but the vital areas. Can it even be called armor?"

Varos replied in a sympathetic tone, "Of course not."

Serati asked, "Right? So it’s really useless, isn’t it?"

Varos countered, "Still, it’s better than being completely naked, isn’t it?"

"Well, that’s true." Serati quietly packed up the armor.

Yeah, I’ll probably have to pretend to be a succubus again someday, so it’s better to wear this than nothing at all.

She couldn’t afford to lose it. Knowing Karnak’s personality, if she did, he would surely force her into something even worse.

She shouted, "Don’t you dare make Lapicel wear something like this!"

Serati glared as she spoke, and Varos’s expression turned serious. "Come on, even we wouldn’t make a minor do something like that."

At least that was a relief. It seemed they still had some sense of decency.

Wait, but it’s okay for me to do it?

It felt unfair, but she was quite satisfied with the results. All the intruders had safely retreated. There were injuries, but no deaths. Considering that those soldiers were actually imperial troops with no real connection to the Cult of the Black God, it was fortunate.

Serati let out a small, wry laugh. "If someone saw this, they’d think Lord Karnak was a merciful man, sparing even his enemies."

***

Beneath a massive cliff lay a gaping cave. Through that underground maw, where ancient architecture and rock had become one, the remnants of a defeated unit emerged.

It was the Fourth Recon Unit led by Sir Mark.

Looking around, he murmured weakly, "Phew, somehow, we made it out alive."

Outside the cave, hundreds of tents had been erected, forming a massive encampment. It was the campsite of the subjugation army. With nearly three thousand troops stationed there, its scale was no small matter.

As they trudged forward with their wounded in tow, soldiers from other units whispered among themselves.

"Looks like Sir Mark’s unit got hit too."

"But at least it seems there were no fatalities."

"This dungeon... it’s truly beyond comprehension."

After ensuring his men could rest, Sir Mark headed toward the center of the camp.

There stood the command tent where the subjugation army’s leadership was stationed. It was time to report the intelligence they had gathered inside the dungeon.

"So, a headless knight and a succubus, you say?" Hearing the report, Elezar gestured to the mages standing behind her. "Update the records."

The mages, buried in large maps and piles of documents, moved their quill pens swiftly across parchment.

After sending Mark away, she fell into thought for a moment. The composition of these monsters is strange. A succubus in an underground dungeon like this?

Yet, she herself hadn’t even known a dungeon existed here. Since unknown phenomena were occurring in an unknown place, she decided it wasn’t worth dwelling on for now. In any case, securing the dungeon’s geography takes priority now. Leaning back in her chair, Elezar recalled the situation from three days ago.

Only then will we be able to properly conquer it.

Whether Diogres had truly allied with necromancers, or had used some other means to establish himself deep within the dungeon, remained uncertain. But one thing was clear. Since the target had holed up inside the dungeon, they would have to crawl in to drag him out.

The problem was that this nameless dungeon was no ordinary structure. It was large enough to conceal over a thousand troops. It ranked among the largest of dungeons. To fortify themselves inside and fight? It was the textbook definition of a siege defense.

In that case, we’ll respond with a siege of our own.

They had scoured the surrounding area to identify and block off all the entrances that could serve as routes for large troop movements. She couldn’t be certain they had found every entrance, but at the very least, they had confirmed all the paths through which a large military force could pass.

Then, leaving only the largest entrance unblocked, they established their camp around it. Was it luck that a clearing near the cliff was spacious enough to accommodate three thousand troops? Of course not.

If there wasn’t space, she could simply make it. That was the power of tenth-circle magic. archmage Elezar had unleashed her authority, reducing trees and undergrowth that had stood firm for millennia to ashes in a matter of moments.

With the campsite thus prepared, they had continuously dispatched recon units to investigate the interior of the dungeon. Once they had pinpointed the enemy’s location, the next steps would simply be a continuation of siege warfare.

It seems he fell for the schemes of the Twilight Cult... Elezar smiled faintly as she looked up at the ceiling of the command tent. You made a mistake, Diogres.

To use a dungeon as a fortress and engage in a siege? Did he think just anyone could pull that off? She knew well from experience, both as one who had been on the receiving end and one who had done it.

Even in her past life, only the most seasoned necromancers could truly utilize dungeons to their full potential.

Yes, someone like Lord Tesranach during his days as the Monarch of Death.