The remnants of a massive ancient castle stood buried underground. Once-towering spires, now half-broken, stood like pillars holding up the cavern ceiling. Moss on the stone ceiling glowed like starlight, twinkling above. In this place, beautiful in its own way, a fierce battle was unfolding.

"Don’t fall back!"

"Shield bearers, forward!"

"All units, charge!"

It was not a monster attack within the dungeon, but a battle between humans. The expedition scouting units were locked in a brutal fight against the forces of Diogres, the two sides clashing across the crumbling castle walls.

Aura users on both sides clashed with their aura blades, unleashing deafening roars that shook the battlefield. Behind the lines, the mages of the Tower of Dawn and the imperial magic tower hurled spells in a desperate attempt to shift the tide of battle.

In the chaos, over a hundred soldiers, half-mad and eyes glazed, swung their longswords wildly as they charged at the enemies before them. Those who sought to break through the dungeon’s depths and those who sought to stop them clashed in that dark underground world, spilling red blood across the stone floors.

Yet, surprisingly, few actually died. As soldiers on both sides began to fall one by one, it was the forces of Diogres who first began to withdraw.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Take the wounded with you!"

The expedition force did not pursue the retreating enemy. Their commander, Sir Kalt, shouted above the heads of the excited soldiers. "Everyone, return to base!"

The orders Kalt had received from Dreltein were to establish strongholds throughout the dungeon and construct a complete encirclement. Now that they had secured this area, there was no need to risk an unnecessary chase. It would only be a greater loss to lose the ground they had just taken in a potential counterattack.

Kalt summoned a messenger and issued his orders. "Report to Lord Dreltein. The southern stronghold has been secured."

***

Sir Kalt did not have long to savor the victory. Barely half a day after establishing the stronghold and setting up camp, they were struck by a counterattack. But it was not an attack from Diogres’ forces.

A monstrous beast, like a bipedal mix of lion and bear, let out a chilling roar as it charged into the resting scouts. It was a dis beast. Behind it, gargoyles, the winged fiends of the dungeon, took to the air, seizing control of the cavern ceiling with the beat of their heavy wings.

"Damn it!"

"Dungeon beasts!"

"All units, prepare for battle!"

Even in the face of the sudden attack, the scouts of the expedition fought valiantly. Led by the red aura blade of Kalt, they cut down the charging beasts again and again without end. The mages and soldiers maintained strict formation as they fought back against the onslaught.

Their struggle was far from in vain. Not only did they withstand the onslaught of dozens of beasts, but, astonishingly, not a single soldier died. It was proof of how truly elite these forces were.

Yet, the expression on Kalt’s face was dark. "Damn it..."

It was true that there were no deaths, but there were far too many wounded. They had just fought a fierce battle and, before they could even properly rest, had been thrown back into combat. The fighting force had been cut to less than half of its former strength.

"There’s no helping it." True to his duty as an imperial knight, Kalt made the right decision. "We’ll retreat to the surface, reorganize, and then return."

He conveyed his orders, encouraging the soldiers. "Prepare for a full withdrawal!"

The soldiers, who had already felt great unease about remaining in the dungeon, readily obeyed. The preparations for withdrawal were completed many times faster than it had taken to set up camp.

After letting out a sigh, Kalt led the scouts away from the stronghold. Once more, darkness and silence returned to the ruins of the underground fortress. Then, a faint presence shattered the silence.

"Oh, it worked." A head popped up over the crumbling walls of the fortress.

It was a handsome man with tawny hair—Leven Strauss. After surveying the surroundings, Leven grinned and spoke to his subordinate. "Would you mind delivering a message to Master Diogres? Tell him that we’ve re-captured the stronghold."

***

Upon receiving the report, Dreltein frowned. The pace of the conquest was painfully slow. Most of the units they had deployed were falling back, returning to the surface. It was all because of the unpredictable movements of the dungeon’s monsters and evil spirits.

Contrary to his expectations, Diogres’ forces were skillfully controlling the monsters and spirits within the dungeon. The entire dungeon moved as if it were a single living organism, repelling intruders with precision that rivaled even the most seasoned necromancers.

If that were all, Dreltein might have simply conceded that the Twilight Cult was surprisingly adept at mastering the dungeon. But there was one thing he simply could not understand.

Despite all of this, his forces had barely suffered any actual losses. A force of three thousand had been fighting throughout the dungeon for days, yet the death toll barely reached double digits. They were continuously suffering defeats, yet taking no real losses?

At first glance, it seemed contradictory, but there was a reason.

Diogres’ forces thoroughly avoided direct engagements, relying on monsters and spirits to defend their positions. Even if clashes between human forces broke out, they would retreat immediately, leaving the monsters to handle the defense.

The monsters, however, never pursued the retreating soldiers of the empire. They merely guarded their territory and did not give chase. Faced with this, any commander had two options: either secure the stronghold at all costs, accepting heavy losses, or withdraw temporarily, regroup, and launch a renewed assault.

Any sensible commander would choose the latter. It was the only way to preserve troops and increase the chances of victory. In practice, it was common to retreat, regroup, and then strike again, defeating the monsters and spirits to secure an area.

And through this repeated cycle, one undeniable truth became clear: In the unique conditions of a dungeon, no matter how many regular soldiers one brought, they were of little use against monsters and spirits.

No, it was worse than them being useless. They were liabilities. Ordinary soldiers could not endure the fear inflicted by spirits that aura users could easily withstand. Poison clouds, frost, and malice that mages could ignore were deadly to soldiers.

Battles that elite knights and mages could have won were often lost because the soldiers were caught up in them, forcing the units to retreat. Thus, voices began to rise among the ranks.

—There is no need to sacrifice innocent soldiers

—We will go in ourselves.

—They cannot utilize their soldiers properly inside the dungeon either. A small elite force would be more effective.

Naturally, such suggestions could not be accepted. Wouldn’t that be playing directly into the enemy’s hands? And so, strict orders were issued.

—Retreat will not be permitted. Secure the dungeon’s interior at any cost, regardless of the sacrifices.

Both the Kretas Order and the imperial magic tower were fiercely loyal to Dreltein and Elezar. Given such a stern order, it was expected they would press forward, ignoring whether the soldiers lived or died. But that wasn’t what happened.

—We are quite lacking...

—We have forced them to issue such orders...

Any true commander knew better than to recklessly drive soldiers to their deaths. Elezar and Dreltein had lived their entire lives upholding such principles, and everyone had witnessed this firsthand. Why, then, would such people give such an order?

—They had no choice, to maintain morale.

A commander could not openly say, Retreat if you wish to live.

—They surely had no choice but to say it...

—A true knight must understand the hidden will of their lord.

The Kretas Order prided themselves on being true knights. Thus, they saw the orders as mere formalities and continued to protect their soldiers’ lives while advancing and retreating as needed, not even bothering to hide it.

Dreltein frowned. "Seriously, they’re still retreating?"

Elezar asked, "What should we do, Dreltein?"

Would the two then execute those who had disobeyed orders to enforce strict military discipline? They could not. They were still heroes of the empire. The moment they lost their reputation, their influence over the empire would crumble.

Elezar let out a helpless laugh. "So, even this can become a problem."

Dreltein wore a similar expression. "I can’t tell if this was intentional or a coincidence."

There was a tactic in warfare where one would deliberately avoid killing the enemy, instead wounding them to burden their forces with the care of the injured. It was a method Teslanach had often used during his days as the Monarch of Death.

Dreltein pointed out," But this isn’t quite like that, is it?"

The point of that strategy was to burden the enemy by increasing the number of wounded within their ranks. Diogres’ forces, however, did not operate in that way. They were doing everything possible to ensure that the enemy retreated alive and unscathed.

On the surface, it resembled the ideals preached by those who claimed all human life was precious and that even the lives of their enemies should not be taken lightly. But the result?

They had deliberately spared all the regular soldiers, thoroughly imprinting upon the enemy just how much of a burden they were.

Dreltein muttered, sounding as if he himself was confused, "Is he naive... or is he vicious?"

Either way, with the situation having come to this, a decision had to be made. Would they continue surrounding the dungeon, pointlessly repeating advances and retreats? Or would Elezar and Dreltein finally take the field themselves, leading their elite forces into the depths?

"We can’t just keep maintaining the current state when we know it’s pointless..." Elezar unfolded the detailed maps of the dungeon interior she had been creating. "Shall we head in ourselves, Dreltein?"

Dreltein made a vague expression. "To be honest, we’ve pushed them plenty hard already."

They had already assessed nearly the entirety of Diogres’ forces. The enemy consisted of the elite mages of the Tower of Dawn, the aura users of Search Black, and Karnak’s faction. Even when combined, they still fell significantly short when compared to the elites of the expedition.

In truth, there was almost no possibility that Elezar and Dreltein would lose if they simply decided to enter now. The only reason they had opted for a siege strategy was because they knew the enemy understood this as well and would have prepared something in response. They merely wanted to ensure absolute certainty.

"But with things as they are, we have no choice but to play along to some extent." Elezar suddenly smiled. "And whatever measures they’ve prepared, it doesn’t matter, does it?"

Aside from having the imperial court mages and the martial king of Kretas, they possessed one more overwhelming power. With them was a monster among monsters who could face an army alone, Beltia, the martial king of Cyphers.

"As long as they don’t know she’s here, any plan they’ve prepared is meaningless." Dreltein’s expression also relaxed. "And even if they did know, there’s nothing they could do about it."

No matter how brilliant a strategy or tactic might be, it was meaningless without the strength to execute it. They had a single Diogres Kolon on the enemy’s side, while they had an archmage and two martial kings on theirs. No matter the variable, there was no way for the enemy to overcome that disparity.

"Good." Dreltein made his decision. "We move."

***

Karnak received the report on the enemy’s movement and smiled faintly. "Now that’s the Elezar and Dreltein I know."

Those who were sharp with calculations were easy to predict precisely because of their sharpness. They would never tarnish their reputation by pushing their soldiers into pointless death. It was more profitable by calculation to take the field themselves.

Everything had gone according to Karnak’s expectations, thanks to the Kretas Order and the imperial magic tower moving exactly as he had hoped.

"Now I understand why you kept nagging me to value human life, Serati," admitted Karnak.

Serati was dubious. "Truly?"

"Yeah." Karnak spoke with a face as if he had achieved enlightenment. "It makes it so much easier to deceive people who value human life."

"That’s not exactly what I meant, but all right." Serati let out a sigh but didn’t argue further. At least he avoided unnecessary killing, so this will have to do.

However, there was still one problem left unsolved. Resting his chin on his hand, Karnak fell into thought. "Now, what do we do about Beltia? There’s really no solution for that."