The front lines our legion currently faced were vast. Honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say every dungeon was a front line.

Seizure Battles for uprisings could come from below at any moment. On top of that, dungeons whose entrances opened at random in any location meant we never knew when adventurers might come walking in.

Expanding multi-bases naturally meant the enemy expanded too. That was self-evident, but I’d boldly chosen to expand anyway.

"Going Sauron mode."

Endless expansion. The Orias-Allocen-Hagenti dungeons would serve as our legion’s multi-bases and as perfect forward bases.

Not as dungeons for farming magic stones or training subordinates, but purely as gateways serving the role of devouring and slaughtering adventurers.

"Use the surplus magic stones to summon as varied a roster of subordinates as possible. Supply Percival and Amur with magic stones on a regular basis. And we’ll entrust them to run their dungeons freely."

Percival was an orc with my blood, and Amur had Agni, the former Flauros, attached as her adjutant. I lifted the seal I’d been holding back this whole time.

"Goblins, gargoyles, stone golems. Any kind of demon may be deployed. Treat my main base as you would a Demon King’s Army dungeon. I will train them up to the absolute maximum. Give it your all."

Percival and Amur, having received their new names, left their positions. I once again reviewed the legion structure Shaitan had organized.

***

◎ Rok Grimfang Shek - Main base, barracks, resource gathering, hub.

○ Gremory - Logistics base

▷ Allocen - Forward base (currently engaged with House Sagittarius and the dwarves)

○ Flauros - Prisoner cell (training room)

▷ Orias - Forward base 2, delegated.

○ Halphas - Giant Nest Tower (air force base)

○ Hagenti - Forward base

***

’Expanding multi-bases is the right call. With 72 dungeons being reorganized into 7 legions, we need to grab at least 10.’

Running a small number of dungeons wasn’t bad either, but ultimately, the more multi-base dungeons we had, the more risk and reward grew in tandem.

High risk, high reward. Crises caused by risk always come hand-in-hand with opportunity. So this unintended war that opened up with Count Sagittarius could become a chance for new gains in our combat power.

"Resurrect the Worwolves. Rastujad, relay this order to Percival. Build an Altar of Sacrifice and turn the corpses of humans who invade the dungeon into ghouls."

With the Ras Vegas front going quiet, sourcing human corpses had become difficult. This was a perfect chance to push the ghouls’ growth forward.

"Heavy cavalry, you said? Capture the warhorses. Kill them and strip the armor entirely. Whatever we capture will become our legion’s spoils. And if there happen to be dwarves, take them prisoner. We’ll make them into our legion’s slave artisans."

The situation was different from the Barony of Virgo, which had no resources to speak of. A count’s house wealthy enough to mobilize heavy cavalry for dungeon raids was bound to have considerable financial power.

"We’ll kill them and lay the foundation for our legion to advance one step further. I’ll entrust Gremory with full authority over the Sagittarius front."

I hadn’t closed the Gremory-Allocen portal. So the moment Allocen’s dungeon got captured, the enemy could cross over into Gremory’s dungeon.

"I’ll establish a new division within the legion. We’ll call it the [Gremory Division]."

Right now it was just Allocen’s dungeon, but the division’s scale would gradually grow.

The more I expanded the legion’s power, the more Gremory’s division could grow into a force on the scale of another legion.

"I’m counting on you with the division, Gremory."

[Of course. Leave it to me.]

Gremory, who’d recovered her one wing using demonic fluid, was burning with vengeance.

[Thanks for the ghoul support. And the resurrection too. Oh, while you’re at it, send me about ten Cookie elves. With their snipers, even the enemy’s heavy armor should be easy to pierce.]

"...Should I send Luna?"

[We don’t need that much. It’s just because we’re right after a battle. They’re not a force we can’t handle. It’s about time you started trusting your subordinates too.]

"Yeah. ...You’re right."

Charging out at the enemy myself was the most effective approach, but I only had one body. I couldn’t keep running across multiple front lines forever.

"I’ll send 20 Cookie elves. There are still Cream elves at the main base, so don’t worry about that."

[Don’t worry. I’m phenomenal at defense. The only man who’s ever penetrated my virginity is you, and the only one who’s ever penetrated a dungeon I was defending is you too. Heh heh.]

"...That’s a pretty arousing joke for one meant to ease the tension."

The only one who’d ever conquered Gremory’s precious place was me. Strangely, that thought put me at ease.

"Take good care of Gremory, Percival."

[Leave it to me. I’ll lay down my life to protect her.]

"You’re a dungeon owner now, so if you die, you can’t be revived. What’s all this about laying down your life?"

[...My apologies.]

Dungeon owners can’t be revived if they die. Unlike cases where they merely become subordinates while keeping their names, when they truly become a dungeon’s owner, even the legion’s master can’t bring them back.

"Your life now exists only once. Don’t forget that, Percival."

[I’ll never die, and I’ll defend the legion.]

Death. That was the ultimate reason I hadn’t been able to just appoint anyone as a dungeon owner up to this point.

"Don’t die. Whatever you do."

***

"The Legion Commander does worry quite a lot."

"Of course. Just look at whose son he is. Hahaha."

Allocen, formerly Percival, who’d just received the name Allocen from Rok, drew his freshly sharpened sword.

"Lady Gremory. What should I do now?"

"Hold the line. Just survive until the Cookie elves arrive."

"Wouldn’t that reveal to the enemy that we have elves in our legion?"

"Dead men tell no tales. Just kill all of them. Listen carefully. Our division’s basic principle is this."

Whoosh! Gremory flapped her newly sprouted wing and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Kill the men, ravage the women!"

"...Coming from you, Lady Gremory, that sounds rather strange."

"That’s how all demons do it, you know? Your Legion Commander is the unusual one. Forget it. What’s the point of going over old ground? They’re about to come in."

"No, my point was.... No, never mind. Yes, they just came in."

Percival shivered at the phantasmal display floating before his eyes, but swallowed hard and raised his hand into the air. It was his first time using a system window, but it was a new power he’d have to get used to.

[Notice: Intruders have entered Allocen’s dungeon!!]

"Enemy attack."

"Yeah, I can see them too. This dungeon really is wide open."

The previous Allocen had torn down all the walls of the dungeon. So the dungeon was barely different from a wide open plain.

"If we’d fought here, we wouldn’t have been spotted by the humans, which would’ve been nice. But going out there to crush them in head-on combat, tch."

"It couldn’t be helped. If we’d fought here, Allocen wouldn’t have meekly accepted defeat." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"How do you know?"

"A hunch. A warrior’s hunch."

Grrr.

The Worwolf guarding Percival’s side started baring its teeth. Pointed by the wolf’s sharp fangs, more than a dozen heavy cavalrymen rode their horses through the dungeon entrance.

"You there, Allocen! Today is the day we end this war once and for all!"

Among the heavy cavalrymen, a knight with white feathers on his armor shouted at the top of his lungs. At that, Percival stepped forward and lifted his head high.

"Name."

"What?"

"State your name, human."

"...You. I’ve never seen you before."

"You came looking for me, didn’t you. I am [Allocen]."

Percival declared his other name, the one bestowed upon him by the Legion Commander. When the orc, not a troll, claimed the name of Allocen, the knights and cavalrymen burst into laughter and raised their weapons.

"Hahaha! Allocen, so he really is dead! And you’ve inherited the name of the new Allocen!"

"Something like that."

"Foolish creature! You’re trapped like a rat in a jar! Now die quietly for the honor of our House Sagittarius!"

The knights were riding high. But Percival, the orcs, and the Worwolves drew their weapons one by one and stepped forward without yielding an inch.

"Honor, you say. Then we’ll fight for the honor of our legion as well."

Step. Step.

Between the orcs and Worwolves, new soldiers revealed themselves. Among gaunt giants whose skin was wrapped in black tights, a dark-robed mage emerged silently.

[They’ll make for fine magic stones.]

"A, a lich?!"

[Not a lich yet, but to become one, I need more magic stones.]

The ghoul mage, Rastujad, twisted his jawbone and lifted his staff. The ghouls clad in layered tights raised their hands and stepped forward.

[Godmother Gremory, the dead knights and warhorses will be turned into ghouls. They’ll become the flesh and blood of our ghoul corps.]

"Right. But don’t kill them yet. Just hold the line."

[What?]

"With their faces hidden behind those helmets, can you tell whether they’re male or female?"

Gremory mimed drawing a bow with her hand and grinned playfully.

"Let’s hold out until the snipers arrive. They’ll be here soon. And...."

Lick. Gremory ran her tongue across her lips and smiled wickedly.

"It’s faint, but I’m picking up a scent.... The scent of a female."

Whoosh.

Gremory stretched out her hand into the air and conjured a fireball.

"Want to start by closing the door for a moment?"

The fireball Gremory launched flew toward the ceiling of the dungeon entrance. The heavy cavalrymen who’d entered the dungeon turned their mounts in shock, but the warhorses instinctively bucked away from the massive fireball, throwing everything into chaos.

Boom!!

The fireball struck the dungeon entrance. Dust scattered as the dungeon’s entrance came crashing down. Gremory, with a tired expression, ran a hand through her hair.

"Doing this doesn’t actually make the entrance disappear. They’ll be hard at work clearing the rocks from outside, right? Heh heh, in the meantime, what’ll happen to the ones trapped inside, I wonder...?"

[A fine plan. Let me add one more thing.]

Rastujad thrust his staff forward.

[The trolls of this dungeon, it seems they’ve been eating quite a lot of humans.]

Grrrrr.

As Rastujad’s staff began emitting a purple glow, something started rising up from beneath the dungeon. Each one was clad in rusted, broken armor, armor similar to the cavalry’s.

[Time to put them to use.]

"Gh, gyaaah!!"

A knight screamed and swung his spear. The ghoul Rastujad had hastily summoned had its head sliced clean off.

"Oh my, not bad. But what to do."

Rumble rumble.

As the ground continued to shake, the cavalrymen didn’t know what to do. The sound of stones being hurriedly cleared could be heard from outside, but ghouls were closing in on them right now.

"Will the ones outside coming to rescue you arrive faster, or will the ones coming to put air holes in your heads arrive faster?"

Unfortunately, the result was self-evident.

***

Having entrusted the battle with House Sagittarius to the Gremory Division, I immediately ordered the post-battle troops to rest.

’I don’t care if Allocen’s dungeon falls. We can hold them at Gremory’s dungeon.’

As long as Percival retreats safely without dying, that’s enough. A penalty like losing the dungeon owner’s name from abandoning the dungeon and fleeing didn’t matter.

"Honestly, I’d love to storm into House Sagittarius right this minute."

"Since you can’t, that’s why you’re sitting here doing this, isn’t it?"

"True."

Currently, I’d gathered the executives at my main base to urgently discuss post-battle matters. War was war, but we needed serious discussion about where to spend the spoils from the Seizure Battles.

"Half the magic stones go to storage at the main base. Twenty percent to Gremory, twenty percent to Flauros, and the remaining ten percent will be made into demonic fluid and distributed to the elves."

"What about the magic stones at the main base?"

"Use them to revive fallen subordinates. The magic stones at the main base are strictly for emergency support. The stones we use here will be airlifted from the sub-dungeons and Spica Castle. ...Damn."

My vision suddenly went white for a moment. Everyone around me made a fuss as they approached, but I calmed them down.

"I’m fine. ...No, I should rest for a bit. Shaitan, take me to the training room."

"You’re shaving off your lifespan. Just rest properly."

"A new enemy has appeared, so I need to draft new strategies. Don’t worry. I’m..."

Plop.

"You’re the one who shouldn’t worry. Just rest properly."

"L, let go...!"

I was buried in Luna’s chest, completely unable to move. Luna held me tight against her chest and dragged me off somewhere.

"Get some sleep. Trust your subordinates. If anything happens, I’ll come running."

"..."

Luna wouldn’t let me go. In the end, with my head buried in Luna’s chest, I quietly closed my eyes.

"It’s the ceiling of a dream."

"...Why did you catch on right from the start?"

"Because that’s exactly the kind of thing you’d do, isn’t it? Heretic."

For the first time in a long while, I sat face to face with the human Shaitan.