"Well.. As much as I would like to deny this, the numbers of the enemy invaders change nothing." Nicholas sighed as he grabbed a cup of Joe and took a sip from it, the cup being served to all monster leaders by the alraunes who were now helping in the war effort instead of being used as courtesans. "Whatever number they throw at us, nothing will change in our strategy. This is the best we can currently do with our current forces. At least that.. And I still refuse to call it that.. Gun will be useful when they reach the walls, although that would be one of the worst-case scenarios."

"And pray tell, what are the other worst-case scenarios?" I pursed my lips, my curiosity taking over my brain as my eyes stared directly into Nicholas'.

"One thing that I could recite from the top of my head is Drake somehow being put out of action." Nicholas shook his head, and I froze upon hearing that. "Not like the bastard is gonna die anytime soon. If they have a counter for that man, it'll be something along the lines of teleportation. Status effects don't work on him."

I cupped my chin, my mind going a thousand kilometers a minute as I imagined Drake not being here to help us with the war effort.

'Yeah, no, if that does happen, this invasion will go downhill very fast.' I grimaced, and Nicholas, as well as the other monster leaders, sympathized with my conclusions.

We all don't want to die and lose those important to us, and Drake is the strongest shield we currently have at our command.

"I'm not gonna tempt fate and say that I'll be careful." Drake suddenly spoke out from his seat; his previous mumblings already finished the moment I revealed the number count of our enemies coming for our heads. "Instead, I'll just say no promises."

"Eh, fair point." I shrugged, and the two of us shared a laugh, confusing the rest of the monsters and elves that were surrounding us.

Even in the direst of times, you can count on Drake and I to make fun of our current situations.. I'll chalk that up to Drake's Filipino heritage for being like that..

Like seriously, back on earth, even during flooding, Filipinos will still play at a gaming hub, even if their lower halves are already sinking beneath the water. Or how about the time when one Filipino played outside during a storm, pretending to be some kind of superman.

"Anyway, we should probably get ready." Our laughing stopped, and I regarded Nicholas, as well as the rest of the monster leaders, with serious eyes. "I assume that most of the preparations for our defenses are ready?"

"Ready and waiting." Nicholas looked up at the ramparts, prompting me to do the same. "The cauldrons are full, the ballistae are loaded, and our men are ready for bloodshed to commence, although I hope it doesn't come to that point."

"You and me both, Nicholas." I patted his shoulder, and from beside me, Drake snorted.

"Just better be ready when they reach the gates, though I doubt they'll be having fun when they see Mariona tearing them a new one." Drake chuckled before mumbling out the rest. "I swear, infinite ammo? What is this, a video game?"

Shaking my head, I looked at Mariona, who was content to just observe as a wallflower amongst the leaders of each monster species, as well as the de facto leader of the humans and demi-humans' faction.

"Mariona, get back up there to the gun turret, and please, for the love of all that is holy, don't riddle anymore holes in the forest." Mariona gave a shaky salute, and I couldn't help but snicker at her trembling arm. "Relax, I won't punish you, although Merethyl probably would. I observed that she liked nature, and you just gone and done reduced a sizeable area of trees into a mess of bullet-riddled groves."

At the end of my words, Mariona paled, and her trembling grew worse. Deciding to stop my teasing for now, I chuckled and pattered her shoulder.

"Get going." I said in a soft tone. "Inziz is probably waiting for you at the top by now. Merethyl is by the gate tending to last minute preparations. If you want to visit her, I don't mind. Just make sure that when the invaders arrive, you're already stationed at your post. Is that clear?"

"U-Understood!" Saluting once more, this time relaxed and determined, instead of the rigid post she adopted earlier, Mariona turned heel and quickly made a beeline for her sister, who was making sure that the able-bodied monsters, humans, and demi-humans were wearing their gear right.

"Krag, Lara, and Anduin should be by Mariona's side as well.. And Domino should be playing with Alice back in the Human Town, along with other children her age. She's also guarded by Chia, and a bunch of other primates." Placing a hand over my mouth, I recalled the various positions of those noteworthy people in my Dungeon. "Nicholas will be with the monster leaders, Drake will be with the vanguard, Mariona and Inziz atop of the ramparts, Chip will be with the snipers, Gong is also part of the vanguard.. What else did I miss..?"

"Uh, Jionni?" I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking at the person who did so, I saw Drake looking at me with a slight smile. "No need to overthink this. Just believe in your subordinates."

".. As corny as it is to say this, you're right." Both he and I chuckled, our sense of humor nearly identical to each other. "Anyway, good luck out there, and you better not get baited into a trap. You're an OP bastard, and I refuse to think a measly trap would get you in a bind."

"Hey! You're the one with an army at his beck and call!" Drake pointed at the numerous monsters, humans, and demi-humans all congregated in one spot as they all fell in line with their mish-mash of gear suited to their bodies.

"And I'm also pretty sure you could bring all of them, including me, to downtown with just your fists." I deadpanned, and Drake had the gall to look embarrassed. "Anyway, you better head over to the frontlines. Gong should already be there."

".. Fine. You still need to pay me extra." Drake grumbled, and I chuckled.

"Sure, what do you want? Some more eroges? Some more RPG eroges? Or more fighting eroges?"

"Fuck you." Drake flipped me the bird and headed off, leaving me busting a gut while he left.

"Oh.. Hahaha.. I needed that.." Wiping a tear that left my eye, I shift my attention towards the monster leaders and Nicholas, who observed my interactions with Drake. "Anyway, I'll be heading off as well. I'm the owner of this Dungeon, so it also falls to me to help in the efforts."

Materializing the cloak, mask, and boots that were undeniably from Drakhan's own armory, I vanished from plain sight, a feature I had discovered when playing around with the cloak.

What's scarier than a nimble assassin equipped with poison weapons that could vanish from sight?

A huge monster hefting a giant hammer that can also vanish from plain sight with just a single thought.historical

Grinning to myself, I left the safety of the town and also headed to the frontlines, the Bloodweep War Hammer already resting on my shoulders as I traversed the dirt road.

[]

[]

[]

~ Third Person POV ~

"So, that's the place." Linuel viewed the cave entrance with his eyesight enhancing magic. "Looks like an ordinary cave to me."

"Indeed, it does look like so, but we should be wary. Erika fell to this Dungeon, so who knows what kind of horrors awaits us inside that dark cavern."

"Right you are." Linuel stopped feeding his mana to his magic as he glanced at the human army he had brought along. "Set camp here. Scouting unit, ready your men, locate any traps in the area."

The soldiers saluted, and the scouts, ones garbed in robes with light leather armor hidden underneath, made their move. They had a short sword and a dagger hanging from their waists.

Only about 20 of their scouts moved ahead, carefully plotting out their movement and scanning the area for any traps they could see.

It wasn't long until they saw their first trap.

They quickly disarmed the trap with no words exchanged, showcasing their professionalism and experience. The rest of the scouts who were not disarming the trap went on ahead and found more traps littering the area, all of them looking cursed to give those that got caught in them a very bad day.

Traversing through the forest like it was their backyard, they found and swiftly disarmed traps that they discovered without any casualties or hang-ups.

Once they reached the mouth of the cavern, all of them looked at each other, sharing a wordless conversation. They ended up with everyone agreeing with each other and all of them quickly made their way back to the camp.

They knew the last raid never had any survivors. Why waste their lives trying to scout if there's a high chance of dying when setting foot inside the clearly dangerous Dungeon?

That's the job for the soldiers.

Heading back to the camp, they never noticed a black-furred monster handling a very high-tech bow, its sights trained on their leader's head.

Grinning, the monster packed up its bow and made its way back to the Dungeon.

"These humans will rue the day they dare confront the Dungeon of my master."