Out of all the mazes I’ve tackled while raiding dungeons, the one that pissed me off the most was Andras’s maze.

Building a dungeon in a spiral shape and then adding forks in the road to slow down the invader’s advance, that kind of structure was pretty much guaranteed to piss off any intruder.

’If I’d had the slime dragon back then, I would’ve just punched straight through in a direct line.’

Considering that the shortcut escape through the ceiling in Andras’s dungeon was basically a straight-line route, going in a direct line really was the best way to raid a place.

If the traps are on the floor, just eat up all the floor traps while pushing forward.

If the traps are on the ceiling, chew through the ceiling while pushing forward.

I’d been so focused on playing it safe that I figured you had to remove the traps, I never once thought about just tunneling right through the middle between the forked paths.

’Lime really is something else.’

As the poster child of shoddy construction work, she knew exactly the most efficient way to get the job done. And she knew exactly how to mess with people who’d carefully set up all those traps.

Traps are meant to be avoided.

If someone long-jumps over a spike floor or flies over it, the trap-setter might be a little annoyed, but they’ll let it slide. The person got past the trap using their own ability, after all.

But if you avoid the traps by tunneling through somewhere completely different from the intended route, that’s a whole different story.

"These idiot dungeon owners. How are they all falling for the same one-trick pattern?"

"Because it’s a tactic that goes beyond common sense."

"Good thing it’s not a structure that gets talked about."

If there was a community for dungeon owners, this topic would’ve already blown up. Something like, "That psycho 6X ranker doesn’t even bother raiding dungeons properly, he just eats through other people’s dungeons with slimes to win the Seizure Battles."

"Lune, how far in do you think we’ve come?"

"About a third?"

"Yeah? And there’s still no response from them? This bastard is a total chicken, isn’t he?"

Hagenti, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can keep you with our legion. The enemy has crossed the front door and made themselves at home in the living room causing trouble, and they still haven’t sent any troops. What the hell is their plan?

’They’re up to something.’

Still, as the 48th ranker, they wouldn’t just leave their troops sitting around. While I was lost in thought, Lime hurriedly pulled the slime dragons back.

"I knew it. Something’s up, right?"

"Yeah. Apparently there’s a huge room up ahead. All the enemy monsters are gathered in there."

"How many?"

"Roughly... 50?"

"That’s a lot of them."

They came out to intercept us, but it looks like they’re waiting so they can fight on a battlefield that favors them. I sketched out the dungeon’s layout on a piece of parchment and roughly checked our position.

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"We drilled a path (▥) through between the trap rooms (▒) and we’re currently in front of (▲). Luna, how would you handle this?"

"Fighting the enemy where they’re waiting for us is dumb. Who knows what traps they’ve got set up? We should go around them. Burst out from the wall and ambush them."

"Going around, huh... Lune, what do you think?"

"How about tunneling through the ground or sneaking along the walls like we did in Gremory’s dungeon? There are a lot of us, but since everyone’s an elf, we’re light enough that we shouldn’t get caught."

Lune and Luna had different opinions. Both of their suggestions were perfectly valid with nothing really wrong with them, and I had to make a call.

"Sending out a scout is too risky, and going in to fight head-on is fine too, but it’d suck if someone got killed over nothing."

"Are you looking down on our elves right now? These girls are all top-notch. Every single one of them has killed a monster before."

"If you get hurt, no sex until you heal up."

"...."

It wasn’t just about dying. If anyone got seriously wounded, they’d be off the table for any rough stuff until their stamina came back.

’Burning through lifespan in the training chamber is off limits.’

Since even the nurses looking after the patient would have their lifespans cut by a factor of 100, we needed to fight with as few injuries as possible. So my original plan of just busting through and fighting a full-on frontal battle was a bad idea.

"So what do you suggest? What war has ever been fought without sacrifices?"

"If you use strategy and tactics right, 12 people can beat 333. Let’s think this through. Anything you want to add to your ideas..."

Glurk.

Lime raised her hand. I asked, just on the off chance.

"Lime. Do you by any chance have a good plan where we can slaughter the enemy mercilessly without anyone getting hurt, and still have enough energy after the fight to strip naked right in enemy territory and hop straight into bed?"

Glurk.

Lime explained her plan with her whole body. Lune, who was supposed to translate, just stood there with her mouth hanging open, speechless after hearing Lime’s tactic.

"What is it, what’s the plan?"

"So basically..."

When Lune translated, I smacked my forehead with my hand.

"Damn it, why didn’t I think of that?"

I was the one who planned and executed that very tactic with Shaitan, but somehow I couldn’t think of it now. And Lime was the specialist when it came to that tactic.

"Lime. But this is enemy territory. Can you actually pull it off?"

"She says she’ll give it a shot, and if it doesn’t work, oh well."

"...Yeah. That’s the right answer."

If we had one tactic that could beat the enemy with the least amount of blood shed, then the right move was to use it until it stopped working.

"Luckily, we’ve got plenty of time."

I temporarily pulled the cookie elves back.

***

[Gremory-Allocen front.]

"Ta-da!"

Gremory spread her arms wide toward the enemy’s chariot unit, now roasted to a golden brown. Gremory’s magic bullets had ruthlessly shattered the enemy’s vanguard as they came through the portal.

"Victory in the opening move! There’s nothing more thrilling than this kind of tactic."

"...."

Percival got chills looking at the three jokamels standing at attention behind Gremory.

"Grrrgh, dark elf! Dark elf!!"

Five out of ten couldn’t withstand the chariot unit’s advance and died, and two more got blown up along with Gremory’s magic, but the survivors seemed to be genuinely happy just to be alive, as if their comrades’ deaths didn’t matter one bit.

"That’s camaraderie no orc could ever imagine. Their comrades died and they’ve completely forgotten about it and are just happy."

"Orcs are the weird ones. Demons are normally all like this. They only care about their own survival and satisfying their own desires."

Gremory looked at the surviving jokamels and laughed awkwardly.

"...What now? I didn’t promise them anything."

"My god. So you were just making it up on the fly?"

"Yeah. Ugh, isn’t there a dark elf in Allocen’s dungeon somewhere?"

"The Legion Commander would definitely hate that."

"I know. I was just saying. Tch. They survived, so there’s nothing I can do about it."

Gremory clicked her tongue in disappointment over and over. She’d tried to wipe out those jokamel meat shields in one go, but unfortunately their desire to spend a night with a dark elf was so intertwined with their survival instinct that they managed to survive to the end.

"They got lucky, so what can I do. Once the battle’s over, I’ll just have to ask someone with a taste for camels."

"What if no one volunteers?"

"Hmm... I guess I’d have to knock them out and summon a succubus to let them experience it in their dreams?"

Percival shivered at how ruthless Gremory was. It was almost a relief that she was just using them and discarding them rather than outright killing them.

"Why the Legion Commander keeps someone like you, a witch, on his staff is beyond me. Tch."

"I might have a prickly personality, but I’m competent. On the battlefield and in bed. Kahaha!"

Gremory climbed onto the unicorn prepared specially for her. The unicorn she’d summoned for her personal use snorted and got ready to charge forward.

"The enemy’s vanguard has been smashed. They’ve probably already figured out that a whole bunch got wiped out in one shot from their Bond Summon list. Now we just cross over to enemy territory and ravage it."

"I’ll line up in three rows."

"No, no need for that. Just spread out wide once we cross through the portal."

"How do you know so well?"

"Did you forget? What tactic I used when I raided your dungeon? I sent in scouts. Tossed in a few goblins." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"...That’s a really stark difference in how you deploy troops compared to the Legion Commander."

When there’s an unknown portal in front of him, Rok sticks his own face in first.

When there’s an unknown portal in front of her, Gremory dispatches a scouting party she can afford to lose.

Was it the difference between orcs and (former) witches as species, or was it just the difference in how each dungeon owner ran their dungeon? Percival got lost in thought as he watched Gremory’s tactics from the side.

"Hey, what are you thinking about? Get ready to charge."

"My apologies."

"You’re a man, aren’t you? If you’re not going to drink demon fluid, then you need to fight and kill enemies to build up your strength. There’s a limit to what training can do. Are you ready to raid the 52nd-ranked dungeon?"

"Of course."

Whatever the captain’s personality was like, Percival was a loyal adjutant and an excellent soldier who stayed by his captain’s side.

"Please give the order to charge, Lady Gremory."

"Of course! Legion of Wrath’s Gremory Unit, charge toward the portal!!"

Gremory cracked her leather whip forward.

Neeeeigh!!

With the unicorn’s powerful cry, Gremory charged toward the portal at full speed alongside the orcs mounted on worwolves.

***

[Flauros-Orias front.]

"There’s absolutely nothing to worry about with this enemy. They’re a force just above Vapula. Our side is significantly stronger."

Hagenti’s front, a mix of cookie elves and slimes.

Allocen’s front, a mix of orcs, worwolves, and a small number of jokamels.

And then Shaitan’s front against Orias had three different types of units deployed.

"Flare Pantera, roast every enemy that comes through the portal."

The fire leopard beastman tribe, their hair blazing and massive flames pouring from their mouths. They started breathing fire at the scouts Orias had sent through the portal.

"Never thought I’d see something like this in my life. Watching monsters duke it out in a dungeon like this."

"Haven’t you seen it a few times already under the master?"

"I’m mostly over at Ras Village and Ras Vegas, so I don’t see this kind of thing much. And..."

Lily drew her sharpened sword from its scabbard with a fierce grin. With lion hide armor over her inner armor made of rassa, her defense was on par with that of heavily armored soldiers.

"I’ve led adventurers plenty, but this is my first time taking orders from a succubus."

"I know humans well. I won’t disappoint you."

"I know. You’re the woman closest to the master, how could you not? What I’m worried about is this, right here. What happens if our side is actually the ’winner’?"

At Lily’s words, the grins on the adventurers’ faces tightened up. Rok was pushing the front lines aggressively because he was desperately searching for something, but if it happened to show up on their front, things would get a little dicey.

"Don’t worry. Even if they have a high-grade magic stone, it’s useless if they can’t utilize it. You all need to keep your identities hidden as much as possible."

"Got it, got it. Tch. Never thought I’d be playing dress-up as a demon in my life."

Lily and the adventurers pulled on the black robes that had been prepared. They even put on black masks that covered their faces almost completely.

"Legion of Wrath adventurer unit, commencing dungeon raid-ras."

"Got it-ras."

The human adventurers jokingly tacked on the suffix as they drew their various weapons. Shaitan immediately got a headache from how quickly the humans had lost their composure.

"How does the master even handle these people..."

"Surprisingly, the Legion Commander understands us well and uses us well-ras."

"That’s obviously... No, more importantly, are you people Andras? Why do you keep saying ras-ras at the end of everything?"

"He told us to act like monsters, so we made the most monster-like sound-ras."

"...Haah, fine."

Shaitan gave up on thinking. Instead, she decided to focus on the role she’d been given.

"The objective is to capture the enemy’s dungeon. Top priority is securing a ’high-grade magic stone’."

Rok had stretched the front lines to three places, figuring that with three probes, at least one of them ought to turn something up.

"Whoever finds a high-grade magic stone will receive a great reward from the master."

"""Ras!!!"""

The adventurers, men and women alike, cackled and shouted loudly. They were already planning ahead to enjoy post-battle activities with their partner of choice.

Did the humans actually know? The real purpose of this [3:3 Mixer] operation that only the executive class knew about.

"Please let at least one of the three be the ’winner’."

Shaitan ran her hand over her seal, anxiety gnawing at her.