Dungeon Defense (WN)

* * *

The war had finally started.

The Demon Lord army put Valefor’s moving fortress at the front. The human army’s formation fell powerlessly once the massive fortress moved and charged towards them. Their morale was already at rock-bottom anyway. The first battle ended in the Crescent Alliance’s complete victory.

If the enemy didn’t have that many knight brigades, then this entire war would have probably been decided by this first battle alone, Barbatos commented.

I was told that the drafted soldiers in the human army didn’t fight properly. If the situation seemed even slightly bad for them, they would almost always flee.

A single unit fleeing doesn’t result in a single unit leaving the battle. As fleeing soldiers retreat, they often crash into the allies that were positioned behind them. The morale of the rest of the troops decreases exponentially as they watch their allies, who should be fighting at the front, running away. There are even soldiers that use the chaos to become deserters……. This results in at least 3 units becoming neutralized.

I learned about the hollowness of the term ‘tactical retreat’ after I fell into this world. If you aren’t as skilled as trained knights or the soldiers defending the Black Mountains, then a tactical retreat was impossible. The simple act of retreating could easily break the formation of your allies.

Trying to reorganize and realign units that have gotten tangled up will most likely take a few days. There’s no way that enemy forces would sit and wait patiently for those few days. There’s no future for an army that retreats.

This calamity had apparently happened in multiple areas throughout the human army. There were most likely more humans that died at the hands of human commanders who were in charge of taking out retreating soldiers than at the hands of monsters. The leading officers of the human army have probably realized the impact of losing the speeches was far greater than they had expected.

There’s a reason why I’m talking about today’s battle from a third-party perspective. 

I didn’t participate in the battle.

“……Give me some time to think.”

It was approximately an hour after the war of words. My head was ringing. Adding to this, Jack Aland’s counterattack and Paimon’s estranged action bewildered me immensely. I desperately needed time to cool my head down. 

“Don’t stall for too long.”

“Half a day……. Give me half a day.”

Barbatos nodded.

For now, Paimon was confined under the pretext of treating her mana reflux. She was taken to the Neutral Faction’s camp instead of either the Mountain Faction’s or the Plains Faction’s. Anyone could easily tell that this was more for the sake of isolation over treatment. I entered my quarters to rest.

I spread a blanket out and laid down. I wasn’t trying to go to sleep. I just wanted to clear my head. A blank period of time flowed by…….

Jack.

I could’ve dealt with him cleanly, but I chose not to. He was someone whom I didn’t want to kill. I wanted him to survive and watch over how he lives. When he committed suicide, I left his corpse alone as a way to show respect. That decision ended up becoming a fire that would later push me into a corner.

A pushover.

You could probably call me that.

I might have been subconsciously acting as if I were playing a game. I’ve been desperately struggling to survive, but this feeling of playing a game most likely remained in a corner of my mind. ……Nevertheless, if you think about it, it wasn’t Imperial Princess Elizabeth or Baal that had ever put my life in danger.

Riff of Jackson Village and slave merchant Jack. They were people whose names weren’t even mentioned in <Dungeon Attack>. These sorts of people were always the ones threatening my life. Am I a pushover? Was a section of my mind underestimating these guys……?

Until now, I believed that I genuinely considered Jack as a human, but what if Jack Aland was a famous character in <Dungeon Attack>? Would I have tried to spare him back then? Probably not. And yet, I did. Yeah, I’m not sure now.

“Status.”

I muttered to myself. I wanted to check my current status for now.

A clear bell sound rang as if it were mocking my current complex emotions.

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True Name: DantalianRace: Demon Lord　　 　Faction: Dantalian’s Demon Lord ArmyAttribute: Neutral(-10)

Level: 34　　　　Infamy: 4510Job: Dungeon Manager(F), Demon Lord(D)

Leadership: 34/37　　Might: 7/12 　　Intelligence: 32/37Politics: 35/35　　Charm: 20/20　　Technique: 4/12

*Titles: 1. Demon Lord of Fear*Abilities: Tactics(E), Marksmanship(E), Mining(F)*Skills: Acting

[Achievements: 3][Subordinates: 54 units/260 units]

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[Titles]

1. Demon Lord of Fear – This person has caused a large part of the world’s order to collapse. The owner of this title will receive the respect of demonkind and the fear of humanity: Leadership limit +10, Intelligence limit +10, Charm limit +10, Subordinate limit +100, Infamy +500

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My level had gone up by 10.

It felt small compared to the amount of effort I had put in, but, well, that’s to be expected as Dantalian. My level went up by only 16 when I destroyed the S and A Rank scenarios. I managed to completely destroy an A Rank scenario. Should I be satisfied with this?

……More importantly, my infamy went up by a lot.

“Jeez.”

It basically went up by almost 3,000 with this single occurrence. I don’t know what exactly infamy influences, but, at the very least, I’m certain that it was raising the bounty on my head. The higher my bounty, the more adventurers will try to subjugate me. I’m drawing more aggro. 

My level only went up by 10, but my infamy went up by 3,000. Was this not a marvelous leveling rate? If a game like this were released in my original world, then someone would probably set the developer’s building on fire the next day. If no one does, then I’ll do it. Damn it.

There was one thing that reassured me and that was my job level. 

My Demon Lord level went up from E to D. This meant the level cap for my stats had increased. Most importantly, I could hire a larger variety of monsters now. I decided to test it out by opening the monster hiring menu.

“Monster Employment Tab.”

A window appeared before me.

I was given an option to select from F, E, or D Rank monsters. In the past, I was a little disappointed when I went up from F to E Rank. Goblin Stone-thrower, goblin spearman, etc, the only thing that increased was the type of goblins I could hire.

I selected D Rank. My selection range definitely increased a bit this time.

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<table width="532">

Monster Name

Stamina

Attack

Defense

Price

Torture Slime

20

1

2

500 Gold

Gnome(Low class fairy)

7

2

5

500 Gold

Goblin cavalry

10

10

8

800 Gold

Goblin mage

5

20

5

1000 Gold

Zombie(*)

2

5

5

100 Gold

*Due to reaching 50 affection points with Demon Lord Barbatos(Darkness), you are able to perform a special hire (Zombie)!

[Useable Fund: 6102Gold]

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“Uegh.”

Expensive! They’re still expensive!

Goblin mages don’t sound impressive, but I’m finally able to hire a mage-type monster. Adding to this, I can also hire a mounted monster. This was something to be happy about. Having access to mages and mounted soldiers was enough to drastically increase the number of strategic tactics I can pull off.

Now there’s no need for me to be fixated on fighting with golems at the front and fairies at the rear. I should be able to maintain my composure and deal with adventurers according to the situation in a flexible manner……but they’re still expensive! Even if I use all the money I have, I can only hire 6 goblin mages. If it’s like this, it’s a question as to whether I can even make use of the variety of monsters that I’ve finally gotten access to.

On another note, the special hire option was new. I’ve never seen this option before.

I focused my gaze on the word ‘Zombie’. Once I did, detailed information on zombies appeared along with a notification window popping up with a ding.

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Congratulations!

You have activated the special hire function for the first time.

Special hire monsters cannot be hired by normal means. They can only be hired if you have either completed a special quest or raised the affection of a specific character.

You can hire more and more special monsters the higher the difficulty of quests you complete and the higher the affection someone has towards you! The type of monsters you can hire depends on the type of quests you accomplish or the characteristics of the person you increase the affection points for.

If you wish, you could fill your dungeon with monsters of a specific attribute. For example, you may be bestowed a special effect if you only hire monsters with <Dark> attributes……?

However, if you only utilize monsters from one specific attribute, you may encounter some disadvantages. The choice is yours.

Create a dungeon according to your design!

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“I see.”

So this kind of function exists. That’s rather interesting.

Every Demon Lord has their own unique characteristic. Valefor, who owns that massive moving fortress, specializes in the <Water> attribute. Barbatos obviously specializes in <Darkness>. The uniqueness of the dungeons owned by Demon Lords depends on these attributes. 

The special hire option is giving me the ability to obtain this kind of uniqueness as well. No, even if I don’t seek out something specific for myself, the very fact that I can hire a variety of monsters was good.

Even if you only look at the zombies that have just been activated, their stats may look average, but they cost a mere 100 gold to hire. They’re practically free. If adventurers invade while I’m tight on money, I can just hire a swarm of zombies as an emergency measure. Mm. This isn’t bad. 

My head, which had become hazy because of the matter with Paimon, gradually cleared up. Seeing these functions started to fill me with excitement.

That’s right, even if my infamy increased, I’m definitely growing. There’s no need for me to be unnecessarily impatient. I’m a player who reached the very top of <Dungeon Attack>. I don’t have to be afraid of any heroes as long as I have enough money and monsters.

I’ll return to My Sweet Home, my Demon Lord castle once this Crescent Alliance is over anyway. I’ll be able to distance myself from these wearisome political battles for a brief period of time. I’ll have to earnestly raise my strength while managing my dungeon. In other words, a time of self-reflection……. That’s right. There’s no need for me to be in a hurry. I’ve been doing a relatively good job up to this point. I wonder if I can hire royal knights if I raise Imperial Princess Elizabeth’s affection enough?

“Heh.”

There’s no way that would happen, though.

Not only are royal knights not monsters, but it’s impossible to raise Imperial Princess Elizabeth’s affection in the first place. She and I are now sworn enemies. If I see even a glimpse of her silver hair, let’s run away immediately.

I was interrupted while I was in the middle of thinking of ways to decorate my dungeon.

“Your Highness Dantalian.”

Someone spoke up from outside of my quarters. It was the voice of the beastman who was put up as a guard outside. I told him beforehand to not bother me unless it was important. That’s why even Laura and Lapis aren’t here.

I spoke while still on the ground.

“What is it?”

“The chief of the Keuncuska Firm, Ivar Lodbrok has requested for an audience with Your Highness.”

“Mm.”

I see. This does seem important enough to report.

The Keuncuska Firm was currently supplying the Crescent Alliance. From the 1st legion to the 6th legion, there was a total of 6 legions here. We have become too large to maintain with only pillaging.

I fixed my posture and spoke.

“Send him in.”

“Understood.”

Not only has Ivar Lodbrok supported me fully throughout this plot, but we agreed beforehand that he would manage the supplies if the legions were to come together like this. A financier is valuable to any legion. Ivar’s standing was tacitly like that of a high-ranking Demon Lord. I can’t just refuse when someone of his standing asks for an audience.

The entrance drapes of my quarters opened as an old gentleman entered. He got down on one knee as soon as he saw me.

“Glory to Dantalian.”

“You can skip the formalities. Lodbrok, why have you come here?”

“Your Highness, you have splendidly granted this one’s wish.”

Ivar spoke while kneeling.

“This one’s wish was for the division of the Demon Lord army. Your Highness managed to see through this one’s desire. A desire which this one has never revealed to anyone before. This one is still curious about how Your Highness had managed to see through this one’s desire, but it is unquestionable that Your Highness had granted it.”

He had a completely solemn look on his face.

“I lived my 3,000 years of life like a corpse because I believed that my life was in vain. However, I have now realized that my life has all been for the sake of this single moment. I, Ivar Lodbrok, wish to devote myself as Your Highness’ vassal.”

Ivar got up from his knee before prostrating.

“Please allow for this one to serve you.” 

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. The next chapter may or may not take a tiny bit longer to upload because of my graduation tomorrow. The graduation ceremony itself was cancelled, but my university is opening a small photo zone for people to rent those graduation garbs and take pictures. I was going to skip this but my family insisted that we should at least get photos taken. 

So yeah, I’ll be officially graduating soon. See you guys when I’m a free person.

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