It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

Right after Libertas left the wetlands, the Alraunes gathered in the place she had departed were looking at their queen.

This was because she had a truly rare, enraptured look in her eyes.

“How was it?”

To the words of the red Alraune who stepped forward as representative among the Alraunes gathered at the lake, Nirvana smiled even more broadly.

It was a smile as if she was dreaming.

“She was beautiful and cute, just as I expected.”

“Is that so…?”

The camellia Alraune, who had a flower so gorgeous it could be mistaken for a rose – a species called ‘Middlemist Camellia’ on Earth – seemed puzzled.

The Libertas she saw was a Dungeon Lord with powerful strength, and she thought there was no way their queen Nirvana wouldn’t be wary of someone with such power.

After all, the first virtue among leaders who guide monsters is ultimately ‘strength’ and ‘vigilance’.

“Hah…”

However, Nirvana’s current appearance clearly showed that she had become quite captivated by the newly met Dungeon Lord.

-That Queen?

-To my eyes, she just looked incredibly strong.

Although it was an ironic sight that an Alraune who enchants and devours other creatures had been enchanted by another being, the Alraunes just bowed their heads accepting it.

Though she had frequent eccentricities, Nirvana was the leader they acknowledged.

Whatever happened, they believed she wouldn’t overlook anything that could harm the group.

Moreover.

-Ah, but her appearance was pretty and cute.

-That’s true. Ah, how nice it would be to have her beside you at night.

The Alraunes were also equally covetous of Libertas.

Hearing their voices, Nirvana sharply raised her brow.

“You all. She’s mine. Don’t set your sights on her.”

-Yes!!

Although the Alraunes answered in unison, Nirvana’s vigilant gaze didn’t disappear for a while.

Because the Alraunes’ desire for beautiful people, though strongest in Nirvana herself, wasn’t much less in others either.

-Was she really cute?

-I’m telling you she was.

See this.

Even though she told them not to set their sights on her, their eyes are still sparkling all over the place.

They really couldn’t be trusted in this regard.

“Red Camellia. White Rose. Nepenthes. Living Violet. Jade Vine. Step forward.”

-Yes!

Therefore, those who would be dispatched to the dungeon this time were all her successor candidates.

Those who were aiming for the position of next generation queen, struggling to receive her acknowledgment.

These ones could be trusted somewhat because they had the shackles of the successor position.

“You will be dispatched to Libertas’s dungeon. Prepare, and after preparations are complete, report immediately and depart.”

“Us?”

“Really, Your Majesty?”

Originally, she had been thinking of sending only about three of them.

After all, using successor candidates as maids was very convenient.

What made her change her mind was right after meeting Libertas.

‘Setting up a fence inside a shell that sharply raises its spines like a hedgehog, thoroughly examining inside and out without neglecting to strengthen the shell, and showing an infinitely soft flesh to those inside, how could she not be cute…

I will definitely obtain her.’

The Libertas she met directly immediately drew Nirvana in.

Although Libertas thought she had hidden and revealed herself moderately, even that was enough magical charm for Nirvana.

“That’s right. I promised to dispatch forces to the dungeon. They agreed to buy things from the demon realm that can help us according to how much force we send. So take the ones you each have with you as well.”

If this goes well, and if these ones don’t arrogantly set their sights on the Dungeon Lord.

This time she really should appoint the successor she had been putting off.

Although it was regrettable for Nirvana, who had been using these capable resources as successor candidates for a long time…

‘Such patience at such a young age. That beauty. That atmosphere. No human hero could surpass that true beauty. Therefore… definitely!’

It was fine as long as she could ‘eat’ the Dungeon Lord in return.

Whether in terms of forces, or real relationship.

Slurp…!

She had no intention of letting Libertas be taken by anyone else.

Absolutely.

* * *

After Libertas left the vicinity of the lake, Echidna called and gathered those among her clan who handled magic power best.

She wanted to feel again the physical stimulation she had newly experienced today.

“Magic power… you say?”

“I’m sorry. That’s impossible, Your Majesty the Queen.”

“If you’re going to dismiss us, please just tell us to leave…!”

However, the Lamia magicians who heard her request all showed reluctance.

Citing the reason that if they followed her instructions, they could harm their queen with their own hands.

It was a testimony accompanied by enough reaction to know it wasn’t a lie.

“Calm down and explain in detail. What do you mean?”

“Your Majesty. Our Lamias’ resistance to magic power is extremely excellent. If we succeed in injecting magic power into Your Majesty’s body, there are only two possible cases.”

Echidna’s face was subtly tinged with surprise at the explanation.

Superhuman patience controlling her expression.

However, if someone with good observation skills looked, they could notice that the scales on her back and tail had puffed up somewhat.

‘Then Libertas…’

She came to realize what an absurd thing the Dungeon Lord she had newly welcomed as a friend had casually done before leaving.

According to the magicians, it was a very difficult task to penetrate and interfere with the bodies of creatures with concentrated magic power like Lamias.

As already mentioned, there were only two cases where this was possible.

One was when the queen herself loosened the magic power accumulated in her body, risking assassination.

And the other was when the queen’s injuries were serious enough to disrupt her resistance.

‘However, she inserted magic power into my body as if it was nothing.’

This was something Echidna hadn’t known because while she had experience injecting magic power into someone else’s body, she had never let someone else let magic power seep into her.

Since she herself was skilled in poison and magical technique to control it, she had never felt difficulty in infiltrating magic power into someone.

“Interesting.”

“Your Majesty?”

“From your perspective, who would have magic power ability similar to mine?”

“That’s…”

“Speak without reserve. I won’t punish you for this conversation.”

The Lamia magicians who were carefully watching each other’s and the queen’s reactions, wondering if this was a loyalty test or not, soon began laying out their views mixed with their subjectivity one by one.

VS games are always enjoyable for everyone.

“First, there’s the Alraune Queen. Her light magic used with the black lotus she works with has deceived 100 people who entered the wetlands regardless of their level of mastery, so not only her capacity but her manipulation ability must be similar to Your Majesty’s.”

“That’s an obvious answer.”

Well, if someone could easily overwhelm the Alraune Queen or fell short of her, she would have taken the initiative of all forces in this area long ago.

It’s obvious that the other ant queen and bird queens’ abilities are also similar to hers, but they weren’t mentioned because they were just warriors who could use magic.

In Kamaya’s case, although she handles magic power well, her magical capacity doesn’t reach Echidna or the Alraune’s.

In Orea’s case, though she has sufficient magic power quantity, she lacks the technique to handle it.

“The current court magicians of each kingdom would also be similar. Of course, their current mastery would be higher, but Your Majesty would be able to catch up quickly.”

“As expected.”

The mastery of court magicians distributed across the current continent, that is, those representing a country’s magical forces, are mostly high-rank or above ability users.

These are like each country’s hidden strength and living history, with almost all being old monsters over 60 years old except for an extremely small number.

Although Echidna’s age barely reaches half of theirs, so being compared to them is quite remarkable, she somewhat looks down on humans as a monster, so she passed over it simply.

“I would name the Northern Archduke Dantalion. When comparing what Your Majesty can do now with his youthful appearance recorded in history, considering that history tends to be recorded with exaggeration, I think Your Majesty’s talent could be comparable.”

“It seems a bit flattering, but it was a satisfying answer.”

Although Echidna had never thought she could dare compare to the Archdukes, she didn’t deny it because she had confidence that she could become a being comparable to them.

However, the difference from then is.

This time she had met someone who could make her into such a being comparable to an Archduke.

“Then taking her under my command would be nearly impossible in most cases.”

One who inserted magic power into the body of a Lamia Queen with strong magical ability as easily as putting water in water.

Dungeon Lord Libertas.

The abilities of this Dungeon Lord, whose appearance had been observed for barely 4 months now, were overwhelmingly surprising, though she hadn’t quickly noticed at first.

To so lightly overwhelm her magical ability who had been queen here since childhood.

“Who… are you talking about?”

“You need not know. Everyone withdraw. I want to think.”

“”Yes, Your Majesty.””

After dismissing all her subordinate magicians, she agonized.

‘How can I get her in my hands?’

How should she handle her first friend and new rival?

She couldn’t immediately notice that her thinking had changed from ‘taking under command’ to ‘getting in my hands’.

* * *

“What in the world… has happened?”

Among the ant people Myrmikians who rule the northern coniferous forest, the Clever clan famous as a warrior group.

And Orea, their queen and general who rules them.

A few days after receiving Libertas’s visit, she received a report that the ‘spiders’ had disappeared from within the forest.

“According to rumors from other monsters… it seems their king has died. They found the sight of them withdrawing under the orders of the queen consorts, princes, and princesses, but there was no sign of the king among them…”

“How could he die suddenly overnight? He was fighting equally with me just three days ago.”

At Etna’s report, Orea made an expression saying it made no sense.

For a peerless warrior who had scattered powerful magic and combat power on the battlefield to disappear overnight without a trace.

That was equivalent to saying there was a being capable of such a thing nearby, so it might be no different from the appearance of a new threat.

“That’s unknown. But there can’t be any other reason for the spiders to withdraw.”

“True. …Sorry for getting irritated.”

“It’s alright.”

Etna was equally frustrated.

If the king had died, there should normally have been a major battle, but no one had witnessed that moment.

“Let’s settle this area first. If the spiders have withdrawn, a large area of this forest will be neutralized. We must block it before humans rush in.”

“The generals are waiting. Just give the orders.”

“Hmm…”

“I think I can help with that. Orea.”

Turning their heads at the sudden voice, the sisters discovered a group that had been standing there from some point.

The Demon King candidate with all black clothes, a black parasol, and undisguisable gleaming eyes.

“Libertas? Weren’t you supposed to have gone down… wait.”

“Blue Arachne…? Could it be.”

The two quickly realized that the composition of the group standing beside Libertas had changed.

While there was still one skeleton, one wolf beastkin, and one harpy, someone had been added.

“I executed their king. Orea. It was because of a small disagreement.”

Although Libertas was speaking casually, the content was incredible.

It was hard enough to believe that she had executed the enemy force’s king overnight, but the reason being simply ‘a small disagreement’.

The reality lay in Tigris, the former Aotsukigumo, properly touching Libertas’s sore spot with his words and actions, but it was impossible for her to guess that now.

“These children are the proof. They’re the Arachne King’s children.”

“That Arachne on your side… is really the king’s child?”

“I understand if you don’t believe it, as even I find it hard to believe. But you’ve already confirmed the spiders have withdrawn, so they must be here, right?”

Moreover, she even appeared with several blue Arachnes who seemed to be the king’s successors behind her.

“Greet them, you two.”

“Hello. I am Tristan.”

“I’m Lea.”

Also, there aren’t many Arachne individuals in this world.

To compare, they’re as rare as ‘queen ant monsters’.

This is because Arachnes appear in the same way queen ants are born among ants.

Either they were born as Arachnes, or some outstanding spiders evolved.

Generally, those born from an Arachne’s surrogate womb are all just ‘spider monsters’, so the number of monsters that can be recognized as Arachnes must be extremely small.

Yet in this situation, two Arachnes are following Libertas.

‘There’s no choice but to believe.’

From the Arachne King’s death to Libertas claiming she absorbed his colony.

Although everything was hard to believe, with the evidence plainly appearing before their eyes, they couldn’t say they didn’t believe it.

“Why did you bring them?”

“They’re a kind of hostage, you could say. I consolidated the spider colony around the third one. But I don’t intend to take them all. I’ll hand over some, so use them to guard the coniferous forest’s borders.”

“Then, those two must be the core of that army?”

“Just as you guess. It’s what you need most right now.”

Tristan and Lea, whom Libertas brought, were Tigris’s eldest son ‘Ichime’ and eldest daughter ‘Nime’.

She intended to plant these problematic male and female full of desire next to the ant queen as eyes and ears, and prevent the spider group from splitting.

Therefore, she left them only with the implication that if they handled their given tasks well, there might be opportunities.

Although their respective mothers, the first and third queen consorts, had earnestly pleaded with them, that alone would be difficult to give trust.

‘We can’t refuse either.’

Meanwhile, the ant queen sisters had no choice but to accept this gift that wasn’t a gift.

Because it was an offer they absolutely couldn’t refuse, even while knowing there were risks.

In this coniferous forest, the most numerous species right now were first the Myrmikians, and second the subordinate spider monsters of the Arachne.

It’s natural that the outer defenses would weaken if all such spider monsters left the forest, and then humans would enter this forest in even greater numbers.

‘If we overlook that, the Myrmikians’ dominance itself will crack.’

If that happens, there’s no guarantee a second or third spider won’t appear. After all, there are more types of monsters that can increase their numbers indefinitely if given nutrients than one might think.

Even Orea, whom Libertas had judged lacking in qualities as a queen, knew this much.

After all, her experience ruling this forest wasn’t just a year or two.

“Very well. We accept.”

“You’ve thought well.”

After confirming through eye contact with Etna that she had the same thoughts, Orea immediately informed Libertas of their acceptance of the proposal.

However, she didn’t forget to set conditions.

“However, you must firmly hand over control of them and their army to us. Even if we execute them immediately in case of emergency, you won’t hold us responsible…”

“You’re stating the obvious. You don’t need to worry. Right?”

“”Yes!!””

The Arachnes answering with full spirit to the small woman’s light question.

That appearance showed that she had already captured their spirit in just a matter of days.

Although Orea felt her mood becoming complicated at this, she also already knew she couldn’t take back words already spoken.

“Good luck to you. General Orea. Prime Minister Etna.”

“Thank you for your help, Queen Libertas.”

“Thank you.”

All the sisters could do right now was bow their heads in gratitude.

“I’ll see you at the conference hall this time. I look forward to working with you then.”

The dungeon’s ruler, Libertas, and her group who had been looking down expressionlessly at them soon disappeared into the shadows.

Leaving behind the two Arachnes and the spiders following them.

“…Phew.”

Feeling as if the shadow remaining in the place where she had been symbolized their future, the ant queen saw her off with a complex expression.

It was the moment when the small war in the coniferous forest ended by someone else’s hand, not their own.