“Still not going up.”
“What’s wrong?”
My muttering must have reached her — Lady Fiona tilted her head, holding a treasure chest in one hand.
…Strong as ever. Those strength stats really are on a different scale.
“I was wondering if the dungeon’s mana would recover over time, like ours does — but it doesn’t seem to work that way.”
“Ours…”
She latched onto that.
I only meant that Lady Fiona and I both recover mana over time — but maybe being lumped in with someone like me isn’t a pleasant comparison…
Primila also seems vaguely taken aback.
That might have been careless. I’ll be more careful next time.
“Ahem… well, as for the dungeon’s mana — it does recover naturally, but only enough to sustain the dungeon itself. So it’s being spent as quickly as it recovers.”
“Which means building up the dungeon’s mana reserves really does require intruders…”
“Shall I stand at the entrance and defeat them as they come?”
“No.”
I cut her off almost before she finished.
She didn’t get angry, which is good — but she looked a little deflated, and that somehow feels worse.
“Um — Heroes from races we haven’t encountered yet might appear, and with a resurrection elixir in existence, the ones we’ve already defeated might come back. It’s too dangerous.”
“You said that out of concern for me…”
“Yes — we can’t afford to lose you, Lady Fiona.”
“I— is that so! Then, I suppose it can’t be helped!”
The stat gap really was on a different level — literally a different order of magnitude.
But this is a game world, and Lady Fiona is the final boss.
They call it high difficulty, but no game is impossible to clear.
Which means there’s a way to defeat Lady Fiona even at her level of power.
As long as defeat is possible, the less the enemy knows about her, the better.
After enough attempts, they might start identifying something like a weakness. That’s not a risk worth taking.
“Allow me to correct something.”
Primila, who had been listening to us in silence, chose her moment carefully before speaking.
“The human Hero and the beast-kin’s strongest warriors will revive without a resurrection elixir.”
“Oh — really?”
“The mightiest of each race, those who have received divine protection — they are Heroes. One aspect of that blessing is resurrection after death.”
I see… so it’s like continuing after a game over.
Which means those beast-kin could come back and challenge this place again…
“That said, death weakens them considerably, so they are unlikely to press into the underground demon realm again anytime soon.”
Like losing levels on death. That’s a little reassuring, maybe.
At minimum, for those beast-kin to threaten us again, they’d need to train — grind back up to where they were.
Levels… I wonder if I can raise mine too.
Come to think of it, why did my stats go up earlier?
Maybe using the Dungeon Master skill repeatedly counted as some kind of level gain.
“Shall I wait at the entrance and defeat intruders while you remain on the throne, Demon Lord?”
“That’s… not fair…”
“Primila, we can’t afford to lose you easily either — ideally the entrance would have something else…”
Now that I think about it, I’ve only been testing the treasure chest, but there were two other menu options that unlocked.
“What is it, Rei?”
“Something I want to try.”
Mana check… should be fine. At least 5 there.
Then let’s select it right now.
Create Monster: Mana Cost 5
Selecting the option, a mass of flesh appeared before me the same way it did with the resurrection elixir — and shifted into something resembling a creature.
Not humanoid. But the body is enormous, bigger than anyone else in the room.
Once it settled into form, it let out something like a cry, as though life had been breathed into it.
“A Dungeon Crawler. To think you could even create monsters…”
Before I could even wonder, Lady Fiona supplied the name.
The monster — a giant blue caterpillar of a thing — showed no signs of hostility toward us. It’s definitely on our side, at least.
“So — Dungeon Crawler?”
Ggkt-ggkt. A sound in response.
Was that… an answer?
“Can you wait in the room by the entrance and fend off intruders?”
A big nod, and the Dungeon Crawler shuffled off with a lumbering crawl.
…Hm. It’s starting to look kind of cute.
Oh — there’s a new icon on the map too. Might as well check the stats.
Dungeon Crawler — Mana: 10 / Strength: 23 / Technique: 7 / Fortitude: 30 / Agility: 19
…Everything is higher than mine.
I have less technical skill than a caterpillar.
“If we make more of these, would that be enough to drive back intruders?”
“Let’s see… the Heroes from each nation have already been repelled. Until they recover their strength, it should only be scouts, adventurers, or wild monsters making their way in. I think it would be fine.”
So we’re both in a preparation period for now.
In that case, rather than staying sealed up forever, it’s worth taking on some degree of risk in order to build up the dungeon’s mana.
The plan: create a few more monsters, then try removing the wall blocking the entrance.
If something terrifying walks in, immediately rebuild the wall and seal the entrance again.
And if it comes to that, I’ll have to ask Lady Fiona or Primila to deal with it. Sorry in advance.
“Oh — Dungeon Crawler’s been added to the menu.”
Create Dungeon Crawler: Mana Cost 5
So once a monster has been created once, it can be made again from the menu.
Though items don’t work that way — there’s no saved option for treasure chests.
Well, a chest is just a chest. What comes out of it depends on the mana. Different kind of thing.
Actually — wait. Unlike treasure chests, monsters are done the moment they’re made.
There’s no channeling extra mana into them afterward. Does that mean there’s no way to create stronger monsters?
I’d like to test that, but I don’t want to waste the dungeon’s mana.
This is frustrating. I really want more mana.
◇
“It looks like the monster creation produces random results.”
“But once a monster has been created, it can be selected directly from then on? That really is remarkable power.”
“Yes. Rather like the Demon Lord herself.”
I ran a few more rounds of monster creation after that.
The results: two Kobold Lords, one Toxic Slime, and one more Dungeon Crawler.
Long names, and they at least sound stronger than average — but whether they’re good pulls or bad ones isn’t something I can judge without seeing them in action.
Though getting a second Dungeon Crawler really did feel like pulling a duplicate from a gacha banner.
“For now, would it be alright if I tried removing the entrance wall?”
“Yes — this dungeon is yours to manage. Do as you see fit, Rei.”
That’s somehow more nerve-wracking…
But Lady Fiona and Primila both seem fine with it, so I should be safe to try.
…I’m hoping whatever comes in can be handled by our monsters. Especially that giant lizard that was chasing me. Wonder how that’ll go.
◇
“Hey — the entrance is open.”
“Should we go in?”
“Someone else might already be exploring. If we don’t hurry, they’ll have picked up anything worth taking.”
Adventurers. Those who belong to no nation and explore uncharted territories on nothing but their own ability.
Even as NPCs in a game, they’re a cut above what you’d call common enemies — perhaps because surviving without backing or protection is its own form of proof.
“T-Toxic Slime?! Run—”
The moment they stepped inside the dungeon, poison flooded their senses and shut down everything — body and mind alike.
The fate awaiting the humans who crumpled to the floor came in exactly two varieties.
Cut to pieces by the Kobold Lords, or ground down by the Dungeon Crawler.
That was all.