"Garami, isn't the dragons too much?" - Mira

"...You're not alone with that thought." - Garami

After releasing the trio of death, the three Skeleton Dragons, on the beast-monsters, the fight turned too one-sided to be considered training for our Dungeon monsters. Well, it was a good point to stop anyway. We almost had several casualties if we didn't have Noire's long-range healing.

Well... like mentioned, a triple-dragon combo turned out to be too OP. The "reinforcements" were routed in a matter of seconds, so I sent two of them after the beasts outside. The results were catastrophic.

"Rather, why did you add that scary aura to the dragons?" - Noire

She's talking about [Evil Lord's Aura]. Guess the Parallel Minds had enough leeway to add that to the dragons. Including that, all three dragons also have the [Daywalker] skill (duh), [Mana Burst (Darkness)], [Misdirection], and [Martial Arts]. The best skill for these guys is the Aura though. Most of the beasts fled with their tail tucked between their legs outta primal fear. 

"Fear-type skills works surprisingly well against beast-type monsters." - Garami

"They are beasts in the end after all." - Noire

We kept on talking in a leisurely manner as we walked through the streets of the ruined city that made up the Dungeon. Our Dungeon monsters are on the look-out for enemies... but with our bodyguard dragons around, they're not gonna go at us with the first. Or maybe the Dungeon Master is making them act so?

Damn, am I the only one who has to think about all this? Adventurers sure have it nice, not needing to think about the special restrictions of a Dungeon and having to plan around them.

The trip to the middle of the Dungeon was relatively easy, except for the complex labyrinth created by all the buildings. It took us two hours to reach the "central square", with the huge building that should conceal the Dungeon Core. It looks like the Taj Mahal in India, except this one's made of what looks like weathered obsidian instead of white marble. 

The entrance door is anything but weathered. How did they manage to make this thing so sturdy when the rest of this place is falling apart?

"Alright, Mira. Go." - Garami

"Me?" - Mira

"You're a Treasure Hunter, remember?" - Garami

"Oh, okay, but I think this door's too much for me." - Mira

No wonder.

"Then, what if we split up into three groups? There are exactly three dragons here that can scare away the beasts, so Mira can stay here and work on the door, while the other two groups can try to find a different way in." - Noire

"...Alright. Then, you go and look for some clues in the other buildings. I'll climb up and see if there's a window or something that's... open...?" - Garami

My words trailed off as I watched "something" falling from the sky... wait, it jumped outta...!

"Spread!" - Garami

Everyone fled from the area in front of the door, just fast enough before the large *BOOOM* struck the area. Ahh, one of the Ushi-Onis didn't make it... damn...

As the dust calmed settled, we saw a humanoid figure in the middle of the newly-formed crater... crater!?

"You little pricks... I'm gonna tear you to shreds for the mess you did to my Dungeon!!!!" - Werewolf?

A wolfman-, no, a werewolf!?

Strong. And he's the boss of this place. Quite literally. The title list busted him.

--Spread out and hide!

This guy's even faster than Mira, so I fired some Dark Bullets at him to attract the aggro to me so the monsters could get a chance to take cover as I ordered them through the Dungeon Master authority.

"You wanna piece of me, bitch!" - Werewolf

...That must've been the first time I've been insulted with those words. The event is so new to me that I forgot to become angry even.

As I was marveled by the werewolf's guts, or maybe it's stupidity, the said wolf got hit in the head with a magic blast, a slash of winds, arrows, and a few rounds of blocks that were lying around in the Dungeon-, HEY! I told you guys to flee!

"Damn mutt! To insult Lady Garami like that!!"

That stupid Zerbreus!! Where is the maturity she showed back when I first created her!?

The werewolf didn't lose much HP. The extra stock he had hadn't been depleted even. He turned around with an annoyed expression, so I slammed him with a quick-made globe of poison-, huh? He disappeared-!?

*Crash!!*

Gwaha-!? Wh-what the..., I got punched? And I couldn't even react to it!? What's up with that guy's speed!! I think I was blown into one of the buildings through the windows. Damn, that hurt. My HP is around 100 now from that single attack.

Ouch... wait, didn't he have the "Legion of One" title when I Identified him? That smarts. To be beaten by my own favorite technique... 

Even so, this is proof that the guy is working alone. "Legion of One" is working when your group has fewer combatants, as opposed to "Army of One" only needing two-or-more enemies at the same time.

I tried to jump outta the building, but an intense pain struck me. Seems like the last blow hurt me more than just lowering my HP. My left leg's broken, same with my arm. This needs some layered healing spells before I can re-enter the battle...

I looked out of the window and saw the werewolf struggling with barricades made of discharged lightning. I could see the corpse of a Dark Elf and a Cave Scorpion lying on the ground, but the rest of them seems to finally have done as I ordered them to and taken cover. The Skeleton Dragons are guarding the wounded monsters while using long-range attacks on the werewolf when they saw the chance.

Meanwhile, Mira kept the werewolf company with more phantasmal swords with added electricity. However, the werewolf looked like he had adapted to the sparks through some strange method. They don't hurt him as much as in the beginning. And hey! When did werewolves become so awesome that they can cut through electricity with their claws!? That's pure cheating! At least use a katana when you do that!!

Mira kept on fending off the werewolf, but it's getting dangerous... oh? An arrow struck the werewolf... but it didn't do any damage!! Damn... that's Noire's magic arrows, ain't it? The ones that where she uses normal arrows and endows them with a magic spell through that [Magic Bow] skill she obtained when she upgraded her main class...

THAT IDIOT!! The next magic arrow struck the ground between Mira and the werewolf, and I know that magic circle! Don't use Area Heal if the enemy's that close... oh? The first arrow, or rather, the wound from where the first arrow struck, shined in blood-red light. Then the werewolf started to get damaged instead of healed... no way! Anti-healing!? That's sick...

Mira got the advantage with Noire's cover fire and healing, especially since the area of effect for Area Heal is so large, so she only needed to keep herself and the werewolf inside that to have an upper... hand... She does have an upper hand, right? Because, from my point of view, it looks like the two are strangely fighting on equals instead of Mira being the champ here.

-Alright, all healed up~.

One of the Parallel Minds notified me that they had fixed the broken limbs. That was fast. They must have used several spells at once to hasten the effect.

With me back at 100%, let's pay that pooch back for the stunt before. I exited the house while preparing a special Light spell.

"HEY, YOU MUTT!!" - Garami

I shouted to attract the attention of the werewolf. He pushed away Mira and looked over to me, right in time as the spell was finished.

Greater Flash, an improved Flash spell that blinds everyone that looks directly at it. I'm making it go off behind me, so that's no problem for me.

The werewolf, and unfortunately, Mira and Noire, who had turned around at the same time, got blinded by the massive flash bomb behind me. Taking the advantage of their blindness, I ran up to the werewolf, my body emitting flames as I did so.

The werewolf, as if driven by instincts alone, swiped his claws at me despite being blinded. He's got a good aim, but I blocked his claws with Carnwennan in my right hand. Sorry pal, but your half-assed moves won't help you against something powered-up by your best attack.

I clenched my left fist, flames enveloping it while doing so, and did an all-out Crush Kill Art at the stomach of the werewolf. The pooch crouched over while making a funny sound... and here comes [Counter]!!

I used [Trick Step] to... I tried to get away, but the impact generated from the pooch's fist hitting the ground is like a storm wall! I threw a thread to not be blown away again, but distance has been created between the two of us. 

Before the dust could settle, I aimed at the pooch that's still in the dust (thank you, [Empyrean Eyes]), and fired a black bullet from the Thaumaturgy Revolver. A bullet that's darker than anything I've ever used before.

The bullet hit the werewolf. And then, a large, black magic circle appeared on the mutt, creating a large amount of black energy that assaulted his body, until it exited on the other side of his body in the shape of a python-like snake-head.

The Zahhak Bullet, a complete success~. I've got no reason to regret using it here either. That last blow carved off 20% of my HP, even when it didn't connect. That's too damn dangerous!

Wait, just by beating the DM? Crap, that's scary. Gotta be more careful in the future...

And wait, the werewolf was enough for a whole Dungeon level-up!? I know that those beasts before didn't even add to 10% of the needed EXP! Even if the reminding EXP given by that bone-king from before got us past the half-way mark, that's still too much to obtain from a single mutt! I didn't even get a single level myself!!

Damn... I'm not gonna think more about it! Besides, we almost died due to that one pup. Mira has collapsed on the spot from pure exhaustion. No surprise, considering her MP and SP is around 10% now. On the rooftops, I can see Noire struggling to keep herself standing with legs as shaky as a newborn deer.

And me? All I can do to keep my dignity is to sit straight. Standing on my own legs is impossible right now...

"Master. Our comrades..."

Gwah, that scared me! One of the Dungeon monsters, the Zerbreus that I had created in the first batch, asked for my opinion regarding the defeated subordinates.

"...? Do as you please." - Garami

"! T-thank you for your mercy!" 

Huh? Mercy? ...Oh, that's right. I'm a Necromancer. Did they think I would convert the corpses? I have more than enough Materials at the moment, plus the blueprints I can get from the subordinates ain't so interesting for me either. Giving the monsters a chance for a final farewell may be good for their loyalty to me?

Better not disturb them, so let's look at the other rewards. 

A new level, new DPs. That extra point though, did it come from conquering the Dungeon that's Lv.1? Or for defeating a DM of an Lv.1 Dungeon? Or do you get a single DP each time you kill a DM? In any case, I've got a total of 7 now, meaning I can either raise two stats to rank E, or I could focus on one stat and push it to rank D. Decisions, decisions...

And there's some new lingo introduced as well. Please work, Identification. I believe in you here!!

Horray! Banzai! Long live Identification!!

Jokes aside, this confirms it. Dungeons grow the most by cannibalizing other Dungeons, increasing the total area of the Dungeon, or, the total number of "Territories" one can use for one's Dungeon, plus extra DP for defeating opposing Dungeon Masters. What a merciless system...

So, what should I do? The options here are either to take this place as it's built at the cost of all my CP in one round, or go straight for a blank cave with no extra costs.

On one side, going the long way around will give me a complete floor with some subordinates I can't build. However, do I need some remnants after a beast army? Besides, the Ruins are limited to the upper-floors only, and it's not like I gain the ability to create beasts by taking the more complicated method.

On the flip-side, if I go for Unification, I can start using CP right away without the need of using them all up at once. There's the trouble of having to build a new floor, but I've already designed two floors, so one or two more don't faze me.

After all, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself! Especially when it comes to Dungeon-building! 

Some shaking and breaking happened alongside the new Dungeon Message, replacing the ruins with cave walls. After the shaking stopped, I opened the Dungeon Menu...

Just 10 FP? Ah, that's for one floor's worth. And the CP... comes from having an extra Territory? Having an extra Territory leads to 100 extra to the CP-cap? Then-

"G-Garami! Is this your work!?" - Noire

The angel started talking, so my concentration got thrown off its rail. Let's see-

"GARAMI!" - Noire

"QUIET!! What is it?" - Garami

"This!" - Noire

What "this"!? The cave... ah, the cave.

"The Ruin-Dungeon's territory got added to ours after beating the Dungeon Master, meaning the werewolf from before." - Garami

"Then tell us that beforehand!!" - Noire

"Why?" - Garami

For some reason, my innocent question made the fallen, and obnoxious, angel freeze like an old computer. Oh well, I got more important stuff to do... with the expansion of new floors, won't I have to design 5 new floors in total? Will the Psuedo-Peace be enough? Farewell, my hopes of sweet dreams...

I looked through the Dungeon Customization Menu, hoping to get some idea where to start... and there's also the DP!! Damn, I should take... huh? A new item's available? Before I assigned the DP and changed the ranks of my stats?

Let's see... "Transfer Terminal"? The cost is 50 CP, but you get 30 FP outta them? So, it's like the Safe Areas?

The effect is... to transfer the one stepping on the magic circle-like drawing to a different floor? The limitations are two Terminals going to floors of the same Dungeon, plus you're allowed to create one more that leads to a different Dungeon? Hey! There's nothing here that says it's limited to invaders only!!

I've gotten my claws on a nice toy~. It must have unlocked due to owning two Dungeons now... maybe also because they had several floors? This does make it easier for me to decide what the DP are gonna be invested in!! ...24 hours won't be enough, won't it?