"Everyone’s here."

After giving the elves a 30-minute final ultimatum, I summoned all the officers of our legion to the dungeon. Now that the elf situation was somewhat sorted out, I’d made up my mind to decide the direction of the entire legion.

"First off, that threat against the fleeing elves was just talk. I laid down the law, sure, but we’re basically just gonna leave them alone."

The wide-area pursuit team made up of wolves, unicorns, and harpies was nothing more than a show of force for intimidation.

"So leave the elves be. Just pretend to chase them and let them escape. If they turn their blades on us, though, we’ll capture them and make them slaves."

I’d shown the elves a whole lot of goodwill. To me, the elves were just a new kind of fruit, but to Lune and Luna, they were family and comrades who’d shared most of their lives.

"Nifela. If the 1st Elder leads the [Virgin Elves] away, where do you think they’ll go?"

"There are three main possibilities. First, they seek refuge with the human Saintess. That would mean joining the human alliance, which means they could become our enemies. That’s the worst-case scenario."

A situation where we finally let them go only to have them show up as enemies. You really could call that the worst outcome.

"If they come, we just capture them all. So what are the other two?"

"One is that they’ll search for another forest. They’d look for a forest untouched by the war between the human alliance and the Demon King’s Army, one that’s suffered the least damage and remains beyond anyone’s reach."

"Is there a place like that?"

"I’ve already scouted out such locations long ago. The question is whether the 1st Elder will go to one of those places, or strike out to find a completely new location. I know where all the existing safe havens are."

The second possibility. They quietly settle somewhere else.

"And the last one?"

"...About three days from here, there’s an abandoned forest. It’s a place we boldly gave up managing because a dungeon formed nearby. The 1st Elder could set up camp there."

"Do you happen to know the ranking of that dungeon?"

"Astaroth. The 29th-ranked dungeon."

"...If things go south, the Virgin Elves could become Dark Elves and end up facing off against us."

A case where they risk the danger and set up in a forest not far away, all to get revenge on us. If it came to that last possibility, it’d be like we had an elven arrow pointed right at our throats.

"Which direction?"

"The opposite side from here."

"...The cliff side, huh."

She said the abandoned forest was on the back path of our dungeon—beyond the rear cliff where we go to fetch water. In other words, the entrance to the 29th-ranked dungeon was just three or four days away.

"...It’s a wall we’ll have to climb eventually. We’ll just take our time cracking it. And if the elves shack up with Astaroth dungeon or start eyeing our forest, then we’ll just punish them thoroughly."

Mercy for enemies comes just once. Surrender or execution. The moment those elves who missed the last train to our legion aim their bows at me, I’ll ride in on a unicorn and skewer every last one of them with horns before returning to the dungeon.

"Enough with the gloomy talk. Now let’s decide how we’re gonna cultivate the elven forest."

Either way, the elves would leave the forest on their own, so we had to figure out how to shape what remained of it.

"The area centered on the divine tree stays as is. But we’ll log every tree in the rest of the area and turn it into a residential zone for the legion."

"You’re thinking of building log cabins?"

"Yeah. The durability will be lower than brick houses, but this is about preparing for the future. Log cabins we won’t shed too many tears over when intruders smash them up. Though honestly, with current tech, wooden buildings are kinda the limit anyway."

The lumber harvested by the undead would either be used to expand Ras Village or used for the outer walls of Ras Vegas. To use stone, we’d have to grind up stone golems or gargoyles, so we decided to mainly use lumber since it consumed fewer magic stones.

"Master, wouldn’t that leave way too much lumber left over?"

"We’ll use the rest to build fences around the outskirts of the town. Our enemies aren’t just the elves or demons. There’s the human alliance too."

The inner walls of Ras Vegas were already surrounded by stone golem walls. Now we needed to put up wooden fences for the outer walls, even if just temporarily. The population of Ras Vegas kept growing.

"Eila, how’s the defensive state of Ras Vegas?"

"Tristan and the orcs are taking shifts keeping watch from the watchtowers. The harpy scout unit is patrolling the area around Ras Vegas regularly. I’ll also reinforce Ras Vegas’s defenses thoroughly. To counter the enemy’s main force—the Holy Knights and priests—I’ll prepare measures so we won’t be affected by divine power."

"Got any special countermeasures?"

"Nothing particularly special beyond making the armor sturdier, but Union Boss Cost will make us proper armor. If push comes to shove, we’ll have everyone wear two or three layers of stockings."

"...Yeah, alright. Tch, suddenly some weirdo pops out of nowhere and makes life hard for us."

The biggest immediate problem was the Holy Knight Commander who’d apparently stayed behind at Spica Castle. She had quite the reputation for being strong—seems like she was talented enough that the Saintess entrusted her with the dungeon subjugation mission.

"I don’t know how many more troops from Spica Castle will come, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Let me know if you need more forces. Aside from troops that absolutely need to stay in other places, I’ll redirect all our surplus forces."

"Thank you. I’ll organize everything and report back."

Eila took charge of Ras Vegas’s defense. That meant the next issue was what you could call our destiny—dungeon operations and Seizure Battles.

"What should we do with each dungeon? About five or six of the half-elves refused to join the legion. So when we chased them out, the entrance we’d blocked off opened up briefly. They probably won’t come in, but adventurers might."

"Let me confirm something. Shaitan, when we launch a Seizure Battle against another dungeon, can adventurers or enemies invade through the original entrance?"

"Of course. If you don’t block the dungeon entrance, they’ll invade right away. But if you hide or seal the entrance, adventurers can’t easily get in either."

"I see. Then we’re in the clear."

Adventurers occasionally showed up at Flauros and Gremory’s dungeons, but faced with the overwhelming strength of the orcs, they got sent straight to the breeding pens.

"Block the entrances. I’d rather avoid combat at dungeons other than mine. Actually, we’ll need to temporarily seal our dungeon’s entrance too."

"Master, what plan are you thinking of?"

"It’s too early to talk about it. For now, we’ll do just one thing."

I raised one finger.

"One week. For one week, we’ll assess the movements of the Holy Knights who’ve entered Spica Castle."

Which basically meant we’d hold a solid defensive posture for a week.

"And after a week passes...."

I held up three fingers.

"Gremory, Flauros, Andras. From these three dungeons, we’ll simultaneously launch Seizure Battles against three different dungeons."

***

The appointed time had passed.

The 1st Elder led the elves away with heavy footsteps. The heat I’d conned them into thinking was a curse had subsided somewhat, and the elves kept looking back at the forest with faces full of sorrow.

"Elder. What’s gonna happen to us now?"

"...You’re still calling me Elder?"

The 1st Elder gave a hollow, dejected laugh.

"Elven society has already collapsed. The ones here are all just people who’ve been driven out of the forest. The title of Elder...has become meaningless now. I’m no longer your superior."

"But Elder! If not you, we have no one to lead us!"

"...Just being the oldest isn’t enough to take on the role of leader—"

"Please lead us!!"

The elves dropped to their knees before the elder. The eighty or so elves all swore together to follow the elder.

"When every other elf was caving to lust and falling into depravity, and barely holding on while in heat, you, 1st Elder, were the only one who easily overcame that curse!"

"...."

That was a misunderstanding. The only reason the 1st Elder could withstand the aphrodisiac curse was because she’d built up enough sexual endurance through her nighttime romps with Luna to handle an aphrodisiac.

"Do you truly consider me your leader? I might lead you all down the path of depravity."

"Well, it’d still be better than those who told us to have sex with monsters!"

"You’re the 1st Elder who’s worked harder than anyone for the elves. If you don’t become our leader, who else could protect the purity of the elves?"

"...There’s no helping it, then."

The 1st Elder let out a sigh, then straightened her back and raised her voice to the elves.

"Though I could not stop us from being driven out of the elven forest, we shall depart in search of a new home."

The 1st Elder pointed to the opposite side from where they’d left the forest.

"Just a little further down from here, there’s an abandoned forest. Let’s head there first. Once there...we’ll decide our fate."

A grim killing intent even flashed in the 1st Elder’s eyes.

"Whether we reclaim our forest, or make a different one our home."

Luna could be forgiven. Nifela could be forgiven too.

But the orcs who turned her own daughter, Sola, into a dark elf—those she could never forgive.

"I...intend to reclaim our forest. Elves."

That was the moment the 1st Elder and the elves raised their banner of rebellion against the Legion of Wrath.

***

At that same moment, Spica Castle.

"You really mean to go through with this?"

"Of course, Baroness."

Baroness Virginia Virgo let out a quiet groan at the operational plan the Knight Commander laid out before her. The troop deployments and strategy neatly packed onto the parchment were enough to make the Baroness’s jaw drop.

"Is this really possible?"

"Of course. With your permission, Baroness, anything is possible."

The Knight Commander pointed to the middle of the parchment. A faint divine power radiated from the Saintess’s seal stamped there.

"To subjugate the dungeon, we must move with lightning speed. But Zabiyaba has already fallen into enemy hands. You need to make a decision."

"But...there could still be hostages inside. Not just anyone, but my own citizens."

"They’ve already been violated by the monsters. Surely they’re suffering. This is to ease their pain, even just a little."

"...And that means burning every single one of them to death?"

The Baroness was floored by the outrageous yet utterly cruel approach. But the Holy Knight Commander just shrugged as if asking what the problem was, then started praying.

"Please think of it as a purification to save them from evil."

"Set fire to Zabiyaba just to clean up the rear so it doesn’t interfere with the dungeon subjugation? Does it even make sense for me, the lord of this territory, to personally set fire to one of my own cities?"

"It can’t be helped during wartime. On the front lines between the human alliance and the Demon King’s Army, there’s no such thing as a territory. The lines push back and forth every day, so there are no territories or cities—only fortresses and battlefields. One city burning down isn’t going to topple your Barony, is it?"

"...."

The Baroness stayed silent. Zabiyaba was no ordinary city, but she didn’t want to stir up more trouble. She couldn’t bring herself to strongly oppose the Knight Commander’s plan to burn the entire city.

"Will the troops really gather like this?"

"Of course. The Saintess herself is lending her name to summon them. Heroes from all over will converge. Their numbers alone will be 500. All of them experts who’ve subjugated dungeons before."

"...."

The Baroness stared down at the Saintess’s conscription order written on the parchment for a long time. The invitation list packed with names of those being called to muster was full of names even the Baroness had heard of through the grapevine.

"If I abandon Zabiyaba, will these people really become my vassals...?"

"I’m only paving the way for them to become your vassals. How you actually bring the adventurers into your service is up to you, Baroness."

"...."

The Baroness closed the parchment. If she kept looking at the list, she felt she’d get swept up in daydreams and never escape.

"Alright. Once they gather, I’ll think about it. ...When will they all be at Spica Castle?"

"Well...."

The Knight Commander looked at the location of the Virgo Barony on the map and broke into a wide smile.

"In a week, they’ll all be gathered and ready to march."

The Knight Commander grinned as if she could march on the dungeon right this minute.

"...."

Gray and Meri, who stood beside her as the Baroness’s vassals, were staring at the parchment with complicated expressions.