Before I started playing [Dungeon and Stone], the online ga I enjoyed the most was a PvP-focused one.
When you created a character, you had to choose one of two factions. You would then grow your character on a different continent and fight for dominance.
The best part of the ga was leading an expedition into the enemy faction's territory and stealing their field bosses.
The thrill of PK.
The satisfaction of landing the final blow on the boss.
And the sweet, sweet praise from the enemy players.
'It was a fun ga.'
If it weren't for [Dungeon and Stone], I might still be playing that ga.
It was that good.
'...But if I had kept playing, I wouldn't have ended up here, would I?'
That thought crossed my mind, but it was too late for regrets.
The reason that almost-forgotten ga suddenly ca to mind was simple.
The current situation was similar.
The Dark Continent was currently occupied by Noark.
Our expedition force had infiltrated their territory.
And most importantly...
'The sa tactics work here.'
I could feel the sa thrill as I did back then.
"...A-ambush!"
"How did they get here?!"
"Deal with the monsters first!"
"Aaaaargh!"
The panicked reactions of the enemy explorers.
"Y-you cowards...!"
"To think they would ambush us at a ti like this!"
"I'll take you all with !"
The sweet, sweet praise.
「Bon Dragonian defeated. EXP 7」
And the 3rd-grade monster kill, like a cherry on top.
But the best part was yet to co.
"Essence! Essence!"
Wow, did I get a reward for being a good Samaritan?
Not only had we successfully ambushed the enemy without any casualties, but the monster we killed even dropped an essence.
It was the second 3rd-grade essence we had obtained on this expedition.
"Ashid, go secure the essence."
"Yes, sir."
While the mage secured the essence, I quickly finished cleaning up the battlefield.
After all, the essence wasn't the only loot.
"Ugh, ugh... S-spare ..."
"You know I can't do that."
What the hell, is he talking to a corpse?
"Move aside."
I drew my hamr and ended their suffering.
Crack, crack, crack!
Their bodies went limp.
I confird their deaths and then ordered the team mbers to strip them of their equipnt. We stored everything in our shared subspace pocket.
"Whew, with the equipnt in their subspace pockets, this is a huge haul."
"We'll all be rich when we get back."
The team mbers were excited, even just from the visible loot.
It was understandable.
Even a 3rd-grade essence couldn't compare to the equipnt of fifteen 7th-floor explorers.
And we hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Loot secured."
"Any casualties?"
"None, sir."
"Good."
I couldn't hide my satisfaction.
A clean victory in under five minutes, without a single casualty.
"...Do you plan to fight like this every ti?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"No, but..."
Akuraba trailed off.
She knew.
This was the most efficient way to ambush unsuspecting enemies.
Well, there was one drawback.
'Thirty minutes...'
The battle itself was over in five minutes, but waiting for them to encounter a monster took a long ti.
But it was a minor inconvenience compared to the benefits.
It would be a much bigger loss if soone was injured or killed.
'But still...'
Kaislan cautiously approached .
"Schuitz, it was a bit hasty to kill them all. We should have captured one and interrogated him."
Ah, he's right.
"I'll keep that in mind for the next ambush."
Kaislan's expression brightened as I acknowledged his advice.
"Mages, incinerate the bodies and erase all traces!"
We cleaned up the battlefield and then hid ourselves in the darkness.
And we continued our journey.
The silence was broken by a conversation between two team mbers.
"Did you see their equipnt?"
"If we can pull this off ten more tis... We'll be rich beyond our wildest dreams."
Well, they'll find out soon enough.
_______________________
Our routine in the Dark Continent was simple.
Thud, thud.
We moved through the darkness, concealed by shadows.
"Enemies."
When we encountered an enemy group, we waited for them to engage with monsters.
And then...
"Now!"
We ambushed them while they were distracted.
Kaboom!
Whiiiiiish!
Thud!
We focused our ranged attacks on their backline, eliminating them before they could react.
"Let's go!"
"Wipe them out!"
The lee attackers then charged in, overwhelming the remaining enemies, who were pinned down by the monsters.
Another easy victory.
'That's ten.'
We repeated this tactic throughout the Dragon's Lair, and by the ti we reached the exit, we had ambushed ten enemy groups.
"Mages! Set up a sound barrier!"
"Hey! Be careful when you're looting! You're ripping off their flesh!"
The team mbers efficiently collected the loot and erased all traces of the battles.
A team mber dragged a survivor before .
"Leader! Here's the one you asked for!"
"Good work."
"You're welco, sir."
We had been capturing one survivor from each battle since the second ambush.
We interrogated them for information.
It's always better to be prepared.
The labyrinth is a place where anything can happen.
And besides, I wasn't the one doing the interrogating.
"Jun."
"Leave it to ."
I just had to hand the survivor over to Jun, our official information extractor. He would take care of the rest.
For example, that the explorers we had encountered on the 8th floor were Noark's elite.
And that their base was practically empty.
We had obtained a lot of useful information through these interrogations.
The only problem was that we hadn't encountered anyone with new information lately.
"Schuitz, co here for a mont. It's urgent."
Jun called during an interrogation.
It was unusual.
I rushed over to his tent.
The survivor was still alive.
It ant he had obtained valuable information.
"Tell . What did you find out?"
"It's a bit ambiguous."
"Ambiguous...?"
Jun pointed at a glowing stone on the ground.
"It's a ssage stone."
"A ssage stone?"
It was a familiar item.
"He had it in his possession."
"So...?"
"Soone contacted him. What are your orders?"
As Jun asked, the ssage stone vibrated again.
Buzz.
How many more tis would it buzz?
I didn't know.
I had to make a decision quickly.
Swoosh.
I raised my hand, signaling for ti to think.
'Is it a local contact, or from further away?'
The range of a ssage stone was limited, depending on its quality.
But this was Noark's territory.
The contact could be from a distant location.
That was why the royal family had sent us here.
The mana wave emitter.
A device similar to a modern-day cell tower.
Noark had brought this massive device, which couldn't be stored in a subspace pocket, into the labyrinth.
It allowed them to communicate freely with their troops scattered throughout the continent and coordinate their attacks against the royal forces.
Buzz.
The stone buzzed again.
I had to make a decision.
"You, do you think this ssage is from soone trying to trick us?"
"...I-it's probably a routine check-in. They're just confirming our status!"
His overly enthusiastic response and stuttering made suspicious.
"Jun, what's the probability of him trying to deceive us?"
"Very low."
It ant he was confident, even though he couldn't guarantee it.
"...I-I can do it! I'll do whatever you ask! J-just please... kill ...!"
The survivor's desperate plea helped make my decision.
Alright, he seems trustworthy enough.
"Answer the call. If they ask if anything is wrong, tell them everything is fine."
I placed the buzzing stone in front of his face.
And...
Click.
He pressed the button.
A man's voice ca from the stone.
[Finally, we've reached you.]
A deep, resonant voice that sent chills down my spine.
I recognized it instantly.
"R-Regal Vagos... sir... is that you?"
Dragonslayer, Regal Vagos.
Crack.
So you're here too.
_______________________
I had encountered many enemies in this world.
I had crushed most of their skulls, but so were too strong for to handle.
The Lord of Chaos, Riakis.
The Corpse Collector, Abet Necrapheto.
The Ruin Scholar, Belvev Ruinjenes.
I had a long list of enemies, but the one I hated the most was...
Dragonslayer, Regal Vagos.
I felt my blood boil as I heard his voice.
But...
Clench.
I had to calm down.
Now wasn't the ti for revenge.
I focused on the conversation.
[iras, where are you?]
"I-I'm in the Dragon's Lair, hunting with my teammates!"
[...Really? Then do you know anything?]
"Know anything, sir...?"
[None of the teams I sent to the Dragon's Lair are responding.]
"I-is that so? I, I don't know anything about that. We're... we're doing fine here. Really!"
His excessive explanation and stuttering made suspicious.
Swoosh.
Jun silently picked up an awl.
The survivor imdiately corrected his tone and posture.
"That's strange. I wonder what happened to them. Perhaps they were attacked by monsters?"
He spoke calmly, without a hint of stuttering.
[Even those fools wouldn't be wiped out completely.]
"...Right, sir. Is everything alright on your end?"
He even dared to ask for information.
[For now.]
"..."
[Don't do anything stupid and wait there. I'm sending reinforcents. Join them and follow their orders.]
"Yes, sir."
[Tsk, useless fools.]
He ended the call, clicking his tongue.
"It's a sha we couldn't find out how many reinforcents he's sending."
"I agree..."
"...Are you alright? You look pale."
"It's nothing. Don't worry."
I was just trying to control my anger.
His voice had triggered a flashback...
"Oh, no."
I heard a gasp behind .
Whoosh.
I turned around, and Erwen was standing there.
Thud.
She was holding sothing in her hands, but it had slipped from her grasp and fallen to the ground.
Normally, she would have picked it up... but she just stared at .
"Erwen? What's wrong?"
I approached her, and then I noticed it.
"Wait, you're trembling..."
"T-that v-voice..."
"Calm down. What's wrong?"
"That was... t-that was him, wasn't it...?"
For so reason...
"D-dragonslayer, R-regal Vagos..."
Erwen was terrified.
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