Crunch!
One swing of the iron mace and a soldier lost his life instantly. His head turned to mush from the mace striking his crown, and the soldier who stabbed at the belly bounced off and collapsed to the ground.
Splat.
The orc stomped on the fallen soldier's chest to prevent escape. The massive weight pressed down on the soldier, crushing his ribs which punctured his lungs and heart—he coughed up blood and died.
"Don't run! Break through!"
Eila coughed up blood while rallying her soldiers' morale. Being on the verge of total annihilation right at the entrance was nothing short of humiliation, but humiliation only mattered if you survived.
Staying put meant a dog's death. One of the five knights had already been killed instantly by the pot-bellied orc, and the other knights weren't in great shape either.
"How can an orc who hasn't even reached adulthood...!"
"This is supposed to be a rank 30 dungeon?! That's ridiculous!"
As the knights fell into panic, the chaos intensified. The soldiers trembled as they thrust their spears at the monsters, and those wavering spear tips didn't reach a single beast.
Kihihik!
The monsters systematically surrounded the subjugation force. The force that had numbered just over 200 when they entered was now down to less than half, and all the survivors were paralyzed with fear.
Rok.
Heavy breathing came from the darkness. Each time they heard the phlegm-filled breathing, someone died, and the knights sustained injuries.
Clank, clank.
Among the goblins, an unusually large orc dragged his iron mace along the ground as he approached the humans. Snorting as he lifted his mace, the orc pointed it at Eila.
"Surrender."
"...You arrogant monster!"
Eila drew her sword. The knights around her tried to block her way to stop her, but Eila had already leaped up, stepping on the soldiers' shoulders to take the front.
"You're the leader of this pack! I'll take your head and we'll return alive!"
"We're still at the entrance though."
"Shut up, you bastard!"
Eila channeled magic into her sword. The soldiers' eyes lit up at the technique unique to titled knights—aura.
"I am Eila, eldest daughter of Margrave Aries and a knight! I won't die in a place like this!"
"You won't die in a place like this, sure."
The orc sneered as he rested the mace on his shoulder.
"But if you resist, you'll be tortured until you die."
"Will you shut your mouth!"
Eila charged at the orc. Her posture—sword held horizontally as she rushed forward—was like a cavalry lance charge.
"Haat--!"
Eila thrust her blue magic-infused sword toward the orc. The blade should have sunk into the bulging belly, and blood should have gushed from the orc's body.
"Huh...?"
That's what should have happened. Eila's sword didn't even pierce the orc's skin, and somehow the orc had already grabbed the blade with his hand.
Crack!
The orc twisted his grip. The fine sword bestowed by the prince became scrap metal in an instant, and Eila's eyes shook mercilessly.
"This doesn't make any—"
"It does."
SMACK!
The orc's pot-lid-sized palm struck Eila's head. With an impact like being hammered, Eila's consciousness faded.
"No...."
In her blurring vision, Eila collapsed to the ground. The last thing she remembered was the orc's words as he caught her and laid her down.
"Something like Forneus."
What did the orc mean? Eila's whole body went limp, and she fell unconscious.
The subjugation force's commander had fallen.
The rest was obvious.
"Aaaaargh!"
"I don't want to die, gaaaaah?!"
"Save me, save me!"
Kigigigigik.
The monsters ravaged the humans, and the orc planted his mace in the ground and slumped down.
After that.
Not a single member of the subjugation force sent by the margrave returned alive.
***
"As expected from my favorites, ohoho! To defeat the kingdom's subjugation force so easily!"
Forneus praised the chieftain. The overall commander of this battle had been our chieftain, and he knelt before Forneus with a solemn face.
"It was only natural for us who receive Lady Forneus's grace. There's no need to burden Lady Forneus's noble eyes with those dirty, ugly human scraps."
"Ohoho, such honeyed words. Good, tell me what you want. I'll grant you anything."
Forneus stroked her thigh with a suggestive look. It was a gesture inviting him to the bedroom, but the chieftain reached out with an unwavering face. Toward me.
"This is the number one contributor who achieved distinguished merit in this battle."
"...You, how dare you. What do you think you're doing?"
The moment Forneus saw me, she frowned. I bowed my head low as I'd discussed with the chieftain beforehand, and the chieftain spoke with a more tense face than ever.
"This young orc commanded all the battle plans and combat in this engagement. Lady Forneus, please...."
"Yeah, right. So you racked up achievements to survive? The thought is commendable. Though you're so arrogant I want to kill you."
Forneus snapped her fingers, wrapping a whip around the chieftain's neck. Lightning crackled as the chieftain's body was roasted golden brown, and Forneus yanked the whip to grab his neck.
"Fine. In recognition of killing 200 humans and five knights, I'll give you one chance. Yeah. Plus you even captured a human lady knight as a prisoner? Ohoho! Then let's make a very interesting bet."
Forneus licked her lips while touching the chieftain's solid abs. At the corners of Forneus's mouth, the juices from the boar roast Brug made following my recipe glistened.
"They're your tribe's youngsters, so you should take responsibility, right? If you can make me come within an hour, I'll consider sparing those two. Let's see—kyaa?!"
The chieftain grabbed Forneus and entered the bedroom. All the dungeon's monsters were shocked at his behavior—grabbing the legion commander's body without permission and throwing her onto the bed. Brug, prostrating beside me, also hung his head.
"Brother...."
"Our tribe's lives depend on the chieftain's lower half."
If the chieftain couldn't beat Forneus in bed, we'd all die. But I believed in the chieftain.
"Then we've won."
"Wait, hold on! Who said you could touch there, kyaaaa!!"
The fruits of telling him to do a thousand squats a day finally showed today.
We survived.
For now, at least.
***
Three hours later.
"Haa, haa. Fine. Know that you're alive thanks to your chieftain. Whew...."
Forneus lay on the bed and released the magic guillotine aimed at Brug and me. The chieftain was still moving his hips on top of Forneus, and she gestured to us with a languid face to stand up.
"I'll spare your tribe. Was it Brug? Ufufu, he looks quite appetizing too...."
Forneus licked her lips as she looked Brug up and down. Anyone could see Brug was next up to bat, and he trembled with genuine fear.
"Whew."
The chieftain breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad to have another comrade-in-arms to face Forneus on the battlefield called the bed. Though his hips were still moving.
"And you.... Turn around. You're from the same tribe but you're so ugly.... No, look this way again. I can't stand looking at your back either."
Making someone spin 360 degrees on a whim. Unforgivable, but I was one hand-wave away from death. All I could do was secretly teach the chieftain modern techniques to get petty revenge on Forneus on the bed.
"Right. I understand you struggled to survive. But still, I gave you three years and you still have that disgusting body—I can't forgive that."
"This is...!"
I tried to argue in frustration, but Forneus created a rope choking my neck faster than I could speak, lifting me into the air.
"Kuh, kuhuk...!"
"Ugh, you're so damn heavy it's using more magic. If I kill you like this...kyaah...."
Thump thump thump.
The more I suffered, the faster and harder the chieftain thrust his hips. It was silent pressure to spare my life, and fortunately, absorbed in the bedroom litigation, Forneus released the rope around my neck.
"Khuh, huh, whoo...!"
"You really owe your life to your chieftain.... Haa. I won't kill you right away in recognition of your achievements. But there's a condition."
Forneus clapped her hands while still lying down. Magic rippled from the wall creating an illusion, and there appeared a human woman with a gag in her mouth, constantly shaking her body in resistance.
Eila something. The woman I'd knocked out.
"Extract information from this woman. A mere subjugation force can't be the end of it, right? If you get some decent information, I'll spare you. The time is...."
Forneus pointed at an hourglass.
"One day. Tomorrow's the coming-of-age ceremony, right? Hoho."
I had exactly one day left.