Among my subordinates, there weren't many troops with the ☆ symbol indicating they could evolve.

But the ones who could evolve were mostly monsters with the potential to reach 3-star status, and the Big Slimes who'd been with me since the early days of dungeon operations were the most prominent examples.

Leveling, and then cannibalism.

If Slimefolk evolved by consuming species other than slimes, the Slime Dragons that came after Big Slimes evolved by devouring Slimes and Big Slimes again.

Seven days.

After a whole seven days of the three Big Slimes grinding through the Slime sub-dungeon, I finally got my hands on three Slime Dragons.

Even though they were only level 35, their majesty was absolutely unmatched.

Grroooaar!

The Slime Dragon roared and crawled forward. Its speed as it clung to the cave wall and moved like a snake was fast enough to match my running pace. And riding on top of the charging Slime Dragon were three warriors.

Eila.

Arthur.

And Hases.

"Hyaaah!"

Eila swung her sword from atop the Slime Dragon's neck, taking off goblins' heads. Arthur also swung his chipped mace, crushing a gargoyle statue's wings. Hases leaped off the Slime Dragon to ambush a camel monster from the ceiling.

"Begin covering fire!"

Following my orders, the hunters I'd now fully recruited as subordinates aimed their bows and crossbows. Camel monsters were charging from the opposite end of the corridor where the Slime Dragons and assault team were rampaging.

"Meri!"

When I called out to Meri, she immediately shot a magical flame arrow forward. It didn't have killing power, but it was bright enough to create a flash, and seeing the fire arrow explode, the assault team grabbed onto the Slime Dragons clinging to the walls.

There were only enemies in the hunters' line of fire. The assault team pressed against the walls to avoid the line of fire, and I stretched out my staff and shouted.

"Fire!"

The hunters who'd been waiting only for my signal all loosed their arrows. With harpy feathers as fletching and sharpened claw arrowheads made from claws obtained in the Andras sub-dungeon, they flew toward the camel monsters.

Thunk!

A claw arrow stuck in the thigh of a camel monster charging at the front. Thanks to sharpening the tips to a point, the Andras claws boasted sharper killing power than even iron arrows. They were arrows made from processed monster materials to begin with.

When humans who'd lived their whole lives hunting all fired at once, the camel monsters had no choice but to collapse quickly.

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

When the monster in front fell, the camel monster behind started charging forward using the corpse as a shield. Arrows kept sticking into the corpse, and on the back of a camel monster I glimpsed passing by on the side, there were three humps.

Grroooaar!

The camel monster was targeting none other than Eila. The Slime Dragon startled and opened its mouth wide, but the camel monster raised its sharp claws trying to tear both the Slime Dragon and Eila apart.

And at that moment, a whooshing sound faster than any arrow passed by over my shoulder.

Thwunk!

The wind arrow that precisely pierced the camel monster's heart also pierced through the head of a goblin fleeing behind it. The sharpshooter who'd sniped two in one shot and even saved an ally, Lune, raised her head to show off her skill.

"..."

And Eila gulped at the hole in the end of her sleeve. Lune's snipe was definitely accurate, but if it had veered just a bit more to the side, Eila's wrist would've been pierced first. My gaze immediately turned to Lune, and Lune blushed as she pulled back her bowstring again, facing forward.

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I know. Like you'd do something like that."

I comforted Lune and nodded once to Eila before surveying the battle situation. The corridor was littered with goblin and gargoyle corpses, and except for the one that took an arrow barrage at the front, all the camel monsters seemed to have fled.

Gremory's subordinates had temporarily retreated. The choice to attack was ours.

"So from now on, how do we fight..."

Time to use strategies and tactics passed down through the ages. After having the slimes devour the enemy corpses, I set up a temporary base in Gremory's dungeon corridor.

"Lune, go scout. But absolutely don't go to that tentacle monster's room. Got it?"

"Yes!"

Lune led the hunters and headed beyond the corridor. I checked if any soldiers were injured after the initial battle, and except for the Slime Dragons' skin being slightly scratched, there weren't any particular changes.

"Hehe, well then, while the scouts do their thing, shall we carry out our own plan?"

Gurrgle.

Lime, who'd been at the very rear, patted the armband on his forearm with his palm and smiled proudly. For the first time in a long while, Lime got to dig tunnels with the slimes. Someone else's dungeon, but soon to be my dungeon.

"Lime, start."

Gurrgle.

While Lune was scouting, Lime led the three Slime Dragons and started digging a tunnel from near the portal.

***

"Hah, stupid fool. Like I wouldn't figure that out?"

Gremory immediately caught the distortion in the flow of mana spreading through the dungeon interior. She might not notice once, but not twice or three times. If the opponent's main strategy was digging tunnels, preparing countermeasures accordingly was natural as the dungeon owner.

'And that guy, he's really useless after all.'

Anyone with a functioning brain would think the opponent would prepare for a strategy they'd already fallen for once, but this dumb pig seems to think that because it worked once, the same effect will happen again.

Gremory had already caught on to a new tunnel starting to be dug from the portal side. And just as she was about to order countermeasures...

[Is the raid going well, Gremory?]

The phantom of a black crow appeared in the crystal ball. Gremory didn't want to show her pathetic state, so she laughed while pretending to be relaxed.

"What is it, Halphas?"

[Five days have passed without any raid news, so I contacted you out of curiosity. Andras isn't that strong of an enemy, right?]

"Hmph. Got a problem? If you do, why don't you open a portal to the Andras dungeon yourself and go eat it. Who doesn't know you marked it with a curse to fatten up and eat later?"

[If you know, help a bit, would you? I deliberately sent you our dungeon's ace.]

"I wish you'd take it back."

For Gremory, it was nice in many ways, but a monster that stuck its tentacles at the dungeon owner was like a white elephant. Halphas, who sent it, looked like he couldn't understand though.

[I can't understand. That's why creatures that lay eggs with their uterus don't get it. How good a cloaca is—]

Crash!

Gremory threw the crystal ball at the wall. As the crystal ball shattered into pieces, the black crow's phantom vanished.

"That bastard... I'll have my camels gang up on him someday."

Rushing her when it's only been a little over five days without even knowing the situation here. It was really fucking annoying, but still, Gremory could be in this position as dungeon owner thanks to Halphas.

Someday she'd build her strength and turn her blade on him, but right now, she had to overcome the crisis in front of her first.

"Ugh, calling at an important time so I don't even know what's going on."

Gremory scanned the mana flowing throughout the dungeon again. It took quite a bit of time, but thanks to that, she could clearly see where the enemy tunnel was heading. The tunnel starting from the portal was again—

"...?"

Did I sense it wrong? Gremory gathered her mana and scanned the dungeon again. Her mana sense couldn't be wrong, but she couldn't understand the current situation at all.

"What the...?"

The tunnel was being made. The three Slime Dragons twisted their heads together in a spiral and started breaking through a new path underground. Gremory felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu from that movement, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

"When exactly?"

The contact with Halphas was barely a few minutes. But in that short time, they'd already dug that far? Gremory couldn't believe it.

"Ch-chase them right now! Pursue them!"

Gremory hastily sent troops. All the remaining forces except the defensive troops stationed throughout the underground passages that Rok had already dug rushed toward the area near the portal where the Slime Dragons had started breaking through. Gremory bit her lip while calculating time.

Six hours?

She could almost hear Rok's mocking laughter. It seemed the time it would take Rok to dig the tunnel and arrive would be much faster than the time for Gremory to lay her eggs and regain her strength.

Rummmmmble!

Rok dug deep into the path from the portal to Gremory's core. Even deeper than the tunnel he'd made before.

"Are you fucking insane?!"

After creating a basement level 1 to raid Gremory's core, Rok now started digging a tunnel at the height of a second floor above ground.

***

Craaack!

The Slime Dragon's body wriggled, creating a gentle slope. Under Lime's direction, the Slime Dragons' heads spinning furiously were faster than any decent tunnel boring machine.

"Lune, you know this saying? In life, you can fall for a tactic once."

When I first broke through the wall to Gremory's core, I advanced to the core by digging an anthill into the wall. If it hadn't been for the avatar, Gremory would've been pierced by me right then, and this war would've ended.

Crack, craaaack!

The Slime Dragon's head twisted sharply to the right. Following Lime's direction after reading the position, we could advance above the ceiling of Gremory's dungeon at a fast walking pace.

"And if you fall for the same tactic twice, you're an idiot. A moron."

After being played by Gremory's avatar, I immediately took Gremory's avatar hostage and escaped to the portal. Lime alone dug an underground passage and escaped to the anthill, then succeeded in drilling a hole to the tentacle monster's room and escaping back to the anthill.

"But here's the paradox. The fact that the same strategy keeps working means the opponent is foolish enough, but it also means it's the most effective tactic against that opponent. Effective enough to fall for it again after falling for it once."

And I exploited that complacency.

"Would they really do it again? They'll do it once and stop. Would they do it twice? No way. Hehehe, it drives a person absolutely crazy and makes them jump."

"But will this really work? Unless Gremory's an idiot, she would've prepared countermeasures."

"If she prepares countermeasures, that's even better. How would she counter? Either they'd fill in or block the tunnels we dug, or like this, they'd chase us down the path we made."

Kieeeek!

Goblins started rushing urgently through the passage we'd passed. The goblins threatened us with poison needles, looking fierce. We'd created a dead end ourselves and become rats trapped in a jar.

"Oh my. But you should've sent stronger enemies. Lune!"

As soon as my command fell, Lune shot an arrow to the opposite end of the tunnel. No matter how many camel monsters there were, it was insufficient in many ways for them to enter through that narrow hole.

A tunnel as wide as a Slime Dragon. I crawled forward in a low crawl up the slope the Slime Dragons made, advancing above the temporary second floor passage we'd created.

"So Lune, do you know what happens when you fall for the same strategy three times?"

I pointed at the floor with my foot. While the entrance coming up was narrow, the second floor passage was wide enough for me to straighten my back and spread my arms left and right.

"If you fall for one tactic three times, it becomes legendary."

Once going. Through the wall.

Once coming. Underground.

And once going again. Through the ceiling.

"Let's make a legendary tunnel operation today."

"But Master, I'm curious about something."

Lune asked while making wind holes in the foreheads of goblins coming through the opposite end of the tunnel.

"What if Gremory already knows?"

"Doesn't matter if she knows. This operation was premised on her noticing to begin with. Even if she knows, it's useless."

Best if she didn't notice, but even if she did notice, carrying out the operation as planned wasn't a big problem. The core of the 1st squad executing the ceiling tunnel operation was to fluster Gremory and make her mistake.

"It's an operation for a frontal assault to begin with."

This tunnel's destination wasn't Gremory's core.

"We're becoming the hammer."

Lime sent a signal. I rubbed my finger along my back to activate the tattoo. Vitality began flowing through my body, and I finished preparing to start the fight.

"Lime!"

Gurrgle!

The Slime Dragons' heads pointed downward. I ran forward and jumped through the hole the Slime Dragons made.

"Uwaaaaah!"

A wide cavity.

I jumped down behind the camel monsters from above the corridor where the enemy's main forces were concentrated.

And at the same time, our dungeon's subordinates from the opposite end of the corridor charged straight ahead.

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