Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Otherworld Demon King Survival Guide.

Episode 189: Leveling Up Tech (4)

My blood boiled and my mind snapped to alertness. Technically, it was a dungeon, but enemies rarely invaded.

A night raid, you say?

That’s not normal. I didn’t skip scouting around, and if they’re attacking at night, they must know our location well!

“Krrgh!”

“Kyyaaah!”

Following continual emergency combat readiness training, benchmarking Jeon Jun-tae, the dungeon soldiers quickly armed themselves and began to form up in their correct positions.

I, too, quickly don my armor and grasp my sword.

“Sentry! Status report!”

“Krgh! Enemies! They’ve invaded! They look human! Saw five of them!”

“Well done, Sentry! You’ll be rewarded next time! Buril! If you’re ready, advance towards the dungeon entrance! Serinu! Follow up quickly! Hobgoblins are going into the tunnels! Imps, follow the pixies!”

I rapidly issued commands while gathering information.

“Lamias, prepare to sortie!”

Humans? Could there have been a leak of information? Or maybe just camping enthusiasts here for backpacking? No way! First things first, we go and kill or subdue them all!

—Dududu!

—Bwoong!

Goblins advanced at high speed, with pixies following right behind. I also followed, shield in hand.

As we turned the corner.

“…!”

Something human-like… No!

“Dark Elves!”

Beings with brown skin, long ears, and white hair! Just as the Lamias described, Dark Elves! Armed male Dark Elves brandishing swords were staring this way!

At the same time, I wondered.

Why hadn’t they run away? Clearly, two goblin sentries had alerted us to the intrusion and had run deeper into the dungeon.

Seeing that they hadn’t run away… they must not know our strength. Then, it’s a bold attack!

“Attack! Buril! Line up and charge!”

“Krrrgh!”

—Dududu!

The goblins stomped the ground, shields and spears at the ready, and charged in formation.

“Oh no…!”

“What’s that!”

And I could hear the Dark Elves shouting in surprise. Clearly, they hadn’t expected a goblin army.

“Pixies, fire! Aim and shoot on your own!”

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

—Sssssack!!

—Sssack!

The moment the pixies commenced firing, the Dark Elves turned to flee. A retreat. So, they weren’t prepared to face us.

—Papap!

A wind cutter struck their backs, but thanks to their chainmail, they didn’t fall.

“Kyaaahhhhh!”

The roar of the Lamias can be heard from behind. They are ready.

“Buril! Clear the way!”

“Krgh! Left and right! Stick to the walls! Execute!”

“Pixies, stick to the sides too!”

—Papapap!

At my command, my subordinates immediately stuck to the walls.

“Lamias, sortie! Spear through them all!”

“Kyahahaah!”

“Be wary of ambushes! Retreat if it feels too dangerous!”

—Kukukukung!

Lamias, armed with spears and shields, charged down the dungeon corridor like a wave of cavalry. After sending all the Lamias, I then ordered the goblins to advance.

“Buril! There could be an ambush outside! As soon as we exit, raise shields and spread out left and right! Understand!”

“Krgh! Understood!”

It’s a very urgent situation. They might have troops waiting outside. If so, it’s dangerous, but we needed to capture prisoners swiftly here.

It’s not good to just hold out inside the dungeon in this situation!

Thinking this, I stepped outside.

—Aaaahhhhh!

I heard a scream. It wasn’t a Lamia. Clearly a man’s voice. The Dark Elf hunt was successful.

“Krgh! Master! The formation is ready!”

“Good job! Pixies and imps, follow the goblins! Wait here for the Lamias!”

After giving orders, I surveyed the surroundings.

—Aaaaah!

—Khaaaaah!

Pain-filled screams. No voices of Lamias among them. That’s fortunate. It’s clear we’ve succeeded in the hunt. How long did it last?

—Sararak.

“They’re back.”

The Lamias returned, cutting through the darkness.

“You’ve brought back the spoils, Sasunall!”

“They were easy opponents, these Dark Elves. They weren’t prepared.”

“Well done!”

—Thump!

The Lamias dropped the Dark Elves they had been carrying on their shoulders to the ground.

“Kkuuugh…!”

All of them were pierced through, caught and subdued while trying to flee. Being ambushed at night is natural, especially when up against trained elite Lamias.

“The outcome was expected, Sasunal. Any ambush or other enemies?”

“None. These were all of them.”

So, these five male Dark Elf warriors were the entirety of their group.

“Please… save us…!”

“Khhk! Kkhuuugh…!”

“Blood!”

The five sprawled Dark Elf warriors groaned, bleeding profusely. With no more enemies in sight, it seemed safe to proceed with clean-up operations.

“Buril. Organize three teams of four each for sentry duty, and position them in front of the dungeon. Move the rest of the Dark Elves inside the dungeon! Prepare for treatment!”

“Understood!”

Let’s begin the interrogation!

We placed the captured Dark Elves in the prison, and Lumica used water magic to briefly clean their wounds before performing hemostasis. Then, the Dark Sisters rushed in and cast healing spells on the wounds.

With that, emergency treatment was completed.

“My goodness! These are Dark Elves…!”

Irene looked quite surprised, her expression serious. Reika simply wore a look of disdain.

“They invaded, didn’t they?”

“Yes. But please, treat them. We need them alive for the interrogation.”

“Alright.”

The spears had penetrated their bodies deeply. It seemed unlikely that we could save them with the current technology at the Demon King’s castle. However, we might be able to keep them alive a little longer.

Let’s quickly find out everything we need to know before they succumb to their injuries.

“It’s clear they came for a surprise attack, my lord.”

Then, Juria spoke up.

“Dark Elves are a warlike and cruel race. They probably followed us after accidentally discovering our location and came with the intention to ambush.”

“Does that mean there is a Dark Elf village nearby?”

“I’m sorry. I did not anticipate this.”

Juria, looking somber, apologized to me. She had previously said that there were no other races nearby. But it’s okay. They might have moved recently.

“It’s okay. They might have moved here recently.”

“Thank you for understanding. My guess is, didn’t we recently recruit new troops from far away? Perhaps the Dark Elves established in that area have been trailing us.”

“Hmm… That sounds plausible.”

As we were discussing this,

“Hey, does this one look the best? Shall we interrogate this one?”

Reika pointed out one of them.

“Right.”

He was gasping for breath, but compared to the others, he seemed to have been hit less severely since he was bleeding less.

“Good. Just move this one to the next room.”

“Yes, Master.”

Sharan immediately supported the Dark Elf.

“Ugh!”

A groan burst out, and the bleeding intensified. I was not sure if we could even conduct an interrogation.

Nevertheless, we moved to the next room.

And started the interrogation immediately.

“Lumica. Splash some water on his face.”

“Okay.”

—Chyahk!

“Kugh…!”

“Are you conscious?”

“Where, where is this…!”

“Tell me your name! Dark Elf!”

“Krinv! It’s Krinv!”

It seemed that since the language worked with the Lamias, it worked with the Dark Elves too. I kept shouting at him.

“What is your purpose here!”

“That is…!”

“Answer! If you don’t, I’ll feed you to the Lamias!”

“Ugh!”

A terrified face.

“Scouting! We came to scout! Huuk!”

“Scouting? Why scout?”

“Kugh…!”

“Speak quickly! Sharan! Scratch his calf with your nails!”

“Yes, Master!”

Sharan immediately scratched the guy’s calf with her nails.

“Gahaaaaak!”

A scream burst out. Meanwhile, I infused a bit of my magic into the Dark Elf to help him recover some strength.

“I’ll ask again. What was the purpose of your scouting?”

“Goblin, the goblin army was spotted! La, Lamia has allied with those goblins! So we tracked them…!”

“Knowing Lamia is there, you entered unprotected? There must be another agenda?”

“Khuk! It’s not that…!”

His face turned pale as he struggled to speak, but something was off. The goblin army had allied with the Lamias. They followed them, and then this cave appeared.

Wouldn’t one normally be cautious? Why enter the dungeon carelessly, only to run away upon seeing goblins?

“I wouldn’t have entered rashly like that.”

“Krrrk.”

Just as I continued the interrogation, the man foamed at the mouth and fainted. The wound was too deep. He couldn’t hold on and passed.

“Even with my magic infusion, a wound this severe can’t be healed.”

Regrettably, he was now just food.

We had no choice but to interrogate the remaining Dark Elves. We divided into groups and interrogated each one.

Most of them were nearly out of their minds from pain and bleeding, so we couldn’t get detailed information, but they generally answered that they had come out for scouting.

“Anyone hear about their origin? Where they live?”

Vanessa raised her hand.

“I managed to get a rough idea. There’s a Dark Elf village not too far from here.”

“Was it originally there, or did they move?”

“I didn’t hear that far.”

“Hmm…”

Dark Elves were nearby.

“We need to plan accordingly.”

This was more dangerous than orcs.