The World's Ego

Before the Siege

Veldora POV

In a secret meeting room in the innermost part of the labyrinth, the Dungeon Elite Ten were already gathered around the table and waiting for us. It was rare for them to gather in the first place, so this plan had been that important. Even the old man Gadra was here to help.

"Hey, guys!"

"Yo, everyone, thanks for coming!" I greeted them alongside Ramiris

"Today we are facing an unprecedented crisis since the creation of this labyrinth! That's why I want to hear everyone's thoughts!"

With Ramiris's announcement, we took our seats and began the meeting.

"Oh? It's already been decided." Kumara mused

"Just kill them all, I guess." Apito finished the sentence that she wanted to say, which displeased Kumara a little

She glares at Apito, "This time, you'll be giving us a turn on our own floors, won't you? After all, Apito has been happily playing with Holy Knight-san these days, aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Hinata-sama is a good opponent, but the Holy Knight Order is too weak." Apito scoffed

I eased the tension between them with a laugh, "Kuahahaha! Stop fighting and be at ease. This time, everyone will have a chance to fight. From what I've heard, the enemy believes that the deepest part of the labyrinth is Floor 60. Despite our outward propaganda that the labyrinth has a hundred floors, they don't believe it! Do you all think that it's okay for them to be so stupid?"

"""No!"""

"I thought it would be fun to play along with this, but it seems like too much trouble and their goal this time bothers me." I said while crossing my arms

Ramiris looks at me with a confused expression but returns her attention to the table, "As Mentor just said, waiting for them to break through to Floor 50 would be very troublesome. Not only is it troublesome for us, but also for them."

"There are 700,000 of them out there currently. Rimuru wants us to lure them into the labyrinth as much as we can."

"If they're all crammed at the entrance, it's going to take a long time, right? Plus, having too many enemies at once is also a problem. That's why we decided to repeat the process from the beginning, sending a thousand men to each floor and dividing the enemy army!" Ramiris continued and grinned, "If you have good luck after drawing lots, there might be strong opponents, right?"

"Kuahahaha! Perhaps one of them would become the threat that can touch Rimuru whom Benimaru is looking for! Personally, I would say that he's worrying too much, but you know..." I shrugged and revealed the one fact that would definitely dig the graves of the Empire's forces, "... I heard the goal of the enemies this time is to capture a certain someone. It just so happens to be Rimuru herself, not like they know it yet though."

This was the first time Ramiris and Beretta were hearing about this, so they were naturally shocked to hear it. I had a wide grin internally as the growing tension in the room returned, but it wasn't at each other now.

"You guys know what that means, right?"

Kumara smirked, gentle but dark, "So that means everyone has a chance, right?"

"If that's the case, I have nothing to worry about." Apito chuckled along

"So if anybody comes to our territory, we are free to do as we please?" Adalman asked

Ramiris nodded, "That's right! We're still getting more and more people coming in, but for now we're just throwing them in one by one, starting from Floor 41. Once we get 1,000 people, we will move down one floor at a time, so please keep that in mind! I'll assign tasks and explain later."