Dungeon Conquest Details

Before we entered the dungeon, Servi explained the details about dungeons. Since I'd said the finer points were involved enough to cover separately, I'll explain them here.

"All right then, let me explain things first. This is your first time dungeon exploring, right."

"Yeah."

"First time and straight into an S3 dungeon… challenging, huh. Well, let's do our best."

Servi gave a wry smile.

"Please, go ahead with the explanation."

"Then let me explain about dungeon exploring in general, and about this Cave of the Broken God.

"Servi-san's Dungeon Lecture, here we go～."

Looks this prim and lovely, yet so light and breezy and cute. That part of her resembled Silvana too.

"Dungeon exploring has all sorts of unique rules you won't find anywhere else.

"To start with, what even is a dungeon—well, the details aren't really understood, but it's thought to be a collection device that gathers up the surrounding magic and stockpiles it.

"And then it transforms and strengthens the magical beasts inside it, growing them into powerful magical beasts.

"They say Great Magical Beasts are born from dungeons too."

I'd heard this part before, from Ursula and Lyuka. But I held my tongue and listened quietly.

"Magic ash is, after all, just feed for Great Magical Beasts to grow on, things like that.

"Or maybe they even grow from demon-person to demon-general, demon-general to Demon God."

"Ah, then maybe it'd be better to bring Ursula along?"

"Sadly, it has no effect on humans～.

"On the contrary, humans get their magic drained out of them.

"So humans exploring dungeons is thought to benefit the dungeon side as well.

"Treasure chests pop inside dungeons.

"The basic reason given is that, as a result of stockpiling and transforming magic, items with magic are randomly born—a side effect of monster strengthening…

"But there's also a theory that the dungeon creates them as bait to lure humans in.

"Well, us humans gratefully accept just the bait, that's the deal.

"As long as you don't get wiped out, the magic drained from you is about as much as you'd burn in daily life, so no worries.

"Leveling is completely fine too.

"… As long as you don't get wiped out, that is.

"If you do get wiped out, you'll learn firsthand that a dungeon is a device for draining magic.

"Your level might drop, or you might get not just your magic but your very life drained out and die.

"Well, before that, getting chomped to death by magical beasts is probably the quicker way to go.

"Getting taken in alive is worse still—that's how Great Magical Beasts get born."

"… I-I see."

"But if you can explore without being wiped out, you can get rare items from treasure chests, valuable drop items and materials from boss monsters, tame powerful monsters…

"Of course leveling efficiency is much higher than aboveground, too.

"And if you succeed at the conquest, you can repurpose it as a base inside monster territory—all sorts of merits.

"So the idea is, this dungeon facility benefits both sides, and the human side should follow the rules and make use of it.

"Which is why nitpicking the dungeon's rules is kind of pointless, I figure. Just go along with it as the way things are.

"If you don't like it, they'll tell you not to challenge the dungeon."

"Okay, understood."

I, for one, knew full well that dungeons in games come loaded with unreasonable rules.

Stuff like only being able to enter a dungeon with a set number of people is obviously a matter of game-system convenience, but think about it realistically and it's pretty unreasonable. Obviously you'd want to challenge it with as many people as possible.

Well, in this world, since there are all-targeting attacks, there's also the demerit that challenging with a large group increases your casualties.

"Yep, yep, good answer.

"So, first, about the headcount limit.

"Dungeon exploring—especially S3-Class dungeons and above—is a challenge with up to 24 Garumon.

"Try to enter with 25 or more and it's a forced failure.

"… Ah, this 'failure' phenomenon is its own unique dungeon-conquest spec.

"Fail a dungeon challenge and the dungeon goes all-out, forcibly draining the challengers' magic.

"From the human side, that's the worst possible outcome: everyone forcibly knocked out and wiped out.

"Well, the system gives a warning, so if you hurry out you'll be fine.

"Plastering on defensive skills lets you hold out somewhat, apparently, so if you get outside the dungeon in that window, there's a chance you'll survive.

"But all you have to do is follow the rules."

"I-I see… well, I'll follow the headcount limit, but a forced wipe is pretty unreasonable…"

What a steep penalty.

"As for the breakdown of those 24: a Master, plus Sub-Master or knights—though in practice it's often mercenaries.

"Picture three Masters each bringing eight Garumon in.

"And don't go thinking a futanari Master can bring 27 in.

"I mean, you actually can enter, but the moment you try to reorganize the Master and Sub-Master into your combat lineup, it'll say you're over the headcount limit and hit you with a forced wipe."

"Got it. Well, this time the Sub-Masters double as combat members, so at 24 there's no problem."

Of course, counting me it was 25. But I can't fight, so it's no issue.

"Yep, you're fine.

"Now, as for how to challenge it—

"・All three groups enter at once

"・Two groups enter, one stands by

"・One group enters, two stand by.

"And when multiple groups go in, there's also

"・Move as one cluster

"・Each group acts separately

"The tactics split roughly that much. Each has its merits and demerits."

"What do you mean?"

"First let's think about the maximum-firepower option, all three groups acting as one cluster.

"Incidentally, inside a dungeon you can't do out-of-battle battles. That's a dungeon spec too.

"Even if you attack out of nowhere, a Garumon Battle battlefield instantly deploys and it becomes 3-vs-3 or 6-vs-6, so be careful.

"There's also the effect that if we attack first, everyone gets the preemptive grant; if the monsters get the first strike on us, all the monsters get the preemptive grant."

"Huh… no out-of-battle battles, preemptive grant, got it."

So a lot of the rules change.

It's gotten more game-like, then.

"When three or two groups act as one cluster, the demerit is that the number of battles goes up.

"Only one group can enter a battlefield, right.

"While one group is fighting, the remaining groups have to stand by near the battlefield.

"… And when that happens, other monsters approach the battlefield, so the remaining groups almost certainly end up in battle too.

"In other words, fight one battle, and depending on the number of groups, you end up fighting two or three.

"Technique consumption gets heavy and it becomes hard to keep exploring—that's the issue.

"Also, if there's a power gap between parties, the battles ending at different times is a problem.

"Even if a remaining group finishes its fight while one group is still fighting, it has to wait near the battlefield.

"The 5-minute safety window… ah, inside a dungeon the safety period after a Garumon Battle is only 5 minutes.

"Once those 5 minutes pass, you've got to fight again.

"With three groups the timing adjustment gets even harder, and you can end up fighting over and over until everyone finishes at the same time.

"So acting as a three-group cluster basically isn't done.

"When you know the trash mobs' attack patterns and finish fights in a flash. When the route to the boss is mapped out and all that's left is the showdown with the boss. Under conditions like those, it's fine to go all-out together.

"Still, multiple groups entering the dungeon at the same time does have a merit in itself.

"That's when one group gets wiped out.

"A wipe means the 2nd party losing in a Garumon Battle. Even if the 1st party and the two reserve members remain, they get forcibly knocked out. That part's the same as a normal battle.

"I said that when you're wiped out the dungeon drains your magic or you get eaten by magical beasts, but when multiple groups have entered, there's a 1-hour wipe-protection period where the system protects you.

"So during that time, if the remaining party rescues the wiped party, you're fine.

"They get saved without being drained.

"… But if only one group has entered the dungeon, then when that group is wiped out, it's over. Failure.

"Even with multiple groups in, if all of them get wiped out, it's over.

"What happens when you fail, I already told you.

"The merit of acting together is that even if you're wiped, you can go to the rescue right away.

"It's also a merit that enemies one group can't beat can possibly be subjugated by two groups fighting in succession.

"Acting separately, you don't know if you can get to the rescue in time."

"If you were acting separately, how do you find out where a wiped party is? Is there some method?"

"You can exchange messages even inside the cave, so if you report your positions to each other—to your Mapper—and keep a proper grasp of where everyone is, you can rush over.

"Well, if you fall into a trap and get wiped while not knowing where you are, that's an out～.

"All you can do is pray someone finds you by chance. Though if you're already wiped, you're in no state to pray, but."

"Mm-hmm…

"So I need to work out a strategy for how to explore the dungeon with three groups."

"Yep. That's it. I'll give you the hint, but the way you can fight longest in a dungeon is rotating one group at a time.

"Inside a dungeon, HP and technique uses don't recover with the passage of time. That's another dungeon restriction. They say it's because your magic is being drained.

"But if you go up through the Gate to the surface and rest, you can recover HP and technique uses.

"This is a bit of a trick, but it's a standard tactic for dungeon conquest.

"If you set up a full rotation where only one group fights and the other two rest aboveground, you can explore for a really long time.

"As long as that one group isn't wiped out.

"Another commonly used tactic is splitting into an exploration squad and a Gate Defense squad.

"First the exploration squad explores, and when its technique uses run dry, it returns to the surface through the Gate to rest.

"The Gate Defense squad guards that Gate.

"By dedicating itself purely to Gate defense and not wandering around inside the dungeon much, it keeps encounters with magical beasts to a minimum.

"This way you wait about 8 hours for the exploration squad's technique uses to recover, and when they're recovered, exploration resumes.

"That's probably the most mainstream tactic.

"Not just in dungeons but in monster-territory exploration in general, splitting into a Gate Defense squad and an exploration squad is common.

"Even when you're out exploring monster territory, an S-Class Master always has to keep heading back to Lasburg for one thing or another, right.

"In that case you can just use the Gate to go home.

"Defend the Gate in the meantime, and once your business is done, step back through the Gate to resume exploring from the same spot.

"That's the basic tactic for monster-territory exploration. Of course, if the Gate gets destroyed, you start over."

"I see…"

"I should also tell you about the dungeon's clear conditions.

"All parties that entered the dungeon escape it, and no party remains in the dungeon conquering it.

"That's 'Termination.'

"When it terminates, the dungeon enters magic-collection mode.

"For several days you can't enter, and the dungeon's internal state initializes.

"At that point the dungeon's shape often changes, too.

"If your only goal is a treasure hunt, you collect the chests, then escape and terminate it.

"That way the items revive again.

"Oh, a little aside.

"Do you know the trick for draining a dungeon's magic and destroying it? If you keep grinding trash mobs endlessly without triggering Termination, the dungeon's magic gradually wears down, and eventually it runs out.

"A dungeon in that state can be destroyed by an attack from outside with no demerit.

"This way you can erase a dungeon without conquering it.

"Well, do this and you can't make the dungeon a base anymore, so basically it's not allowed.

"It's nothing but a flip-the-game-board, ruin-everything berserk tactic for when there's a dungeon you absolutely can't clear.

"Recently dungeons with time limits have started appearing, though, so this trick is becoming unusable.

"And when you 'Terminate,' the worn-down magic recovers to its original state, so the trick won't work—that's all that means.

"Well, if you intend to clear it legitimately, it's just a tangent.

"When the magic is heavily depleted, the magic absorption from the dungeon at Termination becomes as fierce as at a failure, and the last party to challenge it can get drained until they're wiped out.

"Of course, the legitimate way to clear it is to defeat the boss monster.

"Beat the boss monster and you reach the 'Conquered' state, and that dungeon is fully cleared.

"Some weird dungeons settle things not with a boss fight but with negotiation, or a quiz contest, and the like.

"After a legitimate clear, you have other work, like rebuilding the dungeon into a fort using its resources.

"That part's fine because you can connect Gates freely.

"Then let me tell you a bit more about 'Failure.'

"All parties that entered the dungeon get wiped out, and no party remains conquering it. That's failure.

"Even if one group is conquering and two stand by, if the one conquest team gets wiped, it's a failure.

"The two standby groups, no matter how far from the dungeon they are, get their magic drained and wiped out.

"Well, when it looks like the conquest team is going to be wiped, one option for the standby teams is to immediately teleport via Gate to a safe town.

"That way, even if you're wiped, you're in town, so no worries about being eaten by monsters.

"And as I said earlier—probably as a countermeasure to the trick—dungeons have been getting more and more time limits lately.

"In the old days there were no time limits, so you could keep fighting until the magic ran dry. But now, once a fixed time passes from the start of the conquest, it's a forced failure, so that trick is becoming impossible.

"This cave is fairly long, 120 hours, so if you plan to clear it legitimately, you don't have to worry much about the time limit.

"The odds you fail to encounter the boss before then are quite low, I think."

Hmm, well, it was confusing if you call it confusing, but think it through and it wasn't impossible to follow.

It was just confusing because the explanation branched off in so many directions, tricks and all.

If you mean to clear it legitimately, it boils down to one line: collect the treasure chests and beat the boss.

"If I beat the boss before collecting the chests, do the chests inside the dungeon get collected?"

"Sadly, the moment you beat the boss, just as the trash enemies vanish, the items scatter too.

"If you don't want that, you have to collect them before beating the boss."

"I see… it's not that kind to us, huh."

Any other questions? … No, rather than just asking, let me think for myself.

Servi's explanation was easy to follow, but she's the type who gives away the answer first.

When she does that, the fun of figuring out the conquest method yourself is lost.

Let me think it through from what I've heard so far.

"First, the key points of the dungeon's unique system are these, I'd say."

・No out-of-battle battles inside a dungeon. It becomes a 3-vs-3 or 6-vs-6 Garumon Battle. Attack first and you get the preemptive grant.

・Inside a dungeon, the safety window after a Garumon Battle is 5 minutes.

・When multiple groups are in the dungeon at once, even if one group is wiped, there's a 1-hour rescue window.

・Inside a dungeon there's no HP or technique recovery from passing time. However, using a Gate to return to the surface allows recovery.

・When everyone escapes the dungeon, it's "Termination."

・When all parties inside the dungeon are wiped, it's "Failure."

・Beat the dungeon boss and it's "Conquered."

・Dungeons have time limits; exceed them and it's a forced failure. The Cave of the Broken God is 120 hours.

・Fail and all your magic is drained, forcing a knockout, including members outside the dungeon.

・Messages can be exchanged even inside a dungeon.

・Escape via Gate is possible; defend the Gate and you can resume exploring from the same spot.

"From what I've heard, I'd guess that rotating with two exploration squads and one Gate Defense squad is the best-balanced approach."

"Oh, quick on the uptake. That's roughly it.

"Though there, you'd do better to hear what kind of dungeon this is and decide again."

"I see, you're right."

Everything so far had been an explanation of dungeon exploring in general.

"Next, about this Cave of the Broken God. I scared you with a lot of stuff, but among S3 dungeons this cave is famous as a fairly easy-to-explore, high-yield dungeon.

"The biggest feature is that the strongest-class boss monster, called the Broken God, wanders around looping through the dungeon.

"In other words, in this dungeon the boss monster isn't sitting in one place—it's out walking around.

"Run into it and you have to be ready to die. But to put it the other way…"

"If you don't meet the boss, you can explore safely."

"Yes, exactly.

"The boss has a dense presence, too. When it gets close, a skilled Scout will pick up on it.

"So escaping isn't impossible. Well, the safe way to escape is to bail via Gate.

"… In short, avoid the boss and keep looping the dungeon's treasure-chest pop points, and you can get good items.

"Although if your luck's bad, you encounter the boss right away and have to withdraw, blowing your entry fee for nothing.

"Ah, the dungeon entry fee—you're okay on that?"

"Yeah, I've already heard about it."

"Then I'll continue. So anyway, for high-level Dungeon Explorers, this used to be a good earning spot.

"The magical beasts that come out are around LV90-150, which is pretty standard for an S3 dungeon."

"… LV150!? Isn't that seriously strong?"

"Yeah, those are quasi-boss-class monsters, naturally. Run into them and it's a bit of a problem."

"… I'd heard the High Trickster Rodriguez was LV120 and among the strongest of non-unique monsters, but…"

"Among the monsters you meet aboveground, yes. Dungeons spit out even stronger monsters."

… I see, dungeons run deep.

"My goals are three. Let me think up the best tactics to achieve them.

"First, leveling the low-level members."

"Leveling!? In an S3 dungeon, the kind an upper S-Class Master challenges with full preparations? Pheee… you've got some guts～."

Servi was a bit surprised.

"No, I actually think leveling in a difficult dungeon makes sense. When you learn a new technique its uses go back to maximum, right.

"Use up the unneeded techniques first, and when they run out, delete them—that makes it easier to keep exploring."

"… I see, there's certainly something to that."

"Next, collecting items."

"Yep, for item collection, having the multiple parties explore separately is also viable.

"If you encounter the boss you flee by Gate and keep exploring with the remaining two parties."

"But my last goal is to fight the boss monster called the Broken God and make it a companion."

"… Seriously? Eeeh…? Will we be okay power-wise? Aren't Ursula and Eclair here?"

"I left them behind for territory defense."

"Hmm… Once you enter a dungeon, you can't swap members. That's another dungeon restriction.

"Only the 24 registered members can enter.

"Swap a member and it'll gripe that 25 or more entered, and it's a forced wipe.

"… But, we're here, and you've got Kishilia and Melvis too, so… yeah, it's certainly not impossible.

"Well, all right. Let's give it a shot."

So Servi told me.

Good, now let me reconsider the formation.

"Let's set it up with two conquest teams and one Gate Defense team.

"And to the two conquest teams, I'll allot a Boss Selection team of three each.

"The other five scatter the trash mobs while keeping the Boss Selection team in reserve.

"When we encounter the boss, we reorganize and take it on with the Boss Selection team."

"Hoho. On point."

"… If boss conquest is the goal, is using the first group as a sacrificial pawn an option?"

"It is. The boss won't easily run away.

"There are bosses of the fleeing type, but the Broken God is the type that attacks anything in sight one after another.

"Using the first group to read the boss's tactics, then subjugating it with a freshly arranged selection team, is perfectly viable as a strategy.

"A fight won't take a whole hour, after all. Even if the first group is wiped, if the second group wins, everything's resolved."

… Obviously, if the second group loses, it's all over.

Well, that goes without saying.

So, let me think it through on that basis.

First, the boss conquest team.

… Power-wise, I knew relying on Servi, Regina, and Sara would be the surest bet.

But if I had these helpers carry me piggyback to defeat the boss, could I proudly say I'd conquered this dungeon?

"… I want to ask Servi and the others to basically just handle Gate Defense.

"After all, there's no meaning unless I conquer it with my own strength."

"Oh, what a boy. I don't dislike that kind of passion."

So saying, Servi pointed a finger at me. I'd been praised.

All right, no matter what, I'll beat it with just us and show Servi a good showing.

Now then, when it came to fighting a powerful foe like the Broken God, the greatest firepower among us was Kishilia's Moruna and Melvis's Ia.

Pairing these two as vanguard and rearguard was non-negotiable. Kishilia was non-negotiable in the first place, given the goal of taming the Broken God.

"If Kishilia defeats the Broken God, the taming is definitely OK, right.

"Setting Kishilia as the 1st, and if Kishilia falls and we subjugate it with the 2nd.

"Setting Kishilia as the 2nd, and the 1st succeeds in subjugating it.

"Is the taming fine in those cases too?"

"No problem. As long as I'm in the combat lineup, it's fine.

"… Of course the Broken God has to acknowledge my power, but for a powerful boss, I think the very fact of defeating it gets your power acknowledged."

"Then whether Kishilia is 1st or 2nd, I don't have to be too fixated on it.

"But, well… 2nd, I think.

Boss Selection Team

1st

Melvis

Klara

Irana

2nd

Kishilia

Lizalind

Kanan

"How about these members?"

"Me, Klara, and Irana…"

"Yeah. Melvis and Klara accelerate Ia, and Irana coordinates with Melvis, then with Ia after Ia appears. This way we can show off some incredible super-acceleration."

"… Interesting. Understood."

"Kishilia has Magic Boost too, and we'll put Lizalind, who usually plays attacker, and Kanan, who has Magic, on defense.

"It's gotta be Sanka, huh. We'll have Moruna-chan wear the Wind Spirit Garb too… and usually I have to level Nika as well."

"Got it. I think there's no problem."

That naturally made my team conquest party 1 and Melvis's team conquest party 2, but…

"For the training members, the three—specifically Ruria's party—is it fine to put them in the Gate Defense party?

"Training two parties simultaneously en route is honestly a bit much.

"Melvis's team has members with leeway, so I want them to adjust their combat timing.

"Conversely, the Gate Defense team is only one team, so it has the leeway to train."

"Fufu… well, all right."

And so:

Conquest Team 1 (Naoto's Team)

Sonya

Soleil

Himeno

Kanan

Lizalind

Kishilia

Gate Defense Team (Servi's Team)

Servi

Regina

Sara

Ruria

Meifa

Farida

Conquest Team 2 (Melvis's Team)

Melvis

Klara

Irana

That much was decided.

Yufi and Tytis could go on Melvis's team.

The remaining members could be assigned fairly loosely.

To Conquest Team 1, Lyuka and Adelia.

To the Gate Defense team, Seika and Maika.

To Conquest Team 2, Colette, Luna, and Leone.

With this…

Ah, hold on. If I'm going to use the first group as a sacrificial pawn to scope out the Broken God's abilities, the first group's Master has to be Ruria, no way around it.

Hmm, what to do. But leaving Sonya and the others to Servi is really a bit much…

No, that's it. I don't need to wait for technique recovery in the first place, so I don't need to leave the dungeon.

As long as I can secure sleep, that's all I need.

The Gate Defense team should be waiting most of the time too. During that time, I sleep, and they wake me when an enemy comes.

After swapping, the exploration becomes these two teams:

Conquest Team 1 (Naoto's Team)

Naoto

Ruria

Meifa

Farida

Kanan

Lizalind

Kishilia

Lyuka

Adelia

Conquest Team 2 (Melvis's Team)

Melvis

Klara

Irana

Yufi

Tytis

Colette

Luna

Leone

During Gate Defense it would be

Naoto

Servi

Regina

Sara

Sonya

Soleil

Himeno

Seika

Maika

That should work. During Gate Defense we won't be attacked nonstop.

I should be able to secure 6 to 7 hours of sleep.

And when the boss comes, with the formation below, Conquest Team 1, then 2, would fight in that order.

Conquest Team 1 (which of the 7 to deploy decided by remaining technique uses, etc.)

Ruria

Meifa

Lyuka

Adelia

Leone

Yufi

Tytis

Colette

Luna

Conquest Team 2

Naoto

Melvis

Klara

Irana

Kishilia

Lizalind

Kanan

Farida

The remaining 7 (handling trash subjugation during Conquest Team 1's combat wait time)

"This is it. The formation's decided."

The usual Conquest Team 2 would fight at the same time as my Conquest Team 1, so I wouldn't be able to watch over it.

But with Melvis commanding and this much firepower, there'd be nothing to complain about. They'd have enough leeway to adjust combat timing with my Conquest Team 1.

"Just for the first stretch of day one, I'll keep you company. If it looks fine, I'll switch out with Melvis.

"… Well, if we run into the Broken God during that time, that's beyond anyone's control.

"We'll take responsibility and serve as the 1st party."

"Yeah, thanks, Servi. All right, let's go!"

"Yeah!"

And so, back to the main story.