Kirin was starting to get weak lately. His mana income was rather poor, but he couldn't simply give up. The plan he came up with was a good but rather cruel one. He spent most of his mana to create a large swarm of weak entities, and he sent them to attack the nearby city. If he was right, the guards should easily dispatch his servants and produce large amounts of mana. Some of the people in that city were going to die, but it was them or him, so the problem was not his. At least he decided to be fair and send his maximum level 10 denizens. Kirin smiled and prepared himself to inspect his traps, but his good mood was interrupted when his largest army so far was attacked. Before he fathomed an idea of how that could have happened, numerous of his denizens were already killed. The only explanation was a large dungeon subjugation force that somehow was in the area where his entities were wiped out. How were the Cridians able to gather such a frightening force so quickly?! In a panic, Kirin started placing new traps and spawning new entities to protect everyone. The little mana he received was very alarming. Kirin slowly realized that he had made a huge mistake...

•••

Galahad was absorbing one report after another, grasping the scale of the problem known as the Dungeon of Snares. The absurd amount of traps in front of them was amusing to a point. He never thought that using so many traps could be effective, but surely, it was discouraging. To think they had to spend so long fighting a 67-level Dungeon, or according to Idna's new rules, a Grade A dungeon, wasn't funny nor even slightly appealing, to be honest. Some traps were clever, some obvious, and some probably had a magical trigger. Galahad prepared his army and nodded towards one of Faé's, who raised her staff and pointed it towards the enemy dungeon.

"Mass Dispel!" The melodic voice chimed, and thousands of traps were temporarily disabled.

"Advance," Galahad ordered coldly, urging his horse forward as well.

The forward ranks of Hastati moved forward in unison and perfect discipline, hidden behind their large, body-covering scutum shields. The perfect surface of the shield wall was interrupted by the equally spaced tips of spears pointing forward in anticipation of the enemies. The forest was silent, as if every living creature was holding their breath. The pitfalls were too shallow to hurt armoured Hastati, who accidentally fell in the pits at times, but the maniples were moving in the same battle rhythm without waiting for soldiers to return to their ranks. The empty spaces were immediately refilled by the soldiers from the second ranks. A few unlucky legionnaires died after they stepped on an explosive trap, but they were unfazed by the poison gases when another trap was triggered. But the deed was done- the dungeon's external defence was beaten in no time.

"Now I know why my King doesn't use that many traps. They are just ineffective..." Galahad mused and waved his hand at one of the Fenrirs that accompanied him. "Find out where the Core is and report back to me."

The Fenrir obediently jumped between the maniples to sniff out the Dungeon Core. The legion was moving forward steadily, but all of a sudden, the enemy Goblins and Kobolds jumped out from the pits in the ground between the first lines of acies triplex. A fierce battle ensued between the two forces, but it was already apparent to Galahad that the Dungeon of Snares's luck had ran out. The Goblins and Kobolds, despite their apparent zeal, had nothing to show off. Their crude weapons, wooden clubs and knives made of bones, were no match for excellently equipped Legionnaires. The spears quickly were replaced with gladiuses as the square formation broke into many smaller, circular formations, allowing hundreds of hours of training to produce their ultimate effects. The overwhelming strength of the Legio Fulminata came out on top, overpowering their much weaker and far less numerous opponents.

Galahad was on guard, still waiting for the true warriors of this dungeon to attack them. He couldn't sense any powerful enemy, which meant that the scions of this dungeon were still hidden somewhere in the ambush. The losses were inevitable but unexpectedly high for the battle they were in. From the initial ten thousand that marched out of Avalon, Galahad had lost one and a half thousand soldiers during the skirmishes and capturing of the enemy cities. As expected, the biggest blow rocked the heavy infantry, but the losses among cavalry and auxiliary units were still high. Galahad, however, was determined to conquer and subjugate this dungeon.

This would serve a double or even triple purpose. First and foremost, this would allow for his Lord to create a shortcut directly between Avalon and this place. With that, the reinforcements would need far less time to arrive, simplifying the logistics a bit, even if King Theon had to move the cargo between the locations personally. Lastly, leaving behind an aggressive dungeon would be troublesome for Quaia, let alone disrupting still brittle supply chains for Avalon's armies as well.

"My Lord! There are no more enemies! The Core is right here!" the Fenrir gave his report with as much confusion as Galahad felt when he received it.

The Fenrir pointed at the large tree that was growing in the middle of the dungeon. It was simply huge, much taller than Stella's Magic Tower, with its canopy overhanging the big part of the area like a cap of the oversized mushroom. Galahad, knowing the tendencies of this particular dungeon, looked as flat as it was possible for a Skeleton and went towards the tree. The legion scouts were disabling the last traps scattered around, so Galahad was able to slowly circle the tree. The Core indeed was hidden inside, but Galahad was not sure if he should order the destruction of the grand and beautiful tree. He pondered on that thought when a seductive voice caught his attention.

"Oh, noble warrior! Congratulations on clearing the Dungeon of Snares!" A Dryad, hidden between the lower branches of the tree, was timidly smiling at him. "Please, do not hurt my tree! If you cut it down, I will die!"

"Are you a scion of this dungeon?" Galahad asked, ignoring her seductive voice.

"A scion? No! But I am a resident of this dungeon; he protects me." She lowered herself onto a branch, allowing Galahad to see her body covered under a thin white dress. She looked at Galahad with her big green eyes and she nervously started playing with her long, dark green hair. "Brave warrior, could you show me your face?"

"Listen, girl... Do I really look like an idiot?" Galahad sighed. "For your information, your seduction won't work on me. Since you are not a denizen but a resident, you know that your master is in danger and you want to help, I guess, him. So, can you speak with the Core?"

"You hurt my Dryad pride, Human..." She sighed and lowered herself to the ground. The sweet scent of various flowers engulfed Galahad, but he just sighed and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Wait, wait! I mean no harm to you! You can't hurt my master anyway. Mortals can't kill a dungeon." She shrugged and smiled, a little embarrassed. "He doesn't have a scion."

"What?" Galahad asked with an empty voice, making the Dryad giggle.

"He never needed one. We don't interact with the outside world." The Dryad snuggled herself to the tree. "But I can speak briefly with him."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Tell him that I, Galahad of Avalon, Scion of the Righteous Dungeon, will shatter him into splinters and devour every single point of his mana if he does not surrender. He can serve my master as his vassal and servant or be destroyed." Galahad took off his helmet, making the Dryad scream in fear. "I don't have time for his bullshit. So you better translate that for him or we are going to see if taking out his Core from inside of your tree will kill you or not!"

•••

We were eating the late lunch and Aoi was telling us the story of how Hestia exploded the candle they were supposed to light using their mana. The entire training room was covered with wax. Hestia had just grinned and admitted that mana manipulation was far harder than she anticipated when I saw the large World System pop up.

By accepting this contract, you will become the supreme Master, against which the servant can not rebel. They will be put under multiple vows and gaesa to prevent them from taking any harmful actions against their master and themselves. Once accepted, this contract allows the master to effectively take full control over all the servant's assets and vassals.

I blinked a few times with my fork halfway to my mouth. My wives looked at me at first with surprise, but then they started laughing seeing my certainly stupid facial expressions. I tried to think of a reason why the Dungeon of Snares would decide on such a move.

"That's strange..." I put down the fork and mentally summoned Stella. "Luna, do you know where the Dungeon of Snares is located?"

"Dungeon of Snares? Why do you ask?" she asked, wiping her lips onto a napkin made of soft material. "I think it's a bit over nine hundred kilometres west from here. Near a small city named Quaia, which produces most of the tea we have in Avalon."

"I asked because he just pleaded to become my vassal." I wiped my face as well and stood up just in time to hear the knocking on the doors. "Come in Stella."

"My Lord?" Stella gracefully flew inside on her colourful wings and bowed to my wives. "My Queens!"

"What do we know about the Dungeon of Snares?"

"As the name indicates, that dungeon is a trap master. We still know very little about it because it never was a priority target, my King. It very, very rarely attacks people around it and when it does, it's usually fair. However, our research suggests it simply wants to be left alone... I still have not given any information about it to Queen Luna, since that particular dungeon has the lowest possible priority..." she quickly recalled.

"Hmmm." I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. "All right... Galahad and Legio Fulminata were attacked during their journey towards the border, so he retaliated." A sudden thought came to my mind and after a few moments, I smiled widely and clapped my hands together. "How about we visit it?" I asked them after accepting Kirin's surrender, making him my next vassal.

•••

"Tell him that I have already surrendered! It is his master who has not accepted my pleas yet!" Galahad suddenly heard a new voice.

"I believe you." Galahad sheathed his sword, making the Dryad take a more relaxed breath. The question he received from King Theon confirmed that this time, at least, this treacherous Core was not lying.

"Ufff... Wait. You can hear me?!" Kirin's voice was full of surprise.

"Of course, I am the Scion. You are now a servant of my King. I can hear you as I hear his other vassals." Galahad shrugged and looked at the Dryad. "You can stay here for the time being. My King will decide your fate later."

"Mister Dungeon! We are no longer your residents!" she said, terrified, and fled between the branches.

Only then did Galahad notice many more Dryads hidden in the canopy of the giant tree. He looked at them for a moment and then shrugged again. After all, that wasn't his problem. He had his orders, and he already lost enough time and soldiers for this self-imposed side quest. Galahad was about to turn around when he received the news from his King.

"Fortify this position! Centurion!" Galahad pointed at one of the legion officers. "Take your Century and bring the officials from Quaia to this location."

"What's going on?" the Dryad, who previously talked with Galahad, decided to ask, despite her fear for her life.

"We are going to have guests."

•••

Lord Kaspian Tride was sitting in the unexpectedly comfortable carriage with his wife. The sudden summoning from Lord Galahad was not only surprising, but also left no room for refusal. The vague suggestion of bringing a symbolic gift of what his city has the best to offer gave him the idea that it was not a one-way trip. That's why he was holding a well-made, richly decorated, premium tea chest filled with ten blends of the highest quality tea.

"Agatha, you really should have stayed home..." he sighed.

"Kaspian... We are old and I'm really not afraid. Besides, I always wanted to see the dungeon for myself before I die." she smiled and fixed her best dress.

"As stubborn as usual..." the old lord mused with a faint smile. In reality, he was very glad she was with him.

"Perhaps we could see a Lady of the Forest?" She grinned like a young girl.

"A Lady of the Forest? Who is that, Lady Agatha?" Gilmour asked.

"We believe she lives somewhere in the forest. She is the last of the legendary race of tree shepherdesses; a Dryad," she replied with the patience of a teacher, explaining something obvious to a kid.

"Who knows what secrets hide in the world, my Lady..." Gilmour patted his copper beard and nodded to himself.

They crossed the boundaries of the dungeon, and while Kaspian and Agatha were slightly afraid, Glimour's face brightened.

"You have nothing to worry about, Lord Kaspian, Lady Agatha. It looks like Lord Galahad has beaten this dungeon into submission and our King has vassalized it! That means we are going to move everyone here very soon." Gilmour looked as if he received a present he could only dream of.

Before older nobles could get through the shock or even ask anything, their ride came to an end. A young Dwarf swiftly stood up and opened the wagon so they could disembark it. The five Guardsmen that accompanied them already left the carriage and made sure it was okay to disembark. After just a few moments, everyone was walking towards the large tent near the unbelievably large tree. The large Avalon banners were waving softly on the light breeze and in front of the tent in two rows were standing twenty warriors clad in black and gold armours.

"The Praetorians!" one of the Guardsmen almost shouted.

"Hush! Silence!" Gilmour looked scornfully at his subordinate, but his eyes betrayed that he was as excited as the latter.

They entered the large tent, and they saw Galahad sitting near a big table. He stood up and welcomed them with a happy voice. "I am happy you joined us, Lord Kaspian."

"Lord Galahad! My concerns were utterly wasted, I see. It's good to see you." He grabbed the hand of the Dungeon Scion without fear. "Allow me to introduce you to my wife, Lady Agatha."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Agatha. My name is Galahad of Avalon, the Scion of the Righteous Dungeon." Galahad bowed politely to her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Lord Galahad." She bowed as well with a smile.

"I am sorry that I brought you here on such short notice, but very soon our King is going to arrive."