On Earth, some countries had been ruined by monsters, and many uninhabited islands were crawling with monsters. I remembered seeing a news report saying that monsters had taken over 30% of small islands.

The reason humans could continue to live normally was all thanks to Guardian and Freedom Wing, who always had at least 50% of their forces devoted to stopping the monsters’ further encroachment into human territory. There were people who doubted their capabilities, and also those in power who used them for their own agenda. Despite that bad press, their laudable actions in protecting humanity was the reason why Guardian and Freedom Wing could continue to exist.

As agencies that protected humanity, this was their founding mission.

However, even they could not deploy enough troops to reclaim lands taken over by monsters. As I said before, they just didn’t have enough manpower.

Everyday, monsters of unpredictable strength appeared in completely unexpected places. From what I knew, only Ciara could predict their appearance. Unfortunately, even Ciara could only cover an area about the size of an average city. In the end, it was Guardian and Freedom Wing that protected humanity from unforeseen deaths. As this task took most of their forces, they had no choice but to leave the current monsters’ territories alone no matter how dangerous they were.

In territories controlled by monsters, their rate of appearance sharply rose. It was the same as how monsters continually spawned in Field Dungeons. At first, I thought the monsters were reproducing, but this wasn’t the case.

Reproduction meant the birth of new lives. The invading monsters didn’t have a world’s power, so this was impossible. Plus, not even monsters could give birth to fully adult monsters. The fact that no baby monsters had been found strongly rejected the possibility that they were reproducing. In that case, there was only one possibility left – the pathway.

I conjectured that when the number of certain monsters in a set area increased, the pathway would widen and allow more of their kind to pass through. This made sense especially since I knew that being invaded by two worlds accelerated the speed of invasion.

In any case, it was true that territories seized by monsters spawned more monsters. Currently, the number of monsters in these territories was shocking. The Philippines, Madagascar, the Republic of South Africa, and the Dominican Republic were already ruined. Germany, Britain, America, Korea, and other countries had also lost much of their land to monsters. Everyone wanted to reclaim their land, but no one could put it into action.

Now that I thought more closely about it about it, Joshua Brightman was really shameless to try to create a separate independent organization just to go against Revival. He should have just kept doing his job properly. Of course, since he now had to live the rest of his life eating porridge and medicine, I couldn’t say much more.

In any case, this was where the succubi army stepped in. They had almost died of old age as virgins since they were stuck in the dungeon, but they weren’t restrained by it. Thus, they were able to keep their original strength and even shared battle experience and skill proficiencies with each other.

212 succubi had the magic power on par with SS rankers. Mirei’s strength was somewhere between SS+ rank and SSS rank, and Licorice’s strength was SSS+ rank. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that they could easily stomp any force on Earth.

To be frank, if the members of Revival fought against them without me, the result was clear. Unless about five other members received gods’ true names, they would undoubtedly lose.

The succubi couldn't climb the dungeon, but there was no need to let them sit around and do nothing. Plus, Licorice said that the mana and vitality succubi needed to live could be stolen from monsters. Hence, this ‘subjugation’ would be vital for their survival.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry, we won’t do it with anyone other than Dear Husb—kyak!”

I smacked Licorice’s head and shut her up.

“I know, you already said you had a special magic for it.”

She pouted. “Dear Husband, your method of showing affection is too violent…sob.”

I looked around at the succubi in the mansion and announced, “We prepared robes for all of you. Honestly, the way you’re currently dressed is too lewd.”

“Dear Husband has prepared clothes for us!”

“Woooow!”

All 182 succubi cheered. They were incredibly loud, so I considered using Frozen Roar. But since they had already become my allies, I knew I couldn’t freeze them. On the other hand, Licorice and the other succubi that weren’t chosen to be part of the battle squad became depressed. You were lying when you said you shared emotions, weren’t you?

I reassured her, “Licorice, don’t look so sad. There’s one for you too. It’s our guild robe.”

“Guild robe?” she asked.

Right, the clothes I had prepared for them were Revival’s guild robes. Hwaya had prepared a guild emblem and the majority of the members agreed on it, so our official emblem was embroidered on all of the robes. After giving almost all the monster materials I had to the best blacksmith I knew, about 300 of them had been made. To be honest, when I first commissioned them, I was worried whether they would all find owners…

Thanks, Lin. I’ll remember to buy you a drink later.

I gave everyone their robes as I lightly pushed aside the image of Lin cursing under his breath in my head. The succubi examined the robes and cheered.

“They all have magic imbued in them!”

“Wow, they’re skin-tight! Just the way we like it!”

“Golden embroidery on black, they’re gorgeous.”

“But what’s this on the back? There’s a streak of lightning enveloping a spear!”

I explained somewhat sheepishly, “That’s…the guild emblem.”

As I felt that the guild emblem only represented me, I voted against it, but Hwaya pushed for it seriously. According to her, I was the one currently representing Revival. After getting a confirmation that the guild emblem would change later, I agreed to it. Truthfully, even if I didn’t agree, a majority of guild members had agreed, so it would have been pushed through despite my protests.

“Mm, I don’t like that it’s not very revealing.”

“What age are you from? In this day and age, rather than showing skin, clothes that accentuate bodily curves are the best!”

The succubi merrily chatted and put on their robes immediately. They could just wear it on top of their current leather clothes which could barely be considered clothes. The end result was that there were 182 women wearing elegant black robes.

When they were wearing the leather clothes unique to succubi, I didn’t know where to place my eyes. Now that they were all wearing the same robe, they looked like an elite force. The robes openly accentuated their bodily curves, but as expected of clothes Lin made, they exuded the aura of nobility and elegance rather than vulgarity.

Moreover, the somewhat embarrassing lightning spear emblem on their back was conspicuous. It would be impossible for anyone to not think of me when they saw it.

I shook my head and began to give orders, “Let’s split you guys up. Each unit other than Unit 1 and Unit 2 will have 30 succubi. Unit 1 and Unit 2 will both have an additional succubus, so there will be 6 units total.”

Unit 1 and Unit 2 had 31 succubi, while Unit 3 through Unit 6 had 30. Once the units were formed, the next part was simple: choosing where to deploy them. Of the places seized by monsters, there were some where not even 30 SS rankers could guarantee their safety. As such, I limited their first mission to territories that weren’t in any of those countries.

“We’ll be striking islands, coastal areas, and uninhabited islands. Of these, the uninhabited islands are practically monster havens, so remember that. After that, we’ll move deeper into land.”

““Yes, Dear Husband!””

With two hundred succubi yelling out ‘Dear Husband’, even I couldn’t help but shudder. However, as it was decided that I would take charge of their first mission, I held in my desire to run away and assigned the six units to different areas. There were hundreds of thousands of uninhabited islands on Earth. The number would halve when the isolated ones were taken out, but there were still a considerable number of them.

“Don’t rush it. Safety comes first. Got it?” I repeated.

““Yes, Dear Husband!”” they chorused.

Please, stop that…!

The succubi could all use magic. Of course, they were most proficient in charm magic and transformation magic. When used together, it was nearly impossible to track them no matter how advanced modern technology was. In other words, they didn’t need to hold back.

They immediately set off to chase away the monsters claiming Earth’s territories and to obtain mana and vitality to eat. Once they left, the mansion became quiet, and the guild members all went back to their usual work.

With over thirty succubi residing in the mansion, Ilayda and Sumire also no longer needed to stay in the mansion. When I first arrived with the succubi, Ilayda silently watched on with a surprised expression. It was only after they left that she finally spoke up.

“Guild Master is really amazing. So many of them, you…”

It seemed she had misunderstood something. She got more confused no matter how much I tried to explain the circumstances, so I gave up halfway through.

With all the succubi assigned to their duties, there was nothing more I needed to do other than wait for their periodic reports.

With Revival taking in the succubus clan, humanity now obtained the chance to chase away the monsters. I had done it without much thinking, but I still considered the possibility that this would result in something much greater.

Of course, I would only find out later. As I had done what I could, I returned to the dungeon without regrets.

“Mm, I feel a bit uncomfortable hunting succubi. Do you mind if I stay out, Dear Husband?” Licorice asked.

I nodded. “Sure, that’s probably for the best. As long as she isn’t stronger than you, I won’t have any problem defeating her anyways.”

When Licorice found out I was going to hunt the Succubus Queen, she backed off with an awkward smile. I led her to the guild house in the Residential Area and challenged the Succubus Queen alone.

“What a charming human. It’s been awhile since I got to enjoy myself,” the boss purred.

She was undoubtedly a Floor Master, but the Succubus Queen that appeared alone in front of me was noticeably weaker than Licorice. This was something I realized only after meeting Licorice and her clan members, but the dungeon’s succubi were lacking in charm, strength, and vitality compared to Licorice’s clan. This Succubus Queen was no different.

She continued coyly, “Come closer, play with me.”

I smiled wryly. “Yeah, let’s play!”

I pretended to fall for the Succubus Queen’s charm as I ran toward her. The moment she spread out her arms and seemed to use some skill, I struck her with Heroic Strike. As the atmosphere and strength she was giving off were completely different from Licorice’s, I had no hesitation in doing so.

[Critical Hit!]

“Kuk, Kuhuk…!”

“Lightning Spear Storm!” I shouted.

“Kyaaaak!”

I followed up quickly with another skill. “Here’s an extra! Wind King’s Rage!”

“Y-You’re not a man!? Kyaaaak!”

When I struck the Succubus Queen with Wind King’s Rage about four times, she helplessly scattered into particles of light. In just two minutes, the Floor Master battle had ended.

“Whew, good fight.”

I wiped away the non-existent sweat on my brow. I thought about why the Succubus Queen purposely revealing openings while trying to use charm magics didn’t work. At that moment, notification messages rang out in my ear. It was truly a pleasant sound.

[Amazing! You are the first in the First Dungeon’s history to succeed in soloing the Succubus Queen on the first try! The dungeon will remember you as a great explorer. You have obtained 2 skill points as reward. Current skill points: 7]

[You have obtained the title, ‘Succubus Queen Master.’ All stats have increased by 2. This effect will apply even if the title is not equipped.]

[You have defeated the Succubus Queen alone. You have obtained the special reward, ‘Succubus Queen’s Leather Jacket.’]

[You have obtained 450,000 gold.]

[You have received the only reward left hidden for the First Explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat has increased by 1.]

So I was the first for the 65th floor! After happily reading the messages again on the message log, I froze when I saw the reward. Giant Wolf, Golden Scarab, Twin-headed Ogre, and now, it was the fourth tattoo. But… But this…

[Secret. Succubus Queen’s Tattoo]

Succubus Queen’s Tattoo…? That just screams trouble!