Stronghold Dungeon

"Momonga would lead the first squad. Damage dealers: Ulbert and Takemikazuchi. Tank: Bukubukuchagama. Scout: Nishikienrai. Healer: Yewuzi."

"Touch Me would lead the second squad. Damage dealer: Beast King Mekong. Tank: Nubo. Scout: Flatfoot. Healer: Vier. The remaining roles would be filled by mercenaries."

"Mu Fengyu would lead the third squad. Damage dealers: Peroroncino and Bellriver. Tank: Siyou Qilong. Scout: Genjiro. Healer: Garnet..."

After Bukubukuchagama finished assigning the teams, everyone secretly nodded. The arrangements were solid; at the very least, the first three squads would definitely reach the final room.

Combined with the special items Mu Fengyu had given them, if they were lucky, perhaps all five squads could reach the final room.

To improve everyone's chances of clearing it, Mu Fengyu lent one GM item to each squad leader. Momonga, Touch Me, and the other two looked at the pyramid-shaped items in their hands and asked in confusion.

"Yu, what kind of item is this?"

"Ah, this is a GM-exclusive resurrection item. It can instantly revive squad members without costing them levels or causing them to drop items."

"It's normally only used when testing World Bosses. If possible, don't use it—it could cause data errors. Of course, don't hold back if you need it. I'll have someone repair the data afterward."

The four nodded, while the others finished organizing their weapons and items. Normally, Touch Me would shout, "Let's go!" at a time like this, but Momonga was now the guild leader.

In an instant, everyone turned to look at Momonga. Feeling their expectant gazes, he took a deep breath and shouted.

"Let's go!"

The five squads stood before their respective stone statues. They instantly triggered some kind of activation sequence, and a gloomy, icy male voice snarled.

"You dare set foot in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, foolish and greedy mortals."

Then a gentle female voice spoke.

"Or perhaps brave mortals. Whether you are fools or heroes, you will soon find out. You are about to face the Five Rulers."

"Those who seek this place, defeat us and prove your strength."

Afterward, the stone slabs before each squad lit up in different colors. One step forward would teleport them into their corresponding dungeon.

At that moment, Emerald Tablet said curiously.

"That male voice just now belonged to Helheim's lord, right? So he came here to moonlight too. I never thought even game NPCs would take part-time jobs."

"Exactly. People who make extra cash like that are the worst. Yu, hurry up and make a God-Slaying Spear to take him out."

"Your jokes are seriously awful. It's just the same voice actor. There's no need to make such a fuss."

"It's fine, it's fine. They're probably just nervous and trying to ease the tension with a topic."

"I really hope this stronghold will give us 3,000 NPC creation points after we clear it."

"That's impossible, isn't it? Helheim's highest-level stronghold dungeon was already cleared long ago, wasn't it?"

World Tree's dungeons were divided into two types: stronghold dungeons and normal dungeons. Clearing a normal dungeon rewarded several items and weapons, along with a great many crafting materials.

Clearing a stronghold dungeon only granted the corresponding NPC creation points, as well as ownership of that stronghold. Each guild could only possess one stronghold. If they wanted to change strongholds, they had to abandon the original one.

After clearing a stronghold-type dungeon, NPCs could be created inside it, though the NPCs' total levels were capped.

There were other issues as well. Once a stronghold was occupied, it automatically generated monsters below level 30, but those monsters required maintenance fees.

Undead monsters were better in that regard, as they cost nothing to maintain. Other creatures, however, grew more expensive with their level and size.

In other words, if the stronghold generated nothing but large creatures, the maintenance costs would become astronomical. If the stronghold's income was insufficient, the guild members would have to cover the difference themselves.

Besides monster maintenance costs, activating traps, hiring mercenaries, and other such expenses also required payment. It was manageable under normal circumstances, but once a hostile guild attacked, the costs would skyrocket. In serious cases, they could even be driven into bankruptcy.

Takemikazuchi fiddled with the longsword in his hand and said with a smile.

"We should wait until after we clear it to worry about that. With this dungeon's difficulty, the points probably won't be low. Still, who knows whether we'll even be able to afford to maintain this stronghold."

"Hey, A-Ken, don't be so down. At worst, we can sell information to support it later."

Hearing them say that, the guild members' enthusiasm waned. Even if the entire guild worked together to conquer this place, they might ultimately have to sell it to another guild because they could not afford to maintain it.

Mu Fengyu was perhaps the only one without that concern. He alone could afford to support the entire stronghold. That was what it meant to be rich and willful.

"Hey, hey, hey. Are you guys thinking about something bad? Let me tell you, this is our first time."

"At worst, I'll have someone alter the expense data here so it can become self-sustaining."

At last, Touch Me, who had remained silent until then, spoke.

"Everyone, it's about time we had a proper stronghold. Our previous one was very well hidden, yes."

"But now that we've established a guild, that new stronghold is too small and unsuitable for our development. We also can't freely build the facilities we like."

Touch Me's words moved the companions around him. Emerald Tablet immediately said.

"If we can build whatever we want, then I really would like a place to settle down. But is this place really suitable?"

"I think this place could work. Our current stronghold is too easy to attack, and it can store very few things."

"Right. Most importantly, if we can truly use this dungeon as our stronghold, then we won't have to worry about being attacked when no one from the guild is online."

"But if such a huge stronghold gets bombarded with AOE magic, wouldn't we go bankrupt too?"

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. I'll put several GM-level defenses inside. Then let's see who can attack us from the outside."

"Ahem. Isn't it a little too early to discuss all that? Let's clear this place first."

Everyone nodded. They all agreed with Bukubukuchagama, and the place they were about to enter was a dungeon no one had ever explored.

In World Tree, unless a dungeon was extremely low-level, clearing it on the first attempt was generally impossible.

But that was exactly what made it challenging. Seeing their companions eagerly raring to go, they had already begun discussing how to defeat the bosses they would face.

Momonga cleared his throat twice, drawing everyone's attention to himself, then spoke.

"This is Ainz Ooal Gown's first raid. Since everyone is so fired up, let's clear this high-difficulty dungeon we're seeing for the first time and show those trash developers what we're made of."

After Momonga's rallying cry, howls erupted through voice chat. Cheers and excited shouts echoed throughout the mausoleum.

Once everyone had calmed down, Momonga waved his hand and led his squad into the teleportation circle first. The other squads then entered their own magic circles in succession.

As Touch Me's squad was about to vanish into the teleportation circle, Ulbert shouted.

"Touch Me, let's see who clears it first!"

Touch Me's voice came from within the teleportation circle.

"Then you'd better put some effort into it, Ulbert!"

"Everyone, be careful. Don't hold us back!"

"Takemikazuchi, you should worry about yourself instead!"

"Don't worry, we won't lose to them!"

"Everyone, good luck! Stay safe!"

After encouraging one another, they stepped into their respective teleportation circles with firm resolve and vanished.