Chapter 311: Crocodile Tears
Solomon set up a foundation where even ★-grade monsters could grow to ★★★★★.
Whether through kin cannibalism, reincarnation, or level expansion, he established a system for rank advancement that could extend the growth limits that would otherwise end once a monster was born.
’But that takes a long time.’
For me, needing immediate combat power, I can’t afford to be picky about methods. But memories from Forneus’s dungeon kept holding me back.
[Let’s not judge people by their looks. Let’s not judge them for having low grades. They were born that way—what can they do about it?]
It’s one thing if someone becomes twisted as they grow up, but what about those born that way from the start?
That’s why I’d been reluctant to use monster synthesis on ’humanoid’ or ’demi-human’ type monsters. The more I thought about Andras’s case, the more I felt that way.
’Andras was created by combining four girls who’d been fucked by other men.’
Three harpies who’d laid eggs through infinite pumping with three stud hunters, and one Andras who’d been mounted against the wall by Ras Village hunters.
They all merged to become Andras (★★★★★), so it was perhaps natural that she’d lust after men other than me. Monster synthesis that mixed personalities had all sorts of problems, which is why I’d limited it to ghouls only.
’But not anymore.’
To bring in better monsters, the capacity needed to decrease accordingly. Even including Halphas’s dungeon, the number that would keep our legion from being oversaturated was roughly 600.
Now they all needed to become forces that could be deployed immediately. Just like medieval peasants could be thrown into war right away, our legion’s food producers needed to fight to protect eggs instead of running away with them.
A situation full of dilemmas from every angle.
So I came up with one trick.
A synthesis method that would create powerful monsters without killing or eliminating existing ones.
"...Now that we’ve conquered Halphas’s dungeon, is there any way to get those giant crows?"
The giant crow that had tormented me so much—the monster species I later learned was called [Black Raven]. How could I incorporate those powerful spinning beaks that tore through my skin into our legion?
"Perfect timing. You should know how lucky you are. I was gonna tell you later since it’s not that important, but if I’d known you were thinking about this, I would’ve told you sooner."
Gremory led us both to the ranch. While the festival had ended and prisoner humans, harpies, and Andras types were each entering their rooms to settle in, in one corner a giant crow with a wooden vine collar around its neck was huddled up.
"I found it while disposing of corpses—just one still alive. It was buried in a pile of bodies, so I figure it was probably playing dead."
"Hmm..."
That’s entirely possible. I’d killed most of the Black Ravens by blocking the stairs and taking on the ones that charged at me, but I couldn’t really pay attention to who was injured or ran from battle.
"Why’d you keep it alive as a prisoner?"
"It felt weird to just kill it, and we drank and partied right after the battle ended, remember? I was gonna ask the Legion Commander after you passed out, you know?"
"Ugh."
Gremory isn’t the old Gremory anymore. She doesn’t do things like hiding something behind my back and enjoying nighttime fun with an avatar anymore.
’Gotta trust her.’
No matter how much she did that stuff in the past, Gremory has changed now. I approached Gremory and pulled her waist close.
"Phew. I thought you’d secretly hidden one huge crow and were gonna get wild with your avatar later."
"...I changed bodies, didn’t I? I don’t play like that anymore."
Maybe it’s because she entered Valac’s body, but Gremory’s reaction was more lukewarm than I expected. This type of synthesis that devours the other party wasn’t entirely without influence either.
"You’ve changed. The old you would’ve teased me like ’If you just give permission, I’ll have a wild time with it~’"
"Changing bodies is basically the same as breaking up with that past me. You think I entered a fallen angel’s body for no reason? I’m keeping my chastity."
"..."
Gremory, with her colorful past history of goblin-fucker, orc-fucker, camel-fucker, Scuttler, and various others, saying this was both unbelievable and somehow very welcome. The Gremory who said she’d keep her chastity while twisting her body and clinging to me was definitely a different existence from before.
"Keeping chastity for your husband... hehe, that’s an admirable mindset."
"Who’s a husband?"
"So you don’t like it?"
"That’s not it, but..."
Gremory’s somewhat innocent reaction caused an automatic response down below. My junior, heated enough to bulge out the front of my robe, was sticking its head out as if ready to tear through something right now.
’First, let’s do what needs doing.’
I patted Gremory’s waist then stood before the giant crow. Its feathers only had some dirt on them with no major damage, and aside from a bruise on the crown of its head, there were no big injuries.
"Can you hear me? Answer if you can."
Kurruk.
The Black Raven answered with a pitiful voice. Unfortunately, it seemed unable to produce human speech.
"Can birds communicate with each other? Hey, harpy over there, come here and translate for me."
I called over a harpy who’d been dolling herself up to enter her room. The Black Raven sneakily side-glanced at the harpy before turning its head away again.
’Look at this guy.’
"You called, Legion Commander?"
"Yeah. Translate what this prisoner is saying."
Kurruk, kuruk.
"Um... it’s asking you to spare its life?"
The Black Raven was pleading with me for something, doing its best without making feathers fly. Though the harpy was translating, I listened carefully to the Black Raven’s words.
Kurruk, kuruk, kukurruk.
Summary:
"Black Ravens (★★★) are a subspecies derived from gargoyles? The steel-like parts are traces of gargoyle, and the rest is from Halphas???"
"That’s correct. Like the Andras species, Black Ravens are unique individuals that didn’t come from the Demon King’s army. They might be unique to Halphas’s dungeon."
"Which means..."
I got goosebumps all over.
"Halphas, that crazy bastard—he fucked a gargoyle?"
"That’s the privilege of a male dungeon master. Female forms can only lay eggs if they receive seed, but males just need to spray seed and that’s it, right? You should thank Lord Solomon. He made it possible to breed anything by making gargoyles or Stone Golems lay eggs."
I should have realized when he declared he’d violate the goddess. Was Solomon the type of weirdo who’d fuck anything with a hole?
’No, Solomon’s not the problem. The problem is the crazy bastards who fuck just because there’s a hole.’
Therefore, Halphas is the problem. So let’s blame Halphas.
"...Ugh, whatever. I don’t care what circumstances you were born under. Alright, Black Raven. I’ll spare you. But become a subordinate of our legion."
Kurruk, kuruk!
The Black Raven nodded vigorously and accepted my proposal. After checking its information that appeared in the subordinate list, I immediately checked another system window.
’Sorry about this.’
I’m looking through the system, but to the Black Raven, it must just look like I’m tapping at empty air.
’Sorry, but what can I do.’
This is the species that dared to try to pierce my dick. This is the species that nearly killed Lime. It should be grateful just to become our legion’s strength by behaving.
[Monster Synthesis: Synthesize 2 or more monsters into one entity.]
[Synthesis Entities: ★★ and below harpy species (primary) + ★★★ Black Raven (secondary)]
[No new species will be created, only level will increase. (Higher entity synthesis correction)]
[Will you synthesize?]
"Yes. Harpy, thanks for translating. You’re today’s main character."
"What...?"
"So..."
I explained the entire situation to the harpy so the Black Raven couldn’t hear.
Synthesis, but not like Gremory and Valac where one body was stolen—rather, truly mixing with the other, a fusion-like synthesis. A mutant monster synthesis where no one knows what existence will be born.
"Black Ravens as a species were born from synthesis. I don’t know what’ll happen if we mix in harpy too, but once synthesis happens, you can definitely get stronger."
"Really? Then I’ll do it!"
"...I explained, but you’ll absorb its characteristics too. You don’t know what’ll happen, right?"
"It’s better than being born a harpy and living as a harpy until death anyway, right? I bet most other harpies think the same way too."
"...Yeah, I don’t know anymore either."
I could only hope the results would turn out well. I placed them both on the summoning circle in Gremory’s dungeon.
Kuruk, kurruk?!?!
Only then did the Black Raven realize my intention and start struggling. But since I was holding its beak shut with my arm to prevent it from speaking, it couldn’t properly resist even while flapping its wings.
’Whether a giant harpy or a White Raven comes out, the results will tell later.’
Either way, our aerial ’forces’ would increase all the same. And once the Black Raven was registered as a ’subordinate,’ I could keep summoning it as long as conditions were met.
[Magic Stone Summon: Summon subordinates using magic stones.]
[Black Raven 446 / 33 (Mid-grade)]
Thanks to conquering Halphas’s dungeon, mid-grade magic stones overflowed. Plus, with Vapula’s sub-dungeon starting to produce mid-grade magic stones, we now had a regular supply.
’There are surprisingly many uses for mid-grade magic stones.’
I need to make magic fluid with them, and I can feed them directly to slimes to use as experience. Or I can call 3-star monsters from the Demon King’s army.
’Rather than recruiting new employees and working them as interns, it’s way better to promote people already adapted to our legion culture.’
Harpies fully understand our legion’s culture—especially the unique sexual culture aspect. Considering all the eggs they’ve fed to every existence in our legion until now, shouldn’t there be at least this much reward for their hard work?
[Monster Synthesis: Harpy (★) + Black Raven (★★★)]
[Avian monsters have merged.]
[Expected Result: (?? ???) ★★★]
[Synthesis Time: 1 hour]
"...Success."
I felt automatically thrilled at the huge black cocoon before my eyes. Though there was the variable of gargoyle mixed in, it seemed that synthesizing similar bird types really did produce some new monster.
"Gremory. This is the perfect chance to boost the harpies’ morale. No participation restrictions. Whether harpy or Harpy Angel, anyone can participate."
"What are you planning?"
"An egg-laying festival where we compete who can lay the most eggs?"
"That’s crazy. And the prize is synthesis with Black Raven?"
"You know me well."
If the synthesis result comes out in a form that harpies would envy, won’t they all want to participate? Since monsters value getting stronger above all else, they’ll lay eggs as needed, just like the former Andras did.
"Don’t you feel bad for the Black Ravens?"
"The Black Ravens will become part of our legion and live on. Yeah, they’ll become strength for the harpies. I know from conquering it myself, but Black Ravens aren’t optimized for blocking the tower on Halphas dungeon’s 2nd floor."
"So you mixed them with harpies?"
"Yeah. You need arms and legs to sit on stairs and rest—if you just leave them there, they just keep flying around with nowhere to rest. Setting aside all these excuses..."
I pulled Gremory close and lifted her up.
"Who’s gonna complain when I’m strengthening my legion’s subordinates?"
The Gremory right in front of me was the prime example. Didn’t Gremory devour the existing dungeon master Valac purely out of the desire to abandon the witch’s body and be reborn with a clean one?
"You’re actually feeling a bit guilty, so you keep saying stuff like that, right?"
"...Well, yeah, I do feel a bit sorry for the one being synthesized."
"That’s what they call crocodile tears. Hehe, you’re thinking like that because your head’s full of distracting thoughts. I’ll clear those thoughts right away."
I carried Gremory toward the bedroom on the opposite side of the summoning circle. Gremory neatly folded her wings and wrapped her legs around my waist.
"Perfect for clearing distracting thoughts."
"Right? Hehe, Shaitan. Just this once, stay outside."
"Of course. But..."
"Yeah. I’ll come out before synthesis finishes."
I closed the bedroom door. Gremory’s pounding heartbeat transmitted directly into my arms.
"Hey, Gremory."
I threw Gremory onto the bed. Gremory landed on her butt on the bed and looked up at me drowsily.
"Let’s see some of that virgin bitch class."
I stripped off my robe with a flourish.