The dwarves began to dig quietly, without making any noise, a tunnel leading downwards.
Watching them, Junior whispered softly,
"Um, but do we have to go down? What about going up or to the side?"
"After scouting, it seems the higher we go, the more maggots and less 'food' there are. And to the side..."
Kellibey pointed to the side.
"See for yourself."
Where Kellibey pointed, there was a small hole in the wall through which wind was seeping in.
Looking outside through that hole, Junior gasped. The ground was dizzyingly far below.
"Wow, it's really high..."
"Escape through here and we'd all fall to our deaths. So, we have no choice but to dig down."
No sooner had he finished speaking, a hole was made going downwards. Everyone peered cautiously below.
A new room appeared below, filled with other prey caught and paralyzed. Fortunately, there were fewer fly eggs.
Junior swallowed dryly. How much further down do they have to go by digging tunnels, hiding from the wandering adult flies, and fleeing from the maggots pouring out of the eggs...?
"Can we really escape this way?"
"If you have another idea, genius magician, let's hear it."
Challenged by Kellibey, Junior sighed deeply.
"...No, I don't."
Even if they managed to escape through a hole to the side and used wind magic for descent, safely landing everyone was nearly impossible. And even if they landed safely, they would be pursued by fly patrols.
And if they recklessly fired magic in this belly of the beast, hoping for a do-or-die effort, they'd likely be subdued before they could deal a fatal blow to the King of Flies.
For now, digging little by little, as Kellibey suggested, seemed the best option.
"Got it, then. Let's move. The room below looks safe."
The able survivors helped lift those still paralyzed. At that moment, Junior hurried towards the small hole in the wall.
"Just a moment."
Through the hole, Junior released her magical elements. The cast elements stuck outside the hole, emitting various lights.
Kellibey squinted.
"What's that for?"
"It's a signal of my magical elements. They can recognize it in Crossroad. This way, they'll know we're alive."
Kellibey clicked his tongue.
"Hmm. Might've been better not to do that."
"Why?"
"If they know we're alive, they might hastily send a rescue team."
"..."
Silent, Junior stared seriously at her shining magical elements outside.
"...But, you never know. Our presence here could lead to a new strategy."
After all, they were in the enemy's belly.
It's still uncertain what kind of variable they could become.
"Conveying as much information as possible, exactly as it is to Prince Ash... I think that's more important."
Turning around, Junior smiled confidently at Kellibey.
"Let's find our way to survive, in our own way!"
Kellibey thought to himself,
To smile like that even in such a situation.
Junior, this kid, has really become brave...
***
Returning from the scout tower to the lord's mansion, I was lost in thought.
Though trapped inside the King of Flies's stomach, Junior is alive.
And if Junior is alive, it means other heroes who were captured earlier might also be alive.
'The flies indiscriminately sweep everything that can be used as food... Does that mean they don't kill immediately?'
I remembered the sight of the Insect Busters being captured. They use venom to paralyze their prey before kidnapping them into their belly.
'Food. Captured. And stored in the belly...'
Suddenly, a battle against a certain monster legion from the past crossed my mind.
Stage 8. The Slime Legion.
There was a time when Kuilan and the Penal Squad were devoured by the Slime Emperor.
The strategy I chose to save them was...
"...!"
A new idea suddenly struck me.
I hurried into the backyard of the lord's mansion. First, more information was needed.
And in the backyard,
Squeak, squeak...
Newly transferred into a fly's body, White Night struggled to move.
There wasn't much time, so I approached the staggering fly White Night and asked in a firm tone,
"Can you move?"
"...I feel like vomiting..."
Without vocal cords, White Night used a thread of magic to respond. Using magic in a fly's body like that was impressive.
"First, tell me everything you can learn from that fly."
"Specifically, what do you want to know, uh, it's hard to organize..."
I first asked for the essential information.
"Where and how are the 'prey' that were kidnapped stored?"
"In the King of Flies's belly... This place serves as both a hatchery and a storage. Prey is transferred here... from the top of the belly to the bottom end..."
Meaning, the lower parts of the belly would hold the most recently captured prey.
If Junior and the survivors were to escape, they'd likely head downward. Heading upward would mean going towards the enemy's main force.
"..."
After organizing my thoughts, I faced White Night.
It was time to confirm the biggest reason for inserting White Night into this body.
"How is it inside? Can you usurp control of the King of Flies?"
After a moment of silence, White Night slowly answered,
"...The King of Flies is controlled by a collective consciousness. A joint thought-body of countless flies."
"You're a fly now. Can't you join in?"
"If an individual fly contacts the King of Flies, at that moment, its consciousness merges into the collective consciousness... Probably, my consciousness will be sucked in too."
Like computers connected to enhance their computing power, then.
"I could try to usurp control... but honestly, I can't guarantee it... I don't know how strong their collective consciousness is..."
"You have to do it, White Night."
"Honestly, I don't want to go... Being in this form is dreadful enough, but if the worst happens and my consciousness is devoured by them..."
"White Night."
"Stop this and just give me a human sorcerer's corpse. I'm a grand sorceress. I'll help you with magic. Okay?"
I sighed lightly.
And if you turn against us after getting a human body?
I'm not naive enough to trust a monster that has already betrayed us once.
"White Night, you have to go."
"What?"
In the next moment, I linked [Gaze of Command] with [Become Mine!].
By the time White Night regained consciousness, a magic restraint that looked like a dog collar was already locked around its neck.
The fly-White Night became my captured monster.
"Even trapped in the body of a fly, you're dangerous. A safety measure is necessary."
Pitiful as it may appear, White Night was a monster that once sought to bring about the world's destruction.
And given the chance, it would attempt to lay waste to the world and ascend to power once more. It was necessary to keep it on a leash.
"You...!"
"Anyway, this situation is better than being stuck in that darkness, right? Don't grumble too much. Now."
Trembling, White Night struggled to speak.
"...Going there alone has too high a chance of failure. We need to shake its consciousness. A disruption is necessary...!"
"Don't worry about that."
I slowly chewed over my words while staring into the dark southern sky.
"We're going to cause a major disruption."
***
Before dawn, early morning.
I gathered all the heroes affiliated with the front.
Despite it being the middle of the night, the heroes assembled without complaint. Everyone understood the gravity of the situation.
"...First, the good news. Junior is alive."
My announcement startled several heroes. I continued,
"The flies capture 'food' by paralyzing them and then stacking them in their stomachs. Meaning, there's a possibility for all our previously captured comrades to be alive."
After surveying the heroes lost in thought, I abruptly called out to one person.
"Kuilan."
Kuilan stepped forward immediately. I asked the King of Beasts with a slight smile,
"Do you remember what happened right after you joined the front... during our battle with the Slime Legion?"
"Of course, captain."
Kuilan grinned, and a sheepish smile appeared on the faces of the Penal Squad members behind him.
There was a time when Kuilan and members of the Penal Squad were devoured by the Slime Emperor during Stage 8.
"You came to rescue us yourself back then."
"That's right."
I purposely allowed myself to be devoured to rescue Kuilan and the Penal Squad members, and we successfully escaped through the Slime Emperor's stomach.
"It was a reckless act, but I did it believing in a backup plan."
I pulled out a scroll from my pocket and showed it off.
"The insides of giant monsters are classified as 'dungeons.' And I had this dungeon escape teleportation scroll."
With a casting time of over 10 seconds and requiring the forfeiture of all dungeon rewards, it's a scroll I rarely used, even in the dungeons of the Lake Kingdom.
But inside a monster, it's a different story.
With the ability to escape safely from the interior of a hostile monster, who cares about a 10-second casting time or forfeiting rewards?
"The King of Flies will be no different. Its stomach is a dungeon, and thus, we can return safely using this scroll."
I nodded to the heroes around me.
"Do you understand what I'm proposing now?"
Lucas, who had always been part of my reckless plans, was the quickest to respond.
"...Are you planning to use the strategy of deliberately getting eaten by that King of Flies?"
"Exactly."
I nodded again.
"The alchemist team has already finished analyzing the paralysis toxin used by the flies. The antidote will soon be ready. We will take this antidote in advance, allow ourselves to be captured by the flies... and then start our operation from within the enemy's belly."
The faces of the heroes paled. I continued regardless,
"There are three reasons for undertaking this perilous mission. First, to create a distraction. A major operation is being prepared to inflict a significant blow on the King of Flies."
To replicate the historical defeat of the King of Flies, with White Night infiltrating the collective consciousness of the flies.
"To ensure the success of this operation, we need to distract the King of Flies's consciousness. Hence, we need to cause chaos within its belly."
After taking a breath, I mentioned the second reason.
"Second, to damage their production facilities."
"..."
"Though they seem to endlessly emerge, like all monsters before, they stem from nightmares. Meaning, they cannot reproduce. In other words, once their current stock of eggs runs out... no new flies will be produced."
I smirked, cracking my knuckles.
"Even if the first operation fails, to increase our chances in the ongoing battle, we'll burn as many eggs as possible and destroy the hatchery directly."
If the enemy's production facilities are accessible, they must be exploited aggressively. If executed correctly, we could inflict significant damage.
"And third, to rescue our previously captured comrades."
As I spoke, the dwarves nodded vigorously, their faces flushed.
The magicians who had worked with Junior, and the party members of "The Uncles" who had been with Chain, also nodded firmly.
"..."
Valen, the mayor of the Southern City-State Alliance who had recommended the Insect Busters to me, stroked his beard and showed a serious expression.
"For these three reasons, we have decided to undertake this audacious mission."
I looked around at the heroes one more time.
"As you've heard, this is essentially a suicide mission. There's no guarantee of survival."
Even with the escape scroll and being in a part of the King of Flies where direct retaliation is difficult.
It's still the enemy's stronghold. The operation is insanely dangerous.
Any number of variables could emerge. In the worst case, the mission could fail from the start, or result in total annihilation.
And, that we have to resort to such a strategy indicates how formidable the enemy is.
"Therefore... I'll only take volunteers."
I took a deep breath and then closed my eyes.
"Everyone, close your eyes."
"..."
"I'll say it again, the likelihood of death is higher than that of returning. We don't need many. There's no shame in not participating in this suicide mission. We also need many to fight on the walls."
"..."
"However, those prepared to enter hell voluntarily, raise your hand."
After a brief silence, when I opened my eyes,
All my heroes had their eyes tightly shut, hands raised.
Every single one of them.