Dungeon Overlord: Monster Girl Harem!

After Leonhardt set up the dungeon, he left the core and returned to the main chamber.

The moment he reached the archway, a foul stench filled his nose. He noticed other people standing close to Asuka and the girls, which made Leon vigilant.

[Be careful—they are hiding it well, but all of them are ready to fight!]

'You're right.'

He thought while observing the situation.

Leon narrowed his eyes, using his arachne vision to zoom in and watch them while a fine thread spread from his fingertips and spread across the dungeon's ceiling.

Three males and two women.

However, Leon wasn't intimidated.

He was excited.

"They seem here to cause trouble, then shouldn't I greet them?"

Leon's low voice was barely a whisper, but the blonde male leading the group turned around suddenly with a confused gaze.

"Who else is here with you, ladies?" A charming but common voice.

The type used by a gambling addict or drunk caused Erina's face to tighten.

Erina hated drunk people.

Memories surfaced of her useless father and how he abandoned her mother in the past, making her collapse and eventually driving Erina to the church.

"Nobody is with us. We came to hunt spiders." Erina's tone was sharp, and she maintained a strong guard.

"Don't be so stiff, girls—we know there was a male." A man with grey eyes and a bear mask spoke in a hoarse voice as he stepped closer. "The villagers told us."

At this point, Asuka and Sylvie were prepared to fight.

Sylvie's mind focused on her mana, helping it surge faster.

She copied the movement of Leonhardt's mana, which flowed like the ocean.

Meanwhile, Asuka's aura remained calm.

"The villagers must have lied."

Erina remained resolute as the two men put pressure on her, causing them to turn and gaze at each other for a moment.

The third male remained quiet.

He wore a black wolf's mask on his face, with curly black hair draping down his cheek.

"Don't be like that, girls… we have a job, and you wouldn't like to get hurt, right?"

Asuka's eyes twitched, listening to the grey mask speak.

"Do you think someone like you could do anything?" Asuka huffed, her nose snorting blue fire as her scales darkened and became hard.

"Tsk…"

The bear mask clicked his tongue and grabbed the mace from his back.

"Had to be smart, huh?"

Erina's emerald eyes flicked between the group, understanding they couldn't win against them and death was almost guaranteed.

Yet, somewhere deep down, she believed something that shocked her.

'Leon will do something to help.'

A sense of confidence, trust and what she realised was companionship.

"I guess I am a little foolish after all."

She chuckled, covering her mouth while charging her divine power and thinking about Leonhardt.

The male with blonde hair and green eyes wearing a human mask gazed at Erina with a complex emotion before he grasped his sword.

"You're foolish, but I am happy to have you in my mercenary group."

A sudden low voice, elegant yet commanding, echoed in the darkness before purple torches started lighting on the walls with a flicker.

"What's going on?" The bear mask seemed a little anxious.

"Don't worry~ it's just a cute little trick."

A woman with red hair and a fox mask laughed gently before her blue eyes shone with a vibrant light, scanning the cavern.

"Queen, what can you see?" The leader asked before she shook her head.

"N-Nothing."

"What, have you lost your edge with old age, Queen?" The bear-masked man mocked the redheaded fox with a low, grainy chuckle.

"Fuck you, fat man."

Erina tried to step back, her leg moving slightly before a blade pointed at her throat.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, missy." Their leader's sword shone brightly below her chin as his emerald eyes glowed in the torchlight.

"I could say the same."

Erina watched in shock as Leonhardt swung through the air and kicked the male who threatened her in the chest.

The blow caused a low thud and caused the man to roll across the ground.

"Argh…"

Their leader stabbed the ground, slowing his fall, dragging his blade through the dirt, while the other four people drew their weapons at Leonhardt.

"Haha, you finally revealed yourself, idiot!"

First to move was the larger male wielding a mace rushed at Leon, swinging towards his head in a swift attack.

"…"

"Leon!"

Asuka's axe cut through the air and, with a loud echo, deflected the male mace.

Erina's eyes gazed at Leonhardt's back in a sense of amazement because part of her believed he might escape, to leave them and survive.

Yet, he didn't leave…

"Y-you didn't—"

Woosh!

After the bear failed, the women in fox and leopard masks attacked in sync, one wielding daggers and the other a spear.

They stabbed Leonhardt's chest and throat, aiming to kill him instantly.

"Die!"

"Don't blame us!"

However, they ignored the elf in the corner, her short height and quiet personality working in her favour as she pushed both hands out with a yelp.

"Ice Wall!"

"What?!"

The leopard's spear dug into the ice while the fox barely managed to chip the frozen wall. Stepping on the frigid ice, she tried to rush over it and leapt towards Leonhardt.

"Sorry."

Leonhardt's voice sounded before a dozen blazing bolts of black fire shot from his palm, impacting the female chest and mask. The force sent her body flying off the wall with the sound of something cracking.

"Ack…!"

"Queen!"

"You'll regret siding with this criminal." The blonde elf with blue eyes and a cat mask shouted with sharp icicles rotating around her hands.

Sylvie, desperate to fight back, pushed her mana towards her hands.

She wanted to create shards of ice, but her level wasn't close to the woman standing ahead of them.

But she couldn't make it in time, as the cat cast her spell.

"Ice lance!"

Swish!

Leonhardt's eyes flicked to the man, who climbed to his feet and shot webbing from all five fingers at him before yanking his body to block the lances.

"WHAT?!"

Their teamwork seemed to be strong, following the failure of the others.

However, thanks to the actions of Asuka and Sylvie. Leonhardt could easily enjoy taking advantage of their attacks.

"You guys are playing into these kid's hands, leader. Why are you acting like a fool."

The male with a black wolf's mask spoke with a low, gruff voice as he stepped forward, grasping his greatsword with a single strike.

He attacked.

The air pressure from his blade shot through the air-crushing Sylvie's wall, and the ice lance shot by the cat mask.

Woosh!

It seemed like the others were holding back.

"Jack!" The bear called out before Asuka's foot smashed into his face, almost breaking a tooth.

Leonhardt rushed forward and pushed out his hand to block the ferocious squall of wind that formed from his strike.

His attack sliced the cheek of Leonhardt, who blocked Erina and Sylvie from harm.

"It seems that you're a lot stronger than I thought." Jack's eyes narrowed, clearly surprised.

"I could say the same, human."

Erina's shoulders shook when she heard Leonhardt's cold and aggressive tone. After noticing how strange he seemed, she whispered the word "human."

"Leon?"

However, he turned back and gazed at her with fiery red eyes burning with glee.

"Get back to safety with Sylvia, okay?"

Yet, why did he speak to her in the same gentle and calm tone? It made Erina confused as she dragged Sylvie back, unable to deny him.

"So, you don't deny you're a monster, then? " The blond male asked, standing beside the wolf as their group reformed.

Leonhardt frowned but still answered.

"Yeah, is there a reason to hide it? You also have a monster beside you." Leon pointed to the cat-masked elf and continued. "Elves are descendants of the Fae, a monster if you ask a human to categorise it."

"Huh?" The leader frowned.

"We aren't monsters!" The elf shouted, but Leon just shrugged.

It was clear from his appearance that Leonhardt looked like an extremely high-class elf if not part of their royalty, and that's what caught the leader off guard.

"Forget it, let's just kill the fucker!" The bear mask seemed unable to calm his anger.

But the fox and leopard stopped him from rushing forward.

"Are you stupid?"

"That hot guy will crush you, fatty."

The wolf stepped forward with an idle swing of his weapon. "Boss, there's no reason to listen to this freak."

Though Leon didn't mind being called a monster—that's what he was—the fact that this male kept calling him other names irritated him.

'I want to skin this fucker.'

However, the leader didn't give the okay.

Instead, he dropped his sword and let out a sigh, then grabbed his mask and gazed at Erina.

Clack!

"Boss?"

"Joker!?"

The moment his fake human mask slipped down. It revealed a handsome face yet a slightly familiar set of eyes before anyone could react to that fact.

A voice suddenly caused the building tension to shatter instantly.

"Dad?!"

"Is that you!?"