Chapter Text
"Repeat that!"
Those were the last words the minotaurs heard exchanged between the two, for at that moment, the girl burned something, and nothing more of their discussion could be heard.
"It's what Ainz-Sama would do!"
"You think Ainz-Sama would save this half-dozen ragged nobodies?"
"Yes."
"For no reason at all?"
"Yes."
"Just like that?"
"Yep."
"Then you'd better explain your reasoning."
"Well, from what I've read in the reports, Ainz-Sama is very merciful. He saved a village from an attack by villains..."
"‘Only because he wanted information.’"
"...he disguised himself as the hero Momon to save a city from a zombie attack..."
"‘To expand his knowledge of this world.’"
"...he saved the dwarven people..."
"‘Because of their runic techniques.’"
"...he saved the orc people during Jaldabaoth's invasion..."
"‘To facilitate the unification of the tribes in the Abelion Hills.’"
"...and he prevented the massacre of the elven people."
"‘Just to bring them under his command. Seriously?!! Oooh...’ So all those good deeds make you think we should do something similar?"
"Of course! What better example is there to follow than our master's?"
Aura began to ponder. Indeed, her master always acted in strange ways. He helped others without asking for anything in return and always gained far more than his less capable subordinates expected. That was because he had a plan. He always had a plan.
"The Ten-Thousand-Year Plan" had no flaws, and it was their duty to learn, adapt, and help bring it to fruition.
"Fine, let's get these people out of here, but I hope this leads to some kind of benefit."
To anyone watching the discussion, it seemed the girl was not happy about helping them, apparently opposing the decision of the taurian who seemed to be the leader of the pair. Then, suddenly, both of their voices became audible again.
"Alright, everyone, I don't think we have much time."
"For what, little miss?" asked a taurian.
"To save your hides, of course!"
"We can't rebel," said an old minotaur. "The last ones who tried are taking care of the tunnels now."
Hejinmal looked through the bars and could see the skulls displayed at the entrance of each tunnel—hundreds of tunnels.
"I-I don't think you'll have any other choice. They'll never let you leave. They might bring more of their people here, and there won't be a single hungry Scorpian left for weeks."
The thought of being devoured in a feast over the coming weeks made everyone shudder, and some fell to their knees.
"My husband tried to escape. Now he's used as a warning to anyone who rebels... But he'd fight all over again if necessary. Even if the chances of escaping are slim, we'll give them the hardest fight of their lives."
"Then the best opportunity will be during the shift change. From what I've seen, they bring back those working in the mines before sending the next shift."
"Yes, Lord Hejinmal. They do that so they don't need as many guards deep in the mines and can keep so many..."
"Slaves," Aura said, unconcerned with everyone's feelings.
"Exactly. So many slaves together. The last rebellion happened that way, which is why they keep us locked in the cells as much as possible."
"Alright then. When the next group arrives, you need to be ready. How are we going to warn the other cells?"
Mu-Rian finally smiled faintly.
"Don't worry. We have our own methods."
Somewhere in the cell, someone began a melody that was soon joined by other voices in a sad, gargling song, punctuated by the occasional stomping of feet.
"So that's how you do it!" the dragon marveled.
"Prisoners always find a way to communicate with each other, and music has always been a way to send secret messages."
"What do we do now?"
"We wait."
"Do you think they'll manage? They don't look very well."
Hejinmal worried that those weakened, anemic, broken people might collapse at any moment.
"Don't worry about that. I'll handle it."
Aura slipped closer to the cell bars and sat down.
At first, it seemed she wasn't doing anything, but anyone paying close attention could see a thin stream of breath leaving her mouth, drifting away like smoke from a pipe.
Time passed more slowly than expected, and the taurians grew increasingly restless.
"Is this really okay?"
"It is. When the time comes, they'll be ready," the dark elf said with a smile.
Several hours later, exhausted groups approached the cells in a slow, agonizing march.
As the last prisoners were locked up, silence filled the area. Inside, the darkness seemed to conceal something indescribable.
A sense of dread gripped the guards' hearts. They felt that something was wrong but couldn't say what. None of them, even if they tried, could explain the source of that feeling.
The guards found themselves drawn toward one particular cell. Something deep within each of them insisted that danger dwelled there—a danger absent for the past twenty years. It felt as though a predator had just declared everything in the area to be its prey. Yet they could not resist the pull. Even as their instincts screamed at them to run, they needed to know.
When the torchlight illuminated the interior, the only visible figure was slender and small.
She looked like an elf.
But what they saw was death smiling.
The moment the creature stepped forward, the guards stepped back.
Then another step.
And another.
Like participants in a hypnotic dance, they retreated while the elf advanced until she reached the bars.
For a brief moment, one of the guards felt relief. Those bars could surely contain such a small being.
That relief vanished when he was crushed by the door she ripped free with a single kick.
That was the signal.
Every minotaur surged forward with renewed fury against the bars confining them. The bars quickly gave way under the pressure of dozens of taurians.
The elf had already broken their shackles, leaving them with chains to use as weapons against their tormentors.
It was not a silent escape.
It was the stampede of desperate creatures.
Everything in their path was trampled and crushed.
Even so, Aura walked calmly, unafraid of being touched.
"Fear and fury. That should work for now, but they'll need guidance once they reach the hall. As terrified as the guards are, more will arrive soon. They'll forcefully regain control, and once they no longer have any reason to keep the slaves alive, they'll start killing them."
"W-we need to get out of here before that happens."
"Then you'd better run."
"M-me?!"
"This was your idea. You look like a minotaur. If you want these people to have even a shred of self-respect, they need to be led by one of their own."
"B-but, Mu-Rian... Alright, I understand."
Hejinmal ran.
He was still a dragon hidden beneath the skin of a taurian, stronger and tougher than the others, and by the time he reached the front of the group, they had already arrived at the great hall.
"THIS WAY! TO THE EXIT! TAKE THE WOUNDED!"
The few guards still resisting had already sounded the alarm.
Soon, the hall began filling with hundreds of Scorpians emerging from deeper galleries.
"HERE! GRAB THE PICKAXES! ARM YOURSELVES! MU-RIAN! TAKE THE OTHERS TO THE EXIT! WE'LL HOLD THEM OFF AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!"
The taurian woman didn't question the order. She had already seen the horde of Scorpians approaching like a swarm.
These new attackers were unaffected by the pheromones released by the elf. They could think clearly and quickly identified the organized resistance in the narrowest part of the hall, where numbers meant little.
Whenever they drew near, they were struck down by stones hurled with enough force to shatter iron.
But they had no reason to fear.
The gas they exhaled would eventually bring down the fugitives.
Hejinmal felt the effects immediately: drowsiness and exhaustion.
He saw the others beginning to falter.
The adrenaline Aura had somehow triggered would eventually wear off.
Then he had the stupidest idea imaginable.
"ATTACK! FORWARD! CHARGE THEM!"
The group abandoned its defensive position and rushed at the Scorpians—not as a wave, but as a wedge slicing through their ranks.
They did not stop to fight.
Their goal was to break through.
The herd of roughly twenty was reduced to barely half a dozen by the end of the charge, trapped between an army of warriors blocking their escape and the massive metal wall stretching to the ceiling that formed the dam.
"DON'T STOP! DON'T STOP! TO THE DAM! HIT THE SUPPORT BEAMS!"
Hejinmal knew the only thing holding the dam together was a handful of key supports within that tangled framework of beams.
He knew little about engineering, but it looked less like something designed and more like a structure built atop countless older structures over decades.
It was pure luck that it hadn't already collapsed under the weight of billions of liters of subterranean river water.
Luck that came to an end when the taurians, in their final effort, knocked down the supports at random.
The Scorpians felt the metal give way before hearing the steel scream as it tore apart in a long groan announcing its end.
A pressurized torrent swept through the cavern, ripping out rocks, dragging away mine carts, and crushing even the last insectoids clinging to the ceilings.
The flood surged through every tunnel, killing every living thing beneath those lands.
The taurians continued their escape, now propelled by the rising waters and debris, barely managing to get out in time before that watery coffin sealed shut.
Thousands of minotaurs finally stood once more among the ruins of their ancient city.
"W-where's Hejinmal?!" Mu-Rian asked while staring at the moon's reflection on the water.
Aura leaned against a rock, chewing on a piece of wheat straw she had found in a nearby cart.
"What did he do?"
"He did what needed to be done," the elf replied casually.
"But he died! He sacrificed himself so we could escape, and... and you don't even seem to care!"
At that moment, something moved in the water.
Something large.
Then a head burst from the flood among the debris, sputtering, coughing, and finally dragging two taurians along with it.
"By the Great Sage, HEJINMAL!"
Mu-Rian ran to support the one who had saved their lives.
Aura climbed onto a rock and lay down to watch the sunrise.
"It's what Ainz-Sama would do," the dark elf said with a smile on her face.
.............................................
Author's Note
At first I wanted to do an Indiana Jones-style fight, with the escape in carts, but I needed to save thousands, so I didn't want to complicate things. Regarding the chapters, after my sabbatical year I'm posting as I write them, hence the delay between publications.