Hera was in front of the dungeon again, and, as it became a regular occurrence, a lot of people were greeting her and asking if she had a party for the day. She wasn't sure when it started, but at some point during the last few months, people came to respect her. Even some of the veterans here would look up to her and ask about different strategies or ways to complete the dungeon faster. Not to say that everyone shared those feelings. There was a group that felt Hera was just a kid who was trying way too hard, but she wasn't the first to do something like that, nor would she be the last. According to the experience of those who lived in the city, her fame was just a fad, and the moment she left, it would be over.

Either way, Hera wasn't in it for fame. Her goal was just to overcome her issues, and she felt things were going much better. Now, she would no longer see the body of Vulmer Keller, the elf she killed, in place of the people she killed in the dungeon. Nor would his face appear in her dreams every night. She would still see him when she had nightmares, but even those were a bit rarer these days.

"Hey, Flame Princess! Do you have a free slot today?" a loud man got closer to Hera and put her arm around her.

Instinctively, Hera triggered her fire elemental armor to push him away, which worked perfectly. People here had fire resistance skills and equipment, meaning that her spell wouldn't actually harm anyone, but the aggression would send the message she wanted, "Even if I had a slot, you wouldn't get it."

"C'mon. Why do you have to be like that?" the man jumped back as the spell activated and checked if he was injured anywhere.

"Because you don't know how to keep your hands to yourself," Hera replied without even looking at him. It was one thing to enjoy physical contact with her friends or whoever she was dating, but a stranger putting his arm around her made her feel very uncomfortable.

"That's what you get!" one of the people around the dungeon started laughing at the man, and he started bickering with them.

Hera didn't care. Right now, she had in her mind the next dungeon run. This time, she would be siding with Bonpei. It wasn't the first time she did so, but she realized she cared much more about the flame tribe than the human city. The reason for that was that the people of Bonpei used very underhanded methods to try to win the war. From kidnapping to even trying to forcefully trigger an eruption. The list went on and on, and most of it was filled with war crimes, which was exactly why she wanted to help them. She had gotten numb to the idea of killing the people of Bonpei in the dungeon, but fighting against the volcano tribe still caused her some problems.

Another thing she wanted to do was go in alone. It's been almost two weeks since the last run with Blue and Alex, and Hera wanted to use her legacy properly. She still tried her best to avoid showing it off to other people, and even in the few situations where she was alone in the dungeon, she had to be careful with her surroundings. In one of those situations, a woman noticed Lurize fighting on its own, and Hera had to explain that it was a prototype enchantment from a mage that she couldn't talk about since she had signed an NDA. Luckily, that type of thing was common enough in this room, so the woman stopped questioning, but Hera had no idea if anyone else had seen her using her legacy. That's why she was going to run the dungeon alone for the first time. Doing so would allow her to control everything inside it, make sure that she was the one who killed most of the volcano tribe, and that she could use her full strength without having to worry about anything.

People greeted her as Hera walked past them, heading towards the entrance.

"Looking for a party today, Hera?" a dwarf named Gorth, who had worked with Hera a few times, asked as she passed by.

"Not today. Or, at least, not right now. I want to try doing it alone," Hera replied with a nod.

"You are crazy, you know that? There are way too many variables for you to handle alone. Are you sure you don't want to go with a party?" Gorth asked.

"Technically, I'm not alone," Hera smiled, and Daskka perked up from her neck. The snake had grown a bit and now could do two laps around the explorer's neck, making it look like she was wearing a snakeskin scarf. That was another reason for her nickname. People who didn't see her fighting assumed she was actually wearing a scarf in the middle of this city surrounded by volcanoes and that she had some sort of skill that made her feel cold even under this kind of heat. Little did they know that the mist snake had the opposite effect. Daskka could somewhat control her body temperature, becoming a cold pack around the Empress' neck.

"You can say that, but that snake can't give orders to the army. Are you sure you want to go alone?"

"I am. There is something I want to do, and unfortunately, I can't do it with other people around."

"Is that because of that mage you are helping? No amount of gold in the world is worth risking yourself like that," Gorth shook her head.

Hera was a bit surprised by the comment. She never realized that even her lie about helping a mage had become part of the rumor. Then again, it gave her a convenient excuse, "It is, but don't worry. I know that this is not worth my life. If push comes to shove, I can just run away from the dungeon."

"That's fair. And if you are having trouble doing that, try using that mount of yours to run from the battle. Some people tested this before. After about five or six hours, the fighting stops, and the side you are not helping will win. Then you can go to the exit without having to worry about people attacking you randomly. But if you hit someone and didn't finish the job, they will still be aggressive," Gorth explained and pulled a pair of potions from his pack, "Also, take this. It's a fire resistance potion, and an emergency heal one. Use them if you get in over your head."

"Gorth. I appreciate the gesture, but…."

"No buts. We ran this dungeon more than just a few times. I don't want you dying because of some obsessed mage. Take the potions. If you don't use them, give them back. If you use them. Buy me a drink as thanks later," the dwarf shoved the potions into Hera's hand before walking away.

"Thanks. I'll be sure to come back," Hera smiled before entering the dungeon.

Their conversation wasn't exactly private since it happened in the resting area full of people, and soon, news of the Flame Princess trying to solo the dungeon spread like wildfire. In less than 20 minutes, many people gathered in front of the dungeon. They wouldn't be waiting for her to come out, but they were here to bet on how long it would take the Flame Princess to complete the dungeon or if she would leave without managing to complete the quest.

Inside the dungeon, Hera walked through the corridor and arrived at the room where the two generals were arguing. She ignored all the yelling and simply walked through the door that would lead her to Bonpei. She walked straight to the command center, a building with only a single door that didn't have any windows or other entrances. There, all the leaders of Bonpei would be giving commands to the army while being safe from all the attacks. When siding with the city, the only way these people would be in danger was if every other person in Bonpei had been killed.

"Ah, there you are. The mercenary who decided against helping the volcano. Good, good. We should stick together since those people are just trying to hog their resources," Bonpei's mayor nodded with a smile. Some of the other members of the city council started giving her words of praise and talking about how the volcano tribe was evil and greedy. This was, unfortunately, part of the dungeon, and there wasn't anything she could do but wait for the general to come here and 'rescue' her.

After about five minutes, a man wearing full combat armor stepped inside the building and pulled Hera to the side, "You can ignore all those annoying old men. Hi, I'm Elrich. The general of the army. Can we talk strategy? I hope you have some information about what their plans are."

Hera didn't wait any longer and called out her entire court. Since Armory and Scythe were already out, she summoned Ooze, Lurize, Beam, and Core. It cost her quite a lot of mana, especially Core. According to Daskka, the more skills or strength one of her blades had, the more mana it would cost to summon them. While doing that, Elrich guided her to a side room where the map of the area was located, and they could have an actual strategy meeting.

'We wait for your command, Empress,' the blades spoke in unison.

"Don't worry, guys. For now, it's just tactics. As usual, you are free to give your opinions," she turned back to Elrich, "Their plan is simple, march down here with the full force of their army and overpower us with pure strength. And they can do that. Trust me. Even if we rally all the civilians, we can't win using normal means. We are going to need tricky strategies, traps, and some less conventional methods."

"Do you have something in mind?" Elrich asked.

"I have one very bad idea. We grab a group of people to run up the mountain through the path they created when they redirect the flow to the farm on the other side. Then we kill the people there and take a few hostages. I know who the general's family is, and if we can use them as bait, we can force the general to come alone. Doing so will allow us to pick the rest of the army with ease."

"That is… very underhanded." Elrich seemed sad hearing that plan.

"I know, and you know that some of your people are already thinking about it. They will do it with or without your approval."

Elrich let out a long sigh, "Yes, I do. I can't believe you even know this kind of thing. My people need to be more careful."

"Don't blame them. I'm just very good at my job," Hera smiled. Saying these kinds of things was the best way to move the dungeon along without any unnecessary questions.

'Don't forget the outpost,' Armory said in her mind.

"Right. I also know you are setting up traps, correct?" Hera leaned over the map and pointed at the roads between the outposts, where she knew the traps would be located. Some of the strategies changed between runs, but the position of the traps was a constant in this dungeon.

"Even this got leaked?" Elrich gasped.

"Not, really. Again, I'm just very good at what I do. Anyway, we should change the position of those traps. Instead of leaving them in the middle of the road, we should evacuate the first outpost and put them inside the buildings. Also, forget about using water. It doesn't kill them. It just makes them slow and increases their defenses. Focus on ice. One of the ways to kill them is to remove enough heat from their bodies. We can also treat them like actual flames. If we take out the air, the fire will be extinguished, and so will their lives."

"So the idea is to bury them?" Hera nodded in response, "Ok, I'll tell that to my troops. We might be able to cover both outposts with the traps before the fight starts."

"No, do it only in the first one. They will be wary about going to the second one, and that won't work. Instead, we can set up an ambush. The flame tribe doesn't have access to the area above that outpost from the top of the volcano. We, however, can reach this area through a path here," Hera pointed to a part of the mountain on the map, long before the inner outpost, then to a location filled with jagged rocks some ways before that outpost, "We can hide a group of mages and archers here to attack the army as they are trying to figure out what is going on with the outpost. A warning, the people we send here will likely die, and we can't do anything to support them after they start."

"So they will be a sacrificial squad?" Elrich frowned, but Hera's expression didn't change, making the general give up, "I suppose you are good at your job. And having some sacrifices to lessen the casualties might be necessary. After that, what should we do?"

"My suggestion is to change some of the defenses of the city. Instead of barricading the entrance, use the first few houses around the gate as barricades and set up a line so we can have an open area to kill them that's under our control. That should delay them enough and lessen their forces to the point where we have a fighting chance. If you have a way to block the view of the flame tribe as they get to the city, it will help a lot. Maybe a sandstorm or an illusion."

"We could do both of those. I believe some of our mages should be able to perform those spells. It seems like you are even knowledgeable about our capabilities. What will you be doing during the attack?" Elrich gave up being surprised by the mercenary's intel.

"I just made an educated guess," Hera gave a half-smile, but then her expression turned darker, "I will be with the team responsible for attacking the village."