The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

Wait.

Wait!

What kind of vibration was he even waiting for?!

Duke Leander Kyros, the proud War God of the Empire, was once again standing in the middle of nowhere, gripping his sword like a lost knight awaiting divine guidance.

Flustered and slightly mortified, he was about to ask for clarification when his son’s bright, excited voice rang through the comms.

”Everyone! Let’s return to our positions!”

”?!”

What positions?!

The Duke froze. ”Son! Where should I go?”

”Right there, Papa! That’s the perfect spot, really!” Luca replied with the enthusiasm of someone giving life-changing instructions.

”Okay! Ready, everyone!”

Leander’s face twitched. ”Ready?!”

No! Wait!

He wanted to call out and beg for a better explanation, but it was already too late. The operation had begun.

Unbeknownst to him, one very perplexed cadet stationed just below him would have given anything to trade tasks.

If only he didn’t have such a great shield!

But what could anyone do now when it was already coming?

All Jax could do was brace himself. For the fourth time.

Because from the same pit of darkness below, that shape was back.

Long, smooth, pale appendages tore out from the crevice that many would have assumed led to the deeper parts of the sea.

Well, they weren’t wrong. It definitely led somewhere deeper—deep inside the stomach of this ginormous thing!

Duke Leander’s eyes widened in horror. ”What in the stars is that?!”

He raised his sword on instinct, every muscle tensing as his mecha responded to his will. Energy flared across the great blade.

But before he could swing, Luca’s cheerful voice interrupted.

”Papa! Are there vibrations?”

The Duke froze. ”What?!”

”Vibrations, Papa! Do you feel any?”

The Duke nearly choked. ”Son, what are you even—”

But then he felt it.

”!”

Oh.

OH.

A strange hum was really rippling through his hands. It was subtle at first, but now he had to tighten his grip on the hilt.

”Son! It’s really vibrating!”

”Papa! That’s great! Please describe it!” Luca said eagerly.

The Duke stared at the trembling blade, his mind going blank.

Describe it?

Just how the hell was he supposed to describe it?!

”Your Grace!” Ollie suddenly shouted through the comms, his voice filled with far too much enthusiasm for the situation. ”Please try facing different directions! And please tell us if it’s wiggling, twitching, jiggling, quivering, or jerking!”

There was a pause.

A long, heavy, incredulous pause.

Inside his cockpit, Duke Leander blinked several times, processing the request.

”...I beg your pardon?”

But there was no mercy. The voices of his son’s team echoed with focused determination, like a group of scientists about to change the world.

”Please, Your Grace!” The pleading blonde urged again. ”The wiggle! The wiggle could be really important!”

And in the mind of one mop, it better be important because he really didn’t want to stay underwater anymore!

The Duke exhaled slowly. These children couldn’t possibly be ganging up on him, especially when his own son sounded extremely certain about this.

So, resigned to his fate, Duke Leander obediently turned his mecha toward the east.

”Huh?”

The sword’s vibration actually lessened.

He frowned.

Then he turned west, and suddenly the shaking intensified so violently that he had to make sure he had a better grip on the sword’s hilt.

”It’s getting stronger when I face this side!” he shouted, both alarmed and amazed.

”Wow! It’s actually working! You’re doing well, Papa!”

But then, much to the living detector’s surprise, Xavier hacked into one of the giant tentacles lying on the seabed.

”Wait! It’s died down!”

”The vibration!” the Duke said, his voice full of disbelief. ”It’s just pulsing faintly now!”

”What’s happening?” asked the still confused father who hadn’t really understood what they were doing.

But that had actually been the same question that bothered them earlier.

See, when Luca first detected the faint signature of a crystal core, he’d been so excited that they had nearly rushed straight in.

Nearly.

But thankfully, Xavier had been the really curt voice of reason.

”Let’s find it first,” he had said, ”then observe before we act.”

And that was how they discovered the truth.

The massive, deep expanse they had been scanning wasn’t a natural trench. In fact, the entire thing was the creature’s hideout.

Finding it had been the easy part.

Defeating it, however, was another story.

Fighting underwater was a nightmare.

For one, they couldn’t rely too heavily on firearms. It wasn’t impossible to use them—some weapons like those that employ supercavitation or artificially forming a bubble to reduce drag would work—but against a creature of this size, it simply wasn’t practical.

Their movements were sluggish, visibility was terrible, and every swing burned through triple the normal energy. Thrusting attacks worked best, but even then, it felt like fighting through syrup. Combined with the monster’s ridiculous regeneration speed, it was like hacking away at a beast that refused to die.

So they had to think differently.

”What about taking out the crystal core first?” Kyle suggested.

”It could at least weaken the damn thing.”

Luca’s eyes had practically sparkled at the idea. Rather than trying to contain the monster, they could just target something specific.

With renewed determination, the group happily (not) marched right into the monster’s guts.

But what do you know, some things just refuse to go exactly as planned.

Luca finally spotted it—the most beautiful, radiant cluster of crystal cores he had seen to date.

It was perfect. Though really, even if it looked lumpy and covered in stomach acid, it would still be perfect in the eyes of one money-grubber whose corruption-laden lenses were likely thicker than anyone else’s.

The whole thing glowed and called to his soul with the irresistible voice of profit and science combined.

It was, quite literally, a treasure trove waiting to be harvested.

Luca’s hands trembled with excitement as he prepared to slice through the fleshy wall of the gastrovascular cavity.

”Host! It’s energy signals are rather unique!” chirped the excited little system.

”Right? I think so too...” he muttered, his golden eyes shining. ”Just a little closer and—”

Then he froze.

The light was gone.

”...What?”

”Host! It’s gone!” prompted the mecha in horror.

”!!!”