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

”But how long are they going to keep doing that?!”

Still reeling from the Duke’s earlier explanation, Princess Nina demanded an answer, her brows knitting in obvious frustration at seeing her favorite people being toyed with like that.

”Good question.”

Leander watched the battle for another moment.

”Probably for as long as they can.”

”...”

”What?!” Nina gasped. ”As long as possible?!”

Several adults nodded.

”Look at what Battalion 10 was carrying when they were attacked,” one of them explained patiently. ”It’s obvious they came here specifically for supplies. So from the enemy’s perspective, there’s a good chance Battalion 10 has way fewer resources available than they do.”

And considering the obvious skill gap, which the hostiles should’ve noticed by now, actually eliminating Luca and Jax wouldn’t be easy. Those two had managed to hold out well enough that their opponents had already switched tactics and started playing the long game.

So if Leander were in the enemy’s position, he’d probably be thinking the same thing.

Why not make the most of this encounter?

”They’re learning how Battalion 10 operates while forcing them to burn through ammunition and energy. The more resources B10 wastes here, the better positioned the hostiles will be the next time they meet.”

”...”

The expressions on those youthful faces immediately fell, and the Duke couldn’t exactly blame them. Still, he didn’t want to sugarcoat the situation when the children were clearly doing their best to learn and understand what was happening.

”Fortunately, Battalion 10 already found ways to conserve their reserves and acquire additional energy. Otherwise, this could’ve caused serious problems later, especially since most of their pilots are relying heavily on their weapons instead of evasive maneuvering like your brothers.”

The Duke paused.

”One encounter like this won’t doom them. But if they keep fighting this way after the enemy has already learned how to exploit their weaknesses, then after a few more battles, they might find themselves running out of resources before they can put up much of a fight.”

Princess Marin continued staring at the screen.

”But back in the simulation...”

She couldn’t help thinking about how ridiculously strong Luca and Jax had been then.

Those enormous flying corrupted beasts had looked far more terrifying than these red-orange mechas!

So how were these hostiles somehow giving them this much trouble?

”Ah.” The attentive Butler Gary immediately understood. ”That’s because they’re using manual mechas, Your Highness.”

”I know that one!”

Imperial Princess Nina suddenly raised a finger with great enthusiasm.

”Unlike the other mechas, where you can use spiritual energy and even bloodline abilities, like with someone such as Sid, manual mechas are basically like fighting with your very own robotic excavator!”

”...”

”...”

The adults paused.

Uhh... Why a robotic excavator?

And where exactly had the young Princess acquired such a specific analogy?

Still, judging by Marin’s slowly dawning expression, it had apparently worked.

So...

Sure.

”That’s more or less right,” someone finally agreed.

Nina beamed.

”As things stand, your brothers can’t channel their spiritual energy through those machines because the mechas simply don’t have the hardware to support it. And for people who’ve become so proficient at wielding both their spiritual and bloodline abilities, that takes away a considerable part of their usual combat capability.”

And that wasn’t even the only problem.

Even the best-calibrated manual mecha couldn’t provide quite the same fidelity as the biomechas Luca and Jax had become accustomed to piloting. There would always be a noticeable difference between moving a machine through physical controls and having one respond almost like an extension of the pilot’s own body.

Then there were the limitations in weaponry.

Their unfamiliarity with this specific equipment.

And, judging by the coordinated way those red-orange mechas were moving through the battlefield, the increasingly suspicious possibility that those bastards at the Academy had chosen a specialized force to serve as their opponents!

Seriously?!

Were they expecting the kids from DG to carry everyone against these sly ghosts?!

Duke Leander’s expression gradually darkened.

And now look at that.

His precious son was apparently still determined to jump out of his mecha!

Because as if to prove that he really was his father’s son, Luca had apparently come to the conclusion that the best way to minimize the damage from a fight their opponents were clearly trying to prolong was to break out of his current handicap entirely!

His voice crackled through the not-so-private comms, sharp and resolute.

”Jax! Please line up behind me on three!”

”Wait, Luca, you’re seriously doing this?!” Jax demanded, even as his manual mecha twisted sharply to avoid another stray plasma round.

He’d been told the exact same thing earlier, and ever since then, he’d been desperately hoping he’d simply misheard. But now Luca was saying it again?!

And unfortunately for Jax, their Commander proceeded to make several ridiculously compelling arguments that his brain was having a very difficult time rejecting.

”Yes! At this rate, we’ll be stuck fighting them for too long. Who knows if they already have backup on the way? We need to break their cycle now!”

Of course, they could always surprise the hostiles by deliberately letting them take out one of their cadets and using that opening to retaliate or flee.

But for Luca, that just wasn’t an acceptable option, especially when he still had something he could try.

”...”

Damn it.

Why did that make sense?!

”And we really can’t let them drag this out much longer! The others are already struggling just to keep up!”

Jax released a long, suffering sigh.

He already knew he’d eventually have to explain to the Captain why he’d thought going along with this insanity was an exciting idea. But what exactly was he supposed to do when he was fairly certain even Xavier wouldn’t have been able to say no after hearing Luca’s reasoning?

Then, as though silently praying Killian wouldn’t send him to the couch for this, Jax glanced toward Luca’s mecha.

Despite the chaos unfolding around them, a grin slowly spread across his face.

”Okay, fine! Let’s do it!”

And just like that, for the second time since the battle began, their two mechas perfectly aligned in midair.

For one strange moment, they resembled the sun and moon caught in an eclipse, one machine positioned almost perfectly behind the other.

The hostile mechas hesitated, clearly wondering just what the hell that was supposed to be.

Only for a split second.

But that was apparently all Battalion 10’s two resident lunatics needed to execute Luca’s plan.

”!”

A mere beat later, Jax’s heavy mecha suddenly dropped out of formation.

The maneuver finally exposed what the two machines had been conveniently hiding from view.

As Luca abandoned his cockpit, Jax swept directly underneath his now-empty medium mecha, catching the lighter machine before it could fall toward the desert and immediately hauling it away from the battlefield.

But the mecha wasn’t what everyone was looking at anymore.

Those in the sky froze.

So did those on the ground.

Even the distant spectators monitoring the exercise through their respective feeds could only stare.

Because left behind in the open sky, floating completely unassisted, was Luca Kyros.

He’d broken straight out of his own mecha cockpit!

Majestic wings made entirely of brilliant, crackling flames unfolded from his back, spreading wide against the hazy orange sky of Caldris Minor-7.

For many of the people watching, it wasn’t their first time seeing Luca with those wings.

However, for most, it was the first time they were seeing him with something more surprising.

Because instead of the warm, smiling face most people had come to associate with the heir of House Kyros...

Luca was scowling.

Not a cute little pout.

Not the allegedly mildly offended expression of someone who’d just discovered his Star Coins had been wasted—

But a genuine, angry scowl!

An insanely dense spiritual barrier erupted around him almost immediately, its oppressive force rippling outward now that there was no manual mecha preventing him from properly using his abilities.

Luca slowly raised a hand.

His golden eyes locked onto the scattered hostile mechas that had spent the last several minutes leading them around.

”...”

Right.

They wanted to keep running?

Okay.

But without that manual mecha restricting what he could do, Luca decided right then and there that he was going to be the one chasing everyone around!

After all, how else was he supposed to demand compensation for all the repairs their poor mechas were going to need?!