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

How?

Over the relentless sound of alarms and terminals firing off commands left and right, that single question currently hung over the heads of everyone forced to watch as the situation descended into complete hell.

Yes, they were already scrambling to smite those intruders.

The full offensive capabilities of the battleships were being reactivated while reinforcements from the nearest active military outposts were mobilized, with the immediate priority of getting every cadet and Vanguard candidate safely off Caldris Minor-7.

But even as all of that happened, one glaring problem remained.

How the hell had those intruders gotten there in the first place?!

Inside the chaotic control hub, administrators and instructors were practically scratching their heads in distress as they finally managed to establish a direct line with Military HQ.

”Scans and logs don’t show the arrival of any forces that weren’t explicitly given clearance to land on Caldris Minor-7,” an officer reported hastily, his voice strained beneath the pressure. ”The last supply drops prior to the start of the exercise for the Vanguard candidates were also delivered as scheduled. There isn’t a single indication of suspicious activity, even after tracing the logs as far back as six months!”

”Then how do you explain how those people got in?!” the Vice Principal barked, slamming his palm against the main interface.

”Is it possible they’ve been lying in wait?” one of the instructors suggested, leaning forward with a pale face. ”Maybe they were already on the planet and simply waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack?”

”Waiting for what?!” another administrator snapped. ”Were they targeting the Vanguard candidates? Because as much as I’d like to believe this was an attack specifically aimed at our cadets, they’d have to employ a damn fortune teller to know we were going to hold the exercise on Caldris Minor-7!”

After all, the location had been chosen deliberately at the last minute.

”It’s either that, or we’re dealing with a daredevil of an insider,” the administrator continued grimly. ”But only so many people had clearance to know the details of this exercise in advance. If someone leaked the information, whoever did it will be found and tried almost immediately.”

Now, the man said tried.

But considering how many promising young Imperial cadets were currently being fired upon with actual lethal weapons, whoever was responsible would most likely be lucky to survive long enough to see the inside of a courtroom.

Not that the people currently running around the control hub had much room to judge.

If this incident was eventually proven to be the result of negligence on their part, several of them might very well find themselves facing dire consequences too.

Still, as increasingly unlikely explanations were thrown around the room, the Vice Principal seemed to realize that there was one particularly glaring problem they had yet to investigate.

His expression immediately hardened.

”Dispatch a military unit to personally check on the department responsible for that missing report,” he ordered, turning sharply toward his assistant. ”We’ve already followed up three times. I want to know why we still haven’t received anything.”

”Yes, sir!”

At the moment, it was the closest thing they had to a promising lead.

And until they figured out exactly what had gone wrong, the only thing everyone could do was pray that the cadets remained safe long enough for the military to reach them.

Because if anything happened to those students before then...

The intruders might not be the only people whose heads were about to roll.

__

Lamentably, that worry was entirely justified.

Certain parents, especially those whose children were currently stranded on Caldris Minor-7, were practically jumping out of their seats, fully prepared to tear down long-standing Imperial institutions if that was what it took to guarantee their kids’ safety, even as they frantically prepared to head straight for the exercise venue themselves.

Duke Leander’s palpable fury aside, one could only imagine just how livid the Empress was upon learning what had happened.

After all, only moments ago, everyone had been preparing to mobilize for an entirely different reason.

Their precious son-in-law had given orders to secure the planet where naturally occurring, high-purity rock salt had just been discovered. In other words, until very recently, the atmosphere inside the dungeon space had been downright celebratory.

Several people had even been playfully arguing over who among them would have the supreme honor of heading there personally to spearhead such an important venture!

They’d eagerly discussed what they could give the cadets as rewards, not only for doing so well throughout the exercise, but for somehow discovering a valuable deposit that no one else had managed to find despite Caldris Minor-7 being used by the Empire for so many years.

Even the little girls had been excitedly chattering about all the free salt they could get and how much CP their Brother Chipmunk might save in the process!

They’d been in that exact state of mind.

Then, without warning, the Empress had been urgently alerted to check the live feed.

Battalion 5 had been ambushed by an unregulated force displaying clear and brutal intent to kill.

Everyone could only watch in horror as the situation unfolded in real time.

Whatever superficial resemblance those intruders might have shared with the designated Caldris Hostiles quickly became irrelevant once they began deploying illegal, high-caliber weapons and deliberately targeting vital areas.

This was hardly the modus operandi of common criminals seeking a payout from ransom or hostage-taking.

At least, that was how it appeared to the Empress.

They needed to investigate who might stand to gain from stripping the Empire of its brightest talent so early on. The potential culprits already crossing her mind were nothing short of revolting, and the Empress couldn’t wait to get her hands on them...

Naturally, several of the cadets had been caught completely off guard.

Thankfully, the moment the exercise was abruptly suspended, the Vanguard candidates acted without delay, swapping out their training gear for standard combat loadouts and charging toward the disturbance. Their intervention helped the cadets break away from their attackers, granting the battered Battalion 5 just enough breathing room to disperse and flee.

The problem was...

How long could they possibly keep this up?

How long could these young people survive with genuinely dwindling resources, standard manual mechas, and deliberately nerfed training weapons against enemies who were considerably better equipped?

And those intruders weren’t merely operating the kind of mismatched, ragtag machines commonly associated with pirates.

They were using unregistered combination mechas.

Worse, they were throwing around spiritual energy with such reckless abundance that it was almost as though they’d never experienced scarcity a day in their lives!

Regrettably, that became the most horrifying development since the entire nightmare began.

Because just when the cadets and Vanguard candidates managed to pull one another away from those heavily armed intruders, the attackers stopped relying solely on their weapons.

Devastating spiritual attacks began tearing across the battlefield instead.

”...!”

The Empress watched the deeply unsettling scene unfold across the main projection, her expression growing colder with every passing second.

Then she turned toward the rest of the room.

With an extremely serious, unyielding expression, she declared, ”I believe we must kill this broadcast.”