Dimensional Descent

[Bonus chapter for 1400 powerstones :( ]

”… 167 meters to the northeast.” Leonel spoke with confidence. 

”How many of them and what’s their power like?” Squad Leader Malt asked. 

”There are five of them. One of them seems to be a D-grade mind control type Invalid. The other four are F-grade Invalids under its control.”

Leonel’s Internal Sight focused on a group of five Invalids. Four of them had what looked like leeches at the base of their skulls. The Invalid that controlled them stood in the center with tentacles coming out of her head. 

In the past, Leonel would have cringed at such a sight, but he had gotten used to it by now. Those who successfully awakened usually managed to avoid any weird mutations. But, Invalids — who were essentially the ones who failed to awaken their abilities and thus lost control of their minds — weren’t so lucky. Many of them had obvious deformities just like this. 

Of course, those who were successful in awakening their abilities weren’t guaranteed to not have mutations. But, most could hide them until their ability was needed. 

For example, the metal A-grade Invalid Leonel met long ago. Had he successfully awakened his ability and not become an Invalid, he wouldn’t have to walk around like a metal man all the time. 

”Oof. Mind control types are the hardest to deal with. Luckily it’s just a D-grade one. Good job, little brother. We’ll handle it from here.”

”HAHA!” A hard slap hit Leonel’s back. ”Great job, rookie. I’ll go bash them up for you.”

Leonel could only bitterly smile as Malt led a group of three toward the Invalids. 

It had already been two weeks since he came to the Slayer Legion, but this was about all he had done in that time. Other than the training he did in the Segmented Cube during his personal time, he was basically just a glorified compass. 

’Well… At least these guys treat me well.’

The big guy who just patted his bag went by the name Gerolt. He was part of a partnership program between the Scout Units and the Ground Combat Units. He was essentially in charge of their protection as they cleared out Invalids who got too close to the harbor. 

Aside from him, the two others were an ordinary man and a young woman who looked like she was a teenager despite the fact she was apparently 30 years old. They went by Davy and Lisa respectively. 

Those two were among the ’trash’ Captain Zhang mentioned. They didn’t have scout related abilities but were rather combat oriented. Because their abilities were relatively weak, they were slotted into the scout units. 

Of course, things weren’t exactly as simple as this. Before the Metamorphosis, many of the Slayer Legion’s members were already present. As such, they had roles they were already very much used to. This was why even though Malt had awakened a sensory type ability, he still charged along with the others, leaving Leonel behind. 

Leonel sighed watching Gerolt pull a massive mace from his back and take the vanguard. A moment later, though, he caught himself. 

’Since when was it that I would rather take part in a battle than take a backseat?’

Leonel’s brow furrowed slightly. It was a fleeting thought he didn’t have much of a chance to linger on because the battle was already over. 

Gerolt beamed, laughing jovially. In the back, Malt caressed one of his guns in a silk cloth, caring for it as though it was his own child. He wasn’t acting like a man who should have been their leader at all. At this point, even the stoic Davy and the quiet Lisa were smiling. 

Their days had simply been too leisurely with Leonel around. Invalids never sneaked up on them anymore, they got great and detailed reports on them before even getting close, and they hadn’t met any B-grade or above Invalids. He was practically their lucky star. 

”Let’s return. We’ll be able to report some great gains this time. I think I’ll finally be able to afford the extended clip.” Malt’s eyes glowed like a child on Christmas day. 

”Rookie, you’re too good. How do you feel about joining the Ground Combat Unit?” Gerolt grinned. 

”Are you trying to poach my talent? Don’t even think about it.” Malt growled. 

Gerolt was even taller than Leonel, so there was no need to speak about just how much shorter Malt was than him. Yet, the latter didn’t back down, even tapping the nozzle of his gun against Gerolt’s chest. 

”He’s wasted here. Your Scout Unit is lacking.” Gerolt didn’t seem disturbed by Malt at all. 

”And your Ground Dog Unit is any better? Tell me the last time you mutts were of any use?”

Gerolt snorted. ”Everyone knows the ground is the core strength of an army.”

”… W-we shouldn’t fight.” Lisa said softly. 

Unfortunately, her words were completely drowned out by the roars of the two men. 

”The ground is the core of an army’s strength? Do you think this is the 17th century? I can name tons of units more valuable than yours without much effort! The Air Combat Unit, the Navy Combat Unit, the Research and Technology Unit, the Space Combat Unit, the —”

”You think I won’t bounce my mace off that balding head of yours? Why don’t you just shave it all off?” Gerolt growled. 

Even if he looked a bit simple, he wouldn’t just sit here and let Malt list all the units of the Slayer Legion. The fact he wanted to try was insulting enough. 

”Oh, I’m so scared. Gerolt the Mace, the man who was so useless to even the shitty Ground Combat Unit wants to harm little old me. How are ground units useful in this day and age? If you tried to march to the Empire’s capital, you’d get blown to smithereens before you took your second step!”

Leonel and Davy looked up at each other at the same time and shook their heads. With Lisa scurrying around like a little mouse, trying to stop the both of them, and Gerolt and Malt at each other’s throats again, it seemed that only the two of them were even somewhat normal. 

Suddenly, Leonel looked off toward a particular direction. His brows furrowed slightly. 

’It’s only an A-grade Invalid, but without knowing its ability, I can’t guarantee that I can keep them safe. I had a feeling that things were going a bit too smoothly recently.’

The A-grade Invalid Leonel sensed was out of the range of his sharp Internal Sight and was within the foggy region. He could just vaguely tell its strength from this distance but nothing else. However, it was most definitely headed in this direction. 

’I doubt that it’s locked onto us specifically… This direction also happens to be the direction of the harbor. This is a good opportunity.’

At first, Leonel felt that it was unfortunate that he was being underestimated as this would slow his plans. But, after some more thinking, he realized that this wasn’t as bad as he thought.

If he was too powerful, the Slayer Legion would always put their best foot forward in his presence. It would be easier to judge a person’s character by how they treated those weaker than them. 

’From what I’ve seen, the strongest amongst them only has a B-grade ability. An A-grade Invalid is definitely a huge threat to them, potentially catastrophic. I’ll observe for a bit…’

Leonel knew by now that this was just a small portion of the Slayer Legion. They were actually here to scour the wreckage of Royal Blue Province and harvest raw materials from the collapsed structures. One could imagine that the materials used to build a city of elites were invaluable. 

However, this was just the nice way to put it. They were basically just scavengers. 

’Let’s see how they pass this test…’ 

Leonel’s expression returned to normal as though nothing had happened. Soon, they had returned to the harbor. It hadn’t even been a minute upon their return when the warning signals began to blare.