The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1253: Underreacting

"I mean, i-if we take out the falling buildings, angry monsters, and giant blackened craters, I gotta say, this place looks really cool, right?" Ollie, who’d just alighted from his human carrier, said breathlessly as he stared out at the lay of the land.

And admittedly, it really did.

What stretched out before them was a sprawling futuristic metropolis, predominantly metallic white yet seamlessly incorporating vast spaces filled with lush greenery. The structures were sophisticatedly intricate without looking crowded together, leaving plenty of open spaces between the towering buildings and vegetation.

Well, at least that was what they could gather from the remaining areas that hadn’t yet fallen to corruption.

Luca actually wanted to agree with his good brother.

Maybe if they hadn’t been pressed for time or clearly losing ground by the minute, they could’ve even taken inspiration from some of the things they were seeing!

But at that moment, as the person supposedly most familiar with dungeons, Luca was far more concerned with figuring out what they were supposed to do next.

His golden eyes carefully swept across the metropolis, trying to pick out anything unusual or important enough to possibly indicate where the dungeon core might be.

However, just as he was attempting to identify any places that stood out, Luca was abruptly pulled away from his thoughts.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t by the Imperial officers and military personnel, who were already talking among themselves about using their terminals to take photos of the surrounding areas and piece together some sort of makeshift map.

Instead, it was because a very long, blaring siren suddenly rang throughout the metropolis!

"!"

Everyone immediately went on edge.

And practically reacting on behalf of the entire group, Eden threw her hands up and screeched in pure exasperation, "NOW WHAT?!"

She sounded genuinely offended by the fact that there was somehow problem when they hadn’t even figured out what they were supposed to be doing in the first place!

Heck, she still wasn’t entirely sure if any of this was real or if she’d somehow been dosed with something so strong that, off to their left, she was suddenly seeing the entire sky darken!

And sure, they’d already seen the sky darken earlier because of all those corrupted projectiles falling from above.

But this was something else entirely.

Eden rubbed her eyes.

Then she looked again.

Unfortunately, what she was gawking at didn’t disappear.

In fact, the longer she stared, the more it looked like an entire armada of bullshit was heading straight toward them!

Because just what the fuck was

The Tech Specialist was so thoroughly flabbergasted and appalled that she could only keep inhaling and inhaling, wanting desperately to ask someone if they could also see whatever the hell she was looking at.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one.

Without breaking eye contact with the approaching mass, Cece muttered in a tone that sounded less like a question and more like a definitive declaration, "You’re sure this is a simulation, right? Because if it isn’t, then I guess we’ll all see each other in the next life."

Now, in most cases, Cece saying something like that would’ve immediately been followed by laughter.

But nobody laughed.

Not when what initially looked like a darkening patch of sky gradually resolved into a massive fleet of flying, corrupted monsters heading straight toward the metropolis.

And certainly not when Xavier’s expression hardened as he reached for his wife, pulling Luca closer against him as the screeching alarm continued echoing all around them.

By then, anyone could tell just how serious this was becoming.

__

However, much to the lack of surprise of one Xavier Solaris, instead of hiding behind him and his hopefully reliable back, his little wife actually stepped right in front of him and his younger sister, whom the Prince was in charge of carrying.

Then Luca suddenly pointed straight toward the darkened sky, his voice ringing out with shocking delight.

"There! If we’re looking for the dungeon core, I bet it’ll be there!"

"!"

It was as if Luca, who actually looked immensely relieved by this discovery, had just dropped a bomb on everybody else.

What did he mean, the dungeon core would likely be

Because unless they were somehow looking at two completely different things, that exact direction contained a literal aerial gathering of corruption!

The sight alone had Curtis on pins and needles as he stared at the seemingly endless swarm in the distance, wondering if he really should’ve drunk that bottle of wine he’d been saving to share with Eden if they were apparently going to die today anyway!

And after an exclamation as scandalous as Luca’s, naturally, the first person to truly voice his opinion was Duke Leander.

This time, he wouldn’t be stopped!

The Duke practically volunteered to go deal with the dungeon core himself, turning toward Luca amidst the roaring horns with an expression so resolute that one would’ve thought he was already preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

"Be a good boy, my son. Eat a lot, drink lots of water, and take care of your mother! A-and when you have time, please remember this Papa every now and then!"

"?"

Luca blinked.

Then again, in Leander’s mind, it practically was! And this was coming from someone practically hailed as the Empire’s War God, a man who’d already dealt with enough things in his relatively short life to give most people a run for their money.

But as someone who felt like he was witnessing the second coming of the Abyssal Bloom and its entire extended family, even he thought he was underreacting.

Now, it would’ve been a different story if they’d been able to step right into their cockpits.

But without their mechas, realistically speaking, how were they supposed to do a number on that many enemies?!

But before the suddenly resolute Duke could march off toward his valiant death, Luca quickly reached out and caught his father’s arm.

"Papa, no! I can’t allow you to go like that!"

"...Huh?"

Leander’s eyes widened even further after seeing his child’s worried face.

His hands practically trembled as a wave of overwhelming emotion washed over him, and one immediately flew to his chest as he interpreted his precious son’s words exactly the way any loving (crazed) father would’ve wanted to.

His child couldn’t bear the thought of losing him!

"My son—!" Leander gasped, his eyes already glistening, only to end up stopping mid-sentence as he heard something absurd.

"Because I have to go myself," Luca added with extreme resolve.

"!"