The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1330: Pull the Plug

Only moments after the emergency alert went out, Luca found himself confronting a problem he was quickly discovering he really, didn’t like.

Being caught between his responsibilities as Battalion Commander and his responsibilities as a friend who was absolutely going to make sure his guild members were safe... sucked.

It was like being caught between a rock and a hard place, especially when there were hundreds of cadets around him looking to him for guidance.

Luca didn’t fault them for doing so. In fact, a part of him was genuinely happy that they trusted him enough to wait for his orders, considering how completely unheard of something like this would’ve been during his past life.

Unfortunately, that only made his current predicament harder.

Faced with two equally important responsibilities, how exactly was he supposed to choose between them?

He couldn’t simply drag his entire battalion along while he went looking for his friends!

Even with their newly developed LME bombs, no amount of optimism could change the fact that many of these cadets simply weren’t ready to confront murderous criminals armed with actual lethal weapons.

For some reason, Luca suddenly found himself thinking about all those emergency responders who’d been forced to choose between rushing home to protect their own families and remaining at their posts to save the people directly in front of them.

Was this how they felt?

He also couldn’t help wondering how people like his husband dealt with situations like this, especially when D-29’s constant updates made it increasingly clear that things were only getting worse.

The intruders weren’t just using lethal weapons anymore.

They were actively attacking and giving chase with spiritual abilities that allowed them to push far beyond the limits of manual mechas, so long as they had enough spiritual energy to sustain them.

And somehow, the situation with Battalion 9 was becoming even more complicated.

Because when D-29 finally managed to establish a connection with Princess Kira, the Orcish Princess immediately insisted that they couldn’t evacuate just yet.

Apparently, while there were terrorists running around aboveground, she’d discovered something potentially just as alarming beneath it.

"I don’t know what this is just yet," Kira’s low, grim voice crackled through the terminal, "but unless they’ve started employing terrorists this early, then I’m telling you we’ve got kids down here."

"?!"

That revelation wasn’t only news to Luca and the others.

Judging by the shocked expressions on the faces of the small team currently accompanying Kira, they hadn’t known either!

Still, it certainly explained why the Orcish Princess suddenly looked ready to unleash hell on whoever happened to be waiting at the end of that tunnel.

Beside Luca, Theo’s fingers tightened around his arm the moment he heard there might be children involved.

"Wait for us! We can check it together—"

"I can’t," Kira cut in flatly.

Even through the connection, they could hear the faint footsteps of those following behind her, while Kira’s own considerably heavier steps remained almost completely muffled beneath the thin layer of spiritual energy surrounding her body.

"They’re making sounds tiny toothpicks aren’t supposed to be making. I don’t think this can wait."

"But—!" Theo tried again.

"Kyle says he’s coming to where we are," Kira interrupted, her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "He’s got Noah herding the rest away according to..."

She paused.

Then, apparently remembering that there was no guarantee every communication channel remained completely secure under the current circumstances, Kira wisely swallowed the name she’d almost mentioned.

"...the suggested route. They’re staying underground."

Luca closed his eyes briefly.

There really was no stopping her.

More importantly, he was painfully aware that if their positions were reversed, he would’ve done the exact same thing.

Taking a deep breath as if making his mind, the golden-eyed cadet raced to say, "Princess, don’t hesitate—"

A quiet chuckle came through the connection before he could finish.

Apparently, Kira knew her friends far too well.

"No. We’ll be fine," she said, sounding almost amused despite the situation. "If you want to pray for someone, pray for the cause of all this."

Luca’s lips pressed together.

He’d been prepared to tell her not to hesitate to use the dungeon space if the situation became impossible.

Kira knew that.

And that was precisely why she’d stopped him.

There was simply no way she intended to use it unless things became truly desperate and everyone around her was all but guaranteed to die. As convenient as escaping into Luca’s dungeon space would’ve been, there were far too many eyes watching them right now, and the beings of this universe stood to lose far too much if anyone who shouldn’t know about Luca’s unique ability suddenly discovered it.

The others might not realize that just yet, but this level of terrorism would be nothing compared to what could happen if the wrong people ever discovered exactly what Luca was hiding.

Still...

Kira hadn’t missed the fact that Luca had been willing to expose that secret without even hesitating if it meant keeping her safe.

Really, these pebbles just kept proving themselves to be one of the best decisions she’d ever made.

So how could she not be willing to do the same for them over and over again?

"I’m getting closer, so I have to focus."

That was the last thing they heard from the Princess before the connection went silent.

And this time, there really was no stopping her.

Barely moments after the connection with Kira dropped, Xavier finally made contact, giving Battalion 10 some much-needed direction amid all the uncertainty.

His suggestion was simple: combine their battalions.

Bringing their people together would make evacuation considerably easier, while also giving them more options if the situation continued to deteriorate.

Luca agreed immediately.

But just as Battalion 10 began mobilizing for the rendezvous, D-29 returned with another piece of urgent news, this time directly from the dungeon space.

Already rattled and deeply worried about their friends, Luca blinked repeatedly as though he needed to make absolutely certain he’d heard correctly.

Apparently, he had.

"Host, according to Her Imperial Majesty, while there’s no guarantee this will solve the problem and it’s still best to remain cautious since there are other eyes around, shutting down the broadcast should hopefully give you greater freedom to move!" D-29 explained rapidly. "More importantly, it would prevent the planet’s surveillance system from potentially being used against the cadets!"

Luca understood the first part immediately.

With fewer people watching, they might be able to sneak items out of the dungeon inventory or, if things became truly desperate, even slip people into the dungeon space without exposing nearly as much as they would under constant surveillance.

But that second part...

"Yes, Host! They’re still trying to determine exactly who the enemy is while investigating the possibility of traitors on the inside. If there really are people helping the intruders, that might explain why the terrorists seem to be finding some of the cadets’ hiding places so easily. It’s almost as though they can see what the surveillance system is seeing!"

"It hasn’t been confirmed yet, Host!" D-29 hurriedly clarified. "Count Alexander and I have been scouring the system, but we still haven’t found any obvious signs of unauthorized access or unusual tampering. Even so, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny that the intruders are getting their information from "

Admittedly, that might’ve sounded a little hypocritical coming from them.

After all, quite a few people inside the dungeon space were currently watching something they technically weren’t supposed to have access to either.

However, that was precisely why D-29 knew who had been granted access through its own intervention.

And the little system most definitely hadn’t approved any terrorists!

"So while it’s useful that the Academy can locate the cadets using cameras scattered throughout Caldris Minor-7," D-29 continued, "those same cameras might also be revealing the positions of battalions that have already managed to hide!"

Luca’s expression immediately tightened.

"Yes, Host. They can," D-29 confirmed. "However, doing so would also make evacuation and rescue operations significantly more difficult for everyone coordinating from Planet Nova."

"..."

Luca heard all of that, his golden eyes hardening as he realized they definitely needed to step up!