The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 694 694: A Reminder

The sound ca first.

A deep, thunderous rumble rolled across the battlefield, followed by the hiss of rushing water.

Then it hit.

WOOOOOSH—!

The tide surged from the sides, sweeping over the battered terrain. It wasn't as massive as the earlier tsunami they were saved from. Still, it carried the wreckage of everything it had touched before—splintered trees, fragnts of buildings, shattered armor, scattered debris, and the torn remains of corrupted beasts dragged from the depths.

The air crackled with the sound of crashing tal, and the unending roar of water smashing through the ruins filled the air. The ground trembled beneath the weight of the flood as everyone scrambled back.

Amid the chaos, a single cha dragged itself from the rubble. Its once-polished armor was torn and gouged, half of its fra pierced clean through by jagged claws. With what strength remained, the pilot severed the impaled limbs, sparks spraying in short, violent bursts.

"Co on... move," the pilot muttered, voice hoarse through the static-filled comms.

The cha's arm reached out, trembling, scraping the ground inch by inch as the tide grew closer. The water was nearly upon him now—dark, heavy, likely carrying the stench of death.

He knew it was useless. Still, he kept reaching.

And then—sothing gripped his hand.

The pilot froze, breath catching in disbelief. Slowly, he turned his hazy feed toward the source, expecting teeth or claws or the shadow of another monster.

But instead—

It was a cha.

Unfamiliar, gleaming even in the half-light, its white fra was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

The crest etched onto its armor caught the faint glint of broken light.

House Kyros.

And it wasn't alone.

One after another, they dropped from the skies in blinding arcs—white silhouettes cutting through smoke and ruin. So swooped low, striking clean and tearing off monsters that clung to fallen chas.

Suddenly, pilots who had stopped believing in rescue were being lifted, pulled free from the wreckage, and carried away.

For a mont, the pilot couldn't breathe. His chest tightened, but not from fear.

He looked up through his cracked cockpit screen as another white shadow descended before him, the House Kyros insignia blazing like fire amid the chaos.

Saved.

They were saved.

__

Sowhere deep beneath the ocean, far below the reach of sunlight and deeper still than any human had ventured in decades, two pilots were staring at the source of the tsunami they didn't even know existed.

At first, it was quiet. Just the low hum of their damaged systems and the soft crackle of the comms.

Then—

RUMMMMBLE.

"!!!"

Both Sera and Nia instinctively braced as the ground beneath them trembled. Silt burst upward in great clouds, turning the water around them into murky chaos.

"What was that?!" Nia gasped.

Sera's voice ca out sharp and tense. "Nia… I think it's moving."

Nia blinked. "What's moving?"

"That thing." Sera's tone dropped to a whisper. "That monster—it's moving. And it's moving in this direction."

"Wait, WHAT?! Are you saying it's coming for us?!"

Sera's voice tightened. "I doubt it's after us, but if my readings are right, the only thing that makes sense is that it's heading for shore."

"WHAT?!" Nia scread, right as another violent quake rippled through the seabed. The rock formation they had been hiding inside began to crack and crumble.

"We have to go! Now!" Sera shouted.

Her cha shifted, bracing itself to run, but before she could move, the ground began to lift. The sand and debris beneath them were rising—no, being pulled upward.

"What the hell—!" Nia's panicked voice barely cut through the rumble.

The rock they were using as cover suddenly fractured, collapsing in on itself. Reflexively, Nia moved to shield Sera's cha, the only thing a broken manual cha could really do in this situation, but before they were buried in underwater rubble, Sera's own shield burst to life, forming a do of blue light that absorbed the falling debris.

"Don't do that again!" Sera barked. "Your cha can't handle this kind of impact anymore. Mine's still intact!"

"Oh, excuse , Miss 'Intact Shield'!" Nia snapped back, her voice shaking. "Shouldn't you be the last person talking about ignoring warnings?! Who was it that followed here, huh?"

"Now's not the ti!" Sera shot back.

The water around them distorted as more cracks split the seabed. The two pilots didn't have ti to argue—Sera grabbed Nia's damaged cha with her chanical repair arms and pulled, forcing both forward through the pitch-dark depths.

Her sensors flickered, the pressure alarms whining. Still, she kept going.

"Hold on tight!" she said, gritting her teeth as she dragged them toward the faint light above.

Behind her, Nia's trembling voice ca through the comms. "Sera… I don't think the Empire has enough people."

"What?"

Nia's tone dropped, quiet but filled with dread. "You might not want to look behind us."

Sera, however, risked a glance over her shoulder—

—and her blood ran cold.

A shadow was moving in the distance. Vast. Enormous. It stretched so far that her sensors couldn't register its full outline. In fact, at this point, she wasn't even sure if the ocean had always looked like this.

Sera's focus snapped forward again. "Let's just get out of here!"

But it wasn't easy. It was as if the number of tentacles were multiplying, spreading faster, lashing out like spears. Every strike rattled the shield, making her cockpit tremble.

Sera gritted her teeth. "Please, please, please—"

Her hands shook on the controls. The shield flickered, the impact reverberating through the cha. Cracks began to form across its surface. While the cha was nearly on par with known S-class chas, this was still a B-class unit being piloted by a B-class pilot. And as a support, it likely wasn't made for this—it shouldn't even have lasted this long.

Red warning lights filled the cockpit.

[SPIRITUAL ENERGY CRITICAL]

[SPIRITUAL DEPLETION IMMINENT]

Her head pounded. Her breathing grew shallow. The edges of her vision were going dark.

Not yet.

They couldn't die here.

She reached for the override switch near her leg, ready to force the system to keep running despite the alarms, when—

Whoooosh—

A soft hiss echoed inside the cockpit, followed by the sound of a small compartnt opening. It was the kind of quiet vacuum sound that ca when the freezer door released its seal.

Sera blinked in confusion. "What the—?"

The alerts changed.

[ERGENCY RATIONS DETECTED. PLEASE CONSU BEFORE DEPLETION.]

"What?" she croaked.

Her trembling hand reached for the open compartnt. Inside—

Her eyes widened.

How on Solaris did she have sothing like this in here the whole ti?

Who knows?

But her throat tightened. Then she burst out laughing, tears falling in her relief.

Sergeant Nia, confused and panicked, shouted through the comms, "Sera! What's going on?! Why are you laughing right now?!"

Through tears and half-choked giggles, Sera shoved one of the rations into her mouth. "Nothing! Nothing's wrong! It's just that—if we die here, I'll be so embarrassed even in the afterlife!"

Because what she found inside that compartnt wasn't only ergency rations

It was a reminder.

A small, unspoken reminder that whoever built this cha had done so with one thought in mind—

Everyone had to survive.

__

Achoo!

Luca sneezed so suddenly that even D-29 paused mid-sentence.

Imdiately, Xavier's voice ca over the comms, calm but concerned. "Luca, are you feeling sick?"

The golden-eyed chanic sniffled once, blinking in surprise. "Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine!" he smiled as if to reassure him, his voice bright and just a little too cheerful. "Really, I feel great! Actually, better than great!"

The prince, however, wasn't convinced. "You're sure?"

"Mhm!" Luca chirped, his tone suspiciously sunny. "I was really worried earlier when I saw the devastation behind us while trying to siphon out the water, but now that I've seen our soldiers helping with the evacuations, I feel much better."

He spoke with that innocent sincerity that always disard Xavier, even when it made him more suspicious.

Over the comms, the worried husband exhaled softly. "I see. That's good, then. But still, let's have that checked later."

Luca's cha turned slightly, even though no one could even see him; his eyes shone as he explained, "Hmm, okay! But really, I feel better! How could I not, when D-29 just reported that we recovered a good amount of CP from the tsunami water!"

"…What?"

"Yes!" Luca said proudly. "Apparently, the water was really contaminated. It wasn't the active kind, so it didn't look like the usual type, but still, it gave CP! Can you believe it? To think there's still so much water left in the ocean!"

He sounded delighted. Too delighted.

Xavier pursed his lips in his cockpit. "Luca…"

"Yes?"

"…If you're coming to get more CP, rember to call , okay?" Xavier sighed, convinced that even his brain had been eternally rewired, as his first thought was how they could efficiently drain the water of corruption.

After realizing that it would be best if people didn't hear his thoughts, he just said, "I'm just glad you're not sick. But after all this, you're resting before continuing with experints."

"Oh, okay," Luca replied softly, his smile warm and obedient. After all, his husband always said the right things about rest, and he always felt better after following his suggestions.

For a mont, everything was peaceful—well, compared to earlier, even an explosion right now would sound like child's play. So, the rumble of the cha, the soft hum of power systems, and the sound of waves settling seed peaceful.

Then D-29's voice suddenly cut through.

"Host!" it shouted, urgent. "There seems to be a familiar signal erging from the water!"

"Huh?"