第３８５堀：賽は投げられた (Part2)
"For now, Yuki has told us to ensure we can at least get our acquaintances out if the worst comes to pass."
"That’s about all we can do. When the time comes, it’ll be a chaotic melee everywhere. We could take the initiative and start crushing things ourselves, but that would make us stand out. Plus, since we’d be hostile toward Noble, the enemy’s attention would be focused squarely on us. In that state, there’s no way we’d be able to save anyone."
"I’d certainly like to avoid that. If it comes to it, Yuki would happily use us as decoys."
Yeah. He would absolutely do that.
So, our plan is to focus solely on evacuating our acquaintances.
Let’s see... the Rosetta Mercenary Corps, Torneko the merchant and his family, and... that poster girl from the shop with the delicious meat?
As I was thinking about this, a new message arrived on my call device.
I opened it without much thought.
I assumed it was just a progress report or a schedule for the near future.
"What the...!?"
I was stunned by the contents.
No, the content was exactly what I expected—just a progress report and future plans.
But it was abnormal.
I lifted my head, feeling as though my neck had rusted and grown heavy, and I saw that Raiya and Curse had the same look on their faces.
They had likely received the same message.
"D-did you see it?"
"…I saw it."
"…I saw it."
I tried to confirm it out loud, but it seemed we had all received the same thing.
Well, I didn't get a clear verbal answer, but that response alone was enough to intuitively know we had all seen the same thing.
And only the Doppel-Dressa didn't react like us, instead looking purely...
"How wonderful. Captain John, Captain Kiyu, and Captain Surakichi-san—the top brass of the monster army are all here. This will make the operation much easier."
That was it.
The message stated that three of the four Monster Generals, whom Yuki personally commands, were officially being deployed.
And the kicker was...
"Furthermore, to ensure thorough analysis on-site, the technical team—Narjia-san and Covil-san—will be accompanying them. This can be called an impregnable formation."
Those crazy weapon-development fanatics who make our custom gear are getting involved.
Even we have never used Narjia’s weapons on the battlefield.
Only a little bit during training.
Let’s just say they are absurdly powerful.
Actually, just holding them boosts your status to a ridiculous degree, making them incredibly difficult to train with.
And now, they are going on a dungeon attack with the Monster Generals—minus Mino-chan—and Yuki’s younger brother figure, the Doppel-Kiyu.
This was far beyond the "impregnable formation" Doppel-Dressa described.
"W-when? When do they say they're moving!?"
"That's right! If they move on that day, this Ex will surely be destroyed!!"
"Ah, I found it!! It seems they’ll be moving in coordination with the arrival of Hifie-san and the others!!"
"How many days left!? How many days do we have!?"
While we panicked, Doppel-Dressa answered my question, looking puzzled.
"Um, two or three days, at the current pace."
It’s hopeless.
We are hopelessly short on time.
But we can’t just give up.
"Hurry, get in touch with our acquaintances in the Ex royal capital!!"
"Right. If we don't, everyone will meet a tragic end."
"Indeed. The damage will likely exceed anything we can imagine. We must minimize the casualties as much as possible!!"
"Eh? Eh?"
Only Doppel-Dressa was left blinking, unable to keep up with the situation.
Ah, right. She only does internal work and only knows what Yuki has done through documents.
Things like, "The objective was achieved through strategy," and so on.
She doesn't know the process.
The fact that Yuki is deploying almost all the combat power he can muster means he’s done with the tedious stuff.
Noble has been meddling too much, and Yuki is fed up.
In other words, he intends to break everything.
He’s going to cause such incomprehensible chaos that it’s beyond repair, fry Noble’s brain, and then slowly finish him off.
The fact that he’s moving means the preparations are complete.
There is no future for Ex.
...I don't know which side is the villain anymore.
But I do know one thing: the world is merciless.