The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] - Chapter 716

Chapter 716: The Marshal’s Gamble

In truth, the giant bloom—this colossal, living catastrophe—wasn’t simply lashing out.

It was desperate.

The creature that once commanded fear was now on the brink of collapse. Its immense form shuddered, its movements becoming erratic.

It needed more.

Way more.

It needed to feed. Needed to desperately cover up what it had lost.

It had to survive.

And so, in a final, frenzied effort, it unleashed its tentacles again—this time not wildly, but with chilling intent.

Each strike was sharper, more deliberate. The bloom wasn’t attacking everything anymore.

It was hunting something specific.

And no matter how much the soldiers tried to confuse it—by scattering their attacks, by splitting its focus—it didn’t matter anymore.

There weren’t really many options left.

The battlefield was chaotic—corrupted sludge splattering across the shore, alarms shrieking, and soldiers yelling coordinates that stopped making sense halfway through transmission.

If there was ever a time to use something drastic, this was it.

And so, Marshal Julian decided to do just that.

“Buy me time,” he ordered through the comms, his tone clipped but steady. “It needs to charge.”

The field soldiers didn’t question it. For who really had time to do any such thing at this point?

Well, there was one, apparently.

“Charge what, sir?” Eden asked warily, though she already had a bad feeling.

“The cannon,” the Marshal replied simply.

The silence that followed could’ve been mistaken for reverence, except it was really just everyone trying not to panic.

And then the Marshal took the weapon out.

The moment he did, a sound erupted from the side—

“EEEEYAAAAHHHH!”

Every head turned.

“??!”

The great and tiny tortoise, who had been in the dignified company of Butler Gary, was suddenly thrashing his stubby limbs, eyes glowing in righteous horror.

The butler looked alarmed, holding the tortoise like a shield. “Uhmm, I believe Lord Tortie is… displeased!”

Displeased was an understatement.

The majestic creature was screeching like someone had just offered him a salad made entirely of disrespect.

But how could the guardian beast not react?

Someone had just taken out that thing.

The very same detestable thing he had specifically told them—through several unmistakable, and definitely pointed foot-stompings—to keep far, far away.

The cannon gleamed ominously in the Marshal’s hands, humming faintly with energy that made the air ripple.

And yet, far from Tortie’s expectations that the humans would immediately toss it into a black hole, the piece of metal didn’t look like it was going back into storage at all.

In fact, it looked like the Marshal was about to use it.

“Wait,” Eden said slowly, eyes widening as realization hit. “He’s not—he wouldn’t—”

“Oh, he would,” Curtis, who had just reached the shelter, said grimly. “He absolutely would.”

“EEEEYAAAAHHHHHH!” Tortie screamed again, kicking his stubby legs like an offended deity.

Gary was sweating. “Oh gosh, Lord Tortie is—he’s really expressing very strong disapproval!”

“Noted,” the Marshal said curtly, adjusting the weapon’s aim.

Apparently, the guardian beast’s opinion was not going to change his mind.

In fact, it helped him make his decision.

The moment the cannon powered up, the sky seemed to darken, as if the air itself could sense what was coming.

Although, in truth, it was probably because the bloom had suddenly changed its strategy, blocking the light from above.

The monster that had been wildly thrashing in the waters suddenly stilled. Its limbs—those massive, writhing tendrils—shifted direction, all turning toward the shore.

“Marshal!” Curtis shouted. “It’s focusing on you!”

The Marshal gritted his teeth. “Good.”

Because if that thing and the guardian beast both hated this weapon, then it only confirmed one thing—

Luca had left it behind for a reason.

Whatever this cannon was, whatever it could do, it was meant to be used here.

And by Solaris, he was going to use it.

“Fifty-five percent!” the Marshal barked, eyes fixed on the charge indicator.

But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the entire battlefield shifted.

The bloom—massive, pulsing, and hideous—began to move again.

At first, the soldiers thought it was just another targeted attack. But then they realized something horrifying.

The tentacles weren’t striking outward anymore.

They were pulling in.

“What’s it doing?!” Curtis shouted, scanning the radar.

Eden’s eyes widened. “It’s… protecting itself! The tentacles are wrapping around the main body!”

Sure enough, the monstrous limbs were coiling together, folding inward like a grotesque curtain as they covered the giant polyp’s mouth—the exact spot Marshal Julian had been aiming for.

“Marshal, your target’s gone!” someone cried.

“I can see that!” the Marshal snapped, his voice echoing through the comms. “We need to create an opening!”

At once, Duchess Amelia’s voice came through, steady and resolute. “Everyone, focus on clearing the maw! Light mechas alternate with the medium mechas!”

Multiple units surged forward, their thrusters lighting up the dim battlefield.

Blades flashed, energy cannons roared, and explosions of light illuminated the mayhem as the Duchess led the charge.

But the bloom’s defense was relentless.

Every time they cut through a layer of tentacles, more would slither back into place, knotting together to form an almost spherical mass—an armored wall of flesh and corruption shielding the creature’s core.

“Seventy percent!” The Marshal’s voice cut through the chaos as he watched the weapon’s charge climb. Around him, mechas clashed with the writhing bloom’s tentacles, trying to whittle down its defenses.

“Eighty!”

“Ninety!” Marshal Julian shouted, urgency creeping into his tone.

When he first learned that the cannon loaned to him would use energy crystals, he actually felt like returning it immediately. Because after learning about energy crystals, they felt too valuable to be used as some sort of bullet.

And yet here he was, just about to use it. The only problem was he’d likely just hit its reinforced defenses.

He gritted his teeth, flying forward because if the defense were too tight, the next best option would be for Julian to come closer.

The others seemed to understand it too, and with the cannon almost ready to fire, they were falling back as directed.

They couldn’t afford to waste such a chance.

But then—

A new voice cut through the commotion, deep and far too familiar.

“Do you just need an opening?”

Every head turned toward the sound.

Then came the faint hum of thrusters, a rising whistle of energy, and a blur cutting through the storm of blackened mist.

An extremely unfamiliar mecha descended from above, its silhouette wreathed in streaks of black and gold.

“Then let me try,” the voice finished.

The soldiers gasped.

“Wait—was that—?”

“Impossible—how did he—?”

But Duchess Amelia already knew.

Even through the chaos, even through the haze, she felt it—recognized it instantly.

Her husband had arrived.

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