Ch.133[Chapter 133] Administrative Defense

Sir Dominic’s steps were confident, as if he knew all the paths of the Executive branch.

And where he arrived was one of the back doors of the Executive branch.

“Now! We just need to go outside, walk around the Executive branch, and head to the main entrance.”

Leonardo declared confidently.

“Um. Isn’t that area currently under attack from Mountain Bridge Marsh? You said they’ve pushed back to the first defense line, so isn’t that the most dangerous route?”

When Unryu Hime asked a reasonable question, Leonardo flashed his sharp canines and proudly replied.

“Because I don’t know the way.”

Ah. That’s familiar. Sir Dominic somehow felt a sense of kinship with Leonardo.

In reality, the three wings of Gachaland—the Executive branch, System Industries, and the Black Company headquarters—had undergone numerous expansions and renovations throughout their long history.

The Executive branch in particular, despite being able to fix things, never made improvements due to its bureaucratic nature and general laziness.

“The Executive branch is so complicated that people say they end up spending the night even when trying to leave without overtime. When time is of the essence, it’s actually faster to go outside and walk around.”

Leonardo thought it would be quicker to break through the attackers than to wander around lost inside.

This was wisdom gained from his numerous visits to the Executive branch.

“…Then we have no choice.”

Unryu Hime nodded.

If Hime had skills related to pathfinding, she might have found the shortest route, but unfortunately, she was a kunoichi.

While infiltration was her specialty, finding paths was quite difficult.

Above all, Leonardo was currently in the pathfinder position, and there was no reason not to listen to the guide.

“Good. So everyone agrees to take this route?”

Leonardo asked Sir Dominic’s party.

Sir Dominic nodded. Once he decided to help, he wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

Unryu Hime also nodded. She followed Sir Dominic’s decision.

Alice nodded too. She just followed along because it looked fun when Sir Dominic and Unryu Hime nodded.

Finally, Leonardo nodded.

It was a sign that he acknowledged everyone’s agreement.

“Well then… let’s open the door.”

Leonardo opened the door.

“Huh?”

And he made eye contact with a Mountain Bridge Marsh member who was taking a smoke break outside.

“Ah, sorry. I couldn’t find the smoking area— Ack!”

A kunai pierced between the Mountain Bridge Marsh minion’s eyebrows.

“Um… I didn’t expect Mountain Bridge Marsh minions to be here already.”

Leonardo gulped.

Until now, the attackers’ offensive had been limited to the main entrance of the Executive branch, but as the situation became more entrenched, they seemed to be looking for alternate routes.

Which meant…

“What’s going on… Nguyen?”

“Judging by the scream, he must have seen a flying spaghetti or some— Who are you?!”

New minions appeared in response to their comrade’s scream.

The minions who had approached while making frivolous jokes immediately switched to combat stance upon seeing their fallen comrade and Sir Dominic’s party.

Leonardo hid behind Sir Dominic.

As Leonardo had expected, there were more attackers.

“It seems this place isn’t safe either.”

Leonardo said to Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic raised his shield as he watched the slowly approaching minions.

“We’ll just have to break through.”

As if his words were a signal, Unryu Hime’s kunai flew toward the minions’ necks.

Some minions collapsed after being hit by the kunai thrown as a diversion, but others managed to dodge with quick reflexes.

However, dodging didn’t help them much.

The edge of Sir Dominic’s shield, which closed the distance in an instant, crushed their cheekbones.

Leonardo momentarily blanked out at the impressive sight unfolding before him.

But time waits for no one, and Sir Dominic and Unryu Hime alone couldn’t find the way.

Alice approached, put the last piece of ice cream cone in her mouth, and said to Leonardo.

“Hurry up and show us the way. Master and Lady Hime will clear the path.”

Leonardo came to his senses at Alice’s words.

Regretting that he hadn’t learned some cool special skill instead of coding as his mother had suggested.

…

“This is the main entrance.”

Leonardo shouted while looking at his map app.

Initially, they had planned to charge straight through the main entrance, but there were far more attackers than expected.

A small group might have been manageable, but seeing at least a brigade or legion-sized force gathered there would make anyone consider taking a detour.

“I just thought of something.”

Sir Dominic, who was hiding behind a tree, said.

“What if we use a mount? Wouldn’t that work?”

In the midst of this chaos, no one would complain about riding a mount inside the lobby. That’s what Sir Dominic thought as he asked Leonardo.

A very Gachaland-like way of thinking.

“…Do you have a mount? No, wait, your airship crashed, right? So you don’t have—”

Before Leonardo could finish speaking, Sir Dominic summoned his spider tank.

As if it had been there all along, the spider tank appeared from the Executive branch’s underground parking entrance, paying the parking fee.

Leonardo was momentarily speechless at its impressive presence.

“…But mounts are usually single-seaters.”

Ah. Sir Dominic nodded.

The airship doubled as a transport vessel and could carry multiple people, but the spider tank was strictly a single-seater.

“No, I have a good idea.”

Unryu Hime, who had been quiet, expressed her opinion.

“Leonardo means we can’t all ride that mount together. But do we really need to enter all at once?”

Ah. This time Leonardo let out an exclamation.

They had been moving together until now, so he thought they needed to break through the main entrance together too.

But there was no need to move as a group.

Whether she knew Leonardo’s thoughts or not, Unryu Hime asked Sir Dominic.

“Sir Dominic, does that thing have any additional features?”

Sir Dominic pondered Unryu Hime’s question for a moment before nodding.

“If it takes electrical damage, it overloads and speeds up temporarily. It slows down a bit afterward, but the difference isn’t significant.”

“That should be enough.”

Unryu Hime thought for a moment before speaking.

“Sir Dominic. Let’s break through.”

Unryu Hime pointed at the spider tank.

“From what I can see, that spider tank has [Vehicle Heavy Armor] and [High Mass]. Considering the law of vehicular impact, it should have enough breakthrough power. We came here planning to break through the main entrance anyway, right?”

Sir Dominic nodded.

He didn’t understand the technical explanation, but it was true that they came to break through.

“There are electrical wires near the entrance. I can see they’ve been torn.”

Unryu Hime quickly scanned the surroundings.

High-voltage power lines torn by the attackers’ assault.

The crackling electrical wires were clearly visible along their path.

Sparking and spitting massive amounts of high voltage.

There was no way to know why power lines ran through the middle of the road, but Unryu Hime thought those wires would be useful.

Sir Dominic turned his head following Unryu Hime’s explanation and took in the sight of the electrical wires.

Indeed. Having spent a long time on battlefields, Sir Dominic seemed to understand what Unryu Hime was suggesting.

“Then I’ll prepare right away.”

“Yes. I’ll follow behind.”

Sir Dominic and Unryu Hime seemed to be saying strange things to each other, but in reality, they had already understood each other’s intentions and were just stating their conclusions.

The plan was as follows:

Sir Dominic would lead the spider tank past the broken power lines and break through the main entrance.

Then Unryu Hime would follow through the path he cleared.

A simple plan utilizing the kunoichi’s naturally high speed.

Alice would ride with Sir Dominic on the spider tank, and Leonardo would be carried by Unryu Hime.

With this tacit agreement, Sir Dominic and Unryu Hime looked at each other once before heading to their positions.

The engine of Sir Dominic’s spider tank roared to life.

“Hold tight, Alice.”

“Yes, Master!”

After briefly warning Alice, Sir Dominic immediately pushed the engine to maximum output.

With an enormous amount of steam, the spider tank began to accelerate.

As the thumping spider tank passed through the crackling electrical wires, a system window appeared.

[Engine Overload! Movement speed increases for 5 seconds, then discharges for 5 seconds!]

It was a shorter duration than before, but Sir Dominic thought it was enough as the spider tank accelerated beyond its maximum speed, pushing him back into his seat.

“Huh? What?”

“Everyone get out of the way! Crazy! It’s a spider tank!”

The spider tank charged toward the main entrance at tremendous speed.

Many attackers surrounding the main entrance tried to dodge or counterattack, but those who couldn’t were sent flying left and right, landing on top of their comrades.

Did their counterattacks even cause any damage? Not at all.

Sir Dominic had restored his equipment, which increased the effect of his special ability [Standard Bearer].

Normally, it would only reduce damage by 4%, but now it was 9% thanks to the T4 Division Flag effect increasing it by 125%.

Sir Dominic’s spider tank had become an unstoppable force.

A red path formed where Sir Dominic’s tank had moved.

And finally, before the 5 seconds had even passed, Sir Dominic’s tank crossed the main entrance and stopped where the first defense line had been.

[Discharged. Movement speed greatly reduced for 5 seconds.]

The spider tank moved slowly now, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Sir Dominic had achieved his primary goal of coming to help.

“Master, like last time… you’re the best!”

Alice cheered while rubbing her flushed cheeks.

With their already conspicuous entrance combined with Alice’s cheering, all eyes in the lobby turned to Sir Dominic.

“It’s Sir Dominic!”

“Sir Dominic is pushing back the enemies at the first defense line!”

People who recognized Sir Dominic shouted.

And one of them announced:

‘Tonight, Sir Dominic will participate in the defense.’