The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Hunting

The forest, or what initially looked like one, was coming alive.

And for some reason, it was the literal kind. The canyon writhed as the giant tree groaned, and the moss-tangled ground trembled beneath their mechas.

The very air turned viscous as an earsplitting shriek rippled outward from the tree Butler Gary had so innocently sliced. Echoes rang through the canyon, waking more than just dust and grime.

And at that point, one could visibly see the land bulging, as if something was threatening to come out from beneath it.

They didn’t wait to find out.

"Everyone move!" Xavier barked as the roots the size of a tank began to uncoil.

Mechas fired into motion.

Thrusters flared. The entire party launched back into evasive formation midair, feet avoiding the spore-laced ground.

Because that would likely be a death sentence.

The moment the bark monster shrieked, the environment began reacting—not like a beast but like a biome that had decided to go to war.

D-29 displayed prompts in the cockpit.

"HOST! Spore count rising! Ground contact is inadvisable! Host! HOST! I was not designed for this level of evasive maneuvering!"

"Of course you are!" Luca shouted back as he followed Xavier’s lead.

"Host! There was no test run!"

"Well, consider this the first run, then!"

While the rest of them shot through narrow passes between root-pillars, Butler Gary took rear guard duty, his blade drawn and gleaming with sap.

The very air behind him distorted as massive tree limbs began dragging themselves across the ground, their movement impossibly slow yet thunderous.

And yet worse than the sound, the movement, and the shrieks was this pulsing call.

Like it was summoning.

From beneath the branches, crawling out from shimmering crimson moss and phase-bark clusters, came the first of the beasts.

They weren’t large, but they came fast and in droves.

Insectile and lizard-like, their carapaces shimmered with dungeon energy, eyes glowing faintly green. They moved like packs of starving hounds; worse, they weren’t just drawn to motion.

They were likely drawn to whatever the hell was sticking to all of them as they moved.

"Oh no. Oh, oh, oh!" Ollie whimpered over the comms. "They’re coming in swarms! We’re gonna get—!"

"Above you!" Kyle shouted, pivoting his mecha as a beast pounced from the canopy. He fired a plasma net, catching the creature midair before it could reach Luca.

"—EATEN!" Ollie finished.

Xavier banked hard left, shielding Luca from falling debris as trunks lashed out like whips—one smashing into a stone ledge with the force of a collapsing building.

"We can’t keep dodging in the open like this," Xavier growled. "The spores are increasing, and we’ve got enemies incoming from multiple directions."

"We’re not touching the ground," Ollie worried, "but these spores are still clinging!"

"I’m seeing corrosion buildup on Butler Gary’s leg joints!" his voice cracked. "Worse, it’s spreading at an alarming rate!"

Luca’s eyes widened as he glanced toward Butler Gary’s mecha. The once-gleaming leg plating was already coated in a growing layer of luminous dust that fizzled faintly on contact.

"Butler Gary," Luca said sharply, "can you burn them off?"

But no one had time to figure this out because just then, another alert crackled through their mechas.

The terrain beneath the ridge began to shift. Roots curled upward, and cliff edges crumbled. A floating debris bridge that had seemed stable now folded in on itself like an accordion made of stone and bark.

"!!!"