"Damn you, really!"

If only she knew. Because somewhere beyond that same endless sea where Sera and Nia were stranded, several others were screaming something similar—if not worse.

"Holy shit! This can't possibly be happening right now, right?! Why couldn't this shit wait at least a week more?!" yelled one pilot as he unleashed another barrage of gunfire at the horde approaching the perimeter.

"If you have time to complain, you have time to shoot!" shouted another, voice hoarse as his mecha's shield flickered with each impact. "I swear, if I survive this, I'm transferring to logistics!"

He had been desperately attempting to hold the line with his shield, even when it was clear his gear wouldn't last another round.

"Focus!"

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

The situation had gone downhill fast. It suddenly become a crisis that those already preparing to hand over their posts, as their tour was ending in a week, couldn't have possibly been prepared for.

Just minutes ago, the outpost soldiers stationed on Zone Four's coast were preparing for a rescue mission. They had heard about the missing mecha pilots—Lieutenant Rivers and Sergeant Kane—and were bracing themselves for what they assumed would be an unusual rescue, or at the very least, a mission to scope out the threat.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Because instead of preparing to go out to sea, they now found themselves fighting for their lives on land.

"Sir!" a young communications officer shouted, his voice breaking through the chaos. "Please take a look at this! There's unusual activity just outside the buffer zone!"

The commander frowned, stepping toward the viewing screen. "Unusual how?"

The officer gulped, his hands trembling as he magnified the feed. "Uh… you might want to see this for yourself."

At first, the static made it hard to make sense of the image. Then the interference cleared—and everyone froze.

Beyond the shimmering energy barrier, the normally still shoreline had turned into a nightmare.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of aberrant creatures were just attacking just outside their perimeter. Some dripped faint black fluid that hissed on the soil, while others looked almost normal except for their twisted shapes and strange movements. They weren't hideous per se, but the way they moved together was far more unsettling than anything that simply looked monstrous.

"Wh-what in the stars…" someone whispered.

"Are they… trying to breach it together?" another muttered in disbelief.

The commander's voice was grim. "You're saying they're coordinating?"

"Y-yes, sir," the communications officer stammered. "They're pushing against the perimeter from multiple points at once!"

They certainly were. But why would the creatures of Zone Four gather like this? Weren't their enemy supposed to be underwater?!

That should've been true. But considering what happened to Planet Vespera in the past, it seems like they've forgotten how the enemy could simply be coming from underwater.

"Sound the alarm!" the commander roared. "All pilots, deploy immediately! Defend the perimeter! We can't let that barrier fall!"

Red lights flashed throughout the facility as sirens erupted into the night.

Alarms blared, and the base shook with the sound of mechas activating. Pilots sprinted through the corridors, helmets in hand, shouting orders and prayers alike.

"Launch bays opening!"

"Energy cannons online!"

"Perimeter shields at eighty percent!"

"Then get them to a hundred!"

Outside, the first line of defense ignited as the plasma beams tore through the sky just as Zone Four's command post scrambled to send distress calls across the network.

"To all active military sectors, this is Outpost Four reporting a major breach threat! Mutated creatures converging on Zone Four's perimeter in mass numbers! We are requesting immediate reinforcement!"

"Repeat, immediate reinforcement!"

They hoped someone would come because if this were to continue as is, the rescue would likely end up becoming a retrieval for all of them.

__

But back in a certain dungeon space, a little daredevil had gone through all the lengths he could imagine, even at the cost of his fragile life.

"Brother, are you sure this is all right? You don't look so good. What about going to the medical bay?" asked the worried blonde, who was practically holding up his good brother by the shoulders.

Maybe to everyone else, Luca looked like he'd gone momentarily insane, but the dungeon owner just couldn't help it. He was moving nonstop, asking for favors left and right, sending people off for tasks that others who weren't in the know would find questionable.

Head Maid Glora had already volunteered for one of the oddest missions, which made everyone else gasp, but Luca thought this was the best way to do things.

The money they'd saved up was really important, but what could be more important than addressing an emergency?

Steward Han was tasked with distributing rations and supplies, while poor Theo nearly tripped over himself trying to prepare the pills he and the elders had been stockpiling for months.

Theo's voice shook. "But Luca, some of these are from the older batches! The effects might not even be as strong as the newer ones we've made! I realized the pills I've made recently were definitely better in quality than the ones I've made before!"

Luca shook his head. While he also firmly believed in only giving what was best, "Right now, those people don't even have pills of this kind. At this point, any pill is better than nothing."

That was true—painfully true. Especially after the news that came next.

"The land monsters have started attacking too?!" Cece exclaimed, eyes wide as she stared at the projection. "I thought the monster was underwater! Why are the land ones going crazy now?"

Jax scratched his face, eyes glued to one of the projected maps. "Well, if it were me and I just found out something like that was under the sea, I'd run for the hills too."

Everyone turned to him.

Cece blinked. "What?"

Jax shrugged. "Well, isn't it like this?" He pointed to the projected scan, where the gap between the sea and the base showed almost nothing alive. "See that? Doesn't that mean they're all running away from the sea?"

The room went silent.

Even Ollie froze, eyes widening as realization dawned. "Wait… if even the monsters want to evacuate, then why are we going there?!"

He looked ready to protest—really, genuinely ready to yell about his good and squishy brother's sanity—but the words died on his tongue.

Because Luca wasn't listening.

His golden eyes were fixed on the projection, gleaming unnervingly bright.

"Brother?" Ollie asked carefully, but Luca didn't answer.

He was… muttering.

Muttering like a deranged person.

"???"