As the monster horde thinned out, Seero passed control of the Prismatic Bombardment circles to her subordinates, while strike drones continued to bombard the incoming monster reinforcements. Seero turned her attention to the Imperials, locating and landing in front of Magister Arcanus Cnaeus.

“Greeting: This unit is designated Seero, official Imperial designation: Queen of the Dobhar, Amiciti Populi Elteni, it is nice to meet you. Statement: This unit has arrived to terminate or integrate nearby dungeons. Command: Local Imperial forces should organize forces to support the mission. Please check long-range communications if confirmation by Imperial authorities is required.”

The Legion Legate commanding the defense took one look at the devastation below and shook her head, giving a salute.

“That won’t be necessary, Your Majesty. We’ll get right on it.”

Magister Cnaeus sighed and slumped his shoulders.

“Do what you want. We…appreciate the help.”

“Acknowledged. Command: Please confirm details of the operation with Exploratore Amulius Olcinius Herenus.”

With that, Ateia, Taog, and Estrith flew in from the sky, with Amulius and Agedia following via Sky Legion artifacts. The Legate’s eyes widened.

“Amulius? You mean…the Hero of Elteno?! It’s an honor, sir!”

Amulius nodded as he landed, then began speaking with the Legate on the mission. There were three major dungeons in the area around the Imperial Academy. As such, the plan was for the group to split up, in order both to handle the dungeons as quickly as possible, as well as to determine if Holy mana alone could permanently defeat the corrupted mana intrusion. As such, the Hero of Elteno would lead one mission including Agedia, Ateia, Taog, and Estrith, reinforced by the forces of Academiae Civitatem. Meanwhile, Seero and her subordinates would handle the other two, with Seero taking down the one with the strongest mana signature, and her monster subordinates tackling the third.

Now that Academiae Civitatem had stabilized and the Hero of Elteno was in contact with Imperial authorities, Seero was about to take off and tackle her dungeon when she heard a voice.

“Your Majesty NSLICE-00P! It’s an honor to see you again!”

“Objection: This unit’s designation has been updated. Please refer to this unit as Seero.”

Nonus ran up to her, waving his hands. He quickly nodded.

“My apologies! It’s an honor to see you again, Your Majesty Seero! I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for curing me!”

“Acknowledged.”

Nonus glanced out at the strategic magic bombardment beyond the walls.

“I…would offer to help you, anyway I can…but it doesn’t seem like I can…”

“Statement: Exploratore Amulius Olcinius Herenus is recruiting Imperial assets for a mission involving this unit’s friends. Recommendation: Please report to Imperial authorities to volunteer assistance.”

Nonus’s eyes widened then he nodded, his eyes narrowing.

“I’ll go right away, I swear I will repay you, Your Majesty!”

“Acknowledged.”

With that, Seero boosted into the sky, flying towards one of the dungeons and bombarding the monsters along the way. When she arrived at the dungeon entrance, she deployed her monsters, as well as a full complement of infantry drone-golems.

“Command: All units, engage dungeon purification or termination protocols. Unit 01R is designated as the lead unit.”

R knelt before her.

“We will complete-accomplish our mission, no matter what, Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen! Even if it costs-requires our lives, yes yes!”

“Clarifying Command: Relative force predictions indicate casualties should be avoidable on this mission, and containment of the dungeon forces is considered sufficient if purification or termination prove impossible. All units should prioritize asset preservation over mission completion if both cannot be achieved. Loss of drone assets is considered acceptable but loss of CELIU units would not be efficient.”

R stared up at her with wide eyes, his organic eye filling with moisture.

“Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen…you truly are ever caring-loving, yes yes. I hear-understand your will! I, 01R, swear I shall complete this mission without losing-sacrificing a single one of your servants, yes yes!”Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Acknowledged. Command: All units, begin mission.”

The monsters all shouted and roared, save for Lilussees who just yawned, and then they rushed into the dungeon. Seero dedicated a thread to keep an eye on them and then set off for her own target.

Once inside the dungeon, 01R boosted forward on his repulsors at maximum speed. Now that they were no longer covered by the Prismatic Bombardement circles or the drone fleet, Seero’s forces had to face the incoming monsters directly. Fused Light-Holy Blades formed over 01R’s paws, and he began to glow with golden and silver light.

“Foolish monster-things who cannot see-understand the majesty of the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen, taste the loyalty-devotion of her servants, yes yes!”

He swung his blades, sending out arcs of Holy Light that split and burned every monster they encountered. The loss of the Aesdes and their records mattered little to 01R, he had always put his trust in the Boss-Queen instead; he even approved of her servants relying on nothing but her! His repulsors combined with his Dash skill to send him speeding forth, a shooting star that cut through the hordes with a golden and silver flash.

He came face to face with a stone golem many times his size. He grinned, and was about to leap into battle when a High Explosive Anti-Tank shell exploded on the golem’s torso. The round pierced through the golem’s core, and it fell apart.

B thundered forward, a mighty cannon on his back swiveling around to fire another shot as he roared. His protective roar sent out waves of mana that pulled hostile spells from their trajectories, causing them to strike the Armored Fighting Bear’s armor instead.

He then roared at 01R, while Lilussees slowly strolled up, yawning as she wrapped a golem in magical web.

“Like, slow down, you fanatical snack, you’re leaving the drones behind. You’re supposed to be, like, the leader, or something.”

R’s ears fell against his head.

“You are…right-correct, yes yes. I apologize.”

He admitted he had gotten a bit…excited in his zeal. How could he not? The Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen had entrusted them with a mission…and this time she would not be there to protect them. This was their chance, this was their moment. The Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen finally trusted them to fight on her behalf, and 01R would prove to her that they could be of service.

Still, 00B and Lilussees had a point. He was designated as the leader of the mission, so he could not act as a simple warrior. It was his duty to set aside his own desires, and to consider the group as a whole. It would not do for him to rush ahead and leave the others behind.

A moment later, the drone-golem force caught up with the monsters. They lifted their arms, their right hands pointing open palms towards the enemy, while the left arms held gun barrels instead.

And then they opened fire.

Their right arms fired Beam spells that shifted colors. Seero had determined how to miniaturize a Prismatic Bombardment magic circle down to a single Beam spell, allowing the spell to change attributes at will. She then converted that circle into an enchantment, which was installed as the primary armament for magical strike drone-golems.

While the drone-golems could be instructed to select attributes in response to the situation, it was found that this required them to give up other functions. So instead, Seero and Melion programmed these drones to rapidly cycle through many attributes to ensure an effective attack. Of course, their pilots or local CELIU units could also command them to use a single attribute as needed.

As for their left arms…they began to fire conventional assault rifles, adding a physical component to the barrage whenever magic failed.

The drone-golems began a methodical advance, which 00B and Lilussees covered with defensive skills and spells. Meanwhile, 01R looked over the battlefield, and began directing the CELIU units to take on the most powerful monsters. The drone-golems were highly effective against the average monster, but they couldn’t handle the elites without heavy losses, so 01R and the others still had an important role to play.

And so the CELIU network began its first dungeon termination (or purification) mission without the protection of their Boss-Queen…

Meanwhile, the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen arrived at the strongest dungeon. The one known to have many monsters resistant to magic, and so was only braved by Senior Mages and above.

Fortunately, Seero’s mana density far exceeded any Senior Mage. And that was before considering the Spell Penetration and Heroic Challenger skills that could defeat magical resistance, or the simple application of modern firearms as many of these monsters lacked physical resilience.

As such, Seero was not hindered in the slightest by the monster horde, and had already passed through several floors of the dungeon…

Amulius sighed as he watched Ateia and Taog prepare for the assault. Ateia was smiling and giggling to herself.

“Ateia, I’m glad you’re happy, but stay focused. Even a normal dungeon is dangerous, and this dungeon isn’t acting normal.”

But she continued to smile.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just…I always dreamed of the day we’d fight together. Even after everything…I can’t help but smile.”

Amulius’s heart pounded in his chest as several different emotions warred within him.

“…it was my hope that you’d never have to fight at all.”

Estrith tilted her head at that.

“You wished for your pup…not to grow into a valiant warrior? Imperials truly are strange.”

Meanwhile Taog made a smirk.

“You probably shouldn’t have let her spend so much time with my parents, then. They agreed with that sentiment.”

Agedia shook her head while clicking her tongue.

“And honestly, did you expect your and Aedinia’s daughter not to go running off into danger? That was dumb of you.”

Amulius sighed and hung his head.

“…that’s why I hoped to keep her away from it, but I guess it was inevitable.”

He looked up at Ateia, and slowly smiled as well.

“Though…I am happy that we’re here, together now, at the very least.”

Ateia blinked and then made a wide smile at that. Amulius took a deep breath.

Then he turned, his eyes narrowed and sharp as he prepared his bow and focused on the dungeon entrance ahead of him. Seero’s ‘drones’ or whatever she called them were still raining spells and explosives from above, keeping the monsters at bay while the group prepared, but in just a moment they would stop and it would be up to the group on the ground to take on this dungeon.

Just as Amulius had done countless times over the past years, and with full support from the Legion and the Imperial Academy to boot. But, for the first time, with his own children on the line.

He swore to himself that whatever happened, he would make sure they came back safe.

“Is everyone ready?”

The group around him nodded, while the Centurion in charge of the Imperial complement saluted. Amulius took a deep breath as the spells and explosives ceased.

“Let’s begin.”