R stood in the center of a pile of bodies, blood coating his fangs. He frowned. These monsters were weaklings who had barely gained their mana cores. Some were not even monsters at all yet. They provided him no challenge, and little experience. Killing them was just a waste.

Fortunately, their self-preservation instincts had finally kicked in. The rat-monsters surrounded him but did not approach any longer.

“What-what are you all doing? Kill-slay the outsider!”

The rat-monsters trembled and glanced at one another. They pointed at each other, only to duck and hide behind their peers. 01R turned away from them and began walking towards Boss Cravenfang.

“You coward-weaklings! Must I do-finish everything myself?!”

R narrowed his eyes.

“I see you are afraid-worried, yes yes. Come, I will make your death swift-quick.”

Boss Cravenfang snarled at 01R and reached into the pile under his throne. He pulled out a small knife, which in his hands seemed more like a longsword, and a buckler.

“Die-perish, you weakling!”

Boss Cravenfang leapt at 01R with speed unexpected from his bulk. 01R’s eyes widened as he leapt back, the tip of the blade barely passing in front of his snout. 01R had just landed and was going to leap forward, but Boss Cravenfang kept moving forward and thrust the buckler into 01R, knocking the cyber-rat back. 01R had just reset his stance when Boss Cravenfang swung his blade once again, forcing 01R to dodge yet again.

R smiled.

“Now this is a fight-battle, yes yes!”

Boss Cravenfang moved to bash the rat with his shield when 01R flickered and vanished. He activated his dash skill and moved behind the rat-kin, swiping with his claws. But Boss Cravenfang whipped around, swinging both his weapons wildly. The side of the buckler caught 01R’s paws and knocked him off-course. Boss Cravenfang then managed to catch 01R with his blade. He didn’t penetrate the cyber-rat’s armor but left a deep scratch in the metal.

Boss Cravenfang scowled as 01R leapt back. His sword began to glow.

His next attack came much more quickly, with his sword leaving a trail of light as he activated a skill. 01R’s sensors reported dangerous levels of mana, and he barely managed to dodge with his own dash skill. 01R channeled mana to his own claws to counter, but Boss Cravenfang was swinging his blade around as quickly as he could. 01R couldn’t find an opportunity, and he couldn’t risk taking a blow from the glowing knife.

R frowned.

The cybernetic components granted to him by the boss-queen were powerful, but they were only amplifying his base strength. And the sacred records told him Boss Cravenfang was level 23, a nine level difference from the current 01R, as well as a rat-kin with innately higher strength than a monster rat. 01R could not defeat him in a direct contest of power. 01R had an edge in speed, but due to the level difference not a high enough one to slip past the rat-kin’s guard. If he could not find an opening, he would lose.

He also lacked the weaponry the boss-queen’s own components granted her. He could use some of her magic spells, but he had no personal skill with them and his mana was a drop in the bucket compared to the boss-queen’s. He would burn up all his mana on a spell that would merely distract the rat-kin.

And worst of all, Boss Cravenfang was not like the foes 01R faced in the corrupted dungeon. He had not been born as a high-level monster, relying purely on some innate instinct and the dungeon's commands. He had clawed his way up by his own strength, wit, and determination. He had the real experience to go along with his levels.

R gnashed his teeth as he ducked under a blade only for Boss Cravenfang to kick him away.

R was much weaker than he thought. He talked much about displaying the might of the boss-queen’s servants…only to find himself dependent on her power.

And then a message passed in front of 01R’s eyes.

“I, like, already got the snack, you know? You can leave whenever now.”

R frowned as he replied.

“Not yet! I must prove myself worthy-deserving of the wise-mighty-gracious boss-queen, yes yes!”

“Ok but you should probably look behind you. Boss won’t be happy if you die, you know?”

R glanced behind him as he dodged another blow. The rat-monsters were forming a solid formation behind 01R, cutting off his path of retreat. He grit his teeth. His stomach boiled at the very thought of retreat.

But 02S was right. The boss-queen, above all, valued their lives. And his, more than most, belonged to her. He could not waste it on his own pride.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He would endure anything for the sake of his boss-queen. Even the humiliation of cowardice.

R channeled mana to his claws, preparing to leap at Boss Cravenfang once more. The rat-kin grinned and prepared to swing his blade.

And then 01R jumped backwards, rushing through the crowd of monster rats.

Boss Cravenfang blinked before snarling.

“Don’t you dare run-flee! After him!”

The monster rats closed in on 01R…only to trip on invisible threads. 01R barely escaped the grasp of the crowds, fleeing into the nearest tunnel.

He grit his teeth, but he did that which the traitorous thing did not.

He sent a priority alert to all the other covert units, alerting them there were organized and hostile monsters in the area…

As NSLICE-00P talked with Ateia, she caught a priority alert from 01R. It appeared he had encountered a hostile faction of monsters. She analyzed the situation.

While the fact that the monsters were organized was concerning, and brought into question if non-intervention protocols might be relevant, hostilities had already broken out and terminating the threat was now the appropriate response. She weighed intervening herself, but deemed that the NSLICE network’s combat assets could handle the situation if appropriately deployed. She ordered reinforcements to head towards 01R’s direction, deployed the units specialized for that purpose, and then set a thread to monitor 01R's status while she continued her own business.

Rattingtale stared ahead as he lay wrapped upon the wretched spider-thing’s back. She had quietly removed him from the cage as the traitorous 01R engaged the evil rat-things. She now carried him out of the tunnels and back into the sewers, where she placed him down and untied him.

He raised an eyebrow.

“You are…not going to eat-consume me?”

She giggled.

“Do you want me to?”

Rattingtale had a flash of panic but simply shook his head and sighed. If he thought about it, this spider-thing could have eaten him at any time. But she would not, not as long as the boss-queen commanded otherwise.

He took a deep breath.

It had all gone wrong.

When he met the other rat-things, he had cried in joy. He had found more of his kin, free from the strange man-thing’s influence. He thought that surely it would be a simple matter to convince them to aid him. Surely they would acknowledge his superiority and help him reclaim his rightful place.

They had not.

Instead, he met a rat-kin far larger and stronger than himself, who saw him as nothing more than a slave…or a meal. And since he had not gone with the boss-queen’s peons, none of them knew where he was. None of them cared. He was helpless and alone.

Or so he thought.

R stepped out of the tunnel, nodding at 02S. Rattingtale looked the traitor in the eye.

“...what what are you doing here? Why did you intervene-interfere?”

R frowned and crossed his arms.

“I was planning-hoping to use these lessers in service of the wise-mighty-gracious boss-queen. But someone got themselves captured-apprehended, and required rescue.”

Rattingtale glared at him.

“Quiet, you traitor-betrayer! You would not help-save me! You just want-need an excuse for your own failure!”

R scoffed and turned away.

“I would kill-slay you myself if you did not belong to the wise-mighty-gracious boss-queen, yes yes. Thank her for her grace-mercy. It is only because she has claimed you that we watch-guard you at all.”

S giggled.

“And because it’s fun to watch you suffer.”

Rattingtale frowned. He was about to respond when he heard countless footsteps. His ears moved back against his ears.

“S-Shouldn’t we run-flee?”

R’s eyes narrowed.

“This is where we hold-defend our ground, yes yes.”

Rattingtale gulped as 02S spread threads over the entrance. The monster rats soon came into view, charging towards the crack in the wall. Some tripped and fell over 02S’s threads, others were caught in her webs, but still they rushed forward. 01R stepped into the gap and extended his claws.

“02S, guard-defend the…thing.”

She giggled and stepped over him. And then the fight was on. 01R slashed and slashed but he was only one rat. Even if the monster rats couldn’t hurt him, they could move around him. 02S tossed web at them and bit any who approached, but they were many, and now driven by the presence of their boss at the rear. They swarmed over 01R, holding him down with weight of numbers. They had surrounded 02S and were picking at her legs. Rattingtale closed his eyes.

Then he heard the howls.

The Canus Minors, now converted to cyber-dogs, rushed into the sewers. 00C bowled over the monster rats to 02S’s rear and barked at the other two. 01C and 02C unleashed breaths of fire and water, pushing the monster rats back from 02S’s side. 00F pounced from the shadows, unleashing mana-filled claw strikes that cut through the rats holding 01R down.

And then they heard a mighty roar.

B crashed into the entrance to the tunnels, knocking aside monster rats as he raced towards Boss Cravenfang. The rat-kin frowned at the bear monster charging towards him. And being an exemplar of his kin, he made his ancestors proud.

He turned and fled down the nearest tunnel.

And ran straight into a spider’s web. Someone made a dramatic sigh.

“Can you, like, not start a war please? This is, like, so much work, or something.”

Boss Cravenfang was thus immobilized, and could not move his shield to block. He could do nothing but scream in terror as the bear’s mighty paws crashed upon his head.

R sighed and shook his head. He turned to the other monsters.

“Thank you, for your aid-assistance. I am ashamed at my weakness-pitifulness.”

B grunted and happily patted 01R’s shoulder. But the bear did not know his own strength from his latest levels and smashed 01R into the ground. The cyber-rat groaned.

“...it seems I have much training-growing to do before our next spar, yes yes.”

Rattingtale watched all this in silence when another monster rat stepped out from the shadows, hands raised. The Canus monsters growled at her while 00F prepared to pounce, but 01R raised a hand. He picked himself off the ground and crossed his arms.

“Snuan? What are you doing-intending here? I thought you ran-flee, yes yes.”

The monster rat glared at him.

“I want-desire to, yes yes! But you went and dragged-pulled me out in front of the boss and then attacked-murdered him, yes yes! Now I have nowhere else left to go-return! So, let me into your boss-queen’s colony, yes yes!”

She looked around at all the other monsters and trembled.

“It seems much…safer-secure, yes yes.”

Rattingtale frowned as 01R grilled the other rat, demanding her eternal loyalty for the boss-queen.

She wanted to join this slavery, willingly it seemed. All because it was safer-secure, huh?

He glanced around at all the monsters that had come to fight. That defeated the foe who had imprisoned him immediately. The traitorous 01R who had intervened instead of leaving him to die. The wretched-spider thing that had protected him instead of eating him alive.

He had…a lot to think about.