Chapter 768: No.68 (5)

Lee Sudok looked at me and asked,

“I agree with continuing, but do you have a concrete plan?”

Now that the situation had changed, the strategy inevitably had to change from what we had prepared at first.

From here on, we have to stick together no matter what.

Originally, we had planned to join up around the time [Grant]’s cooldown came back, sweep through one battlefield, then split up again.

But now that we had discovered the ublek, splitting up was extremely risky.

Because we don’t know how many there are.

Judging from the way the Witch of Decay had seized control of the underground floors last year, there was a high chance she had inserted one per dungeon.

However, since this was an A-rank dungeon, there was also a possibility of two or three or more, and even the faint possibility that the witch herself was here.

So for now, the best course was for all of us to move together and conserve our strength.

And naturally, I had prepared a Plan B for a situation like this.

Soon, I answered Lee Sudok’s question.

“I believe the state of the battle has already tilted considerably in our allies’ favor.”

“That is true.”

From the rabbits’ perspective, multiple general-class units had unexpectedly fallen, and their troop losses had to be considerable as well.

The number of secret bases had also decreased quite a bit.

On the other hand, the Guild Alliance side had preserved far more forces than expected.

The people who should have been wiped out by [Time Freeze] had survived thanks to us.

By now, they were probably deploying those forces to other battlefields and securing their advantage even further.

“That means there’s less need for us to participate directly.”

“Since they are handling things well on their own.”

“So from here on, I think we should focus on the secret bases.”

Not only would that help ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) us avoid the disaster of an ublek or the witch intruding in the middle of battle, it would also continue helping our allies.

Once the recovery methods disappeared, they would take down the general-class robots on their own.

And if they won the war that way, the dungeon would effectively be cleared as a result.

At that, Lee Sudok seemed to think for a moment, then gave a small nod.

He also asked Seo Cheongyong,

“What do you think?”

“As things stand, it seems like the most stable method.”

“Then let us proceed.”

Since the teachers had given their approval, I called Earth Eater, who had still been sitting off to one side until then.

“As you heard, your role is going to be even more important from now on.”

“……Gyu-it, of course I heard. But if you do it that way, you’ll run into a problem soon.”

If we left the generals alone and only smashed the secret bases.

I answered casually.

“That’s something to think about later.”

“Gyu-gyut, don’t blame me if you regret it when the time comes!”

“We’ll do the regretting. You just guide us.”

“You damn humans.”

Earth Eater grumbled as it took out the tracker.

*****

For a while, we followed Earth Eater’s guidance and went around destroying secret bases.

And whenever we had time, we combined the random boxes that dropped.

[Rabbit Clockmaker’s Random Box(A+)]*3

Now I just need one more.

I would have to leave what part came out to luck, but it should be enough to upgrade the pocket watch.

As we were about to move to the next secret base, Seo Ye-in stopped walking and stared straight ahead.

“……”

“Is there something again?”

“……A lot.”

Earth Eater seemed to have noticed something too, because it sighed and said,

“Gyu-ut, didn’t I tell you? That you would run into a problem soon?”

Immediately afterward, the air rippled in every direction, and rabbit robots revealed themselves.

It seemed they had approached while hiding with optical camouflage technology.

Their numbers were not large, but they were elites. Most were combined robots, and there were even two general-class units.

Soon, one of them opened its mouth.

“Gyu-it, I thought it was strange that carrots kept getting destroyed. So humans had snuck in.”

This was the problem not just Earth Eater, but all of us, had expected.

The existing method had been to destroy a secret base while also taking down the general receiving support from it.

On the other hand, now that we had been destroying “only” the secret bases, the generals had all survived intact.

And since they must have realized it was not a problem happening only to one of them, it was natural for them to come see what was going on.

Soon, the generals’ gazes turned toward Earth Eater.

“Gyu-gyut, even so, carrots are not things humans could find so easily. As expected, there was a traitor.”

“I-I am not a traitor!”

“Then what are you?”

“I am……”

Earth Eater looked back and forth between both sides for a moment.

It seemed to be judging which side would be better to attach itself to.

Of course, since the answer had already been decided, it shouted,

“Gyu-it, I am! Earth Eater! The humans’ friend!”

“Gyu-gyut, you traitorous bastard……!”

“You’ll be friends with them too soon!”

I was deeply moved by those words.

The friendship we had built up was shining through.

Feeling my eyes grow wet, I said,

“Hello, future friends.”

“Shut up, human!”

“I have a question. Do you happen to know where the great general is?”

The dungeon raid had reached the middle-to-late stage, so it was about time for the original Earth Eater to appear.

Earth Eater No. 1 seemed not to know, but Nos. 2 and 3 might.

That was also why I had deliberately only destroyed secret bases and lured the generals into coming to us.

Of course, there was no way they would answer easily.

They snorted and each said a word.

“Gyu-gyu-gyut, shouldn’t you be worrying about your lives before that?”

“What good would it do if you heard the answer and died anyway?”

“So you do know?”

“Gyut, you won’t be hearing it either way!”

As the rabbit robots shifted into battle formation,

Seo Cheongyong stepped forward with a good-natured smile.

“Given the situation, I think we need to finish this quickly.”

“Gyu-it, of course it will end quickly! We are merely trampling weak and uncivilized humans!”

As [Time Freeze] activated, the area was dyed black and white in an instant.

Of course, I responded immediately.

[Octopus Arms]

[Grant]*4

[You grant ‘Time Resistance(S)’ to the target.]

Notification messages followed.

[‘Time Double(A+)’ activates.]

[Duration 01:29:58]

[Cooldown 02:39:58]

Twice as reliable.

This was exactly why I had worked so hard to make the pocket watch, wasn’t it?

As my group continued fighting normally even within the black-and-white space,

Seo Cheongyong seemed to have his own reason and confidence behind his declaration that he would “finish this quickly.”

And soon, the source of that confidence revealed itself.

[Magic Scroll - Jamming Wave(A+)]

Our school just has a lot of money.

When things went wrong, it freely used even A+-rank items and demonstrated the power of capitalism.

Of course, that was also because it was better than casualties coming out later.

When Seo Cheongyong tore the magic scroll cleanly in half, the magic engraved in it manifested.

Then a wave of magnetic force swept across the area.

The next moment, the rabbit robots began to visibly creak, whether they were work units, combined units, or generals.

“Ki, kik!? What’s happening?”

“They won’t obey!”

Seo Ye-in was also tilting her head as she looked down at her mana gun.

[Jamming Wave] was a wide-area debuff skill.

It lowered the performance of Magic Engineering skills, traits, and equipment, placed them on cooldown, and caused malfunctions.

Its duration was not very long, but its effect was definitely reliable.

Sure enough, the two general-class robots could not resist for long before turning into piles of scrap metal at Lee Sudok’s and Dang Gyu-ri’s hands.

Then Seo Ye-in approached the two rabbits that escaped from them and tied them up in a row with rope like dried croakers.

“……Earth Eater 123.”

“Kiiik! What in the world is this Earth Eater—”

Earth Eaters Nos. 2 and 3 each took a fair pot shot.

No. 3 asked as though it could not understand at all,

“Why was I hit? I didn’t even open my—”

Seo Ye-in gave them another fair pot shot each, then answered in the most obvious tone in the world.

“You opened it now.”

“……!”

The Earth Eaters closed their mouths in perfect harmony.

They looked as though they had encountered a cosmic and terrifying existence that could not be explained logically.

Since the mood seemed about ripe, I said to them,

“We’re going to ask questions before she hits you again.”

“Gyu-gyut! Doesn’t that mean she’s going to hit us anyway?”

“That is true, but depending on how you answer, you might get hit less.”

As if supporting my words, Seo Ye-in quietly lifted the pot.

Their faces filled with terror once again.

However, Earth Eater No. 3 soon snorted.

“Kik-kik, it’s obvious you want to know the great general’s location, isn’t it?”

“You’re sharp, as expected. Not just anyone becomes a general.”

“You think we’ll spill such confidential information just because you hit us a few—”

I asked Earth Eater No. 2 as well.

“Do you have no intention of talking either?”

“Gyu-ik, of course not! As a clock rabbit, our pride—”

While Seo Ye-in was getting a proper feel for the strikes, I continued in a casual tone.

“I’m only saying this now, but we only need the answer from one of you.”

“……?”

“Let’s say we release whichever one talks first. How’s that sound?”

“……!”

Earth Eaters Nos. 2 and 3 started watching each other for signs.

Then No. 1, who had been observing, threw in a word.

“Gyu-it, it feels strange to say this, but seize the chance. At least one of you must escape.”

“……!”

Was it because an inexplicable desperation came through in its words?

The Earth Eaters shouted at me over each other.

“Gyu-gyut! I’ll talk!”

“No! I’m first!”

*****

The great general Earth Eater, the original Earth Eater, was in a truly unexpected place.

Far away from both the rabbits’ camp and the battlefields.

Because it loves wandering around so much.

Still, thanks to Earth Eaters Nos. 2 and 3, we were able to find it without wandering even a little.

Soon, I untied their leashes one after another.

Even No. 1’s.

We no longer needed to receive guidance from them.

“Go on. You all worked hard.”

“Gyu-ik, weren’t you only going to let one of us go? If you were going to do this, why make us compete?”

“Why, do you want to stay?”

At my words, Seo Ye-in picked up the rope again and sidled closer.

She looked as though she had always wanted a pet rabbit.

Then the three of them ran for their lives without anyone needing to go first.

“Gyu-it! I’m going, I’m going!”

“Good luck, human!”

“Gyu-gyut! Sorry, great general!”

Giving the departing Earth Eaters a glance,

we looked at the original Earth Eater standing in front of us.

Its appearance itself was similar to how it had looked during [Rabbit Room] and [Rabbit Tower].

It was dressed in a neat suit, and a chain connected to the suit led to a sizable pocket watch.

Like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

The differences were that the pocket watch had become much larger, about as big as its owner’s body, and that it floated in the air like a living creature.

That meant its understanding of time-type skills had deepened just as much.

Just then, its gaze turned toward us, so I waved in a friendly way.

“Earth Eater, it’s been a really long time!”

“Gyu-gyut, you tiresome human. Why do you appear every time I am just about to forget you?”

“This will probably be the last time.”

“So it will.”

Soon, the great general Earth Eater reached both hands toward the floating watch.

Then it removed the hour hand and minute hand, holding one in each hand.

As though holding a longsword and a dagger.

“Gyu-it, I will cut this cycle with my own hands.”