Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

"Why didn't you just tell me we had an exam today?!" Zach demanded as soon as he entered the principal's office.

"I forgot." The principal shrugged with a taunting smirk on his face.

"Ah, whatever, so it's fine for us to take a few days away from the ordinary classes to enter the Underworld?" Zach asked. He had a feeling the principal was making a face just based on the way he saw it, but Zach's vision was still heavily impaired, so he didn't see it. Thus, he didn't care about it, much to the principal's disappointment.

"Shouldn't you wait until you can see better?" The principal asked.

"...That is a good idea. Unfortunately, time waits for no man."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What?"

"What?"

"Anyway. If the Underworld is doing something down there, which they almost definitely are, the sooner we find out what it is, the better."

The principal shrugged.

"If you're that insistent, I guess I won't stop you. It's not my fault if you die."

"I'll make sure to write a will before I leave."

"And I'll make you my successor posthumously."

Zach decided at that moment. He was not going to die. Ever.

He turned around and brought the good news to the others. They were already ready to leave since Zach had already told them that they needed to do at least one exam before they could head out.

The only question was who actually needed to be prepared. There was limited space inside the sewers and tunnels.

Since it was an investigation mission, stealth and mobility were more important than pure firepower. That meant Anerias' Blackfire Hound and Nessa's Serpentine Millipede were out of the question. Anerias' Darkwing also wasn't suitable for underground combat. Even with his Hellcat, Anerias didn't have enough to warrant participation.

Nessa's other familiars, the Midnight Butterfly and Dawnthief Bat, were good. They were small and offered valuable skills. Nessa's contract skill from the bat also made her a great addition to the stealth part of their mission.

Violina's familiars were all small and mobile. Her skills would also be of great help if they needed to flee since she could block the tunnels behind them.

In the same vein, Dukiel's familiars could incinerate any obstacles or pursuers.

And there was no denying the versatility of Zach and his familiars, especially with the addition of a powerful mage-like familiar, who, according to Zach, could do basically anything with magic. Zach's barriers would protect them if they encountered any trouble, and his familiars would help get rid of the source of trouble.

In the end, it seemed like everyone but Anerias and the Serpentine Millipede would end up going. However, with Zach and Mandra, Nessa's familiars might end up a little redundant, so she also stayed behind.

Of course, they weren't going to just sit idly by and wait for the three explorers' return. They had something else they could investigate.

Zach, Dukiel, and Violina set out for the ruins of Basilia again, determined to make more progress than yesterday. Anerias and Nessa saw them off. It was grand. The three would brave dangers they couldn't even imagine on the distant chance they might uncover the secrets of the Underworld's plans.

The Underworld, however, had other ideas. They were bringing the fruits of their plans to the surface.

The ground shook. It wasn't the kind of tremor that came from an impact powerful enough to quake the ground. It was more like the mass of dirt and stone beneath the city moved.

The students could only stare with wide eyes in the distance as they saw how cracks spread through the ground like chaotic and jagged cobwebs. Weirdly enough, the cracks and breaks in the ground were centered around the ruins of Basilia. The further out from the city, the finer the cracks were. They didn't even reach the Academy.

Inside the city, however, the cracks were wide enough to swallow a horse, and they only continued to grow as the ground bucked and bowed upward. Houses—or what remained of them—crumbled and fell into the cracks as shards and cliffs of stone rose upward, some of them falling to the side and crushing the houses that had yet to be caught up in the expanding growth of stone and dirt.

It was like something was rising out of the ground.

Something was rising up and out of the ground.

A massive being, one that could not reasonably fit inside the ground, was now making its way to the surface, uncaring for whatever anthill was in the way of its exit. Whether it cared or not didn't matter. It was not a being that would notice such small, weak, and inconsequential structures in the first place.

What was the difference between the stone or wood houses and the materials they were made of? None.

As more of the massive body made its way through the surface, its long form rising like a wave, it looked like the creature had been lying in a spiral beneath even the sewers.

It had to have been lying down there since before the city was built. If it had arrived after the city's construction, there wouldn't have been a city.

The rubble, dirt, and dust clinging to its body gradually fell down, most of it gone after a violent shake from the creature. The creature's tail was still in the ground, but the majority of its body was above the surface and was now crushing what had once been a prosperous city. Still, it was long enough to wrap around the city once even without its full length.

Slowly, its massive head turned toward the Academy with a sharp gaze.

In the principal's office, the principal looked at the creature.

"Huh. To think they managed to bring that one back." The principal shrugged in slight amazement. Find exclusive content at empire

"Must have been that artificial life project," he said, his eyes narrowed as he inspected the thing. He then glanced at the students standing on the road to what used to be the city.

"I guess they are in trouble now."