Having steeled himself, Kanisen whipped his head around and shouted.

"If you've recovered, get out here. We need to hurry. We don't have much time!"

Apparently, Alpha and Beta weren't the only ones who had hidden in the supply crate. Several voices answered from deeper inside. After a flurry of movement, two more people clambered out, grunting as they carried a rectangular metal case.

Kanisen glanced at them, then strode over to me.

"Comrade."

Who the hell is your comrade, you bastard? I kept that outburst to myself and plastered on a smile. With a solemn expression, Kanisen gripped my shoulder tightly.

"We need your help, comrade. Help us in return, and we'll get you out of here."

"Out of here? Really?"

"Of course. Unlike the Military State, the Resistance does not lie to its citizens."

Haha. Sure. I suppose that counted as an escape. A grand escape to heaven, leaving your body behind.

Look at him. Not even a flicker on his face. If I hadn't been a mind reader, I could have stood there cluelessly watching them plant their bombs, then been blown to pieces.

Still, I couldn't let on that I'd noticed. He was a knight-level combatant, an opponent I couldn't possibly take on without any equipment. I had to follow his instructions without rashly giving him an excuse to act.

With a bitter smile, I pretended to know nothing and gave him the reaction he wanted.

"Escape? You're getting me out of this godforsaken place where the sun never shines? You promise?"

"Of course. I keep my promises."

"Just leave it to me! How can I help, comrade?"

Kanisen looked around, lost in thought.

'The prison is larger than I expected. We brought a considerable amount of explosives, but not enough to destroy Tantalus completely. Even if we blow up the cliff as originally planned, only the bedrock will collapse. The main facilities will remain intact. What we need most is a point where we can achieve results with minimal explosives. Since we've come all the way into the bottomless pit, I'd like to damage the very ground beneath it.'

Having calmly formulated his plan, Kanisen spoke to me.

"You said you've spent several days here. Then you must have a rough idea of this tyrant's prison's layout."

"Not all of it, but I have looked around. Aside from the prisoners who were here, I probably know it best."

"Good. Did you see any places that looked important? Somewhere with something worth taking a closer look at, I mean."

"Hmm. Somewhere important..."

Oh, yes. I had just the place set aside for you.

I promptly raised a finger and pointed.

"Over there. The underground armory. There's a huge steel door that's shut tight, but it opens on its own once in a while. I peeked inside once, and it looked like there was a lot of stuff in there."

A thousand-year-old vampire would be waiting inside. A delivery of living blood lunch boxes. Enjoy your meal, vampire. Oh, and you can't put the packaging out for collection, so dispose of it yourself.

"And the monitoring room on the prison's first floor apparently had weapons? Equipment? Something like that, for keeping the dangerous prisoners under control."

On the prison's first floor was Tantalus's ultimate weapon: a Regressor who tried to cut off your arm as a friendly greeting. Hear that you were planning to bring Tantalus down, and she'd take your head off too. Next time we met, I'd look forward to seeing their heads and bodies separately.

"What about over there?"

Kanisen was pointing at the administration building, separate from the prison itself. With its broken perimeter wall and collapsed roof, the half-demolished building was little more than rubble.

Hmm. You couldn't go there. There was nothing there to kill you.

I sounded as uninterested as I possibly could.

"I went there once, but there wasn't much. Nothing but rubble. Nothing worth salvaging."

"Rubble, you say."

'The other buildings are still standing, but that one alone is full of signs of destruction. Someone clearly demolished it on purpose. That would mean it held something they couldn't let fall into anyone else's hands. Or there might be equipment they abandoned partway through using. Either way, with our limited resources, that's where we should search first.'

My words seemed to have piqued Kanisen's interest instead.

Tch. He certainly had a quick mind.

Not that it made him any less firmly wrapped around my finger.

"I've decided! Everyone, listen closely."

Kanisen called the other Resistance members over. They had been scanning their surroundings nervously, but hurried to gather in front of him. Their bodies were still stiff, and one even stumbled after a misplaced step. Nevertheless, they all assembled, tension written on their faces.

Kanisen pointed to them one by one as he spoke.

"Alpha, head to the underground armory. If you find explosives or weapons of any kind, bring them back. We're short on weapons."

"Understood!"

Kanisen turned his head. The woman who had shot at Azi earlier squeaked and clutched her gun tightly to her chest.

"Beta. Go to the prison's first floor. There may be weapons for controlling the prisoners. If you encounter any prisoners, avoid combat as much as possible. Make up whatever excuse you need and keep searching."

"W-what? You want me to face the prisoners of Tantalus?"

Beta shook her head, looking uncertain. Kanisen let out a quiet but clearly audible sigh before addressing her.

"You're the most cautious person here, Beta. Our best shot, too. You're the right person to search while avoiding combat."

"B-but, Boss. You just saw it. The prisoners here are monsters who can catch bullets. G-guns won't work on them."

"We've already staked our lives on this. Now that we've come down here, we're as good as dead. Are you going to tremble in fear after coming this far?"

Kanisen glared at Beta in reprimand, but she still looked frightened. After staring her down a moment longer, he sighed.

'I can't change her personality on the spot. Having a bullet she'd fired so confidently stopped by someone's teeth seems to have badly shaken her confidence. At a time like this, even if the assignment isn't quite as suitable...'

"Whew. Alpha, we're switching assignments. You go to the first floor. I'll send Beta to the armory."

Alpha stepped smartly forward and answered at the top of his lungs.

"Leave it to me. I won't be scared!"

"Confidence is good, but don't forget the ground rules. Your opponent is likely to be terrifyingly strong. Avoid combat as much as possible. And Beta, since you're going somewhere comparatively safe, hand your military equipment over to Alpha instead."

"Y-yes..."

Beta quickly took the large disc off her back. Dozens upon hundreds of characters were engraved in concentric circles across its silvery surface, which looked like cast metal. At its center was a hole barely large enough for a fist. Anyone seeing it could easily have mistaken it for a weight plate used for exercise.

In reality, however, it was a piece of military equipment created by the Military State: a military armament.

The silver disc, the armament's base form, was the most powerful weapon they had brought. Yet Beta hastily handed it to Alpha as though it were nothing but a heavy burden.

Alpha seemed delighted to have such a powerful weapon in his hands, but Kanisen clicked his tongue, clearly displeased.

"Tch."

'The armament is a powerful weapon. It would make more sense for Beta to wear it, given her caution and composure but lack of physical strength... Still, it can't be helped. We've already thrown our lives away. Right now, we need fighting spirit more than talent. Someone like Alpha.'

Unaware of his thoughts, Alpha accepted the armament happily and looked at Kanisen.

"Boss. Can I put it on now?"

"Of course."

"Yes! Here goes!"

As soon as Kanisen gave permission, Alpha pulled back his sleeve to expose the biometric terminal on his wrist, then slipped his arm through the hole in the silver disc.

At that instant, magical light flashed.

The metal disc split into upper and lower halves. With the clacking of interlocking metal, it changed shape and climbed back up Alpha's arm as if swallowing it. Hard, rough metal encased his left arm. As armor plates wrapped around it, the wires connecting the gaps contracted and pulled tight.

Clank, clank. The precisely interlocking, rhythmic sounds came one after another, enough to give anyone who worked with metal something close to an orgasm. Gears turned and ridges slotted into grooves. Piece by piece, steel armor plates covered Alpha's body without leaving a single gap.

Before long, Alpha was clad in a massive suit of steel armor, complete with a helmet that covered his entire face and steel scales filling the gaps. Encased in steel without a single exposed spot, he clenched his fist in ecstasy. Metal scraped against metal inside his fist.

"Haha! Now I could die with no regrets!"

The Military State was a country that turned everything in the world into weapons. True to form, from the very moment clothing packets appeared, it had come up with a novel idea.

Clothes could be made into packets.

Armor was clothing too.

Then couldn't armor also be made into packets that were easy to put on and take off?

Through this simplistic syllogism, the Military State began researching how to use alchemy to turn armor into packets.

That there was a world of difference between the alchemical difficulty of cloth clothes and iron armor didn't enter into consideration. That was a problem for the engineers to overcome.

Whatever the engineers' protests, after pouring in vast amounts of manpower and resources, the Military State finally perfected the technology for turning armor into packets.

And this was the result. The military armament.

The pinnacle of the Military State's alchemical and magical engineering.

"Such incredible power. With this, I don't feel like I could lose to anyone!"

Alpha shouted, intoxicated by a sense of omnipotence. His confident voice reverberated through the metal. Just as Kanisen had hoped, Alpha showed no sign of timidity even after putting on the armament.

Though that was also what Kanisen disliked about him. Clicking his tongue, Kanisen spoke.

"Nonsense. The armament does nothing more than add to your strength. Whether you defeat an enemy depends on your own skill."

"But with this much power!"

Alpha's burning gaze turned toward Azi. She had been yawning, apparently a little bored, but sensed the odd murderous intent and turned her head, lifting her eyes slightly.

Wow. He was asking to die. He had no idea how far out of his league he was.

'This reckless little bastard has no idea how far out of his league he is!'

I wasn't the only one thinking it. Kanisen's eyes widened as he shouted.

"Alpha!"

Alpha flinched at Kanisen's bark.

"Don't act rashly! Focus on your assignment! First, take off that visor blocking your vision! Your mission is reconnaissance, not combat!"

"Y-yes. Sorry."

'Whew. Nothing ever comes easily.'

While Alpha hurriedly removed his helmet and visor, Kanisen turned to the remaining two: Gamma and Delta. They were support personnel with less combat ability than Alpha or Beta, so it was best not to expect much from them on that front.

Delta, however, was a meticulous rear-support operative, and Gamma was a capable individual who had once worked as an engineer in the Military State. Especially now, when planned demolition mattered more than indiscriminate bombings, Gamma was the most important member of the party.

"Delta, stay here and..."

His gaze turned toward Azi and me. Toward Azi more than me, in particular. Something akin to awe and fear lingered in his eyes.

"Protect these people. It could be dangerous, so don't let them near the administration building. If possible... yes. Play ball with them or something."

"Under... stood."

Wow. Look how thorough he was. He wasn't going to lower his guard until the very end.

I was one thing, but Azi was the King of Dogs. If she put her mind to it, she could slaughter everyone here. Of course he was wary.

Naturally, since the King of Dogs couldn't harm humans, that was only true in theory. But he could hardly be expected to think that far.

"Good. Gamma, you're coming to the administration building with me. With you there as an engineer, we'll be able to investigate more accurately."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now, everyone gather round."

The tense Resistance members brought their hands together. Their hands overlapped, but I could tell their minds were scattered in every direction.

One was terrified, while another could think only of showing off. One had blindly followed friends here, ended up down in this place before realizing what was happening, and was still regretting coming along.

But none of those inner thoughts showed. From the outside, they looked like nothing more than a ragtag band of Resistance members who didn't quite mesh.

"Everyone. Let's spend our lives. Let's spend them striking a blow against the Military State we hate."

"Yes, Boss!"

"Good. Split up!"

Still, hatred of the Military State and their bonds with one another had brought them this far. They seemed to have at least the bare essentials of a team: no one disobeyed or hesitated. The Resistance members all began making their way to their assigned locations.