[Federative Republic of Brezil — Capital City, Brasília]
“After gaining control of Manaus, the Legion has been moving South. It went through the State of Amazonas and the State of Rondônia and seems to be marching toward the State of Mato Grosso. It will most likely head east after Cuiabá and aim for Brasília. Crusaders, I need you to stop it here, in the State of Rondônia.”
President Joaquín Borges, as well as the generals of the Land and Air armies and the Chief of the General Staff, were gathered at the Executive Office of the President in Brasília, the capital of the country.
Rolf Schnabel, the leader of the Dungeon Crusaders, stared at the aerial photograph he had been handed, his expression severe.
“From what I can see, most of these monsters are below Rank C. However, they were likely obtained through the Card Slot ability, which means there are no limits to how much they can grow. They could very well be Rank B. Or worse, Rank A,” he said.
“It’s very unlikely that all of them will be Rank A, though. I heard the goblins could be killed with regular guns. Only the wyverns and a few other monsters must have ranked-up that much.”
“There’s also no need for us to go through the trouble of killing every single one of them, right? If we’re able to capture Joker, the person who materialized them, it’s game over. Let’s have a small group get close to him and end things in one go.”
The six elite members of the Crusaders were Rank B, and Rolf was extremely close to reaching Rank A. They also had experience fighting Rank A monsters. They should have been strong enough to defeat Joker as long as he was alone.
“Our line of defense is currently set up around Porto Velho, the capital of the State of Rondônia. We will arrange for a helicopter to transport you from Brasília to Porto Velho. Please help our troops defend this line. Our land force will try to handle the monsters for you. In the meantime, aim for Joker.”
More or less two hundred years after taking its independence in 1822, Brezil was forced to give up on attending the ongoing G20 Summit as they engaged in a life-or-death fight that would determine the fate of the country.
✦ ✦ ✦
[State of Amazonas, Manaus — Joker]
The Legion had stopped moving after taking Manaus for several reasons. First, they were waiting for the result of the Gamerican presidential election. Second, they had obtained a large number of goods in the metropolis, and it was taking some time to ship everything back to Venisuela. Lastly—and this was the most crucial reason of them all—there was a B-Rank dungeon in Manaus.
“Aaaah... We’re finally done. B-Rank dungeons are no joke, huh?”
After finishing up with the B-Rank dungeon, Joker lit a cigarette as he narrowed his eyes. Some of his underlings had finally started reaching Rank B and Rank C. If nothing unexpected happened, they would be able to make Brezil fall in the next few days.
“We received a message from home, boss. The Vatican seems to be on the move.”
“And to think they could have kept this under wraps. Journalists sure are hardworking.”
Joker pulled a nearby chair toward him and straddled it, chin resting on the back of the chair. He started looking through the newspaper his subordinate had brought him as he stuffed his cheeks with jabuticaba. The sweet and sour taste, close to that of lychees, spread in his mouth.
The article detailed how the Brezilian government had reached out to the Vatican State for help and how they had decided to dispatch the Crusaders. There was even a picture of the Crusaders coming down in a military plane at a Brezilian base rather than on a commercial flight.
“‘Let the presence of God fill our hearts as we stand up to the dungeons.’” Joker paused. “Huh? They have no shot at defeating us if they’re fighting to please God. Right?” he asked, looking in the direction of the blue-haired girl.
She casually sipped her juice composed of several fruits, including cupuaçu. She finished her drink, not stopping until you could hear her noisily sucking air before nodding.
“Hmm... Maybe? I have no idea.”
“I’ll make sure to teach you carefully before I finish you off as well. Hya ha ha!”
Joker laughed and threw the newspaper to the ground. The blue-haired girl was a Legend Rare character but could barely fight. However, she had something none of the others possessed: memories.
“If they go around collecting pictures of the reliefs on the Final Floors, the others will eventually remember too. The reason the dungeons exist...” she said, face darkening.
Joker patted her on the head before walking off.