Holy fucking shit, no wonder everyone was afraid of those sausage dogs. The tiny things were going absolutely ham on the invading Aspirants, the pair of them moving so fast that they were little more than brown blurs. The invaders were all but powerless to fight back, unable to even locate the dogs given their speed, and they could only helplessly try to avoid taking major damage. It didn’t work.

  The dogs would slam into unsuspecting Aspirants like a speeding bullet, breaking bones, dislocating limbs, and crushing poor bodies with their perfectly aerodynamic sausage bodies. The few times that a stray, lucky hit did manage to land on their bodies did pretty much nothing. Their wrinkly hides would absorb physical blows, with even the hardest of attacks doing little more than jiggle their flabby skin, and magic was just as worthless. Fire, ice, pure force or what had you just washed off the puppies; I don’t even think they noticed the poor mages.

  Yet despite all of this, the two pups did limit the damage that they were inflicting. Once an Aspirant was critically injured, the dogs would all but ignore that individual to chase after a fresh target, allowing wounds to accumulate steadily, but never so bad that they’d cause fatalities. However, regardless of how much of a menace those two dogs were, the way that the Aspirants reacted didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me.

  I didn’t need to use Noe’s emotion-reading abilities to see that they were absolutely terrified of the weiner dogs. The ones nearest the brown blurs would have the most anxious, terrified look imaginable, flinching and breaking out into cold sweats whenever the dogs would approach. Hell, it was as if they were fighting some eldritch abomination instead of a pair of wrinkly puppies. Clearly, everyone around me saw something different, but for the life of me, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was wrong with the Director’s dogs. Probably better that way.

  Anyway, the Aspirants, although mortified by the dogs, did adapt after a while. A group of their fastest members broke off from the main section and decided to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, or at least that’s what I assumed happened. I couldn’t hear what they were saying through my connection with Hope’s Memorial. This new group, comprising only a dozen individuals, did something to get the dog’s attention focused on them - once again, not being able to hear anything or see mana meant that in my view, these people were just waving their arms around like those inflatable tube things - while the main group rushed past toward the Admin building.

  “Should we head out now?” Vadeem asked.

  “Not yet,” I answered, “We have a few hours to spare, let them come to us. I’m the big bad raid boss for these people, I can’t just go to them. That’s not how it works.”

  Noel nodded. “I’m afraid my little bro’s right. You can’t be a proper final boss if you don’t follow the rules. That’s just common sense.”

  “I even have a second form prepped!” I added with a grin. Man, I was almost giddy just thinking about all the cool stuff I was planning for the invaders.

  Vadeem shook his head and sighed. “You two are something else… But I’ll play along. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours, Walter. Your ideas are not normal.”

  “It’s called having some fun, Vadumb!” Noel said, “My little bro just knows how to have a good time. You should learn from him.”

  I ignored the bickering and returned my focus to the invading Aspirants. I had to send a mental message - something I can apparently do with ease through the hospital - to the dogs. They wanted to chase after the much larger group, but I couldn’t have the weiner dogs hog all the fun. I told them to make do with the 12 left behind and to take their time. They were happy to comply, although the same probably couldn’t be said for the men and women left behind. They’ll be in for a really rough day.

  But those 12 weren’t important, no, my focus was on the main group. They, led by the poor Aspirant called AJ, were rushing toward the base of the building at breakneck speed, ignoring any obstacles in their way. I thought they’d just bulldoze their way through the wall, but that wasn’t their plan. AJ had stopped them just on the perimeter of the building’s edge and began to speak with the others. They nodded and all of them started to climb onto the side of the building, making their way up to the roof.

  I frowned. Noe, anyway we can eavesdrop on them? I can’t make out anything from here.

  “I can expend some Luck Charges to further integrate your consciousness into the Hospital, my Host.”

  Any drawback with that?

  “Normally, Hope’s Memorial would not allow such an invasive maneuver, but…”

  I frowned harder. But?

  “But you should be fine, dear Walter. The Hospital might even welcome such intimacy on your part.”

  Ah…

  “Should I initiate contact?”

  I sighed. Yeah, do it. Best make use of my past mistakes… I slammed my hands on my head. God, why did I introduce myself in such a fucking stupid way?

  “Acknowledged,” Noe said with a smirk. “I shall be gentle.”

  No sarcasm shard my ass.

  A few Luck Charges and some strange emotional fluctuations from the Hospital later, I was finally able to hear the Aspirants properly. That wasn’t the only change from Noe’s little meddling, for I could also feel and experience the world through Hope’s Memorial as well. It was quite discomforting experiencing the world through two bodies, and I think it was only due to my Xollon Anatomy that the dissonance was bearable.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  “...and use that to enter the roof.” I heard AJ say. “Remember, we don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side once we’re in, and without our Sponsors backing us up, we’re at a disadvantage, so make sure you don’t skim on using any items.”

  “Understood, sir!”

  AJ nodded. “All right, buff up and place the charges.”

  They did as instructed, with one of the Aspirants going a little off to the side to plant some glowing objects that I could only assume were the explosives in question. Worse, just the ambient energy the thing radiated gave me goosebumps. Huh, that’s not good, now that I was more attuned to the hospital, I was sure that whatever device the Aspirants were using was going to do a number on my skin - er, I mean the walls. It was going to hurt quite a bit.

  Sorry Sarah, but we’re going to have to bear with it for now.

  A wave of sympathy and understanding washed over me. Guess Sarah was fine with a little damage.

  “Ignore the rules and find where that bastard vice director is hiding,” AJ continued with a scowl. “They’ll try to bog us down, like back there with those demonic abominations, so speed will be our only advantage.”

  Hmm, that’s not good. I can’t have them come in and speed through the whole thing. I still had time to stall, after all, and my little performance certainly can’t last dozens of hours. Ah, and then there’s the problem of keeping them alive and in fighting shape for the Director… gah, damn these first-world problems! And as the acting director, it wasn’t like I could risk the safety and well-being of the staff to slow these idiots down, not when I couldn’t beef them up.

  “Can I make a suggestion, my Host?”

  Please do, Noe. My intoxicated Neanderthal brain’s not working right now.

  “I see the Trash Matrix’s jabs at your intelligence have stuck with you, dear Walter.”

  I rolled my eyes. The suggestion, Noe?

  “Right, why not use the new patients against the invaders? They are expendable, and while they are technically registered as patients now, they are still, at their core, enemies of the Hospital. We have some leeway on their use, and I am sure that none of the staff will be too sad about their loss.”

  But… shouldn’t the strange rules we play by disallow that? I mean, I am still technically in charge of their treatment, and sending them to their certain death doesn’t seem like it’s proper medical care.

  “As if their actual treatment is any better, my Host,” Noe said with a chuckle, “But you are allowed to dictate how the patients move. Their treatment period is over, so simply guide them toward the invaders and allow the two groups to interact naturally. It isn’t our fault if some rude individuals break into the facility during this movement period, nor will it be our fault if things go poorly if these two groups meet.”

  Right, that’s just deniably plausible enough to work! I’ll make sure to properly compensate any poor patients who may be harmed during this time. I grinned. You’re a genius, Noe. An evil genius, but a genius nonetheless!

  “I strive to serve, dear Walter.”

  I nodded and got things set up. Moving that many patients over to the admin building took a bit of work since I couldn’t exactly ignore proper procedures but with the boosted morale going around, it wasn’t hard to find volunteers to help out. They got my plan done so quickly that I only had to use the weiner dogs to distract the main group for a few minutes. I got a message from the head Physician (Dr. Michael, a swell guy, had taken over my position since I was promoted) that informed me that all was set.

  Alright pups, that’s enough for now. Go back to chasing the 12 that escaped.

  They barked - which caused not an insubstantial amount of Aspirants to inadvertently flinch, with some even falling on their knees - and dashed away from the terrorized main group, as commanded.

  “They’ve gone…” one of the Aspirants muttered, “Why though? I don’t like this…”

  Others voiced their unease as well, but AJ ignored them. “How are the explosives? Are they damaged?”

  Someone went over to check. “No, sir. They seem fine.”

  AJ breathed a sigh of relief. “At least something’s going well. I don’t know, nor do I care, why those fucking demon spawns have gone, but we need to act now. Breach the roof, now, before those things come back.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  I felt a wave of pain and subtle anger as the explosives melted a hole through my - ugh, no, I mean the hospital’s roof. Integrating myself this deep into Hope Memorial’s blurring the lines of who I was, which was a little disconcerting. Anyway, the pain was only momentary, as Sarah was able to patch up the worst of the damage, but we had to maintain the opening long enough for the few hundred Aspirants to enter. We only initiated proper repair work once they were all in.

  “Boss… the hole’s gone,” One of the invaders mumbled.

  “Doesn’t matter,” AJ replied, “We have more charges, and this was expected. Continue on, and remember, we need to work fast. Find the damn vice director’s office or wherever that piece of shit’s hiding, and eliminate him. These corporate types like to have their offices up high, so we shouldn’t have to scour too many rooms. Split up and work fast. Remember to stay in constant communication.”

  “Understood, sir!”

  Ah, so there was a reason for his choice of the entrance being the roof. It was too bad for him that the Director liked to keep her base of operations close to the basement where her daughter was, so my own office was on the ground floor as well. Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal in any case, the Administrative building was only 12 stories high, so reaching the ground floor wouldn’t take all that long.

  The group, now splintering off into many smaller groups, spread out in a web, going through each door and passageway. There wasn’t any staff remaining in the building, so I allowed them to scour 3 levels before orchestrating their first meeting with their dear friends. The looks on their faces when the first group saw the veritable horde of augmented patients were priceless.

  I smiled. “Alright, Vadeem, Noel.”

  My friends turned to face me, their expressions were finally serious for once.

  “Finally our turn?” Vadeem grumbled.

  I nodded. “Yup, it’s about time we go and get set up as well. We’ll have the final confrontation in the basement; I’ll tell you what I need once we’re all prepared. I told some of the staff to make some necessary adjustments.”

  Noel shook her head. “More of your weird elaborate plans, huh, little bro.”

  Vadeem gave me a dubious look. “Yeah, I heard about the last one from Noel, and uh… you have some interesting ways to destress, my friend.”

  “Call it a hobby,” I replied, my smile turning vicious. “But trust me, this will be fun.”

  Want to read ahead? Check out my Patreon!

  20 chapters ahead!