Eastern Front Reinforcement
Conscious of the cameras illuminating us from all four directions, I held the most dignified and impressive posture I could manage and walked toward the soldier waiting at the center. The rank insignia on his collar marked him as a high-ranking officer—a lieutenant general. As I approached, he smiled and extended his right fist. Drawing from the data stored in my memory unit, I recognized it as the standard mutual greeting among Xenuma soldiers, so I extended my own right fist and bumped wrists with him from above to below. After shaking our clasped wrists up and down several times, he spoke in a firm voice.
“Welcome to Tutan, the central city of eastern Xenuma. I am Damus Roimel Zantus, commander of the Eastern Army. Please, call me Roimel.”
“I am Elisha Drivuk, commander of the android unit affiliated with Eden’s military. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I saw the propaganda broadcast. Having a unit with that level of combat power come to support us raises our expectations considerably.”
The expectation and relief visible on his constantly smiling face made it clear that the propaganda broadcast had been highly effective. As we walked together out of the station, I received an update on the current situation in eastern Xenuma. Some details matched the information I already possessed, but much of the latest intelligence was new. First was the scale of the orcs. They had pushed into the evacuated lands—where even ordinary citizens had fled—and were now entrenched against the monsters. Their confirmed numbers already exceeded five hundred thousand, and the ongoing expulsion operations from the north continued to drive more toward them, swelling their ranks further.
Then there was the state of the Eastern Army itself. Nations usually avoided revealing their weaknesses, but the dire circumstances had forced full disclosure. The initial battle after the eastern wall collapsed had killed an enormous number of soldiers. Casualties continued to mount during the refugee evacuation. Even counting the wounded, they had only two hundred and eighty thousand troops remaining. Reserve forces were being conscripted and deployed, yet forming even a second defensive line was proving difficult. They were placing significant hope on the mobility of our android unit.
Surprised by the number—which was even smaller than I had anticipated—I asked, “What exactly happened to leave you with only two hundred and eighty thousand?”
“...You must have heard about the monsters. Not only bullets, but even small-caliber shells are useless against them. Large-caliber shells have some effect, but with the front line broken and their overwhelming numbers, countless soldiers charged forward carrying bombs, detonating themselves to buy time for the rest to retreat.”
“My condolences to the fallen.”
“Thank you.”
The moment we left the station, I ordered the androids to disembark from the train and begin unloading the cargo. After confirming they were lining up and moving toward the luggage cars, I climbed into the waiting vehicle whose door had been opened for me. My analysis program displayed the vehicle’s bulletproof specifications as we passed through the bleak streets. At least this city was far from the second defensive line, so civilians still moved about, but the depressed atmosphere made the scene far from pleasant.
The car carrying me glided smoothly to a stop in front of a tall building. Constructed entirely of gray outer walls with windows arranged in precise rows, it resembled a steel-reinforced fortress. A soldier on guard opened the car door. As I stepped out, Jadin—who had followed in the vehicle behind—moved to stand beside me. The pheromone scent drifting from him eased the tension in my body and mind. I followed Lieutenant General Roimel into the building.
The deeper we went, the more soldiers we saw hurrying about. Those who offered Roimel a quick salute would spot me and freeze, this pattern repeating again and again. Every one of them seemed to be holding back a great deal, judging by the way they pulled their hips back.
“Heh heh, this is rather embarrassing.”
“It happens often, so I’m used to it.”
“All female soldiers were reassigned to rear support on the northern front. Thank you for understanding.”
So that was why I hadn’t seen any female soldiers—they had all been mobilized northward. Every passing soldier was visibly overflowing with accumulated vital energy, making it obvious they had been unable to relieve their sexual desires properly.
Hmm… I had heard that even the prostitutes in Xenuma’s brothels were all military personnel. With every female soldier withdrawn like this, there truly was nowhere for these men to release their frustration.
The place we reached following him was clearly his private office. I left Jadin waiting outside the door and entered alone with the commander. We sat facing each other in chairs at the center of the room and reviewed more detailed information: troop and supply conditions at each Eastern Army base, orc distribution maps, monster locations, and so on. The data was thorough enough to sketch out an overall strategic picture.
“The most critical issue is that the vital supply lines to the isolated bases have been severed. The unit at Pagozan, located in the eastern mountain range blocked by an orc encampment and occupied by monsters, is on the verge of starvation. They lack not only combat materials but food as well.”
“That’s quite a distant position. Why haven’t they retreated?”
“It’s classified, so I cannot disclose it.”
Since our unit would be heading there to provide support anyway, I wondered why he felt the need to conceal it, but I respected that every side had its own position to maintain.
“Then we’ll proceed in the order of Pagozan, followed by Babatus, Dogotan, and Sehud.”
“Orc encampments and monsters lie along the intermediate routes. I worry this operation may be too ambitious.”
“We came prepared to accept the risks. Our unit is capable of it.”
“Twelve thousand androids… Only Eden could deploy such a remarkable force. We are counting on you.”
A lieutenant general commanding numerous units across the east—an older, experienced soldier—bowed his head with a grave expression as he made the request. If Xenuma fell, Eden would face danger as well, and as an important ally, I had come as reinforcements fully aware of the peril. Yet hearing such a direct plea stirred something deeper in me.
After receiving his farewell, I left the room and headed with Jadin toward the city outskirts where the androids waited. The Xenuma side had prepared quarters and urged us to rest for at least a day, but neither I nor the androids required rest. Given the urgent situation, we decided to depart immediately.
“The situation in Xenuma is worse than expected.”
“Who could have predicted monsters like these would appear?”
“Not only rifle rounds but even small bombs are ineffective… We’ll need to prioritize heavy weaponry for extermination.”
“Supplies come before combat, so the aerial unit—including myself—will move ahead to map enemy distributions and bomb when necessary to open the path. Jadin, please command the ground forces and advance swiftly.”
“Understood. By the way, commanding through this equipment still feels very awkward. It gives me a strange feeling.”
As an ordinary human without implants, he wore a goggle-style brainwave detection command device. The interface resembled my own system but carried lower authority—a temporary command tool.
“Manipulating it with thought must feel unfamiliar. Still, it filters out stray thoughts and corrects for them, so there’s no need to be overly tense.”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
He smiled with confidence. As a Blackman and a born warrior who had crossed into Eden, he was undoubtedly an elite who would manage well on his own.
In the outskirts area a short distance from the train station, androids stood ready beside the military vehicles Xenuma had provided, their cargo already loaded. Their tight combat suits and distinctive helmets with a smooth sheen looked strikingly alien, drawing spectators from a distance.
Making my way through the crowd, I stepped out of the arrived vehicle and immediately boarded one of the prepared transports. Leading the long column, we set off toward our first objective.
- Jadin, advance in five minutes.
- Understood.
After issuing the order to Jadin on the ground, I flew while scanning the terrain ahead. Equipped with flight suits, I led the androids in a preemptive strike against the monsters appearing on the shortest route to Pagozan.
Though I had seen them in photographs and footage, the monsters in person were even more horrifying. They possessed fundamentally amorphous black bodies blended with traits from various creatures, and their sizes varied so widely that no two looked alike.
Whoa… These things are so terrifying they might haunt my dreams.
Information is being collected, so please try not to move your gaze too much. The screen is shaking.
It was recording? Got it.
Following Elsa’s request, I kept my gaze as steady as possible while closing in rapidly. The androids flying in formation behind me began deploying their weapons. The weapon bays on the backs of their suits opened, revealing bombardment ordnance. We banked toward the longest line of monsters and commenced the strike.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The bombs, engineered to release their explosive force downward before impact, detonated roughly three meters above the ground, showering the monsters below with intense flames and shrapnel.
Screeech! Groooar!
Monsters torn apart by blast pressure and fragments or engulfed in fire shoved against one another in their death throes, spreading the destruction further.
Boom! Boom!
“Oh, maybe I should drop one myself?”
I sent a signal through the implant at the back of my neck to the connected flight suit, opening the bomb bay. Impact points appeared automatically in my vision as I began releasing the ordnance.
Boom! Kaboom!
The bombs fell in rapidly receding positions, detonating in succession and reducing the monsters to scattered flesh. The ground-bombing android squad flying in diagonal formation on either side of me passed over the hordes, dropping their payloads. The thousands of monsters perished where they stood, carving open a path.
After making a wide turn in the air and looking back, the site was wreathed in black smoke, burning monsters, the acrid stench of charred flesh mixed with gunpowder—the unmistakable atmosphere of a battlefield. The few monsters that had survived the initial explosions were subsequently obliterated by artillery from the ground forces that had begun their advance.
- Bombing from the air… Impressive. I’d like to introduce something like this in Daviwana as well.
- Only bodies with android-level durability can withstand the pressure of the flight suits, so it’s difficult for humans to use them.
- Is that so? A shame.
The equipment had been manufactured specifically for androids and was never designed with human operators in mind. Even now, while maintaining reduced speed and altitude for the bombing run, the pressure was considerable. The strain from acceleration, high-velocity flight, and high-altitude operations was far greater. Even the enhanced human body I once possessed would not have endured for long.
Leaving the heat I could feel even from the sky behind us, we continued onward. We slaughtered the growing swarms of monsters as we drew closer to Pagozan, advancing without pause. After thirty-nine hours of flight, our destination finally came into view.
Pagozan, nestled between high mountain ranges, remained unbreached despite being surrounded by monster hordes. Its natural fortress-like geography—cliffs and a river forming natural barriers—had kept it from falling.
Soldiers monitoring the perimeter from the castle walls grew agitated upon spotting our approach from the sky. As we drew near the walls, I issued instructions to Jadin and immediately unleashed a barrage of bombs directly above the monsters.
Kwaaang! Boom!
The creatures gathered near the river were massacred by the explosions, securing space to lower the bridge. Soldiers who had rushed onto the walls in droves watched with stunned expressions before snapping back to attention and frantically beginning to lower the bridge.
Escorted by both aerial and ground forces, the long column of supply vehicles crossed into Pagozan, the procession ending with the armored vehicle at the rear. The noisy interior of the expansive fortress—now nearly filled by the supply convoy and android unit—was left to Jadin to organize while I met with the base commander.
The middle-aged man in a rumpled uniform looked as though he had endured a great deal. Still somewhat dazed, he opened his mouth.
“Uh… Ahem. Which unit are you from?”
“We are the support force dispatched from Eden at Xenuma’s request. It’s good to meet you.”
“Finally! I knew our homeland wouldn’t abandon us! Thank you for coming!”
The fact that his isolated unit had not been deserted and that support had been sent seemed to move him deeply; a faint tear even glistened at the corner of his wrinkled eyes. Hmm… He had claimed the reason for not retreating was classified, so I had expected a more solemn atmosphere, but his reaction was somewhat surprising.
“We’ll distribute the supplies we brought in the vehicles, so please hold out a little longer.”
“Ah, it seems the withdrawal order hasn’t been issued yet. Understood. Supplies alone will bring considerable relief.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Hmm…”
He appeared to ponder for a moment, stroking his chin and lowering his head. When his gaze fell on my body, desire flickered in his eyes. Though he maintained his expression well enough that it wasn’t overtly obvious, my eyes—well-trained at detecting male lust—could not be deceived.
This reminded me that the base had been occupied solely by male soldiers all this time. When I subtly scanned the surroundings, I sensed that every one of them carried excessively accumulated vital energy, enough to harm their health. Seeing them lust after the androids distributing supplies, it was clear they desperately needed to relieve their sexual frustration.
“It seems morale management will be necessary.”
“Morale management, you say?”
“It’s built up quite a lot, hasn’t it?”
“Cough… Ahem.”
He had looked puzzled at first, but at the mention of buildup he could only clear his throat without denying it. Desire and anticipation slowly filled his eyes as they darted toward my body.
“Ahem… All female soldiers were withdrawn three months ago, so only men remain…”
“Although we are an android unit, some of the girls possess sexual functions. If you have no objection to intercourse with androids, we can assist in relieving your soldiers’ desires until we depart for the next destination.”
The androids produced in later batches were manufactured purely for military use and lack sexual capabilities, but the original models from the underground city—though they received military modifications—still retain those functions. I did not know the exact number of soldiers stationed here, but there should be more than enough androids to accommodate them all.