Chapter 30
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Invasion (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Next! Fire!"
At the command, arrows rained down below the walls.
The monsters climbing the walls and attacking the gates collapsed, but others immediately filled their places.
The battle, which had begun at sunrise, continued even past noon.
They knocked down monsters scaling the walls and dealt with those assaulting the gates.
Even after hours of fighting, the monster horde showed no signs of thinning.
"Squad 2, rotate!"
The soldiers who had loosed their arrows stepped back, and the next squad waiting in reserve quickly took their positions.
There was no need to even aim the arrows. Every spot outside the walls was packed with monsters, so no matter where they flew, they were bound to hit something.
The soldier atop the watchtower could overlook it all.
From that high vantage point, gazing down on the battlefield at a glance, he saw far more waves of monsters than the regular soldiers below could perceive.
As the soldier confirmed the shapes of the countless monsters, he hurriedly raised a flag.
The watchtower soldier waved the flag toward the ground, sending a signal. An adjutant spotted it and tapped Rebecca's shoulder.
"Spotter signal! Front, 2 o'clock!"
It was the signal warning of a monster capable of inflicting major damage on the walls and defenses.
Rebecca turned her head, directing her gaze outside the walls, and soon spotted the approaching target amid the monster horde.
...A Minotaur!
Amid the swarm of countless monster types, one particularly massive bulk poked its head out.
Rebecca, having confirmed the monster's position, shouted toward the inner side of the walls.
"Squad 3! Chloe!"
One of the mercenary captains on standby turned at Rebecca's call.
Rebecca gestured toward the outside of the walls.
"Take out the target at 2 o'clock!"
The captain nodded and led a few mercenaries up onto the walls.
In the chaotic scene where battles raged everywhere against monsters that had climbed the walls...
The mercenaries found an empty space amid it all, took position, and scanned beyond the walls.
The mercenary captain soon located the target Rebecca had mentioned and pointed out nearby mercenaries and a few soldiers.
"Sniper support!"
One of the mercenaries who had climbed up with him drew a large bow from his back.
The mercenaries and soldiers who received the signal raised their shields, forming a wall around the bowman on the wall.
The bowman, shielded by the barriers, carefully drew his bow from between them.
The Minotaur approaching the walls.
The arrow tip was aimed at that distant, tiny target.
"......"
The [Eagle's Eye] trait precisely pinpointed the weakness on the Minotaur that still looked like a mere dot.
The arrow nocked on the string was slowly drawn back.
[Cautious Aim] held steady amid the chaos, accurately targeting the objective.
[Sniper Shot], [Weak Point Exposure], [Precision], [Projectile Reinforcement].
A cascade of traits responded in kind, gathering lethal power at the arrow's tip.
The clamor of the battlefield grew fainter and fainter.
In the heavy, settled silence where only the heartbeat echoed, even that sound gradually faded.
When all noise vanished and the world seemed frozen in stillness...
His finger released the arrow.
And then, a flash.
The shot arrow traced a straight line from the walls to the target, unleashing an explosive whoosh.
The arrow struck true, embedding precisely in the Minotaur's knee amid the monster throng.
The hit Minotaur staggered, lost its balance, and crashed to its knees with a thud.
No matter how powerful the monster, one that couldn't move became nothing more than an obstacle blocking the path.
The Minotaur was shoved over by the following monsters and soon swept under the monster wave.
Chloe, who had watched the scene, turned to Rebecca and shouted.
"Target neutralized!"
But Rebecca, hearing the response, yelled back at Chloe instead.
"Neutralized my ass! Just grab it since it's in the way!"
"We're short on arrows!"
"I told you to stock up plenty!"
"Do you know how much one of these costs? Pay up front at least!"
Before their argument could even finish, the adjutant slapped Rebecca's shoulder again.
"Spotter!"
Rebecca scowled and turned back to the spotter's signal.
"Gargoyle swarm at 10 o'clock!"
Rebecca spotted small shapes flying toward the city over the monster horde.
They were the flying pests that always made defense a hassle.
Most intrusions into the city that caused damage came from these aerial monsters.
"Squad 2, follow me! Knock 'em down before they cross the walls!"
Rebecca immediately led a group of mercenaries dashing along the walls.
The mercenary guild's forward command post, established near the front lines.
In that post, directly overseeing the battle at the foremost position, couriers arrived ceaselessly from all directions, flooding in with updates from every front.
Numerous staff received the couriers' reports, organized them, and sent up only concise summaries...
Yet the command desk still overflowed with piling information.
"Rock Turtle sighted in the east. Squad 6 dispatched."
"Gargoyle swarm in the north neutralized."
As he sorted through the flood of reports to grasp the front-line situation, Vice Guild Master Kael of the mercenary guild suddenly sensed something off.
Amid the deluge of information, one area stood out for its utter silence—no reports at all.
"What about the underground sewer?"
At Kael's question, one of the staff pulled up and checked the reports for the underground sewer sector.
The initial situation report from the courier upon the invasion's start indicated the slime scale was about double last year's.
Ian, in charge there, was handling his first invasion, and with fewer defense troops than before, trouble wouldn't be surprising.
The staff soon checked the latest report from the underground sewer.
"The officer in charge reports everything's proceeding smoothly without issues."
"......"
Smoothly, huh.
In such a situation, only urgent reports got priority, so non-issue updates from the sewers would naturally fall to the back burner.
Kael's expression hardened as he fell into brief contemplation.
If it was truly going well... that'd be fortunate.
But hiding mistakes by concealing bad developments and trying to handle it alone was a classic blunder for commanders—especially rookies.
"What about Chris's unit?"
"Finished east sector and returned to central standby."
"Can we spare a response unit?"
"Offensive is easing, so no problem."
"...Send Chris there."
At the very least, hoping it hadn't reached the point of sealing the sewers.
Kael sent Chris the new orders with that in mind.
Flames flowed through the underground sewer instead of water.
The seemingly endless slime waves began losing momentum after repeatedly passing through the concentrated firepower zones.
Rin watched the slime horde surging through the flames from inside the outpost.
The slimes that made it past the trap zone were noticeably weaker than at the start.
The few that entered couldn't even break through the wooden barricades they'd once swept away easily and got stuck before them.
Rin kept watch without letting her guard down for the next response, but the slimes ultimately failed to breach the barrier and melted away in the floor flames.
Only then did Rin exhale deeply in relief and turn to the soldier beside her.
The soldier, meeting her eyes, nodded, grabbed the report he'd just written, and stood from the outpost.
E-7 Outpost, defense successful.
Enemy third assault annihilated.
The soldier ran to relay that to command.
The underground sewer couldn't be visually surveyed directly, so they had to pair up with soldiers in twos and send couriers one by one like this.
The slimes' relentless momentum was visibly waning.
The initial wave-like assaults were gone, and it seemed safe to say the attacks had completely lost steam.
Whew...
Sensing the monster wave was finally ending, Rin sighed.
Her weary face waited for the next assault.
Not long after, a courier rushed to Tanya, who was waiting at a nearby rear outpost.
The courier handed her the orders just received.
"Orders from command. Deliver supplies to E-7 outpost and join defense."
"......"
Tanya nodded with a stiff face.
This was news that the defense op had succeeded...
And the signal prearranged with Ian.
...Now?
Tanya sent the courier back and approached the stacked crates at the reserve outpost.
In one corner, as Ian had said, were several boxes marked red in the corner.
Tanya lifted one, glanced around cautiously, then moved carefully.
During training, she'd memorized the route separately for this secret mission she couldn't tell anyone about.
Her post was near the underground secret lab they'd discovered before.
A slight detour outside the op zone would get her there quickly.
Carrying the box, Tanya slipped into a side path after checking her surroundings.
"Hoo..."
She cautiously opened the door to the secret room—this was her third such delivery.
After setting down the latest third box inside and stepping out, Tanya belatedly noticed someone standing before the secret passage, staring at her.
"......"
A one-eyed mercenary wearing an eyepatch.
Chris, who had come down alone to the non-combat zone entrance to check the sewer situation and stumbled upon this place by chance.
Chris's sharp gaze scanned Tanya.
...The rookie from Ian's Mercenary Corps?
Puzzled by her presence outside the op zone, Chris's eyes shifted to the suspicious passage she'd emerged from.
The interior of the blatantly shady secret passage.
Chris immediately spotted the stacked boxes inside.
Army supply crates.
Tanya, frozen, slowly reached into her bosom and tremblingly offered Chris something.
Chris took the pouch she extended and opened it to check the contents.
"......"
Gold coins.