Explosion!

…That's it.

I swallowed dryly. The dead space Hannah had sensed was the powder crates. Those idiot orcs had been stacking bombs right in the middle of their own camp.

I raised my binoculars and swept the encampment again, and I couldn't help but marvel. The placement of the powder cache was exquisite. Right beside it sat an armory crammed with weapons, and just beyond that, a dense cluster of storehouses packed with rations.

If we set that off, the chaos would go far beyond simply blowing away the command post. Orcs who lost both their food supply and their weapons at the same time would plunge straight into panic, and in that gap, we could slip away at our leisure.

Lowering the binoculars, I called the squad leaders together.

"Operation objective is changing."

Every squad leader's gaze snapped to me at once. I pointed with a finger at the crates holding the powder cache.

"That's our target now."

"What is that, sir…? Isn't it just a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bunch of boxes?"

Sergeant Gunter tilted his head, puzzled. To the naked eye, they looked like perfectly ordinary crates.

"Those are crates of gunpowder."

"…!"

The squad leaders' eyes went wide with shock all at once.

"D-did you say gunpowder?"

Corporal Kurt repeated the words as if he couldn't believe his ears. "They piled that up, completely exposed, in the middle of their camp? I mean, orcs are dumb, but there's no way they'd—"

"It's not because they're dumb. It's because they don't know what it is."

I handed them the binoculars as I explained.

"Orc civilization has no concept of gunpowder. To them, that stuff is nothing more than strange-smelling black sand the Imperials used to carry around. That's why they can stack it out in the open like that without a second thought."

I spoke while recalling the setting from Heart of the Empire: Eagle Chronicles. In truth, the orcs relied mainly on shamanism and cold steel, and they had never developed powder technology the way the Empire had.

A flicker of doubt crossed the squad leaders' faces at my words, but it vanished almost immediately. They had seen enough from Hannah and me on the way here to place absolute trust in our abilities — enough that they didn't question me for a second.

"Good Lord… so if we just blow that thing up…"

Gunter's voice trembled with excitement.

"That's right. It's a far more certain method than striking their command post. We detonate it, cut their supply lines, and turn the entire camp into an asylum. If that works, we win without firing a shot in a real fight."

Understanding dawned across the squad leaders' faces as I laid it out. Just then, Corporal Kurt raised a question.

"But how exactly do we detonate it, sir?"

"There's a good way."

I turned to Private Klaus.

"Think you can do it with a sniper shot?"

Klaus checked the target through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his scope, then hesitated briefly before answering.

"The range is fine, sir. But the powder crates are covered in thick wood. I can't guarantee whether it would detonate or not."

"Fair enough."

I nodded and unfastened my pack, carefully drawing out an item from inside. The new-model supply shipment I'd received as a reward from the regimental commander last time — a trial issue handed to me first, before distribution to the rest of the platoon.

"If it's this, it'll work."

"Th-that's… the new supply round?! The one we've only heard rumors about?!"

"Oh come on, and here I didn't even know something like that existed…"

Sergeant Gunter nearly jumped out of his skin. Kurt put a hand to his head, looking sheepish.

What I'd pulled out was the recently developed Experimental Magic Bullet — a special round etched with micro-mana circuits in its warhead that detonated on impact, producing an effect similar to an incendiary shell.

"Now then, Private Klaus."

I held the mana bullet out to him. The mana circuits etched into its surface gave off a faint blue glow.

"You want… me to take this?"

Klaus made a show of being surprised. Handing such a rare item to a lowly private was one thing, but entrusting him with the decisive blow on which the entire operation would hinge? And yet I didn't miss the flash that sparked for an instant in Klaus's eyes.

I clapped his shoulder and pressed the round into his hand.

"The lives of this entire platoon are riding on you, Private. Can you do it?"

"…I will stake my life on completing the mission!"

Klaus accepted the bullet with a grim, determined expression and, without a moment's hesitation, pushed it into his rifle's chamber. The metal rang with a crisp, interlocking click.

Klaus settled into position at one side of the ridge — the most stable firing position available. Slowly lowering himself into a prone stance, he began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠adjusting his scope, disengaging his suppressor, and reading the direction of the wind.

It was suffocating. The orcs in the camp still lounged aimlessly around their bonfires, knowing nothing, while the men of 3rd Platoon held their breath and fixed their attention on Klaus.

"…Am I cleared to fire?"

With his preparations complete, Klaus asked one final time.

"Fire."

The instant my permission left my mouth, Klaus's finger squeezed the trigger.

Shhk—BOOM!

The mana bullet tore through the air with a shriek, tracing a blue trajectory and striking dead center in the middle of the powder crate stack.

KWAAAAAAAAAANG!!

A pillar of fire erupted skyward with a roar that shook the earth beneath us. The powder crates detonated in a chain reaction, swallowing a full quarter of the encampment in the blink of an eye. The shockwave rolled all the way to the ridge, bending the trees until they seemed about to snap.

"GRUAAAAGH!"

"Wh-what?! What's happening?!"

"F-fire!! The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠storehouses are exploding!"

The orcs fell into utter chaos. But the flames showed no mercy.

KWA-BOOM! KWA-BOOM!

Fire leapt instantaneously to the adjacent armory and the ration storehouses, triggering second and third detonations. The surviving orcs ran screaming between the burning barracks, making no attempt whatsoever to bring the blaze under control.

"GRAGH! The ancestors have forsaken us!"

"A curse! The spirits of the earth are enraged!"

"Damn it, where are the shamans?! Get them to put this fire out, now!"

They clearly had no idea what had struck them. It had never even crossed their minds that this was an Imperial attack — they were convinced a supernatural calamity had descended upon them. Some threw themselves to the ground, praying aloud in incomprehensible tongues, while others, paralyzed with terror, began sprinting blindly out of the camp.

"Now! All elements, fall back!"

I shouted, and without a shred of regret we turned and sprinted madly back the way we had come. Behind us, the rolling thunder of chain explosions and the shrieks of orcs still echoed across the forest. It had worked. A complete, unqualified success.

"Signal flare!"

Just as we were nearly clear, I ordered the signal gunner. He fired without hesitation, and a red flare arced up into the predawn sky in a perfect parabola.

It was our mission-complete signal — and at the same time, the signal announcing the friendly general offensive. Sure enough, before long, war cries began rising from the eastern edge of the forest.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

Machine-gun fire beneath the shouting — the frontal assault by 1st and 4th Squads had begun. I kept running, glancing at the green dots on my Minimap as they began moving in earnest.

Running without a single pause, we soon reached the nearby rally point. The soldiers staggered, heaving ragged breaths. Some of them were still staring, disbelief written across their faces, at the heart of the forest where smoke and flame still boiled upward.

"…Good Lord. We did… we actually did that?"

Private Hans murmured blankly, his face smeared with ash.

"That wasn't just 'setting off some bombs.' The whole forest rang like a bell! Those orcs won't even be able to find their own bones by now."

One of the veterans snickered. He fumbled open his canteen with trembling hands and gulped the water down.

"I still can't believe it. All those bastards… wiped out without us even firing a single proper shot."

"Klaus, you lucky bastard, you're a straight-up hero today. How the hell did you detonate that from that far away?"

"Credit the weird glowing bullet the Lieutenant gave him. You saw it light up, right? Straight-up magic, I'm telling you."

The soldiers, one and all, chattered away as they replayed what had just happened. It had been an impossible situation. A perilous mission infiltrating enemy lines with a single platoon, enemy numbers far beyond what we'd expected — every factor was stacked against us. And then a single rifle shot had turned the whole thing on its head.

Unable to contain the surging emotion, Sergeant Gunter came running over to me.

"…We did it, sir. We actually did it, Lieutenant!"

He grabbed my shoulder with his dirt-caked hand, unable to restrain himself. In his eyes glowed something that had passed beyond respect into something close to worship.

"Zero casualties! Everyone home safe! In my entire service, I have never once seen an operation this flawless!"

"The operation isn't over yet, Sergeant. Don't let your guard down."

I patted his shoulder and swept my gaze across the battlefield. Unlike the excited mood of the platoon, my mind ran cold under the influence of the Strong Mind skill.

On the Minimap, the red dots were surging wildly eastward, tangling with the green dots representing our main force and blinking furiously as they collided. The battle was tilting in our favor.

And that was exactly when it happened. My brow creased on its own. Something was wrong on the western edge of the Minimap. Far more red dots than expected had begun streaming toward that sector.

Twenty… thirty… This was no scattering of routed stragglers. One massive horde, rivaling their main force, was punching its way west to escape the fighting in the east.

"Damn it…!"

The red dots moving steadily westward soon crossed beyond the Minimap's range and vanished. But I knew exactly where they would end up.

The Western Ridge. 2nd Platoon's sector.

I thought back to Erika before the battle began — her fury at being handed the retreat-blocking duty like it was an afterthought. Able as she was, if the enemy caught her off guard, the casualties could be devastating.