Kardor the War-Crazed

"...You've got to be kidding me."

The edges of my Minimap were bleeding red once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again. These weren't the same stragglers who'd retreated earlier—their movement was different. They weren't falling back. They were reorganizing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their front lines and pushing forward all over again.

The battle had merely lapsed into a lull; it wasn't over yet. I quickened my pace. When I reached 3rd Platoon's position, I found the tension completely drained out of the men—small clusters of them had gathered, tipping back their canteens or biting down on cigarettes.

"Hey, you see that? One mana bullet from the Company Commander and the orcs just exploded."

"Saw it. But honestly, I think our Platoon Leader was even more impressive? Timing everything perfectly in the middle of that madhouse..."

The whole mood was loose, drunk on victory. I threw myself straight into the middle of it and shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Everyone, on your feet! Maintain alert posture!"

My bellow startled the soldiers so badly they scrambled up, half-stumbling over themselves.

"P-Platoon Leader...?"

"Didn't the orcs all run away, sir?"

I fired off my orders in rapid succession.

"Enemy reinforcements! They're coming back! No time to rest—get behind cover, now!"

Gunter caught on to my intent immediately and started driving the soldiers into position.

"Everyone to your posts! Check your magazines and keep your eyes front!"

Kurt and Hannah moved at once, beginning to establish a defensive line with their squads. The men of 3rd Platoon scrambled behind the makeshift trenches and boulders. The clatter of rounds being chambered filled the forest once more.

My expression hardening, I searched for Hannah. She was already staring at the southern edge of the forest, her face drained of color.

"Hannah, are you feeling it?"

"...Yes, Lieutenant. ...From the south. A mana reaction far larger and more sinister than before... it's closing in on us fast!"

"What did you say...?"

She was telling me this was no ordinary enemy.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

In that moment, the ground began to tremble faintly. Footsteps. Not the hundreds or thousands of marching boots, but the deep, ponderous vibration of some colossal beast pounding the earth with each step.

Then, from the darkness of the forest, a roar erupted that shook heaven and earth.

"GRAAAAAAAGH!"

Under the weight of that overwhelming war cry, the soldiers' faces went stark white in an instant. On my Minimap too, I could see crimson dots surging toward us from the south. There was no doubt—they were coming for us.

Before long, a massive silhouette pushed through the trees and revealed itself. A frame well over three meters tall. Its entire body was a lattice of scars, and in each hand it gripped a massive battle axe slick with blood. Every roar from its throat made the very air shudder.

I activated my skill immediately.

Status Analysis.

Damn it. This one's in a whole different league.

The moment I confirmed the information, my mind went cold and clear. This would not be an easy fight.

"Captain!"

I shouted toward Serafina. She was already staring the beast down.

"That's a commanding-level enemy!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I know!"

She immediately began rallying the troops.

"All forces, concentrate fire on the center! Do not let that monster reach our main line!"

At Serafina's sharp command, every gun barrel in 2nd Company roared as one. Hundreds of rounds rained down in a torrent. But the creature's hide was harder than anything we could have imagined.

So that's what "Steel Skin" actually means...!

The bullets bounced off the creature's green muscle with a metallic clang, unable to punch through. Kardor, looking mildly annoyed, whirled his massive twin axes like a windmill to swat the hail of fire out of the air—then charged straight at our defensive line.

CRASH!

The palisade we'd thrown up shattered like matchsticks under his descending strike, and along with the flying debris, soldiers were flung screaming into the air.

"Wh-what the hell IS that thing?!"

"Rifle rounds won't go through! They're bouncing right off!"

"S-somebody help!"

Just as panic threatened to spread like a plague, Serafina stepped forward and readied a mana bullet. Frost condensed above her palm. Unlike before, the cold didn't stop at a single coalescence—it gathered over and over again, layer upon layer. The silvery-white mana bullet resting on her hand kept drinking in more and more of her power, shining with ever-sharper brilliance. Meanwhile, Serafina's complexion was growing visibly paler by the second.

Status Analysis.

She's pushing herself too hard.

My Touch of Attunement had only barely suppressed her seizure moments ago—and already she was on the brink again. She was forcing her mana beyond its limits, reinforcing that mana bullet again and again. Naturally, for someone afflicted with Mana Overload, that was more than her body could bear.

Shwieeeck—!

The bullet Serafina fired streaked away in a silvery-white arc. Its power was unmistakably stronger than before—far stronger. But it wasn't enough. The mana bullet slammed into Kardor's chest, yet rather than leaving a deep wound, all it managed was a momentary stagger. His charge never stopped.

"The line's going to break at this rate!"

Sergeant Gunter's desperate cry rang out. Then it happened.

Charming Speechcraft.

"Don't panic!"

Carried on the strength of the skill, my voice thundered across the battlefield.

"That thing doesn't fight alone! Take out its escorts first! Machine guns—sweep the orcs fanning out on its flanks! We isolate the bastard!"

The terror-glazed eyes of the soldiers changed. They began moving in perfect unison to my commands. The wall of fire shifted away from Kardor himself and concentrated on the orcs trailing in his wake.

"GRAAK!"

As his escort fell one after another, Kardor's charge stuttered. I didn't waste the opening.

"Klaus!"

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

"Load that experimental mana bullet you've been saving—right now! And aim for his weak point! His eye, his knee, anything! Fast!"

"Understood!"

BANG!

Klaus's rifle roared. The blue tracer punched squarely into Kardor's right eye socket. With a hideous FWOOMPH—!, the condensed mana detonated from within, and half of the creature's grotesque head was blown off like a rag doll.

"GRAAAAAAAAGH!"

For the first time, that steel-skinned colossus let out a scream of genuine agony and swayed on his feet. I pulled the pin on the grenade I'd been holding in reserve.

"Now!"

I hurled myself out from behind cover and threw. The grenade traced its arc through the air and detonated with perfect precision directly beneath the staggering Kardor's feet.

KA-BOOM!

The blast threw the creature's massive frame off balance, and he crashed to the ground.

"Concentrated fire! Put him down for good before he gets back up!"

At Serafina's shout, every scrap of 2nd Company's firepower poured onto Kardor. Rifles, machine gun rounds, grenades—and on top of it all, Serafina's mana bullets.

RATATATATAT! KRA-KOOM! WHAM—!

Even a monster with Steel Skin couldn't withstand a baptism of lead with his eye shattered and his innards churned to pulp. The moment the bullets began burrowing into the flesh where the explosion had torn his hide open, the beast let out a dreadful scream.

"Grkk... Gh...! G-Gromnar, my lord...!"

With that blood-flecked last breath, Kardor reached toward the empty sky—then let his hand fall limply. With a heavy thud, the enormous body collapsed and went still.

"He's... he's dead!"

"We... we killed the monster!"

A brief silence swept the battlefield—and then the soldiers' cheers erupted.

The orcs, meanwhile, plunged into utter chaos with their anchor gone. When their war-crazed warlord died so helplessly, the survivors lost all will to fight, cast down their weapons, and began fleeing deep into the forest.

With that, the battle wound gradually to its close. By the time the pursuit and the finishing shots had run their course, the sun was already sinking toward the horizon. The orcs had been driven back into the depths of the woods entirely.

Quiet returned once more. But the mood among the men of 2nd Company was strangely buoyant.

"Did we... did we really kill that thing?"

Private Hans of 3rd Platoon nudged Kardor's enormous corpse with the toe of his boot. The orc warlord who had seemed like a mountain of living rock was now nothing but a miserly pulped mass of meat.

"Yeah, kid. We killed it. One of your bullets is probably buried in there somewhere too."

Sergeant Gunter chuckled and pulled out a cigarette. His hands were trembling slightly, but his face was full of a pride he couldn't have suppressed if he'd tried.

"Insane... it doesn't add up. We brought down this monster without a single man killed?"

A soldier from 1st Platoon standing nearby muttered in open disbelief.

And it was exactly as he said. Kardor Ironskin—the second-in-command of the Ashen Claw Tribe, whose name alone made men's knees buckle—and against him, our 2nd Company had achieved a record bordering on miracle. A handful of light wounds in 2nd Platoon, yes, but zero dead. It was a perfect victory, clean ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough to be printed in the tactical doctrine manuals.

"WAAAAAAAH!!"

The cry that someone started spread through the entire company in an instant. Soldiers threw their arms around each other, bounced on their heels, and thrust their fists into the air.

"Long live 2nd Company!"

"We did it! We swept away those monsters!"

I watched the scene with my arms crossed. The sight of soldiers drunk on victory was a fine one—but my mind had already moved on to the next step.

I need to get the camp set up, and fast.

Our previous operations had been strike-and-return affairs, but this time was different. We'd shoved the enemy's main force deep into the forest, which meant we now had to secure the captured ground and push our front line forward.

Which meant, in other words, that tonight I wouldn't be sleeping in a warm barracks bed, but on cold, damp dirt. And this bivouac life wouldn't be over in a day or two, either.

It was all because the Regiment Commander had staked everything on this operation. One victory wouldn't end the campaign. The fighting would only be finished when we'd driven the orcs out of the Ashen Forest entirely and put a bullet between the eyes of Great Chieftain Gromnar himself.

And my level-up would have to wait until then, too. I'd already confirmed while lingering in the tent earlier that the system window wasn't appearing.

"Sergeant Gunter!"

"Sir! Platoon Leader!"

Gunter stubbed out his cigarette in a hurry and came running.

"Enjoy the festival later—first, get the camp assignments organized. 3rd Platoon holds the nine o'clock sector. The orcs might be boiling mad enough to try a night raid tonight, so I want your watch rotations airtight."

"Understood! Hey, 3rd Platoon! Wake up and pitch those tents! Anyone slacking gets no dinner tonight!"

At Gunter's bellow, the men of 3rd Platoon scrambled into motion.

Just then, the other platoon leaders started making their way toward me.