9 Line

───Thwack!

In the darkness where not even moonlight penetrated, a dull sound rang out as a human neck flew through the air. The body, surpassing human limits, channeled its full strength into the tomahawk's blade, which struck the neck of a Russian soldier patrolling around the hotel. Before the man could even scream, he collapsed. Meanwhile, hidden in the grass on the opposite side, GanjangChicken crept forward silently, initiating an assassination via QTE.

Shhk.

The combat knife drove deep into the neck, greeting the carotid artery with intimate familiarity, while the cervical spine twisted and ground into fragments with a grotesque, grinding sound. Within five seconds, two enemies vanished. The ambient light was so dim that no one except me and GanjangChicken could possibly discern what had happened.

"Hmm. Maybe this guy slipped too," I said, meeting Beta 2's gaze. GanjangChicken looked bewildered, as if unsure what he'd just witnessed. I pressed my index finger to my lips—a gesture to keep quiet.

The hotel wasn't particularly large, so we quickly concealed the three bodies among the grass to avoid detection by follow-up search teams. I pressed my hands against the towering wall.

"Do you have a drone?"

"Uh... my skill set isn't specialized in drone operation, but is that okay?"

"It'll be fine."

Click.

A small drone assembled instantly, hovering in the air. I attached an anchor to its tip, connected a thick rope, and handed over control. The drone shot toward the rooftop, and through precise maneuvering, I looped the rope around a thick pipe on the roof before firing the anchor to secure it firmly to the ground.

By default, all Icarus operators are issued numerous pieces of equipment, one of which is a climbing harness.

Snick.

The rope clipped into the center of the compact harness, and I was ready to ascend the wall.

"I'll go up first. Once I reach the top, please retrieve the rope to the roof. We'll lower it again when we come down."

"...Uh, got it."

After checking the rope's stability by tugging it a few times, I pressed the ascent button. My body lifted upward as I climbed the vertical wall. Reaching a height where even the tallest trees couldn't reach, the situation outside came into full view.

Hundreds of enemy personnel and infantry fighting vehicles—all glowing in the vivid yellow that signified hostiles. It was like gazing at a yellow Milky Way spread across the ground.

Across the street, the green delta symbols marking friendly forces fidgeted on the rooftop of a relatively low-rise building. Even my enhanced vision struggled to discern their subtle movements.

Beta 2's voice crackled over comms.

"Enemy sniper team on the rooftop. They're approaching the area where the rope is attached. I'll share their position—please take a look."

"Copy."

The hotel building was a perfect vertical wall with no slanting sections near the roof, and like an old fortress wall, it had irregularly spaced gun ports embedded in the surface. Fortunately for me, this meant there were places to rest my rifle.

Yellow triangles appeared above the heads of the approaching enemies. They gradually took shape, transforming into icons indicating their military branch.

The distance was roughly 50 meters—too far for reliable rifle shots given the weapon I was carrying. I could try with a pistol, but was it worth the risk?

"Any other enemies nearby?"

"Uh... there's another sniper team on the opposite rooftop."

"Got it."

It would be better to lure them in and eliminate them all at once.

I set down my rifle and stepped onto the rooftop. After leaving a message telling them not to come up yet, I waited patiently. The enemies approached leisurely, as if on a stroll.

Cigarette smoke melted into the cold winter night. It was time to demonstrate how harmful it was to smoke while walking.

With my finger on the trigger, I peeked slightly from behind cover. The distance to the enemy was only about fifteen meters—no reason to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠miss.

───Bang!

Three flicks of my index finger, and three bodies hit the ground in proportion.

Ignoring the chat window erupting in awe at such trivial actions, I asked GanjangChicken to precisely mark the location of the additional sniper team. We moved almost simultaneously—clearing the rooftop was essential to avoid interference during air support guidance.

Fortunately, cleaning out the hotel rooftop didn't take long.

The situation was resolved.

While GanjangChicken retracted the rope dangling all the way to the ground, I pulled out a grid reference chart (GRG) from my multi-purpose pouch, using the open hotel view as a backdrop. Recalling the JTAC fire support procedures I'd memorized, I activated the guidance function.

It was time to revisit the past.

"Valkyrie 1-1, this is Beta 2-1. Requesting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Type 2, is 9-line ready?"

"Follow the next line. Lines 1, 2, 3, 9 N/A. Altitude 60. Multiple infantry and BTR-90 infantry fighting vehicles. FI 154236. Infrared laser. 300 meters south, danger close. Say when ready for additional instructions."

"Use CBU-110. No anti-air threats."

"Pulsing, confirmed."

Pulse.

It was a method of designating enemy positions by flashing the infrared target designator attached to the rifle. Since this was a cluster munition air support request, a single slip of my tongue could have cost two teammates their lives.

I inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, tension tightening my breath, as I stared blankly at the guidance point where enemies were densely gathered. Then came the next transmission.

"This is Beta 2-1, confirmed. Valkyrie 1-1, you have permission to engage."

Far off in the night sky,

a single cluster munition fell through the starlight, scattering submunitions in all directions.

For a split second, the visual transformed into something like glitter sprinkled over black ink,

────!!

and the stadium before me was engulfed in thousands of explosions.

Amid deafening noise and a monstrous gust of wind, screams from an unknown number of people erupted as the surroundings descended into chaos. Even enemies who had narrowly escaped the blast radius seemed unable to believe what they were witnessing, sitting dazed in place.

Staring at the dazzling front, I recalled memories of the past.

Back then... I couldn't even properly see this scene, so I closed my eyes while clinging to my senior's chest. Right here, in this very spot.

But why, after years had passed and I returned to another world... am I standing here now?

The thought struck me suddenly, but I moved before my voice could grow hoarse.

"Hepatic, Omega. Do you copy? Hunt down all enemies before they can hide inside the buildings. Don't worry about revealing your position—clean them all out."

It was time for us to move as well.

After confirming the air support had achieved effective results, I requested Valkyrie's withdrawal and rejoined GanjangChicken, who had been waiting below.

Now it was time to clean out the hotel.

It was only natural for people to enjoy explosions, and this applied to others besides me.

The mission's ultimate goal was to significantly reduce the enemy's threat level. The more enemies there were, the harder it was for the resisting friendly forces to hold out.

Thus, reducing the enemy's threat level meant reducing their numbers, so instead of bothering to rescue friendly forces, we decided to wipe out the enemy.

Cleaning up the area after a bombing run didn't take long.

The ground zero, swept by hundreds of submunitions capable of easily destroying infantry fighting vehicles, left nothing surviving. Even enemies who had luckily been elsewhere were annihilated by us directly.

In just under ten minutes, two airborne brigades that had infiltrated West Point were eliminated.

Of course, there were many other regular troops besides the airborne brigades.

Anyway, destroying enemies to support friendly forces was a kind of romance.

The simplistic logic that killing all witnesses made it an assassination, or that removing the source of pain was akin to healing... was, in a way, bound to be popular.

We followed that foolish logic and moved toward the northwest hub.

And....

"Valkyrie 1-1, this is Beta 2-1. Confirmed target destruction and requesting additional Type 2. Is 9-line ready?"

"Follow the next line. Lines 1, 2, 3, 9 N/A. Altitude 60. Formation of five 2S25 airborne self-propelled howitzers. EF 851341. Infrared laser. 640 meters south. Say when ready for additional instructions."

As always, close air support could solve a great many problems.

Unfortunately, perhaps because of the massive results from before, the enemies at the northwest hub were literally scattered in panic—though in an orderly fashion.

It was strange that a single cluster bomb had wiped out nearly three battalions just now, to be honest.

What was certain was that this place differed from the details I remembered, so I could step out of past memories and focus more.

Separately, the second cluster munition strike didn't inflict as much damage as expected, and the enemies fleeing in all directions would eventually need to be attacked with other weapons like Hellfire missiles.

And the method that emerged was to temporarily detach the infrared laser from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the rifle, attach it to the drone, and conduct bombing guidance from the air.

It was surprisingly effective.

"Thank you for the donation, HamDroneSteelFist... isn't this how everyone does it?"

"Looks like not."

"No one does it this way, teacher..."

"Oh, really?"

While I briefly relayed additional instructions to ISO, explanations followed about why no one else could complete the mission.

To summarize the lengthy details: it was extremely difficult.

Timing enemy eliminations and breaching defenses sounded easy, but in reality, any mistake would immediately trigger alarms and draw all aggro.

Especially as difficulty increased, the AI became highly sensitive to gunfire, making silent assassinations nearly impossible if not executed perfectly.

Moreover, if a mistake was made during an assassination, enemies would scream or fire wildly in desperation, inevitably drawing aggro.

Fortunately, none of that mattered now.

───Boom!

"Valkyrie 1-1, this is Beta 2-1. Confirmed target destruction and requesting additional Type 2. Please make the final strike count."

"Same."

Once new coordinates were provided, fire rained from the sky within seconds.

This is why soldiers must know how to request close air support. A well-trained JTAC could, with luck, single-handedly annihilate a brigade-level force.

The chat window was abuzz with how rare this case was, but... well. Having experienced countless such situations in the past, I couldn't say much.

After that, the rest was relatively simple.

No need for sniper support anymore, so the four of us drove straight into the chaotic enemy lines like a needle.

The mission's main threat had been the alarms triggered by the massive enemy numbers, so once that was neutralized, what remained wasn't enemies but kills.

Neutralizing the scattered enemy counterattacks ahead, we forged a path toward the center of West Point.

How long had passed?

"...Wow."

"This is because of the bombing Teacher Eugene did earlier, right?"

"Yes. Lucky it went in better than expected."

The road leading to the U.S. Army Academy campus.

Along the route, the completely destroyed road was littered with fragments of five airborne self-propelled howitzers (or what remained of them) and the Russian soldiers who had followed them.

Since these vehicles were designed for airborne deployment, their armor was easily destroyed by cluster munitions. Pouring missiles capable of penetrating 1400mm armor on top of that...

I won't bother wishing them a peaceful rest.

Leaving behind the tens of thousands of still-crackling remnants, we approached the campus where gunfire had begun to subside.

Only about 200 meters away in straight-line distance.

Targets began to appear.

Dozens of points marked within a radius of several hundred meters.

The real urban combat was beginning.

Due to time constraints, I split the four team members into two pairs and added:

"Alright, then... let's go."

Not much higher ground remained.