Chapter 85: East Asia Line Battle (3)
Chapter 85: East Asia Line Battle (3)
Boom!
A precisely aimed shell struck the vanguard of the swarming enemy.
It was a dangerous shot; even the slightest margin of error could have hit the retreating allies. However, those fleeing expressed no complaints.
In the vision of those who instinctively looked back at the sound of the explosion, those things were reflected.
Leading the charge was a giant boar.
The hideous creature, with three legs on its left and five on its right, let out a bizarre howl, its sunken compound eyes gleaming.
"Gurgle. Glug."
The source of that strange sound, entirely different from a pig’s squeal, was the sound of it vomiting nauseating filth from its mouth.
"Evade!"
Following the Squad Leader's command, the squad members quickly scattered diagonally.
The black sludge, sprayed in a simple trajectory befitting a beast, landed exactly where the members had been standing moments before.
Sssssss.
With an ominous sizzling sound, the sludge began to rot the earth.
"Kee-hee-hee! Aim better! You stupid pig!"
From the perspective of the pursued, the situation was utterly incomprehensible.
Perched atop the boar's head were monsters. And not just any monsters, but those exceptionally weak, small-type entities.
They were creatures so frail that even an ordinary person could kill them with a club.
Yet, the Boar Monster—which by all appearances was a B to A-Rank threat—was being berated and beaten on the head by such pathetic creatures.
"Squad Leader! Something is definitely wrong! we should report this to the higher-ups..."
"Shut up and just keep running!"
You think I don't know that?!
Countless thoughts raced through the mind of the man called the Squad Leader.
This whole situation is bizarre.
Though he was called a Squad Leader, a 'squad' held a different meaning within the Management Bureau. Many squads were essentially special forces, like special suppression teams or strike units.
This Squad Leader was a veteran who had survived the battlefields since before the Management Bureau was even established. Even to him, this situation felt strangely off.
Look at that guy.
When he glanced back, the boar wasn't running at full speed; it was matching its pace with the enemies following behind it. It was as if to proclaim that this entire incident was being carried out under someone's command.
Shit. If that's the case, we're screwed.
The collapse of the Great Barrier was already a disaster, but if a Command Entity had appeared...
Countless battlefields flashed through the Squad Leader's mind. Memories of the days before the Great Barrier, when the front lines were maintained by grinding human lives into the dirt.
"Any word from command?!"
"The last message was to return to the branch as quickly as possible!"
"Tell them to shove it! I could give an order like that myself!"
What they needed now was for someone to track the positions of the scattered forces, send support, and quickly rally them to start a counteroffensive.
And they want us to gather at that distant branch without any support? They might as well say they're sacrificing the soldiers to summon a demon.
"Kweeeeeek!"
While the Squad Leader was lost in thought, the boar's cry echoed in the squad members' ears once more.
"Scat—"
Boom! Ba-boom!
Before the Squad Leader could even issue the order to scatter, shells rained down from the sky, halting the boar's advance.
Nice shot.
Thanks to that, the squad was able to maintain their speed and keep running straight ahead, widening the gap with The Enemy host that had briefly closed in.
The squad members were covered in dust from the nearby explosions, but the battlefield was such a mess that no one even thought to complain.
"What the hell is command thinking?! Give me the radio! I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!"
Perhaps the Squad Leader's desperate wish was heard.
"Emergency contact from command!"
The Communications Officer, who had managed to protect the radio even in this chaos, shouted out.
Is it support?
Even though they were running at full tilt and turning their heads would slow them down, they all looked toward the Communications Officer. It was likely because they were that desperate for hope.
"There are civilians nearby! Protect them and return to base!"
Is that it?
A follow-up message provided their coordinates and numbers, but it wasn't particularly helpful information.
"Over!"
The transmission ended just like that.
"Give me that headset!"
Fuming with rage, the Squad Leader snatched the headset from the Communications Officer and roared into it.
"Command, respond! Currently, Great Barrier Monitoring Unit EA-34 does not have the capacity to perform said mission..."
Static. Bzzzt. Static.
It seemed the previous connection had been a miracle; now, only harsh static filled his ears.
"...Squad Leader. What are your orders? It seems the communication isn't going through properly."
It was a whisper that implied they could pretend they hadn't heard the order due to technical issues.
"...Ammunition?"
"About two magazines left per person."
"Enhancement drugs? Grenades?"
"Almost depleted."
"Can we reach the artillery units?"
"It's difficult."
Shells were still falling, but it was a desperate barrage, firing at anything in sight to somehow hold the line. The squad members only had to look around to realize the reality of the situation.
To the very horizon, there wasn't a single place where flames weren't erupting.
"...Throw all remaining grenades behind us."
"Sir?"
"We're going to the designated coordinates. We can't lead a massive army of enemies to where the civilians are. We'll widen the gap here."
"Yes, sir!"
The Squad Leader's orders began to spread to each member. Though they all grimaced, they soon took on expressions of grim resolve and pushed their legs harder.
The squad, which had been running in a straight line, veered off, and each member threw the grenades they held to make up for their slowed speed.
The silver, sphere-shaped grenades left the hands of the rear members and landed in front of the monsters.
Beep-beep.
The grenades announced their presence with an electronic sound ill-suited for a battlefield.
"Look! It's glowing! The expensive ones!"
Click.
As the silver outer shells peeled away, small mirrors and laser emitters were revealed.
Whir.
With a short motorized hum, the laser emitters drew complex lines, and a single Magic Circle formed in mid-air.
"Wha—?"
Simultaneously with the confused cry of a monster that failed to grasp the situation, the Magic Circle began to absorb the Otherworldly Power saturating the area.
Boom!
The explosion blew everything nearby away. It was a magic-type grenade, a somewhat expensive item that had become common in this era.
"...You'll have to explain this to the supply officer yourself, Squad Leader."
"If we make it back alive, that is."
Even amidst such jokes, grenades were continuously tossed backward. Perhaps because they were a squad that had worked together for a long time, they continued to throw grenades as each explosion ended without needing to be told.
"Grenade stockpiles are empty!"
"Pour on the grenades! We shake them off here!"
Dammit. As expected, personal armaments aren't enough. If only we had artillery support.
In the Squad Leader's eyes, the monsters were still charging relentlessly.
Small monsters and low-rank enemies were swept away by the continuous explosions, but the main force—the monsters—had only lost a leg or two or some skin at most. They maintained their massive forms and continued to doggedly pursue the squad.
"Civilian location!"
"Identified! We're scheduled to make contact in five minutes!"
"...Five minutes."
"At this rate, we won't be able to guarantee the civilians' safety upon contact."
"I know."
The Squad Leader said this as he stared blankly at the sky, hoping that shells might suddenly concentrate in this area.
A few shells fell behind the squad, but they were insufficient to stop the monsters' charge. The Squad Leader pressed down on his ballistic helmet and spoke.
"Can you all run while carrying a civilian? They're 100kg at most."
"...We could run, but both the civilians and we would likely die."
"I suppose so."
Even now, they were barely maintaining their distance by running at full speed. The Squad Leader had only made the joke to pivot the conversation.
The real point was what he was about to say next.
"Volunteers, step forward within three minutes. Those who will stay behind to die."
The sub-commander didn't offer an answer but instead pressed the earpiece he was wearing to relay the command.
There was a brief murmur, but several members calmly announced their participation.
"I won't be dying alone, then."
"I figured you intended to stay. ...What do you plan to do about the Command Authority?"
Only then did the Squad Leader seem to remember, and he ripped off his commander's insignia and tossed it to the sub-commander.
"I'm handing it to you. Keep them alive and lead them to the branch, no matter what."
The small insignia flew through the air and landed in the sub-commander's hand.
The roughly torn insignia still had bits of fabric clinging to it. The sub-commander stared at the insignia for a moment before tucking it into his chest pocket and speaking.
"Are you referring to the civilians? Or your subordinates?"
"Both."
"I'll do my best."
The conversation ended, and they exchanged a brief salute. This gesture, which they hadn't performed since joining the Management Bureau, seemed to convey the heart with which he was heading into the fray.
"Let's go, boys!"
Taking all equipment except for basic firearms from the other squad members, the group of about ten men began to run against the flow of the column.
A suicide squad heading toward The Enemy, contrary to the flow of those fleeing.
The column split to let them pass easily, and some of those in the rear fired wildly to support them.
Simple bullets, untreated with magic or techniques, bounced off the charging boar's hide, but the sentiment behind the action reached the suicide squad.
"Fire!"
Following the shout of the former Squad Leader—now the Squad Leader of the suicide squad—grenades flew through the air.
Perhaps reflecting their resolve to hold the line until the end, the grenades flew in perfect synchronization with the suicide squad's breathing.
Clank. Whirrrr.
Parts of the grenades' armor peeled away, and they glowed with Magic Circles in mid-air, sucking in Otherworldly Power.
I used to think this was just a waste of money.
The Squad Leader recalled how he had once petitioned headquarters to increase the power of support bombardment instead, if they were going to use magic anyway.
To think it would be this helpful in a situation like this. I'll have to take that back.
BOOM!
The grenades, having absorbed the overflowing Otherworldly Power, exploded with a force that transcended common sense.
The heat and shockwave created by the explosion reached the suicide squad.
"Prepare for the second volley!"
The squad members silently endured the flying stone fragments and knelt.
Even as mud seeped into their eyes and stone shards tore their skin, they stayed to hold this position for even one more minute.
They won't go down this easily.
That thought was in their minds.
If they could have been stopped by mere grenades like these, the enemies wouldn't have been chasing them in the first place.
As they knelt and prepared for the next shot.
The curtain of dust created by the grenades cleared, and the monsters revealed themselves. The monsters had stopped their charge, bleeding slightly from their skin, their eyes glowing with light.
They stared at the suicide squad.
Not as prey to be hunted, but for the first time, with genuine hostility.
"ROAAAAAR!"
The boar's roar, which had been tormenting the squad members all along, rang out. In response.
"Don't be afraid! Die on your feet! This is for the best! The longer we hold out, the further the others can get!"
The Squad Leader's shout echoed.
In truth, such a shout had no real meaning. It was pure bravado. An act to delay their charge even slightly and draw their attention.
Even in the context of the entire battlefield, their sacrifice would likely be worthless.
This location was a mere fraction of the entire front. Otherworldly beings on other fronts were surging toward the branch like water bursting through a dam.
Still, they quietly faced the monsters.
To slightly increase the chance of survival for the civilians and their comrades. To draw the gaze of the monsters before them.
Snort.
The sound of the boar's breath. The stomping of feet on the earth. The lowering of its posture to charge. In time with the precursor to the charge.
"Fire!"
The second volley of grenades was launched.
"ROAAAAAR!"
However, things didn't go as well as the first time.
Perhaps having realized the grenades' power was manageable, the monsters charged straight through them, reaching the suicide squad's doorstep while enduring the explosions.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The footsteps of numerous monsters shook the earth. What was the reason they held their ground even as they felt such vibrations?
Until the final moment. They aimed their guns while staring their own deaths in the face.
Zap.
A bright flash of lightning in the darkness.
Crunch.
A Pry Bar wrapped in black mist.
They descended between them.