Chapter 83
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: The Empire's Night (7)
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“Comrade Inspector! This is a completely different story!”
Felix, the captain of the Rimansk Munitions Depot's guard company, shouted at Egor Ivanov.
They were already short on personnel, and now their allies were being killed off by the Mutants. The Mutants, who had been set up as a defensive line, had started attacking indiscriminately without even distinguishing friend from foe.
Master Sergeant Maxim Stepanov, right in front of them, was one such example. He had barely managed to escape after being ambushed by a Mutant while returning to the defensive line upon noticing the intrusion.
“The soldiers who are perfectly fine are dying pointless deaths! Why are our allies killing our own...!”
“Major Karl, he is right. What is the meaning of this?”
“My apologies, Inspector. Their intelligence is almost on par with a rhinoceros, so they currently lack the ability to distinguish friend from foe.”
“See to it that this is properly supplemented next time. The Empire's sword must never turn against the Empire itself.”
“We will take various measures.”
Major Karl bowed his head to Egor as he spoke. However, the apology for the pointless loss of his troops, which belonged to the guard company, was completely absent.
The overall commander of the Rimansk Munitions Depot was Major Karl, but the captain of the guard company managing the site was Captain Felix.
It was the guard company members, not the Inspector's party, who were dying for nothing—how could there not be even a word about that?
Captain Felix, bursting with rage, grabbed the Major by the collar.
“Comrade Major Karl! Are you only talking to the Inspector right now!? We need a countermeasure for our subordinates who are dying right now...!!”
“Now, now, calm down, Comrade Captain. After all, even they couldn't have stopped it anyway.”
“Even for the Inspector, speaking like that is...!!”
The moment Captain Felix's head whipped around, what entered his field of vision was a clear gun muzzle. Bang! Before he could even react, the trigger was pulled, and a fired bullet pierced right through the Captain's forehead.
Splurt! Blood splattered against the wall, and he slumped powerlessly to the floor.
“It seems the Captain was killed by the rebel bastards who infiltrated from the outside.”
Egor said this without a moment's hesitation. Maxim Stepanov, who had barely survived, felt as if the world had gone blank.
“Isn't that right, Comrade Squad Leader?”
His red eyes turned to Sergeant Maxim this time. Feeling a murderous intent that sent shivers down his spine, Maxim prostrated himself on the spot.
“Y-Yes! Inspector!”
“But a problem has arisen.”
“What problem might that be?”
“One of the units has died.”
Major Karl added calmly. How long had it been since they were deployed, and already a Mutant was dead? Egor's eyebrows twitched.
“Perhaps they aren't just some half-baked rebel bastards. It seems there is a mage among them.”
“A mage?”
The Red October was the strongest faction among the numerous rebel organizations, but they did not possess high-level personnel like mages.
They were a group formed by commoners and slaves with no real power who had escaped.
If they had such talent, they wouldn't have joined a group like Red October; they would have grasped wealth and honor as loyal subjects of the Empire.
“How did you come to that conclusion?”
“I am the designer of the Mutants. I know their weaknesses inside and out. The current Mutants have not yet developed resistance to magic. Unless you concentrate fire on their vital organs or implant large-caliber bullets, it's inexplicable unless a mage is involved.”
The Major spoke with a gaze full of conviction. Egor fell into thought for a moment, then clicked his tongue as if he had caught on to something.
“Tsk, I suspected as much...”
“Do you have an inkling?”
“Are there any other artifacts stored here?”
“Aside from the monster factors used in Mutant development... the only artifact is the Omen Pearl.”
“Then it must be the Ukrain bastards.”
There is no other possibility.
A faction would need to be at least the level of the Ukran Duchy to officially deploy a mage capable of handling Mutants.
It's not like the Walter 3 Kingdoms or the Polania Republic would be crazy enough to attack Rimansk.
They had sufficient justification to attack for the sake of seizing the Omen Pearl. After all, they had barely gotten wind of the plan by the Grand Archmage of the Sky, Soni Chepelin.
‘That woman would deploy a battalion and then some.’
According to an informant inside Ukraine, it was clear they were plotting something.
Was that the attack on the Rimansk Munitions Depot?
Egor Ivanov blew on the muzzle of his gun, which was still smoking. Then he turned to the people waiting behind him, clad in robes.
“The bastards infiltrating this place are Ukrainians. Leave only one or two of them alive and sweep the rest away. Show the bastards who invaded without fear the ways of the Intelligence Directorate.”
The robed figures did not answer. Instead, the moment the order was given, they all rushed out of the room. Each drew the handguns hidden in their clothes and began to boil mana from their core.
Mages of the Intelligence Directorate. Specialists specialized in killing people.
Sergeant Maxim Stepanov, watching the scene, gulped.
“Comrade Squad Leader.”
“Y-Yes...!!”
“Could you pull the troops back from the defensive line and dispose of all the data along with the surviving soldiers?”
Data disposal.
It was certainly something he had learned when he first took charge of the guard squad. The task of incinerating all experimental data in the depot's basement in case of an intruder.
Maxim nodded his head vigorously, arguing for the reason he should be kept alive.
“Of course, Comrade!!”
“I will entrust it to you. Once everything is settled, I will report your contributions to the Emperor in detail.”
“Just leave it to me!”
Not only did he spare his life out of mercy, but he also promised a hefty reward. For Maxim Stepanov, there was no other choice.
He quickly saluted Egor and hurriedly fled the room where the Captain's corpse lay sprawled.
“Major, you should also prepare to evacuate soon. It's uncertain whether the Mutants can survive now that a mage has been deployed. As long as you are alive, the Empire's great cause can continue.”
“I actually have some data I set aside specifically for this kind of situation.”
“Very thorough. I like it.”
“And... I also created a device that will automatically detonate the entire facility after some time passes. Should I activate that as well?”
Of course, Major Karl Schumann was a man with a perspective even crazier than Egor Ivanov's.
***
“H-Here is the experimental warehouse.”
A soldier of the depot, captured as a prisoner, spoke with a trembling voice. It was inevitable, given that the muzzle of a gun was pointed at his temple.
As I shook my head, Hilton Calia, the commander of the 4th Platoon waiting in front of the door, carefully pushed the door open. The strong warrior she had shown just moments ago during the battle was nowhere to be found; she had returned to a shy, introverted appearance.
‘How does her personality switch so drastically...?’
I was genuinely curious about her fascinating personality, but now was not the time to have a casual conversation. Recovering the Omen Pearl was the top priority.
Just as the prisoner said, the warehouse was filled with all sorts of equipment used in experiments.
Drugs of unknown use carefully stored in glass bottles, monster factors, various reference books, and magic tools.
And among them, the most eye-catching was the large gemstone placed on a high-quality silk cushion.
The Omen Pearl.
The intelligence corps had been correct; it was stored here at the Rimansk Munitions Depot.
I retrieved the Omen Pearl into a prepared container and knocked the prisoner unconscious by striking the back of his neck.
At this point, where swift and covert action was key, I couldn't exactly drag prisoners around with me.
We had secured the minimum amount of information we needed; bringing more people along would only waste our mobility.
“Good. The operation objective is complete, so we will begin withdrawal immediately.”
Cleaning up the survivors was the role of another battalion, not ours. While the infiltration itself was handled by the 8th Assault Mage Infantry Battalion, the area control and cleanup were assigned to the 3rd Mobile Battalion.
After all, with Mutants roaming the facility openly, it would be difficult for the Sovye Empire to publicize the events that took place at the Rimansk Munitions Depot.
The expected reaction would be a purge of the depot's management troops, excluding the core researchers or those in charge.
It benefited both the Empire and Ukraine to cover up both the Mutant development and the attack by Ukraine's special forces.
However, looking at how the gunshots were dying down, it seemed the 1st and 2nd Platoons, who had left to inform the other companies of the Mutants' appearance, had handled things well. Either way, they were fellow battalion members, so we had to take them back alive, at the very least.
Just as I was thinking that and about to pull the troops back.
Screeeech—.
The sound of a magic circle being deployed. Feeling a threat instinctively, I turned my head, but Roxanna pulled me toward her and deployed a barrier.
“Commander, it's dangerous!!”
Chunks of ice flew fiercely in front of my eyes, intercepted by Roxanna's Magic Missiles. Those that couldn't be intercepted were blocked by the barrier and shattered into pieces.
Bang! Boom!!
The team members, having quickly assessed the situation, immediately returned fire, while the enemies hid inside.
“Enemy mage!”
Right, it was too easy, so I suspected something. It's not like a unit researching Mutants wouldn't have a mage deployed.
However, a few mages wouldn't be enough to turn the tide. Their armaments were likely just handguns. In this situation, we had to press the attack without giving them any breathing room.
“Everyone, charge! Don't give them a chance!”
Then, the eyes of the 4th Platoon commander gleamed. Reacting to the keyword 'charge,' Platoon Commander Hilton drew a handgun from her pocket.
“Chaaaaarge—!”
She let out a loud scream and started sprinting forward. The others immediately reacted and followed the woman leading the 4th Platoon.
“Damn it, the Platoon Commander's switch has flipped again!”
“Charge!! Charge!!”
They unleashed a merciless barrage at the mages hiding behind the wall. Pop pop pop! As the loud gunshots subsided.
Platoon Commander Hilton tossed the limp, robed enemy in front of me and said.
“Cleanup... complete!!!”
Hilton Calia.
No matter how many times I saw her, she was an incredible woman.