Chapter 86
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Fateful Connection (3)
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Claude Raine made a quick judgment. Having just reunited with the retreating allied squad and received a briefing on the situation, he left his own 1st Platoon behind for a moment and set out to support them alone.
There was a reason he had pulled out so many troops. Enok Levandel was an officer who never made rash judgments. What would be the point of pulling troops out only to send them right back in?
He had a feeling that if he took his platoon members with him, it might lead to an even worse outcome.
In a way, it was just a gut feeling, but this time too, Claude's intuition was spot on.
The air was thin. It was the中级 Green magic, Vacuum. Since the allied squad included the Red Mage Lumia Blue, she must have been firing off fire-attribute spells like crazy.
Truthfully, the flames created by magic merely replaced 'fuel,' one of the three elements of combustion, with mana. Both oxygen and heat were still required.
Therefore, in this situation, it was best not to use Red magic in the first place. The air circulation was already poor underground, and if they kept blasting fire, the limited oxygen wouldn't stand a chance.
'...Though, it's a ridiculous thing to say in the first place, considering Mutants are roaming around.'
The moment he joined up with the platoon leader, Claude charged toward the enemy casting Vacuum.
Kagang, gaga-gak!!
The dagger thrust at high speed was blocked by something hard and bounced off. A faintly visible Estoc entered his field of view.
Was it a reaction to the attack, which he had swung at maximum speed while wrapping it in lightning? The enemy was a surprisingly skilled fighter.
Claude Raine stared straight at the man whose red eyes gleamed. The Estoc was wedged perfectly between the crossed daggers, trembling.
Still, it was fortunate that the casting of Vacuum was interrupted.
Air rushed back into the area that had been nearly a vacuum, and the incapacitated comrades gasped for breath.
"Hmm, Claude Raine. I didn't expect to welcome the Butcher of Thunder here."
"You know me?"
"Of course."
The man replied. Was he a figure who had participated in the Quernan War? It was already a well-known fact that the Sovye Empire had been the backer supplying materials to Azov at the time.
Therefore, it wasn't strange for him, an Imperial officer, to recognize Claude Raine.
Kang!!
Claude's dagger was deflected, and this time, lightning bolts shooting from between the man's fingers surged forth. The man quickly evaded Claude's attack and pulled his body back.
"You're quite the fighter."
"I'll gladly accept that compliment."
Claude wasn't using his full power yet, but the same went for his opponent.
Despite having faced off against the three people behind him for at least a few minutes, he was still hiding more cards up his sleeve.
Claude felt a sense of tension running through his body for the first time in a while. The man was a proper strong opponent.
"Platoon Leader, how's your body?"
"I'm fine. It's just that Lumia and Roxana are a bit..."
The platoon leader glanced to the side, and the sight of the two sub-officers, still gasping for breath, came into view. They had been forcibly deprived of oxygen, and since they hadn't been prepared for it, it would take some time to recover.
"Platoon Leader, you should take the two of them and get out. We'll be able to join the others soon, so you won't need to support both of them alone."
"I refuse."
However, Enok Levandel staggered to his feet and stood right beside Claude.
"If the Platoon Leader abandons his Squad Leader, it won't set a good example."
"That pointless pride..."
But he didn't feel bad about it.
Enok Levandel was one of the few officers in the Ukran Army that Claude Raine trusted.
Just having a comrade to watch his back greatly increased the things he could do. Even Claude, who preferred solo play, couldn't deny it.
In fact, the reason he aimed to move alone was that very few people could keep up with his pace.
The dogma was that if they were all mixed up and looking after each other, leaving openings for the enemy, it was a hundred, a thousand times better to fight alone.
But a partner like Enok Levandel was someone he could turn his back on and go wild with.
"Keep up well."
"Watch closely what I'm about to do."
"...?"
"For now, let's go!"
With Enok's meaningful last words, the two men charged at the Colonel.
Lightning Spear.
I continued to fire lightning bolts while trying not to interfere with Claude's path as much as possible. Consequently, the positions from which I could actually land a valid hit on the Colonel were extremely limited.
It wasn't easy to hit him even with careful aiming, so firing off speculative shots was even more inefficient. Every single shot missed.
Without me showing any particular movement, the attacks were dodged on their own, and the Colonel began to slowly exclude me from his field of view. Of course, it was probably also to focus solely on his fight with Claude.
'Thankfully, he's underestimating me.'
It was inevitable that his attention would be drawn to the war hero unleashing deadly attacks right in front of him, rather than an anonymous platoon leader whose rank, name, and affiliation were unknown. Because of that, the Colonel didn't realize what I was aiming for.
Kagak, geug-euk!
Ta-ang!!
Claude and the Colonel continued to clash. The rest of the small fry were left to Lumia and Roxana, who were slowly recovering from the oxygen deficiency.
Lumia had been starkly reminded that her own flames had wiped out the already scarce oxygen. Therefore, she only returned fire with the revolver she was holding.
Roxana used her specialty, Wind magic, to draw in consumed oxygen from the outside.
In fact, that alone was enough to handle the situation.
The remaining Intelligence Directorate mages also continued their attacks using firearms rather than magic.
It was probably out of concern that if they recklessly unleashed magic like before, the Colonel, who was in a chaotic battle with Claude, might get caught in the crossfire.
'The people involved are going crazy with swords, exchanging blows like medieval knights...'
The Colonel was engaging in close-quarters combat, which was poison for mages, yet he was holding up quite well against Claude.
At first, he thought it was a manageable fight, but now, it was questionable whether it was a winnable match at all.
'But we're running out of time. The longer we're pinned down, the more disadvantageous it is for us.'
A cornered rat will bite even a cat. If the remaining troops were wiped out, the artifact was stolen, and the Riemensch Arsenal was exposed as a Mutant testing facility, there was no telling what kind of desperate move the Empire would make.
In the worst-case scenario, they might blow everything up in one go—whether it was the allies left in the facility, the intelligence assets, or the research facilities.
'That's the worst-case scenario we can imagine.'
All cards were on the table.
If they were to get caught in the explosion of this facility along with us, the intruders...
The Sovye Empire would only lose one arsenal, but the Ukran side would suffer the loss of two entire battalions under the Special Response Brigade, which they had worked so hard to train.
The stakes were already different.
'We need to retreat as soon as possible. The people who created the Mutant research facility wouldn't have left it undefended.'
I fired another lightning bolt. Zap! Amidst the sound of tearing air, a sound like something collapsing was also clearly heard.
It's done.
"Now!! Squad Leader!!"
At that moment, I shouted at the top of my lungs toward Claude. We didn't make eye contact or exchange words, but with Claude, he would surely grasp my hidden intention without needing any of that.
I decided to trust that possibility.
At the same time, Claude's sword drew a crescent arc. Lightning rose along the sword energy that shot out in a semicircle and struck the ceiling of the corridor.
Advanced Violet magic, Overload.
The immense power of the sword energy, flying up like a Sword Master's Sword Aura, caused the pipelines suspended above the ceiling to rain down.
Kwang! Kwaga-gang!!
A landslide of metal rocks crashed down in an instant between Claude and the Colonel.
That was the reason I had kept firing Lightning Spears into random places. Anyway, among the 'Spear' type spells that focus on penetration, it was the spell with the highest single output.
It could easily damage the tightly fastened pipelines, and the accumulated damage had loosened the supports holding up the ceiling.
As a result.
The ceiling could no longer withstand the load and collapsed.
"Great!!"
I clenched my fist in triumph. Seeing this, Claude smirked and added.
"Hah, I didn't think it would actually work."
A metal wall that looked to weigh several tons. Even if they bombarded it with every explosion spell, it would take quite a while to clear the path. We had secured an escape route.
Without time to celebrate the success of the operation, I supported the two girls who looked slightly dizzy.
"Can you run?"
"Uh, uh... no..."
"Claude, I'm counting on you for Lumia! I'll take Roxana!"
"Understood."
We each hoisted a girl onto our backs. I felt bad for Lumia, but for now, Roxana was about the limit of the weight I could carry on my back and run with.
Finally, we ran hard up the endless stairs and made it out to the entrance where the 2nd Company had been deployed.
"Platoon Leader!!"
The 3rd and 4th Platoons, who had gone up ahead and were waiting, greeted us. A group that had only separated a few minutes ago felt this welcoming. It was a relief.
"Did the other companies evacuate safely?"
"Yes, aside from the four of you, including the Platoon Leader, all personnel of the 1st Company have completed their evacuation!"
Erwin shouted in a proud voice. Perfect. He had even checked the personnel in advance. It was a thoroughness befitting the FM Squad Leader Erwin Rus.
"Good. Let's head back quickly. Please take Lumia and Roxana. They've been underground for too long. They need to get some fresh air."
Even though their breathing had been blocked and then freed, as they were still underground, they could only receive just enough oxygen to breathe barely.
The fact that they could still handle their weapons properly in a situation where they hadn't secured enough oxygen was proof of their strong mental fortitude.
As we made it out to the outside of Area C, the airship was already landing on the clearing, as the cleanup on the ground was mostly finished.
Soni Chepelin, the Colonel, who was stomping her feet with a very anxious look on her face, came into view.
"Battalion Leader, we've returned!"
"Lieutenant Enok!! Thank goodness─!! We have to depart right now. Most of the 3rd Battalion personnel have been boarded onto other airships!"
For a moment, she was happy that I had returned safely, but then she urged the company members with a frantic look on her face. She said she had already boarded the 3rd Battalion personnel who were supposed to evacuate to the ground onto the airships?
Could it be...
I didn't ask any further. It seemed the worst-case scenario I had anticipated was right at our doorstep.
"All personnel, board the ship!! The mission objectives have all been accomplished, so we are withdrawing immediately!"
"Yes, understood!"
"Move it, quickly!!"
The moment my order was given and the 1st Company personnel boarded the airship in an orderly fashion.
Boom──! Kwa-ang!!!
An explosive sound that pounded the eardrums echoed loudly through the night sky. It came from the direction where the guard company's barracks were.
"...?!"
"Don't look back, get in quickly!"
Red pillars of fire began to erupt from all over the Riemensch Arsenal.