Chapter 94
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Lakeside Night (13), Santa Margarita Lake
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Cold was the eternal companion of soldiers. On a ripened winter night, soldiers drenched in rain shivered violently.
Bang!
Gunfire echoed along the riverbank. It was the fifth shot. The boy who had shot the thundercloud slowly lowered the muzzle.
A soldier guarding the darkness beyond the waterway raised his hand.
"It's coming."
The first one the sentry spotted was just the beginning. Winter saw far more. A hot swarm was charging in. In the green world of advanced night-vision goggles, the deaths resembling humans stood out in glowing iron hues. The scale descending the slope numbered at least in the hundreds.
'Might exceed a thousand.'
As he counted, the mangled scout spotted them. Kuwaaaak! It let out a prolonged scream with its entire body, charging blindly only to be blocked by the rough river currents. The rapids were a mere ten meters wide. A distance where facial features were clearly distinguishable. The variant bellowed once more and paced left and right like an enraged human.
The squad leader asked.
"Shall we fire?"
"Wait, Hernandez."
It would have been fine to gun them down as they came, but there was no rush. Winter said.
"Our mission is luring them in. It's not a bad idea to wipe them all out... but it'll take time anyway until they fully gather. For now, let's just observe. It's a rare chance to study variant herd behavior up close."
"Observe?"
"Yeah. Observe. We've seen individual intelligence rise. I want to see how it plays out in a group—like their communication level or how they cooperate to overcome obstacles. It'll help down the line, right?"
"Hmm, feels like some animal experiment. Whatever, just hope it wraps up quick."
"Everyone, hang in there just a bit longer."
Winter encouraged the soldiers. With no immediate fight in sight, the prone machine gunner shifted position, shaking from the chill. The ground must have been freezing.
The first variant to arrive attempted a crossing. It dipped one foot into the rapids, then another, hesitating on the third step. White foam surged to its waist in an instant. It wobbled precariously before finally backpedaling. Once back on land, it roared savagely toward the unreachable hosts. That cry drew even more variants. Their numbers kept swelling.
Winter recalled the church in Paso Robles. At that intelligence level, it would have plunged in heedlessly. Or even if the front halted, the mass and momentum from behind would have shoved it under.
"Tch. Those bastards are annoying even in death."
Guilherme's gloomy grumble targeted Captain Harris's infected men. Corpses in combat gear and body armor. One even had a rifle slung over its neck and shoulder. But it just dangled there. No memories from life, intelligence regressed. Victims turned perpetrators.
One of the soldiers made a cautious suggestion.
"Lieutenant. Can't we at least clear those out first?"
"Hold on. I'll handle it."
"No, you don't need to—"
Ignoring the rest, the boy stepped forward. He flipped up his night-vision goggles. No need at this range—it was clear as day. An impressive sight. White steam rose from the variants' bodies. High body heat at work.
Winter bowed his head in silent prayer. A gesture of respect for the squad at his back.
'Leichentein said it—offerings are for the living.'
After a few breaths, he opened his eyes.
Clack, clack, clatter! Teeth chattering. One of the infected soldiers twisted its head, staring their way. It extended a black tongue long and flicked it.
Winter tallied the targets in his mind, waited until all were in range, then unleashed a sudden burst.
Every aim point: the face.
Twenty-two different faces punched through at machine-gun speed. Foreheads, brow ridges, eyeballs, noses, philtrums, throats. The tongue-flicker took it in the soft palate at the back of the mouth. Motion ceased the instant it hit. Blood trickled from its maw before it crumpled from the knees.
Hands outpaced eyes. Targets dropped, the remaining horde stirred late. Never quiet to begin with, now it was pandemonium. Striding side to side like the first, emitting menacing cries.
At last, they tried crossing the river. Sergeant Hernandez said.
"Creepy as hell. Think I get why you want to observe now."
He'd spotted their cooperation. Grasping wrists to form chains stretching into the water. Didn't work well, of course. The end link had to brace the current. Chains never grew long.
"Ghoul! Multiple ghouls at eleven o'clock!"
The sharp-eyed designated marksman's warning. Winter swept his gaze that way. Soon pinpointed the ashen enhanced-types mixed in the horde. No special powers, but tougher and smarter than plain variants.
One, though, wasn't your standard ghoul. Soldiers couldn't tell, but Winter could. Telltale traits. A full grade higher than any he'd seen.
'Beta ghoul. Yeah, about time one showed.'
He'd suspected their existence before, but this was the first confirmed sighting.
Winter had spotted it late because his attention was elsewhere. Heavy motion beyond the treeline. A shadow in the dark—if not for 「Combat Sense」's ping, he'd have missed it entirely. Not a Grumble. Circumstantial: a Grumble would've hurled variants or trees by now.
So what was it? Why stay hidden?
'No clue. This world's got too many curveballs.'
Not his first surprise, but the frequency was the issue. Rather than force-fitting to the known, Winter pegged it as a new special variant type.
"What now? Pop its head right away?"
Sensing the aim, the beta ghoul slipped behind others as cover.
The unknown threw Winter off. It might've changed too.
"Orders, Fleming."
"Roger."
The marksman tracked it through his scope.
Enemy numbers still climbing. Headed for over a thousand, as guessed. If the Trickster hadn't died, they wouldn't have scattered this far.
Planned to lure them all, leave none behind.
Variants kept repeating the same flop. Lining up, dipping into the rapids over and over.
Change hit abrupt. A unique, staccato roar echoed long—then behavior shifted visibly.
It was just refining their trick. One variant chain stretched to max. A second formed beside it. The first slowed the flow, letting the second advance a step. Third followed suit.
Deepest point brushed its nose. The fifth chain cleared it.
All in a blink.
"Lieutenant! Orders!"
Squad leader's urgent yell. Variants looked seconds from crossing. Numbers meant simultaneous tries elsewhere too.
First one hit the bank, took steps into the water—how many?
Winter commanded coolly.
"Ignore the front! Cut the middle! Let the rest drift!"
Soldiers got it instantly. Concentrated on the landward links.
Pew-pew-pew! Bullets hammered the surface in volleys. Heads popping up in rows shattered.
The first chain's collapse burdened the next. Mass sweep downstream. Like an overflowing levee or dominoes. Groooan! Thraaash! Flailing variants tumbled with foam.
Hell unleashed. Variants' only grasp: fellow unfortunates. Mad scrambles over each other. River boiled with writhing corpses.
Then another high-pitched, distinct roar rang out.
Survivors on the water shuddered, locked rigid. Only unheard stragglers still thrashed.
Winter puzzled for a split second.
'Metabolic suppression? Just delays drowning anyway?'
Land variants began leaping in droves.
Upstream to down, orderly.
Not suicide. At jump peak, chests inflated, bodies stiffened. Splash! Submerged in spray, buoyed up fast. Footing. Drifted quick, but the bank swarmed variants. They stepped on incoming floaters—dozens hurled per second. Spray endless. Diseased flesh waves blanketed the river.
Surface clogged real-time with corpse-floats.
Fresh variants dashed atop them. Eyes fixed this side.
Soldiers fired on instinct, no orders needed. Grenades sailed.
"Frag out!"
All hit the dirt on the call. Blasts underwater, on surface, far bank. Water pillars thicker than hail scattered droplets. Night river blackened further.
"Whoa, fuck. Hold up. What kinda bullshit is this...!"
Machine gunner spat curses mid-reload.
Winter jolted too, briefly. Rare fluster. The sight too overwhelming.
He clocked the weirdness after dumping three mags in ten seconds. Click! Striker smacked empty breech. His direct arc clear. Skipped reload, yanked a grenade. Clip off, pin pulled. For the next hot spot.
Winter faltered—no clear throw spot.
Soldiers caught on one by one. Furious fire tapered off.
"What the...?"
Guilherme's baffled mutter.
Normal variants packed muscle but moved clumsy. Floats or no, none dashed end-to-end. Shaky, sinking steps. Tough for any fit human. Needed pro-level 「Movement」 buffs.
Just more falls, drownings. Float spread capped.
Winter reflected. Tunnel vision—my bad.
Scan wide even mid-fire. He'd locked to his sightline. Commanders weren't grunts. Sloppy error.
'Haven't rattled like this in ages.'
Far-bank horde thinned visibly. Obvious: thousands or not, dozens vanishing per second burned through fast.
Beta ghoul roared late. Reckless dives halted.
Remnants: a scattered handful.
Grenade lobbed there. Pin long pulled, still clutched. Boom! Seventeen infected pulped across the wide blast.
Soldiers cleaned the rest.
The ashen enhanced crawled. Wounded yet tenacious, fleeing attempts. Winter nearly fired himself, then called the marksman.
"Fleming. Nail that one."
Heavy rounds hammered its skull in bursts. Shattered bone, splattered brains.
