“A decoy.”
Yujin passed through the gate in the fortress wall. Now, there was no obstacle between him and the Great Forest. The third wall, originally meant to repel external invasions, had already fallen.
“Are they ready?”
He raised his gaze to the sky. It was noon, the sun hanging at its zenith, and through the shimmering sunlight, flying objects were visible.
Those floating in the sky, buoyed by inflated balloons, were none other than the “hot air balloons—one of the core elements of this operation.”
More precisely, the hydrochloric acid pouches hanging beneath those balloons were the key. If they could lure the monsters within a certain range, the Blizzard would burst those acid pouches.
“An acid rain will pour down.”
A corrosive substance like hydrochloric acid would be unbearable even for monsters. Of course, there was a high risk that the acid could harm their side as well, but when else would they put the Undead’s regenerative ability to use?
“There are two signal flares.”
Yujin held the revolver in his right hand. One flare was to signal the monsters’ appearance, and the last one to signal when to burst the pouches.
“It’s been a while since I’ve put my legs to the test.”
He’d volunteered to play the role of bait. If he couldn’t reach the effective range, it would all be for nothing. While he might escape injury, the consequences of failure would affect others as well. No one should be entrusted with causing several casualties because of a single mistake.
“This place remains unchanged.”
Passing the ruins of the broken third wall, he stood before the Great Forest. Towering trees as tall as three-story houses gathered to form this mystical forest. It was the natural boundary dividing human territory and the demon realm, but to Hanpen, it was also a dangerous place where monsters hid.
However, it had been a while since monsters became so threatening. Usually, monsters in the Great Forest were scattered, living like wild animals. For them to gather a force strong enough to break down a wall meant there had to be artificial intervention.
“Ant-type monsters require a core of the swarm to emerge.”
Monsters that serve as the center of a swarm rarely appear naturally. Even if one did, rumors would spread, and the Imperial Army would have eliminated them before they formed a force capable of breaking a wall.
“But the wall has fallen.”
The swarm must have formed suddenly, without any preventive measures or preparations. Monster forces typically grow at a gradual pace, like animal packs. A sudden swarm indicates someone artificially accelerated their growth.
“Moreover, the cracks that appeared in the third wall were deliberately targeted.”
This means the center of the swarm understands the third wall and has the intelligence to exploit its weaknesses. Such high intelligence is even rarer for monsters.
“Unexplained incidents keep happening in succession.”
Is that guy who’s gathering the fragments of Illu behind this? Why is he collecting the fragments of the gods and stirring up trouble at the border?
They weren’t particularly loyal to the Empire or the Imperial Court, but “this peace was made by us.”
Nearly a hundred years of peace forged by the Hero and everyone else, a peace gained with the blood and flesh of monsters in these hands. As long as these eyes still behold the sunlight, they couldn’t allow that peace to be recklessly broken.
“To think they want to ruin the masterpiece we barely created through all that suffering.”
From the perspective of those still alive, it was nothing but aggravating. Not just a competitor hindering the collection of Illu’s fragments, but a despicable troublemaker trying to destroy the work they had built with their own hands.
“That’s another reason to kill.”
It was time to act. Aiming the revolver skyward, Yujin placed his finger on the trigger, feeling the tension just before firing.
“Come.”
He pulled the trigger.
Taang—!
Flames burst from the muzzle, and with colored smoke, the projectile shot into the sky. The flare was designed to be conspicuous in both sound and trajectory.
“To stand out,” he thought, “means to provoke the beasts effectively.”
Grrr…!
As expected, growls echoed among the Great Forest’s towering trees. Red eyes gleamed all at once from between the trunks. To think the monsters reacted so quickly after the flare fired—
“Haha…”
They must have been waiting for the attack. It was fortunate Yujin decided to hunt them down quickly; if they had waited inside the wall, they’d have been caught off guard by a swarm attack.
Kyaaah!
With a roar, black shapes surged from the Great Forest. Monsters appeared—bipedal, one-eyed reptiles sprinting. Sharp spines protruded from their backs, and their gaping jaws were filled with dagger-like teeth.
“Ugh, disgusting bastards!”
Provoked, they kicked off from the ground and began running. Humans could not outrun quadrupeds, so Yujin enhanced his legs with magic to barely keep a distance.
“What about their numbers?”
He hadn’t had time to look while running. If they could break the wall, the swarm must be enormous. Turning his head back as he ran, he took in the scale.
“Damn.”
The horizon was pitch black, covered by monsters. There had to be at least hundreds in sight, and worse, more were pouring out of the forest continuously.
“Even if the trap triggers, a close-quarters fight is inevitable!”
The acid pouches prepared in the sky wouldn’t be enough. They’d have to deploy forces inside the wall to repel the monsters, which would cause heavy casualties due to the physical gap between humans and monsters.
“For now, use what we have!”
Ahead, allied troops appeared as small figures, meaning they were within the perfect range to burst the acid pouches. Aiming the revolver skyward while running, Yujin pulled the last trigger.
Taang!
The signal flare fired.
Bang! Sshhh…!
A small explosion overhead released droplets carrying a toxic stench that rained down on the ground. Naturally, their side was also within the affected area.
“Knew it would be like this.”
Loading shurikens in his hand, Yujin flicked them upward. The thrown shurikens spaced out evenly in the air, forming a makeshift magic circle in that fleeting moment.
‘Purification.’
The magic circle activated purification magic. The acid rain falling overhead was neutralized, turning into clean water droplets that soaked his head.
Kyaaak! Kumehek…!
But the monsters were hit directly by the acid. Droplets strong enough to corrode metal turned their spines and flesh into a mass of meat porridge.
Pssss…
Wherever the acid rain fell, the grass melted away. The acid rain laid waste to the area, and when the downpour ceased, only melted monster bodies and barren wasteland remained.
Krrr…
True to the monsters’ resilience, they staggered even with half their bodies melted. But the allies wouldn’t give them a chance to recover. Knowing this, Yujin dropped flat to the ground.
“Fire!”
At the command, a volley of gunshots rang out. The deafening sound was accompanied by the sharp tearing of air overhead as bullets whistled down.
Puck! Pp-puck-puck!
With bullets hitting, monster screams pierced the air. The acid’s corrosive effect seemed to make bullets penetrate more easily. Turning around, Yujin saw monsters collapsing with bullet holes punched through them. The lead squad chasing them was wiped out, but—
Kyaaah!
The rear squad following from the Great Forest was still intact. They had arrived late and barely been hit by the acid rain. Letting them charge the allies was impossible.
“We’ll intercept here.”
Clang!
He loaded shurikens into both hands. If he took out the lead monsters, the others left behind could be handled by the troops.
Kyaaak!
Three monsters charged right then.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Yujin swung his right hand and threw shurikens.
Papapak!
The blades flew and struck the monsters’ heads. While a knife in the head didn’t guarantee instant death, if the embedded blade exploded, that would be a different matter. He clenched his empty hand into a fist.
‘Detonation (Explosion).’
The magic in the shurikens activated.
Bbang-bbang!
The monsters’ heads evaporated all at once. Disappearing with a mist of blood-colored fog, the monsters fell to the ground like puppets with cut strings.
Kyaaak!
But only three were dealt with, and the rushing monsters were so many that the loss was negligible. These creatures charged recklessly, fearless and mindless.
Shaaah…!
“Yoo?”
One of them leapt over the corpses of its kin, growling, “Kraak!”
It opened its jaws to bite, but bang!
A bullet pierced its eye and head, sending it crashing to the ground. The shot was a thumb-sized gunshot precisely targeting a vital spot. Few had the skill to land such a shot with one bullet.
“Stop wasting your time.”
Yujin felt eyes watching from the wall. Since the shooting distance was long, it was probably Captain Rachel using a rifle.
Bang-ta-ta-tang!
Heavy gunfire followed from behind, each shot dropping monsters with eyes pierced. The brief moment of calm allowed Yujin to glance back.
“We have to earn our keep.”
Major Anderson was loading a large-caliber revolver.
“You should’ve been working like that from the start.”
Yujin retorted, then refocused ahead. Monsters kept pouring from the Great Forest, and the two of them formed the frontline defense.
Clang!
Reloading shurikens in his right hand, he spoke to Anderson.
“If you don’t want to die, keep up.”
“Tch, what an attitude.”
Together, they held back the oncoming monsters. Anderson fired rapid shots to kill the monsters on the left, while Yujin detonated shurikens to blow apart those on the right.
Bbang!
Another monster’s head exploded, splattering gore on Anderson’s face.
“Damn it! You’re smearing gore on my face!”
“Focus, will you!”
There was no time to argue; it was better to concentrate on reducing their numbers. Yujin was running low on shurikens, too.
‘If I run out of shurikens, should I retreat?’
Only about twenty shurikens remained. If each struck a vital point, that would be twenty monsters down. Counting his supplies, he was about to decide when—
“Yujin! Duck!”
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden warning, he turned his head, but—
“Duck, I said!”
Anderson grabbed the back of his neck and forced him down to the ground. A mere ranger dared to manhandle him?
“Who the hell do you think you—”
Before he could curse, a loud staccato of gunfire drowned out everything, mixed with the sound of bullets tearing through the air overhead. It was the most violent gunfire he had ever heard.
Sshh—
The gunfire abruptly ceased.
“What the—?”
Looking ahead, Yujin saw that the many monsters had been riddled with bullets like a honeycomb, collapsing everywhere. Was it because they had been herding the monsters together? That single strike had wiped them out in one fell swoop.
“Is that total annihilation?”
He asked Anderson.
“What was that just now?”
“A new weapon.”
The major pointed behind him with his thumb. Turning his head, Yujin saw an unusual weapon on their side’s formation. Multiple thin barrels bundled together, rotating on their own without anyone controlling them.
A generator was connected to the strange barrel body.
“Phew…”
Anderson took advantage of the moment to light a cigarette as he explained.
“An electronically operated Gatling gun. It’s a prototype donated by the Mechanist Sect priests.”
Apparently, since it was still a prototype, the recharge time was long, and it consumed all its stored power in an instant when fired. That’s why Anderson joined the fight—to buy time for the weapon to recharge.
“The Mechanist Sect… they make some strange stuff.”
The Mechanist Sect was a religious group that worshiped the god of machines. Though branded heretical by the Holy Empire, the Empire tolerated their existence and made good use of their technology.
“Like now.”
Thanks to it, they were able to wipe out so many monsters at once. Yujin was about to retreat, low on shurikens, but the major wasn’t satisfied with just taking out the small fry.
“Anderson, do we have enough ammo?”
The major furrowed his brow, cigarette still between his lips.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Because,” he said, “once the swarm’s small fry are dead, do you think the leader of that swarm will just sit still? We’ve been killing monsters, using up shurikens for a reason.”
“The big one’s coming soon.”
Kuwaaaar…!
From the Great Forest, a giant rose up.
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