This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 403: Glory After a Bloodbath

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Glory After a Bloodbath

Town No. 417.

The booming of artillery and gunfire was relentless.

The "Scorpion" armored personnel carriers, advancing in an arrowhead formation, continued firing. Before their paired 45mm guns, the rows of ruined houses and broken tiles within the town were as fragile as paper-mâché.

At the same time, the "Hyena" armored vehicles, flanking to the sides, also sustained their barrage, with their quad-barreled machine guns spewing fire serpents that wove a deadly web through the sky.

The already precarious remnants of walls and ruins quickly crumbled under the alternating fire of high-explosive and armor-piercing bullets, falling to the ground and shattering into piles of dirt and dust.

However, the players defending the town showed no signs of retreating; they rallied around the few remaining strongpoints in a stubborn resistance.

Of the 500 Retinue Soldiers first sent to the front lines, over 80% had been killed or wounded. The remaining 20% were pinned down behind the destroyed obstacles by relentless machine-gun fire.

But soon,

another five hundred Waste Land Wanderers were pressed to the front of the battle line, charging in groups of a hundred with the support of the rear fire—

Or rather, under the coercion of it.

Officers at the rear, holding megaphones, let out roar-like shouts.

"Charge!"

"Or die—!"

Under that suffocating atmosphere, the Cannon Fodder pushed to the front lines could hardly spare a thought for anything else and could only rush forward clutching their weapons.

"Ah—!"

At least compared to the tall and thick cannon barrels behind them, the enemies hiding in the rubble seemed somewhat easier to deal with.

A distance of less than three hundred meters could be crossed if they gritted their teeth and stormed through.

However, they soon paid the price for such thinking.

Despite suffering tremendous casualties, the players still held their ground unwaveringly, wave after wave rushing to fill the gaps in the front lines.

Even if they left behind dozens of bodies, even if they were engulfed by artillery fire countless times, the outer machine gun positions continued to operate.

Assaulted by machine gun fire, each meter the Retinue Soldiers advanced cost them more than a dozen lives.

The muddy path leading to Town No. 471 was smeared red with blood and then diluted by rain. Amidst the hail of bullets, no complete human form was visible, just chunks of flesh squirming to either push forward or escape backward.

The Supervisory team fired from behind to kill the deserters, forcing the Cannon Fodder to continue their advance, wearing down the trapped enemy’s ammunition in the town.

Under the fierce offensive, the siege had turned into a cruel execution by firing squad.

It seemed as though they felt the enemy’s supplies were sufficiently depleted; the "Scorpion" APCs serving as the tip of the assault started moving forward, with the first five vehicles starting their engines.

However, just as those five "Scorpion" APCs closed to within two hundred meters of the town, several RPGs emerged like locusts from the town.

Armor-piercing rounds that could penetrate 300mm of armor might struggle against Conqueror tanks, but against these lightly armored, content-rich vehicles, they proved unexpectedly effective.

Three APCs were penetrated, smoke billowing as they faltered, one hit directly in the neck. The high-temperature metal stream ignited the ammunition box beneath the turret, and the explosion’s flames and hot air instantly blew the turret skyward, knocking down the heavy armor soldiers who followed close behind.

Seeing this, the Centurion in command of the armored

"First echelon, pull back!"

"Covering fire, be alert! The enemy has anti-armor capability!"

The captain’s orders were hardly needed.

Seeing their comrades’ gruesome fate, the two surviving APCs didn’t think of anything else, quickly reversing back.

The Army soldiers who had followed the APCs lost the protection of their mobile cover and were pinned down behind the armored wreckage by the firepower from within the town, with no chance to move!

The Retinue Soldiers, who had made it half the distance to their target, tried to dispatch two small teams to support them but were quickly met with two more RPGs emerging from the town.

This time it was high-explosive grenades.

The shockwave and shrapnel from the explosion instantly blew two soldiers away. The rest, if not dead, were mostly injured and lay flat on the ground.

"Beautiful!"

The End-of-the-world Lone Wolf excitedly pumped his fist, about to carry ammo to the guy with the RPG launcher when a sound like a sweeping hurricane rushed past him.

Dozens of high-explosive shells detonated at once; he and the RPG-wielding player were blown to pieces before they could even grunt.

However—

Soon a new anti-tank team took their place, hunkering down behind cover, preparing for a second surprise attack.

Rachel’s eyes, fixed intently on that town two kilometers away, narrowed to slits.

Truth be told, the tenacity of these people came as a surprise to her.

In her initial estimation, the battle would have been over within ten minutes, but they had stubbornly survived one ten-minute period after another.

Now, nearly half an hour later, they still hadn’t managed to take down the outermost buildings of the town.

She glanced at the pale-faced Retinue Soldiers next to her and a flicker of contempt crossed her eyes.

These weaklings.

Not as good as clone soldiers.

Seeing Rachel’s signalling eyes, the deputy standing beside her shouted loudly into the communicator.

"Advance the Retinue Army on the west and east sides!"

"Even if it means death, push forward into death!"

Under the officer’s orders, the attacks from the western and eastern positions also began.

As the sound of gunfire spread from the north side of the town to both the east and west, the town of 417, which was at the eye of the storm, had effectively turned into a meat grinder.

Screams and wails rose one after the other.

However, they seemed insignificant amidst the explosions of gunpowder.

The casualties were already over half, and the players were forced to contract their defensive line, while the Retinue Soldiers advancing under artillery cover finally breached the town they had longed to enter.

But.

Hell had just begun...

...

The half-collapsed three-story western-style house, with half of its northwest wall blown off, exposing the steel skeletal frame.

"Damn it! I feel like I’m surrounded by a whole division!" Swearing, the rascal huddled below the window, changing his magazine.

"How many of us are left?"

With a bandage wrapped around his head and crouching on the other side of the barricade, Zhang Hai asked with furrowed brows.

"About four hundred..."

It was impossible to confirm casualties in this situation.

Even effective command was difficult to achieve.

They could only fight by squad, depending on pre-prepared cover from allies in the town, and following the established battle plan.

Fortunately, not all the solo players were novices to battle; the old soldiers with their high morale ensured that, even when dispersed, each squad would not fall into disarray.

Thinking he had retired, yet he still got pulled into such stimulating work, truly exhausting...

Thank goodness he had a young body in the game.

And it was even the most agile type.

"It seems like we won’t be able to hold on." The rascal muttered as he grimaced, "Their firepower is just too intense."

Zhang Hai didn’t respond, but took a deep breath, glanced out the window at the smoke-filled streets, and the dozen or so figures emerging from the smoke.

"Hold on!"

Dropping those words, he leaned his rifle out from behind cover and swiftly pulled the trigger.

The three people in the lead were instantly killed; the remaining soldiers quickly sought cover and returned fire towards the upper windows.

Gritting his teeth, the rascal picked up the rocket launcher’s firing tube, loaded it with a high-explosive grenade, and leaned out the window.

"I’m done playing defense with you guys!!!"

A rocket trailing fire shot out of the window, but almost immediately, three bullets struck his chest, one piercing his left shoulder.

An explosion roared from the street below.

There was no time to confirm casualties on the other side; Zhang Hai grabbed the shot rascal and dragged him towards the stairs.

"Are you insane?!"

"Cough cough... I’m fine."

The rascal coughed twice, forcing a smile and acting tough, but before he could finish speaking, a rocket came through the window, the blast wave pushing Zhang Hai forward, almost sending him tumbling down the stairs.

But he didn’t let go.

Once downstairs, he checked the rascal’s wounds and found that two bullets had been stopped by the bulletproof vest, only one had penetrated his shoulder.

"Can you still move?"

The rascal coughed heavily from the smoke and managed to squeeze out a word.

"Yeah..."

"Then get up and walk on your own!"

Zhang Hai pulled him to his feet and then opened the communication channel. Without caring if there was a response, he shouted.

"Everyone, retreat to the third defensive line!"

"Prepare for the final battle—!"

The third defensive line was at the town’s hospital, the only five-story building in the vicinity. Due to the integrity of the enclosing wall structure and the vegetation planted in the courtyard, allied forces had reinforced it heavily.

At the same time, that was also the last line of defense...

On the other side, Crow and Teng Teng’s squad was also engaging the enemy, exchanging fire with the soldiers of the Army.

Perhaps having realized that they were women, the ten-man team attacking their zone seemed intent on capturing them alive and had thus refrained from pulling out the heavy weapons at the start.

But it didn’t take long for them to pay the price for their recklessness.

A Spring Knife drone circled behind them through the ruins, and the explosion’s thick smoke and flames swallowed the entire street in an instant.

The people on the street were clearly dead beyond any doubt.

Resting the gun and aiming out the window, Crow’s lips curled up in pride, although she wasn’t the main DPS, but that didn’t stop her from showing off to the newbie beside her.

"...Jiujiu, don’t be scared. Big sister will protect you!"

However, listening to her show off, Jiujiu responded indifferently.

"What’s there to be afraid of?"

Crow was taken aback.

"Eh? You’re not scared?"

Teng Teng, wearing the neural connection device in the corner of the room, slightly curved her lips and said,

"You shouldn’t underestimate the newbies nowadays."

Vine Cottage had already been left in the care of the hired NPC young girl.

Like other life-profession players, she was also incorporated into the mixed thousand team, and she was in the same squad as Crow.

Compared to raids and airborne operations, the difficulty of defense was somewhat lower.

But as it turned out, it was only slightly lower.

Jiujiu’s eyes shifted, and suddenly she spoke up.

"By the way, Sister Teng Teng."

"What’s up?"

"What do you think of my brother?"

"Your brother?" Teng Teng paused for a moment, then after pondering for a while, she realized and said, "Oh, Night Ten..."

"Yep, yep!" Jiujiu eagerly nodded her little head, the spirit of gossip burning in her eyes.

Seeing right through what the little girl was thinking, Teng Teng sighed helplessly.

"Isn’t that guy just a kid?"

Jiujiu froze for a brief moment, then suddenly let out a chuckle.

Crow glanced at her curiously.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing much, my brother always thinks I’m a kid, huh... What’s that saying? Well, this is just karma."

Jiujiu nodded her little head in satisfaction, but before she could finish speaking, an Iron Fist Rocket Launcher round slammed into the wall in front of her.

The explosion, smoke, and flames engulfed her instantly, and even Crow, who was a little further away, was nearly swept up by the blast.

Watching the pile of debris buried by chunks of stone, Teng Teng froze for a moment, her breath catching for half a second.

The person who was just talking and laughing with her was now unrecognizable even in death the next second...

"...Is this what war is?"

"Cough, cough... Don’t zone out, duck!"

Before she could react, Crow, staggering to her feet from the ground, had already scooped her up under her arm and was retreating through the rubble to the rear.

Teng Teng herself wasn’t dazed but used the neural connection device to link her consciousness to a Crawling robot hidden on the street.

It was the last one left.

She had wanted to buy more, but the shop’s goods don’t refresh indefinitely, she had to leave some for other Intelligence System players as well.

A ten-man team rushed forward, and when they saw Teng Teng and Crow retreating, the following Army soldiers noticeably quickened their pace.

But before they could get close, a violent explosion came from the side, and smoke and flames from the alley swallowed everyone.

With a sigh of relief, Teng Teng, clutched by Crow, pulled out her index finger and pinched the slightly sore glabella.

"...That should have taken them down."

Annihilating two ten-person teams was already a significant accomplishment; she should be able to get a decent evaluation after the battle was over.

Feeling the resistance pressing against her face, Teng Teng struggled to twist her neck and looked up at Crow with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

"By the way... Can you put me down now?"

...

When the two received the order to retreat to the hospital in the center of the town, other players defending different areas also gradually fell back to this location.

Except for those who couldn’t leave or stayed behind to cover the retreat, out of an original full-strength thousand-member team, only less than fifty people remained.

The sporadic sound of gunfire in the distance was sinking into silence, interrupted occasionally by the explosion of a hand grenade, heralding the death of the last member of the squad.

Zhang Hai was organizing the remaining people to set up defenses.

"This is the last line of defense... we’ve done our best."

Someone with a bandage wrapped around their shoulder swallowed saliva and spoke.

"So, have we completed our mission?"

"Probably."

Glancing at the retinue soldiers swarming towards the hospital walls from outside the enclosing wall, Zhang Hai continued, "We’ve held them off for almost an hour... that should be enough."

That kid named Spring Water did a good command job.

But, as usual, plans can’t keep up with changes.

That airship’s functions were too overpowered, capable of both scouting and shelling, and even had a "damage-free shield," making it really tough to deal with.

Everyone tacitly prepared themselves for a desperate fight.

At this moment, piercing shrieks suddenly came from the sky, and streaks of white smoke crisscrossed the heavens, plummeting down to the north of the town.

A rain of fire falling from the sky!

There was no time to dodge; the armored companies and the thousand-team from the air force personnel carrier, moving inside the town, were immediately engulfed in a boiling sea of flames.

Watching the rain of fire coming down from the heavens, a look of surprise appeared on the faces of those guarding inside the hospital, but it soon turned into jubilation and excitement.

"Hahaha! Reinforcements!"

"Our reinforcements have arrived!"

Gazing at the rolling thick smoke and boiling sea of fire in the distance outside the window, Zhang Hai excitedly lifted his rifle and shouted to the people behind the cover.

"Prepare to counterattack!"

...

The smoke-filled battlefield, the land that had been scarred by rocket fire, looked as though it had been gnawed by dogs.

Tank after tank and armored vehicle were belching black smoke or spurting out sparks. Of the almost full-strength armored team, only eight vehicles survived.

Vehicle crew members limped as they evacuated the chariots, some just crawling out from under the cars.

However, those infantry exposed outside the cover were not so lucky.

Whether it was heavy infantry or light infantry, most were blasted apart by the rocket barrage, with flesh torn and separated from bone.

From the northern side of the town to the outer perimeter, there was no explosion-resistant cover to hide behind.

As the soldiers lucky enough to have survived the explosion moaned in pain, five sets of tracks suddenly burst out of the billowing smoke.

"Damn it! Tanks!"

As the tanks charged forward, the faces of the retinue soldiers showed pure terror.

Although the tanks looked primitive and seemed unrelated to the word ’technology,’ their hard steel armor and towering gun turrets and coaxial machine guns were not for show.

Bullets and shells weaved through the smoky battlefield, with still-mobile soldiers scrambling and rolling in retreat—including the few surviving wheeled vehicles.

Not giving them a chance to turn their turrets, the armored force entering the battlefield from the north had already commenced the reaping!

"Hahahaha! Finally, it’s my turn to take the stage! Tiger, step on the gas to the death! Damn... four wheels running faster than my five pairs of load-bearing wheels, we’ll see who’s faster now!"

Sitting right under the turret, Makabazi’s eyes were glued to the aiming scope, his right hand tightly gripping the firing trigger.

"Fire!"

With an excited shout, an 88mm low-pressure gun spat out flames; a shell was flung out and accurately hit the retreating ’Scorpion’ armored personnel carrier.

The side armor, less than 30mm thick, was instantly penetrated, and flames burst out from atop the carrier’s turret.

Makabazi shouted excitedly.

"Enemy vehicle destroyed! Quick! Load another round!"

"Already loading! Stop f*cking rushing me!"

The strength-type player squatting at Makabazi’s feet rolled his eyes, but his hands didn’t stop moving as he jammed another shell into the cannon.

Deafening cannon roars sounded.

Soon, another personnel carrier was destroyed.

The eight remaining vehicles of the retinue army were quickly reaped by the alliance tanks, exploding into a heap of scrap metal amid the flash of detonating ammo racks.

These five tanks were the latest masterpieces of Factory No.81; since they were the alliance’s first self-developed tracked tanks, they were named "Car No.1."

Although the name wasn’t as catchy as Goblin Technology, the technology behind Factory No.81 was solid.

The tilted armor, relatively modern gun tower layout, and classic five-pair load-bearing wheels, you wouldn’t notice at a glance that this thing was actually a replica of the BMP-1.

In order to reduce new production lines, the 100mm low-pressure gun was changed to 88mm, but thanks to the application of the Alliance’s latest mastered N10 azide compounds, the penetration ability was not reduced at all, but actually improved.

The only drawback was the thirty-meter safe distance, which would be somewhat difficult in close combat, but tanks rarely had the opportunity to get face-to-face in general.

As for the slow initial velocity of the shell, that was not an issue at all.

No matter how slowly the shells flew, they were still faster than wheels running on the ground.

The armored squadron of the Army had been completely destroyed, and twenty armored trucks with quad-mounted anti-aircraft cannons burst out from one side of the highway, starting to race and strafe towards the direction of the first thousand team’s retreat.

The voice of Mole Old Brother came over the communication channel.

"Tank squadron, keep moving forward!"

"Cut straight through their northern positions! Make it to the back of the western positions and cover the infantry of the Death Legion’s attack!"

Makabazi, who received the order, shouted excitedly.

"Roger that!"

The battlefield moved from the city district to the suburbs, and the vanguard of the attack shifted from the Death Legion to the Skeleton Corps.

Crossing from the north side of a muddy small town, 5 tanks and 20 armored trucks followed an arched trajectory, swiftly advancing to the west side of the town, brutally bisecting the first and second thousand teams of the Legion Airborne Combat Team.

Meanwhile, the Wolf Cavalry of the Death Legion followed closely in the tracks of the Skeleton Corps, launching a second round of charges.

Watching the fiery battlefield, Rachel, who propped himself up with his rifle from the ground, his face was etched with a look of startled unrest.

When he saw that burst of flame on the airship, a sense of ominous premonition arose in his heart.

His premonition quickly became a reality as the woeful wailing sound descended upon his troops’ heads like a plague of locusts.

Just one round of rocket artillery coverage and over half of his troops were killed or wounded, and most of those who survived were injured and unable to continue fighting.

And it wasn’t over yet.

The opposing armored forces rolled through the billowing smoke, and the chaotic gunfire and flying stray bullets made him almost lose his sense of direction.

He no longer had time to think about where those people came from.

Amidst the noisy communication channels, Rachel roared, trying to gather the remnants of his troops to turn the tide.

However, it seemed to be too late.

Piercing whistles came from all directions, tormenting his eardrums and nerves that were on the verge of collapse.

And the loud military bugles.

Swift figures pierced through the smoke; it seemed to be the Claw of Death, and the cavaliers riding on the back of the Claw of Death!

Those barbarian cavaliers were shouting slogans he couldn’t understand, waving huge "revolvers" in their hands, lobbing grenades behind their lines, and charging over like a tsunami.

Through the boiling sea of smoke, he saw an azure power armor.

The person was holding a hammer, and the Claw of Death beneath him was covered with an angular exoskeleton, distinct from head to toe from the other cavaliers.

That person didn’t charge forward but just quietly observed him, as if he had been targeted long before. The Claw of Death beneath him was the same, those amber pupils radiated a bloodthirsty glow, as if it couldn’t wait to feast.

Rachel swallowed his saliva and tightened his grip on the rifle, which couldn’t provide him much security.

He felt a power piercing through his soul, traveling through his armor and chest, gripping the hot, pulsating heart.

That power didn’t seem to come from the amber pupils but rather the power armor.

Or perhaps, the person hidden within the armor.

A flicker of fear passed through Rachel’s eyes but only for a moment; the fear was quickly dispelled by a determined look.

From the moment the rocket grenades fell like rain, he knew he had lost.

But—

He would not surrender.

Gripping the rifle in his hands, Rachel aimed at the man riding on the back of the Claw of Death, unleashing the last of his madness with a roar.

"Come on!"

"The Legion Airborne Combat Team has no cowards!"

The moment he pulled the trigger, the bullets flew like rain, and the sudden burst of firepower wove a scorching net in the air.

However—

The bullets aimed at the man’s chest seemed to hit an invisible wall.

They didn’t even leave a scratch on the azure armor; the bullets he fired were scattered by an unseen storm.

Provoked by the muzzle flash, the poised Nicole let out a roar, her strong hind legs violently powering a charge forward, like a cannonball.

Rachel’s eyes were filled with utter madness as he threw away his rifle, now empty of bullets, and drew his saber, which he seldom used, rushing towards the Death Knight charging directly at him.

"Go to hell—!"

There was no clashing of metal.

His blade didn’t even touch the fingernail of the Claw of Death before a massive gust of wind slammed into his chest.

The Nitrogen-Powered Hammer, swept up from below, shattered his defense without a hint of suspense; his black breastplate instantly turned into pieces, scattering as he was blown backward.

The explosion of nitrogen not only pierced through his armor but also shattered his internal organs.

Rachel spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and like a cannonball, he flew out over ten meters and crashed heavily onto the wreckage of an armored personnel carrier, falling to the ground motionless.

Nicole exhaled through her nostrils and shook her neck, her amber eyes filled with a hint of pity.

It was rare for her to hunt with her master, and yet she never expected this prey to be so weak, flying away before even touching her claw.

However.

She quite liked the armor her master had prepared for her; she felt an endless surge of strength throughout her body.

Dismissing the now lifeless Rachel from her gaze, Chu Guang, who was riding on Nicole’s back, raised his warhammer above his head.

Through the loudspeaker of the power armor, his voice thundered across the wilderness, echoing on the battlefield, filled with gunpowder smoke.

"Soldiers! Advance!"

"Chop off the heads of those beasts! Use their blood to water our land! By next year, the fertile soil will bloom with flowers—"

"And we shall honor the immortal souls with victory and glory!"

"Advance!!!"

His roaring command ignited the entire battlefield.

A chorus of rallying cries rose from all around, responding to his call.

"Charge!"

"Kill—!"

"For the hidden Little Fish and Boss Xia!"

"For the dog planners!"

"Long live the Manager!!"

"Demacia!!!"

The cavalry’s charge had ended, and the Death Legion’s infantry began their march to victory, spurred on by the sound of whistles and the bugle’s call.

Three mercenary units led by the Storm Corps burst from the edge of the forest, intercepting the retreating Second and Third thousand teams.

Looking at the azure armor galloping across the battlefield, many of the mercenaries from Giant Stone City were astonished.

"Is that... the Manager of the Alliance?!"

"The blue power armor! That’s him! I saw him at the celebration earlier this year!"

The Manager of the Alliance was actually standing with them!

And even charging to the front...

To them, it was simply unimaginable.

In past fights against the Tide, let alone the lord of the city who never showed himself, they had never even seen the militia group’s leader.

At most, an officer in impenetrable power armor would find a safe spot to sit while watching them march to their deaths.

That towering figure planted seeds in the hearts of many.

Although they were unclear what it was, and why their own blood boiled as if scorched red-hot, even the most fearful mercenaries now roared with unstoppable fervor, joining the players in rushing towards the retreating army.

The battle line stretching for several kilometers was engulfed in thick smoke.

First torn apart by the Death Legion’s Wolf Cavalry, and then gnawed at from all sides by the infantry, the Legion Airborne Combat Team had suffered over half casualties, and the fully deployed Retinue Army had been decisively defeated.

Without the protection of armored units, enduring constant losses, and with the command structure in disarray due to the death of their frontline commander in the chaos...

The Legion Airborne Combat Team surrounding the small town finally faced a complete collapse, fleeing towards the airship’s landing zone.

That was their only hope for survival.

If they could retreat to the defensive positions, those who lived might have a chance to reorganize their defenses.

However, at this moment, they were unaware that while their main force was engaged, the Jungle Corps had taken advantage of the forcibly landed airship, making their way from Rui Valley City District, cutting straight beneath it to the camp.

Strength-type brutes wearing KV-1 exoskeletons suddenly struck, releasing fierce gunfire with their light and heavy machine guns, quickly catching the two hundred-strong units in the living quarters off guard.

Chaos reigned aboard the Steel Heart.

The gun turret at the front had been completely destroyed, and everyone on the airship was preoccupied with their own survival, unable to provide any early warning.

Listening to the relentless gunfire within the camp, the officer in charge was etched with panic.

He grabbed the adjutant and bellowed his question.

"What about Fallen Leaf Camp? Why hasn’t Coleway arrived yet?"

The adjutant’s face was etched with panic as he stammered his reply.

"Sir... The Waste Land Wanderers have mutinied!"

"Damn it... these treacherous bastards!"

There was no time for shock or anger; the officer hastily ordered the organization of defenses, but before they could mount an effective resistance, the second volley of rockets fell upon them.

Lacking support from airborne firepower and without counter-battery guns to suppress the opposing rocket artillery, their camp quickly turned into a sea of flames.

The outermost defenses collapsed swiftly. Under the command of Midnight Chicken Killing, the Jungle Corps took less than ten minutes to capture the entire camp.

And the casualties sustained were merely around a dozen.

Carrying a machine gun, a Picheng Paratrooper approached Midnight Chicken Killing and said,

"... The retreating soldiers from the Legion Airborne Combat Team will arrive in 20 minutes, with an estimated thousand-team strength!"

"Leave them to Mosquito Brother!"

Looking up at the airship overhead, Midnight Chicken Killing took off the silver-white metal cylinder that resembled an oxygen tank from his back and slammed it to the ground.

The pointed top aimed straight at the airship above.

He pulled a nylon buckle from his exoskeleton and hooked it onto the metal cylinder.

Others did the same.

Seeing that everyone was ready to ascend, Midnight Chicken Killing called out crisply,

"Launch!"

At his command, the camp was engulfed in billowing plumes of detonation mist.

Sturdy arrows, like harpoons shot into the sky, ignited after soaring upward, dragging ropes of Devil Silk and trailing white smoke as they headed towards the belly of the airship.

Covering a distance of four to five hundred meters, the arrows that finally reached the airship’s shield were almost spent.

Yet, the moment the arrowheads made contact with the airship, the tips burst open, driving steel hooks deep into the airship’s armor.

After a tug on the rope, ensuring that all was secure,

Midnight Chicken Killing looked up to the heavens and roared.

"To the Manager, we offer our hearts!"

"Invasion!"

With his shout, the winch inside the canister began to spin, pulling him upwards into the sky.

It wasn’t just him – several figures clad in exoskeleton armor also rose into the air, pulled by the ropes towards the skies.

The soldiers on the airship were too entangled with the Burning Corps to pay attention to these men.

Standing on the bridge, overlooking the ground below, General Mclen’s expression shifted from urgency to shock, and then to complete astonishment.

These barbarians...

They had gone mad!

Violent shaking came from beneath the airship, and General Mclen hastily grabbed the handrail beside him, nearly falling to the floor.

Then, an enlisted man in exoskeleton armor rushed in, panic-stricken, and reported,

"...Report! The enemy has occupied our landing pods!"

He was interrupted before he could finish as another soldier, stumbling in from the corridor outside, barged in.

"They have taken control of our garage! And they have activated two of our Scorpion tanks parked there... They are firing 45mm cannons at us! We need reinforcements!"

General Mclen’s face turned slightly pale.

First, a wing was destroyed, then the gun bay right in front was blown apart, and after that, the frontline troops suffered a heavy blow.

If watching Rachel’s troops get bombed allowed him to barely maintain his composure, appointing Rachel’s deputy to take over the frontline command and retreat, it was at the news of the enemy occupying the airship’s landing pods that he finally felt an unwarranted sense of panic.

"...These barbarians."

His lips twitched as he chewed on the word as if he could grind those people to dust with his teeth alone.

The adjutant beside him took a deep breath and looked at the staff officer beside him.

The staff officer understood his gaze.

After a brief exchange of looks, the staff officer approached General Mclen and whispered,

"General, for your safety, I suggest you retreat for the time being."

"Retreat?"

General McClane stared at his staff officer in disbelief, and, after struggling with the decision, he finally relaxed his tense shoulders.

The Iron Heart could be lost.

But no matter what, the captain of the army couldn’t fall into the hands of the barbarians.

That would be the shame of the entire army.

Clamping his teeth, he glanced outside through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the smoke-filled land and eventually nodded his noble head.

"...Proceed to the escape pod."

His aide let out a sigh of relief and crisply responded,

"Yes!"

...

A long shuttle-shaped craft launched from the rear of the airship, streaking away toward the west like a shooting star, unnoticed by all.

The Jungle Corps that had broken into the airship divided into two teams; one headed straight forward to support the Burning Corps’ brothers and surrounded the soldiers of their army.

The other, led by Midnight Chicken Killing, followed a route secretly marked by Old Soldier, fighting all the way to the airship’s command area and storming into the bridge.

The floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Rui Valley City was tantalizingly close.

However, the officers who should have been there were nowhere to be seen.

The ten-person squad stationed here was quickly wiped out, and Midnight Chicken Killing, toting a heavy machine gun, stepped forward to search around the bridge, grumbling and cursing,

"Damn it, they let them get away..."

"They got away, but at least we took down this airship."

Standing next to Brother Chicken, a Picheng Paratrooper took down the flag they had prepared earlier and chuckled, "Come on, let’s decorate this big guy a bit."

...

Outside the bridge’s floor-to-ceiling windows, the Alliance’s flag was hung, a nearly five-meter-long banner flapping loudly in the wind.

With the Iron Heart captured, the Goblin Corps’ aerial squadron took off from the airport north of City of Dawn, swooping down on the retreating Legion Airborne Combat Team.

Facing the barrage of rockets and the constant dive-bombing of propeller planes, the morale of the already heavily injured soldiers of the army was on the brink of collapse.

And upon seeing the fall of the Iron Heart, they finally lost their last bit of courage and surrendered en masse.

Chu Guang, riding on Nicole’s back, looked up at the distant sky, a smile spreading across his face.

"It seems like the rain is about to stop..."

Nicole exhaled softly, which served as a response.

In the midst of the far-off clouds shattered by artillery fire, a beam of light pierced through the heavy rain and struck the earth, with a hint of a colorful outline faintly shimmering around it.

It looked like a rainbow.

Meanwhile, at the command center in the western district of Rui Valley City, Commander Quan removed the visor of his helmet and saw the same beam of light descending from the clouds.

Just moments ago, he had received the front-line report from the various corps.

The Skeleton Corps, Death Legion, Storm Corps, and three thousand-strong teams composed of mercenaries had completely crushed the remaining resistance of the army and captured the surrendering soldiers.

The Jungle Corps and Burning Corps had successfully seized control of the Iron Heart.

Including the mixed thousand team that held out until the end.

All of the corps had perfectly achieved the final military objective.

Though the casualties were heavy, and several second and third-tier corps had been wiped out entirely,

they had ultimately triumphed over an adversary that seemed nearly impossible to defeat.

And this land had finally welcomed the dawn of peace.

Standing next to him, "Kakarot" was carrying a rifle, his mouth corners twisting into a smile.

"The timing of this rain stopping couldn’t be better."

Commander Quan nodded slightly.

"Yes..."

"Speaking of which, we didn’t make it to the front lines again, did we?" Kakarot ribbed.

Hearing this, Quan smiled sheepishly.

"You caught me again. Are you going to give me a hard time about it?"

"Hahaha, of course not, winning is all that matters! We’re not the only ones playing it safe... there’s another who didn’t get a chance to be on the front line."

Kakarot laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder.

"Anyway... nice command!"