109 The bloody reality...
"Fire squad; Fire at 1 O'clock. Two volleys of fire spells." yelled the commander.
The score of fire mages did as they were told. [Fire Javelin], [Fire Ball], [Fire Spear] and a lot of fire spells rained down on the blue-skinned ice dwarves.
The fully armored dwarves were more coordinated than their counterparts. Even without the command, they raised their shield over their heads to brace the assault. The blocks of shield connected perfectly, forming a giant mana barrier above the shields.
However, the first volley of fire spells ripped through the blue shield like a piece of paper. The second volley of fire spell sent the entire squad of ice dwarves into a frenzy.
"Gun squad, Shoot at will. Fire squad, recover mana." said the commander in his mid-thirties. He looked very serious with a face full of black beard. And so he was.
A month ago, he was just a second lieutenant. With over ten years of service and a mission back to Earth, he should have been a Lieutenant Colonel or a Major at minimum, but he never overcame the lowest rank of an officer.
Why? Because he wasn't flexible enough.
"Sir, we should use the fire mage squad more. The two volleys of spells weren't enough to exhaust them."
Rainer, the stern commander, looked at his officer, who was his senior a month ago, and said, "Then you can take the position of commander and I can go back to the stronghold."
The Captain was just thirty years old. He was Rainer's superior, and that was the way it should have been.
But, out of nowhere, the order came from the top and made Rainer a Lieutenant Colonel. And he became a subordinate.
'It's just a few successes. Just wait till you make a mistake. I will…' The captain clenched his fist, but didn't dare to say it loud.
"IS there something the captain needs to add?" Rainer asked when he found that the captain was staring dagger at him.
"No, sir," he replied, controlling his voice and expression.
"Then do you like to lead a 50-strong squad to assault the enemy on the left flank?"
"You…" the captain swallowed back the rest of the sentence and left with a snort. Looking back at his retreat, Rainer's lips curved up a little.
"You want to bite me, huh? Like I am going to give you the chance." Leaving the protection of the massive army against these monsters is as good as dead.
"As long as the magic squad is unharmed, there won't be a problem for my fourth victory." That was also why he attacked the enemy with the bullet as soon as the magic squad had broken their magical shield.
"Artillery unit. Aim for the two-headed one at the back." He knew very well that the magic of these two-headed beasts is the strongest. "Wind squad; follow up with the sharpest spells. The Earth squad; reinforce the front barrier. Vanguard; concentrate fire on the archers."
With swift and concise command, the army was continuously etching away the number of enemies. The large artillery unit was holding back the giant monsters, while the other squad was killing the small one.
*Boom* Boom*
A series of blasts attracted the attention of Rainer as one of the soldiers shouted. "Enemies. Underground."
"Set more trap charges," Rainer yelled. In the beginning, they were vulnerable to these monsters. They use magic, have barriers around them you can't see, move through the underground. It was the enemies they had never faced before.
When more and more information about the enemies were flooding in, they no longer appeared threatening.
The trap charges were enough to stop all the monsters from moving through the underground. The magic squad didn't take care of the invisible mana shield.
Even if their blood is blue, at the end of the day the monsters are also made of flesh and blood. There is no way they can stand against the hot metals. And the battle continued without much problem.
"A little more. There are just a couple of dozens of enemies left." One of the soldiers raised his head to cheek and shouted. Others joined in a rug of hooray.
"Steady." Rainer yelled, "Artillery unit. Rain it down on the giant. Fire squad, follow up with two volleys."
They did what he told them to do. There were five artillery guns with them, each operated by a squad of three. With mana crystal warheads, the barrage was very effective against the monsters. And the assault from the fire mage squad sealed the deal.
"Yeah…" After the last body hit the snow, the entire battalion erupted into cheers. A smile appeared on the stern face of Rainer too, "No. 4. That's great. One more victory and they will promote again."
"Check the area. Look for any survivors. Take a part of the fire and wind squad with you."
After ordering one of the non-commissioned officers, he moved to the other two, "Recover the trap charges, the armor of the enemies and their body too. And you'll take care of the wounded, count the number, and let me know."
Three of them nodded and moved to do their jobs. Rainer was about to give a sigh of relief when someone cried, "Monster."
The entire army turned silent. Some of them grabbed their guns tighter, the mage started to replenish their mana again. And it was then someone shouted, "It's just three monsters." And a roll of laughter followed.
Rainer followed the voice and found that there were just three monsters, but they are the monsters he'd never seen before. "ESS, check the database archive."
[No record found.]
After the army started the operation to win back the lost posts, they had added a real-time monster database feature in ESS. As long as one person sees it, the other will know it as well. It's been very helpful in the operation.
Rainer stared at the grey cloud above his head and remembered that he couldn't connect to the satellite in the area, "But as long as somebody had registered the monster six hours ago, it should be in the database."
The zoom feature of his helmet triggered as he looked in the direction. "Other than the ears, it looked totally like a human. And those two…" As Rainer stared at the monsters covered with white fur, he couldn't think of anything that looked similar to it.
"But if they are with the monsters we've killed, why didn't they come out before? And why do they come out now? Do they think they can beat the entire battalion?" Thinking about many unanswered questions, he could shake off the uneasiness creeping into his heart.
"Artillery unit, reload. Fire squad, wind squad, ready the spells." The unexpected order surprised them a little, but they were quick to respond.
"Sir, it is speaking." One of the people beside him reported. When he looked at the direction, the helmet triggered the 'Far-Ear' feature, and he could hear it loud and clear, but…
"@#$#@#@$"
"What the hell is it saying?"
"Is that an alien language?"
The soldiers tried to comprehend what it was talking about. For them, it was their first time hearing an alien language. They didn't even realize, to begin with, that these creatures could even talk.
And that's the point Rainer was most concerned about. "If they can speak, they must be more intelligent than the one we have seen before. Artillery unit. Fire." He yelled, followed by the artillery squad.
Yet they looked in shock. As the human-sized alien raised his hand, all the five warheads stopped in the middle of the flight. And when he clenched his fist, it shattered in the dust.
"Don't you know it is bad manners to attack in the middle of a conversation?" All of them could hear it loud and clear, but none could believe it.
"Why are you so shocked? Do you think a noble ice-elf like me wouldn't be able to speak a primitive language like yours?"
"It can speak in human language," Rainer mumbled.
It wasn't too surprising that a monster could speak in human language, but its words spawned the seed of fear that he had buried in the depths of his heart a long time ago.
"It's Elf." Others couldn't see the loss of color on his face, but his shivering didn't miss others' eyes.
"What happened, commander? Should we attack?"
Hearing his words, Rainer stared at him like he was looking at the dumbest person on the planet, "Fight an elf? Do you want to fight those who rule half of the continent of Eporue?"
The non-commissioned officer took a moment to remember the fact that the commander in front of him was on a mission back to Earth.
He turned to look at the alien called elf, to understand how a human-like alien could be so powerful. In the meantime, Rainer was already running towards the transporter.
"Going somewhere, huh?" The words sent a shiver down his spine, and the beautiful face of the Elf drained the blood from Rainer's face. "After I've come all the way here to invite you to join me, you are leaving just like that?"
Rainer could already hear the soldiers clamoring in panic. Gunfire, the sharp sound of artillery, the cries of pain ringed in his ear, but he didn't dare to look back.
Looking at the elf that had traveled a distance of more than 200 meters in a matter of seconds, he knew his future wasn't too bright.
"Are you willing to join me?" The elf spoke with a grin on its face, "I can make you stronger."
"Join?" Rainer's mind wasn't fluid enough to understand the meaning of the word.
"Even though you're from a primitive race, you're good at commanding. I've just a job for you. So are you willing?"
He looked at him with fear in his eyes, not knowing how to respond.
The elf smiled at him again and said, "Instead of being a dessert to them, wouldn't it be easier to join me?"
'How long is it been?' Rainer wondered. It was only then that he realized that, whether it was the howling of the moribund or the sound of weapons, everything had fallen silent around him.
He could see the shadow cast upon him by those white furry beasts. The deep stench of blood and the silence that stuck his ears remind him of the fate of his soldiers. He didn't dare to hesitate anymore, "I will join."
"Excellent choice." The smile on his face grew bigger. "Now throw away the helmet." Rainer did as he was told and the big leg of the furry beast crushed it.
'Do the elf know about the usages of the helmet? Could it really be true that there is a traitor in the army?' Even if there was no answer, thinking about it a shiver ran down his spine.
"Good. Our mission, here, is over. Your people could have this place back. We don't need this place anymore." The elf said and moved without looking back.
He could only sigh at the last glimpse at the red sea of dead bodies. 'It seems like it won't be long before it becomes the second Earth.'
"Let's not waste any more time." Under the urge of the blue-skinned elf and the glare of the white furry beast that had turned red due to blood, he left for a new destination.
