Ch.171171. Monster Attack

Then, without embellishment, I’ll get straight to the point.

The 71st Shock Infantry Company and the 10th Battle Android Company, which included her as they retreated in an almost mindless panic, ultimately succeeded in their withdrawal.

Was it that their bodies exerted extraordinary strength with their lives at stake, or did some unknown entity intervene?

Whatever the case, they managed to retreat to Point 7-17—Fortress 17 in Sector 7—with all their equipment intact.

Sector 7.

This Fortress 17, built in mountainous terrain classified as Type 7 in the planetary natural preservation zone system, was incredibly robust, befitting a fortress of the security-obsessed Valiana Federation.

Plasteel bulkheads 12 meters high and 4 meters thick,

Plasma field shields usable for both offense and defense,

Automated turrets placed at regular intervals, each equipped with four laser heavy machine guns and one plasma cannon.

Not only that, but 15-meter towers stood at every corner,

With energy howitzers for bombardment at their tops,

And various heavy machine guns densely positioned along their sides.

Inside the fortress were countless self-propelled artillery batteries and mortar batteries,

Along with equipment stored for emergency situations.

In the current situation, with at least tens of thousands of monsters approaching, this fortress could truly serve as the ultimate sanctuary.

Though decades old, it was still excellently maintained with no issues in its facilities,

And now the engineers of the 10th Battle Android Company stepped up.

After instantly activating the base,

These engineers operated the energy howitzers using the installed semi-AI automatic targeting system, aiming at the approaching monsters—

[Fire!]

The moment the company commander gave the order to fire, this fortress was reborn as the Valiana Federation’s chainsaw for grinding monsters.

The howitzers launched energy clusters set to anti-personnel dispersal mode into the air,

And upon reaching a certain altitude, these energy clusters broke into dozens of pieces, raining down upon the ground like a downpour.

Additionally, the laser heavy machine guns and plasma cannons mounted on turrets with kilometer-range capabilities,

Though their accuracy would normally decrease at such distances despite their effective range,

Were hitting targets simply because there were so many monsters that they just needed to aim and fire.

Thus, as monsters rushing from kilometers away were being slaughtered before they could even reach the fortress.

“Hoo—hah.”

TAAAAANG—!!!

Ray Chang, squad leader of the 1st Squad, 5th Platoon of the 71st Shock Infantry Company,

Had climbed onto the fortress bulwark with her platoon members and was helping with the shooting alongside several other soldiers.

Her weapon, a plasma multi-purpose auto-rifle,

Demonstrated exactly why the term “multi-purpose” was part of its name through its various functions.

A submachine gun firing low-output plasma,

An assault rifle firing medium-output plasma,

A designated marksman rifle (DMR) mode firing high-output plasma with precision,

And a cannon mode that concentrated everything into a single shot.

It even had a shotgun mode that was hard on the barrel but delivered devastating close-range firepower,

As well as a firing method that maintained a beam of plasma.

The firing mode Ray Chang had selected was sniper mode.

With various additional parts and a dedicated auto-aiming scope to maximize range and precision,

This firing mode had an effective range of 8 kilometers and a practical range of about 5-6 kilometers.

TAAAAANG!!!

The monster she targeted and aimed at was a mid-level beast resembling a minotaur—a humanoid with a bull’s head.

Not only did it generate its own force field, but it was also covered in thick carapace armor,

And possessed a skeletal structure tougher than mediocre metals, almost comparable to plasteel.

Thus, despite its barbaric appearance,

The minotaur possessed durability beyond imagination, but…

KWAAAANG!!!

Her expensive plasma rifle, along with the fire from others equipped with similar long-range custom weapons,

Was successfully accumulating damage on these minotaurs.

Of course, attacks equivalent to anti-materiel rifles couldn’t instantly kill biological weapons with tank-level durability,

But they were sufficient to deplete force fields, destroy armor, and accumulate damage to muscles, reducing their strength.

And when plasma cannons and laser heavy machine guns rained down on these minotaur-like monsters with relatively weakened defenses,

Their thinned force fields couldn’t protect them.

At a point where even the toughest minotaurs couldn’t withstand the attacks, lower-level monsters simply died instantly,

So as time passed, the humans with the fortress had an increasingly greater advantage.

With the monsters pushing forward with only warrior-type beasts specialized in close combat and no special units, victory for the humans was all but assured.

This was evident as the closest enemy monster was killed at a point just one kilometer away from their position.

※ ※ ※

After slaughtering all the approaching monsters with the power of the fortress designed to grind them down.

‘Strange… something’s strange…’

While everyone in the fortress was caught up in the celebratory atmosphere of victory,

Ray Chang was troubled by a sense of incongruity she couldn’t shake.

An unprepared monster army, upon discovering humans by chance,

Had charged mindlessly without looking back, lacking commanders, and was annihilated.

Though not common, it was something that could happen, yet why did she feel this sense of incongruity?

She felt that something was off about herself, while simultaneously feeling that the current situation was somehow alien.

As she restlessly climbed up to the watchtower and sat in a chair looking around,

“Squad Leader~! I’m here!”

“Deputy Squad Leader?”

Her squad’s deputy, with strangely golden-glowing hair, visited her carrying something bundled up.

“What’s that…?”

“Special rations distributed by the Company Commander. Sandwiches that are hard to come by in the middle of a battlefield like this!”

Rustle.

Feeling somewhat hungry, she perked up at those words and took the package from the deputy, unwrapping it to find a simple sandwich and a can of orange juice inside.

“Thanks, Deputy.”

“Ah, it’s nothing~.”

A simple combination of apple jam, peanut butter, ham, and a slice of cheese, but this sandwich—something she hadn’t eaten in a long time—was giving her strength.

“Yum. *munch munch*”

As the two of them, tired from the long operation, sat in chairs exchanging small talk, just then,

“…?”

“Is something wrong?”

Puzzled by the squad leader’s sudden scanning of their surroundings, the deputy asked, and Ray Chang voiced the incongruity she felt.

“Hey, Paladio. Over there—doesn’t it look a bit brighter?”

“Where?”

Following Ray’s gesture, Deputy Squad Leader Paladio looked in the direction she was pointing, and upon discovering something, her eyes widened.

“S-Squad Leader… that, that!”

Unable to continue speaking, she suddenly grabbed a flare installed in the watchtower and fired it.

Pheeewwwww…!

With a strange deflating sound, the blue flare flew forcefully before suddenly hitting something mid-flight and beginning to fall.

And what was revealed as the flare brightly illuminated the area was—

“…What are those things?”

The mountain range that had clearly been full of shrubs and rocks was now densely covered with temperate forest,

And between those trees, various monsters with reddened eyes were glaring at them.

These bipedal monsters, resembling different species of beasts though mostly mammals, appeared fundamentally different from the earlier goats and mountain goats.

They wore weapons and armor that looked made from monster bones and tissues,

Were clearly being led by larger specimens moving in organized formations,

And even had somewhat standardized weaponry.

Beyond them were at least dozens of gigantic quadrupedal monsters exceeding 20 meters in height,

And she could even sense overwhelming monster psychic energy—something even she, with psychic abilities barely useful as a lighter, could feel.

“…What are you waiting for? Hit the emergency call!”

“Y-Yes!”

Realizing this was beyond anything they could handle, she ordered the deputy to press the emergency alarm bell installed in the watchtower—

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

And before long, the entire fortress was alerted to their presence.