Chapter 50

Ammunition Battalion (4)

After shaking off the monsters, the vehicles set off and cut across the base.

Their destination was the enemy’s leader. The place where the ‘Queen’ was staying.

‘We don’t know exactly where she is.’

But where we needed to go

was pretty easy to figure out.

Shyaaaah!!!

『The Queen’s fury resounds.』

The screeching roar that kept pouring out fear.

“Step on it in the direction the sound’s coming from!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the source of that sound, that Queen thing would be there.

Dududududu…!

“Sir, spiders are approaching from the opposite side!”

On the road toward the source of the sound. Spider monsters that came from a completely different direction than where we’d come from attacked us.

‘Since the ammunition battalion is huge, the ammo depots are scattered all over the place.’

Another ammunition depot.

No, the ones that had been in the hatchery must be rushing out to hunt us. Fortunately, the monsters running in from afar weren’t packed tightly together.

Thanks to that…

“Plow them down!”

Tzzzzzzz!

Kiiieeeek!!!

The huge horns, spikes, and spear blades mounted on the vehicles. Most of the approaching monsters were shredded by the blades reinforced with Mac’s magic.

“H, haha! How about it! The power of combat vehicles!”

“Well done, you bastards!”

The engineer Awakeners chattered proudly. And honestly, it deserved to be called impressive power.

‘Prioritizing securing materials was the best call.’

Not just defensive power. Even combat power was added to the combat vehicles. They could move forward while grinding down small numbers of monsters without any trouble. As a result…

Shyaaaahhhhhhh!!!

The volume of the screeching roar we heard felt bigger than before.

“It sounds like it’s coming from over there!”

“Isn’t that another ammo depot?”

Before long, we succeeded in reaching the source of the sound.

“H, huh?”

“I mean… that does look like an ammo depot.”

Like the other depots, it was an ammunition bunker shaped like a tunnel or cave carved into the mountain, there was just one difference.

“It’s enormous…”

The igloo-shaped ammo depots that had been used as hatcheries were already ridiculously large compared to normal base depots. But the door of the depot in front of us went far beyond that level.

A colossal size, like an entire mountain had been hollowed out.

“That’s the place that supplied ammunition to our unit too.”

“Lieutenant Kim?”

“It’s the largest ammo depot in the ammunition supply battalion. To think the monsters’ leader was here.”

With a depot of that scale, it probably didn’t just store ordinary shells and ammo. It was big enough that you’d think it might even be storing missiles.

The massive door of the depot was half-open.

And inside it, we could see the form of a gigantic, snow-white spider.

Shyaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!

A white spider with a body as big as a large truck. The surreal sight of such a spider spraying spittle and letting out a shriek unfolded before our eyes.

“That’s the Queen.”

The Queen’s fear weakens enemies and strengthens allies.

Here, the enemy is us and the allies are the spiders.

Before that fear resounded, the battle itself had been going far more in our favor.

Which means…

“If we just take out the Queen, the rest are nothing but a bunch of rabble with numbers!”

There are a lot of them, sure. But if we remove the buffer, I was confident we could deal with the rest somehow. The baby monsters that had hatched in the hatcheries of the other depots were already chasing after us.

We planned to finish this in a flash and take the Queen’s head. But…

“It’s not just the Queen.”

“A Queen wouldn’t be alone. Damn it.”

Kiiiiik.

Kiiik…

A Queen as big as a large truck. Smaller than her, but still huge monsters about the size of vans surrounded her, about twenty of those large monsters.

When my gaze shifted to them.

『You gain ‘Low-tier Cooking Insight – Method for Butchering the White Spider of Arachron.’』

A skill activated.

『The sharp and hard forelegs of Arachron are prized as excellent blacksmithing materials, but unless one belongs to a special race, they are difficult to use as ingredients. The key is to start by processing these forelegs first…』

『The skin is also quite tough, but aside from the forelegs, applying heat softens the shell, making it easy to remove.』

『However, the flesh also softens greatly, so take care with this. To preserve the flavor, it is necessary to process it delicately without mashing the flesh…』

“Even the name’s different.”

The spiders we’d fought until now all had the designation ‘Imperfect’ in their names.

Larvae that hadn’t even been fully born yet. The huge spiders in front of us were different from those.

‘Adults that were born properly and even went through growth.’

Imperfect larvae, complete adults. This fight didn’t feel like it would be as easy as before.

“We end it fast.”

The babies that hatched in the other hatcheries were running over this way. The moment they joined in, it would be the end for us.

“Sergeant Shin… is this even possible?”

As I pulled out my blade and hurriedly chewed down combat rations to get ready to fight, Gwang-il asked in an anxious voice.

What I had to say to him was only one thing.

“Have you forgotten already?”

Whether it works or doesn’t work, that kind of thing isn’t important.

“Even if it doesn’t, we make it work.”

That’s what the army is, right? No, maybe it’s not just because this is the army anymore.

“To survive.”

“…Right.”

This world itself has turned into a world where that’s the only way.

“Uooooo!!! To the battlefield! A glorious death awaits us!”

“Tonight’s dinner is those bastards!”

“Kiiieeeeeeeek!!!”

We didn’t need many words.

Starting with Gwang-il, who had shaken off his hesitation, the warrior squad charged, and the Awakeners in the rear drew their weapons.

The battle began.

* * *

“Take out the Queen as fast as possible!”

“Yes, sir!”

As the Awakeners rushed in with their respective weapons, the engineers took their seats in the cockpits of the combat vehicles.

“Charge!”

“Hahaha! I figured this might happen. I even prepared designs for fighting huge monsters like that, you know!”

Buuuuuung…!

The combat vehicles modified by the engineers. The massive battering-ram-like horns mounted on the front surged toward the Queen.

If it hit directly, it would definitely deal considerable damage, but.

Shyaaaah!!!

Boom!

“Urk…!”

“Ah, damn it. We should’ve modified the engines too!”

When one or two adult monsters latched on and blocked their movement, the wheels just spun uselessly, unable to advance.

‘Even if they’re reinforced, the engines are still just the original vehicles.’

If you lose in a contest of strength, it’s useless in the first place.

If the engineers’ level rises, engine modification might become possible, but not right now. At least it was meaningful that a few of the adults peeled off to block the combat vehicles.

“Damn it, move out of the way, you bastards!”

“They’re desperate to protect the Queen!”

Their core strength came from the Queen’s buff.

Maybe the monsters knew that too. The Queen stayed in the back, doing nothing but screaming, never stepping forward herself.

Watching that, I muttered in disbelief.

“Monsters, and they’re even playing positions now?”

Positions you often see in games. Putting the buffer in the back and having tanks block in front.

‘So their intelligence is high, huh.’

Seeing that they could even form formations like that, it didn’t seem like they’d just mindlessly pick up and eat any debuff food we threw.

We tried to force our way in to reach the Queen, but…

Clang!

Kiiieeek!

“Urgh…!”

The sharp forelegs of the adult monsters blocked our path.

We had to end this fast, but if things kept going like this, the battle would inevitably drag on.

‘Anything’s fine. We need to create an opening.’

But how?

Each one of them was a pretty powerful monster. If we had time, sure, but to take them down in an instant…

‘Huh?’

That was when I noticed something strange.

“That monster that just blocked me!”

It was definitely a powerful monster. But there was one strange detail.

“I think it was missing one of its legs…?”

“Huh?”

“…You’re right! That one alone is missing a leg!”

Taking a step back from the fight and looking again, it was clear. One of the monsters was missing a leg compared to the others.

‘No, it’s not just that one.’

The one missing a leg had the most obvious injury. But the others were the same.

One with faint bruises mottling its snow-white body. One limping slightly with its bladed forelegs.

“These guys.”

“They’re injured…?”

I didn’t know where they’d gotten hurt. But if the one missing a leg had the biggest wound, then if there was a weak point, there was no way we wouldn’t exploit it.

“That one! The one missing a leg is a gap! Focus fire over there!”

“Yes!”

“““Yes, sir!”””

Just as a bit of hope rose at the thought that we’d found a way through.

“Sergeant Shin! In the rear…!”

One of the soldiers doing ranged attacks in the back shouted after spotting something.

When I turned around at the sound.

‘Damn it.’

From far away, I could see a swarm of spiders hatched from another depot approaching.

They were still quite far away, but they’d arrive before long.

If we got surrounded from both sides, it would be a total wipe.

‘What do we do?’

In the face of death, my head started spinning like crazy.

‘Retreat? No. No matter how tough the combat vehicles are, the moment even one flips over, it’s a massacre.’

‘Should we dive into the depot? At least we won’t get surrounded from both sides… but then what? Our escape route disappears, and how are we supposed to beat those numbers?’

No matter how much I racked my brain, there was no answer. Maybe we should’ve chosen to retreat the moment we heard the Queen’s fear.

‘If we scatter and run now, maybe a few of us can survive.’

Just as I was about to give the order to fall back…I saw something inside the ammunition depot.

‘Missiles…?’

Huge missiles and shells.

“…Minjae hyung.”

“Are we retreating?”

Minjae hyung also seemed to be thinking something as he looked at the battlefield.

He was probably considering retreat. But my thought was different.

“Call all the fire mages.”

“What…?”

For a moment, Minjae hyung looked like he wanted to say, ‘What are you talking about?’

“No, if it’s you, you must have a plan. Wait a moment.”

Soon, with a serious face, he nodded and moved back.

“Reporting in!”

“Fire-mage unit, all seven members present!”

In the midst of the fierce battle, only the fire-element mages and I temporarily pulled back.

The fire mages who had been with us since the base and among them, those who had recently awakened from among the survivors.

Even the younger sister of the pair who’d been close with Grandpa Park. Their faces smeared with ash from fire magic, the mages gathered while catching their breath.

There was no time to explain in detail. So I asked the only thing that concerned me.

“Let me ask just one thing.”

“Yes! Ask anything, sir!”

“Can you throw your spells and make them explode a little later?”

If they couldn’t, this might get a little tricky. But…

“Huh? Ah, you mean giving a delay to the explosion?”

“It’ll take a bit of concentration, but that much is doable.”

“It doesn’t seem that difficult!”

If even that was possible, then there was no problem.

“Good. There’s something you need to do.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll do anything you ask.”

“You see those parts inside there where spiderwebs are sticking out?”

When I pointed with my finger, the soldiers’ gazes turned toward the inside of the ammunition depot.

The huge depot covered in spiderwebs. The webs weren’t just spread across the floor, but also draped over things that were jutting out.

“Yes, we see them.”

“If they’re jutting out like that, those are probably where the depot’s shells were stacked, right?”

“As long as you can see them, that’s fine.”

What they had to do was simple.

“That delayed explosion spell I mentioned earlier? Fire it at those spots.”

“Not at the monsters, but inside the depot?”

“Sorry, there’s no time to explain. As strong as possible, and as fast as you can. I’m counting on you.”

“…I don’t really know what you’re planning.”

“But since it’s you, Sergeant Shin, there must be a reason. Understood!”

After hearing my request, the mages immediately closed their eyes and began chanting some kind of spell.

After confirming that their preparations had begun, this time I returned to the front line where the battle was raging.

“Sergeant Shin!?”

“This place is too dangerous! You’re not a combat role, Sergeant Shin, so you should fight on the outskirts—!”

The place I headed for was the fiercest part of the battlefield.

The spot where our guild’s highest-level warriors were gathered. It was a place where, as someone from a production class, it wouldn’t be strange for me to die at any moment, but he had to be here.

“Gwang-il! Jeon Gwang-il!”

“Keukekeuk. How delightful! Make it more delightful for me, you insect—!”

“Snap out of it, you bastard!”

Gwang-il was beating down an adult-class monster by himself like a madman.

I smacked the side of his head lightly.

“Kgh… Ah. Sergeant Shin?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You could’ve just called me. Why’d you hit my head?”

“…”

‘Sorry to interrupt while you were having fun, but you’ve got work to do.’

“Anyway. I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“Huh?”

This was the place where the guys with the strongest physical abilities in the unit were gathered…Only these guys could pull this off.

“From now on, we change the way we fight.”

“What are you planning… no, you’ve got something in mind, don’t you. How do you want us to change?”

“Going for the Queen is impossible. We herd the monsters into the inside of the depot.”

“Instead of going for the Queen, we herd them inside…”

After thinking for a moment, he nodded.

“Hmm. That’s actually easier than how we’re fighting now. Is that all?”

“One more thing. After we succeed in herding them inside, we need to close the depot door.”

“Excuse me?”

Inside the depot are the Queen and the monsters called ‘Arachron.’

“We’re going to blow up the ammunition depot.”

And an enormous amount of explosives.