Chapter 49

Ammunition Battalion (3)

Thududududu…!

Kaboom…!

Kiyaaaah…!

The endlessly quiet 87th Ammunition Battalion.

In one corner of it…Suddenly, loud noises and vibrations rang out.

And, because of the sounds coming from not too far away.

Sssrrrk…!

The queen who had been sleeping deep within…She opened her eyes.

‘Shaaaaah…’

A snow-white, gigantic body rose up from the darkness.

However, it was not in perfect condition.

‘Shaak…’

Even as she lifted her body, the queen let out a painful groan. Her body was scorched in places, and from her wounds oozed a bizarre pus. Scorched here and there, slashed, and wounded, the queen. When the queen, suppressing the pain, spread her senses, what she felt was…

…!!

The deaths of countless children, it had not been long since a major battle.

In the last battle, the queen had lost most of her children. On top of that, the queen herself had suffered severe injuries. And it would still take time before new children could be born to replace the ones she had lost.

The queen’s wounds had not fully healed either.

Moreover, from what she could sense. The current invaders seemed to be stronger beings than the previous enemies.

With the damage not yet fully recovered. They were enemies more threatening than anything else.

‘Shaaaak.’

A crisis that put the very survival of the species at stake.

As their leader, the queen had to make a decision.

—With the current heavy loss of strength, confronting the enemies is an act with too great a loss.

—Even if she were to win, the gains would be small, merely a slight increase in prey.

—Risks must be minimized.

Having finished all her judgments in a short moment, the queen awakened the sleeping children.

To avoid the enemies and move away. If it were before the fate of the species had begun to decline. It would have been a choice she would never have made, even out of pride. But…

—The highest priority is the survival of the species.

As the queen, for the survival of the species, she could throw away something like pride as if it were worn-out shoes, that was what the queen thought.

『Invade and occupy the human race’s military facilities.』

『They must not be taken by anyone.』

A single thought was driven into the queen’s mind.

‘Shaaaaaaah…!’

An order that would lead the species to extinction.

The queen tried to resist with all her might, but.

『They must not be taken by anyone.』

『They must not be taken by anyone.』

『They must not be taken by…』

『They must not be taken by…』

Her resistance was lightly brushed aside. A wave of thoughts surged in explosively. It was more than enough to erase the queen’s reason.

A short while later, what settled in her mind was no longer fear of the species’ extinction.

Pure rage and toward the enemy.

‘Shaaaaah!!!’

The queen поднялась, forcing her wounded body up, and awakened the adult children who had survived the previous battle.

A land that must not be taken by anyone…To eliminate the invaders who had trespassed upon it.

* * *

After the battle with the spider monsters came to an end.

“Ugh. Spider webs.”

“Guh. The dust is no joke either.”

We began properly searching the inside of the dome-shaped ammunition depot. The depot was so thoroughly covered in gray spider webs that it was hard to even find its original appearance. But once we somehow cleared away the dust-laden webs.

“Look at this! Shells!”

“As expected!”

Our biggest goal in visiting the ammunition battalion.

The ammunition revealed itself.

“They look to be in good condition too, don’t they?”

“Well, yeah. They were buried under spider webs.”

“It’s not like the junk that was in that scrap warehouse. What use would monsters have for ammunition anyway.”

The first things we found were unidentified shells.

The guys with artillery backgrounds seemed to roughly know what they were. But to my eyes, as someone who had been a cook, they were just shells.

In the first place, the truly important thing was the other side.

“Here, 5.56 ammo!”

“Waaaaah!”

The main firearm our soldiers use is the K2. We had found 5.56mm rounds, the ammunition for the K2.

“Bu, bullets.”

“And so many of them.”

“Khk. We almost ended up having to practice bayonet fighting.”

To be honest, it didn’t stir much emotion in me.

My only trait is ‘Dagger Proficiency,’ after all. Guns are nothing more than auxiliary weapons to me. But it seemed to be very different for the shooter-type Awakened…It was practically a festival atmosphere.

“Who knew they’d be this happy.”

“Ah. Sergeant Shin, you didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what?”

“The shooter-type Awakened. They’ve been under insane stress all this time. Every time the bullets ran out, handfuls of hair were falling out, and a few even developed bald patches. That’s how bad it was.”

“…”

“When you brought back ammo crates from the deserters, they say the shooter squads were going crazy with excitement too.”

It was that bad.

‘Come to think of it, Corporal Seo Su-hyeok, the leader of the shooter squad, is usually pretty stoic.’

But even that guy’s expression changed the moment he heard about securing ammunition.

The others must have been even worse, but now it’s different.

‘Just the amount in this depot alone is considerable.’

Beside this depot, similar igloo-style ammunition depots were lined up at intervals.

If we took all of those into account as well.

‘Well…I don’t know about the exact numbers, but the shooters could probably hold down the trigger on full-auto without any issues.’

The shooters who played a decisive role when defending the mountain base.

With their firepower restored. Our unit’s overall firepower had increased by at least 1.5 times.

‘No. That’s not all.’

It’s not just about the shooters.

‘Guns are weapons that even ordinary people can use.’

Now that we have sufficient ammunition.

If we add together the firearms we brought from the 423rd Battalion and the firearms left here in this ammunition battalion, the numbers will be quite substantial.

We can hand out firearms to survivors who haven’t Awakened yet. That would allow pre-Awakening survivors to fight as fairly capable combatants.

If that happens, wouldn’t we be able to actively accept survivors and rapidly build up our strength?

However, not everything we found inside the ammunition depot was good news.

“U, uwaaah!”

“Sergeant Shin, please come over here!”

While I was walking around the depot, lost in these thoughts. The soldiers who were checking one corner suddenly caused a commotion.

Wondering what was going on, I hurried over.

“This is…”

In one corner of the depot. There were cocoon-like objects wrapped tightly in spider webs.

One of them, a cocoon that a soldier seemed to have torn open…Inside it was.

“…A human.”

* * *

“Eui-jun, what are the results?”

The humans found inside the cocoons.

I urgently called our unit’s medic to check their condition.

“They appear to be soldiers who were stationed at this ammunition battalion.”

“They’re dead.”

“…”

“They might have still been alive until a few weeks ago, though.”

“What?”

Dead is dead…I wondered what he meant by saying they might have been alive until recently, but…

“I heard somewhere that spiders don’t kill their prey right away, but paralyze them and store them.”

“They don’t kill them on purpose? Why?”

“To preserve freshness.”

Hearing the explanation. It became clear why soldiers’ bodies were here.

“They keep the prey in a fresh state, and then provide it as high-quality food for their offspring.”

The giant eggs scattered around inside the depot and the bodies that hadn’t decayed. They had prepared food for the hatchlings.

“Even if they were paralyzed, they would have been left without any nutrition for nearly a month. Their vital functions are already…”

“I get it.”

The corpses of humans killed by monsters.

Whenever I see something like this, I’m reminded of the day our unit was first attacked. The images of the juniors who died before my eyes flash through my mind.

“Tch.”

Annoyance welled up inside me.

“For now, just collect their dog tags and pull back. Gather the bodies in one place.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Once the recapture of the base is properly finished, we’ll hold proper funerals for them.”

After that, we opened a few more cocoons in the corner, what came out were more soldiers.

“What the hell, this is.”

“They look like monsters.”

And the corpses of unidentified monsters.

“These monsters too, were they some kind of food substitutes?”

“Probably. But seriously, using an ammunition depot as a hatchery.”

“But the buildings we passed by until now didn’t have anything, right? Why only the ammo depot…?”

Sang-ah tilted her head in confusion. Why eggs had been laid only in the ammunition depot when the other buildings were all quiet.

I felt like I knew the answer.

“Because the ammunition depot is the safest place in this base.”

In modern warfare, ammunition might even be more important than food.

As important as the items stored inside are, ammunition depots are built with thorough security in mind. In a typical unit like the 423rd Battalion we were at, sometimes they just stack bullets in an old warehouse and call it a day.

“But this place is an ammunition supply depot.”

A place that stores ammunition for all kinds of heavy weapons, cannons, and missiles.

Not only are the munitions themselves important.

If an enemy attacks an ammunition supply depot, their target would inevitably be the ammunition. It’s the first place to be targeted in an infiltration. That’s why ammunition depots are camouflaged to look like part of the mountain when viewed from the air.

Solid steel doors, cave-like structures.

‘Even to someone like me who doesn’t know much, it feels safe.’

It probably looked similar to the monsters’ eyes. A space that could safely protect their precious eggs from external threats.

“Oh. Then that means.”

“Conversely, doesn’t that mean that every time we open an ammo depot, there’s a high chance monsters will pop out?”

If they regarded the ammo depots as safe places and used them as hatcheries. There was no reason they wouldn’t also use them as nests.

“Isn’t that fine? This fight was literally one-sided.”

“These kinds of monsters, even if a few more show up, we can handle it easily!”

The soldiers shouted confidently.

Indeed, as they said, even after the battle, our side had only a few lightly injured, at most. And even those had already been perfectly healed by the priests and healers. Contrary to how tense we had been, allied casualties were virtually nonexistent.

“That’s only if it’s the same monsters we just fought.”

“Eh?”

‘My skill…According to the information I got from ‘Chef’s Eye.’’

‘These guys are nothing more than larvae.’

It’s not quite accurate to call them babies. Since they were in the stage of still undergoing metamorphosis before hatching, they were more like embryos.

‘I heard in China there’s even a dish made with chicks right before they hatch from the egg?’

The cooking methods suggested by ‘Chef’s Eye’ were similar to that.

The difference from chicks being, that they were ferocious enough to break out of the eggs themselves when they sensed danger.

“The adult forms of these guys might be dangerous.”

“But is there any need to fear adults we haven’t even met yet?”

“Well, that’s true too.”

It was only a speculation that they might be dangerous.

There was no confirmation yet and there was no need to retreat just because of that.

“We’re moving to the next ammunition depot.”

“Yes, sir!”

At my command, the soldiers headed to the next depot.

That place too was similarly being used as a hatchery, but.

『You have gained experience.』

“Easy.”

“Since we’ve already fought these guys once, it feels even easier than before.”

It was nothing more than another one-sided slaughter.

“Heh, heheh. There’s so much ammo.”

“Those guys are practically over the moon.”

The amount of ammunition we secured that way was considerable.

And it wasn’t just rifle ammo that mattered.

“Do you think these shells could be mounted on combat vehicles if we do it right?”

“Hm. Not a bad idea.”

The engineers, who specialized in manufacturing war machinery. They began discussing ways to utilize the shells we obtained here.

Everything was going much more smoothly than expected. The monsters that attacked this base were supposed to be stronger than those in other areas.

I had been quite tense after hearing that.

‘At this level…’

Just as that careless thought crossed my mind.

Kugugugugung!

“Huh?”

“What is it, an earthquake?”

Suddenly, a massive vibration spread throughout the entire base. Naturally, I thought it was an earthquake.

But…

Shaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

The sound that rang out immediately after. Made it clear that the vibration just now was not an ordinary earthquake.

* * *

“Wh, what is that!?”

“What is that sound!?”

An unidentified roar echoing from the center of the ammunition battalion.

『The Last Queen of Arachron, Katlanya, vents her rage.』

The message that appeared before our eyes along with that sound.

『The Queen’s Rage blankets the battlefield!』

『The combat capabilities of the ‘White Spiders of Arachron’ species greatly increase.』

『Allied combat capabilities greatly decrease.』

A familiar type of message…It didn’t take long to realize what that roar was.

“Fear…!”

The Lizard Chieftain that attacked the 423rd Battalion or the same type of ability as Lieutenant Kim’s command shout.

A wide-area buff that weakens enemies and strengthens allies. It’s the kind you often see in games, so it’s not particularly surprising.

The problem was…

“Fear, my ass.”

“I, is it even possible for Fear to have such a wide range!?”

The monster that let out that roar, we couldn’t even see it with our own eyes.

‘The sound was loud, but it didn’t seem like it came from nearby.’

Despite the fact that it was clearly at quite a distance. It was Fear strong enough to affect us.

“This is dangerous.”

When I subtly moved my body.

I could feel that it had become slightly heavier than before.

‘A debuff is in effect.’

If it were just the debuff applied to us, it might have been manageable. But…

『The combat capabilities of the ‘White Spiders of Arachron’ species greatly increase.』

That was the real problem.

A Fear that spread over such a vast range.

‘Just how many monsters are going to receive that buff?’

That question was soon answered.

Thududududududu!

Along with the Fear spreading, the sound of vibrations could be heard.

“It’s right next door!”

The source of the vibration was right next to us. Another ammunition depot whose doors we hadn’t opened yet.

“It’s coming from the monsters’ hatchery.”

“Then the vibration just now was…”

“They’re breaking out of their eggs.”

Soon after…

Bang! Bang!

Loud sounds came from inside the ammo depot. It was the sound of the depot’s door being pounded.

The numerous ammo depots lined up around us.

After all the monsters inside broke out of their eggs. They were trying to break down the doors and rush out.

“No, we said we could handle it even if a few more showed up!”

“It’s not a few more, it’s going to be dozens of times more.”

No matter how much stronger our unit had become.

If their numbers increased to that extent, it would be more than just a little problematic.

“Lieutenant Kim! What are you doing!?”

“Ah, yeah! All units, battle stations!”

『The command shout resounds.』

『The Queen’s Rage is partially mitigated. The stat reduction is decreased.』

Lieutenant Kim, who had basically become a buff vending machine where buffs popped out just from calling his name. However, upon confirming the effect of that buff, I couldn’t help but frown.

“It’s not even increasing our stats. It’s just reducing the lowered stats.”

“S-Sorry.”

“No, I’m not blaming you, Lieutenant Kim.”

It just meant that the Fear that had just spread was that powerful.

At this level, Lieutenant Kim alone wasn’t enough.

“Jeon Gwang-il!”

“Yes, Corporal Jeon!”

The leader of the warrior squad.

I called out to Gwang-il.

“Lieutenant Kim isn’t enough! Gwang-il, you do it too!”

“Yes, sir!”

There was no need to explain what I meant.

Gwang-il took a deep breath. And then…

“Khuoooooargh!!!”

He let out a beast-like roar.

『‘Roar of Madness’ resounds.』

『Low-grade Confusion is applied to allies.』

『The command shout mitigates Low-grade Confusion.』

『Mid-grade stat increase is applied to allies.』

『‘The Queen’s Rage’ is partially mitigated.』

『The stat reduction effect of ‘The Queen’s Rage’ disappears.』

Gwang-il had acquired a Fear-type skill during the fight with the Chieftain.

However, unlike Lieutenant Kim or me, who were buffer types to begin with.

‘Gwang-il is a warrior-type.’

Even so, he did have a buff-type skill. But his Fear had a short duration and a usage limit of about three times a week. Moreover, when used alone, it came with the debuff of applying Low-grade Confusion. Since it was something we wanted to save if possible, he hadn’t used it until now.

This moment right now.

‘All debuffs are removed. This is the best we can do for now.’

At that moment.

Thud…! Thud…!

Kuuung!

With a huge noise, the door of the ammo depot right next to us burst apart.

From inside, spider monsters came pouring out in droves.

“To the battlefield!”

“For the victory of the legion!!!”

The soldiers, already in battle formation, clashed with the spiders. Thanks to the Fears of Gwang-il and Lieutenant Kim, the stat decrease on our side was removed. But the only additional buffs we had were from my combat rations.

Our combat power had still dropped tremendously. On the other hand, the enemies were in a state of increased combat power due to their buffs.

“Tch.”

Even excluding buffs, our side’s raw combat power is higher. The monsters that just rushed out wouldn’t be a problem.

Thud…!

Thud…!

But from other ammo depot buildings as well, the sounds of monsters bursting out could be heard.

Perhaps, all the monsters scattered throughout this base were converging to hunt us.

‘I don’t know how many there will be, but there’s absolutely no way we can deal with all those monsters at once.’

In that case…I made up my mind and shouted to the soldiers.

“All units, withdraw as slowly as possible and board the vehicles!”

“Sergeant Shin!?”

“Board the vehicles, all of a sudden, why…!”

The soldiers, in the middle of combat, asked in confusion. Our side’s buffs were minimal, and the enemy’s buffs were plentiful. Moreover, it was clear that we would soon be outnumbered.

“Don’t we need to change the situation?”

What had been a fight clearly in our favor. But the situation had flipped in an instant.

The one responsible for this mess was obvious.

『The Last Queen of Arachron, Katlanya, vents her rage.』

That monster called the Last Queen.

The culprit who spread Fear and tried to hunt us. Her rage had created the current situation.

“Taking out the boss first is the textbook move.”

‘We hunt the queen.’