Chapter 312 : Reunion
Chapter 312: Reunion
Kiiieeeeeeeek!
Kyahahahahaha! Kyahahahat!
“Haah…… haah……!”
Ragged breaths continued to pour from my lungs.
Their laughter grated unbearably on my ears.
Not only that, but their faces, teeth, skin—even the screams they let out as they died—were revolting beyond words.
It was as if every single part that made them up existed solely to draw out humanity's negative emotions.
Because of that, my limits came much sooner than they should have.
To be precise, mental exhaustion had begun affecting my body as well.
“Haah…… haah……!”
Let's rest for just a moment……
Just for a moment……
I stood still, gasping for breath.
A liquid that I couldn't tell was rainwater or sweat trickled down my forehead. I wiped it away with my sleeve, but my clothes were already soaked through, making them utterly useless as a towel.
Several hills made entirely from the corpses of Lesser Demons had formed around me.
I'd been fighting so frantically that I hadn't even realized the terrain had changed like this.
Only then did I notice that everything around me had gone dark.
Looking up, the sky that had once been filled with gray storm clouds had become completely black. If not for the faint illumination coming indirectly from the city, I wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.
'When did it get this late……!?'
It's time to head back.
Night belongs to the demons.
My stamina was reaching its limit, I hadn't brought any night-vision equipment, and even the Railgun batteries seemed to be firing less frequently, as if they were running out of ammunition.
If I stayed here any longer, it would become genuinely dangerous.
Fortunately, it looked as though most of the residents of the Fallen District had already evacuated behind the wall.
Most of the nearby demons had also been exterminated.
I should be able to return and finally get some rest.
Or so I thought.
'Wait…… Where did the main force go……!?'
I had definitely seen them just a little while ago.
The army of demons advancing slowly while maintaining a fixed distance from the wall.
But now they were nowhere to be seen.
It couldn't simply be because darkness had fallen.
Earlier, there had even been enormous Flame Demons standing at the front, blocking the turret fire.
Unless all of them had suddenly been extinguished by the Anti-Rain, there was no way they could have simply vanished into thin air.
'What happened……!?'
Sensing that something was wrong, I hurriedly tried to retreat.
But something grabbed my ankle.
It was the corpse of a demon I'd defeated moments ago.
I barely had time to be shocked that a dead demon had come back to life before an even more horrifying sight unfolded.
The corpses suddenly rose and began moving.
The ground became corrupted and started rotting away.
The walls that had faithfully protected everyone from the monsters suddenly collapsed with a deafening roar.
And beyond them lay countless corpses of civilians and comrades.
Their intestines had been torn out and devoured by demons and other Mystics.
Their lifeless, unfocused eyes stared blankly at me……
“This is…… an illusion!”
I snapped back to my senses.
Biting my tongue so hard that it bled, I forced myself awake.
The entire scene vanished in an instant.
The walls hadn't fallen.
The civilians hadn't died.
But I had no time to feel relieved.
A gigantic claw was already flying straight toward my face.
“Ugh!?”
With superhuman reflexes, I raised my shield and blocked it.
Even so, the overwhelming force—far beyond that of any ordinary human—sent me skidding backward several meters.
'Right... I'm still in the middle of battle……!'
The battle wasn't over.
The demons were still pouring in endlessly.
I remained alone, surrounded on all sides, holding them back until every resident of the Fallen District had escaped.
The scene I'd just witnessed had probably been an illusion created by a demon, exploiting the momentary weakness born from my desire to hurry back and rest.
It had been dangerously close.
Fortunately, everything I'd learned at Trinity Academy hadn't been for nothing.
'I know exactly how demons operate……!'
How much had I studied demonkind for the last theory exam?
I didn't possess a combat module specialized in mental defense, but I didn't need one to break free from something like this.
The lingering effects of the illusion still left me somewhat dizzy.
But I refused to give in.
I loaded my empty shotgun with fresh 12-gauge buckshot and fired into the horde.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ammunition I'd been issued contained a small amount of silver, which was especially effective against demons.
It contained too many impurities to reliably kill Intermediate Demons, but it was more than sufficient to tear apart the fragile hides of Lesser Demons.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
The Lesser Demons were ripped apart amid hideous screams.
I carefully kept my shield raised to ensure none of their bodily fluids splashed onto me.
But the demons didn't remain passive.
Using their sharp claws and overwhelming numbers, they tried to surround me.
My shotgun only held eight shells.
Their intention to attack during my reload was painfully obvious.
'Like I'd let you!'
I leaped lightly onto the roof of a nearby shack.
Reaching a height of three meters in a single bound, I sprinted across the slate rooftops of the shantytown while firing down at the demons.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Faced with the one-sided assault, the demons collapsed helplessly.
Compared to the Lesser Demons, I was faster.
Stronger.
Tougher.
There was no way I would fall for such a clumsy trick.
But my stamina had limits.
Their numbers did not.
“This is bad!?”
Just as I jumped toward the next rooftop—
A gigantic crimson claw blocked my path.
Instinctively, I curled into a ball and thrust my shield forward.
At that exact moment, a tremendous impact launched me away.
Boooom!
The one who sent me flying was a gigantic demon nearly ten meters tall.
Its body was crimson.
Its frame was slender.
Where its face should have been, there was only flickering fire.
An Intermediate Demon.
'Molochser.'
Sent flying by Molochser, I hurtled dozens of meters before crashing into a nearby mountain of garbage.
Unfortunately, it offered no cushioning whatsoever.
The full impact slammed directly into my back.
“Gah……!?”
For a moment, the pain nearly knocked me unconscious.
Of all places, why did I have to land here?
I cursed inwardly.
Though, considering I could have crashed somewhere even worse, perhaps I was lucky.
“Da…… mn……!”
The pain left me completely unable to move.
It took more than ten seconds before I finally regained my senses and managed to straighten myself.
By then, Molochser had already closed the distance.
To make matters worse, a second attack was already descending.
“Damn it!”
Module Online, [Thousand Pound Weight]!
I instantly activated my module and received Molochser's attack head-on.
Booooom!
The impact echoed like two massive chunks of steel colliding.
The resulting shockwave scattered the surrounding piles of garbage and even blew away all of the Anti-Rain for a brief moment.
“Grrrgh!”
The tremendous impact surged through my entire body.
For a second, I wondered if my arms had broken.
But this wasn't the time to cry over pain.
Click.
I immediately switched ammunition.
Loading every remaining 12-gauge pure silver slug into the shotgun's loading port beneath the barrel, I fired immediately.
Boom!
The tiny projectile punched a huge hole straight through Molochser's palm.
The demon flinched in agony.
I didn't let the opportunity escape.
I sprinted up its long, slender arm as though running across a log bridge.
Pointing my shotgun downward as if planting seeds, I repeatedly pulled the trigger.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several holes opened along the demon's arm.
Taking advantage of the instant it lost its balance from the pain, I raised my shield and slammed directly into its shoulder.
Boom!
Its staggering body began to tilt.
I immediately stepped onto its chest and repeatedly fired into its heart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Only after every shell had been emptied did Molochser's massive body finally shatter apart, crumbling into dust.
“That wasn't even worth the effort!”
I stomped triumphantly on the demon's remains.
But I had no time to celebrate.
I'd defeated the Intermediate Demon, but another swarm of smaller demons had already begun gathering.
“……Damn it, fine! Let's see who wins!”
I'd been careful with my language because of Aaron until now.
But I no longer had the luxury.
Rousing my own fighting spirit with rough words, I raised my shield once more.
Then—
Slice.
Slice.
Slice.
The demons that had been slowly creeping toward me suddenly collapsed into chunks of meat.
Something shimmering like a heat haze appeared behind them before gradually taking on a familiar form.
“Senior Silence!?”
“[Found you, Junior.]”
That wasn't all.
Something like an artillery shell suddenly flew in from somewhere, creating a massive crater in the center of the demon formation.
“Hahaha! This is what this humble monk was meant to do!”
The bizarre monk appeared with a booming laugh.
Without sparing me so much as a glance, Guardian began smashing demons into lumps of minced meat with his fists.
Meanwhile, from another direction, hundreds of bullets poured down like rain, turning the demons into swiss cheese.
Naturally, standing there with a minigun was the beautiful brown-skinned woman smiling at me.
“Raina!”
“We came to help~”
At the same time, I answered the communication request from Silence.
The voices of my squadmates immediately filled the channel.
Hey, finding you was a real pain, you know.
Why did you abandon this humble monk and enjoy such an exciting battlefield all by yourself!?
Iri, are you hurt anywhere?
Each voice carried its own personality.
I felt my body, chilled by the cold rain, gradually becoming warm again.
Quietly, I answered the voice chat.
Thank you, everyone, for coming.
The three of them had arrived.
I had no idea how they'd found me.
But did any of that really matter right now?
The only thing that mattered was surviving.
And winning.
Click.
Gripping my shield once more, I glared at the demons and issued my command.
Let's wipe them all out.
The battle resumed.
I stood at the front line, driving back the enemy and continuously securing space for my allies to fight.
Silence slipped through the gaps in the enemy ranks, assassinating the strongest-looking opponents and changing the flow of the battlefield.
Guardian rampaged like a berserker, reducing the pressure on me while methodically exterminating every smaller demon that crossed his path.
Raina remained in the rear, sweeping away the demons with the overwhelming firepower of her minigun.
The battle fought by the members of the Stingray Special Class continued for roughly thirty minutes.
During that time, the number of demons that died at their hands easily surpassed a thousand.
Then, finally—
A transmission came from the wall.
[President! We're done cleaning things up over here! Everyone, come back!]
It was the voice of the female student I'd met at the wall earlier.
That became the signal.
The four of us immediately began retreating toward the city.
“This way! Hurry and run!”
Fortunately, professional soldiers had already arrived to reinforce the wall.
The four of us safely returned inside the city.
The instant we crossed the city boundary—
“Quick! Seal the wall!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Small grenade-like devices exploded, spewing out a Styrofoam-like substance.
Within moments, every crack in the wall had been completely filled.
Outside, I could hear demons desperately trying to claw through it.
But it didn't budge in the slightest.
The soldiers waiting atop the wall opened fire, exterminating every demon clinging to it.
“Area secured!”
“Good. Stand by until the next wave!”
The Field Commanders issued their orders to the soldiers.
As I blankly watched the scene unfold, someone approached me.
It was a familiar presence.
Just as I started turning my head—
Smack—!!
My head snapped violently to the side.
A split second later, a burning pain spread across my cheek.
Lowering my gaze slightly, I saw a large hand wearing a black suit sleeve and a leather glove.
“Y-Young Master!”
It was Maria's panicked voice.
Turning my head back, I saw Maria staring at me with a worried expression.
Standing half a step in front of her was, just as I'd expected—
Aaron Stingray.