Right on the tripoin border, previously, there was a river that separated North Korea and Russia. However, since the dungeon's appearance one year ago, the surrounding structures were destroyed. It turned the river into a field within a radius of 20 km.
The border area was far from the city, making the atmosphere of the night at the dungeon guard post feel desolate.
Captain Chang seemed to be relaxing, eating noodles while staring at the rows of monitor screens captured by the cctv. His subordinates in charge of monitoring looked bored; they yawned and occasionally rubbed their eyes from sleepiness.
To ward off their boredom, some of them played mahjong. Captain Chang would not scold his men, as long as they were not asleep.
This was the condition of the dungeon guard post at the border.
They had been in charge of guarding the dungeon for over a year. There was no incident that carries a serious threat.
The activities remained the same; looking at the monitor screen and seeing a group of hunters coming in and out carrying the prey. The change was only the name of the day. There were no 'dungeon breaks', no monsters trying to get out of the guardrail. Everything was safe and peaceful.
Their job, which should have been a noble role, turned into a tedious security job. However, thanks to this, Captain Chang and his men did not suffer like other soldiers serving in other dungeons.
"Ah! I lost again!"
A young soldier seemed to be hitting the table. The mahjong blocks flew in the air. The three soldiers sitting at the same table just looked at him with surprised expressions.
"Why am I so unlucky today?!"
"Your heart is not pure. You should go to the temple to pray everyday," quipped one of the soldiers. He scooped up the money that was scattered on the table.
The other two soldiers who had also lost had wry expressions on their faces.
"You trash!"
Tak!
The young soldier was in pain. A pair of chopsticks landed on his head.
"Hey! Noisy! Who told you to gamble? Clear the table, back to work!" Captain Chang exclaimed in annoyance.
"Understood, sir!" the four soldiers replied in unison.
"Get me new chopsticks!"
The soldier who won the bet replied Captain Chang with enthusiasm. He quickly left the control room. Meanwhile, three of his friends picked up the mahjong blocks.
Within this unit, no one could refute Captain Chang's words. He was the highest in charge of the dungeon border post, the first to notify the central government in case a dungeon break occurred.
Then, a soldier who was watching the monitor suddenly stood up.
"Captain! M-monsters!"
"There are monsters approaching? Call Squad 88, send the soldiers to clean them up."
Since the last three months, the monsters that came out of the dungeon and approached the guard post had begun to be seen frequently, but there weren't many. There were only one or two. If any of them came, usually the guard post sent a squadron of soldiers to chase them away.
However, this time was different.
"N-no, Captain! This isn't the usual stray monster! There are a lot of them! It's t-thousands!"
After hearing his subordinate's last sentence, Captain Chang put his noodle bowl on the table and quickly dashed towards the soldier. He wanted to confirm with his own eyes. As he looked at the monitor screen, his eyes opened wide.
Three thousand monsters consisting of goblins, kobolds, gnolls, and other small-sized monsters were seen flocking to the guard post.
"Damn it!"
Captain Chang quickly pressed the red button in front of him. Sirens sounded, and red light filled the entire room.
Captain Chang grabbed the mic.
"Warning soldiers! Alert Level 5! This is not a training simulation! I repeat, alert Level 5! It's a dungeon break!"
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.
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Isaac breathed the fresh night air. The sound of sirens echoing from various directions tickled his ears.
"Looks like they've started moving…" A smile appeared on his face.
He was currently 100 meters away from the dungeon entrance with some of his warriors. Asterius, Isaac's general, who had been standing beside him, seemed impatient to jump into the battle.
He didn't understand why Isaac didn't just charge right away. With the current number of troops, he was confident he could finish off the humans in an instant.
The minotaur wanted to ask, but the question stuck in his throat. He was afraid of being mistaken for doubting his master. If Asterius was Pippi, he would have asked without hesitation.
On the other hand, Isaac noticed the oddity on the faces of his men.
"If something's bothering you, say it, Asterius. I will not be offended."
The opportunity approached Asterius.
"Lord, allow your foolish servant to ask. We have 30,000 monster warriors. Not all of them are strong, but looking at the pitiful human defenses, it's easy for us to finish them off. Why do we have to send 10,000 monsters, as if giving them a warning that we are about to attack?"
Isaac replied, "Like you have said. Our goal is to give them a warning."
After hearing his master's answer, more questions lingered in Asterius' mind.
In normal combat, a surprise attack that exerted full power was more effective than dividing the combat power.
However, Isaac's target here was not only raiding settlements, but also farming.
No matter how many humans were slaughtered, if it wasn't those who experienced resurrection, he would only be left with crumbs. The results he got would not be comparable to the monsters that would be sacrificed.
Thus, he sent his 10,000 monster warriors as a warning, to give them time to summon the hunters.
"Oh, I see. I understand now. What a great tactic."
Asterius smiled, satisfied to hear his master's explanation.
In Isaac's plan, there would be three phases of attack.
The first phase was the warning phase. As he had explained to Asterius, he sent soldiers to give the humans time to summon the hunters. He sent 10,000 warriors; which were divided into three groups that attacked three different targets.
6000 monster troops stormed the Chinese and Russian guard posts, while the remaining 4000 invaded North Korea.
'North Korea has very few hunters. Their guard post must have the strongest military defense. But I'm sure they will be wiped out by my 4000 monsters.'
The second phase was the mental attack phase. Based on Isaac's experience, the reinforcements would arrive within 1-3 hours at the latest. Considering the dungeon was in an area far from the settlements and guild headquarters, it was likely that the reinforcements would arrive in 6 to 12 hours.
If in the previous method, he used 'friendliness', this time he used 'threat'.
Isaac would use this time to instill fear in humans. He would spare the humans to make sure they returned home with a terrible experience, so that the government would be more aware of his dungeon. With the hope that the government would place a guild and paid hunters to guard around the dungeon.
Isaac had to make sure they suffered massive damage, but at the same time, he also gave them hope.
The reason he didn't use this method long ago was because he wasn't sure about the dungeon's power yet. However, after getting Dark Fate and Byakko, Isaac was sure that no human would be able to penetrate his dungeon.
The last phase was harvesting. The goal was only one, to slaughter as many hunters as possible who entered his teritory.
'I should get a lot of zenny in this raid.'
Isaac smiled. He imagined the results he would get while hearing the sound of the gunfire and screams that went on and on.
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.
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Bang! Bang! Bang!
The muzzle of the gun continued to spit out thousands of hot bullets, the sound of which echoed through the night sky. The troops were constantly sweating and screaming.
"Shoot! Get rid of those damn monsters!"
"Reload! Reload!"
"Blyat!"
The Russian troops seemed to have a hard time defending against the endless monster attacks.
Even though they used the latest modern weapons capable of eliminating the monsters, they were still powerless.
Most of the monsters were small, and they moved quickly. Besides, the darkness of the night made it difficult for the troops to aim at the target. In addition, the limited resources; like ammo, was one of the problems they had to face.
Moreover, so far, no heavy weapons of mass destruction monsters could be created. Like it or not, they could only rely on the long-barrelled weapons in their hands.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thousands of bullets were shot out, but only one kobold was killed.
"Blyat!"
A squad seemed surrounded by dozens of kobolds. They ran out of ammo. It had been 4 hours since they were forced to fight against the onslaught of monster troops. At first, there were 50 people, but there were 15 people left right now.
"Lieutenant Yuri! One magazine left! I have nothing left!"
"We can't hold out much longer! We must retreat!"
The remaining squad members were getting overwhelmed.
"Don't complain, you bastard! If we retreat, all the wounded soldiers will die! You want them dead? Hold on as hard as you can!"
Hearing their superior's orders, the soldiers returned to fire their weapons.
However, they did not last much longer.
"Kuagh!"
Splat! Splat—!
Two soldiers died after the kobold weapons stabbed them in the head. The other members grimaced in horror at the terrible sight, one of them even screaming to their lungs.
"Petrov! Gregory!"
The comrades who had been together for seven years died just like that. Lieutenant Yuri snapped at his remaining men to stay focused. They pulled the trigger again.
Until finally, the last pull stuck.
Cleak!
They ran out of ammo.
"Lieutenant…"
A frightened, trembling voice sounded weakly in Lieutenant Yuri's ear. He knew what would happen to them next.
From the start, Lieutenant Yuri was given orders to hold back the attacks on the front line for as long as possible. Actually, he thought and wished the same as his men, to run away, but their superior ordered him to stay put no matter what happened kept him in that place. Holding on until help came. Like it or not, soldiers had to obey their superiors.
Besides, he realized, in war there have to be sacrifices to achieve victory.
"Nice to lead you to the end," Lieutenant Yuri said.
The hope in her subordinates' hearts quickly disappeared after hearing that sentence. They didn't reply to Lieutenant Yuri's words, only swallowing their saliva in terror.
"Kraarrr Kraarrr!"
Meanwhile, the kobolds laughed while watching their enemies resign themselves to death.
The kobolds charged at the poor human soldiers in unison.
Lieutenant Yuri closed his eyes.
Then…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunshots boomed in her ears, followed by the goblins screaming and bones breaking.
Lieutenant Yuri opened his eyes slowly. When he saw who the figure was, a feeling of relief flooded her chests.
It was the figure of a tall, well-built man, wearing an elite military uniform. His face radiated a cold aura and showed no sign of fear at all. One of his hands was holding an SMG, and the other was holding a black dagger. His skin was pale, and he had jet black hair. In his mouth, there was a glowing cigar.
Lieutenant Yuri and his men gaped at the man.
"I... Ivan Fedorov…" Lieutenant Yuri said quietly. He still hadn't escaped from the grip of fear.
The man turned to Lieutenant Yuri and his men. He was silent for a moment, looking at their condition.
"Calm down, ladies. HFD has come to the party. You better hurry home before these damn monsters bite you. Leave it to the rest of us. We'll get rid of them."
Behind the man's back, fifty uniformed soldiers were carrying weapons. In contrast to Lieutenant Yuri and his men who were terrified, their expressions looked bored, as if slaughtering monsters was their daily meal.
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