Chapter 231 Volume IV - Chapter 76: The Mocking Enemy
When the next soldier I was to slay caught my eye, I rushed at him, and what I saw next caused my eyes to widen.
As my sword reflexively sliced the dwarf in two, I saw the hate and hatred in his eyes, then the things he held in his hands.
Almost ten grenades ready to explode.
'Watch out!'
I shielded myself with my hands and quickly dragged the barriers around me in front of me, and then the world went white, a ringing sound echoing in my ears.
I tried to ignore the pain as I was thrown backward, and when I realized I was still alive, I quickly regained my balance and landed on both feet, but even on the ground, I couldn't stop being dragged for about a meter.
My whole body ached from the contraction. Even though my armor had protected me from the impact of the explosion, the pressure would have left marks on my body.
I was still in the cloud of dust raised by the explosion, but that didn't mean my vision was completely blocked.
I looked over to where the suicidal dwarf had been, now nothing but a giant pit.
The maniac... He really refused to die for nothing. Yet he couldn't change anything, he died for nothing...
I narrowed my eyes, sighed deeply, and turned to the dwarves who were looking at me like I was a monster.
They understood now. They realized the hard way that they could not stand against me, not a single bullet was being fired at me.
I narrowed my eyes and continued what I had just done.
I wasn't alone this time, the allies in the woods had opened support fire on me when they realized that the enemies were not focused on them.
So it was even easier than before to mow down the entire enemy. Soon the remaining enemies began to flee.
I was about to kill another dwarf when I noticed the fleeing ones and paused, looking at them.
Should I follow them?
No, I'd better check on the soldiers I came to support.
"U- ugh, aaahhrgh!"
Oh, right... I didn't kill the last one.
I turned my gaze to the dwarf on the ground, his already wet eyes watering even more when we locked eyes. He buried his head in the dirt, nothing but blood and bits of flesh, and fell at my feet.
"P- ple-"
Still, he could not finish. When a bullet pierced his head, his body collapsed and his lifeless body lay there.
I turned back to where the bullet had been fired, and there was an allied dwarf looking at me. He spoke in confusion.
"T- thanks...?"
He was probably surprised that I was human. He looked like he didn't know what to say.
I'd rather not deal with normal soldiers.
I nodded silently, not wanting to disturb him too much, and for a moment he looked at me in surprise again, but I ignored him. I returned to the distant battlefield.
When I imagined a new task in my mind, AVRES quickly gave me what I wanted.
<<------------------------------
New Task: Defend the road leading to Headquarters.
Situation: A unit with soldiers of the fourth and third danger level in its ranks is slowly advancing along the front line. Urgent support is required.
Location: 1,700 meters, west.
------------------------------>>
When the navigation lines reappeared in my field of vision, I quickly turned to follow them, not caring about the allied soldiers behind me.
Along the way, I encountered many enemy soldiers, killing them one by one, looking into their eyes full of hatred and regret.
But I didn't stop, I knew that this was a fact of 'war', where I could either kill and live, or die and no one would ever look back.
So no matter how many disgusting things I saw, how many deaths I faced, how many people I killed with my own hands... I never stopped.
I even deliberately approached my target from the side where the enemy soldiers were concentrated, not from our side where the allies were. That's why I was facing so many enemies, and I wasn't complaining.
*******
As I approached my target, I immediately understood why the situation was bad.
The road leading to the headquarters in the Laronir District was a battlefield in its own right.
Blood was everywhere again, perhaps the only thing common to almost every battlefield. The blood of both enemies and allies spilled and mingled on the ground throughout the area. In between, bits of metal, weapons, and mechanical parts were added to the picture.
Almost the entire area was filled with enemies using two-meter exoskeleton-like robots and a mass of soldiers following behind them. They were pushing back the soldiers defending the road along the line and advancing, albeit slowly.
I could also see a few members of the advance support unit, trying to stand against the advancing enemy, but the two-meter robots were blocking their way.
I squinted, thinking about the best thing I could do.
Should I stand up to one of the robots too, or should I try to scatter the soldiers behind them?
Can I fight the robots? They seem strong, much more dangerous than the soldiers I just crushed like ants.
I shook my head quickly after a short while of thinking.
I can't wait any longer, I have to help.
So I started running toward the nearest robot. I didn't know if I could stand up to one, but I had a lot of faith that I could retreat if something went wrong.
Hadn't I come to this war to push my limits, to improve, after all? So why was I hesitating? I shouldn't have.
I qualified my sword with wind and flame at the same time. Orangish red and teal colors surrounded the sword in harmony as I swung it at a robot in front of a dwarf in the same company as me.
Both the dwarf and himself were surprised when the riot of colors that left the sword landed on the robot like a wave.
Upon contact with my swing, the robot's automatic shields kicked in and absorbed all the mana from my attack. Still, it didn't stop the robot from being pushed back slightly, its shoulder trembling.
I smiled. My attacks were working. I could fight robots.
"Let's attack together and help the other sides!"
When I shouted to the dwarf in the same company as me, he grasped the situation quickly, he didn't think or hesitate in any way. He just jumped on the robot like me.
The situation had changed so abruptly that I expected the pilot inside the robot to panic, but... he didn't. On the contrary, I saw him frowning and narrowing his eyes.
He wasn't helpless, he didn't think he was at a disadvantage. He was going to do something, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.
I charged my sword with the mana I had swirling inside me, then activated my Ice Thorns skill.
With my next step, a thin layer of ice suddenly covered the ground, moving quickly to the robot's feet, where countless sharp spikes appeared.
I swung my sword to strike the robot at the same time as the spikes, and the dwarf next to me used his nano-armor to strike the robot's head with his right fist, which he had quintupled in size.
The pilot, meanwhile, looked at the countless screens that suddenly appeared in front of him and an ominous, wide smile appeared on his face.
His robot was surrounded by a blue glow, and then a shockwave centered on him spread out, taking the blue glow with it.
When the shockwave hit my body, it not only knocked me off balance but also caused my vision to flicker and static. Then I felt swept off my feet by a sharp pain right at my lower back.
'Aiden!'
I heard Sith's voice echoing in my head, but I couldn't even focus on him. My vision was mostly gone, so I could neither keep my balance nor perceive the distance between me and the ground.
I was thrown backward for meters, only that was for sure.
When I finally touched the ground, my whole body trembled with pain, but even then, I couldn't stop and kept drifting.
The only thing that made me stop was that the corpses of several soldiers were lying together and I hit them.
I tried to get up even though my whole body was literally on fire, I wouldn't dare let my guard down or stay still in a place like this.
As I coughed up blood, I realized that my vision still hadn't recovered, and it didn't look like it would anytime soon. Still, there was one method I thought might work.
I took off my helmet and tossed it aside, and just as I had predicted, my vision suddenly cleared, only to be met with the terrified eyes of a pale dwarf lying on the ground.
"Ugh..."
No... I'm looking at the floor now, it's a corpse. This dwarf... has just died, the fear and terror in his eyes are still there.
'Are you okay?'
I took my eyes off the face of the lifeless dwarf.
'Yeah, I think...'
I forced myself to get up as fast as I could, and I did. Even though I had taken a heavy blow, my armor had blocked most of the damage. Even though my whole body was sore and aching, I could walk.
However, I had to recover quickly, it was a miracle that no enemy was still shooting at me.
That's what I was thinking... but then, suddenly, I felt a bullet graze my cheek and I just stood there.
Oh, well... I thought it was because Sith was deflecting them.
I quickly looked back to where I had just attacked the robot, and what I saw next made me freeze.
The robot that a few seconds ago seemed almost certain to fall had now thrust its arm with a bladed weapon into the body of the dwarf who had attacked with me.
The dwarf placed his trembling hands on the robot arm that had pierced his abdomen, trying to damage it with his eyes, whose light was fading with each passing second. Yet his movements were so slow and weak that he could not even remove the arm that had pierced him, let alone harm it.
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