One-Eyed Ari and Cunning Kais

Boom! Boom! Boom! Minotaur self-propelled artillery shells howled down upon the oncoming mutant horde.

The artillery blasted one vacuum after another through the mutant horde, but those gaps were swiftly filled by an endless stream of mutants.

They seemed inexhaustible as they shrieked and surged toward the Defense Force positions.

"Open fire!"

Defense Force Captain Arri Rog opened his scarlet mechanical eye and pulled the trigger first. The other soldiers in the position followed suit.

Assault rifles, Heavy Machine Guns, and other weapons spat streams of fire. Interweaving bullet trails swept across the incoming mutants, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Under the suppressive fire, the mutant tide was like waves crashing against a dam, its assault immediately grinding to a halt.

But that did not last long.

Mutants pouring in from the rear trampled over the corpses of their own kind and continued their attack.

Before long, scattered mutants broke through the bullet storm and pounced on the position.

"Heavy infantry, stop them!"

Rank after rank of heavily armored infantry clad in shell armor stepped forward.

They swung Power Axes and Chainswords, intercepting the mutants that had broken into the position.

One mutant after another charged in, only to be cut down, spraying flesh and blood in every direction.

Though the defensive line was dense, some stragglers still slipped past the heavy infantry and attacked the ordinary soldiers who lacked protection.

"Ah!"

A mutant pounced on a soldier and ripped open his belly.

The soldier wailed until a burst of bullets struck, killing both him and the mutant.

It was an understanding shared among the soldiers—to lessen the suffering.

No one retreated.

Five kilometers behind the position lay the residential district, where their families lived.

"Die, you pieces of trash!"

Ari swung his mechanical arm and Chainsword, slicing an airborne mutant in two.

Blood and flesh splattered across his face, making his scarlet bionic eye look even more ferocious.

He roared, "Hold the line! Hold for another fifteen minutes, and we can wipe out all these damned things!"

This was the second mutant tide of the month, and the Defense Force had already gained ample experience in dealing with them.

As the battle dragged on, the soldiers began to tire.

More and more soldiers were pounced on and devoured by mutants, utterly unable to resist.

Screams rose and fell throughout the position.

"Those damned Logistics Department bastards! The men can barely fill their stomachs—where are they supposed to find the strength to fight?"

The Defense Force's military supplies were handled by the Logistics Department in the Palatine District.

But those administrative officials did not care in the slightest whether the soldiers lived or died.

The pressure of battle on the Defense Force was growing greater, yet the soldiers' rations had been drastically reduced.

They were almost down to the same amount as the workers. How could they possibly have any fighting strength?

"Kill them! Take down these disgusting monsters!"

Ari roared as he charged into battle, but a moment of carelessness allowed a mutant to tackle him.

When he drew his pistol and blew apart the mutant's head, more mutants pounced toward him.

There was no time to react!

Bang! Bang! Bang! The beautiful report of a Bolt Pistol rang out.

The shots struck those mutants squarely in the head, sending them to meet the Chaos Gods.

"You're not dead, are you, One-Eye?"

The gentle voice of Kais Light, the intern staff officer known as Cunning Boyz, rang out. He reloaded his Bolt Pistol as he spoke.

"I won't die. My father always said I was tough to kill. Even if everyone else dies, I won't."

Ari climbed to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood. "So they all died, and I'm still alive!"

He stared at Kais and demanded, "Where the hell were you hiding just now?"

Kais was famous throughout the company for being cunning and exceedingly cautious in everything he did.

Once the battle began, he was nowhere to be seen.

Yet stranger still, he always appeared at critical moments and achieved impressive results.

The God-Emperor was watching over him—that was how Kais explained his good fortune every time.

"Where else could I have gone? I've been right behind you, observing the battlefield."

Ari was known as a Veteran who had survived a hundred battles. Hiding behind him was relatively safe.

"Cunning Boyz."

Ari looked down on Kais's behavior somewhat. "A man should face real Fear head-on!"

"I call it using my brain, unlike you, you Beast!"

As Kais spoke, he raised his gun and pointed behind him. The muzzle went straight into the mouth of a mutant trying to ambush him.

"Squeak?"

Boom! Before the mutant could react, the Bolt round blew its head apart.

"I crawled out of the Underhive. If I'm not a Beast, then what am I?"

Ari seized a mutant by the neck, slammed it onto the ground, and viciously stomped its head apart.

He panted lightly and looked at Kais. "Did you notice anything?"

"Have you noticed that this mutant tide is much weaker than the previous ones?"

"It does seem weaker." Ari estimated while cutting down another mutant. "These damned things aren't as fierce as before."

"They look like they're running away."

Kais frowned, as though he had suddenly figured something out. "No, they are running for their lives!"

"Why?"

"That means something even more terrifying is chasing them from behind, and it's almost here!"

Having realized this, Kais made an immediate decision. "Find the communications officer, now! We have to report this to the regiment commander and put everyone on alert!"

Rumble!

Just as he was about to act, a thunderous blast erupted from a distant position, sending up clouds of smoke and dust.

That was the line of their First Pipeline!

The explosion had occurred behind the line.

That proved something had completely punched through their defenses, and the blast had struck right where the Defense Force regiment commander's headquarters was located!

Now they were in trouble!

"Damned monster, Boyz, what do we do?" Ari was somewhat stunned as well.

"Let's worry about our own line first."

Kais's expression was grave. He listened closely, then looked toward the pitch-black entrance of the transport pipeline. "Something big is coming this way!"

The vibrations inside the transport pipeline grew increasingly obvious, as though some enormous creature was charging through it with deafening clangs!

Ari noticed it too. He swallowed hard. "That really is something big!"

"Judging by those footsteps, that thing weighs at least five tons!"

Kais took a deep breath. "Prepare to defend!"

There were no more mutants emerging from the transport pipeline, and the remaining scattered mutants had been dealt with by the soldiers.

Everyone's attention shifted to the rumbling transport pipeline. Something even more terrifying was about to emerge!

"Prepare to defend!"

Aris roared, "All weapons, aim at the entrance! The instant anything comes out, attack! Blow that damned monster to pieces!"

After the order was given, the self-propelled artillery in the position adjusted their firing angles, taking the entrance of the transport pipeline as their target.

The soldiers re-formed their ranks and aimed every gun at the entrance.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the monster to appear!

Roar!!! A terrifying howl came from within the transport pipeline.

The sound was shrill and horrifying, as though it could tear everything apart!

The sheer pressure instantly sent a chill down the soldiers' spines, and Fear surged into their hearts.

The monster had arrived!