Attacked

Barbarus, Northern Mountains, new forward base.

Now.

.

Thick fog mingled with the faint morning light, slowly spreading across the murky, black soil of Barbarus. The intermittent cries of turbid eagles echoed from afar.

The poisonous gas outside the small base was noticeably denser than inside. Pale yellow mist churned ceaselessly, and any movement within it would cause billowing waves.

Herrela stood at the base entrance, a rifle in her hand, another slung over her shoulder, and a dagger strapped to her waist. Her bulging pouch was filled with bullets.

She wore a full-face gas mask, her brown eyes peering through the glass at her two teammates.

Kuzza and Tiller were checking their equipment. Like Herrela, they wore full-face gas masks and were fully armed, each carrying a scythe and two daggers strapped to their waists.

"All right. Let's move out."

Big Sister Liss, who had come to see them off, nodded. A deep green herbal compress was tied around her forehead.

"Listen up, everyone. Your mission is to deliver this map, which marks specific enemy ambush points and supply depots, to the forward command post in the rear."

"To avoid alerting the enemy, we can't send a large force to transport this document. Our base is currently at the forefront of the border between human and alien territory, so deploying a large force would expose us and make us vulnerable to ambushes along the way."

"As a precaution, we will dispatch three small teams at different times and along different routes from different forward bases to deliver this document."

"And you are the third team."

"But that doesn't mean you can relax. In fact, the lord we're facing this time is more powerful and cunning than any we've encountered before."

"Make sure you deliver the document! Understood?!"

"Understood!"

The three stood at attention and shouted in unison.

Big Sister Liss took a step back and looked at Herrela and the others again.

"Good. You are the most elite melee fighters and marksmen in our base. I believe you can complete this mission."

The Big Sister saluted the three warriors, and the sturdy log-bound gate slowly opened.

And so, they set off.

The monotonous scenery passed by, the murky, yellowish-brown poisonous fog swirling endlessly. There were no landmarks to guide them, except for the scythe symbols left by the Death Guard.

They were marching at a rapid pace. Kuzza was responsible for scouting ahead, Herrela walked in the middle, and Tiller guarded against enemy attacks from behind.

The intelligence was safely tucked away in Herrela's chest.

.

However, disaster descended from the sky.

A sharp sound whistled through the air, and a roaring, blood-red fireball tumbled, tearing through the yellowish-brown fog!!!

It was an incendiary fireball!

"Dodge!!!"

The three frantically accelerated, trying to get out of the attack range—

However, after this fireball—

—hundreds of fireballs roared—

The explosions erupted, destruction arrived suddenly, and all life was extinguished.

Herrela woke up to a ringing in her ears.

She staggered to her feet and pushed away the two charred corpses lying on top of her.

Yes, after realizing that there was no escape, Kuzza and Tiller had thrown themselves onto Herrela at the first moment.

The reason was simple: Herrela had the intelligence on her.

No matter who carried the intelligence, the final outcome would be the same.

The other two would sacrifice themselves to protect the one with the intelligence.

The ringing in her ears persisted. With no time for grief, Herrela knew she had been exposed and had to move immediately.

The gas mask was broken, and yellowish-brown poisonous gas poured in uncontrollably. Herrela hastily wrapped bandages around the mask, barely managing to slow the inflow of gas.

A sharp pain shot through her left calf. Herrela looked down to see white bone protruding through the skin, piercing the flesh.

Blood was gushing out.

Herrela gritted her teeth and quickly applied first aid to stop the bleeding. Then, she used a dagger to cut off a section of the scythe's handle and took out bandages.

Herrela held one end of her calf with one hand and the part of her calf near the knee with the other.

"Crack!"

The strangely fractured calf was reset.

Hiss—fuck!

Herrela rarely swore.

Then she brought the broken scythe handle close to her calf and tied it tightly with bandages to stabilize the fractured leg.

The ringing in her ears subsided a little, but Herrela's lungs continued to throb with pain. The pain from her broken leg stimulated her, bringing her close to unconsciousness.

No, she must deliver the intelligence!

One rifle was broken. Herrela threw away the damaged one, picked up another, and loaded it.

Without the slightest hesitation, Herrela limped onward.

I'm sorry, my comrades, I will definitely deliver this intelligence.

Your sacrifices will not be in vain.

Drop after drop of blood slid down the wound on her calf, leaving a trail of scattered dots on the ground.

Herrela began to feel dizzy, but to her relief, she had often felt dizzy before, so she could cope with this situation.

A faint barking sound came from the fog.

Pus Hounds?!

Ahead in the wasteland was a tall, withered tree. Herrela didn't hesitate, quickly dragging her broken leg to climb to the top of the tree.

The barbs on the tree bark once again pierced the wound on Herrela's leg, but she had no time to care about it now.

Herrela held her gun, pointing into the distance.

Based on the sound of the barking, Herrela estimated that the number of hounds was around six or seven.

Herrela slowed her breathing, which would allow the poisonous gas to enter her lungs more slowly—

When that small black dot first appeared in the turbid yellow fog—

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Gunshots rang out!

The first bullet accurately pierced the tip of that unlucky creature's nose, entering its brain. The two shots that followed hit the hound's right eye and the other hit its sprinting front leg.

The high-speed hound instantly fell, whimpering and rolling on the ground, kicking up countless clouds of dust.

The Pus Hounds that followed were startled. The two hounds in the front were even tripped by the fallen hound's corpse.

Pull the trigger again.

"Bang! Bang!"

The Pus Hounds fell to the ground in response, eliminating two.

Misjudgment, Herrela pursed her chapped lips, brushed the stray hair from her ear, and smiled.

The enemy probably thought that whoever survived the bombing was likely a strong melee warrior, so they sent out hounds known for close-quarters entanglement.

These Pus Hounds, when they outnumbered the enemy, were indeed extremely difficult opponents.

A slight carelessness could lead to death.

However, the enemy didn't expect that it was she, a seemingly weak shooter who couldn't withstand the bombardment at all, who had survived.

This is why humanity will ultimately prevail.

You selfish, brain-damaged Alien things!

You will never understand these human spirits!!!

With four left, realizing that the opponent was a shooter, these hounds began to change their trajectory, advancing in a dazzling group zigzag pattern.

If she was lucky, Herrela could shoot them down before they entered her attack range.

If she was unlucky, then there was a high probability that one or two would be able to attack Herrela.

Bless me, Hades.

I want to live, I want to deliver this intelligence, I want to see you again while I'm still alive.

I want to hold on until the day peace arrives.

Bless me.

Hades.

Bless me.

The people of Barbarus.

This is the first time I've written, and I didn't handle the supporting characters well, I'm very sorry (ˇˇ)