"Calling control tower. Unit One has reached Sakurajima City."
"Unit Two has arrived. Target confirmed. Requesting permission to attack."
More than a dozen U.S. F-15 Fighters in light-gray ghost camouflage streaked urgently across the sky. The squadron leader gazed into the distance; Sakurajima Volcano was already in sight.
Sakurajima Volcano was an active volcano that could erupt more than two hundred times a year. Beneath the night sky, its crater glowed red, brewing the earth's fury.
Nearly fifty meters tall, the Rashomon towering in the city center had a green face and bared fangs, looking utterly terrifying.
Sakurajima had once belonged to the Satsuma Domain at the southernmost end of Japan's Kyushu Island. It was now part of Kagoshima Prefecture.
As one of the Heavenly Origin Game's five competition zones, the Sakurajima Barrier was unique in being on an island, isolated from mainland Japan to prevent outsiders from slipping inside.
From the moment the game opened, warships of the U.S. Armed Forces Stationed in Japan, dispatched from Naha Air Base, had blockaded the harbor and interfered heavily with the Sakurajima Barrier, even sending in large numbers of soldiers to take up player slots.
Although they had ultimately suffered devastating casualties, they had still made some unexpected gains.
After the Rashomon rose from the ground, the Americans also recognized the urgency of the situation and decided to destroy this gate to hell immediately.
"Fire!"
Dozens of high-yield air-to-ground missiles trailed long flames as they screamed through the night, reaching the Rashomon in the blink of an eye.
With such an enormous target, there was naturally no possibility of missing.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Bang!
Huge fireballs and explosions erupted one after another. Even the military observers on the ground more than a dozen li away were deafened, their heads ringing.
"Not even