Chapter 181. The Prelude (1)

Looking up at the sky, the once bright blue sunlight was now completely obscured by gray clouds.

The city slowly darkened.

Following that was a roar that seemed to crush the eardrums.

It came from the border area outside the outsourcing district, where the forest met the city. The sound of huge, solid objects splitting and cracking all at once, crashing to the ground, tore at the ears.

“It’s starting.”

Enoch murmured as he looked at the forest on the border of the outsourcing district.

At that moment, with a loud, screeching noise, a black mass swooped down from the northern sky.

A black shadow suddenly fell across the asphalt road, and the world went dark. It became so pitch black that it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night.

I could immediately identify what it was.

Birds. Birds of all different sizes and species had become a single mass, screeching loudly as they fled in the opposite direction of the outsourcing district’s border.

The birds had begun to evacuate from all sectors of the 19th outsourcing district at once. They had instinctively realized that there was no future left in this residential area of the Victoria outsourcing district…

Enoch turned his head to Alicia, who was standing in front of him with a dazed expression, and said.

“There’s no time. We move now.”

“Ah, yes. Yes……!”

At Enoch’s calm instruction, Alicia also nodded. Everyone present started running out of the alley.

The city center was already in a state of chaos, with passersby running around in confusion or fleeing with their children’s hands.

While my body was sprinting, my mind was calmly analyzing the situation and observing the surroundings.

There was a considerable distance to the freelancers’ assembly point.

First, if possible, we had to regroup and fight together. But would that be possible?

“Flying magical beasts!!”

Just then, someone shouted loudly from the opposite alley, and everyone’s gaze turned to the sky.

Enoch narrowed his eyes as he looked at the gray sky.

A swarm of magical beasts, flying in formation like a black cloud, was approaching from the distance, as if in pursuit of the flock of birds that had just flown away.

A black body covered in a shell with a rock-like texture, and similarly jet-black, spiky wings.

At first glance, it resembled a pterosaur, but like most experimental magical beasts or ordinary magical beasts, its shell made it look more like a machine carved from stone than a living creature.

In addition, on either side of its beak were two very long, cone-shaped horns, like spears.

Thanks to that feature, I could recognize them immediately.

Those were experimental subjects that could mass-produce ‘infected bodies’.

Those absurd horns served as a kind of syringe for bodily fluids to create infected bodies. Needless to say, they were extremely dangerous.

I remember it clearly because it was one of the characteristics of the magical beasts related to Enoch’s death.

The squad members, including Enoch, who had witnessed the swarm of magical beasts filling the sky, all flinched and stopped.

“What do we do about that?”

April, who had stopped beside me, shouted.

Beyond the backlit sky, the metallic roar of the magical beasts that blackened the sky shook the earth, and at that moment, a gale swept through the area.

The deliberation was not long.

“We can’t join the freelancers. We’ll intercept the flying magical beasts that have flown into the city here.”

At those words, Sirocco perked up her ears and took the lead.

Just then, a fist-sized rock, swept up by the wind from somewhere, flew towards Enoch’s side.

Checking its trajectory, it was heading straight for the head of Nano, who was staring blankly up at the sky.

Enoch stretched out his arm and caught the rock.

However, without even noticing what had happened, Nano was still staring blankly up at the sky.

“Nano.”

Enoch glanced at her.

The genius engineer with white-gold hair scattering down her back.

To Nano, who was looking up at the gray sky with her clear, glass-like blue eyes, Enoch spoke calmly.

“As squad leader, I’m giving you an order. Is that alright?”

“Ah!”

As if suddenly snapping out of it at those words, Nano’s eyes widened, and she looked at me and smiled brightly.

“Yep, Direct Lineage Member!”

“You didn’t look well just now, are you okay?”

“Well, I don’t know what to do in this situation by myself-mda. I’m definitely not used to combat yet-mda.”

Nano looked back and smiled.

“So, just give me the order-mda! I want to protect the city I live in with my own power-mda!”

It was a surprisingly calm attitude.

Feeling that it was truly amazing that Nano, who had had little to do with battles like this until now, was not this shaken, I gave the order.

“First, we need to grasp the exact situation. Secure a field of view with the drone and assess the current state.”

“Roger-mda! I won’t disappoint you-mda!”

Nano smiled brightly, then turned her upper body and pulled down the metal visor she had on her head with two fingers.

“I’m still lacking a lot, but I’m still a 11th Rank, so I have something that can be called a Unique Magic-mda!”

“Huh? 11th Rank?!”

At those words, April’s eyes widened beside me.

“Wait a minute! Nano, you’re an 11th Rank?!”

But there was no time to be surprised anymore. Nano took a step forward and began to draw on all the mana in her body.

[Artifact Tuning: Drone Expansion]

A blue electric current sparked around Nano once, and a faint spherical magnetic field appeared around her body.

“Commencing reconnaissance-mda!”

Small metal objects in the vicinity, affected by the magnetism, began to be slowly pulled towards her on the ground.

In an instant, as she held out a hand towards the drone, the deployed magnetic field was completely absorbed into the machine. Nano lifted her head, her eyes shining with confidence.

“Drone channel activated, deploying Bzz-Bzz-mda!”

As Nano walked forward and swung her arm to the side, the drone reacted instantly to its owner’s command.

The cross-shaped panel drone floating in the air beside her scattered a blue light from its center.

The machine, floating in the air, began to fly smoothly, ignoring the blowing wind as it circled towards the sky, commencing reconnaissance.

Nano took out a small, mechanically designed wireless terminal and threw it to me.

“Direct Lineage Member! Just plug that into your terminal-mda!”

Enoch immediately took out his terminal from his pocket and turned on the screen. As he plugged the terminal into the port, an app immediately launched on the display.

[Artifact Tuning: Recon Share]

Nano shouted from across the display.

“They’re coming in black-mda! It’s all flying magical beasts-mda!”

The screen was transmitted to Enoch’s terminal display. A cross-section of the 19th outsourcing district appeared on the white screen, and the current location of their allies was marked with a blinking light spot.

“Detected enemies, marking-mda!”

At the same time, the enemies detected by the drone in the vicinity were marked in real-time with a red marker on the display.

Translucent red triangles appeared on the screen and began to move towards them in an orderly fashion.

The moment he saw the battle situation at a glance, Enoch realized.

“…The prelude.”

The freelancers who had gathered like a cloud, and the Victoria army infantry under Shepherd’s command who would be deployed beyond the border of the outsourcing district, would be less efficient in responding quickly to a surprise attack like this rather than the expected all-out war.

In his mind, a virtual chessboard was suddenly drawn.

The cross-section of the 19th outsourcing district on the terminal screen was no different from a game board where the battlefield was unfolding.

Enoch looked around with a blank expression.

The air raid of the magical beasts unfolding under the gray sky.

This was the first move of the opposing knight, somewhere in the forest on the border of that huge outsourcing district. The opening of a grand game.

What they chose for the prelude to the battle was a skirmish.

The move was obvious.

What the enemy knight was trying to induce in our camp was a squad-level individual battle. A reconnaissance of our strength.

Now the turn was passed. It was time for our knights to respond.

“Damn it, shoot! We need to lay down a barrage, help!”

“Gather the cryo-type magic users! Hold them back!”

“Don’t let them get close! Assemble the interim members!!”

It seemed the other freelancers who had gathered at the assembly point had already engaged the flying magical beasts in battle.

From all sides, the sharp sounds of gunshots and magic, and the mechanical noises of the interim leaders deploying their communications began to mix together loudly.

The battle had begun.

And as the squad leader, Enoch, who had to play the role of the knight, also had to act immediately.

“Our squad will also join the defense. There’s no time.”

April calmly asked from the side.

“Moving is good, but what’s the primary objective?”

“Securing the safety of the outsourcing district citizens and repelling the magical beasts.”

Enoch replied instantly, recalling the family’s mission. If the objective was broken down, what they had to do in this magical beast invasion was clear.

“Their numbers aren’t large. This enemy attack will be limited. This is a main street where citizens are concentrated, so we’ll stop them here.”

“Alright, roger.”

I nodded at April’s words.

Those flying magical beasts were not a proper offensive anyway. They were likely on a reconnaissance mission of sorts, trying to gauge our strength, including the advantage of a surprise attack.

But I had no intention of letting them get away with even that. Including the unnecessary loss of civilian lives, everything.

In the first place, that was the mission given by the family.

Just then, the swarm of magical beasts that had reached the sky above began to descend rapidly towards the fleeing citizens, preparing to attack.

Enoch, who was staring at them, whispered coldly.

“All squad, commence operation.”

Paaat─

The moment the order was given, Sirocco, with her red wolf tail standing on end, brushed past me, lowered her stance, and ran like the wind.

Beside her, April pulled the charging handle and began to aim her sniper rifle at the sky.

This was the beginning of the real battle.

But, the most important task still remained.

Enoch quietly looked to his side and asked.

“So, what are you going to do?”

Enoch asked, glancing at the girl dressed in a Dragoon uniform, her head bowed, her clothes fluttering in the wind.

“…Alicia.”

***

Alicia still seemed to be conflicted.

Unlike the other squad members who had left the dark alley and moved to the main street to begin the battle.

Alicia, as if unable to do either, remained in the dark alley with her head bowed.

“What I have to do here is….”

Enoch looked down at her for a moment.

Alicia was conflicted. I knew well that I was in a position to persuade her. In the first place, how much had I struggled to recruit her until now?

But seeing her with her fists clenched so tightly they were white and her head lowered, I suddenly didn’t know how to persuade her.

That was how seriously Alicia was contemplating.

“Alicia. The magical beast invasion has already begun.”

Enoch slowly opened his mouth. If I didn't know what to say to persuade her, I at least wanted to convey my position.

“You talked about a soldier’s duty earlier.”

“……”

“Certainly, returning to the Dragoons right now to fulfill your duty as a soldier is one option.”

Alicia snapped her head up and looked at me, urgently shaking her head.

“B-but then……!!”

“That’s right, if you return to the Dragoons now, you might be able to obey your orders as a soldier, but.”

I added, looking at the citizens screaming and evacuating with their children on the surrounding main streets, and the refugees fleeing from the magical beast onslaught.

“As you said, you can’t become the admirable hero who coolly protects people in trouble.”

Alicia’s shoulders trembled slightly as she clenched her fists. Enoch slowly stood up.

“The choice is yours, Alicia.”

“I am……”

Enoch looked down at her silently.

Alicia’s conflict was valid.

Whether to pursue her admired ideal with her own choice, or to obey the order to return to the Dragoons and fulfill her duty as a soldier. That was entirely up to Alicia.

Any more persuasion would be meaningless anyway.

If I had known from the beginning that the Dragoons’ position would be like this, I might have prepared a different appeasement strategy or method.

But now, with the situation rapidly unfolding and the battle in full swing, all Enoch could do was to present her with the choice head-on.

—If there was one hope to hang on to, it was the fact that I knew ‘what choice Alicia made in the future of the Official History’.

I had to bet on that alone.

“Whatever you choose, there isn’t much time.”

Enoch looked down once at her slightly trembling bright blue eyes and turned away.

Then, he walked out of the alley where Alicia remained and onto the main street outside.

The main street was now a chaotic mix of evacuating citizens, freelancers, and Enoch’s squad, all engaged in a fierce battle to hold back the magical beasts.

April was relentlessly pulling the trigger, darting through the alleys, and Sirocco was leaping onto the roofs of buildings and running.

Enoch stood next to Nano, who was operating the drone while taking cover behind the alley wall.

“Ah! Direct Lineage Member, what about the Dragoon member?”

Nano glanced at me and asked.

“It seems it’ll take some time for her to decide.”

“Ahaha, well, she’s a member of the military, after all-mda!”

Enoch glanced at the darkness of the alley where he had left Alicia.

Now, all that remained was her choice.

Turning my head again, the prowess shown by Sirocco alone as she carried out the order to protect the citizens was truly outstanding.

With her enhanced physical abilities, she displayed tremendous leg strength, sprinting down the main street, kicking off the building walls several times, and then launching herself into the air with the principle of a triangle jump.

Her long, wavy hair fluttering in the wind, Sirocco stepped on or grabbed the flying magical beasts, then rotated her body in mid-air as if performing acrobatics.

She kicked the other magical beasts with her feet, shattering them, shell and all, in mid-air.

Thanks to the wolf-eared girl who was single-handedly disrupting the enemy’s dense aerial formation, the attention of the enemy magical beasts that had flown in for the prelude was now also beginning to focus entirely on her.

Just then, a beeping sound came from the terminal, and a new enemy was marked with a large red triangular light spot. Enoch quietly murmured.

“What’s this?”

Nano pushed up her visor and shouted urgently.

“Direct Lineage Member! Detected the main body of the flying magical beasts-mda!”

The main body.

The moment I turned my gaze to the sky where the light spot was approaching, I saw a massive magical beast flying in, as if to block out the sun.

Four pairs of black wings reminiscent of a fallen angel, a huge body encased in a smooth, angular shell like rock, and a row of glowing eyes.

The sight of it gliding majestically through the sky with its two wings spread wide looked even bigger than the leader I had encountered in the Pangaeon mine last time.

Beside it, countless more flying magical beasts were gathering, as if following it.

April, who had confirmed it with her scope, shouted urgently from the side.

“A leader! A size like that is an Exceed class!”

Among the elite individuals who reigned over ordinary magical beasts, it was a considerably powerful one.

Exceed.

It was the name of a danger class for magical beast leaders, classified into 5 stages officially by the Empire.

When ranked by danger level, ‘Exceed’ was a magical beast three stages below the highest danger species, the ‘Tyrant’ class.

Even if it was a magical beast created as an experimental subject, as long as its size was similar, it would naturally not be weak.

April aimed at the sky from the side and pulled the trigger, but the sniper round hit the creature’s hard outer shell and ricocheted harmlessly.

She clicked her tongue and retreated, cycling the bolt.

“Tch, a .308 round ricocheting. Annoying!”

It was natural. An Exceed class was not to be underestimated, as it would take combat mages around the 10th Rank to barely take one down, regardless of type advantage.

But currently, the strongest combat power, Sirocco, was busy destroying the magical beasts that were trying to approach the citizens.

It was impossible to use her power.

To deal with that thing and the main body it was leading—

THOOOOOM!!

Just as Enoch was slowly reaching for his cloth bag, a huge explosion that felt like his heart was sinking echoed all around.

A huge explosion occurred in the air, a flower of orange flame bloomed, and the next moment, a gale blew in.

A wave of hot wind hit me head-on, and as I covered my face with my arm, the sensation of my uniform jacket being violently flipped back and flapping wildly washed over me.

“Sorry for the delay in my decision! Direct Lineage Member!”

And at the other end of the alley.

A girl with long, fluttering ash-brown hair walked out of the darkness.

The huge, sleekly designed black Bombardment Lance, slung by the side of her red uniform skirt, was conspicuous.

“From now on, leave this place to me!”

The tip of the long Bombardment Lance, having just fired, was trickling white smoke, and with each of her steps, white smoke billowed up from the ground.

“Looks like you’ve made up your mind.”

“Yes! First, I will break through this situation!”

As Alicia swung the lance in her hand back once, with a clanking sound, a high-explosive cartridge ejected, spewing white smoke.

From the closed bolt built into the lance, the sharp sound of the next round being loaded tore at the ears.

“Second Lieutenant Alicia, 1st Dragoon Regiment! In accordance with the situation on the ground, I will follow the orders of the temporary commander!”

The naive country girl who had been embarrassed about her dialect was gone without a trace.

Having entered combat, Alicia slammed her long lance down to her side and declared bravely.

Enoch smiled faintly and nodded.

Temporary command. For now, that was enough.

She ran and stood in front of Enoch, then turned around to face the enemies in the sky and shouted.

“Direct Lineage Member, your orders!”

Without a second thought, Enoch looked at the huge flying experimental magical beast that was swooping down towards the citizens and said.

“The leader, the Exceed class, can you hold it back?”

“Yes!!”

Alicia, with a determined look in her eyes, aimed her lance at the Exceed-class magical beast flying in from the sky and shouted.

“Following orders, I will hold back the enemy with all my strength!”

Sprinting past him, Alicia held her long lance firmly at an angle, then crushed the ground and leaped high into the air.

Towards the Exceed-class magical beast that was descending at an angle, she pulled back the shoulder of the arm holding the lance.

“Haap!”

With a concise shout, Alicia, who had thrown her body, stabbed with the jet-black Bombardment Lance, imbued with the centrifugal force of her rotation.

The tip of the spear, shrouded in a white whirlwind, completely shattered the enemy’s shell, and the huge, cone-shaped spearhead dug deep into the magical beast’s body.

“By the pride of the Victoria Dragoons—!”

At Alicia’s righteous cry, the surrounding air instantly became tense.

Normally, it would have been impossible to hear over the roars of the surrounding magical beasts, but Enoch heard it clearly. The sharp sound of a steel trigger’s spring being pulled.

“Point-Blank Bombardment!”

For a moment, it felt as if all the surrounding noise had disappeared, and then, with a roaring explosion, a huge orange circle bloomed in the leaden sky.

For a moment, it felt as if the world had two suns.

The leaden clouds that had been covering the sun were blown away by the shock, and the magical beast’s huge body was engulfed in an orange flash, then swelled up madly.

The inside of the magical beast’s shell inflated like a balloon.

The body, which had been hit by the powerful bombardment at point-blank range in a continuous volley, reached its limit—

The next moment, the leader of the flying magical beasts exploded.

It burst, scattering black ash in all directions.