Welcome to Hell!

Chapter 114: The Carnela Port Recapture Operation (21)

The great sword I hurled streaked straight toward the white-armored soldier with a bullet-like speed. However, having anticipated my move, the soldier effortlessly evaded it.

“So close!? What are you doing!?”

“…”

“Well, this is…?”

Tigar, with the great sword now stuck beside his feet due to the white-armored soldier’s evasion, protested against me. Well, it was natural for him to be angry if the sword almost hit him. However, he seemed to realize that the sword I had just thrown was the same one the white-armored soldier he had been fighting with used. He looked intrigued as he pulled the sword from the ground with one hand.

As if anticipating this, the white-armored soldier, who had dodged the great sword, attacked Tigar. The soldier’s arms were remarkably large, and from equally sizable hands extended long hooked claws. It was as if the armor and weapon were integrated into one.

Using his old great sword as a shield, Tigar blocked the white-armored soldier’s claws, which left deep marks on its surface. But that didn’t matter now. Tigar casually discarded the temporary “shield” and grasped the new great sword I had thrown, swinging it confidently.

“Oooh!? This is good!”

At that moment, Tigar’s face lit up with a broad smile. He had mentioned it before, but ever since becoming a demon, his physical strength has increased, making the large sword feel too light and uncomfortable in his hands.

For him, the great sword wielded by the white-armored soldier seemed to have the perfect weight. Seeing him so delighted, it was safe to say that it was the right decision to retrieve it earlier.

“Gaoooooo!”

“■■■■!?”

Tigar continued to fiercely strike with the great sword. The speed at which he swung the sword remained the same as before, but the power behind each blow had been significantly amplified. Perhaps, the unexpected boost in strength from merely changing the weapon caught the white-armored soldier off guard, and he did his best to defend against the blows with the hooked claws.

Whether driven by excitement or something else, Tigar’s body emanated both fighting spirit and spiritual power. Then, the overflow of spiritual energy from him was absorbed into the great sword, activating its spiritual circuitry, and the blade released a burst of purple lightning.

“Garurururu!”

“■■■……!”

Although Tigar seemed to be taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, he managed to suppress his surprise with his mental fortitude and swung down the great sword. The white-armored soldier tried to deflect it with his hooked claws, but the electric discharge that flowed from his claws left his body numb. In an instant, his movements came to a complete halt.

“Don’t hold a grudge,”

“■■……■……!?”

In a battle where fatal openings were not forgiven, no one would be naive enough to let such a chance slip by. To avoid getting caught up in Tigar’s furious onslaught, Zald concealed his presence, waiting for the right moment. And when Tigar created an opening, Zald seized the opportunity to approach from behind and thrust his long sword from Tigar’s side.

Some might consider attacking from behind as cowardly, but this was war… a battle for survival. It was the one who exposed a weakness that was at fault. Of course, in the ranks of the demons, who had experienced countless battles, no one cared about such things.

“Sorry for taking only the good part,” Zald remarked.

“No, you actually saved me. While he was numb, he still tried to do something. If you hadn’t finished him off when you did, it might have been me who got killed,” Tigar replied.

The white-armored soldier had various gadgets hidden within his armor. As I hadn’t faced him directly, I couldn’t tell, but Tigar, who had been in close combat, seemed to have noticed something. It might have been a good decision for Zald to interfere.

“■■■■!”

“…”

I observed their exchange from above in the sky. Yes, after throwing the great sword, I had joined Mika and the flying demons to engage in aerial combat.

I lacked wings to fly, and I couldn’t perform flight-related spiritual arts either. However, I could pseudo-fly by creating a floating sand platform in the air.

Of course, I couldn’t move as agilely as Mika and the others who had wings. So, I devoted myself to supporting them with spiritual arts.

“Thanks for the help!”

“Thank you!”

I was still fending off the bullets fired by the white-armored soldier, creating shields of sand to protect myself. Apparently, the white-armored soldier engaged in aerial combat, specialized in flight. Long wing-like panels extended from his shoulders, and the flames from his jetpack seemed inexhaustible. He probably wouldn’t touch the ground again anytime soon.

Armed with guns in each hand, he shot at Mika and the others who were attempting to approach. Unlike any gun I had seen before, these ones’ barrels were shorter, and the accuracy of the bullets left much to be desired. Yet, perhaps due to their maneuverability, he swiftly aimed and fired at Mika and the rest.

“■■■, ■■■■■!”

The white-armored soldier continued to shoot frantically, seemingly frustrated. I stood atop the floating sand, calmly creating shields for Mika and the other flying demons in front of me. Having deflected all the bullets that could hit them, the soldier’s frustration seemed to grow even stronger.

He then decided to aim at me instead, and he kept shooting, but normal bullets couldn’t penetrate my exoskeleton. I remained cool-headed and unfazed, which only seemed to further infuriate the white-armored soldier. He shouted something angrily; apparently, this white-armored soldier was short-tempered.

This back-and-forth exchange repeated itself several times until it seemed he had reached his breaking point. He suddenly fell silent and unfolded a part of his gauntlet to cover the guns. He must be enhancing his guns, just like I witnessed during the battle on the battleships.

“■■■■■!”

The white-armored soldier aimed both of his enhanced guns at me. His voice carried a sadistic tone. He seemed to believe that he could take me down with the surprise attack of his strengthened weapons.

If I hadn’t known the dreadfulness of those enhanced guns, I might have relied too much on my exoskeleton and taken the bullets head-on. The same bullets that could easily penetrate the hull of a battleship would pierce through my exoskeleton as well, leaving scorching holes in my body.

However, I was already well aware of the terror of those enhanced guns. I had even used that knowledge to my advantage before. The white-armored soldier, who never expected his target to know about his guns, couldn’t have been more unfortunate.

Just as the bullets aimed at me were about to be fired, I manipulated the sand to tightly pack the gun barrels. The scorching bullets lost their path as they were sealed within the sand… and exploded on the spot.

“■…■■…■…?”

Having lost both hands along with the guns, the white-armored soldier stared in bewilderment at his blown-off hands. Apparently, he couldn’t comprehend the current situation. Despite the massive amount of blood flowing from his wounds, he might have been too overwhelmed to feel the pain.

While I was lost in thought, Mika swiftly closed in at high speed and slashed the throat of the white-armored soldier with the thick dagger he held in his hand. Blood gushed from the white armored soldier’s throat as he plummeted to the ground.

After losing two white-armored soldiers in quick succession, the Republic forces couldn’t contain their agitation. Conversely, the morale of the imperial soldiers soared. They had only been guarding the hole leading to the underground passage, but now they confidently emerged onto the surface, shields at the ready.

With the well-coordinated and high-spirited Imperial soldiers on one side and the raging Karelvo demons fighting on instinct from the start, and us flanking them from the other side, it was impossible for the shaken armored soldiers to break through the situation. Gradually reducing their numbers from both ends, they eventually began to retreat… toward us.

“Don’t push yourself to kill them! Avoid engaging them!” Tigar shouted.

“Like Tigar had said. Just deflect their attacks as you see fit! You can even retreat if needed!” Zald added.

It made perfect sense that the enemy ranks kept coming towards our side near the outer wall, where there were still many Republic soldiers, as opposed to the hole, where the numbers were fewer. While each individual soldier wasn’t particularly strong, their sheer numbers posed a daunting challenge. Taking them all on directly was not a practical option.

So, Tigar and Zald didn’t try to stop the flow of fleeing armored soldiers forcefully. Instead, they supported that decision and actively tried to keep their comrades away from the battle. Thanks to their quick judgment, the demons managed to avoid being engulfed by the relentless waves of escaping soldiers.

“Chase them! Chase them! Kill ’em all!”

“Show them blood! Show them blood!”

However, there were those who pursued the fleeing armored soldiers. They were the Karelvo demons, seemingly indifferent to us, attacking the backs of the fleeing soldiers. They were gaining momentum and getting closer to the outer wall.

I scattered the sand I was using as a footing and landed on the ground. When I looked in the direction of the hole, I spotted a commander of the imperial army organizing the troops, probably dividing them to guard the hole and attack the outer wall.

In the meantime, the bloodthirsty demons emerged from the hole and continued their pursuit of the armored soldiers. The imperial soldiers seemed to pay no attention to their actions and completely ignored them.

Well, I could understand their perspective. Those demons had nothing on their minds except causing chaos. They probably wouldn’t listen to orders anyway, so it must have been deemed better to leave them unsupervised and let them fight on their own. The imperial army likely saw the demons as expendable assets. It was extremely displeasing, though.

“Now, what do we do from here? Should we head towards the outer wall too?”

In response to Tigar’s question, I immediately nodded. After all, our assigned mission was to buy time by keeping the enemy soldiers occupied until Marcellus and the others could seize control of the port. To achieve that, it was crucial to prevent the enemy near the outer wall from moving. That’s why we engaged in such a flashy battle near the outer wall.

Though things didn’t unfold as expected, the sandstorm of spiritual arts served as a significant diversion. However, during the course of the battle, it seemed to be getting dispersed by some means. If the enemy knew we had fled, they might redirect their forces toward Marcellus. We had to prevent that from happening.

While it would serve as a diversion if the Karelvo demons that followed the escaping armored soldiers wreaked havoc, I couldn’t trust or rely on them. Hence, I had to return to the outer wall to fight once more.

The battle at Carnela Port seemed far from over. With a sigh in my heart, I raced back towards the outer wall.