Guardian (1)
Suddenly the floor shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
The faces of the team members, unable to keep their balance on the shaking floor, were filled with confusion.
"Get down!"
Marquis Astrod quickly lowered his stance along with his men.
'It's strange, this is an area where earthquakes have never occurred.'
Before the Marquis could even think clearly, a strange scene came into view.
For some reason, the intermediate-level monsters that had been swarming around were retreating towards their nests.
'Have you given up?'
At that moment, the vibration that had been felt for a while suddenly stopped. Then, an eerie silence ascended upon the land.
He couldn't even hear the sound of the wind.
'It's creepy.'
The old man's intuition warned him that something was wrong.
The Marquis of Astrod asked quietly.
"How many people are there now?"
"Eight out of ten soldiers are safe."
Two people did not return.
One was a young soldier who caught his eye because he was about the same age as Millenia, and the other was Ian.
He had a premonition that he should not wait for them to return. Marquis Astrod drew his sword from its scabbard.
"End the operation and return to your units."
He was caught by his men as he turned back towards the nest, contrary to orders.
"Aren't you going to return, Captain?"
"I will return with the remaining unit members. You go first."
"No! It's too dangerous!"
"Are you dissatisfied?"
Marquis Astrod glared at his unit members fiercely.
The moment when the unit member, unable to bear the pressure, lets go of his arm and backs away hesitantly.
Boom! Urrrr!
A tremendous roar shook the mountain.
The vibrations that had stopped for a moment returned more intensely. This time, it was so strong that they could hardly stand properly.
"Hey, it's an earthquake!"
"It'll stop soon! Just hold on until then!"
Unfortunately, contrary to the unit's expectations, the earthquake only got worse.
Eventually, the flat ground began to tilt at an angle. At the same time, the soil began to swell like a land.
Slide.
"What, what is it?"
"Hey, is this really an earthquake?"
The situation was unusual for an earthquake. Huge arborvitae trees tilted, exposing their roots, and heavy rocks rolled away.
In this situation, there was no way a human could survive. The unit members who were barely able to keep their balance began to be swept away by the dirt.
"What are you doing standing there like an idiot! Hold on to a tree root!
The unit members who were rolling down helplessly at the command of Marquis Astrod hung on to the tree roots.
But not everyone responded quickly.
"Hey, captain-! Ugh-!"
A shower of dirt poured down on the heads of the agents who were being pushed away without being able to catch anything.
"No!"
Upon seeing this, Marquis Astrod immediately let go of the tree root he was holding onto. His huge body slid down the slope.
In an instant, he reached the spot where his men were buried and thrust his arms into the dirt up to his shoulders.
A moment later, he came out and found the wrist of a soldier caught in his hand. The veins on Marquis Astrod's thick neck bulged.
"Ugj!"
The unit members who had been buried in the ground were dragged out with a loud roar.
"Phuha! Whoosh! Huh, huh!"
The pale-faced soldier collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.
The situation was too urgent to wait for the men to come to their senses.
Marquis Astrod grabbed the back of his unit member's neck and forcibly lifted him up.
"If you don't want to die, move!"
"Cougj! Yes, yes! Sir!"
A huge rock that had been buried in the ground rose up, perhaps as a result of the earthquake.
Even at a glance, it's as big as a house. If that thing rolled down, they might all be wiped out.
Instead of fighting a monster and dying with honor, they get crushed by a rock.
As the vibrations weakened, the speed at which the debris was flowing down slowed. If they want to escape, they must do it now.
Marquis Astrod gritted his teeth.
"Everyone, throw away all your luggage and run as fast as you can out of the perimeter! Make sure not a single person gets left behind!"
The voice that had been ringing through the stone mountain suddenly stopped. Marquis Astrod's eyes suddenly widened as if they were going to tear apart.
"...!"
The rock was moving as if it were alive. It lifts its head, which had been buried in its chest, and stands up, placing its hands on the floor. It slowly stood up and slowly straightened its crouched body.
How tall is it? 5m? 10m? It was so big that he couldn't tell.
It struck my stone chest with its rock fist.
"....Whoa whoa! Everyone hide!"
The men scattered in perfect order and took cover. Marquis Astrod hid behind a broken wooden pillar and closed his eyes tightly.
'Why is the higher-level monster here now...'
It wasn't that the ground shook and exposed rocks buried in the strata, but that the rocks themselves were monsters.
However, higher-level monsters only appear from the second battle.
That's why Millenia warned them in advance that the second battle wouId result in the greatest number of casualties.
'Why did it appear already?'
What went wrong? Did guerrilla warfare change the future?
Marquis Astrod shook his head to shake off the thought. Now was not the time to ponder the cause.
The superior monster turned its heavy head. Small stones fell like corn.
It started walking, its single black eye in the center of its face moving around.
He hadn't been discovered yet, but he still didn't have the courage to run away.
It felt as if the building was alive. It was a moment when the agents stood frozen in fear.
Boom! Boom!
The superior monster suddenly stopped.
The unit members stepped on a land mine that had been laid in advance to deal with intermediate-level monsters.
"Oh, that's right! There was a mine!"
Contrary to the unit members' hopes, the mines only temporarily stopped the movements of the superior monsters.
Anyway, higher-level monsters will continuously regenerate unless their weak point, the eyes, are destroyed.
Since its whole body is made of rock, it is not only difficult to cut with a sword, but it also does not feel pain.
He was not a being that could be dealt with by ten members of a unit characterized by their agile movements.
However, they couldn't retreat like this. If it advanced towards the unit, they would suffer irreparable damage.
"All units, retreat quickly. The first unit to arrive at the base will report the appearance of a superior monster."
The man's eyes gathered at the firm command of Marquis Astrod...
"Are we the only ones returning?"
"..."
"Captain?"
At that moment, a superior monster that had not found prey uprooted a nearby maple tree and threw it away.
A tree that had flown to where the agents were hiding was stuck in the ground. Dirt poured down like hail.
"Go quickly!"
But the men of the detachment did not leave. The Marquis raised his thick eyebrows.
"You guys, right now! Didn't you hear my orders!"
When no one could respond to the scary, urging voice and just hesitated, someone stepped forward.
"Wouldn't one person be enough to notify the unit?"
It was Beorn who had supported the operation with Ian. Marquis Astrod suddenly lost his temper.
"There's no guarantee that one of you will arrive safely!"
"In that case, I think it would be even more advantageous to have as many people remain as possible to buy time."
"Do you want to die like a dog?"
"Why is it a dog's death to die a heroic death while fighting a monster?"
Beorn, who asked the question naturally, winked at the agent hiding at the back.
Marquis Astrod let out a hollow laugh as he watched the lone agent quietly slip away.
"Those crazy guys."
Beorn ran up next to Marquis Astrod, his body hunched over. The two looked up at the superior monster side by side.
"This is truly incredible. Do I have to destroy its eyes to kill it?"
"Yes. For now, the best thing to do is to stall for time so that they can't get to the unit. They can't see small and fast things very well, so we have to take advantage of that weakness."
"I guess I have to run hard."
The men appeared at Beorn's signal. The monster, having finally found its prey, threw a boulder.
"Scatter!"
The ground was hollowed out as if a meteor had struck.
The agents ran around here and there to kill time, but it was natural that they became tired.
"Ugh!"
Eventually, a scream burst out from the mouth of a soldier. He was so exhausted that he was unable to avoid the flying wooden fragments and was crushed.
The men and Marquis Astrod ran to him.
"Are you okay?"
"Ugh, ugh! My, my legs!"
"Don't move! I'll clean it up..."
Before the Marquis could finish speaking, Beorn whispered softly.
"Captain, the bastard has discovered your location."
"...!"
The monster was reaching out towards the giant rock, its sinister eyes fixed on them.
The faces of the soldiers turned pale. If the monster throws that, everyone will die.
The tree-crawling trooper pushed Marquis Astrod.
"Ah, sir, stop and dodge! I'm fine, so please dodge! Ah, hurry!"
The moment when Marquis Astrod bit his lips.
"Sorry... I'm late."
The voice they had been waiting for. It was Ian carrying the unconscious soldier on his back.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment