Chapter 170

Boom, Bang!

Consecutive gunshots rang out.

A cascade of bullets rained down toward the charging group of Cryptids.

Kaboom, Bang!

– Keeeaaaah!

– Kyaahhh!

In the face of the fierce bombardment, the leading Cryptids were wiped away instantly.

…

The commander of the Cryptids, Brain, spread its skeletal arms wide.

– Kyaahaaah!

– Shaaaah!

Following its will, the smaller Cryptids scattered to the left and right.

– Oohhh!

As one, the large Cryptids moved to the front lines and began a charge.

Thud, Thud. Thud!

Moving with the excitement of wild bulls, their rough steps caused the ground to tremble.

In that moment, a great flash erupted from the mist.

Whoooosh!!

– Ooooh?!

Massive explosions erupted from the bodies of the large Cryptids.

The intense shock bent their sturdy exoskeletons like paper, and the tough hide that resembled muscle tore away in chunks, leaving hollowed out wounds.

– Ooooh, Oooooh!

The large Cryptids let out cries of pain.

The barrels of the medium tanks emitted thin wisps of smoke as they observed the enemies’ condition.

[ Attack was effective. ]

An even tone.

The next shell loaded into the chamber, and the slightly skewed aim was minutely adjusted from the recoil of the firing.

[ Will continue firing. ]

[ Good, enemy light-armored assault unit approaching from the flanks. High-mobility vehicles, begin countermeasures. ]

Kaboom, Bang!

Large-caliber gun barrels flashed.

From the rear, the armored cars that had been awaiting moved swiftly to surround the two flanks of the advancing troop and aimed at the enemies coming from the sides.

Rat-tat-tat!

The medium machine guns sprayed fire uniformly, instantly cutting down the smaller sized Cryptids.

– Kueee!!

– Kyaak! Kyah!

While the medium-sized Cryptids managed to withstand the barrage, the ones that were wounded paused in their step. Toward those creatures, tank shells flew.

Bang, Boom!

A medium-sized Cryptid that took a direct tank shot fell sprawling.

Observing the battlefield, the hands of Brain were drawn back.

…

Our sudden appearance within their territory.

Even if the forces had been fully prepared, there might have been some strategy, but currently, the troops he was leading had been weakened from carrying out the Queen’s orders.

One-sided destruction.

Thinking there was no longer any method, as Brain quietly tried to withdraw from the battlefield, a voice from above echoed.

[ Well now, where are you running off to?! ]

– !!!

Brain flinched and looked up.

At the same time as the roar sounded, a flash from above pierced straight through Brain.

Brain met their death before even reacting.

Over them, a dark shadow loomed.

It was Almas, one of Edu’s summoned units and the fastest armored unit, standing twelve meters tall with a large-winged backpack strapped to its back.

The giant picked up Brain’s pierced corpse with one hand, simultaneously placing the other hand on its own chest.

Creeeeak-

The cockpit opened, and a small girl, Seoli, hopped out.

With a tiny gait, Seoli approached the remains of Brain and extended a small hand.

“Yap!”

A glowing sphere sprang out from Brain’s body and was pulled into Seoli.

Then Seoli turned abruptly, hand still placed on her chest.

“Seoli, did you get it?”

“Yes! I’ve got it, Small Mommy!”

It appeared there was no change, but since Seoli looked happy, that was satisfying enough.

“Well then, let’s look for the next one?”

“Yes!”

Seoli earnestly moved her small legs to return to the cockpit, and the small and adorable creature clung to my lap and crawled into my arms.

The reason Seoli, along with Nisia, rides Almas to handle the core enemies of the Cryptids stemmed from a small mutter during the time when a bit ago they broke up the group of Cryptids with the Invader forces.

“Mmm, what a waste…”

“Hm? Seoli, wasted?”

“Yes! Those guys have beads! A lot! If I had them, Seoli can become stronger!”

While speaking, Seoli pointed at the brain-like or pheromone-type commander units displayed on the screen.

“Beads? Oh, I see.”

A fleeting memory came to mind.

That must have been the incident during my first operation of Jason together with Banetta, when we discovered a strange colony controlled by pheromones rather than a Queen. Seoli absorbed a round object from that pheromone.

Following this, the beast knight also handed over another mysterious orb to Seoli.

‘Could it be…can she absorb power from the command creatures?’

“Seoli, I have a question.”

“Yes!”

“Do those kinds of individuals always have beads?”

“Sure! The buzzing ones! They have beads!”

Nodding her head as she answered.

“Buzzing?”

“Buzzzzzz!”

So, ‘buzzing’.

Could this be Seoli’s way of describing the collective consciousness that the command organisms spread?

At any rate, since this could enhance Seoli’s power not just from some enemies but specifically from command organisms and Seoli herself wishes it, there is no reason not to assist her.

“Alright then, Seoli. Let’s go with Mommy to get beads from them?”

“Really!? Is it okay?”

“Of course, Nisia. Would you like to come as well?”

“Yes, then I will call Muna.”

“In that case, Sita, we’ll be right back.”

“Okay. Be careful, Sister.”

That’s how all of us came to be dealing with the core enemies alongside Seoli.

Although it was sudden, there’s no reason to refuse since helping Seoli obtain the beads also inadvertently disrupts the enemy command structure, aiding the Invader force’s operations.

As that thought crossed my mind, the Invader forces swept away the swarming Cryptids with fierce gunfire.

[ Have confirmed the elimination of the enemy. Please issue the next command, Commander. ]

The mechanical voice reverberated inside Almas.

Acknowledging with a nod, I replied.

“Good, then move this way.”

I relayed the location of the Cryptid group that I had confirmed while moving into their territory to the Invaders.

[ Acknowledged, advancing to the designated location. ]

The communication cut off promptly.

Nisia tilted her head to look down at me.

“So Edu, where to next?”

“There was a pheromone over there, let’s deal with that one first and then follow behind the Invaders.”

“Alright, Seoli, is your belt on?”

“Yes!”

“Good, both of you hold on tight!”

Energy gathered in the backpack.

With Nisia’s skilled manipulation, Almas shot upward effortlessly through a light shock.

The sounds of explosions and tremors rocked the Cryptid territory.

In this deft manner, the methodically empowered Cryptid forces were annihilated one by one.

…

Forward Base, Future.

“…Wait a moment, wait just a bit, Edu.”

The president, furrowing his brow and scowling.

Even so, the pallor of his skin and doll-like appearance showed no sign of fading.

“Did you say…you liberated the city of fallen ones known as Junk Yard and attacked deep within the Cryptid territory?”

“Yes, correct. To be more precise, not attacked but completely exterminated.”

Let’s be clear with the words.

Thinking so, as I cleared my throat and placed my hands on my waist, I felt a subtle gaze on my cheeks.

“…Indeed.”

The president in a daze.

The Freya beside him, sensing the change in the president, shrugged.

“Don’t be too surprised, President. This is just what Edu does. You should get used to it.”

“That is true…but you remain surprisingly unruffled.”

“Because I’ve pretty much given up, it makes things easier.”

“…”

Interrupting to object to the subtle evaluation, Freya preempted me.

“Edu, so this means explorers were dispatched to the city of the fallen known as Junk Yard?”

“…Yes.”

Though I haven’t confirmed directly, Kai and the others have no reason to lie, so I nodded.

“Alright, then leave it to the explorers, but we’ll be ready to assist too.”

“Thanks.”

“Also, you mentioned the Cryptid movements and their commander are unusual?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, there it is. Tell me about that in detail.”

The president pressing me.

Acknowledge with a nod, I responded.

“It seems like they’re manufacturing named enemies by forcing identical groups within their territory to fight against each other.”

“Named enemies?!”

“They can create those monstrosities like that too?”

“Nothing’s impossible.”

All entities within AOE share the structure of leveling up and becoming stronger.

The same applies to the Cryptids.

Furthermore, the Cryptids had a unique advantage that other races or groups couldn’t possess.

Which is the instant replenishment of forces as long as there are sufficient nutrients.

In other words, if utilized properly, it means they can endlessly feed off copied experience.

“With Harvesters recovering the nutrients instantly, it’s a highly effective method to enhance their forces with minimal loss.”

To express it in game terms, it’s like making units fight each other for leveling up and recovering the resources from the dead unit’s bodies to replenish a new unit.

While it might seem like a loophole, it’s still a selection available.

“Then Edu, if there’s such an easy method, why don’t the other Queens do it?”

“That’s a good question. Other Queens don’t do it because of a ‘species’ ideology.”

“Species ideology?”

“Yes, Queens are leaders of their groups, but they don’t simply see other Cryptids as mere minions.”

After all, that is the nature of collective consciousness.

If the subjects who are supposed to share a united consciousness were treated merely as objects, such collective consciousness would fail to exist.

“So does that mean the Queen who gave such orders lacks this species ideology?”

“Yes.”

The pursuit of extreme efficiency.

Ironically, precisely because of this pursuit for efficiency, I am confident that the opponent was not an ordinary Queen but someone with a modern gamer’s mindset.

Because some of the actions displayed by the Cryptids were quite common gameplay methods found in certain games in the modern era.

A method called ‘experience farming’ or ‘bento’, where players save goods to maximize efficiency in a rather unconventional way.

“Actions such as feeding each other experience by killing each other would be difficult for Queens who consider each other as kindred. Only someone who views Cryptids as mere objects could possibly do such a thing.”

“…Then wouldn’t that be extremely dangerous?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Hu… why?”

At the Freya’s question, I gave a cheeky grin.

“Well, because our opponent is a coward.”

“A coward…?”

“Yes.”

There were a significant number of Cryptids killing each other within their territory.

Unless they’re completely foolish, no one would waste all their forces on such behavior, implying the opponent had forces several times larger than those already lost.

Yet, in possession of such a large army, they continued to stay hidden, doing nothing but resorting to unconventional tactics.

Predictably, their thinking is straightforward.

‘Staying power meta.’

A playstyle where the player remains passive until the moment they can maximize their gains.

Unfortunately, I know many ways to break this ‘staying power meta.’

A smile naturally forms.

“In that case, leave the rest to me. I have some good ideas.”