Claude Rain quickly made a judgment. Right after joining up with his retreating comrades and receiving an update on the situation, he decided to head out alone for support, leaving the members of the first platoon temporarily behind.
There was a reason he didn’t want to involve many troops. Enok Revendale was never one to make hasty judgments, so it wouldn’t make sense to pull troops only to send them back again.
He realized that leading the squad members here could result in even worse outcomes.
It was just a gut feeling, but as usual, Claude’s intuition proved correct.
The air was thin. The intermediate green magic, Behen. Given that there was a red mage like Lumina Blue among his allies, it was obvious she would have been casting fire attribute spells recklessly.
In fact, the flames generated by magic only substituted ‘combustible material’ with mana; they still required both oxygen and heat to be present.
Therefore, it was better not to use red magic in such conditions. With poor air circulation underground already, shooting flames would only exacerbate the lack of oxygen.
‘…Even if it’s absurd to say at this point when mutants are wandering around.’
As soon as he joined up with the battalion commander, Claude charged towards the enemy who had activated Behen.
Clang, gaga-gak!
The quick thrust of a dagger was deflected by something solid, and a sharp Estark came into his blurry vision.
It seemed he reacted to the lightning-wrapped attack swung at maximum speed. He was facing an impressive opponent.
Claude Rain looked straight at the man with fiery eyes. The Estark that slipped between the crossed double daggers trembled violently.
Fortunately, he managed to stop the casting of Behen.
The air rushed back into the almost vacuum-like scene, and his incapacitated comrades gasped for breath.
“Hmm, Claude Rain. I didn’t expect to meet the killer of Thunderstrike here.”
“Do you know me?”
“Of course.”
The man replied. Was he someone who participated in the Quernen War? It was already common knowledge that the supplies provided to Azoff during that time were supplied by the Soviev Empire.
Thus, it wasn’t strange for an empire officer like him to recognize Claude Rain.
Clang!
Claude’s dagger was deflected, and now lightning shot from between his fingers. The man swiftly evaded and retreated.
“That’s quite a hit.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Although Claude hadn’t used all his strength, neither had his opponent.
Even though they had been engaged with a trio a few minutes ago, they still seemed to be holding back.
Claude felt tension rise in his body. He was truly a formidable opponent.
“How are you, Commander?”
“I’m fine. But Lumina and Roxanna are…”
When the sergeant turned his head slightly, he saw two lieutenants still panting heavily. They were in a state where their breathing was forcibly blocked; recovery would take some time since they hadn’t prepared beforehand.
“Commander, take these two and leave. We should meet up with our forces soon, so there’s no need to carry them.”
“I refuse.”
But Enok Revendale staggered to his feet and stood right next to Claude.
“If the commander leaves the platoon leader behind, it sets a bad example.”
“Don’t be stubborn…”
However, he didn’t feel bad about it.
Enok Revendale was one of the few officers in the Ukrainian Army whom Claude trusted.
Having a comrade he can rely on greatly increases what he can do. Even though he preferred individual play, he couldn’t deny it.
Originally, he moved alone because finding someone who could keep up with his pace was rare.
His theory was that fighting alone was a hundred times better than getting distracted by enemies while protecting allies.
However, Enok Revendale was a partner he could fully trust and rely on.
“Follow closely.”
“Watch carefully.”
“…”
“Let’s go!”
With Enok’s meaningful words, the two men rushed towards the colonel.
*
Lightning Spear.
I kept firing lightning bolts without significantly hindering Claude’s path. As a result, the effective range for hitting the colonel was extremely limited.
Even aiming precisely was challenging, let alone making random shots. Every shot missed.
Without needing any special movements, the colonel began to exclude me from his field of vision as my attacks naturally avoided him. Of course, he was also focusing solely on his battle with Claude.
‘I’m glad I underestimated him.’
Naturally, it was unavoidable for the colonel, who was visibly attacking with swords like medieval knights, to draw attention away from the unknown battalion commander.
Therefore, he couldn’t discern my intentions.
Kak, grug!
Tang!!
Claude and the colonel continued their clash. The rest of the minor opponents were left to deal with the recovering Lumina and Roxanna.
Lumina was in a state where she understood her flames had completely consumed the already scarce oxygen, so she responded with her revolver.
Roxanna was using her specialty wind magic to replenish the consumed oxygen from outside.
This situation alone was sufficient.
The remaining mages of the Information General Directorate also focused on using firearms rather than casting spells.
Perhaps they were worried that casting spells might endanger the colonel, who was engaged in a melee with Claude.
‘They fight like medieval knights, but…’
Despite being highly vulnerable to close combat, which is fatal to mages, the colonel was holding his own against Claude.
At first, it seemed like a match worth trying, but now, it was questionable whether it was even a worthy opponent.
‘But we don’t have time. The more we get bogged down, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us.’
A cornered rat will bite a cat. With the remaining forces annihilated, the artifact stolen, and the Remanskr arms factory exposed as a mutant research facility, predicting what the empire would do next was impossible.
In the worst-case scenario, they might obliterate everything in the facility, including the remaining allied forces, assets, and research facilities.
‘That would be the worst possible scenario.’
Both sides had revealed all their cards.
If we, the intruders, end up caught in the explosion…
The Soviev Empire would lose only one arms factory, but the Ukrainian side would suffer the loss of two battalions under the Special Response Brigade.
The stakes were already different from the start.
‘We need to retreat as soon as possible. The ones who created the mutant research facility wouldn’t have left it defenseless.’
I fired another lightning bolt. Piaa! The sound of something collapsing clearly echoed through the air.
That’s enough.
“Now!”
Immediately, I shouted loudly at Claude. Without exchanging glances or conversation, Sergeant Claude surely understood my hidden intention.
I believed in that possibility.
At the same moment, Claude’s sword drew a line. The lightning that followed the semicircular slash struck the ceiling of the passage.
Advanced purple magic, Overload.
Like a Swordmaster’s sword energy, the tremendous output of the slash sent the pipes hanging from the ceiling crashing down.
Crash! Kaga-kak!
Metal boulders poured down like an avalanche, landing between Claude and the colonel.
That was why I kept firing Lightning Spears at crucial points. Among the ‘spear’ category of magic, it had the highest single-output spell.
The tightly bound pipes were easily damaged, and the cumulative damage gradually weakened the supports holding up the ceiling.
As a result, the ceiling collapsed under the load.
“Good!”
I clenched my fist. With a slight smile, Claude added,
“Heh, success.”
The metal wall, seemingly several tons heavy, would take considerable time to clear even if all kinds of explosive spells were used. This secured an escape route.
Without taking a moment to celebrate the successful operation, I supported the two people who looked slightly dizzy.
“Can you run?”
“No…”
“Claude, Lumina is your responsibility! I’ll take Roxanna!”
“Understood.”
We each carried one of the girls on our backs. I felt sorry for Lumina, but carrying someone while running was only possible with Roxanna’s weight limit.
Finally, after climbing the endless stairs, we emerged from the exit where the second platoon had been deployed.
“Battalion Commander!”
The third and fourth platoons welcomed us. It was surprising how much joy seeing them again after just a few minutes brought.
“Is everyone else safely withdrawn?”
“Yes, Battalion Commander! Everyone except for the four of you has successfully evacuated!”
Erwin declared proudly. Perfect. Had he anticipated the personnel count beforehand? Truly the thoroughness of FM Erwin Ruth.
“Good. Let’s head back immediately. Lumina and Roxanna need fresh air. They’ve been underground too long.”
Though they could breathe after the initial suffocation, the oxygen supply was only enough to barely survive underground.
Being able to shoot guns properly despite the lack of sufficient oxygen indicated their mental strength was considerable.
As we finally escaped to the area outside sector C, it seemed the ground cleanup was mostly complete, with a spacecraft landing in an open space.
Sony Chepelin, the lieutenant colonel, was pacing anxiously.
“Battalion Commander, we have returned!”
“Enok Lieutenant! Thank goodness─! We need to leave immediately. Most of the third battalion personnel have boarded other spacecrafts!”
She seemed happy momentarily at my safe return but then urged the battalion members urgently. But weren’t the third battalion members supposed to retreat to the ground?
No way.
You didn’t ask further. It seemed the worst-case scenario I had predicted was approaching.
“All board! Our mission objectives are complete, so let’s depart immediately!”
“Yes, understood!”
“Move quickly!”
At my command, the first platoon members boarded the spacecraft in perfect order.
Peng─! Bang!!!
A deafening explosion reverberated through the night sky, coming from the direction of the barracks where the patrol unit was stationed.
“?! Don’t look back, get inside quickly!”
Red flames began to erupt from various parts of the Remanskr arms factory.
