The bombardment stopped before long.
But that by no means meant it had been small in scale.
For starters, my ears were ringing. It was because of the explosions that had gone on in such a short span of time. Since my physical abilities were on the weaker side, they weren’t just ringing—they were practically stinging.
If even I was like this from quite a distance away, what must it have been like for the ones actually being bombarded?
At the spot where the bombardment had fallen, nearly a hundred mimic beasts lay scattered in disorder. They hadn’t died because of their innate immortality, but they had been completely neutralized.
It did feel like my chance to do something had been stolen away… but all’s well that ends well.
“Situation concluded. No unidentified suspicious persons within a 5 km radius. All clear.”
The radio I had taken from the agent announced that the attack was over.
Not long after that, we returned to the garrison.
*
“You were a great help.”
With those words, Captain Kim bowed his head deeply.
Feeling burdened by it, I shook my head and hurriedly made him straighten up, but even as I did, the smile wouldn’t leave my lips.
At first, it had felt burdensome, but after receiving it again and again, I’d gotten used to it… and once I got used to it, it felt pretty satisfying and nice.
Honestly, I had helped, and I was being thanked for it.
There was nothing wrong with feeling a little proud of myself.
Of course, since I wanted to appear humble on the outside, I acted as modest as I could.
“I didn’t do much. The bombardment did all the work.”
“No, that’s not true. In this incident, we were able to resolve the matter with losses that were virtually nonexistent compared to other units.”
“Hold on, other units?”
That caught my attention.
So our garrison hadn’t been the only one attacked this time?
“Yes, that is correct. Other garrisons were also attacked simultaneously by large groups of mimic beasts and cephalic-cluster flying objects… the head-grapes.”
“…There hadn’t been an attack on this scale until now, had there? Aside from the first day of the incident?”
“Yes. Until now, rather than engaging directly, the mimic beasts had only sent out small numbers of individuals in attempts to break through the containment line.”
To begin with, it was extremely rare for mimic beasts to leave the Blackout Zone.
Of course, it was true that they had been crawling out steadily even so, but considering Gangnam’s population, it was definitely rare.
As for the reason, well… there were many, but.
‘For one, outside the Blackout Zone, mimic beasts aren’t as big a threat as you’d think.’
The terrifying thing about mimic beasts wasn’t the combat ability of each individual.
Of course, they were several times stronger than ordinary humans, but even then, a few grenades would incapacitate them.
‘Their destructive potential when they infiltrate human society. Aside from that, they’re fairly easy to deal with.’
On top of that, the national military had quickly evacuated the surrounding civilians and put forth the drastic policy of shooting every suspicious person on sight.
In a situation this well prepared, there was nothing a swarm of mimic beasts could do even if they rushed in.
Perhaps they knew that too, because there had been no large-scale attacks until now, but……
“…From the way you’re speaking, it sounds like the other garrisons took quite a lot of damage.”
“Shamefully, yes.”
If this attack had consisted solely of mimic beasts, there would have been no issue. No issue at all.
“However, the main factor in this attack was not the mimic beasts, but the involvement of the cephalic-cluster flying objects.”
“Those… head-grapes, you mean. They got a name pretty quickly.”
“The existence of those entities was confirmed some time ago. They are not well known because they are usually positioned high in the sky where they are difficult to detect with the naked eye, and they rarely move from their fixed locations.”
In other words, because they neither attacked first nor moved much, proper countermeasures had not been prepared.
If the air force had been important in the current situation, they would have used anti-aircraft guns or something to dispose of them, but unfortunately, the air force was in no position to play a major role in the present crisis.
“…At any rate, due to the unexpected participation of the cephalic-cluster flying objects, the nearby units suffered losses close to annihilation.”
Here, annihilation referred to roughly 30 percent losses.
Of course, he had said close to that level, and losses did not necessarily mean deaths, so there probably weren’t many fatalities, but……
‘…Still, it looks like the damage was pretty severe.’
There was no denying that they had taken a serious blow.
Of course, since their absolute numbers were still large, they would recover, but what this implied was significant.
“…The head-grapes must have been quite dangerous.”
“With information on the cephalic-cluster flying objects lacking, the key issue was that they launched a surprise attack while most of the weapons currently possessed by the national military were ineffective against them.”
It was true that they had enough durability to simply deflect rifle rounds with their bodies.
High-firepower weapons such as grenade launchers or hand grenades would have worked, but……
‘They must have been difficult to use during a surprise attack.’
Since the small heads used tactics that let them burrow into the formation, it would have been hard to respond with explosive weapons.
If one wasn’t careful, allies would be caught in the blast.
“Fortunately, information on the transparent pinecones… the pineal bodies, was relayed quickly, allowing them to be dealt with. For that as well, I thank you.”
“Hm……”
I was the first one to discover the pineal bodies.
To begin with, they were transparent and small, making them difficult to find.
On top of that, even when directly striking a pineal body, I heard it took several shots from an anti-aircraft gun to destroy one……
‘…The Vision’s destructive power seems stronger than I thought.’
It seemed there was no need to be disappointed in the Vision’s performance now.
“Do you have anything else you wish to ask?”
Captain Kim asked. It seemed that was all he had wanted to say.
After all, the reason he had called me here in the first place was to express his gratitude.
Originally, he had said he would come to me in person, but since that would draw unnecessary attention, I had come here myself.
So my answer to whether I had anything I wanted to ask was……
“Of course I do.”
“Yes. Whatever it is, if it is something I know, I will answer.”
Captain Kim replied without hesitation.
I nodded and asked.
“The bombardment. As far as I know, you’ve never done it until now. Why are you only using it now?”
Captain Kim thought for a moment, then listed the reasons.
“First of all, directly striking the interior of the Blackout Zone is close to impossible.”
“I can tell that much just from the way the Blackout Zone formed. Seeing how the space inside is twisted, I’m not even sure it would cause proper damage. But couldn’t you have used it outside?”
“There were several reasons. One was to avoid provoking the Land Leviathan, which detects weight, and another was that, given the small-scale nature of the raids, it was inefficient, but……”
Captain Kim took a breath and continued.
“In truth, the biggest reason was political.”
Only then did I understand what he meant.
Until now, the national military had concealed the truth in order to maintain society.
The National Assembly had been dissolved and Martial Law Command had taken over, but… down south, things were running more peacefully than expected.
In a situation like that, if they had launched artillery fire into Gangnam, the chaos would have spiraled out of control.
“So now that the policy has shifted toward releasing a certain amount of information to civilians, you’ve started firing artillery.”
“Correct. Of course, it remains inefficient, so it would be more accurate to say that discretionary authorization for its use has been granted.”
I wasn’t sure whether this should be seen as a good sign, but… well, still.
In situations like this, it meant we could receive help as we had just now.
Captain Kim suddenly asked.
“Do you have anything else you are curious about?”
“Well… the cause of the raid, maybe?”
“Unfortunately, we are currently investigating that. Once we have a clear understanding, I will share it with you.”
Well, I hadn’t expected much on that front.
They had only just begun cleaning up the aftermath of near-annihilation, so it would be hard to figure out.
“Well, then there’s only one thing left.”
“Please ask.”
“So what are you going to do? Wouldn’t it be about time for you to move to the rear?”
“…You mean my assignment?”
Captain Kim trailed off awkwardly.
He fidgeted in silence for a while, and only after a long moment did he finally open his mouth.
“…I think I will probably be going down soon.”
“Good.”
I said it readily.
Before, I might have felt just a little betrayed… but now, the burden on my heart had lessened.
Even I had grown incomparably compared to before, and hadn’t I also received a guarantee from the demon that I would reunite with that sister of mine without any trouble?
“…Thank you.”
“For what? You’ve worked hard. Now you should take care of your child too.”
“…Yes, I should.”
Of course, once Captain Kim left, I was worried about who would manage us and this garrison… but, well, what could possibly happen?
“That’s all I was curious about.”
“Yes. If anything else comes to mind, please ask at any time. As long as I am here, I will answer with the utmost sincerity.”
Captain Kim bowed his head deeply once more.
I made Captain Kim straighten up, and even as I did, I turned around without being able to wipe the smile from my face.
“Well, then… I’ll be going. Let me know if anything important happens.”
I said my farewell and was just about to grab the doorknob.
‘…Something feels ominous.’
An indescribable chill suddenly swept over my entire body.
For some reason, it was noisy outside the door. I could hear several grown men murmuring quietly all the way in here.
Still, it wasn’t as if I could just not go out, so I forced myself to ignore the ominous feeling and opened the door—
Whoosh!
Sure enough, dozens of gazes locked onto me.
When they saw me, they immediately bowed at the waist.
“Thank you!”
Ah, I really do find this kind of thing burdensome. Really.