Part of his face had been injured by the flames, and he could feel the searing pain from the dragon's fiery breath. He couldn't believe that a freaking dragon had emerged from beneath the ground. How had that even happened? There were no magical formations drawn on the ground, that was for certain, and Bell hadn't noticed anyone creating a magical circle.
If it hadn't been for Amelia's quick thinking and Eldrin's swift response, Bell doubted that anything would remain of his base. He considered this a complete failure on his part. He should have established the RAA sooner. Nevertheless, even the existing security personnel had proven more than capable of preventing anyone from creating magical circles on the ground, and Bell had never heard of dragons magically appearing from below the surface.
Eldrin reported, "The dragon devoured our trap, and we unleashed a barrage of 155mm Excalibur artillery and autocannons on it. It might sound like a crazy plan, but it somehow worked."
"Thanks, Eldrin."
"Anything for a friend, Bell. Those humans, burning our majestic forest like this? It's absolutely unbelievable. Damn them all!" Eldrin replied over the radio.
"Lukas, is the entire sector clear? Or do we have any surprises left?" Bell inquired.
"All sectors are clear, sir. I don't see any heightened husk activity."
"What's the damage report?"
"The hospital is destroyed, the command building is partially damaged, the housing complex is in ruins, and... well, let's just say the civilian infrastructure is in shambles. But most of the military buildings are intact."
"Damn it," Bell muttered. "How about the number of casualties?"
"We're still counting, sir. Thanks to Eldrin's decoy, we managed to evacuate most of the civilians to a safer location. However, some are still trapped in the rubble, especially those in the hospital. There are also those who were burned alive by the dragons or injured by the smoke."
"FUCK!" Bell threw his radio in a fit of rage and then slammed his head against a tree. All he had built over the past month to improve the lives of the average people was gone in an instant. First the virus, then the unknowns, and now these dragons? What else could the Southern Coalition throw at him?
"Sir?" Lukas's voice came over the radio.
Bell picked up the radio again, but as he attempted to speak, he started coughing and wheezing. He noticed a metallic taste in his mouth, a sign that internal bleeding had begun. There was no cure yet; he could only hope.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
Bell tried to steady his emotions. He couldn't let Lukas see his frustration. "I'm fine, Lukas. Coordinate with Eldrin to re-establish civilian infrastructure temporarily. And get Lisa on the line to coordinate the rebuilding efforts."
"About that, sir, Lisa is... injured."
"WHAT? THE CHIEF OF MEDICAL STAFF IS INJURED?"
"Actually, she's in a coma," Lukas added, his voice tinged with doubt. He genuinely doubted that Lisa would wake up. Surviving a direct hit from a dragon was almost impossible. Then again, she had led the evacuation; maybe she had chosen to stay with her patients and face the same fate. Bell wasn't certain.
He took a moment to compose himself, wiping the blood from his mouth. The metallic taste lingered, a stark reminder of his near brush with death. "Keep me updated on Lisa's condition. We can't afford to lose her," Bell said into the radio, his voice strained but resolute.
"Understood, sir," Lukas replied. "The estimated casualties at the moment stand at 400 people, comprising 380 civilians and 20 soldiers."
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"The system provided you with that information?" Bell asked.
"Yes, sir," Lukas confirmed.
He had been granted a substantial reward for slaying the dragons – a staggering 475 million EPs – but the cost was far greater. Four hundred lives, a mix of civilians and soldiers, had been lost in the attack, not to mention the destruction of infrastructure and the shattering of any hope of normalcy. Bell couldn't even begin to imagine the horror of being trapped in a forest fire with dragons breathing fire upon them.
And then there was Lisa, the one who had led the effort to find a cure among the field team. Now she lay comatose. This setback would undoubtedly hinder their efforts to find a cure, but at least The Facility hadn't reported any attacks. It was now a matter of rebuilding and extinguishing the fire in the taiga. Bell couldn't shake the feeling that the situation would only worsen by the time he returned to the now-burning base.
"To any available helicopter unit, this is Overlord, requesting extraction. Coordinates will be sent to your tactical terminal." Bell's voice came across the radio.
Shortly after, a UH-60 helicopter, a DAP variant of it, arrived to pick him up. Bell assisted in getting the injured pilot into the helicopter before taking a seat himself. The chopper then ascended from the ground and set course back toward the now devastated base. As they flew over the forest fire, Bell gazed down at the base from a distance. The only structure still standing was the command center. He also spotted several charred bodies of soldiers who had been manning the VADS.
The helicopter landed on the roof of the undamaged portion of the command center. Half of the building lay in ruins. Bell disembarked from the helicopter, and it took off again, likely heading to the elven village to seek medical attention for the injured pilot. The dragon's melting carcass lay at the edge of the base, casting an eerie and grotesque sight on the landscape. However, it would eventually dissipate, as it was not a natural body but rather something summoned from the grave.
"Let's begin cleaning up this mess," Bell said, cracking his knuckles. He knew there was a lot to do, from rebuilding to searching for survivors among the rubble. He wished he could confront whoever was responsible and personally exact revenge. The loss of 380 civilians in a single strike was simply too much, especially when combined with the earlier virus outbreak.
====
Aya felt a deep sense of terror as she witnessed the incredible display of power exhibited by the demon forces. They had managed to take down four undead dragons, a feat that left her in awe and fear. She had done her part, eliminating some of the demons and destroying the few remaining standing buildings that had somehow survived the onslaught of Longinus barrage. The silver lining was that the Longinus' attack had proven remarkably effective in destroying what seemed to be the enemy's military base.
However, the sheer volume of bullets and lead fired at her was overwhelming. Despite their sickness and deteriorating condition, the demons had managed to mount counterattacks. To make matters worse, elves from other villages had joined the fight, armed with an array of modern military weapons.
Then, there was the colossal explosion that had obliterated the largest dragon. Aya couldn't help but feel like she was caught in a proxy war, and not just any war, but one against a modern army. How had this even happened? Since when did the demons have access to Humvees and missiles? And those armored vehicles—where had they come from? It was a baffling and nightmarish situation, and Aya knew that the battle was far from over.
"Aya, I thought you destroyed their main base. What's going on?" Gavil's voice held disbelief.
Still gasping for breath, Aya struggled to explain, "The demons... they're backed by the United States."
"The who???" Gavil had never heard of the country before.
"Gavil, we need to retreat immediately!" Exhausted, Aya grabbed a bottle of potion and gulped it down. Summoning four dragons at once wasn't something she would do without the sacrifice of human life, but the situation had forced her to push her magical powers to the brink of lethal exhaustion. "These demons are beyond our capabilities."
"You can't be serious," Gavil protested.
"I wish I were, but this is no joke. Inform the command, and tell everyone—these demons are backed by the United States. This is not the time to underestimate them. We need all the help we can get. Let my classmates know; they'll understand."
"Take it easy, Aya, catch your breath. Are you sure it's not just your magic weakening, causing the connection to the dragons to break? After all, controlling creatures of their magnitude might have strained your abilities," Gavil inquired again, unable to wrap his mind around the idea of four dragons being defeated by anyone, let alone the United States.
Gavil was well aware of the demons' capabilities, and he knew that their current anti-air weapons were woefully inadequate to deal with the dragons effectively. Their field guns, designed for ground-based armored targets, couldn't accurately track the dragons, let alone land a perfect shot.
Even if they did manage to hit, it would take multiple lucky hits to bring down a dragon. These creatures were larger than some forts, with scales thick enough to withstand most attacks. The demons were outnumbered, and dragons were notorious for decimating cities and towns with much larger forces.
It was, in Gavil's mind, simply impossible.
Absolutely impossible.