CHAPTER 18
THE LAST WAVE
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The fighting died down in the afternoon. But the Supply and Transportation unit was busy transporting ammunition from the warehouse to Sector 1. Several trucks were delivering supplies from Regional Command, and they were delayed by traffic. Some cannons could not be used because the barrel was dented by overheating. The situation in the red zone was on eggshells.
“The roads are getting jammed, Commander. People are panicking. Police has no time to organize evacuation because alarm was too late.”
As they spoke, the sirens were blaring. This time it wasn't just in the Red Zone but in every corner of the city. The local government turned them on after there were reports of victims. All because of the politicians who prioritized their money over citizens lives. All they did was delay the decisions or blame others for their own mistakes.
Surabaya was getting tense. Particularly in the red zone. Not even long after dealing with the second wave, the portal was in turmoil. The earth shook once more. The scale was not large, but it was terrifying because they had no idea where the tremor came from.
“Commander, there is an anomaly. The next wave is coming soon.”
“Anomaly? How much longer?”
“Approximately three hours. We have no preparations.”
The officer's face was freaked out. As members of Red Zone units, they learned a lot about towers and their characteristics. Tower's nature was like a reservoir. If the water ran out, it would take a long time to refill. The bigger the wave, the longer the preparation time. But now, it only took 180 minutes for the biggest wave and all the officers to be questioned.
What's going on?
Bullhead was silent by so many questions.
The sky of the Zone was shrouded in clouds after all monsters had been eradicated. The large vortex was spinning even more due to an anomaly for the third wave that was supposed to happen tomorrow. The red zone had not had much preparation for the biggest wave.
“There are 22 KIAs, Commander. 23 seriously wounded and 22 light wound.”
There were not as many casualties as in the first wave. Aside from the preparation, Velomodrake rarely showed up. They were the number one killers despite having the lowest rank. The big monsters were easy to take down because they were not agile. Moreover, the Red Zone has been fairly safe since the emergence of the 11th Army Aviation Squadron.
“Ground support from other cities is late, Commander. They're stuck in traffic. Primarily Pacitan Cavalry. There are tens of kilometers of traffic jams on each side of Surabaya.”
“Tsk! Easy. Ask MBTs to run over the cars.”
“Negative, Commander. Not allowed.”
“Ask car owner to leave their car. Then ask Leopard 2 to flatten their vehicle like this.” He posed something hilarious with his hand.
On the surface, the siren problem seemed insignificant. However, it deteriorated since the military need public roadways. The Surabaya War was an urban war. There was no other route into the city other than the one used by the refugees. The traffic would have been under control if the evacuation had not been delayed. And the police would have time to deal with the congestion, so reinforcements should arrive this afternoon. Surabaya had become isolated because of a bunch of nuts with big mouths.
“Gimme 100 packs of dynamite. I gotta save people taxes.” The bullhead got annoyed every time he thought about politicians.
“Negative, Commander. We have a lot of work to do. Please don't make trouble. Focus, okay? Focus.” Captain Nadine pleased him.
The soldiers were ready at the edge of the wall. Two MBTs stood by at that spot. So was a row of 40mm Bofors, the largest caliber field cannon in the Red Zone. Two AH-64 Apaches and four EC-725s were ready to take off, waiting for any monsters in the last wave.
The bullhead, meanwhile, whispered something to female captain beside him.
“Ask that asshole to peek the dome.”
“In front of everyone?”
“Dress him up. I got a bad feeling about it.”
***
“Damnit! There goes my $50,000!”
“Stop being a cheapskate. And wear this.”
Varg felt annoyed when Captain Nadine handed him an all-black combat uniform. The features were so distinctive. Especially a lame skull-shaped mask that made him look like a retard.
“Who the heck do you think I am? Power Ranger?”
“Wear it. And keep you cool. No cussing, no aggressive behavior toward another soldier. You're considered non-human in this uniform.”
In the restroom, Varg put off every single part of his combat reconnaissance uniform. He didn't bother to cover himself or ask a woman before him to move elsewhere. Captain Nadine shifted her gaze away from a sexy man who was casually naked. She was neither annoyed nor blushing. The female officer was getting used to Varg's behavior, which didn't have any shame at all.
“I can't believe I was living 30 days in deserted island with an asshole like you. And we did nothing! Om my god! I'm a holy lady.”
“Don't start it, Ma'am. Anything in you mind, stop thinking about it.”
“Marry this holy lady, Young man. You will be blessed.”
“I'm too embarrassed to talk about marriage with this stupid mask.” Varg reluctantly wore the DOME mask and acted like a retard. “I'm the Dark Vargder! May the force with you.”
“Hahahahaha! Stop fuckin' around.”
Few people were aware of Varg's true identity. Only the lieutenant colonel, Captain Nadine, and a few soldiers from his previous unit knew he was an elf. That's why Captain Nadine forced him to wear the DOME combat uniform. Although Varg was not yet an official member, his skills as non-human were required today.
“I've injected two bottles of serums.”
“Yeah I know. Stop talking about money. Do your job.”
Between a glowing red light that spun in the edge of the dark dome, forming an eerie light spiral that resembled a black hole’s event horizon, Varg entered the portal with a radio on. There was a thin, bluish line that sometimes dimmed between the black dome and the red edge. He felt something unnatural every time he entered the vortex to peek inside.
“Sergeant, any issue?”
“Negative, Ma'am. No issue, except for two of my precious $50,000 mana serums to reduce Red Zone's expenses.”
“Oh my god! What a stingy-ass! Alright, I'll put your expenses on my report.”
“You should. $65,000 each bottle. $10,000 cheaper than the cheapest price on the black market. Put on tab.”
“You asked me to be a corruptor? Who the fuck do you think I am? Don't even think about it! I mean it. Be a good soldier—
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“$5,000 per-bottle for you.”
“Solid copy.”
Varg rolled his eyes when Captain Nadine stopped talking.
“Tsk! What a gold-digger.”
Inter-dimensional portals had high radioactivity levels that normal humans were not allowed to approach. The bigger the portal, the greater the radioactive radius. Except for native ethereal dwellers like the prince.
Normally, he would quietly peek through it. But now he had openly entered the portal in front of many people. The DOME combat uniform completely hid his identity. After a few moments of observation, Varg exited the portal and delivered a chilling report.
“Ma'am, we are fucked.”
***
Dragona Cave, Some Minutes Earlier.
In the deepest part of a cave, a chef was serving a plate of main course. He was a walker. Any dish would be delicious, as long as he leveled up. The higher the chef's walker level was, the more magical the dishes they served. That was how the system worked.
Unfortunately, the sole customer, Count Vardant, was currently losing his appetite. A golden fork in his hand shook violently. The wave of monsters he saw earlier was stuck in his mind. It was like he was seeing the numbers of the death toll on the steak he had cut. Any dish tasted bland. The nobleman couldn't even sleep these two days.
“My Lord, let's me feed you.” One of his harem spoke.
“No use. Everything I ate tasted like shit.”
Count Vardant put down the fork and ate dessert instead. What he felt today was similar to the disgusting feeling he felt when he first killed someone years ago. Today, he became a mass murderer. Armed forces on Earth would not be able to fight the dragon army. Even a C-ranked walker like him wasn't confident enough to fight a single wyvern. Let alone normal humans. Surabaya was definitely devastated because of him. Millions of people would die. To make matters worse, the Janus mages be brought were in bad shape.
“What's going on?”
“The wave was too big, My Lord. Thousands of C-ranked monsters entered the dome. And Hundreds of B-ranked keep entering.”
“What?”
Count Vardant could not believe his ears. One B-ranked monster could easily destroy a city. It took several high-level Walkers to subjugate them. Hundreds of B-ranked monsters would destroy an entire nation. 300 million Indonesians were in danger. Count Vardant vomited as he realized how severe his crime was.
“Oh no! The portals are getting bigger!”
“Squeeze your Mana!”
“I saw several A-ranked monsters!”
“C'mon! Give me a break!” Count Vardant hysterically shouted
Dozens of mages were getting more panicked. The size of the portal could no longer be controlled. The tremor could be felt as they caught sight of a huge monster's silhouette. Some mages were vomiting blood just to look at it. They tried hard so that the monsters could be sucked into the artificial portal.
“The King of Dragona Army! It is a highest A-ranked monsters! Oh no! Indonesia would be destroyed!”
“Stop bitching around! Don't let it enter the portal! Damnit!”
The mage could no longer keep up when the black dome grew thicker. Their mana was drained. Some had fainted with blood all over their orifices. Some were stammering because their magic would trigger a disaster.
Booom!
Booooooom!
The portal disappeared after a series of explosions. It left a thin mist in the cave and the trembling of the mages. After watching an enormous creature, they sat in fear and regret.
“What ... what have we done?”
***
Command Tent, Sector 1
“There are thousands of ground monsters. All of them are D-ranks and C-ranks. There are many times more of them. And there are hundreds of B-ranks. Hundreds of boss monsters as big as tens of meters. Be prepared.”
All officers were pale-faced when a skull-masked soldier described what he saw in the dome. C-ranked monsters had already messed up Indonesia, let alone B-ranks. Their faces turned even paler as the radar kept moving. The scale went up. And the DOME soldier added a detailed nightmare.
“There will be hundreds of 50-meter Rank-B meganodrakes. At least five or six A-ranked bosses. And I was able to see the silhouette of the largest monster. Its size is beyond my capacity. I think it was the highest grade of an A-ranked monster. Close to S-ranked.”
Everyone gulped. However, the lieutenant colonel didn't say a word. He turned back to the Prince after having an officer identify the type of monster he had mentioned.
“Boy, follow me.”
Varg didn't talk much when his mentor asked him to speak alone. He had the privilege of serving directly under an officer with an eccentric style. Bullhead's gesture was somehow so calm, but Varg knew that his commander was upset.
“Besides monsters, what else did you see? Janus‘s disgusting mana?” He asked to the point.
Behind the mask, Varg raised an eyebrow. Topics that were previously avoided were now brought up again.
“Affirmative. I did see traces of God Janus‘s mana, Commander.”
“Walker's?”
“Yes. Most likely the current wave was something to do with the walker.”
There was nothing changed in Bullhead's gesture after he heard the answer. However, a black aura could be seen around him, giving the impression that the lieutenant colonel was completely pissed off. The casualties were too high. Varg slightly trembled as his mentor gave him deep, solemn feedback.
“Boy, you'll be the only DOME member who have license for assassination. Keep it in the dark. Kill any walker who made this shit.”
***
Around the command table, all officers were gathered. They came from cavalry, field artillery, army aviation, and air defense units in other branches. Let's say the Marine Corps and the Navy. Even one of the Air Force officers was present at the meeting.
“There is a new stock of 134 rounds of 120mm APFSDS and 112 High Explosives, Commander.” Cavalry officer gave a report. “All of them are low-quality ammunition. 4 APFSDS made from tungsten and 2 depleted uranium remained. And we just received around 1,000 rounds of 30mm.”
The bullhead gave a small nod, turning to the other officers for the ammunition report.
“424 rounds in stock for 40mm, Commander. 500 more are on the way from regional command. One Bofors unit is completely damaged. Another unit needs barrel replacement.”
One by one, the officers gave their reports. All the contents were not good news. The last wave was much bigger than the previous one. The bosses were B-ranked monsters measuring 50–60 meters. And they were small bosses, not the last ones. Time went on until someone gave a report.
“Commander, the monsters are out!”
The bullhead girded his loins as he saw the huge silhouette behind the vortex. There was no fear at all in his gesture. It was as if the giant monster was just an insect in his eyes. A far cry from the expressions of the officers around him. They turned even paler as a monster larger than the size of a commercial airliner came out.
“Save ammo! Make sure to shoot the neck.”
“Yes sir!”
As expected, the monster was between 50 and 60 meters long. The skin on its back was about two meters thick, while its lower skin was one meter thick. It was all osteodermis armor that could only be penetrated by a large-caliber cannon. And even that was just a theory on paper. The troops attacked as soon as the monster started walking.
Booom!
Blastt!
“Happy Birthday!”
Meganodrakes were just reptiles. But their bodies were almost as powerful as MBTs. 20mm shots were ineffective. 40mm Bofors had some difficulty penetrating the super-thick skin. Even the 120mm cannon had to carefully hit the target.
“Damn it! One is not enough!” said the Leopard gunner.
“What else can we do with bootleg quality?”
“Carl Gustaf is ineffective!’ shouted the recoilless gun operator.
“Leave them to cavalry! The rest, attack C-ranked monsters!”
The opponent's strength was beyond expectation. Things got scarier as the monsters' numbers grew, even though some Meganodrakes had been killed. A few more crawled out on a rampage and chased after leopard tanks. Fortunately, they were slow and obviously losing speed to the tanks. Some of them had their legs crushed by anti-tank mines.
“Target the joints! Paralyze its mobility!”
Infantry soldiers ran around carrying C90s. They were the newly arrived anti-armored infantry unit from Regional Command. They fired at the monster at the same spot to reduce its mobility.
“Dammit! Milion dollars worth of ammos are burned in one minute!”
Ammunition flew like bees in a destroyed hive. The Apaches joined the hunt using 30-mm cannon rounds. Firing into the monsters' eyes, they became MPVs. The battlefield turned into a chaotic line of heavy fire. And in the midst of it all, the tower portal wobbled, revealing an anomaly they'd never imagined.
“Oh no! Portal break! Portal breaaakk!”
2030, 25 years after monster first appearance, once more, Earth became hell.