Glancing over the barbered wire, which was put around wooden fortifications to make it harder for an attacker to get inside the trench, Rob silently exhaled before pushing back and leaning to the ground. His whole plan was to cut the sentinels down before running through the field to the ally’s positions. It was great, too simple, and related too much to dumb luck not to be shot from both sides. Still, it was the best that he managed to think over.
There were no cars or trucks to steal them for faster escape. Moreover, it would attract the attention of literally everyone, resulting in painting a huge target on himself. Taking into account at least a pair of machine guns that each company had, it would be a suicide. Rob wasn’t stupid to think that any armored machine was absolutely bulletproof. It might be different if he managed to get a tank, but there was a “sizable” nuance with that, excluding the fact that there was none in proximity. His body was too large to get through the hatch.
After one of the enemy’s assaults he tried to see the insides of the immobilized metal beast, but simply got stuck while doing it. It wasn’t surprising as most of the tank’s crew were basically at least two with a half-head lower than him. Getting out took a lot of effort and laughs from his comrades-in-arms, who preferred to call others to show them a funny scene instead of helping him. Therefore, the only option to get back to the Kingdom’s force was by foot through the field.
However, there was another problem. The beastmen seemed to be preparing for the attack as the trench was filled with soldiers, having three times more than the usual number. Densely packed inside the dig-out with wooden walls, they were sleeping. The loud snore, familiar to anyone who had experienced sleeping with dozens man in one place, made it easier for Rob to conceal his movements, but additional eyes would be a huge problem when he tried to run.
Of course, there was an option to go back and search for a new opportunity, while surviving in the enemy ’s-controlled territory and praying for not to be noticed. The latter would quickly lead to sure death as being surrounded left no chances to fight back. That put Robert into a difficult situation where he had to make a choice. Each of them would be risky, just differing the time of life-threatening moment.
I can do it. I only need to be efficient with every single movement as I was with my machines. I have a fast reaction, can move fast – not on the level to make a somersault to avoid the bullets, but enough to react in the direction of riffle’s barrel… Damn, I think I will never be that jumpy, rolling between sword swings or running on the walls – not with my size and weight. Yeah, in my circumstances, a diet will not help… Back to business. The trench is almost the same as a narrow pathway in a dirigible, where the enemy’s quantity advantage could be partly neglected because of limited space. If I am fast enough, I can kill a lot of beastmen, and scare them to get an opportunity to run. Moreover, the commotion can be noticed by my allies, leading to an attack.
The plan wasn’t any better than the previous one. If Robert could become invisible, move through shadows, teleport, or just change his appearance to turn into a beastman to ease the task, it would be wonderful. Unfortunately, he didn’t have such abilities. While his steel summoning was useful in different circumstances, this was not such a case. He had a random thought of creating a full knight’s armor to cover him from bullets, but his experience told him that the thickness wouldn’t be enough. At least with his current conjuring limit.
Not only the fast-flying projectiles had to fail to go through his potential protection, but the force from their impact also had to be neglected too. His direct connection with steel could lead to unpleasant consequences, where he would drop down from pain after getting hit a few times, despite being uninjured. That was the reason why he used only a shield and helmet during the battle, trying to avoid creating a fake feeling of protection. The bullets were made for piercing, and they did their job well.
Okay, stop pondering, Rob! You don’t have much time left before the dawn.
Crawling back to the barbed fence, he created steel cutters and quickly made a hole for himself. Dropping down to the ground, Robert barely avoided stepping on the sitting soldier, who even woke up from the motion. Muttering some curses, he closed his eyes and continued his sleep. A moment later Rob felt a rush of adrenaline. As always too late to the party, it sent his heart at a fast pace, making to spend a few seconds in an attempt to make his arm steadier. Feeling readier, Robert looked around before kneeling near the nearest soldier.
Pressing his huge palm against the enemy’s mouth, he simultaneously pierced the neck in one swift motion, pushing the steel blade deep inside. The slight tremble of beastman’s body instantly came to pause and it went limp. Pulling away his hand with a created weapon, he inwardly glanced at it as if waiting to see the blood on it. However, the darkness had turned the red liquid into an unrecognizable stain, hiding it from his eyes.
Gulping from nervous pressure as it was the first time, he was killing the enemy, who wasn’t fighting back. It didn’t feel good. On the contrary, his inner guts labeled it as a vile and dishonorable act. He was sure that these beastmen wouldn’t spare him at all, killing on the spot if he was lucky or torturing him if not. It was odd, this feeling as if Rob’s mind tried to set his killing within normality, attempting to find excuses for his deeds and the reasons, why he wasn’t a psycho murderer. And it didn’t take long to produce one - they were enemies with quantity advantage, giving him little options to do for his own survival. That led to a decision.
Tightening the grip on the dagger and clenching his teeth, he moved further. Looking to the sides to check the surroundings, Rob made his way to the next one. This time the filthy feelings were a little smaller. He still avoided looking at their faces, but it was simply impossible. Still, his hand was firm and the aim steady. Robert wasn’t sure he could ever wipe it from his memory. Maybe, on the contrary, he had to remember everything to know the cost of his own life and bear to the end of his days.
His eyes were shining with determination, while he continued his bloody deed. Calmly and methodically Rob interrupted the lives forever, losing something inside his very soul with each one, but he was ready for that. He stopped only to quench his thirst from the flask, he took from dead. Robert’s hunger, on the other hand, had faded dramatically, not even trying to remember about itself after recent deeds. Overall, Rob managed to kill around ten enemies before the sentinel noticed him, turning around from the ladder and speaking to him with a surprised tone.
“Hey, Gorgy, why are you not sleeping?”
Trying to keep his voice low, he whispered loudly and returned his attention to the field. The bright red light above his head was slowly descending, creating bigger shadows across the surroundings. Not getting his answer, the soldier turned his head only to see the familiar figure of a huge bearman, bending in an attempt to suppress the violent cough.
“Be silent – you don’t to wake a centurion,” glancing around and confirming the absence of the reaction from sleeping comrades, he sighed with relief. Too acquainted with constant sound around, the soldiers could dive deep into dreams in different conditions, but that didn’t mean that they were ready to lose their rest because of an idiot, who was barely holding his hunger under control.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Did you eat another portion of that disgusting soup, so you can’t keep your shit inside yourself?” The sentinel asked again while checking the flare gun in his hands. Soon, it would be his turn to shoot. “Why are you mute? Nothing to say, dumbass?”
His attempt to turn around was interrupted by a huge palm that grabbed his neck. Tightening the grip so he couldn’t make even a single breath, it continued to increase the pressure. Instinctively trying to fight back, the soldier instantly stopped himself and hastily took the flare gun. However, before he could use it, two steel nails cut through his neck, protruding from the palm.
I need to be careful. Was almost caught. At least unintentional low-volume sounds are completely ignored.
Pushing the sentinel’s body back and leaning it to the ground, Rob shot the flare gun before stepping down. Killing a few more beastman, he redirected his attention inside an underground shelter. Unfortunately, it was too packed – he couldn’t even make a single step inside, as soldiers were basically sleeping shoulder to shoulder. Therefore, Robert decided to change his plan. A quick search in a few deepening led him to find two boxes of grenades. Placing one on another in the middle of the pathway, he went back.
Once again, luck wasn’t on his side as the other nearest blindage was not far from another’s sentinel’s position. The latter, currently smoking, was speaking quietly with his comrade while sending a gaze across the field from time to time. Not willing to risk, Robert simply placed the box on the ground in the middle of the trench before turning around. His belt had already three explosive gifts hanging, which was enough.
Following the defensive line, Rob proceeded with his silent killing spree, taking out two more sleepy sentinels until he found the machine gun post. A sincere grin appeared on his face when he started to check the weapon. The next ten minutes were spent preparing a shooting point. Finding the spot, where the trench created a small angle, he returned to pick up the grenade’s boxes and placed them in the middle of the cleared from enemy’s pathway. The barrel of the machine gun was pointing in the opposite direction. Four more loaded rifles and additional ammunition were lying near him.
He was mentally preparing himself when he heard the sound of steps. Glancing up, he saw a soldier approaching him from an uncleared part of the defensive line. Being under the sight of the sentinel further down the trench, the soldier was immediately crossed out from the target list. The wave of adrenaline had washed over Rob before got himself together.
Nodding to the beastman, he calmly finished placing the equipment and started to reload magazines as if it were an absolutely normal thing to do during the night. He was betting on the reluctance of any soldier to ask questions that could lead to an additional workload or take the initiative only to be labeled as responsible and asked for future results. And it worked as everything he got was a raised hand with a cigarette in it and a questioning gesture. Shaking his head, Rob bent down to hide his face, secretly continuing to look at how the soldier turned around and went in the opposite direction directly to the sentinel, currently hidden from sight.
Thanking the similar behavior in the enemy’s army together with darkness that covered a part of his actions with a natural veil, Robert sighed with relief. Soon, he was ready. Checking if everything was set, he nodded to himself before picking the last pieces needed for this set of actions.
Let’s do it!
Turning around and hastily stepping over the corpses, he moved to the third underground shelter from his planned position. Making a few deep breaths, Robert tore the pin to ignite a pair of grenades before shoving it inside the blindage. Not wasting even a single moment, he rushed forward, repeating the process near the next one. The third and simultaneously the last place was only in a few metes when a dual explosion resounded from behind. Sending a small tremor across the ground, it was a loud wake-up call for everyone. Rob managed to notice a motion inside the last cover before throwing the explosives inside.
Ignoring the screams and another series of blasting bangs, he dropped near prepared machine gun. Gripping the shooting handle with one hand, he used another to set the bullet chain into a proper position. Luckily, his hands and palms were big enough to use it singlehandedly. Exhaling once again to calm his mind, Rob caught the sight of the first sitting enemy and pulled the trigger. The barrel seemed to spit out a stream of fire before starting to send multiple tiny projectiles with a loud knocking sound from the working mechanism.
Control the pace so as not to overheat. Save ammo. Be precise. Be attentive. Survive!
Muttering the reminder for himself, Robert continued to shoot directly inside the trench catching the next sleepy beastman completely off guard. The following short bursts pierced the enemy’s bodies way before they managed to understand where it was coming from. Waking up from the gunfire, they instantly tried to get up only to fall a few seconds later. Unfortunately, the more enemies felt, the bigger the piles of bodies became, creating a natural cover for the rest. Thus Rob started to aim higher. Quite a few beastmen had mistaken the direction of the shooting, running to the ladders out of habit only to get several bullets in their back.
Noticing the drop in efficiency, Robert redirected his still ability from protection to utility, creating huge bipods underneath the machine gun. Raising upwards, the weapon almost got a new breath, cutting off beastmen’s attempts to hide. They still had deepening and underground covers for that, but even a single motion led to a short burst. Rob’s mind didn’t register not where he was shooting, nor the extent of the damage he managed to cause during this subjectively long minute. All his attention started from the center of the moving figure, ending a few moments later when it started to fall.
The whole trench down to the next turn was strewn with corpses, covering the ground so densely, that Rob could barely see the earth itself. Not seeing any targets, he stopped shooting and that appeared to be a huge mistake. Simultaneously leaning out from several spots, the enemies started to fire, making Robert kiss the dirty surface a moment later when a few bullets just barely missed his bald head. Rolling to the side and grabbing the nearest rifle, he hastily got to his knees only to see an aiming soldier, who was already pulling the trigger.
The strong impact almost dropped him to the ground, felt like a direct hammer hit, when the bullet made a dent in a self-conjured metal mask. Still, despite the sharp pain, Rob responded with his own projectile. The latter had entered the thigh of the enemy, sending him down with a high-pitched scream. Quickly pulling the handle bolt to reload, Robert emptied the magazine in just several seconds. However, that had barely any impact as there were too many soldiers. Fueled by the revenge and experiencing the deadly frontal assaults, they simply ignored the threat from a single shooter.
Rushing like insane right under the bullets from the second rifle, they tried to use a grenade, but Robert was faster. Timely send projectile had dropped a charged explosive right in the middle of their ranks. The following loud bang with shockwave crossed at least a few lives from the list of living while wounding others. But Rob didn’t have time to celebrate, feeling overwhelmed by sheer numbers. It wasn’t even two minutes from the start. Still, the beastmen not only managed to recover from the surprise but also several of them were already in the process of surrounding him from both sides according to their angry yells.
Damn, that was a stupid plan!
Picking a loaded rifle, Robert simultaneously shoved a pair of grenades down the trench before turning around and running in the opposite direction. The last explosive was already in his palm, ready for usage. His mind, on the other hand, was focused on conjuring a huge shield on his back, turning into a humanoid turtle. It appeared a good idea as following rain of bullets almost turned him into a colander.
The previously cleared part of the trench was empty, giving him enough time to run to the box with explosives. Dropping the last grenade, Robert pushed himself forward with all available force before jumping inside the nearest blindage that was littered with dead. Dispersing the steel while being in the air, he continued his actions without a single pause. Swiftly rolling right over the motionless bodies, he got to the furthest corner and turned around. Sending all his available mana into a huge plate that covered Rob from all sides, he braced himself before muttering.
“Not the brightest idea indeed!”
The following explosion had caused a small earthquake in the underground room. The wooden support beams trembled for a few seconds in an attempt to resist, but failed miserably, breaking under the pressure in a quick succession. The ground shook, before instantly going down, burying Rob with other dead.