Chapter 62: Roles
Turbulent clouds roiled across the sky, the dark masses blotting out the brilliance of the sun upon Roy’s territory.
It was as though even the world was reacting to this calamity...
"Captain, I’ve identified two more categories of Variants — those with outer skeletal carapaces, and another with pulsating tumors in their heart area. I’m already spreading awareness of their weaknesses," a soldier hurriedly relayed to Jake.
The squads of both Jake and Ethan were situated at the extreme rear of the violence.
The two squads occupied strategically important roles for this battle. Ethan’s squad was the primary support unit — consisting of hunters with healing and repair capabilities. Wherever there was a chink in armor or an injured soldier, it was their job to fix them up.
As for Jake, he held a more crucial support system. His squad consisted of hunters with divining and discerning abilities — allowing them to identify distinct differences in their foes and their respective weaknesses. They also had telepaths for quick info relay across the battlefield.
"Captain! Captain! This is urgent!" A young hunter hurriedly ran toward Jake with bleeding eyes — a sign of strain on ocular abilities. The poor guy had most likely tried his skill on an absurdly powerful Variant.
Jake quickly stood at attention and helped steady the hunter’s wobbling gait due to extreme stress.
"B-Boss, there is... a new type of Variant! Long, lanky arms, extremely scarred face — mostly around the lips region. T-These creatures are on a whole other level with astonishing resistance to elemental attacks and absurdly resilient constitution. Their only weakness is to be killed with brute force and—" The hunter tried to impart the information quickly, but sadly his mind couldn’t hold any longer as he passed out.
Jake carefully arranged the unconscious figure of the hunter beside similarly knocked-out individuals — all suffering the same fate of overdrafting their skills, their minds failing to hold.
A blue holographic display of the battlefield appeared in Jake’s vision as he quickly navigated to locate the described Variant.
Taking its features into account, he quickly passed it over to the telepath group to speedily keep everyone informed.
Jake had barely finished this task when—
"Captain! T-This is terrible... Have a look..." A hunter rushed forward, placing a hand on his shoulder — a necessary action in order to share senses.
Jake’s hair stood on end, a frigid chill sinking down his spine at the sight. What the hell was that?
His mind went blank sighting a dreadful hulking abomination.
...
At another end of the battlefield, a squad fully engaged in battle with their leader Richard — clad in stunning golden sheen armor — rampaged through the lands.
With his Holger in tight grasp, clutched firmly to his hip, it spat out dense, heavy-caliber flaming bullets, pulverizing through the crowd of Variants.
The entire squad maintained tactical silence, but the cohesive feel of uniformity was still present as they fought through the lands with mind-rattling efficiency.
Richard rampaged through the Variants unimpeded, face stoic and eyes carrying a dutiful glow.
Clang! Clang!
Metal collisions rang out as Richard aimed to demolish another Variant on sight — but contrary to expectation, the abomination tanked the damage, remaining intact.
Its elongated arms crossed for brace, it pushed forward speedily under the relentless rain assault of an Epic LMG pouring its might on it.
Richard’s guts lurched, his jaw clenched tight, as a sudden intense smell of dread filled the air — its stifling presence riding the wind into his lungs.
Never in his life did he think a day would come where a feeling could be so intense it materialized into smell.
The more the monster moved against the tide of heavy calibers, the greater the resistance — as bits and chunks of its arms began being pelted away.
Follow Impact Boost! One of the skills Richard had acquired after his evolution. It was a unique skill that gave the user buffs in damage by 0.5x on every follow-up speed fire.
Meaning every bullet that followed behind another carried a lot more weight, a lot more damage, and a lot more lethality.
This was the main reason Roy sourced a lightweight machine gun for Richard.
The intense fire rate was exactly a perfect match for this skill.
Richard took control of momentum and recoil force to travel backward in rapid motion.
The Variant rushed forward savagely, but its target was in constant speedy retreat.
Just then, a pulse of mental wave reached Richard as details of the special Variant before him were relayed into his mind.
I see... if it’s like that... His skill Machine Demon Scripture churned!
As an ethereal force flowed in a torrential pour toward the Holger in his hands.
The mass of flaming bullets underwent a subtle but noticeable change — flames became more contained, bullets shone more lustrously.
Boooooooom!
The following fire was like missile hits. The message stated that only brute force could trump such a foe, so he decided to go all out.
His skill Machine Demon Scripture allowed him to gain total control of metal-crafted constructs, imbuing them with something called the Demon’s Will — which allowed them to show more lethality and more disastrous capabilities in his hold.
Dust and debris cleared out, and the resilient Variant had been reduced to a mash of meat.
Roarrrrrrrrr!
He had barely recovered from his brief victory when an ear-rending roar rang out.
Richard craned his neck slowly to the source, his expression froze, and his tired pants seized — the air freezing in his lungs. He swallowed hard as he and all his squad members stared in horror.
"What the hell is that?" Roy managed to force out the terror-filled question.
He prayed silently for a mental connection with Jake’s team to deliver info, but his mind remained silent — with nothing else but his voice.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Massive, earth-trembling steps were made, as a hunter gulped hard and asked, eyes twitching, "Um... is it me, or is that thing coming straight at us?!"
Helpless, Richard could only order with a trembling heart, "Prepare for full-on confrontation!"
Right before them a shadowy mass carrying eriee ominous wails in it wake made its way towards them.