Volume 6 Chapter 12 Predatory Tentacles
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”…No, we continue. Kent, if we run now, we’ll have to deal with the Predation Tentacles with brute force. With our limited manpower, we can’t get rid of it. It’s dangerous here, but we must take it down. There’s no time to waste. I’ll guard the rear. Kent, help secure our escape route.”
Soumei urges me to continue the attack, despite my hesitation.
If we can’t wipe them out here, a prolonged battle will be inevitable, as Soumei said.
”Mr. Soumei…”
”Don’t worry. There are less than ten left. I’ll hunt them down responsibly. If it looks like we can’t secure an escape route, just run.”
”That… I can’t do. I’m staying. I was the one who suggested this plan…”
”…Miriallia, take Kent and retreat. Only the Hand of Glory will remain here.”
”Understood. I can’t let Kent die, so I’ll leave the rear to Mr. Soumei this time.”
”W-Wait! I’m saying I’m staying!”
”There’s no time for arguments…”
”…Just make sure you come back. I’ll hold the line until you and the others return, Mr. Soumei.”
”…I’ll go right away. Wait for me.”
I decided to leave the rear guard to Soumei.
”Black Bullet, Crimson Bride, secure our escape route.”
”””Yes!”””
The members gathered around me, countering the pursuing Demon Ogres with gunfire and magic.
”Go, Kent!”
I turned my back on Soumei and started to return the way we came.
As I returned, the sounds of magic bursts and explosions echoed from behind me.
* * *
When I reached the cave entrance, Hendric and Matthew were fighting against a group of Medium-sized other world monsters and other monsters.
It seemed there were already quite a few injured making their way back to our base through the tunnel, drastically reducing the number of fighters still engaged.
”Mr. Matthew! Mr. Hendric!”
”Oh! Kent! Did you manage to hunt the Predation Tentacles?”
”About ten more remain, but Mr. Soumei will take care of them. What’s the situation?”
”No casualties, but we’ve sent back the severely injured. Only the members here can fight now.”
Around us, there were about 20 members, including Hendric’s party and Matthew’s party.
Quite a number from the Monster Hunting have likely been injured.
”Kent. There’s no time to chat. New enemies are coming. You need to fight too.”
Hendric urged us to join the battle while he cut down the monsters approaching the tunnel.
Normally, Hendric dislikes having his Hunting Ground invaded, but it seems even he finds it tough to hold off this number of enemies.
”I understand. For now, I’ll hold the line until Mr. Soumei and the others return.”
”Hey, hey. Even if Kent and the others join in, we can’t hold out for long. I’m not planning to die here! I’ll retreat on my own judgment.”
”I won’t force you. The ‘Golden Apostles’ can withdraw if Mr. Hendric decides so.”
”I’ll take you up on that. As long as I’m alive, my legend as the strongest continues.”
Hendric seems to hold to the belief that he must return alive.
I understand what he means; dying would make it all pointless, but I couldn’t abandon Mr. Soumei.
”Kerstin, sorry for Milly, but you’ll have to stay with me for a while. I’ll hold until ‘Hand of Glory’ returns.”
”Got it. ‘Black Bullet’ is Kent’s escort group, so as long as Kent doesn’t say to retreat, we’ll keep fighting. Everyone, Kent will reward us if we survive! Let’s give it our all!”
Kerstin made a promise of a reward and immediately gave instructions to the members.
Hearing about the reward, the ‘Black Bullet’ members eagerly dove into the horde of monsters.
The price of life as my reward might not be worth it…
”Kent, can the members of ‘Crimson Bride’ join in on that talk? It has to be thick enough to get pregnant.”
Milly asked with a grin.
”Yeah, once I take down the Predation Tentacles, I’ll spoil everyone until they faint.”
”””I’m in on that!”””
The members of ‘Crimson Bride’ bit the bait as well.
Each of them grabbed their weapons and dashed out to hunt down monsters.
”As usual, Kent’s bonds run deep down below. Hahaha!”
Matthew teased, but I wouldn’t deny that fact.
”Come on, Mr. Matthew. Let’s push back the enemy’s advance instead of chatting.”
I attached the gun lance I had carried to my shield and powered up the firing mode.
Once the firing position was set up, I pulled out the ammo belt from the shield that had become the gun mount.
I couldn’t use the bombardment mode for a while, as I had used it once.
”I’ll mow down the enemies in front. Talia, you handle the reloading.”
”Y-yes. I’ll do my best despite my lack of experience.”
Confirming that the line of fire was clear, I began shooting at the monsters ahead.
Vwoom! Bababababang! Bababababang!
The Explode Gunlance, the true power of Meat Chopper, turned ‘another world monster’ the Silver Giant and Silver Wolf into piles of meat.
”Hyahha! Crush them! There’s no way I’m letting you guys have your way down south!”
I kept transforming ‘another world monster’ into chunks of meat, while Talia desperately supplied ammo next to me.
However, she seemed inexperienced and struggled with the reloading.
”Reload!”
After finishing one ammo belt, I felt a presence behind me and turned around to see a Silver Mantis swinging its scythe.
Apparently, it was an individual that had infiltrated from behind during the chaos.
Silver Mantis!
No way!
The trauma from when I first arrived in this Another World resurfaced, and my body stiffened, unable to move.
I’m gonna get hit!
The Silver Mantis swung its scythe down coldly.
The scythe was aimed at my heart.
”Sir Kent! It’s dangerous! Guah!”
Talia, who was reloading next to me, seemed to grasp the situation and instinctively pushed me forward.
And then, the scythe pierced Talia’s back.
”Whoa! What are you doing! Who said it was okay to hurt Talia! Enough with the jokes! You mantis bastard!”
Fueled by anger, the paralysis of trauma lifted.
I pulled out Elitzina from my inventory, aiming for the Silver Mantis’s compound eyes and concentrated my fire.
As its head exploded, the giant body of the Silver Mantis collapsed to the ground.
”Talia! Stay awake! Lana! Lana! Please, Talia’s hurt!”
I was applying first aid to stem the bleeding from the scythe wound, but it seemed deep, and the blood wouldn’t stop.
”Sir Kent… I’m okay. Please resume firing. Without covering fire, others will get hurt… H-hurry with the support…”
Talia spoke, blood flowing from her mouth, enduring the pain.
”Don’t talk. Lana will be here soon. When she arrives, we’ll get back to the fight… please, just don’t talk.”
My hand, pressing down to stop the bleeding from her abdomen, was stained red with Talia’s blood.
Eventually, Lana came to me, having cleared the battle area.
”Mr. Kent. It’s okay now. Since I’m here, I’ll bring Talia back even if she’s a corpse, so don’t worry.”
”I-I’m sorry. Please take care of Talia. If the bleeding is severe and her status is bad, retreat to the tunnel.”
”Understood. I’ll set up a healing area in the tunnel. Mr. Kent, if you’re wounded, come to the tunnel right away.”
”Yeah, I’ll do that. Lana, please take care of Talia.”
”Leave it to me.”
Lana blocked Talia’s wound and retreated towards the tunnel.
Looking around, the number of those engaged in combat had decreased since earlier.
In contrast, the number of enemies was steadily increasing.
Damn… is this it… Where’s Mr. Soumei…?
”Kent, our guys are reaching their limit. We need to pull back. If we don’t, there will be casualties.”
Hendric’s armor, which had shone with a golden light, was now stained black with the blood of ‘another world monster.’
He had been fighting since the beginning of the assault and seemed to be nearing his limit.
”That was the agreement, so please, do as you like.”
”I’ll take my leave first.”
Hendric gathered the fighting members and disappeared into the tunnel.
The area where the ‘Golden Apostles’ were engaged was significantly reduced, as Milly and Manon’s team would now seal it off.
From the direction of the Predation Tentacles, a group could be seen breaking through the enemy encirclement and returning.
It was the members of the ‘Hand of Glory’ Hunting Group.
Though battered and bruised, they were attempting to break through the encirclement.
”Oh, they made it back!”
”Everyone, support their breakthrough!”
Attacks were concentrated to support the ‘Hand of Glory’s’ breakthrough.
Eventually, a gap opened, and the members of the ‘Hand of Glory’ Hunting Group rushed in.
However, Soumei’s party was not among them.
”Hey, what happened to the Hunting Group Leader? Where’s Mr. Soumei?”
I grabbed a man from the Hunting Group and asked about Soumei’s whereabouts.
”The Hunting Group Leader stayed behind as a decoy to let us escape. However, the extermination of the Predation tentacles was successful.”
”…Mr. Soumei”
”A message from the Hunting Group Leader to Lord Kent: ‘I’m going home by myself, so if you hear this message, Kent, retreat. If I can’t make it back, I’ll leave my last disciple and the ‘Hand of Glory’ to you.’ That’s the Hunting Group Leader’s instructions, Lord Kent. Now, let’s retreat.”
”Kent… I’m sorry. We’re at our limit too. If we push any further, there will be casualties. Just give up on Soumei.”
Matthew had a big scar on his armor, his face covered in small wounds and stained with blood.
I understood that if I held out any longer, they would all be wiped out, but I also wanted to wait just a little longer for Soumei.
”If only the Black Wing was here a bit longer…”
If they were here, there would be a chance to rescue Mr. Soumei and the others who were isolated among the enemies… It was a mistake to keep them in Estfort and Lindblum…
The Ghost Clan was showing signs of unrest, so I had deployed the mobile Black Wing as a defensive force, which meant I had mobilized fewer Black Wing for this operation.
”…It can’t be helped… Retreat!? No, wait!”
Just as I was about to issue the retreat orders, about 2 hundred black specks appeared in his field of vision.
Squinting, I realized they closely resembled Rosvita’s dragon form.
The group of black specks was relentlessly continuing their breath attack toward the ground.
A Dragonewt shot toward them at high speed.
On the back of the Dragonewt was none other than Dee, who was supposed to be defending Estfort.
And next to her was Soumei, being carried.
”Kent! You caused this mess by leaving me behind! Rosvita’s party saved Soumei, so we need to scram! See, Lord Soumei has been rescued!”
”…Kent! I nearly died, but thanks to Lady Delprius, I was saved. Now, let’s retreat.”
Dee on the Dragonewt brought news of Soumei’s rescue.
Soumei was wounded but seemed not dead.
”Mr. Soumei! You’re alright! Dee, thank you so much! Everyone, retreat!”
”Yes”
Dee’s Dragonewt breathed, providing cover for the retreat.
We hurriedly left the battlefield and succeeded in retreating into the tunnel.
And, with Creation of the Universe, we sealed the tunnel, preventing enemy infiltration, and then completed our retreat to the deployment point.
Thus, we succeeded in destroying the Predation Tentacle, but this operation resulted in around 30 dead and 2 hundred wounded among the Estfort Army and the Red Devils who served as decoys.
The assault force had no deaths, but more than half suffered serious injuries.
Overall, it was a victory, but for me, it felt like the damage we sustained could have been avoided if we had deployed Dee and the others.
Dee persuaded Rosvita to hold back, and apparently came on this sortie trusting only Intuition.
Normally, ignoring my Instructions would have been punishable, but this time, due to saving Soumei, I decided to let it slide.
Soumei was seriously injured, but seemed otherwise fine.
His pleas to spare Dee also contributed to the decision.
While this operation prevented the beast monsters from roaming the south, the enemy force remained intact.
Leaving them unchecked would have been a risk to southern security.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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