MTLNOVEL Chapter 121: Chapter 121
(A/N: A little late, but I still can't believe Chelsea beat PSG. Anything is possible, I guess.
Song of the day: Take It Easy by The Eagles.)
/\\//\\//\
"Calm down! Focus! What exactly happened?" An officer questioned the survivor who returned.
"I don't know! They just exploded! I don't even know what caused it!" They were panicking, still trying to come to terms with a stump where their hand used to be.
"You! You're one of our otherworlders. Does this remind you of anything?" Seeing that the survivor would say nothing, the officer turned to an otherworlder they had.
"So, your comrade just exploded after running away?" The survivor nodded in response to their question before they asked another question. "Was there some kind of sound? Like a clicking sound?"
"No, there was no sound. It just happened! Out of nowhere!"
The otherworlder didn't know. It was just like Artoria predicted.
"I don't know then. It must be some kind of magic."
"I don't think it was magic. I would've felt some kind of magic activation or something similar. I have a skill that detects that kind of thing, and there was nothing." The survivor said, starting to finally calm down, but only a little.
/\\//\\//\
Well, it's only a matter of time before things go up the command chain to someone who can actually make a decision to attack. Whether it's a small unit or not. Well, "small" relative to their population. I just need them to do something. Hmm, if they keep stalling by just sending in more small recon teams, I'll just start ordering Soeui and his team to start killing them to force them to commence their attack.
I don't want this kind of game being played for who knows how long. Just little skirmishes that are obviously headed to a bigger conflict, but no one does anything about it.
It'll all just lead to unnecessary waiting that will cause nerves to go on for much longer than necessary because of the stress and anxiety of waiting for an attack. That kind of stuff will wear any soldier down with enough time. I'd prefer it all to go down as soon as possible.
'If there are any more recon or scouting teams from the Eastern Empire, kill them.' It was a simple thought communication to Soeui and his team, but I made sure not to say his name. I purposely just sent a thought communication in his direction, which also happened to be where the Eastern Empire was. And given their large size, I have no doubt that there will be someone in there who has some skill that can intercept any kind of "communication" or "signals".
What if it was intercepted or something? Eh, I hope so. If it'll make them attack faster, and put all of their focus on us. This has to be a provocation that gets their attention.
/\\//\\//\
"Commander!"
"What?"
"I think I found out what killed those teams we sent in earlier."
"Just say it. Stop making it so dramatic."
"Right. There's a group near the border of the forest that was ordered to kill anyone from our side if they entered."
"They're most likely the ones responsible for the other deaths. It doesn't matter; we have the manpower to spare. I'll send someone to take care of it. We won't need to expend too much."
/\\//\\//\
"Lady Pendragon! Souei is reporting movement. He says there's mobilization from the Eastern Empire." A dragonewt reported to me while I was on the ship. Everything was ready on this end.
"Finally," I said with relief that they were acting. I've had enough with some of these little skirmishes. Or so I thought.
"But he does say that it's not their entire army, just a small detachment or unit. He says it looks like someone is taking a small group to take care of whatever threat killed the last small recon group."
I let out a frustrated sigh at the report. "Come on. Look, just let them advance. Let the traps do their jobs, and have them booby trap the dead bodies as well, for when the actual invasion starts."
Please, just start this damn war. I'm not saying I want war or am excited about it, since this was inevitable, but if you're going to spend so many resources and time building such an army, use it! The whole world knows about your military build-up and aggressive nature, so live up to it!
Whatever, this has to be the last kind of escalation before all-out invasion. If they delay any longer, then I'll just go save Milim's pet dragon and then let Rimuru or Raphael help bring it back to life. And then have Milim have some fun on the battlefield.
But alas, we have to wait.
/\\//\\//\
Confusion. Chaos.
Nobody knew what was happening.
It started normally at first. Just a large group meant to go in, weed out a problem, and then go back. It was supposed to be a simple and straightforward mission, followed by writing a boring mission report.
Until the first explosion happened.
After that? It was a chain reaction.
It's not that they were in a tight formation, but the large radius of the powerful blast made many people stumble and disoriented them. That, combined with the blood and mutilated limbs that seem to rain down on them, caused almost uncontrollable panic.
Which only caused further explosions.
"Come on, move! We just have to find someone with a potion to heal you!" A soldier screamed through all the noise as they carried a fellow soldier by the shoulder. No one knew how it came to this so fast. It all went from 0 to 100 in seconds.
There was a tiny glint. A turquoise-like color. A healing potion.
"We're almost there! Just a little bit longer!"
He went faster, thinking that life was just a short distance away, but it was not meant to be.
Without any warning, he suddenly felt like he was falling. The only thing he could do was look up and realize he was falling into a hole, only for it to quickly be replaced by an intense and searing, burning pain all over his body. The last things he saw were spikes that impaled his body and large, black veins spreading through his hands, and the same to his fellow soldier next to him.
Outside, a familiar scene was happening. Soldiers were falling into traps and impaled on spikes, others triggered landmines, instantly killing them and exploding them into pieces.
The forest ground quickly became drenched with spots of blood. Leaves were splattered with blood, dripping. Others had already dried blood on them. The trunks of trees had parts stuck to them, and limbs were trapped in the canopy of the trees above, dripping blood below them.
It was a nightmare.
No sense of order could be established. The multiple explosions caused temporary deafness and ringing in the ears in almost all of the soldiers; their vision was blurred from dirt and blood getting in their eyes, and they would trip over dead bodies. Some onto the ground, others into boobytraps.
"This is a war c—" An otherworlder screamed before they stepped on a landmine, blowing up and dying instantly.
Over the span of 2 hours, thousands of bodies and limbs were splayed on the forest floor. And for once, it was quiet. Dust and dirt seemed to flow above the forest floor like mist.
Any stragglers were also quickly taken out.
This was the carnage from only a few thousand troops going on a simple strike mission.
What would it look like when millions approached, unaware of just how truly big a death trap was waiting for them?
This was just a small field in comparison to everything. Something that would get ignored even on a small scale. The only reason this would be talked about and not anything else was because this was the fan that turned a spark into a flame.
/\\//\\//\
Damn. That's only with a few thousand troops? That report is intense. Well, it's go time. I already sent the message out. Everyone's ready.
I made sure Rhongomyniad was always out, floating by my side at all times. Rhongomyniad would handle everyone important.
I went over to Rimuru, who was lounging on a chair, and rushed him to his feet. "Rimuru, get up, you're going to war. I'm going to have you follow Carrera in case you need to do some soul stuff."
"Huh? What?"
"Hold on. I'll call her here."
I sent a thought communication, and instantly, she teleported in front of me.
"Lady Pendragon, you called?"
"Hey, Carrera. So, it's time. The war is imminent. Are you ready with your demons and all that?"
"Yup! All ready! So, how long?" Carrera was clearly eager and excited. Not at all surprising.
"A few hours. Maybe a day at most."
"Awesome!"
"Before you go, I need to ask you a question."
"What is it?"
".50 AE or .500 Magnum?"
".50 what?"
".50 Action Express or .500 Magnum? Choose one."
"Can you tell me more? Like the difference or something?"
"One is more practical than the other, but it's not saying much since they both aren't that practical. One is stronger than the other. I'm mainly asking for aesthetic purposes. They both, in my opinion, are beautiful and cool."
And they sound awesome. Feeling that power go through your arms is a feeling unlike any other handgun.
Unless you're insane and use an elephant handgun with only one hand with Nitro Express ammunition. You'd have to be crazy, 'cause shooting that with only one hand will lead you to a trip to the hand doctor. And no one is that crazy.
Except for that one guy, but he's an exception.
Anyway, it was time for Carrera's decision. (A/N: I did this with a coin flip.)
"I choose… .50 Action Express. It sounds cooler and has action in it."
I gave her a little smirk. "Good choice."
I walked over and grabbed an elegant gun case. It was a custom fit and design for such a beautiful weapon with a marvelous sound.
And maybe a tad bit expensive. In Earth terms with those Benjamins.
I remember my dad paying quite a bit for such a gun, but so worth it.
I handed it over to Carrera, and she took it like a gift. She was about to open it, but I stopped her.
"Open it only when you meet someone named Kondou, or something like that, I forgot. Rimuru will go with you to help you with some soul stuff when the time comes. You and he will know what to do when you see everything fall into place."
"Is this an order or a request?"
"It's an order."
It has to be an order. There's no way she doesn't open it if I don't tell her.
"Okay, you got it."
"Good. Now, Rimuru, go with her and handle business."
"Uh, do I have to? I mean, arent the both of us—"
"Rimuru. Go." I had to be tough with him.
He jumped up a bit at my voice and made his way to Carrera's side fast. "Yup, you got it, ma'am. Come on, Carrera."
Rimuru and Carrera teleported away.
So, now it was time to make plans for going against our enemies. Like Velgrynd.
Velgryned would be easy to take down, even if she is a True Dragon. If I can get her to start digging deep into the earth without stopping, it will kill her from exhaustion. If it happened with Albion, it can happen with her.
.
.
.
Just a joke.