Chapter 176: The Raid Begins (2)

The siege weapons creaked forward on groaning wheels, freshly inspected and now rolling out from the forward base toward the battlefield.

—All units halt.

The siege weapons ground to a stop at the command of a Hunter who possessed the Eagle Eye skill and had been keeping a close watch on the monsters stationed atop the city walls.

The siege weapons were constructed from wood stronger and more elastic than most metals, particularly after mana infusion. Their ropes had been created by twisting together the tendons harvested from giant monsters such as ogres. Their range was incomparable to that of any mundane siege weapon on record.

The main issue was accuracy. To take full advantage of their extended range, the plan called for firing the siege weapons at the walls from their maximum effective distance. Although the tactic naturally raised concerns about precision, the Hunters had figured out a solution by combining the forces of science and magic.

The catapults would be the first to fire. Most of their operators were Hunters with military backgrounds, veterans who had once specialized in mortars and artillery before being honorably discharged. They relied on measuring instruments and scientific calculators to handle the basic ballistic calculations, while magic was used for fine-tuning the aim. Magic also played a key role in the physically demanding task of loading the heavy projectiles.

Upon receiving the order to ready their weapons, the Hunters assigned to the catapult units measured the distance, temperature, wind, and various other factors before adjusting the launch angle of their catapults. Then they infused their mana into the prepared magic circles to activate them, inputting the values of their various measurements.

Each weapon had a specific role. The catapults were tasked with bombarding the city itself. The ballistas handled air defense, while the scorpions—smaller, faster versions of the ballistas—were deployed to intercept the mechanical monsters charging across the field.

After the Hunters had finished readying their siege weapons, Kim Ki-Rok once again gave them their orders. "Prepare yourselves for a long battle ahead. While the catapults and other siege weapons focus on destroying the city, the rest of the Hunters must focus on blocking the charge of the mechanical monsters."

The Hunters all nodded in understanding. The key factor in the success of their raid was ensuring the safety of their siege weapons.

—Fire!

As ropes unfurled in a whirl of motion and noise, the huge chunks of metal sitting in the baskets of the catapults were sent flying toward the city. Due to the distance, only a muted thud reached them when the metal chunk finally landed.

"Whooooa!"

Nevertheless, everyone could clearly see the power of the catapult with their own eyes. The impact of the metal chunk hitting the ground caused the sand all around the impact site to rise up like a cloud.

Realizing that their city was under attack, flying mechanical monsters began to rise above the city as Animaloid Mechanical Monsters charged out through the city's open gates.

—The Humanoids haven't taken action yet. But according to the information we've obtained from the inhabitants of the Patera dimension, Humanoids can record and examine previous battle recordings to identify their opponents' weaknesses. So when we make contact with them, try to conceal your abilities as much as possible and focus on taking them out with the siege weapons.

After receiving this warning over the CCC[1] channel, the Hunters were all reminded of the briefing they had received earlier.

Further orders were soon transmitted through their earpieces.

—Scorpions, be ready to fire. Ballistas, you're on standby.

Instead of flying directly toward the catapults, the airborne mechanical monsters focused on intercepting the iron chunks hurtling toward the city. But with over thirty catapults prepared in advance for this raid, and the sheer mass of the projectiles they were launching, the flying monsters couldn't stop them all.

Eventually, it seemed the mechanical monsters realized they would have to eliminate the source of the bombardment to protect the city. As if reaching the same conclusion at once, they surged forward across the battlefield.

—Scorpion Units! Hold steady! Steady! Steady!

The sight and sound of the mechanical horde charging forward, kicking up a sandstorm in their wake, put immense pressure on the waiting Hunters. Their instincts screamed to open fire immediately and thin the advancing enemy ranks.

But the command center ordered restraint. To maximize the siege weapons' impact, the monsters had to be lured into their effective range. Even so, the Hunters couldn't help but feel a rising fear as they held their ground, eyes fixed on the oncoming tide.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of A-Class monsters were charging toward the Hunters, a sandstorm looming behind them. Even for these A-Class and S-Class Hunters, who had cleared countless Gates and fought a multitude of monsters, this was a brand-new experience.

—Fire!

As the order to fire was finally given in a low and clear voice, the Hunters fired their siege weapons all at once. Hollow shells forged from Pastera and filled with explosives were launched into the air, flying in an arc before crashing down onto the mechanical monsters. As the warheads struck their targets, they erupted in a barrage of explosions.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

***

"Their numbers really don't seem to be decreasing all that much," one of the Hunters complained.

After the raid began, the Hunters bombarded the city with siege weapons for three straight days, but the Animaloid Mechanical Monsters kept charging out day and night. Even with the human slaves rescued—presumably a key part of the city's operations—there was no noticeable disruption in the production of new monsters. They just kept coming, an endless tide spilling from the city.

Another Hunter reminded, "Haven't you already heard what the inhabitants of the Patera Dimension had to say about that? Instead of charging in and engaging them in a street-to-street fight, we need to start thinking about this in terms of a true long-term siege."

The enslaved inhabitants of the Patera Dimension revealed they had only handled the most delicate and trivial parts of the mechanical monsters' production process. Once this information was confirmed, the raid team scrapped their initial plan of simply breaching the walls and fighting in the streets. Realizing that monster production would continue unimpeded even without the humans, the Hunters were forced to overhaul their strategy. They now had to prepare for a prolonged battle or possibly an extended siege.

Keeping all of the catapults in constant operation, day after day and from morning to night, was consuming a lot of mana stones, but Japan and the Japanese Hunters Association were willing to accept this expense. They had concluded it was far better to spend more on the raid than risk human lives through carelessness. After all, it wasn't as if Japan lacked the resources.

"Guildmaster." Yoo Seh-Eun called out to Kim Ki-Rok while on guard duty.

"Yes, what is it, Miss Seh-Eun?"

"What if we secretly sneak into the city and destroy their factories?"

"So rather than waiting for them to finish consuming all their raw materials, we should try to cut off their production capabilities instead? Is that what you're suggesting?"

"Yep."

Nearby Hunters on duty perked up at the conversation, clearly interested in Yoo Seh-Eun's suggestion.

However, Kim Ki-Rok just shook his head without any hesitation and told her, "That's not possible."

"Because it's too dangerous?" she asked.

"That's right," he replied with a firm nod.

The operation had certainly gone smoothly over the past three days. The mechanical monsters charging out of the city had failed to breach the overlapping fields of fire guarding the forward base, and those that did manage to slip through were so damaged they were easily dealt with by the Hunters. Still, the defenders hadn't escaped unscathed.

"There haven't been any deaths, but that doesn't mean we're without casualties," Kim Ki-Rok explained. "Even finishing off the damaged monsters that made it through the kill zone has led to injuries. If we had to fight a large number of them without our current setup, our chances wouldn't be good. That's why we can't allow a reckless operation."

The mechanical monsters, constructed from Pastera, turned out to be far more durable than the Hunters had expected. If Kim Ki-Rok hadn't devised a strategy for the raid and they'd tried to face the monsters head-on, the Hunters would've faced a crushing defeat.

"So we're stuck bombarding them endlessly with these metal chunks." Yoo Seh-Eun sighed.

"Yep," Kim Ki-Rok calmly responded.

"

Tch!

How annoying..." Yoo Seh-Eun complained.

Kim Ki-Rok just burst out laughing. It was no surprise the Hunters were frustrated. After all, they were stuck fighting a drawn-out battle in a hostile environment, scorching hot during the day and bitterly cold at night.

It was Nam Dong-Wook who spoke up next. "Guildmaster."

"Yes, what is it, Mr. Dong-Wook?"

"So when will we be able to enter the city?"

"Are you asking me to predict how long it might take? Hmm... let's see now, let's see..." Kim Ki-Rok trailed off thoughtfully.

His Record skill captured every moment of every life he had lived, storing even the details of all his past raids on the Patera Dimension. Gazing into the air as if deep in thought, Kim Ki-Rok summoned a massive encyclopedia of notes from his Record and flipped through it to check how long it had taken to enter the city before finally answering Nam Dong-Wook's question.

"About a month?"

"That's insane," Nam Dong-Wook said, almost cursing.

Ki-Rok burst into laughter again at the look on his face.

***

In a black market tucked away somewhere in Japan, a man sat drinking at a streetside bar. When a stranger slid into the seat beside him without invitation, he gave them a glance, then released his mana, hoping to drive them away.

"Wow, how scary," the stranger said with a feigned shiver. "I've come here to pass on some interesting news, so please draw in your mana a little."

"Get lost," the man growled.

"Oh my. But I haven't even gotten to the good part yet."

"I said get lost!"

The stranger just idly scratched the back of his neck in response to this intimidating shout from Eigawa Toshino, former Guildmaster of an A-Class guild and an A-Class Hunter, before speaking with a calm smile. "Kim Ki-Rok."

Eigawa Toshino put down the glass of beer he had been holding and turned to give the stranger his full attention. "If you know who I am, then you've got some serious balls bringing up that bastard's name."

The stranger raised his hands defensively and said, "No, like I already told you, I'm just here to pass on some interesting news."

Eigawa Toshino began to radiate killing intent toward the stranger, but since the man clearly knew both his identity and the name of the one responsible for his downfall, he held back. For now, he settled for a glare, choosing not to act hastily.

"This happened last year," the stranger began. "At the request of the Japanese Government and the Japanese Hunters Association, Kim Ki-Rok visited Japan and participated in an operation to eradicate our country's Awakened criminals. And just like his reputation might suggest, he was very active during the hunt and we suffered quite a lot of damage at his hands."

Eigawa Toshino was already aware of last year's covert operation to eliminate the Awakened criminals. To prevent any information leaks, only government and Association-affiliated Hunters had taken part, leaving the general public in the dark. However, Toshino, involved in smuggling, drug trafficking, and various underground crimes, had still heard about the operation and the key role Kim Ki-Rok had played in it.

After seeing that Eigawa Toshino was finally going to listen to him seriously, the man with the calm smile nodded and continued speaking. "The problem is that it wasn't just us who were affected by the operation. Politicians, gangs, and guilds who were connected to us have also been affected by his involvement."

If the public had learned that dozens of guilds were closely tied to the Awakened criminals, it would have sparked widespread chaos. To prevent that, the government and the Association had officially disclosed only a handful of B-Class and C-Class guilds, the ones that had caused the most trouble.

The man was also right about several politicians being involved with the Awakened criminals. However, the government and the Association had limited their official report to the underworld connections, leaving out any mention of political collusion.

"Even with that, the politicians with ties to us also suffered a lot of losses due to that operation. One of the high-ranking officials in our government was particularly angry about the fact that he wouldn't have been caught up in the search if Kim Ki-Rok hadn't been so active in his cooperation, so he has decided to prepare something in response," the stranger revealed.

Eigawa Toshino instantly understood which high-ranking official the stranger was referring to. "You're talking about Representative Ishizaki, hm?"

The stranger just raised a brow. "So you knew him already."

"He's the only member of the House of Councilors who retired last year, but I already knew of him through my own personal connections."

"Ah, is that so? In that case, this should be an easy discussion. Representative Ishizaki is in the midst of preparing a certain plan. Would you like to participate in it?" the stranger offered with a smile.

Eigawa Toshino narrowed his eyes and demanded, "What's the exact goal of your plan?"

"Kim Ki-Rok."

"You're going to kill him?"

"That's right."

If Kim Ki-Rok hadn't made any moves, his crimes wouldn't have been discovered. Even with the serious impact of the incident that had occurred within the Gate, things should have ended with him just receiving a slap on the wrist. However, Kim Ki-Rok had decided to sacrifice both Eigawa Toshino and the guild he had founded in order to bury the fact that the incident had ever even occurred.

His eyes shining with a murderous gleam, Eigawa Toshino stood up and said, "Just lead me to him."

***

The catapults kept up their barrage day and night, relentlessly hammering the city. Kim Ki-Rok stood before the straining machines, watching the city beyond with a measured gaze. Their strategy was one of steady attrition, grinding down the enemy with constant pressure.

"This is just as boring as I thought it would be," Kim Ki-Rok muttered with a sigh.

Five days into the raid, the city finally seemed to grasp the strength of its opponents and began adjusting its tactics. Rather than continuing to aim for the catapults directly, it launched a counter-bombardment of its own.

The number of mechanical monsters charging across the battlefield dwindled. In their place, catapult-shaped constructs appeared at the city's gates, clearly meant to return fire. But Kim Ki-Rok had already anticipated this move. Thanks to magic, the Hunters had erected barriers to block the incoming attacks, and when the enemy's siege weapons fired, the former artillerists among the Hunters responded with a devastating counterstrike, wiping them out in a single blow.

After suffering such a decisive blow, the mechanical monsters pulled their catapult-shaped units back behind the city walls, but even that tactic failed thanks to the sharp instincts of the ex-military veterans now serving as Hunters. By tracking the trajectories of incoming projectiles, they were able to pinpoint the hidden positions of the enemy siege weapons and destroy them one by one. Eventually, the city gave up on producing any more of them altogether.

"However, that boredom ends today," Kim Ki-Rok said to himself, his expression turning serious.

Typically, the Humanoid Mechanical Monsters began to appear around the tenth day of a raid. That would mark the point when their siege-heavy strategy faced its first real test.

"No..." He paused mid-thought. "Technically, this would be the second crisis."

Since they had already been attacked during the rescue operation, Kim Ki-Rok could consider this the second crisis he would be dealing with in this Attempt.

"

Uggggh...

" Kim Ki-Rok stretched his arms overhead, then turned back to the city with a smile creeping onto his face. "Well, it's not like we don't have our own ways of handling them."

1. An acronym used in the military that stands for Communication, Command, and Control. ☜