Chapter 95

Third-person perspective

"First strike!"

Bang!

The 120mm smoothbore cannon fired a heavy thermite penetrator shell with a resounding thud, a projectile that had proven its reliability and effectiveness by blowing away countless monsters, reaching speeds of up to Mach 2.

Anyone hit by it would undoubtedly be blown apart. However, surprisingly, none of the monsters Kaita had faced so far had shown any defensive or evasive reactions to this attack.

It was unclear whether the monsters lacked the intelligence to do so or prioritized counterattacks, but they had never taken any defensive actions.

But that was until today.

The griffin carrying the demon recognized the approaching shell and chose to evade it, not just barely, but with enough distance to avoid the shockwave.

"Of course they avoided it."

While the members of the National Defense Force might have been shocked, Kaita was not surprised that the attack was evaded.

Even though the thermite penetrator shell could reach Mach 2, there was a distance of 10 kilometers between him and the target. Mach 2 is approximately 2,450 km/h, or 680 meters per second, meaning it took about 15 seconds from firing to impact.

With that much time, it was only natural that they could evade.

Especially since the firing position and timing were known.

It would be strange if they didn't evade in this situation.

What was important to Kaita was not that the attack was evaded, but something else.

Namely, whether this evasion was due to the monster's own will or the demon's command.

If it was the former, an attack from an unexpected direction would likely hit.

If it was the latter, at least three demons would need to be attacked from an unexpected direction.

The difficulty of the latter option goes without saying.

However, this difficulty only applied if Kaita intended to defeat the enemy.

"The goal is to buy time. It would be better if the demons stayed in one place to observe the artillery fire."

While the members of the National Defense Force might have been shocked, Kaita was not surprised that the attack was evaded.

Even though the thermite penetrator shell could reach Mach 2, there was a distance of 10 kilometers between him and the target. Mach 2 is approximately 2,450 km/h, or 680 meters per second, meaning it took about 15 seconds from firing to impact.

With that much time, it was only natural that they could evade.

Especially since the firing position and timing were known.

It would be strange if they didn't evade in this situation.

What was important to Kaita was not that the attack was evaded, but something else.

Namely, whether this evasion was due to the monster's own will or the demon's command.

If it was the former, an attack from an unexpected direction would likely hit.

If it was the latter, at least three demons would need to be attacked from an unexpected direction.

The difficulty of the latter option goes without saying.

However, this difficulty only applied if Kaita intended to defeat the enemy.

"The goal is to buy time. It would be better if the demons stayed in one place to observe the artillery fire."

Kaita didn't think he could defeat the three demons.

In fact, he believed he would be defeated within ten minutes if they fought properly.

"Long-range artillery won't hit, and even if I try to bring it to close combat, it's three against one."

The artillery fire could be evaded, as seen just now.

Considering the limited number of shells, there was no way to win in an artillery battle.

What would happen if he closed the distance? Even if he managed to exploit a gap with a lance charge, he could only take down one.

The remaining two would overwhelm him.

He might be able to take down another one if he was willing to die, but that was uncertain.

If he couldn't win, his only option was to retreat, but there was no guarantee of safety even if he chose to retreat. In fact, he would certainly be attacked.

Since his role was to hold them off, retreating was not an option.

What should he do then?

"Maintain a certain distance and keep attacking to keep the demons on the griffins' backs. Buy as much time as possible."

The longer he could keep the demon commanders occupied, the easier it would be for the main force to fight.

If the time he bought allowed the Fourth Division and the Training Battalion to execute a pincer attack, the enemy's main force wouldn't last long. After the monsters were wiped out, he could withdraw.

After that, he would join the Fourth Division and use their firepower and fortifications to attack the demons.

The time he needed to buy until the preparations were complete was what was required of Kaita now.

"I'll maintain this situation a bit longer... but something's off."

The situation was still critical, but Kaita, who understood what he needed to do and the results, was not anxious.

What was required of a hunter was not brute force to knock down prey (although having brute force was certainly beneficial).

If he could successfully hunt prey in one attempt, that would be fine, but hunting often ended in failure.

Therefore, what was required of a hunter was to gather information about the prey and bring it back.

If a young lady encountered a bear in the forest, she would probably run away immediately. Or she might freeze until the bear told her to run.

However, a hunter would be different.

While they would also run, the amount of information they would try to gather before fleeing would be far greater than that of an amateur.

In simple terms, they would try to gather information such as the type and physical characteristics of the bear, its diet and range, and, if possible, its attack and defense capabilities and mobility.

They would use this information for future hunts.

In this way, human hunting is established through a fanatical obsession.

Kaita was not just a hunter.

His soul was tainted with the memory of a game to the level of a "patient."

While the game that greatly influenced Kaita's soul was different, a game by the same manufacturer had a concept called "death learning."

This involved using the characteristic of the protagonist respawning after death to observe the enemy's behavior patterns and field gimmicks until the moment of death, thoroughly memorizing them.

This "death learning" was a concept commonly accepted among gamers called "patients."

Of course, Kaita also inherited this concept.

In fact, the game he was obsessed with had a similar concept.

This was because the game had many factors that could lead to failure.

For example, if you fell from a scaffold in a building, the mission would fail.

If you fell into a gap at a construction site, the mission would fail.

If you fell from a strange scaffold in a dam, the mission would fail.

If you jumped to a certain height in a gorge, the mission would fail.

If you were burned by a laser falling from above, the mission would fail.

If your shield was worn down by a laser coming from below, the mission would fail.

If the mission timed out, it would fail.

Even if you accepted the failure event, the next moment you would see the merciless words "mission failed" or "game over."

Countless times, he would shout, "Can I clear this?" and throw the controller.

Yet, a few minutes later, he would pick up the controller again, face the impossible, and strive to succeed in the mission to uncover the scenarios and settings that awaited him, eventually earning the title of "patient."

For patients, it was common to save before each mission, expect to fail several times, gather as much information as possible each time, and reload the pre-mission data to aim for the first clear.

This applied to Kaita as well.

In short, for a patient like Kaita, pushing himself to the limit to gather enemy information was not outside the realm of common sense.

Of course, unlike in games, the real world had no respawning, saving, or loading, so the degree to which he could push himself was different. However, he was prepared to sacrifice the rare, one-of-a-kind machine he piloted if necessary to achieve the mission and gather the required information.

It was because Kaita, the patient, was trying to gather as much information as possible that he noticed a certain inconsistency.

The inconsistency was...

"Do they lack motivation?"

In the sky, the griffin and the three demons on it remained, and below them were many medium and small monsters.

The distance between them remained due to his evasive maneuvers and artillery fire.

Certainly, at this distance, the monsters that could only attack directly couldn't retaliate.

However, wasn't it strange that they didn't try to close the distance?

"What's going on?"

Once a human feels a sense of inconsistency, it's hard to ignore.

In a battlefield where a moment's lapse can be fatal, in a situation where failure is not allowed, it was even more important not to ignore the inconsistency.

"Are they thinking it's dangerous to close the distance? But they seem too passive for that..."

It was unclear how the demons treated the monsters. However, from their reaction when a large monster was hit, it didn't seem they valued them highly.

Then, wasn't it unnatural for the demons in the sky to restrain Kaita and not use the medium monsters to create a barrage?

Even if the medium monsters were reduced, it wouldn't be a loss considering the exposure of his cards.

"What's going on? What are they planning?"

Of course, if he could buy time, that would be ideal.

However, Kaita, whose soul was tainted to the level of a "patient," couldn't forget this.

The characteristic of a patient was their keen observational skills and speculative abilities tinged with delusion.

The speculative ability of a patient became more troublesome the more advantageous the situation became, always suspecting the opposite.

There was no problem with a short-term battle.

If there was a time limit, he could focus on it.

But when the main goal was to buy time for an indefinite period, he couldn't help but speculate on the enemy's movements and intentions.

In such a situation, the troublesome aspect of his speculative ability whispered to him.

This situation is strange.

"Are there hidden forces? Or another detachment? Could my presence here be part of their plan?"

The plan was proceeding as initially planned.

Despite the smooth progress, he couldn't shake off the sense of inconsistency.

"I don't know. I don't know, but for now, I have to maintain this situation. However..."

A whisper, neither cautiousness nor cowardice, was gradually but surely eroding Kaita.

Thank you for reading.

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