"The battle starts at 19:29. There are still twenty seconds to go... Three-second countdown, 3...2...1, GO!"
As soon as the countdown hit zero, Keiko immediately led seven people along the wall from the opposite side where the hostages were. The three sergeants, 08 to 010, were a little slower and approached the hostages more carefully.
All the non-commissioned officers didn't use guns as a weapon but instead used cold weapons, such as military sabers, bows and arrows, and military daggers.
The Scorpii was a predator that had a frightening hearing sense. Fighting them in such a dark and narrow cave with a hot weapon like a gun was nothing but suicidal.
Captain Amanda must have already predicted this because the officers she picked for this mission all had a profound mastery of cold weapons.
Among them, No. 06 caught Keiko's eyes. A compound bow and arrows hung on his back, and a very powerful-looking crossbow was attached to his waist.
Looking closely, he wore a slightly different helmet than an ordinary non-commissioned officer, which was equipped with a scope on the left side. From this setup, Keiko was certain that this man was actually a sharpshooter with a specialty in using bows.
Keiko glanced at him again and secretly gave him a thumbs up. Although a gun was more precise and lethal than a bow in general, a bow was a far more suitable long-range weapon in this situation.
It didn't use gunpowder, so they weren't easily exploded, and they wouldn't be accidentally injured by the rebound of hard rocks. In addition, No. 06 was using the latest bow and arrow that had been imbued with paralyzing and poison substances, so the lethality had been improved.
About ten meters away, Keiko stopped and gave the first battle order:
"06, fire some arrows to lure the monsters!"
Without saying a word, 06 readied his bow, docked an arrow into it, and shot an arrow quickly. After shooting the first arrow, he immediately reached into the quiver, took out another arrow, and shot the arrows consecutively.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Three arrows, like missiles locking onto their targets, flew through the cave toward the monster at supersonic speed.
Puff—
The sound of a sharp edge piercing into the flesh reverberated, breaking the silence inside the cave.
The monster actually heard the whistling sound of the arrows and immediately responded, but due to its bulky size, it couldn't avoid it completely, causing the three arrows that were originally aimed at the vital spot to miss it slightly.
However, the purpose had been served as the poison imbued in the arrows could enter the monster's body through the gaping wound. Although the Scorpii used poison themselves, it didn't mean that they couldn't be poisoned. The effect would gradually appear.
"Hiss!!!" The monster's shrill echoed in the cave deafeningly.
The sudden sneak attack made the female Scorpii, which was about to lay eggs, furious. Triggered by its anger, its twelve-meter-long tail immediately swayed around violently in Keiko and her team's direction.
"Deploy Crescent Moon formation! All personnel encircles the monster and attack!"
Keiko took the saber and rushed forward. Behind her, seven officers lined up in an arc, separating the monster from the hostages, forcing the monster into the southeast corner of the cave, intending to surround and kill it.
However, the situation was more difficult than they thought.
The monster's long and sharp tail was extremely dangerous. It got a wide range of action, and its power and speed were ridiculously high.
The monster's attack range was very wide, and the tail was too terrifying. Whether it is swinging or attacking, the speed is astonishingly fast.
Just avoiding the attack had already made them sweat profusely, more so if they wanted to pin it down.
Difficult, it was extremely difficult!
The monster's wild attack disturbed the team's coordination and practically broke their formation, so the team couldn't execute Keiko's command properly, as they practically did their best to avoid getting swept by the Scorpii's tail.
As the vanguard, Keiko was the first to face the flailing tail. As the tail swept towards her waist, she turned over and leaped over it then continued rushing towards the monster's abdomen, which was hidden from sight.
This monster was also very cunning. It knew that it only needed to lie on the ground and use its tail to protect itself. The monster could detect the position of the ambushers only by relying on its extraordinary hearing, so the monster didn't need to face its ambusher squarely and risk revealing its vital point.
Antonio ran right in front of Keiko, seeming like he was about to attack the monster's abdomen from the side. The saber in his hand had been clenched and raised, but the tail seemed to have eyes, and suddenly chased him from behind.
And this time, it was not a sweeping motion but a thrust, straight to Antonio's back, as fast as lightning.
Keiko immediately sensed the danger and quickly ran in Antonio's direction without saying a word. As she ran, she passed the sword from her right hand to her left and took out the army dagger from her leg.
When the tail was only 1 meter away from screwing Antonio, Keiko's figure blurred, leaving only an afterimage.
Clank!
Keiko arrived at the critical time in front of Antonio, shielding him from getting stabbed by the Scorpii's tail with both of her weapons directly clashing with its sting.
She successfully saved Antonio's life, but the brunt of the attack was way too much. She was pushed backward strongly and bumped into Antonio.
While Keiko successfully steadied her body, Antonio was flung sideways due to its momentum.
It was unknown what happened in Keiko's mind; instead of retreating further from the monster's tail, she actually clutched the tail without fearing for her life.
Sensing that its enemy was stuck onto its tail, the monster became more furious and lift its tail along with Keiko, trying to toss her into the ceiling.
"Second Lieutenant!" Antonio was in a hurry, running after its tail. The saber in his hand plunged into the flesh of the monster's side, and slashed along the way, widening the wound. The monster, in pain, roared and turned around.
What they saw next sent an inexplicable chill down their spines.
Unlike the image of a hybrid creature between a scorpion and a human that Keiko had seen before in movies from her previous times, the Scorpii's head seemed like it was forcefully stuck on the front of its body between its pair of claws. It could only be described as a horrendous sight.
Scorpion-shaped predators are extremely rare, and many of the people present were seeing them for the first time since they joined the army. When they saw this scene, they suddenly felt their stomach-churning, and had an urge to vomit right away.
Keiko was thrown in mid-air, but she didn't pay attention to it. She actually let go of her hand in mid-air and flew towards the rock wall, using its momentum.
After adjusting her posture in the air, she kicked the rock wall with both feet, propelling her body forward toward the Scorpii's head with a saber in her hand raised high.
"Ah!!!!" Keiko jumped towards the monster from the air, stabbing her saber blindly to any part of its body.
Sshhluck!
The muffled sound of the flesh being pierced could be clearly heard from the external headset.
Keiko only felt that her entire body was splashed with strange fluid, and a fishy smell briskly tickled her nostrils. She didn't know exactly which part of the monster's body her saber plunged into; she wasn't even certain whether the fluid was its blood or not.
However, when an excruciating shrill pierced her eardrum, she knew that her attack had done significant damage to the monster.
The monster flailed about frantically and swung its tail violently, trying to shake off Keiko from its body.
The rest of the team couldn't get close at all. Only 06 was still constantly attacking the monster with his crossbow from a distance, making the monster's body full of poking arrows look like a hedgehog. It's just that he didn't dare shoot too hard for fear of hurting Keiko, who was still latching onto the monster.
"Not good! 08! Make sure to protect the targets!"
Keiko hurriedly warned her team when she noticed that the monster had gone mad and was approaching the positions of the three non-commissioned officers, 08-010, who were rescuing the hostages right now.
At that time, the three non-commissioned officers—08, 09, and 010—had already carried the two fainted hostages and rushed towards the entrance when they came.
When they had just reached the entrance of the urn-shaped hole, the monster's claws suddenly approached in their direction with a powerful blow. 09 and 010 were carrying a hostage each, and they had no time to defend themselves. Only 08 stood in the way, facing the attack bravely.
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Author's Note: Sorry, today is also only a single chapter update.