ALL NOVEL Outside the slaughterhouse, chaos ensued. The elusive Hounds of Tindalos sporadically appeared within the throngs of the soldiers and dispensed casualties.
Military cohesion remained strong initially, with the commander managing to rein in the soldier’s apprehensions with clear orders. However, as the deaths racked up and squads were disassembled, the structured engagements gradually broke down. Soon, all was bedlam and chaos as the infantry went completely mad.
"Da da da da da da—"
Machine gun fire swept through, emitting dazzling sparks. Occasional cases of friendly fire erupted amid the frantic firing. Though the Hounds of Tindalos were not as terrifying and awe-inspiring as literal deities, they were abstruse and lethal enough to drive their prey to insanity.
"Calm down, everyone, calm down, don't shoot!!"
Eerie laughter emerged from the thin mist, resembling howls of dogs or whispers of ghosts. However, these monsters, traversing through space and time, were impossible to hit. Human weapons were nothing more than decorations in the face of these creatures.
Until heavy weapons like rocket launchers appeared on the battlefield, the entire South Korean force couldn't reverse the situation and fell into complete despair.
"Run!! These soldiers have gone mad!"
Journalists gathered outside began to scream and run. Some daring reporters found gaps to frantically capture photos.
"Boom, rumble—"
"Ouch..."
"I sprained my foot!!"
"Someone help me, save me!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath everyone's feet trembled. A journalist fell to the ground, crying out, but at this point, nobody had the time to pay attention. They focused on escaping as much as possible.
The ground's shaking was too intense. Cracks sprung on the cement roads, reminiscent of those that appeared in wake of seismic events.
"Is this an earthquake?"
"No, this shaking is too strong. Could this earthquake also be caused by supernatural powers?"
"Everyone, be careful. Avoid stampedes!"
"......"
Fortunately, this was the outskirts, and there were no tall buildings around. Otherwise, under such intense shaking, tall buildings would have collapsed, creating a truly despairing scene. Also, due to the earthquake, almost everyone was knocked to the ground, preventing the occurrence of the dreaded large-scale stampede.
Before the journalists could catch their breath, however, terrifying monster roars echoed in the distance. Under the moonlight and amid the flames, winged monsters flew in the sky. These creatures, hybrids of crows, moles, vultures, ants, and rotting corpses, were beyond the aesthetic comprehension of humans. Without any slime or tentacles, their rotten appearance alone was enough to make people nauseous.
What made them even more horrifying was their incredible speed, surpassing even modern fighter jets.
Hundreds of ghouls rushed out of the slaughterhouse, leaping onto these flying monsters—these monsters combined, displaying even greater combat power.
Armed helicopters in the air exploded one after another, turning into scrap metal and fireworks. Under their frenetic ravaging, actual tanks were ripped, sheet from sheet to reveal screaming pilots within. Despite the skill of the personnel manning the artillery and tank equipment, the speed of the monsters left them with no time to aim. Nonetheless, the occasional shell or bullet managed to gouge a monstrosity, splashing flecks of sickly green ichor into the air.
Witnessing this, the soldiers' morale was briefly lifted. But it soon tanked once again upon realizing that the difficulty of hitting the whizzing targets was immense.
"Swoosh—"
Several South Korean fighter jets had already taken off as the situation descended into chaos, reaching the airspace above the battlefield.
"Target locked!"
"Missiles launched!"
Missiles suspended under the fighter jet wings shot out. These missiles had infrared guidance. When the targeted monsters sensed their perilous situation, they began performing various unimaginable evasive maneuvers in the air. The fighter jet pilots watched in frustration. An aircraft couldn't match these acrobatics.
Although the monsters' movements were already unimaginable, they still couldn't escape these precisely guided missiles. Eventually, the monsters seemed to realize that they couldn't evade low-altitude flights, so they abruptly soared straight up into the sky.
Pilots flying the aircraft were astonished that these monsters were faster in vertical flight than the missiles!
"Where are these monsters flying to?"
"I don't know. They've reached an altitude of tens of thousands of meters, and they're still ascending!"
"Oh God, they've passed through the stratosphere. They're still flying..."
"This... they've already flown out of our instrument measurement range. These monsters have reached the exosphere, entering outer space!"
“......”
In an instant, all the pilots were in a panic.
Those air-to-air missiles couldn't fly into outer space and lost power halfway.
……
At the Blue House, the South Korean President listened with a grim face to the frontline report.
The Black Beret Special Forces along with the troops coordinating with them had suffered an unknown number of casualties presently. After launching air-to-air missiles, the dispatched aircraft surprisingly failed to kill a single monster flying in the air. And now even the few monsters they initially kept track of had disappeared into the stratosphere beyond the range of their equipment’s detection.
No, these monsters might not be flesh and blood.
Looking at the photos taken from the frontline, witnessing the ghouls sitting on these flying monsters and charging towards the universe, did this count as Earth taking a giant leap into space?
The South Korean President was lost in wild thoughts.
"Report. Experts have identified these monsters. They are called 'Byakhee’, serving the unspeakable deity 'Hastur'. According to information sent by the United States, they found the summoning ritual for these monsters in a copy of the 'Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan'. Moreover, according to the research, 'Hastur,' the evil god, is likely the main figure contaminating the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan!"
At this moment, the South Korean President didn't want to speak. He just wanted to curse the Americans fiercely. When it came to selling out allies, they spared no effort. Such crucial information was not mentioned beforehand, and they only revealed it when these monsters appeared!
What should be done now?
This operation had completely failed. It was undoubtedly a trap. Someone within the South Korean government leaked the information, and if these monsters were allowed to rush into Seoul, what would happen?
The president panicked.
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