Loved by the War Machine

35 – Unraveled Events (4)

“The shield’s durability is rapidly depleting. Moving to a safe position.”

A relentless downpour of bullets, too intense for even a moment to aim and shoot.

Just the glint of visible muzzles numbered three, each precisely pushing us back with single-shot precision.

Trained soldiers.

In other words, the conviction of Omnisis was strongly felt.

“Move, move!”

I grabbed Ilyia’s shoulder firmly, stepping towards the left room, one step at a time.

The deafening roar of bullets tearing through the air echoed in my ears, but it wasn’t enough to instill fear.

We had experienced such things countless times before.

Of course, ten years ago.

Opening the door and slipping inside, Ilyia, too, stepped back shielding her with the shield, the muzzle barely visible along with the shield as she leaned gently –

– Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang…

Simultaneously, red shell casings spilled out, scattering lead pellets wildly through the corridor.

As Ilyia’s magazine emptied, preparing to move back for continuous firing –

“It’s a grenade. Fall back.”

I supported her back as she hung the gun on her shoulder, attempting to shield the door with the shield.

Shockwaves strong enough to make the body shake,

And the sound of fragments bouncing in all directions.

“Grenades were thrown in addition.”

Giving an extra push, I firmly held onto his back –

This time, I could hear the chilling sound of shards scratching and bouncing off the shield.

Moving away from his back, still blocking the door, I took the gun again.

“Vibration detected.”

“What kind of vibration?”

“In the direction of the left wall of the room.”

Indeed, there was a dull sound of something solid breaking through.

A thudding noise, as if smashing a concrete wall with a hammer, something of that sort, getting closer and closer…

“…I’ll handle it. I’ll take care of the corridor.”

I didn’t know what brute it was, but the sound of something breaking through the wall couldn’t be explained otherwise.

Leaning against the wall immediately and aiming the gun at a likely exit point –

With a collapsing wall, a man clad in gray gloves emerged, with a piston revealed in his giant forearm, emitting steam that was menacing enough.

– Thud, thud, thud…

I aimed directly at the chest and pulled the trigger wildly, watching his body being pushed back mercilessly.

Thanks to the suppressor, the sound wasn’t deafening, but the sight of blood gushing out as the glove was pierced was violently graphic.

“…Grrrk.”

The guy, who couldn’t do anything despite his size, was now motionless.

Without a moment’s rest, he immediately leaned towards the hole where the figure came out.

Then, bullets flew and hit the side wall.

“Damn!”

It seemed that more than one person was shooting through the wall.

We couldn’t tell exactly how many enemies were pushing their way in, but it was clear that we were at a disadvantage.

The gunfire towards Iria showed no signs of stopping, and amidst it all, the guys were also shooting at me.

…My body stiffened momentarily from the continuous barrage of bullets.

I mustered the strength to move my stiff legs as if they were being squeezed by scissors,

and firmly held the rifle butt against my shoulder.

[Mi-Nya-Yu-Ma-Ga-Jin!]

[Reload!]

As soon as the bullets flying towards me stopped, I immediately listened to the intercepted radio transmission.

Upon seeing its translation, I moved my body and aimed at the side of the wall where the muzzle flash was coming from.

Then, I pulled the trigger.

“Grrraah?!”

It was quite surprising that I hit the target with the first shot, but I immediately aimed at something that fell beyond the gap.

It was just a blurry outline, but whether it was a head, a leg, or an arm, it looked like it would be better off flying away.

– Bang.

As soon as I pressed the trigger, there was a recoil that hit my shoulder.

The pharmacy door opens, emitting a white smoke.

And in front of my eyes, tomatoes burst.

It seems that the armored warhead cleanly blew off its head.

Despite involuntarily grimacing at the sight of the floor and surroundings being dyed red,

simultaneously, one had to acknowledge the power of the slug round that created such a spectacular scene.

Bringing in the relatively expensive round meant to penetrate the robot’s armored gloves – it lived up to its value.

But I couldn’t keep looking up.

Something flickered at the end of the sight I was aiming.

– Bang, bang.

Perhaps they are pushing like this because of Ilia, who is tightly holding the corridor.

Judging that they couldn’t penetrate the android shooting with the shield covering its body head-on,

they began to concentrate firepower towards my direction.

And somehow, that was the right answer.

“Oh, damn it…”

Bullets were faster than the speed of sound.

As it passed above my head, shockwaves continued to flow through my body –

No matter how accustomed I became, there were limits.

Even the mechanically replaced leg writhed and scratched the floor.

“Enemy position confirmed, displayed on the screen.”

Fortunately, Ilia seemed to have located the bastards wearing the damn optical camouflage,

Turning my head, which was resting against the wall, I saw red dots marked to the side.

The two at the end of the corridor seemed to be blocking Ilia’s movements,

while the other two had their sights set on me.

Watching them leap over the crumbling walls one by one, it seemed like they would close in and overwhelm us in an instant.

“Ilia, protect. We’re getting out of this room!”

“Advancing.”

As the guy who had pulled his body out of the room was immediately greeted by a barrage of bullets, they couldn’t penetrate his shield.

Crafting a wooden door shield against the raining pellets, the guys aiming at me were each plastered to the floor.

Seizing the opportunity, I aimed directly at the red dots.

“…Enemy grenade detected. Taking cover.”

– Pong.

The moment I heard that familiar sound, I immediately pressed my body to the ground.

Ilia closed the door of the room again, absorbing the shock of the explosion.

“Shield durability 60% damaged. Cannot guarantee protection from 90% onwards.”

Once again, Ilia’s body trembled.

The shockwave flowing through the floor made the hairs on my skin stand on end.

“Identifying grenade snipers beyond the corridor.”

Taking out slugs from the ammo belt, I pushed them in two rounds at a time.

I pushed the end three times with my thumb and raised the gun again.

“I will defend.”

He aimed the gun precisely at the red dot and pulled the trigger.

Even though I couldn’t understand the significance, the sound of bodies hitting the floor after hastily throwing themselves indicated that the grenade snipers were quite flustered.

That was how effective Illya’s abilities were.

Having seized the advantage of those creatures covered in optical camouflage, there was no denying that.

“I’ll push forward.”

Dropping the empty magazine on the ground and swiftly replacing it with a new one, he continued to advance rapidly.

One step, then another.

Thanks to Illya, who skillfully placed them behind the collapsed wall, they could accurately target the guys who were suppressing fire.

“Kkuhaaah – Ugh -“

It seemed he had hit the guy who was leaning against the wall behind.

One shot splattered paint, creating a scream – another shot silenced it.

However, the second point suddenly stood up and –

“Uwaaah!!”

Startled by the bullets flying towards him, he dropped the gun.

The bullet that hit him exactly bounced off his hand, making it fall to the ground.

“Damn it -“

Without giving Illya a chance to react, the guy who leaped over the wall grabbed my collar and slammed me with his body.

Clearly a reinforced human, the strength…!

“Taehyuk-nim?! Ugh -“

Just at that moment, as if waiting for it, bullets sprayed in, and it seemed Illya couldn’t help me.

I couldn’t help but curse this damn guy –

“Argh?!”

His fist swung, landing a solid hit on my face.

Even though I had equipped a bulletproof visor, it immediately cracked.

Despite my desperate attempts to push him away with all my might, the strength of the leg firmly pressing down on me was nothing short of extraordinary.

“This son of a…!”

The soles of his shoes scraped the floor.

I exerted all my strength to push him off, and with a force that shouldn’t have been possible for a human leg, I managed to slide my body out. The guy who was crushing me wobbled.

He didn’t fall, but it was close.

I quickly pulled out the revolver tucked into my waist, ready to shoot…!

“Kkuh, ughh…!”

Did he catch on?

With one hand, he tightly held my left hand, and with the other hand, he grabbed my right wrist. The force he applied was undoubtedly human, but the strength was –

“Uwaaah!”

– Bang.

The trigger was pulled, unable to overcome the pain.

However, breaking free from his grip with the recoil seemed nearly impossible.

The grip, coming with a strength that seemed capable of breaking bones, was undoubtedly something that couldn’t easily be described as human strength.

Right at that moment when the arm, seemingly about to break, was seen, a crisp laughter echoed.

– Bang, bang.

It was Ilia’s shotgun that shattered the right side of the grey visor covering the face, turning its interior into a mess of blood.

The guy who dropped his shield seemed to have taken bullets on the shoulder guards.

“Are you okay?!”

Just as the one rushing to me was about to grab my hand to help me up.

“Ugh, cough…!”

“It’s a fracture. The bone is splintered.”

I shuddered at the sudden onset of excruciating pain.

I clenched my teeth tightly, unable to endure the severity of the pain with a clear mind.

“The, the enemy situation.”

“They’re still on the other side of the corridor. We need to get up. This place is dangerous.”

With a grimace on his face, he managed to somehow retrieve a syringe with his intact left hand.

Removing the cap with his teeth, he inserted it into the injection hole on the thigh of the suit.

“Ah…!”

Feeling the spreading numbness, he pulled out the syringe and crumpled it into his pocket.

Then, holding Ilia’s right hand, he stood up and grabbed the revolver.

“Um, let’s move. We need to break through the corridor.”

“You can’t move in this condition. There are more enemies than just two.”

“What?”

Already, four have been killed.

And beyond the corridor, two were waiting.

So, isn’t it six?

[Warning, multiple pale units have been destroyed. Confirming Code Black situation.]

[Mobilizing all available forces.]

[Warning, intruders’ locations are currently on the 2nd floor and 1st floor.]

No matter how many were on that damn transport ship, the situation was gruesomely deteriorating.

The right hand became unusable, and Ilia’s shield was shattered.

And –

[Deploying heavy artillery units. All staff, prepare for collateral damage.]

A sound of something heavy moving outside reached us.

Stepping on the metal floor, one slow step, and then another… a familiar sound.

There was no mistake; they were the ones I had seen on the battlefield.

Bipedal weapons, equipped with missile launchers and machine guns, developed for firepower support within urban areas, were here.

“Lord Taehyuk, you must take cover.”

Feeling the pain that was starting to sink in, I immediately moved my body to jump into a nearby intact room, following Ilia.

But before Ilia could turn around, she was hit, falling to the side.

“Ilia?!”

“I-I’m fine. Enemies are in the corridor -“

Another bullet flew, hitting Ilia’s chest.

The guy in a bulletproof vest shook.

“You shouldn’t come, Taehyuk, it’s dangerous. Take cover…”

Bullets flying again pressed harder on Illya.

The bullets, continuously tapping on the bulletproof vest, seemed to keep tapping on me for some reason.

As I stared at it blankly, the barrel slowly appeared from behind the door, pointing towards me.

That made my arm tense.

Pulling the trigger of the revolver I held, I saw one guy’s helmet shatter.

At the same time, I faintly felt something swiftly brushing past my shoulder from the gun that spewed fire.

With my slightly trembling left hand, I aimed the muzzle at the next guy.

The window shattered, and something fell in the corridor.

It was a grenade.