The tide of battle turned quickly.

Fire Cannon not only eliminated monsters but also damaged the living field on the ground. Wherever I walked, a cascade of fiery rain fell, and the monsters collapsed helplessly. The living field also contracted, revealing the pale ground beneath.

'This land is useless now.'

I crouched down and touched the sand; it crumbled into a fine powder. It felt less like a ground where people lived on and more like a pile of sand at a construction site. I'd heard this area used to be a national park teeming with wildlife. It must have once been lush with grass and trees, but they say not a single blade will grow for years in a place once covered by a living field. It sucks all the nutrients from the soil.

"Krieee!"

Amidst the chaos, a taves monster charged at me, but it was instantly turned to ash by a precisely aimed fireball from Ea. I stood up and looked back. The living field 'road' was definitively cut. I switched my earpiece to the radio channel.

"This is your captain. Situation report, please."

"This is Hornet-3! Connection severed. Commencing living field elimination. Over."

The reports confirmed that all three sections had been severed. Dar es Salaam also reported that they had completely cleared their living field. All that was left was the R-4 area, which had an unexpectedly large number of monsters, but since Samia had gone there, it would be resolved soon.

"This is Hornet-8! We've successfully severed the connection in the R-4 sector as well!"

"Good work. All units, eliminate as much of the route as you can now."

"Copy."

I switched channels to headquarters.

"HQ. We have severed the connection with the north. What is the status of the monsters' movements?"

"This is HQ! It's a success! The monsters that were attacking the Mtwara defense line have begun to return to their territory! Ah, an additional report just came in! The monsters attacking Commander Hong are showing signs of retreating!"

The taves monsters in Tanzania followed Legion Commander Selegma's orders with absolute obedience. Their communication network was the living field. Now that it was cut, the centurion commanders and company captains leading the monsters would revert to their primary mission protocol: area defense. They would defend their assigned sectors and await Selegma's orders.

Occasionally, a highly independent centurion commander might make an unexpected move, but now was not the time to consider such variables. We had to act now, while the opportunity was here.

Just then, Hong Yeon's voice came over the HQ radio.

"This is Commander Hong. The monster offensive has ceased. As planned, we will detour and attack the final target area."

Hong Yeon was moving exactly as she should. Now that we had infiltrated safely, there was no need for the main army to create a loud diversion. All troops would board their vehicles, bypass the main front, and strike Iringa, the key plant area.

Normally, to attack Iringa, they would have to face all the taves in the southern region, but they had switched to a 'regional defense' posture. Hong Yeon would only have to deal with the centurion commander forces guarding Iringa itself.

"Tower Master!"

This time, it was Ea's voice. After listening only to the grating static of the radio, hearing her clear voice directly in my head suddenly lifted my spirits.

-The monsters from northern Tanzania have started to move south.

'Yes. Of course they would.'

If Hong Yeon had drawn their attention with her large-scale force at first, now it was my turn. I just had to stop them from laying down living fields and coming back.

'This is the most critical part.'

I chugged a mana elixir and continued the fight.

Four hours after the operation began.

"Whoa…"

It looked like every taves monster from the north had gathered. Like a demilitarized zone, countless monsters stood growling at the edge of a living field, staring at our front. It was just a threatening sea of black. If the taves weren't bound by the living field and could charge as they were, wouldn't this entire vast plain turn dark? Wouldn't I be crushed like a bug?

-It's brutal, Tower Master.

'Tell me about it.'

"Multiple entities specializing in laying down living fields have appeared in the rear. Expansion will begin shortly."

There were also ranged attackers, so we had taken up positions a short distance away to observe their movements. 'It was about time to move.'

"Th-they're coming!" Karim shouted.

From the straight line of the living field, one point bulged forward. Monsters immediately started walking on it.

'Thud! Thud! Thud!'

It was fast. The speed at which the monsters walked was the same as the speed at which the living field spread. The monsters were protecting the spreading terrain with their entire bodies. As expected, Legion Commander Selegma would try to reconnect with the south by any means necessary.

If even a single point, for even a fraction of a second, connected the upper and lower living fields, every monster scattered across the south would rush to defend Iringa. If that happened, Hong Yeon, who was attacking Iringa, would be in danger.

The only saving grace was that there was no movement to connect the living field from the south, where Selegma's command was cut off. We only had to worry about the ones pushing down from the north.

"There's no need to rush in and try to block them from the very beginning," I said. "It's fine up to half the total distance. Just let them build the path. When there's some distance between the swarming monsters on the horizon and the ones building the path, that's when we concentrate our firepower. If we rush in now, we'll get hit by the ranged attackers."

"Copy."

Our Hornet-1 team also let the monsters build their path. And the moment the path had been extended to a certain length…

"Now!"

Karim and Squall's unit opened fire. Bullets slammed into the bodies of the monsters rushing forward, and they writhed in agony as they fell.

A few monsters retaliated by spitting saliva or shooting spines from their mouths. The team members took cover behind rocks and obstacles, using their range to attack. As for me, I downed another Blue Elixir and deployed a magic circle at the maximum possible distance using 'Remote Chant.'

<Fire Cannon> x20

Countless magic circles appeared in the sky, a considerable distance from where Squall's team was attacking. Fire Cannons rained down like a meteor shower.

"Screee!"

When the monsters fell to the fiery barrage, the ones behind them rushed forward, straight into the destructive range of the fireballs.

'Selegma, are you really trying to block this with bodies?'

<Fire Cannon> x20

The farther the distance, the exponentially greater the mana consumption and concentration required for Remote Chant, but by now, I could use second-order magic as easily as breathing.

<Fire Cannon> x40

I doubled the number of magic circles unfolding in the sky. A vast ecosystem of blue mana spread across the sky, raining down ceaseless bombardments. Monsters that threw themselves forward to shield the living field with their bodies were incinerated by the pure, overwhelming firepower, as the strikes finally tore into the field itself.

"Confirmed that the living field connection has been severed!"

We had cut the advancing point right down the middle. The monsters that had already come down were now stranded as if on an island.

"Now's our chance!"

Squall's special forces unit poured firepower onto the trapped monsters. In an instant, they were annihilated, and the remaining living field was set on fire and destroyed. I activated my earpiece.

"This is Captain Kim. Let me know which point needs support most urgently."

"This is Hornet-3! We need support urgently!"

"This is Hornet-6! A centurion commander is advancing, taking the firepower with its body."

"This is Hornet-7…!"

As if they had been waiting, the radio calls flooded in.

"This is Samia. I'll support Hornet-3."

"This is Captain Kim. I'm heading to Hornet-6."

From here on out, it was a war of attrition. I activated my wing golem and flew quickly to the adjacent sector to provide support. I used the same method: cutting the path in the middle with Fire Cannon and dealing with the trapped monsters.

"Samia here. Heading to Hornet-4."

"This is Captain Kim. Returning to Hornet-2."

Samia and I covered the entire area, moving back and forth. Fortunately, the sector with Karim and Squall was holding up the best, buying us some time.

-Tower Master. I've detected a change in the monsters' strategy. They've abandoned several routes and concentrated the living field on three specific ones.

'Okay.'

The enemy was also continuously changing strategies. With only two rank-3 hunters, it was inevitable that an opening would appear somewhere.

Just then, the long-awaited transmission arrived.

"This is Commander Hong. Arrived at the final destination. Engaging a centurion commander."

Hong Yeon had finally engaged a centurion commander! We were almost there. If we could just hold on a little longer…!

'Kzzt!'

"Th-this is Hornet-1! Lieutenant Squall is…! Aaaack!"

But a problem had arisen on our side. I quickly activated my wing golem and returned to my original sector.

'A centurion commander!'

The word 'crazy' escaped my lips. A centurion commander was outside the living field, directly attacking the soldiers. It had an arthropod-like appearance with six legs, and its upper torso had another six arms, each tipped with a sharp blade. One of those arms held a soldier's corpse, and another had impaled Squall. He was struggling, trying to cut the arm with a dagger in his hand.

"Lieutenant Squall!" Karim screamed, firing a pistol loaded with magic bullets, but they simply bounced off its shell.

"Everyone, fall back!"

<Prometheus>

A giant of flame rose from the magic circle and flew forward. The centurion commander, despite its heavy-looking body, leaped into the air on its six legs to dodge.

"Kreee!"

In that instant, I closed the distance with Devastar and severed the joint of its arm with Wind Cutter. I handed the impaled Squall to a squad member and glared at the centurion commander.

"Rank-5 Karim! Leave the centurion commander to me and block the incoming forces!"

"Ah, yes!"

Karim grabbed two magic rifles and ran toward the monsters.

"Haaaaaah."

I took a deep breath and faced the centurion commander.

* * *

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