Chapter 17: Quadrant Clear
Unaware of the situation that the other three teams found themselves in, or that their frantic calls for assistance were not being heard through the interference of the portals, Sanchez led his group to clear the quadrant he was assigned.
"It looks like it’s all the same force of invading monsters in our area. No big surprise, as their world appeared to be the aftermath of a battle. So, these Ratmen and pigs must have been either working together or fighting each other before.
Just keep alert for some sort of commander or surprise force," Sanchez warned as they took another break. ƒrēewebnovel.com
"We’re nearly to the radius we were assigned, but there is no sign of the other teams. Should we continue to circle the Academy until we find them?" Kalli asked.
"It’s likely best. The whole area needs to be cleared. If they ran into something they couldn’t handle, that leaves more territory for us to deal with before the job is done. We can’t just do our quadrant and go back if one of the other teams has taken casualties."
The other students nodded, feeling more confident in their teammates.
The Sergeant had passed some of the ammunition that he got as a reward to the rest of the special forces team, letting them all reload a magazine to keep their reserve up.
They were going to have to get more from the unit’s stockpile as soon as they got back.
However, they were a hundred or more rat demons into the battle, and the soldiers who hadn’t received a class didn’t deal nearly enough damage with their combat knives to kill any of these creatures. The ammunition spend was completely reasonable.
Their path took them down the hill behind the Academy, an area that Kalli already knew was mostly empty.
You could see it from the wall, and the monsters had appeared from that side first. So, there was likely to be nothing until they got to the outskirts of the zone. To Kalli, that meant the other team should have cleaned it before they arrived.
Sanchez kept them moving, returning toward the Academy up the hill so they didn’t miss anything.
And that was when they heard the battle going on along the walls.
"Keep the rats from climbing. Someone take out that boar."
The orders were being given with a loudspeaker, but the volume had been turned down to just high enough for the soldiers on the walls to hear it over the battle.
Unfortunately, that was more than enough for the monsters outside to hear the noise, and they had drawn everything within the clearance radius to the Academy walls. This horde of attracted monsters was much worse than the first attack, and Kalli could see that there were already hundreds of Rat Demon bodies scattered across the battlefield as the other three teams fought outside the walls.
The Commander hadn’t opened the gates to let them in, worried that it would let the monsters breach the Academy.
Sanchez immediately directed their team to move forward.
"Sweep the back ranks. Reduce their numbers, so the other teams can focus on the boars."
Kalli kept her position at the back with Yara as the soldiers pushed forward, flanking Reggie and Derek.
The rat demons fell to single shots from the soldiers as they advanced, clearing the battlefield more efficiently than the efforts of the other three teams combined. Kalli could sense that something had shifted in her team, but she couldn’t say quite what it was.
They were all special forces soldiers with the students, but they weren’t doing nearly as well as her team was.
It certainly wasn’t her doing.
She might have a skill to give everyone quests, but she didn’t have anything that would buff them during the quest. If anyone was doing that, it was likely Yara.
Their team swept the back ranks of the monsters, wiping out the rat demons before they realized they were under attack from both sides. Sanchez kept their team moving around the perimeter and well away from the enemy, which made the warriors use [Cleave] in wide waves to cut down as many demons as possible, just like they had been practicing on the sports field.
It was working amazingly well, and Kalli was beginning to suspect that it was more than a buff. Something had changed with the team.
With the rat demons no longer harassing them as strongly, the teams at the wall were finally able to take down the boars, and the attack began winding down.
"Where the hell were you guys? We have been getting our asses kicked, and you were nowhere to be found," one of the other team leaders shouted, berating Sergeant Sanchez now that the battle was over.
"We cleared our quadrant, and then circled the back of the Academy looking to help you guys out. But you were here, pulling everything to the wall with unmuffled gunshots and a loudspeaker."
The other team leader looked a bit embarrassed, but he was more concerned about the injuries.
"How is your healer? Ours are exhausted, and we’ve got multiple casualties in serious condition."
Yara rushed forward, and began treating the wounded with the help of the teams’ medics.
"Dammit, you guys lucked out. Did you even find any enemies?"
The Sergeant shrugged and took out a rag to wipe down his rifle.
"We got seven boars in total, and who knows how many of those rat demons. Speaking of which, I need to restock, we’re basically out of ammunition." freewёbnoνel.com
The other team leader laughed. "Good luck with that. We’re nearly out as well, and the Commander hasn’t sent any supply teams forward for a while."
Sanchez turned to Kalli with a concerned look on his face.
She nodded. "I will see what I can do. There aren’t any gun stores near here, not even a sporting goods store that sells them. So, we’re not going to find much in the salvage. But I might be able to arrange something."
Yara smiled as she heard the words. In her mind, they confirmed the impression that Kalli was also the daughter of a crime family.
She had originally hoped that her family would come for her. But after seeing the changes today, that seemed impossible. She wasn’t local, her family was from halfway across the continent. With all that was going on, there was no way that they were going to cross three countries and a massive desert just to come rescue one daughter.
She might be favoured, but not favoured enough that they would risk losing dozens or hundreds of men trying to get to her without knowing if she was even alive.