Chapter 15: The Fiery Years

"Captain, should I lead this time or you?" Yang Huawi asked as he sheathed a narrow-bladed, thick-backed knife over a meter long and picked up a gun, checking its ammunition and stuffing more rounds, as thin as matchsticks, into his gear. At 1.85 meters tall, he seemed small compared to his two-meter-tall comrades, but no one dared underestimate Yang Huawi's combat abilities.

"You lead. If you die, I'll carry you back," the captain said gruffly.

"Hey, don't be so sure who will die. Keep an eye on those Level 10 and above beasts. If I get in trouble, I might not be able to carry you back. Don't feed the beasts," Yang Huawi replied with a scoff.

"Get lost, hurry up," the captain shouted, shaking his rugged beard. "Half-Face, stay behind Yang Huawi. Where's Fire Thunder?" the captain bellowed.

"Fire Thunder died in the battle yesterday. This is him now," Half-Face said, pointing to a pile of flesh, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Damn it, how did he die so quickly? Alright, move out," the captain yelled. The soldiers quickly formed a triangular formation, and at the captain's command, they burst out of the small base.

In the midst of deafening explosions, hundreds of grotesque giant beasts, nearly ten meters tall, charged towards them from a few kilometers away. On these monsters rode over twenty beastmen, who had strange features—some were black with blue faces and fangs, others were as white as paper with sharp teeth and short limbs. They barely resembled humans; if they were not so humanoid, Yang Huawi wouldn't call them beastmen but rather monsters.

"Captain, let's start the fight now," Yang Huawi said, raising his gun and aiming at the beastmen on the monsters.

"Hold on, move closer. Don't damage the metal collectors around here," the captain replied, glancing at a metal extractor attached to a mutated tree. Dozens of thin tubes were inserted into the tree trunk, glowing oddly, with a small container below half-filled with blue powder. Since the Holy City had no mines, they relied on extracting metal particles from the tree core to make weapons.

"That's just normal wear and tear. It won't hurt our credit," Yang Huawi muttered.

"Damn it, young folks these days don't appreciate things. Back in my day..." the captain began to reminisce.

"Alright, Captain, enough talking. Let's move in," Yang Huawi said, shaking his head. Despite being a good captain, his long tenure had made him a bit preachy.

The ten-man team advanced slowly until they were less than a kilometer away. The captain ordered a fierce attack.

With the sound of rapid gunfire, various weapons of the team opened up. Bullets struck the beastmen, causing their bodies to explode into a shower of purple-red blood.

The beastmen roared in anger. The ones riding the monsters vanished, and beams of light shot from their hands, heading towards the team.

"Take cover, lie down, don't run around," the captain shouted. The ten-man team quickly disappeared into the forest. The beams of light were triangular devices with two tail fins, known as Horn Lightning in the Holy City.

When the Horn Lightning hit objects, it caused a tremendous explosion, sending shockwaves that sliced through trees containing metal, turning them into debris.

As the shockwaves passed, Yang Huawi sprang from the debris, firing his gun. The bullets caused only superficial injuries to the towering beasts, often requiring ten shots to take one down. Yang Huawi emptied a magazine of a hundred rounds, tossed the empty magazine aside, and took cover next to the captain.

"Get down, stay hidden..." the captain shouted again as the Horn Lightning fired once more.

"Captain, you stay down too," Yang Huawi said, pressing the captain to the ground. "We're seasoned veterans; we know how to handle this."

Before the captain could reply, another Horn Lightning exploded, sending shockwaves that drowned out the captain's words. A muffled scream and then a faint groan followed from nearby, causing the captain's face to darken.

When the shockwaves cleared, only eight out of the original ten stood. Two were missing.

The towering beasts charged forward, their sharp horns aiming at the team. Yang Huawi slung his gun and drew a blue long knife from his back.

"Kill..."

"Kill..."

Amid the roars, Yang Huawi dodged the beasts' attacks, darting into the fray. He focused on taking down the beastmen, knowing that if they were eliminated, the large beasts would retreat on their own.

A white flash appeared as Yang Huawi dodged a small white axe that narrowly missed his head. A beastman tried to hide on the beast's back but was caught by the captain, who had climbed onto the beast, thrusting a long knife into its body. Though the knife didn't penetrate completely, it created a significant wound.

The captain fired several rounds into the wound, causing the beast to explode into chunks.

"Wow, Captain, that was awesome!" Yang Huawi shouted, leaping onto a beast's back and spotting an approaching beastman.

"Hey, how's your mom?" Yang Huawi grinned, catching the beastman off guard. Before he could react, Yang Huawi's long knife pierced between the beastman's eyes and out the back of his head. The simple helmet on the beastman's head was no match for Yang Huawi's blade.

Standing on the beast's back, Yang Huawi bit down on the long knife, grabbing the gun on his back, quickly reloading, and firing at the beastmen around him. The gunfire shattered a beastman's head, and another beast fell with a gaping wound.

After dispatching two beastmen and three monsters, Yang Huawi's gun clicked empty. He let out a cry, lying on the monster as two axes flew past him. Without flinching, he reloaded and resumed shooting.

In the distance, a beastman sniper, camouflaged with leaves and holding a short gun similar to Yang Huawi's, fired a shot. One of Yang Huawi's teammates had his head blown off right after pulling a knife from a beastman.

"Damn it, a sniper, where is he?" Yang Huawi yelled, diving beneath a monster. He tapped his ear, and a small transparent display appeared before his right eye, showing red and green dots. There were six red dots, five green, and many blue ones. Yang Huawi's heart sank; only six from the original ten remained.

"Where did the shot come from?" Yang Huawi demanded, firing several rounds and killing another beastman.

"Damn it," came Half-Face's distant shout, "Eight o'clock direction, in the trees. Yang Huawi, take that bastard down!" Half-Face yelled, occasionally emitting groans.

"Damn it," Yang Huawi muttered, leaping back onto the monster's back. He shook off the incoming bullets, which struck the large beast below, causing it to bleed and stagger.

Yang Huawi swiveled around and aimed his gun at the sniper's location. Using the small sight on his gun and the display screen, he quickly locked onto the target and fired. The sight showed a burst of purple blood among green leaves. Yang Huawi sighed in relief.

"Half-Face, are you still alive?" Yang Huawi shouted as he inserted a small explosive into a wound on the monster, leaping to the ground and dodging another monster's charge. He grabbed a long horn, leaped onto the monster's head, and detonated the explosive, blowing another injured monster to pieces.

"I lost a hand, but I won't die just yet," Half-Face shouted back, still defiant.

The last beastman was killed by the captain, and without the beastmen's leadership, the giant monsters finally retreated. The captain and his team collected their fallen comrades' bodies and returned to base. Their victories were significant, but the losses were heavy. Out of fifteen, only five remained. They stared silently at the piles of shattered flesh and broken bodies.

The bodies were gathered and taken to an open area outside the base. Blue powder was sprinkled over them, and after a moment, the powder ignited, turning the bodies into ash.

"This is the final struggle, unite until tomorrow..." the song began, and the five strong soldiers stood in perfect military salute, bidding farewell to their fallen comrades amidst the music.