The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 206

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 206

The higher they climbed, the brighter it became as the midday sun shone down without obstruction. Luca hung from the tree with both arms near the tree branch, positioned himself by stepping on a thick branch, then flattened his back.

“Climb on, sis! I’ll breathe as gently as possible!”

“Tell me if it gets difficult.”

“There’s no way this would be difficult!”

Lillieta activated Silvergrass’s sniper mode and lay prone on the Beast’s back, which was two to three times wider than an ordinary person’s.

Though the surface wasn’t flat like ground but tilted and even swayed slightly with Lucas’s breathing, this much wasn’t particularly problematic for her.

She rested her elbows on Lucas’s shoulders instead of using a bipod, gripped the handguard, and peered through the scope.

As she gradually moved the crosshairs through the complexly intertwined tree branches, she soon saw monsters swarming densely in the lens.

‘The command unit is…’

When the Commander is directly controlling them, it’s difficult to find the command unit, but when it only gives orders to the command unit and focuses on other things, it becomes easy to find.

This is because the monster legion periodically looks toward where the command unit is located to check for additional orders.

‘That’s the one.’

Rita quickly found the command unit after brief observation.

The target the monsters kept watching. It was a giant ogre-type monster, and whether its head had stretched due to corruption, there were five heads attached above its neck.

‘There’s quite a lot to blow up, huh?’

As she pondered which head to aim for, she spotted a mouse-like monster perched on one of the ogre’s five heads. When it gestured, the ogre even turned its head in that direction.

‘It’s not the ogre, but that thing on top that’s the real command unit. Using camouflage tactics already, the Commander’s learning too fast.’

In the Ash-covered Era, the Commander wasn’t proficient in strategy or tactics from the beginning. It gradually became cunning by learning human warfare methods while waging war against humans with monster legions.

‘Just like how the Red Queen became larger than in the Ash-covered Era, has the Commander been enhanced too?’

Even while having such concerns, her hands moved precisely.

She adjusted the muzzle to place the walnut-sized head of the mouse at the distant range in the center of the lens. She gauged the rhythm of the crosshairs rising and falling with Luca’s breathing while tracking the movements of the tilting mouse-type monster.

She briefly held her breath.

And then, catching the exact moment when the Beast’s breathing, the mouse’s movement, and the center of the crosshairs perfectly aligned.

Fire.

Right after the suppressed gunshot of the silent round rang out, she saw the mouse’s head explode through the swaying scope. The monster horde immediately became agitated.

Gnewg spoke solemnly in a voice that seemed to barely hide its excitement.

[Alert: Target death confirmed. Kill successful, mission complete.]

‘Yeah, there doesn’t seem to be another command unit. That’s fortunate.’

Rita lowered her muzzle and patted Lucas’s shoulder.

“Kill successful. Good work.”

“You’re the one who did the hard work, sis.”

He leaped down from the towering treetop in one bound. The Mage Special Agent below was startled and showed a tearful expression.

“C-Commander, I completed the magic circle, but—”

“You can’t activate it, right? Let me see it.”

Rita took the tree bark and processed her internal Oaths into mana, delicately infusing it following the magic circle’s pattern.

Activating a magic circle for spells you can’t cast directly is similar to blindly copying a drawing, making it difficult without refined processing skills. So she had planned to do it herself from the beginning, not expecting otherwise.

‘It consumes quite a bit of Oaths, but it’s better than using Twilight, so it can’t be helped.’

As the mana-processed Oaths flowed out in chunks, the magic circle carved inside the tree bark glowed golden, and a ghostly form hazily rose above it.

“Wow…”

The mage, who fully understood how amazing the phenomenon of a Mage Gunner activating a magic circle was, gaped in admiration.

After checking the condition of the created decoy, Rita handed the tree bark not to the Mage Special Agent but to an Enhanced Special Agent she had memorized from the Winterfield Branch roster.

“They’ll swarm here soon, so take this and run like hell. You remember the operation, right?”

“Yes sir!”

The Enhanced Special Agent, stiffened by either military discipline or tension, answered vigorously and took the glowing tree bark. The ghostly mass of mana also moved fluidly like a kite tied to the bark.

Behind him, other Enhanced Special Agents picked up the remaining Special Agents one by one and got into position.

Confirming the Special Agents’ preparations were complete, Lucas lifted Lillieta and seated her on his shoulders. Then he quickly climbed that same tree again.

“Luca, you don’t need to support me this time.”

Upon reaching the top, Rita got down from his shoulders and shouldered Silvergrass, still in sniper mode.

After tilting his head briefly, Lucas embraced the tree trunk with one arm and supported Lillieta’s back as she sat straddling a tree branch with his other arm.

“How about this?”

“It’s comfortable, thanks.”

Though just shooting normally would be sufficient this time, having an arm as thick as a pillar serve as a backrest was certainly comfortable. She smiled slightly and put her eye to the scope.

Some of the monsters that had been moving in confusion detected the large amount of mana and began moving. Other monsters soon noticed this movement and followed suit.

They drooled or their eyes gleamed. The monsters, unified even without command, came charging while breaking trees and crushing thickets.

Sensing this presence, the Special Agents also began running through the twisted tree trunks. Toward the forest’s edge, toward Winterfield Castle.

The Special Agent at the front fired a signal flare to the Ranger unit. A thin flame shot up, cutting through the shadowed forest.

Timed with that explosion, Lillieta, hidden in the tree, also fired a silent round. Then a particularly fast monster that had jutted out ahead of the monster horde collapsed.

Bang, bang, bang, as signal flares fired in succession with explosive sounds, several monsters fell dead.

Fast ones that seemed likely to catch up to the Special Agents, ones with thick shells that seemed likely to withstand cannons, or ones so large they seemed threatening to the gates were selectively killed.

If the command unit had been alive, it would have noticed the intentional sniping and responded, but the monsters, intoxicated by instinct and bewitched by the rarely seen appetizing decoy, didn’t stop. They didn’t even notice the wind-like gunshots of the silent rounds due to the noise of the signal flares.

When a nearby monster collapsed, they instead rejoiced that competition had decreased and ran frantically.

Lillieta processed as many dangerous-looking ones as possible, then deactivated sniper mode after they completely left her sniping range.

‘I didn’t let the monsters escape, I left the handling to the Special Agents.’

Thinking once more, she confirmed the calm reaction of her Oaths. Seeing that Lucas’s breathing was also peaceful, it seemed they had gotten through safely.

“Luca, are your Oaths okay?”

“Yes, the Special Agents don’t seem to be in much danger. I guess it’s because you cut down many in the middle, sis. How about you?”

“I’m fine too. Let’s go now.”

As soon as her words fell, Lucas moved.

He immediately embraced her and leaped down, then controlled his beast transformation to run through the forest path on all fours. Quickly climbing over trees that had been crushed and broken thanks to the monster horde’s trampling.

The lantern hanging at his waist illuminated the surroundings. Tree trunks covered with moss flashed by in the circular field of vision faintly revealed in the darkness.

The smell of burning suddenly drew near.

A roaring sound could be heard. Along with explosion sounds, the sounds of trees breaking with cracks and something cutting through the air could be heard.

Rita anxiously bit her lips then stiffened her shoulders with a start. Just as she was about to signal, the blue wolf stopped with dragging steps.

“Sis, ahead…”

“Yeah.”

She exhaled the breath she’d been holding and added.

“It’s a Named.”

Something rippled in the shadows of the forest, dark as night, slowly revealing its form.

At first glance it looked like a tall, thin person, but looking closely, with its bald face lacking even eyes, nose, mouth, or hair, abnormally long limbs that writhed without joints, and body covered in rubber-like elastic material, you could tell at a glance it wasn’t human.

Lillieta recited its name in a voice mixed with groans.

“Acrobat…”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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