“Fall back!” Boshan roared, bending over, “Schuler, fire ahead!”
“Understood, aiming—”
“Stop aiming, just shoot!” She pulled back the bolt and swept directly at the monster, not even having time to readjust the resonance magic stone.
As the vehicle reversed, the 75mm short-barreled gun finally spat out flames.
The distance of less than three hundred meters was covered almost instantly. As Schuler fired, a plume of smoke rose in front of the flesh monster.
This seemed like another miss, but in the rolling smoke, all three caught sight of falling limbs—even if the field gun on the tank had a small bore, it was still a cannon, not comparable to a machine gun at all. The flying dust also revealed the outline of the Blade Beasts. Boshan roughly counted at least a dozen of them.
“This monster... is carrying a group of Blade Beasts?” Bei realized.
“That’s right, it’s probably the ‘Nest Mother’ from Tianhai World in the manual,” Boshan said in a deep voice. But compared to the hand-drawn illustrations, the monster had quite a few differences, as if—it was a mutated relative.
Retreating to the street corner, the other two crews had obviously noticed their commotion. Before Boshan could speak, Amy shouted, “Another tank squad is less than two streets west of us, we can join them in five minutes!”
“No, don’t go, it’s too late!” Boshan shouted back, “Get the soldiers into the fortress!”
“Fight on the spot? There’s more than one enemy!” Hero, the commander of squad seventeen, looked surprised.
“Precisely because there’s more than one, we can’t retreat!” Despite the extremely urgent situation, Boshan’s mind was exceptionally clear—three tanks alone could never stop more than a dozen Blade Beasts. Once they charged into the soldiers’ ranks, it would be an irreparable loss. But they were different. As Isabella said, these heavily armored weapons were naturally both offensive and defensive. Even if they were surrounded by the enemy, it didn’t mean defeat was certain.
“Hero, please seal off the entrance. Only then can we fight without restraint!”
The latter glanced back at the fortress’s rusted and deformed iron gate and immediately understood her plan.
“I understand.”
“Amy, you’ll move with me later!”
“Uh... o-okay.” Although Boshan wasn’t the squad leader, Amy nodded subconsciously.
“Squad leader, you’re really... awesome!” Schuler admired.
“Save the flattery until everyone gets back safe and sound,” Boshan grinned.
She knew it wasn’t a good way to think, but she couldn’t help it—she didn’t dislike Xia, but the time spent with Xia working on the frontier was really uneventful. She couldn’t lie to herself. When they were being chased by the church, she thought a stable life was the goal, but now it seemed she was more suited to the smoky battlefield.
Perhaps that was why she had awakened as a combat witch?
Once all the soldiers had entered the fortress, squad seventeen put the power to maximum and reversed at full speed towards the entrance—
With a loud bang, the tank embedded itself directly into the wall, becoming a fixed bunker.
In this way, the assassins from Tianhai World could no longer cross the steel barrier to attack the relatively fragile soldiers.
And at this moment, the Blade Beasts crossed the several hundred meters and appeared at the street corner—although Boshan couldn’t see them directly, the magic lines of the resonance sigils clearly marked the enemy’s position.
“Full speed ahead, don’t stop!”
She roared, then climbed into the turret and locked the hatch.
This war machine wasn’t just capable of killing enemies with cannons and machine guns. As long as it maintained a certain speed, it itself was lethal enough!
As Bei fully pressed the accelerator, Boshan saw a magic line suddenly rise through the commander’s periscope!
Wait, this monster can even fly?
No, she quickly realized, it was the enemy’s long-distance pounce! She couldn’t help but grip the handrail, her body tense—whether she lived or died next depended on the craftsmanship of the Neverwinter City artisans.
“Thump!”
The enemy slammed heavily on the roof, the huge impact even causing a small dent in the top plate. The echoing thud made their eardrums buzz—but even so, the vehicle only shuddered and didn’t stop moving forward.
Boshan immediately felt confident.
“I’ll take care of the aiming,” she ordered while rotating the turret, “You just pull the trigger.”
“What about me?” Bei asked.
“The destination is that monster. As long as you don’t crash into the wall, drive however you want!”
Boshan didn’t bother with the pouncing enemy at all. She knew her partner would deal with it. If that flesh monster really was the Nest Mother, it had to be eliminated first, otherwise there would only be more and more Blade Beasts on the plains.
Amidst the roar of the Magic Cube engine, the tank charged into the swarm of Blade Beasts, spewing white smoke—the coaxial machine gun fired wildly. The Blade Beasts didn’t possess the barrier abilities of high-level devils. Every bullet could cause real damage. If it hit a vital spot, it would instantly knock the target to the ground. Even if they didn’t die, they would be waiting for steel treads.
The Blade Beasts could only pierce the tank’s steel plates when their foreclaws bloomed with blue light, but this would also expose them to the machine gun’s line of fire—most of the bullets from squad nine hit the front vehicle from left and right. Without having to worry about friendly fire, Amy obviously used the leading Boshan as a calibration target.
Soon, the two tanks cut a bloody path through the enemies. Behind the four tracks lay a pile of mangled corpses. When the life functions stopped, the confusing camouflage ability no longer worked. The Blade Beasts' low defense was exposed at this moment.
Boshan’s tank was equally scarred. The machine gun on top of the turret was long gone, and there were several large gashes in the tall body. Black blood even splattered inside the vehicle. The closest the enemy’s stab was only a few centimeters away. She could almost feel the burning magic of the claw tips.
However, the biggest difference between a machine and a living being was this: even if it was covered in scars, the tank's performance didn't decrease at all. It maintained full speed as it rushed towards the plaza, the crushed organs of the enemy turning into lubricant between the gear teeth.
Probably realizing that the situation was bad, the Nest Mother began to turn around and flee, but its huge body could only be described as clumsy.
—This wasn't the Whirlpool Sea.
“What’s the most crucial element for shooting accurately?” Boshan asked.
“Being close enough,” Schuler replied seriously.
“Then don’t miss this time!” Bei shouted, controlling the tank to charge straight at the target. The front of the vehicle slammed into the enemy’s ribs.
The monster let out a miserable howl.
Looking from the gunner’s position, the entire front view was now a target.
Schuler pressed the button without hesitation.
The 75mm howitzer shell left the barrel, entering from its waist, almost piercing through its entire body, and then exploded in its head!