Chapter 147 – Battlefield [Landing]

[Report the reconnaissance results.]

The words of Assault Team Captain Ivan Ivanov, positioned at the center of the five-way split screen, were transmitted without any noise all the way from Egypt’s Abu Simbel to the operations analysis room of the US aircraft carrier floating in the western seas of Africa.

Recon Unit Captain Julia Texon recited the contents sent by the Recon Unit.

“They report that the security in areas other than the fortresses where the Necromancers reside is not particularly strict. Although mana-contaminated beasts are positioned at various points along the routes, they are at a level that can be sufficiently subdued with standard infantry personal weapons.”

The problem was the fortresses where the Necromancers resided.

“The walls made of bones and corpses are protected by mana, making them impossible to destroy with conventional weaponry. Ultimately, the only options are for Hunters to use mana to shatter them or to simply bypass them. The problem is that almost every fortress has Skeleton Knights alongside the Necromancers.”

[How many such fortresses are there?]

Julia Texon answered Ivan Ivanov’s question immediately.

“Even the smallest, Malawi, has at least five. The immediate first targets for the Assault Team, Sudan and Zimbabwe, have 16 and 14 respectively. In Ghana’s case, there is only one fortress itself, but all the Necromancers residing there are B-Rank.”

Murmurs of concern flowed from various places.

[It’s going to be a tough fight.]

At the words of 3rd Corps Commander Alex Burke, everyone participating in the video conference, including Julia Texon, nodded in agreement.

“First, reconnaissance is complete for the primary objectives of each corps: Nigeria, South Sudan, and Zambia. The problem is the remaining regions.”

Saying this, Julia Texon manipulated her keyboard.

Instantly, a map of Africa appeared across the entire screen.

“The Democratic Republic of the Congo is completely under Ululu Tumbebe’s control. Consider it impossible to even send a Recon Unit in there separately.”

Julia Texon manipulated her keyboard once more.

Then, maps of Niger, Chad, Angola, Madagascar, and the Central African Republic appeared on each of the five split screens.

“There are places like these five regions that either have no fortresses at all, or at most one for the entire country…”

When she manipulated the screen again, maps of Tanzania, South Sudan, and Cameroon appeared.

“And there are countries like these three where fortresses are densely concentrated across the entire territory. Especially in South Sudan, some fortresses are barely 5 km apart, so we predict difficulties when assaulting this area.”

The screen switched back to showing the faces of the five people.

Everyone wore quite serious expressions.

[We had already anticipated this to some extent. There’s nothing new here.]

Ivan Ivanov began speaking to steady the atmosphere.

[After all, the characteristic of the Undead is that they stop functioning immediately once the Necromancer is killed. It’s a matter of using Detector Skills to identify the Necromancers early on and then employing tactics to focus our attacks on them.]

The words were easy.

The problem was how to realize that.

[Ultimately, it comes down to the capabilities of the field commanders…]

Mobile Unit Captain Olande Pompidou, an A-Rank Hunter from France proficient in Teleport magic, spoke, and Liu Yaofang continued.

[A-Rank Hunters, and among them, those who qualify as field commanders, number only about 40. They are all extremely capable individuals, but ultimately, they are just one person each. So the core issue lies with the remaining B-Rank field commanders…]

Alex Burke took over Liu Yaofang’s words and finished the thought.

[We must gather the field commanders by corps and hold tactical meetings. What other choice do we have?]

At the words of the eldest among them, everyone nodded.

As the atmosphere settled roughly, Ivan Ivanov made the closing remarks for the meeting.

[First, Recon Unit Captain, please continue reconnaissance as much as possible. If the enemy has any brains, they will undoubtedly make constant tactical changes, so I’d appreciate it if you could keep observing those changes.]

“Yes, understood.”

[And Corps Commanders, please ensure the field commanders are thoroughly briefed on the information sent by the Recon Unit and devise specific tactics.]

[Don’t worry.]

[We’ll do that.]

Having heard the replies from Liu Yaofang and Alex Burke, Ivan Ivanov finally gave instructions to Olande Pompidou and Siguk.

[Mobile Unit Captain, please always pay attention to the mana and stamina of the Mobile Unit. The African battlefield is such that you might move 100 meters or 100 kilometers, so above all, stamina and mana are crucial for the Mobile Unit.]

[Don’t concern yourself, Assault Team Captain.]

[The same goes for the Special Operations Unit Captain. The place where the Special Operations Unit will truly prove its worth is the Congo Basin, Ululu Tumbebe’s stronghold, not the outer regions. Please assist the 2nd Corps appropriately and focus as much as possible on the liberation of Southern Africa, but conserve the full strength of the Special Operations Unit for the battle in the Congo Basin.]

[I will do so, Assault Team Captain.]

With that, the meeting ended, and everyone dispersed to handle their respective duties.

The start of the African Liberation War began at 6:00 AM local time on May 22nd, as the Atlantic Alliance fleet launched a massive aerial bombardment on Ghana.

Tearing through the early morning air, the carpet bombing by Unmanned Bombers launched from aircraft carriers devastated the entire country of Ghana, from its coastline to the inland areas.

Naturally, civilian casualties occurred in the process, but more contaminated beasts died than civilians.

Once the coastline was cleared by one round of aerial bombardment, high-speed hovercraft carrying the Assault Team swiftly sailed towards the shore.

The Hunters belonging to the Assault Team, quickly disembarking from the hovercraft, rushed towards the fortress located in Accra, the former capital of Ghana.

The fortress, made of human bones and rotting flesh, which had suffered no damage thanks to the dome-shaped mana shielding its outer walls despite the aerial bombardment, had one side of its wall crumble like a sandcastle from a single body slam by Alex Burke.

Immediately, Detectors began distinguishing between Necromancers and Undead, and soon six Necromancers were identified.

Alex Burke immediately charged towards them, and the Necromancers cast all sorts of curses and Debuff Spells on him, but none had any proper effect.

“Go to hell!”

The old man’s booming shout was always followed by a massive hammer.

Crunch-!

The B-Rank Necromancers died with their heads crushed by a single hammer blow, and each time a Necromancer fell, hundreds of Skeleton Soldiers, Knights, and Mages disassembled on the spot.

“Damn old man!”

Necromancers wearing beast skulls tried to maintain as much distance as possible from Alex Burke, showering him with every Debuff Spell they had.

“Huuaap-!”

However, their Debuff Spells never once took effect on him, all the while each of them had their heads smashed by Alex Burke’s hammer.

‘Is this… an A-Rank?’

Witnessing that overwhelming divine might, the B-Rank Hunters felt awe.

‘The old man, his energy is something else, anyway.’

And Julia Texon, providing supporting fire from the rear, shook her head with an expression of resignation as she watched Alex Burke, his face smeared with Necromancer blood and brain matter, grinning a mad smile.

Once all six B-Rank Necromancers were dead, all the Undead within the fortress ceased functioning and returned to being corpses.

Naturally, the mana Shield enveloping the fortress also disappeared, and the walls crumbled.

The Assault Team immediately began searching for survivors and any potential Monsters or Villains, rescuing 130 local residents who had lived as slaves to the Necromancers, barely clinging to life.

Thus, Ghana instantly fell into the hands of the Liberation Army.

And around the same time, similar events were unfolding on the upper Nile and in Zimbabwe.

‘Disgusting.’

2nd Corps Commander Liu Yaofang frowned.

[Squad 1, all clear.]

[Squad 2, no issues.]

[Squad 3, clear.]

Reports from the squad leaders of the search teams came through the wireless earpiece in his ear.

[Squad 7, secured civilian survivors. 23 women, 12 children.]

[Squad 9, secured civilian survivors. 32 men, 23 women, 65 children.]

[Squad 12, secured civilian survivors. 3 children.]

And from various places, news of civilian rescues also came in.

Standing in the very center of the large fortress located in Bulawayo, a major city of Zimbabwe, Liu Yaofang let out a light sigh as he stared at the eight frozen-to-death Necromancers.

‘As expected, I’m more comfortable managing Superhumans. In a place like this…’

Just as he had that thought, someone suddenly approached him.

It was Siguk.

“Huh!”

Liu Yaofang was startled as soon as he saw Siguk.

Because pieces of rotten corpses and clumps of blood were stuck not only to his face, sword, and leather armor, but even to his hair.

Looking at Liu Yaofang, who looked like he might vomit any second, Siguk showed a cold sneer.

“Must be unfamiliar, seeing this after just rolling pens in an office and dealing with comfortably wealthy nobles.”

Since there was no one around who understood Chinese, Siguk chewed out Liu Yaofang freely in Beijing Mandarin.

“Then again, it would have been the same even if you had hunted in Dungeons. Since you’re a Mage. You just throw magic from afar, right? No reason to see corpses up close or touch them like us Melee Dealers.”

“…I’m a bit sensitive to smells.”

“Pathetic excuse.”

Liu Yaofang decided not to speak further.

‘He’s just taking his bad mood out on me.’

The Bulawayo Fortress contained not only Undead but also grotesque Monsters made from human corpses.

Unlike the 3rd Corps, the 2nd Corps did not break down the walls to enter.

No, there was no need.

Because Siguk, who had hidden his presence and infiltrated the fortress, had opened the gate.

The 2nd Corps Hunters who rushed in like arrows through the opened gate hunted Undead within the vast interior of the fortress while searching for the Necromancers.

Four of the Necromancers, who had been scattered, were killed by Siguk’s sword, and those who had barely gathered in the central plaza to cast area Debuff Spells were frozen to death by Liu Yaofang’s Frost magic.

The problem was that during that process, Siguk’s mood had become extremely foul for some reason.

‘And I don’t even know the cause, damn it…’

The bigger problem was that no one except him knew the cause of his foul mood.

‘Useless things.’

Siguk frowned as he looked at the frozen Necromancers.

‘I expected it when I was C-Rank… but there’s too little useful information.’

Immediately after killing the four Necromancers, Siguk summoned his Familiar and had it consume them.

The Familiar absorbed the Necromancers’ memories and relayed them to Siguk.

However, there was not a single piece of useful information among them.

‘Might there be something in the Harare Fortress?’

Thinking that there might be someone more useful in the fortress located in Harare, which functioned as Zimbabwe’s former capital and was about twice the size of Bulawayo, Siguk glanced once at Liu Yaofang, who had become the target of his misplaced anger, and then moved his steps.

‘What a nasty temper.’

From about 50 meters away from the two, George Goldenhil, who had overheard the exchange between them, frowned slightly as he looked at Siguk.

His Beijing Mandarin skills were only at a level for simple daily conversation, but he could at least tell that Siguk had just snapped at Liu Yaofang.

‘Maybe the job will be easier.’

In George Goldenhil’s mind, Siguk’s image was gradually solidifying as that of a highly individualistic, irritable, and stubborn person.

‘He’ll probably charge ahead alone in the Congo Basin too. Like just now.’

In the Congo Basin, if Siguk acted alone as he had just shown, that would be the opportune time to kill him, George Goldenhil thought.

‘Of course, if I decide to kill him.’

Thinking that, George Goldenhil also moved his steps.