Booooom!!!!  

A shell that landed near our formation exploded with a fierce noise.  

 While no soldiers were directly hit by the explosion,  

The true terror of modern firearms lies not in the singular explosion, but in the shockwave that follows.  

Shrapnel from the shell scattered in all directions, assailing our troops.  

“Artillery fire!”  

“Disperse! Take cover!”  

We had accumulated considerable combat experience through numerous battles.  

While the sudden artillery barrage was unexpected, our soldiers did not panic.  

Most of the troops moved in a disciplined manner, taking shelter in nearby safe locations.  

However.  

“Cough… Guh…”  

“…Ack.”  

After quickly taking cover behind the building, I turned my head at the sounds nearby.  

The soldiers who had been in the vicinity during the first bombardment were directly affected by the shell fragments.  

They were in no condition to even comprehend the orders.  

‘Damn it.’  

No matter how superhuman the awakened individuals may be,  

they had not grown into monsters capable of emerging unscathed from an artillery strike.  

But…  

‘They’re still alive.’  

If they were only grazed by the bombardment, it means they had grown strong enough to barely cling to life.  

Groaning in pain and bleeding, the soldiers had not lost their lives.  

However, they were exposed on the bombardment site, unable to take cover.  

‘I don’t know the source of the artillery, but there’s no guarantee it’ll end with just one round.’  

At this rate, they could be caught in the next attack at any moment.  

I tried to get up to bring them to safety, but.  

Grip.  

Someone pulled my wrist.  

“…What are you doing?”  

“Sergeant Shin, those are as good as dead already.”  

Corporal Seo Su-hyeok.  

“Judge the situation rationally. We don’t know when the next attack will come. Losing those soldiers is painful, but protecting your safety is crucial for the unit’s survival.”  

“No.”  

I shrugged off his arm.  

“We haven’t lost them yet.”  

If they were truly dead, I would have abandoned them without a second thought.  

I have no intention of getting caught up in the dead while losing the living.  

But they won’t die from this.  

The military uniforms we wear are made from the hides and scales of steel lizards.  

I know well the protective power of this equipment, having experienced it firsthand during the ammunition depot recapture.  

Even when the ammunition depot exploded, the gear kept them alive.  

“Cough…”  

The soldiers appear to be on the verge of death due to the impact, but thanks to the protective power of the combat gear, they have not been pierced by the shrapnel and are still clinging to life.  

Praying that the bombardment would not strike again, I hoisted the two soldiers and moved.  

Recently, I’ve achieved explosive stat growth due to the [Absolute Palate] effect.  

While lacking in combat traits, I take pride in having the highest raw stats.  

Even with two soldiers to carry, the burden did not feel excessively heavy.  

“Medic, Priest! Come out!”  

“Yes! We’ll start treatment immediately!”  

Fortunately, there was no additional bombardment while I was moving the soldiers.  

As soon as I put them down, Lance Corporal Shin Jungsu, the ‘priest’, and P Lance Corporal Sa Uijun, the ‘healer’, rushed over.  

 “Can you save them?”  

“The condition is serious, but I believe it’s possible.”  

The gasping soldiers.  

The memory of the late kitchen staff members who had died in the unit resurfaced.  

‘Those two shouldn’t have died like that.’  

The same goes for these two.  

Fortunately.  

As the treatment progressed, their breathing visibly stabilized.  

‘Phew.’  

Only then could I relax a little.  

I just noticed that my entire uniform was soaked in the soldiers’ blood.  

‘The vampires would be drooling if they saw this.’  

As I was roughly wiping the blood off my arm on my pants,  

Booooom!!!  

The bombardment continued.  

And it did not stop there.  

Relentless artillery fire poured in from around the area.  

Right next to me, scorching heat surged up and shrapnel scattered.  

We were holding out by using the building as cover.  

But staying put had its limits.  

“Sergeant Shin, what should we do?”  

“We can’t keep withstanding the artillery fire!”  

The abilities of the awakened individuals are beyond imagination and grow even stronger when they gather.  

If we had anticipated the artillery, we might have been able to prepare a proper counterattack and break through.  

But now, we were caught unprepared for their bombardment.  

We had no preparation to push through the artillery.  

“Everyone, retreat. It’s dangerous if the armored vehicles get directly hit by the bombardment. Fall back far enough, then board the vehicles and carefully withdraw.”  

“Yes, sir!”  

While retreating to avoid the artillery,  

I glanced toward the source of the bombardment – the tank battalion.  

‘Can’t even see them properly from here.’  

It seemed to be indirect fire from a mortar or howitzer.  

Even as we were being bombarded, the enemy was nowhere to be seen.  

This way,  

there’s no way to know.  

“Who’s the one firing?”  

Who are the ones shelling us?  

“If I’m not mistaken, it seems that military unit is the one bombarding us. Is that right?”  

Squad Leader Lee Sang-a spoke in a small voice.  

Perhaps because she was one of the few non-combatants, her tone was cautious.  

“It must be so. The indirect fire from the tank battalion,” Min-jae responded with a rather grim expression.  

Knowing the nature of the enemy’s attack did not improve the mood.  

No.  

It made the situation even worse.  

The weapons of the tank battalion were directed at us.  

“So, the soldiers of the tank battalion attacked us. Is that the correct understanding?”  

“Judging from the circumstances, that seems to be the case.”  

It was almost impossible to believe, but a clear fact.  

Silence fell among the unit members.  

“Didn’t you mention back then that we are the only survivors?”  

“Aside from us, there were only the deserters who managed to escape, right…”  

Soon, someone raised a question, and a confused discussion started among the soldiers.  

“That was probably an overstatement too. We didn’t actually confirm all the military units ourselves.”