I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

"Ugh…!"

"W-What is that! Something just fell from the sky!"

"It's an explosion! There's an explosion at the battalion command post—!"

Crack!

The dull thud of explosions shook the sky, and reinforced glass shards, like hail, rained down, along with the steel frames holding the glass. They struck the ground, and the heavily armed troops walking below were hit.

The glass shards could be endured, but when a steel frame as thick as a person's forearm struck someone’s head, there was no way they could hold on. In an instant, an unlucky soldier received a shock weighing hundreds of kilograms to his neck and died.

While a nameless soul was taken by death, the surviving allied forces gripped their guns and rushed into the building.

However, the battalion command post was located on the 22nd floor, and the soldiers climbing the stairs were quickly becoming exhausted.

"Huff, huff…!"

"Any connection with HQ?!"

"No connection...!"

"Don’t waste time! We’ve still got a long way to go!"

No matter how elite they were, no one could keep climbing dozens of floors while carrying a 20 kg load.

By the time they had climbed more than halfway, over 30% of them were gasping for air with voices that sounded like they were dying. Some drank the last drops of water from their canteens or collapsed on the stairs, retching.

They had barely reached halfway. No sounds could be heard from above, and only those who still had a bit of strength struggled to continue their climb toward the command post.

The command post had been placed so high to prevent anyone from reaching it, but no one had imagined that the enemy would infiltrate the building’s exterior.

How much time had passed?

The sight of blood greeted the allied forces.

"...Shit, the battalion command post has been attacked! Notify all other battalions and brigade headquarters! It's assumed that there are no survivors!"

"Ugh, damn…!"

"Find the battalion commander! Where are the enemies?!"

"Commander—Gahk!"

• "Yes."

• "Ha."

• "Understood."