Chapter 144: Rock ’n’ Roll Never Dies!!

The fortresses guarding the border with the Insectum were built here and there like checkpoints.

The one where I was fighting now—the one that would soon be abandoned, and the place where I had memories with His Excellency—was just one among several.

Only, it was a little more important than most.

Because it was the wedge driven in deepest.

Because it had been built to watch the Insectum’s largest colony.

Because it stood closest to the largest colony.

The Queen.

The Queen species.

The weapons factory of the Insectum, whose reproductive ability was itself a form of strength, was nearby.

…Well, I was not expecting a happy ending where we killed that thing and safely finished our mission.

Even in peaceful times, when there had been room to spare, it had been impossible.

Better not to think we could do it now.

Buy time.

The people left in the city—or rather, the important people, weak people, and decent people who had withdrawn from the fort—needed enough time to build a new defensive line. We, made up of bad people and strong people, would create that time.

Like ants fallen into an antlion pit.

The more we struggled, the longer we would survive.

After that—

Well.

Even so, this was a delaying action.

We could not die easily.

『Smile to all platoons. Time to start work! As planned, Highball and Halloween stop them, Goodman shaves them down. Hound, you pick off the commanders!』

『Highball, roger that!』

『Halloween, understood.』

『Goodman, acknowledged. …Hound, slightly right of enemy center.』

“Hound, understood.”

And then—

“Thanks, Goodman. —Found him. Tally-ho.”

Inside the Armor Ants was an Armor Soldier Ant.

I caught the enemy infantry commander in my scope.

I did not pull the trigger.

I waited for Rat Unit to mark it, then began searching for similar individuals, and for the ones carrying Cocoons—signalers.

There were too many enemy infantry. One field commander and one signaler could not possibly handle them all.

I found eight commanders.

Twenty Cocoons.

The unit that had come into Smile Company’s assigned sector was a mixed force of cavalry and infantry.

Grasshopper species and Ant species, plus Wasp species.

No light cavalry Roaches, no tank-class Roll species, and no giant species.

Not reconnaissance in force.

Probably a unit meant to attack while scouting.

Since we were hidden behind cover—or, in my case, wearing a ghillie suit—our company had not yet been discovered.

Let us take the first move.

And in that case, well.

The first blow would be mine.

First, kill the two commanders at the farthest edge among the ones I had found.

Next, before the disturbance could fully spread, take the commander in the center.

Three shots.

Three kills.

That, more or less, would be my order.

“…”

I licked my dry lips.

The finger on the trigger was not stiff with tension. It was soft. Light as a feather.

The faint creak came from either the pupil of my right eye looking through the scope or from the Hound Model wrapped around me.

Wait.

I waited for Smile’s go order.

But something moved before I did.

The meat shields.

About fifteen of them.

Come to think of it, we had hired them, or rather, had them forced on us.

I remembered that only now.

Some commanders can make proper use of meat shields.

Unfortunately, our Captain Smile did not seem to be one of them.

I could hear war cries.

“Uoooooh!”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I’m telling you I’ll do iiiiiit!”

The meat shields sounded lively.

The advantage of hiding had completely vanished.

With no Monoz accompanying them, and with their original branches ignored, all of the meat shields had been put into heavy infantry gear. Apparently, they intended to raise their greatshields and perform one big shield bash together.

“Hound to Smile, what should—”

『Oh, unexpected. First one to give up is Hound? It’s fiiine! Fine! Trust your reliable Uncle Smile. …Once those things die, the operation starts. First move is yours, Hound. Can’t really call it an assault, but it’s still a surprise charge. Aim for the breath they take after dealing with it.』

“—Understood.”

As I answered, I gave a hand sign.

Two fingers together, slowly raised toward the enemy.

Prepare for combat.

Receiving that instruction, the Monoz and Rudo sharpened slightly.

The meat shields had their uses.

I understood that now.

Was it because the field commander was an Ant-type Armor Ant Soldier?

The Grasshoppers did not seem to be under proper control.

Every Grasshopper charged toward the meat shields, rushing in with their greatshields raised.

If they had planted their feet, gripped the ground, and braced, then with Centipede support, they might have survived.

But while running and shouting things like “Uwaaah!” and “Doryaaaa!” there was not even a contest.

The Grasshoppers turned the fifteen or so meat shields into countless lumps of flesh.

Infantry and cavalry had separated.

How kind of them.

Pull the trigger / kill.

Pull the trigger / kill.

Pulled the trigger / killed.

Three shots.

Three bodies.

Then I kept firing at the commanders I had marked beforehand.

Two shots.

Change magazine.

Three more.

That made eight, counting the ones I had found in advance.

The Insectum fell into confusion.

There were places regaining composure.

Two clusters where shield-bearing Armor Ants were gathering.

Ah.

There were more.

Two additional commanders.

They had shields up, but there were gaps.

If there was a gap, I could shoot.

If I could see it, the line was open.

Sharp Snipe.

Threading the space between shield and shield.

The range was close enough that I blew the head off cleanly.

In the current situation, where individual communicators could not be carried, this sealed off their ability to act as an army.

Even if the Cocoon carriers received information from headquarters, they could not spread it.

With that, the Insectum were no longer an army.

Individuals would emerge.

Some would charge.

Some would try to flee.

It should be somewhat easier now.

“Commanders are cleared. Moving to support.”

『Smile, understood. Cover slow-footed Highball.』

“Understood.”

***

In the first fight, the meat shields were wiped out.

In the second, we took no losses.

In the third, we were hit by a night raid.

Which meant that by the fourth, fatigue had started to pile up.

Before that fatigue could fully drain away, we began falling back in preparation for the fifth.

There was a place that was easy to defend, so two other companies completely blocked the road and decided to funnel the Insectum into what amounted to a game trail through a Tree Crystal grove.

Goodman moved with us, setting traps here and there.

When the route was this limited, my work became easier and harder at the same time.

There were plenty of obstacles that could create blind spots, so it was hard to shoot.

But because the enemy was being guided, it was also easy to shoot.

In the blind spots I would hate to see used, I laid simple traps too. Spray construction material into something cushion-like, then soak it with chemicals that burn skin.

Hide there, and it hurts.

It would not work on us, wrapped in Centipedes—shells with no sense of pain—but against Tooths and Insectum, it was effective harassment.

Its strength was that I could make it quickly, so I placed them wherever felt appropriate.

“Diligent with the traps, aren’t you, Hound?”

“I’m doing it while praying your performance makes my turn unnecessary, Highball.”

If this became a fight in a narrow passage, then it would be Highball’s stage, flamethrower and all.

“I’d love to say exactly, but I’m benched for a while.”

“Ah. I see.”

I thought for a moment, then understood.

The road sealed by the two companies would eventually be forced open by sheer numbers.

That much was already decided.

But before that, this was the detour they would test.

If they learned too quickly that it was unusable, that would not be very interesting.

“So, Hound. I’ll take over making traps. You go rest with Halloween.”

Highball jerked a thumb behind him.

There, Halloween was curled up on top of a Monoku. He had even taken off his pumpkin-colored Centipede.

Full rest mode.

“…Then I’ll take you up on that.”

I removed my head armor.

I smelled like sweat.

I wanted a shower.

I had a pimple.

***

In the fifth fight, I saw the Grasshopper’s evolved form.

Until now, the line had been larger bodies, stronger armor. This one had gone the other way: lighter, faster. Slimmer.

More human-shaped.

The grasshopper-man, shaved down into being, might have looked like a hero of justice in another age.

They too were swallowed by the fire Highball spat out, and died.

After that attack, Dragon Unit followed up on the withdrawing enemy with a laser thick enough to be rude. In a limited passage, Dragon Unit was reliable.

The sixth fight was trench warfare in open ground, alongside other units.

If we fell back any farther, organized action would become impossible. After that, we would shift into platoon-scale guerrilla fighting.

We wanted to hold here if we could.

The deadline was still a week away.

“…”

It was going to be rough.

Thinking that, I gripped the bone necklace.

Food was scarce.

Ammunition was scarce.

The reason was simple. Two supply units had been crushed.

The battle began.

“…”

It seemed Smile Company was being targeted.

“Maybe we sold our name a little too well?” was Captain Smile’s comment.

Not happy news.

Still, that had its uses too. We would push out a little, fight while drawing the enemy in.

At times like this, snipers have it somewhat easy. We do not have to stand on the very front line.

“Ox Unit, load Hellhound. Sheep Unit, Monkey Unit, assemble it.”

If we were fighting from a prepared position, even Hellhound—with its sluggish movement—should be usable.

I loaded incendiary armor-piercing rounds.

In a fight on this scale, commanders did not come to the front.

With fifty-caliber rounds that reached far thanks to their flat trajectory, I aimed deep at the giant ants—the Tank Ants—whose defenses had been improved slightly.

I aimed at their huge abdomens.

Once I punched through, panic spread through the enemy rear.

Apparently, they had no firefighting unit.

How immature.

I would make full use of that immaturity without hesitation.

So I did the same thing again.

Time passed.

I stopped seeing Tank Ants on the battlefield.

Time passed.

Halloween’s right arm and right leg were blown off.

The sight of him being worked anyway, with only the barest treatment, was nothing but horror. His right hand and right leg were empty, moved from the outside by his Centipede.

Even so, standing on the front line was impossible.

A replacement came in from another unit.

I had the feeling Smile Company had become the blackest department inside a black company.

Time passed.

Three days went by.

The enemy’s attack pattern was monotonous, but they were pushing with mass. 

The way they used their own dead as barricades and crept forward, little by little, was deeply frightening.

But the ones giving orders on-site—or rather, the ones holding them together—had become easier to spot.

Probably as an anti-sniper measure, smoke went up.

But that was fine.

Position report: Tally-ho.¹

“Appreciated.”

It had been worth the risk of hiding Snake Unit among the wreckage and corpses during the night.

I gained a field of vision that was not mine. Through obstacles, past the smoke.

I shot through.

Time passed.

Snake Unit’s signal was lost.

Found, probably.

I had told him that if things got bad, he was to get at least his core out. But finding Snake Unit’s core on this battlefield would be impossible.

“…”

I had no right to grieve.

Time passed.

Time was cruel to us, with no resupply coming.

Slowly.

Gradually.

Like the reaper’s scythe creeping toward my neck.

Hellhound, more complex in structure than the Type Five, broke.

Tiger Unit, sent forward without proper maintenance to buy time, did not return.

Boar Unit, who went to help Tiger Unit, did not return either.

Twelve became nine.

We had already crossed the line of sustainable attrition.

From here, it would be fast.

“Now’s the time to run, you know?”

Response: Fuck off!

Meaning: continue the situation.

Rock ’n’ roll.

“I don’t think ‘sorry’ or ‘my bad’ is right here, so—thank you.”

I said it with something like a warped smile.

On the sixth day, it came.

***

By then, Smile Company alone could no longer do much about the situation, and the front had settled into something like a line.

Everyone could cover everyone else. I had no idea how the other units felt about it, but for us in Smile Company, things had gotten a little easier.

At first, I thought it was an earthquake.

Even after I saw the giant worm break through the ground, my mind failed to catch up.

Then the worm was torn open, and a flood of Insectum spilled from its belly.

“—Ah.”

The sound slipped out of me.

Large-unit transport through the ground.

There were Armor Ants. Soldiers too, Grasshoppers, Roaches, Wasps, and even large types like Armor Rolls and Tank Ants.

The deadlocked front tilted all at once.

A lurch.

I could have sworn I heard it.

The soldier beside me dropped his sniper rifle.

I understood how he felt.

This was, well, to put it mildly, impossible.

Throw away the Type Five. Take off the head armor. Put the pistol in my mouth and pull the trigger.

That sweet future flashed through my mind.

A sharp batz rang out, and the man beside me chose it.

Then I saw a Monoz running to his corpse.

I bit through the flesh inside my mouth.

I spat out meat and blood.

Idiot.

Was I an idiot?

There were things to do. Things I could still do.

Not yet.

Not yet. Hold.

Even if I had to kill allies. Even if I had to kill humans.

Win.

Do not give up.

Because I had friends I had dragged into a human war. Round ones. Four-legged ones. Friends like that.

After dragging them into this, giving up early and checking out of this world was not an option.

There was no way that would be allowed.

“Hound to Smile. Pull the front line back. Hurry. I’m shooting the Tank Ants.”

『You’ll hit our own people. Not that I need to tell you that. Not you. …Shoot, Hound. But don’t get it wrong. You pulled that trigger under my order.』

“Thank you, Smile.”

Even as I said it, I fired.

The armor had been strengthened.

It would not pierce.

I knew that. I understood that.

Something creaked.

My heart.

My eye.

The back of my skull.

The distance between us was a thousand.

What I had to perform was a secret art. Or a circus trick.

One-Hole Shot.

If one would not do, then two.

If two would not do, then three.

Five rounds, one clip.

I hammered them in.

Still, it would not pierce.

The Wasps noticed me and opened up from long range in a single volley.

Fine.

Ignore it.

Something hit my body. A needle punched through the Centipede and buried itself in me.

Fine.

One hit my shoulder.

Holding the Type Five became hard.

Still fine. I could still hit.

That was the kind of creature I was.

An ally who had been watching me moved.

Apparently, he could fire incendiary armor-piercing rounds. With the thunder only a large caliber could make, a burning bullet slammed into the Tank Ant’s rear.

I felt a little relieved.

I am very sorry to say it, but I was relieved that I would not have to kill allies after all.

I was.

I let myself be.

The worst.

The lowest.

But I had managed not to become the worst, lowest piece of shit.

It was intact.

The Tank Ant was intact.

Had it evolved even further?

No words came out. Even so, my hands changed the Type Five’s ammunition and loaded Akito’s APCR rounds.

Armor-piercing composite rigid.

Hard-core penetrators.

I breathed in.

Breathed out.

Rapid One-Hole.

Continuous ultra-precision sniping.

The focus at the very edge, the experience I had built, and the talent I happened to possess allowed me to do it.

Still, it would not pierce.

Then shoot.

Shoot.

Shoot.

My hands moved.

Load the round.

Work the lever.

Smoke went up.

“…gh.”

I see.

So that is how it goes.

I fired anyway.

I bet on a miracle.

Trusted my experience.

Prayed to God.

Even in this situation, I could still use the afterimage in my head to blow an Ant’s head off. But a One-Hole Shot was impossible.

“It doesn’t reach…”

My mutter.

It probably went over the radio.

No one answered. Everyone had already given up.

And so, I met a real hero.

『Looks like it’s my turn, Haaound.』

Highball.

The big man with the bulbous nose.

His horribly out-of-place voice rang over the line.

I found him immediately.

He was no longer moving.

Two of his Monoz were protecting him desperately. There were no friendlies around him. They were already done. And yet, like the last scraps of hope left in the world, those two Monoz shielded him.

The other twenty-nine were nowhere to be seen.

What had happened to them?

『Hound. You got armor-piercing rounds?』

“…I do, but?”

『Yeah? You do, huh. …So, tell me. What do you think of where I’m lying? Pretty damn nice spot, close to the Tank Ant, don’t you think?』

“…”

On reflex, I cut every channel except Highball’s.

『What do you think happens if you shoot my fuel tank with that thing of yours? Don’t you wanna show the bugs?』

“…That sounds very lovely.”

『Right? —Oh, and I built it so it won’t pop easy. Aim for where it connects to the tube. Put three shots into the same spot.』

“That’s… a rough ask, Highball.”

『Ha! That’s why I’m asking you, Hound. Sorry to dirty your hands, but there aren’t any friendlies around me, and my Monoz are all saying no, absolutely not… C’mon. You can do it from there, can’t you?』

“I can.”

I answered with effort.

Calmly.

『Attaboy! Make it big. Make it loud.』

“Yes.”

I answered.

I pulled the trigger.

『Ahh, shit. This is bad. I’m scared. This is scary, Hound. Dying’s scary, Hound. If I don’t keep talking, I think I’m gonna lose it. Oh, right! Cores! Recover my Monos’ cores for me, Hound.』

“That’s an easy request, Highball. Anything else?”

I pulled the trigger.

『Anything else? Hmm. Yeah, probably. I’m guessing I’ll end up in the joint cemetery, so bring me a highball every year.』

“…I’ll bring snacks too…”

『Guess that’s it. Yeah. That’s it. Ha. I had less to say than I thought. —Hound, the rest is all yo—』

I pulled the trigger.

With a roar, Highball ended.

The Tank Ant ended.

The front was swallowed by fire.

Allies caught in it died.

Even so, in that moment, we had gained time to recover.

“From here on, it’s guerrilla warfare. Let’s go.”

Rat Unit.

Rabbit Unit.

Dog Unit.

Rudo.

Three machines and one dog started walking after me.

I restored comms.

Smile came through immediately.

『—Report the situation, Hound.』

“Damage is catastrophic. Morale remains unbroken—”

In other words—

“Operation can continue. Rock ’n’ roll never dies. I’ll keep my promise to Highball even if it kills me, Smile.”