Chapter 307: Chaos

Chapter 307: Chaos

At this moment, on the western shore of Qili Lake.

The battle had reached its final hour.

The commander of the Holy Army’s Second Battalion was drenched in blood, a massive wound torn across his face by the monster’s razor claws.

His eyelids were ripped away, the brow bone and eyeball exposed, a terrifying, feral sight.

Just moments before, he had personally manned a colossal cannon, hurling a shell at the second‑grade Qinyuan Mother that had plagued the Holy Army.

Less than two kilometres away—whether by the Trinity’s blessing or sheer luck— the projectile struck the beast with uncanny precision.

Accompanied by a deafening blast, the twenty‑meter‑tall Qinyuan Mother dissolved instantly into a pool of shattered flesh and blood.

The Holy soldiers who witnessed the scene erupted in jubilant cheers, only to be met immediately by an even fiercer onslaught.

The Second Battalion commander, caught unawares, was slashed by the monster’s claws; the barrel of the forward cannon shielded him from most of the assault.

Yet even so, he narrowly escaped death from that treacherously angled claw.

As he fell, a fearless warrior surged forward, planting a rocket launcher before him and annihilating the not‑particularly massive creature.

The warrior, however, was pierced through his body by the monster’s claws and died at the commander’s feet.

Blood stained his vision; the commander tried to blink, only to discover that the function had been lost.

He jerked his head violently, attempting to fling the blood from his eyes, a futile gesture.

His rifle had heated the barrel to a glow; he ejected a jammed round, pulled a fresh magazine from his chest, and slammed it into the chamber.

“Everyone, scatter at once!”

“Do not cluster! Do not give those alien monsters a chance to strike!”

“We need not kill them! We only need to stall them as long as possible!”

He shouted the orders, pulled the trigger, and, aiming at the distant beast, emptied the rifle’s magazine once more.

Flaming projectiles spun out, one after another piercing the hulking monster’s flesh.

Though the creature seemed unscathed at first, the swirling bullets within its body undeniably slowed its movements.

Then a bundle of hand‑grenades, tied together, was lobbed forward.

As the grenades fell beneath the monster, they detonated in a thunderous burst.

“Boom!”

Shockwaves and shrapnel carved a bloody wound in the monster’s vulnerable abdomen; the Second Battalion commander staggered, fell, rose, and shouted:

“Well done!”

“Who—”

“The Trinity’s radiant glory shines upon you!”

“It is I!”

Someone seized his arm from the side and hauled him backward with haste.

“You must retreat to the rear! There are medics there! They will tend to you!”

“Release me! This is an order!”

The commander struggled to rise, his blurred sight unable to discern the face of his rescuer.

“Your command has no effect on me!”

“Now go get bandaged! We still need you in the fight!”

At that moment, the commander finally recognized the voice of the newcomer.

“Don’t worry about me!”

“Go command your Third Battalion!”

“They need you more than I do!”

“The Third Battalion has few left.”

The Third Battalion commander’s voice was low, then hardened with urgency.

“Stop struggling!”

“We must all fall back!”

“The main force has crossed Qili Lake; they are building fortifications!”

“We can hold out at most ten minutes!”

“Just ten minutes!”

“You must survive!”

“There’s no time!”

The commander shook off the grip, reached with his left hand, and snatched a gun from the ground.

“Even if they erect a stronghold, we cannot withdraw cleanly!”

“These monsters move too fast; their aim is precise!”

“The low‑rank beasts at the front are merely cannon fodder; the true killers lurk behind them!”

“If we cannot retreat, I will march to the Trinity’s heaven in a more glorious way!”

“At least try!”

The Third Battalion commander also raised his weapon and said:

“Follow me! Hurry!”

His voice left no room for doubt; after a brief hesitation, the commander chose obedience.

He turned, stumbling forward, while more soldiers beside him fled toward the lake’s edge. The hastily erected defensive line had collapsed completely; the precious ammunition and heavy gear could no longer be salvaged.

“Launch the steamship! Prepare for evacuation!”

He heard the Third Battalion commander bellow the orders, and the soldiers familiar with the steamship surged forward.

Moments later, white steam rose, and fewer than fifty survivors from the three battalions gathered loosely beside the hopeful vessel, forming a final line of defense.

“Hear my command!”

“All of you, aim at the monster on the right!”

“Ready”

“Fire”

“Bang bang bang bang bang—”

At the command, a hail of bullets hammered the same target.

With all heavy weapons lost, the soldiers could only resort to the most primitive means of attack.

Yet the good news was that this crude assault proved effective.

When hundreds of bullets strike that massive beast simultaneously, the colossal impact crushes it to the spot.

Its shell is pierced, flesh and blood shredded.

The monster's body collapses abruptly, while the warriors already point toward the next target.

“Ready!”

“Fire!”

At that moment, the ever‑flowing blood has dyed the upper half of the Second Battalion Commander a deep crimson.

He is overwhelmed by a crushing vertigo, stripped of any capacity to think.

All he can do is follow the Third Battalion Commander’s order, mechanically aiming and firing like a common foot‑soldier.

The ammunition is nearly spent.

And on the east shore of Qili Lake, the long‑awaited cannon fire has not yet sounded.

There is no time left.

Through his blurred vision, the Second Battalion Commander can already see that terrifying monster that makes his own body shiver.

Its enormous, twisted mass undulates like a tangle of worms, oozing slime that reeks of rot; even a kilometer away the stench is unmistakable.

Each of its tentacles bears a hammer‑shaped head, and the corrosive fluid spewed from its gigantic maw sears everything before it alike.

That is “Beikun.”

A second‑tier monster that once inflicted massive casualties upon the Mechanical Cult.

It is neither sturdy nor agile, yet its size is beyond belief.

Even a direct hit from a giant cannon only makes it contract and re‑assemble, like an unkillable earthworm folding back upon itself.

The last time the Second Battalion Commander saw it, nearly a hundred of his brothers fell.

This time,

perhaps it truly is the moment to meet those brothers who died before him.

He sighs deeply, his gaze drifting toward the ammunition crate nearby.

Then, without hesitation, he drops his rifle and hoists the wooden box brimming with grenades.

“What are you doing!?”

The Third Battalion Commander, having spotted his move, shouts to seize him, yet his motions are astonishingly swift.

As if the last reserves of energy in his body have been burned away.

He sprints forward, charging the monster.

The distance is already close.

He begins to feel his strength wane.

Yet if he can endure a little longer,

run another hundred meters, he will be within the lethal radius of his grenade.

—

But why, the monster drifts farther away from him!?

Am I running too

slow?

The Second Battalion Commander stares blankly into the distance.

In that instant, he realizes it is not his slowness.

It is the monster that is retreating!

No, not just that monster.

All the monsters are withdrawing.

They have lost their direction.

He turns his head back; his comrades there are gesturing for him to fall back.

He glances at the grenade in his hand, then at the opposite shore of the lake.

In that moment, he suddenly feels that he perhaps has a little.

absurdity.

What on earth is happening?

Perhaps that question is doomed to remain unanswered.

Yet now, the cannon fire from across Qili Lake finally erupts.

(End of Chapter)