บท 146: Ch. 140 - Fear the monsters [2]

[Fuck this, I've been working on this PowerPoint presentation since this morning and now I'm going to present it tomorrow in school. Wish me luck haha.]

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"Aaawwwhh!"

[Insert Wilhelm Scream]

Several soldiers immediately lost their lives while some were lucky that they were away from the bombs.

These lucky soldiers were 'coincidentally' the good ones that Jin read earlier while those that died and got critically injured from the bombs were once again 'coincidentally' the bad guys that Jin read in minds earlier.

How could such 'coincidence' even happen?

Soon, the soldiers didn't manage to maintain their formation for too long as the death of their comrades has sent their minds into a state of panic and their survival instinct roamed across their minds.

Like a chicken without a head, the soldiers all scrambled around while using their rifles to shoot at the green skinned witches in the sky. Hoping that they would at least kill one of them.

Unfortunately, the witches were prepared and they quickly took out several totems that they destroyed with their bare hands. As soon as these totems crumbled under the sheer force of their grip and the pieces escaped through the gap of their fingers, a green transparent hue suddenly surrounded them and every bullet that came in contact with this barrier was deflected.

[Make sure to target only those without my chi marks, okay?] Jin whispered in their minds through his telepathy. It's pretty obvious that he's sparing only the good ones while the bad ones would come and meet each other in hell.

This is also one of the few things that he personally taught to the witches since aside from them, no one is adept in sorcery and magic. So he taught them about the chi sensing and how to perceive them.

Of course, Jin only taught the chi sense and nothing else. It's not like he's stingy or something. He's just being cautious as he doesn't want to shoot himself in the foot by doing so.

The witches all nodded their heads at the same time and proceeded with throwing more bombs towards those without Jin's chi marks.

Thanks to them scrambling around which just makes it more easier for the witches to eliminate the soldiers without the chi mark.

***

"Any reports on the unit that we sent in?" Thomas was watching the monitor where several red and blue boxes can be seen. Inside these boxes are the soldiers that they just sent. Each box contained the soldier's picture along with their heartbeats.

This is what they used in order to watch over the unit without having the need of using their satellite as the range of their satellite doesn't cover the place where they sent the unit in. So they would have to resort to this kind of mechanic.

For a whole day, they have been watching the screen and all of them were very confused on the reason why the soldier's heartbeat kept increasing and decreasing for some unknown reason.

"What's their status? How come they kept dying as if they were being herded?" Thomas asked the question to his Army General who was also confused. They could understand losing 3 soldiers on the first day as they expected the traps but to lose almost half the unit in one single moment?

Did they somehow trigger a bomb trap or something?

"I tried contacting them but it is as if they're intentionally ignoring our calls." An operator typing on his keyboard said with a sigh while rubbing his forehead.

"No, that is something that they wouldn't dare do. According to their last call, this is where they landed their choppers and now, it is also this place where they're dying. Something is definitely wrong on the mission!

'The President told us that the monsters are harmless and in fact, scared of us humans, right. If so, then who are they fighting with?' The Army General patted his finger on the table while wondering to himself.

'Could it be that Dracula is making his move? But that's impossible right. The death of his wife hit him so hard that he even came to fear humans.' Thomas wasn't exempted, as he was tapping his finger on the table too.

'Something has to be wrong. All of this doesn't make any sense.' Thomas anxiously continued his tapping that the others grew irritated by it however, would they complain? Of course not, unless they want to be fired from their work then they could only endure the president's habit of tapping on the table.

"If somehow, our platoon failed. What should we do, Mr. President." Seeing the continuous blue bars turning red which indicates that the soldiers are dying, the Army General soon predicted that the platoon would soon be wiped out. So they have to come up with a new plan. As the Army General he was obviously informed who their enemy is this time and fearing that the monsters would see this as an act of aggression, they would retaliate against them.

The Army General doesn't know how strong the monsters are, he can't just base it on some novels about Dracula or something.

'May God bless America.' The Army General silently prayed inside his mind.

While the Army General is already praying inside his mind, the President was thinking deeply about what the Army General asked him.

'If we somehow failed, then what's next?' Thomas resumed tapping on his table much to everyone's annoyance but they could only grit their teeth and endure it.

***

'Alright, that seems to be all of them.' Jin stretched his arms while counting the remaining soldiers who were all shivering on the ground in fear.

Their rifles were useless against the witches and their mysterious transparent hue that shields them from their bullets. So now they could only cower on the ground and stare in the sky with despair and almost no hope in their eyes. It seems like they have given up fighting back as it is futile.

However, much to their surprise, the witches suddenly stopped and remained floating in the sky, looking down over them with creepy grins and smiles on their faces.

"Welcome to the monster world." Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them.

They quickly tried to turn around to look at the source of the voice however, their exhaustion and despair had taken a large toll on their bodies, so it was a bit slow and they even had to use the ground as a support just so they could turn around.

"....W-who are you?" Among the survivors was no doubt, Jeff, his chapped lips showing how exhaustion and in need of water right now.

"You see. I decided to show you all mercy and spare all of you. But hopefully, this mercy of mine won't backfire on me someday. So I'll be sending you back to your higher ups with a small message from mine." Jin grinned and said. The soldiers all gulped their saliva in fear, imagining what torture would be bestowed upon them. Since Jin is on his devil form, the soldiers finally knew who they're fighting with.

They're fighting with monsters and devils! How come their higher-ups even thought of sending them without giving them knowledge that their enemy is a monster!

"Oh don't you all worry. It's just a message I swear." Seeing the scared looks on their faces, Jin realized that they must have misunderstood him so he quickly assured them.

However did that help. To be honest, no. Who in their right mind would just randomly believe the words of an enemy. Only an idiot would do that and they're not idiots.

"Sigh, nevermind. Why would I even bother explaining it all to you guys. It's not like you would believe an enemy's word." Jin shook his head and said when suddenly someone stood up among the soldiers and replied to him.

"I believe you."

When Jin turned to look at who it was, he was surprised to see it was Jeff who spoke up.

"...Boy, what's your name?" Jin pretended to not know him in order to maintain a strong but mysterious persona in their eyes. He even called him 'Boy' so he would appear to be older than him even though Thomas is pretty much older than him.

"My name is Jeff." Jeff said his name without hesitation. In his mind, there's no point in cowering in fear or begging in forgiveness as he knew that if the person in front of him wanted him and his dead, he would have long done it so.

Which means Jin has a purpose for them and hearing him say that he would use them to send a message to the higher ups, Jeff knew that Jin wasn't lying about it.

"Jeff. Well, you just landed yourself a good badge." Jin smiled and said before approaching Jeff in a steadfast manner.

He then proceeded to remove the badge that is pinned on Jeff's uniform before it went into flames much to everyone's shock. If they didn't know they were just on a battlefield earlier, they would think they're watching a magician in a theater.

"I could smell bad luck from your boy. Let me guess, you've been encountering bad luck throughout your entire life, right?" Jin grinned and said while pretending to have sniffed the air in front of Jeff.

Meanwhile, Jeff's eyes widened in surprise.

"Looks like I'm right, aren't I. Well, today will be the day you experience your first good luck because you met me." Jin then patted Jeff's shoulder and then looked at the others.

Jeff was confused but still nodded his head out of courtesy.

"Now, I need you all to pass this message to the President or higher ups I don't care about." Jin then continued and proceeded with his message while the soldiers perked their ears up, making sure they would not miss anything.

"You may control nations, but remember this: my family is the line you don't cross. If you dare to hurt them, the power you wield won't shield you from the storm I'll unleash upon you."

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