GILF Hunter

Chapter 322 It’s Here

Messengers arrived at the command post one after another with urgent news.

The adjutant, who received and organized the information, approached Kael with a grim face.

’It is reported that... invisible monsters have appeared.’

’....’

So, it’s finally happening.

Kael muttered quietly to himself.

He had almost hoped it was just a grand misunderstanding by a novice labyrinth explorer.

He would have preferred to have the kid pay off the damages by doing clerical work at the Guild, saddling him with the headache of post-war cleanup. It would have been better if it were something they could just laugh off.

At the very least, that would have been better than the reality of such monsters actually existing.

Since things had come to this, he could only hope that the contingency plan they had established in advance was perfect.

Kael stood before the map of the Labyrinth sectors.

’Emergency alert. Class 1 Emergency.’

Following the information brought by the messengers, several monster markers were placed on the map. A large number of monsters of undetermined scale had entered the northern sector.

’Form a rear defense line and send out evacuation signals to the interior.’

The outer sectors near the walls had already been evacuated, but residents still remained in the rear sectors further from the walls.

They had to set up temporary defense lines to prevent the monsters from spreading in that direction while getting the residents out.

Emergency flares rose into the sky over Labyrinth.

’...It’s here.’

Chris, spotting the signal, looked up. All the other mercenaries waiting with him also rose to their feet.

The emergency signal signifying a monster infiltration.

The waiting mercenaries all burst out of the barracks at once.

’Is this really happening?’

’Shut it! How many times do I have to explain!’

Chris shouted back at the mercenaries running behind him.

’To your positions!’

The emergency standby unit ran through the city toward their pre-designated locations.

Perhaps because the sudden emergency alert had been raised, the interior of the city was in chaos.

One or two monsters crossing over, or an aerial monster flying in, isn’t usually considered a state of emergency.

Raising the alert meant the situation was severe enough for the streets to be overrun by monsters.

Most soldiers were experiencing this kind of alert for the first time. They ran through the streets with confused faces.

The mercenaries ran alongside the frantically moving soldiers, arriving at their destination: the clock tower.

Clock towers, observatories, tall buildings, and the like scattered throughout the city.

These facilities across the city were prepared to be used as watchtowers where archers could be stationed during emergencies.

Ian took his place in the clock tower with Chris. The entire city could be looked down upon from a distance.

Watching the bustling city, Chris muttered.

’It’s finally here.’

’The Vice Guild Master was suspicious until the very end. You believed it, Chris.’

There was a brief waiting period before each mercenary reached their position. Ian glanced at Chris and asked.

Chris tapped the report on ’Stalkers’—the monster information Ian had written.

’As soon as I saw this, I felt like crap. I figured it would definitely happen. Isn’t that just how the Labyrinth is?’

Chris had a gut feeling that it would actually happen the moment he saw the monster’s data. It was because it was something that came out of the Labyrinth.

It seemed to be a shared sentiment among those who had been to the Labyrinth.

Inside the clock tower overlooking the whole city, adjutants spread out maps and set up a temporary command post.

Soon, a flag was hung atop the clock tower.

One by one, signal flags began to appear on other distant watchtowers where mercenaries had arrived.

’Take them out.’

Following Chris’s instructions, the mercenaries tore open the boxes prepared on one side and took out potion bottles.

Ian also picked up one of those potions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Crisis Detection Potion]

- Consumable Item

- Allows the user to see the auras of hostile monsters, traps, and items for the duration.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chris grabbed a potion bottle and downed it.

’I can just keep watch for the monsters though.’

Seeing Chris drink the potion himself, Chloe, the archer in charge of this area, spoke up.

’Quiet. I need to see for myself what these bastards look like.’

Chris’s eyes turned toward the city below.

Auras like red smoke began to rise one by one from all over the city.

＊ ＊ ＊

’...It really came.’

Leona, who had been spending time in her private barracks, stood up.

She could feel the emergency signals echoing everywhere and the outside world becoming drenched in turmoil.

’It begins.’

The adjutants and soldiers who had been preparing in advance moved swiftly.

Leona, who had volunteered for the position of commander of the emergency response unit for this invasion, watched as the emergency alert—something she had never seen in all her years of military service—rang out.

The Emergency Response Unit. Among officers, it was the most avoided posting.

This was because during a monster invasion, when one could rack up major or minor achievements anywhere, this role was to simply wait with nothing to do.

Preparing for when monsters break down the walls and enter the city? It was a position where not a single achievement could be claimed.

Usually, it was a backwater post where officers nearing retirement spent their time.

However, the importance of such a position does not disappear just because it is rarely used.

It simply hadn’t been needed yet; this role held numerous powerful authorities to prepare for emergency situations.

A desperate situation where monsters have infiltrated the city.

Without needing to wait for decisions from the central command, this commander could issue virtually any order to quickly eliminate threats to the city.

Leona entered the military command barracks with her soldiers.

’I am Major Leona, Commander of the Emergency Response Unit.’

Silence fell over the command post that had been stiff with confusion, and everyone’s eyes turned toward her.

’In accordance with the issuance of the emergency alert, as of this hour, the Emergency Response Unit will take command of all forces on the Northern Front.’

Taking over the command table where the map was spread, Leona set down the operation plan she had brought with her.

It was the evacuation and combat plan she had stayed up all night drafting with Ian.

It was the urban extermination plan that Ian had named ’Street Cleaning’.

＊ ＊ ＊

’The signal has come.’

Second Lieutenant Mikhail, who was tending to the horses, turned his head.

Behind him, numerous cavalrymen were likewise preparing to be deployed with their horses.

Mikhail looked back as he mounted his horse.

The cavalry force following him seemed several times larger than when he was a squad leader.

He was used to riding because he was from the mobile patrol, but he never imagined he would be conducting a cavalry operation in the streets of Labyrinth.

...How on earth did it come to this?

A person he met by chance happened to be an acquaintance of his senior.

Thanks to that, he was stationed in the city.

Suddenly, a plan requiring cavalry was created.

And as he happened to be from the cavalry, he was designated as the person in charge of that plan.

It wasn’t just luck that had found him. Mikhail sensed that a massive current was sweeping through Labyrinth.

For now, he had simply caught that torrent by sheer luck. To avoid being swept away and falling, he had to cling to this flow with his life.

The evacuation of residents in the sectors where the alert was issued began.

Wagons blocked the main roads, and soldiers who had rushed out formed defense lines with their shields forward.

The cavalry charged into the streets that had been sealed off in that manner.

Mikhail shouted to the cavalrymen behind him as he galloped on his horse.

’Drink!’

The cavalrymen pulled out the small potion bottles they had prepared.

It was the Crisis Detection Potion they had been issued in advance.

A red aura.

Upon drinking the potion, auras like red smoke rose from various parts of the city.

’Target spotted on the right!’

Immediately, they could see the form of a monster hiding quietly against a nearby wall.

Was it not attacking because the opponent’s numbers were high?

The Stalker was watching the passing cavalry with an unpleasant gaze, as if waiting for an opportunity.

’Fire!’

Several cavalrymen in the front aimed their crossbows at the monster.

As the crossbow bolts flew in, the Stalker let out a small noise and quickly jumped back.

The attacked Stalker climbed up the wall at a speed even a horse would find hard to catch, vanishing in an instant.

Such monsters were visible hiding all over the urban area.

Red smoke was rising all across the streets.

All the cavalrymen running through the streets felt a chill at the sight.

If these invisible things were roaming the streets and attacking people, would they have ever been able to bring the chaos under control?

They wouldn’t even know the number of how many had entered.

Since the enemy was invisible, they could never have been certain if the extermination was truly finished.

In the end, they would have had to close off all the streets until a method was found.

The cavalry continued to gallop through the streets.

Whenever a monster was spotted, they immediately fired crossbows to drive it from its spot.

Driving the monsters away was very simple.

This monster was highly cautious and would not charge an opponent immediately. It observes its target for a long time and ambushes only when an opening is shown.

If its hiding spot is discovered or if it is attacked before then, it flees first.

Just by firing a crossbow first, the monster would flee in the opposite direction like a threatened bug.

The cavalry dispersed at every fork in the road, running along their designated routes and pushing back the monsters they saw.

’Drive them toward the plaza!’

Sweeping through the outskirts of the sector and pushing all the monsters toward the center, the encirclement of the cavalry and the defense lines slowly tightened.

’They’re coming.’

The mercenaries watching from the watchtower raised their bows and watched as the red auras, increasingly gathering toward the plaza, drew near.