High School Soldier
121. Death flag

Believe in luck…

But, Nio himself did not use that sentence too often for his determination when carrying out missions that could potentially occur in a fight with the enemy. Luck on the battlefield is indeed stingy enough to show themselves, not even infrequently there is not a single soldier left when there is a fight.

Nio had fought as a soldier for two years, and had gained unlimited combat experience. While being an amateur warrior, he had seen dozens of his friends die with sword slashes or torn apart by monsters, previous enemies had super sharp steel swords, then created some of the latest weapons.

Nio always thought he was too lucky in this war.

The duty of a soldier is not only to think, they also obey orders.

The soldier wearing a white cloth tie on the left arm with the Student Army emblem, was a group of youth troops with talents comparable to the Main Force in battle.

But, Nio not only had great luck to survive. He has very reliable friends, brutal weaponry, and is undoubtedly the key to defeating the enemy that made Nio ‘ forced’ into a warrior.

Although he was in a place far away from his friends who were on a mission, Nio still believed that they could still get through it all. This young man was sure that his friends could fight much more wildly than when he was leading.

Then he said inwardly, “I'm sure, they will all return safely and intact.”

Nio understood the meaning of the word ‘self-control’, and he carried it out while carrying out the mission with the 1st Cruiser Squad. He hopes his friends who are carrying out the mission do not forget it.

**

Attack helicopters fired rockets and cannon artillery, while troops on the ground also carried out attacks on tens of dozens of monster troops.

Explosions were heard everywhere.

A type of beast that walked by creeping was torn apart and their blood spurted in all directions. However, the crawling dog had no idea what ‘backward’ was, and they continued the foolish attack with an overwhelming number of herds.

Liben advises senior journalist, “You can still record it from the air!”

“You can't compare the quality of the footage from air and land! Enemy is just a pack of dogs slithering, what to fear.”

The journalist, Liben said, was too demanding, and could only whine for the protection of Team 1.

“Those dogs are scary! They are fast, and their movement is very dangerous, and they cluster in the hundreds!” number

As a member of the Reserve Force before deciding to join the Student Army, Liben swiftly recounted the frightening nature of the military dogs he had seen during training. He went on to explain to these three pretentious journalists about the dangers of this otherworldly dog.

A little carelessness might take their lives. Enemies will attack from any direction, and there is no safe zone like ‘backline’. So, finding a place where they would not be attacked was extremely difficult.

“What about the girl? We have to follow you because we are your bodyguards! But if this continues, you will engage the girl in battle as well!”

When Chandra asked the three journalists what they should do about the cat girl named Kuchez, doubts flashed across the faces of the three journalists.

Minutes later, a downwash created by a large transport helicopter propeller stirred the ground until dust and dry grass flew in all directions.

The transport helicopter Liben ordered landed. Then, the back door opened as if welcoming Team 1 explorer.

“This is bad, they're approaching!” shouted the journalist who was carrying a high-resolution camera.

“Sial, they're giant ogre!”

The body of the heavy armored giant ogre loomed among the tens of dozens of black dogs beneath.

Giant ogre troopers carry batons the size of telephone poles. No one dared to approach those monsters, unless they wanted to die being crushed using a club.

The giant ogres marched like solid walls, advancing through a 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm bullet storm like a heavy infantry force. The presence of the dozens of giants seemed more pressing than tanks.

Having no strong defensive line, Liben decided not to face them head-on. He chose to flank the enemy from both sides and attack them. The entire members went into action after getting an order from that substitute commander.

“Buruan! We have to air before the next bombing!”

The helicopter pilot was panicked, and signaled for the journalist to board immediately while carrying the cat girl.

“Leave the girl in the helicopter, we will continue filming!”

As the cameraman heard the voice of the senior journalist, he stared uneasily. Can I move quickly while carrying a heavy camera? Doubt took hold of his heart deeply.

“Pak, this is very dangerous,” the cameraman ventured to speak, and hoped to change the man's mind.

“Stupid basis! You won't get anything if you do something half-and-half!”

The senior journalist pulls the collar and curses the cameraman, forcing him to follow her by dragging her. The three journalists began to head for the front lines, where the members of the 1st Cruiser Squad and others were still fighting against the enemy.

Liben looked back at Dinda and the other female members, and told them to board a transport helicopter with the cat girl.

“What will you do?”

“We will pursue the three journalists. Please request a helicopter post to protect us, if possible!”

“Can't we leave those stupid journalists!?” Chandra who was getting fed up with the three journalists shouted.

“Can't! Peltu Nio ordered me to keep an eye on those stupid journalists!” liben replied with a wink and a smile, then stroked the head of the girl clinging to Dinda's arms.

“Gawat, it looks like I feel something,” murmured Dinda.

The girl blushed as she saw Liben rushing towards the front line.

**

“It's a nice place, there are gaps all over the wall. We will be able to see what is outside even when the door is closed.”

The senior journalist led his group to enter a small cottage on the edge of the village, and peeked inside through a crack in the wall.

This residence looks messy, as if it was built in a few days, but built for a long time, so many buffer in it.

A Demihuman woman was lying on the floor, where she was raped. He seems to be a local. The fact that a beautiful girl lives in the countryside is quite surprising, but maybe that's what inflames her rapist's animal lust.

Beside him was the body of a young man, and a sword poked out from his stomach. The man was trying to protect the woman.

However, senior journalists do not care about the lives and origins of these people. He looked at the cameraman and said:

“Start from here!”

“We can't, sir. It's too dangerous here. Wild animals are sensitive to the smell of blood from these corpses, and they will find us.”

“We'll be fine, there's bodies everywhere. Once we blend in with the smell, those monsters won't find us!”

The senior journalist seemed so excited that his breath was stirring. When the two young journalists saw the madness in their senior's eyes, they inevitably moved away from him. However, they were unable to escape right now, even if they wanted to do so. As if telling them that time was up, the transport helicopters flew over the building they were in.

Moreover, an army of monsters consisting mostly of slithering dogs approached. As the senior journalist put it, all this group of journalists could do was hide in this little hut and pray that the enemy passed them.

The cameraman and the others, including Chandra and the other members of the 1st Cruiser Squad rushed into the hut and closed the door behind them.

Shortly after, there was a violent collision when a dog slithering to the size of a tiger hit the door. The beast's breath and the way it broke the door frightened the group of journalists, and they were well aware of the dire situation they were in.

“What are you doing? Close the door!”

The two young journalists did as their senior ordered, and began to pile up obstacles at the door.

They kept piling up piles of wood, furniture, in the hope that this obstacle could hold the door and block the monsters.

Transport helicopters flying over the hut launched a fierce assault. Even if it only resulted in a small difference, Dinda did her best to exterminate the dozens of monsters below.

However, a 7.62mm bullet was ineffective against a giant ogre wearing a 2 cm thick armor. The assault rifle bullets bounced off just like that, and the batons of the giant ogres slashed wildly and smashed into the empty houses around it and smashed them.

Some ogres even put their batons on, with the aim of dropping large transport helicopters.

Their throws miss, but if their throws actually hit the helicopter, the attack could split the helicopter. Just looking at the baton that shot upwards after it missed hitting the helicopter, the airmen broke out in cold sweat with their hands holding the steering wheel shaking violently.

The senior journalist was seen smiling at the sight of the scene, and wished it had happened again so that he could record it for repeated viewing.

Liben who recently caught up with a group of journalists said inwardly, “They are absolutely crazy.”

Indeed, Liben ran into the battlefield of his own accord, so he himself was almost insane. However, Liben feels that the creature called the journalist is taking him to the next dangerous thing. The journalists could have boarded the helicopter to escape, but they chose to record scenes of people being killed or swallowed by the disaster. The rover squad 1 neither warns nor helps them, but calmly watches from the side and back, keeping them like family or girlfriends. One cannot live in this way without an overwhelming cold heart.

Suddenly Chandra and the others pat Liben on the shoulder saying, “Oi, oi, Liben!”

“What!?” Liben turned around and Sergeant Chandra pointed at the Demihuman woman on the floor.

“He, isn't he one of the frontline base troop informants?”

Although they did not know the name of this Demihuman woman, but some of the members of the 1st Cruiser Squad had seen her, and she worked as an informant.

Liben gently rubbed his still-warm cheeks, to ascertain whether he was alive or dead.

The first reaction the woman gave was a cough.

“He's alive!”

“Ooh, she's alive/”

Chandra and the others immediately felt relieved, now they knew that this woman could be saved. However, they should take her to medical care as soon as possible.

“Alright, Sergeant Liben, call the helicopter aviator again. We'll get out of this hut!”

However, the senior journalist protested against Sergeant Chandra's decision.

“Are you stupid? You said we're going out now!?”

Chandra snorted loudly, until his face was red after hearing the words of the journalist creature. However, the other members of the 1st Cruiser Squad patted her on the back with the intention of calming this young man down.

There was no guarantee that the monsters roaming outside would not chase after them if they came out.

Even an amateur like the senior journalist knew that the six members of the 1st Cruiser Squad in this hut could not stand against the alarming hordes of monsters outside of it.

Chandra said in a high tone, “So you want us to leave this woman!? You guys keep talking about how we carry life and death in our own hands, but instead of you being as ruthless as the enemy!?”

However, the senior journalist tried to fend off the problem Chandra had told him and said, “Why don't you consider what your priority is!? Saving a dying woman is important, but do you want to endanger Indonesians like us to save this half-animal woman!? Looks like you care more about animal women like her than civilians like us!”

Chandra and the senior journalist glared at each other. Then, before the problem got worse, Liben separated the two.

“It's okay. We can take him to the chopper without going outside.

“What are you thinking, Sergeant?” chandra asked with a question mark over her head.

“We can make a hole in the ceiling. Then, we'll tie him to a rope and let our members in the helicopter pull him up.”

Liben pointed to the ceiling, and then turned his gaze to the senior journalist with a contemptuous look.

“We are not warriors of the past. I'll show you, the journalists know what it means to be a Student Army.”

**

Making a hole in the ceiling that is in half-damaged condition is not difficult. First, they fired at the ceiling frame to split it apart, then climbed up the pillar to open the roof made of wood.

However, when they began to climb the support of the hut that was built carelessly, the wall that had felt sturdy began to feel shaky. Looks like this house is supported with these supports.

In addition, the transport helicopter that was about to evacuate seemed to attract more monsters. Monsters surrounded the huts from all sides, and a hail of 40mm cannon artillery rained down on the heads of dozens of such monsters.

Dust flew everywhere, and this otherworldly monster was smashed into pieces and then crashed in all directions thanks to the downwash of the transport helicopter.

The attack helicopter that had not long arrived unleashed the rocket, and swept the giant armored ogre beneath it.

Faced with a massive explosion and an unreliable wall that almost collapsed, the senior journalist covered his ears and shouted, “Fuck! It won't hold!”

The dog's sprawling muzzle began poking through the cracks of the wall. The shocked cameraman retreated in fear and fell on his stomach.

“Shoot! Shoot it! Shoot!”

Liben raises his rifle, and Chandra is helped by running out of bullets and is forced to use his sword. Liben fired a bullet after Chandra's sword blade pierced the flesh of the otherworldly beast.

The others opened fire through the wall, and hit a slithering dog-like beast that stuck their noses through the wall gap.

Two young journalists had first boarded the helicopter through the rope ladder provided, then Chandra flanked the senior journalist in his armpit as the rope ladder began to roll again and make them up.

Liben was the last soldier to board the helicopter.

Before he touched the rope ladder, there was a sound like a tronton truck crashing into the house until the surroundings shook.

Dust and wood chips rained down from above. The walls of the building creaked and split, and a giant six-legged monster that looked like a long-horned rhinoceros was seen through the roof of the hut where Liben stood. The animal tried to break through the houses with brick walls using its long and sharp horns.

The rhinoceros-like monster was filled with bullets and fell to the ground as a corpse. However, the hole in the wall he made became the entry point of the monsters, and they stormed in. Among the monsters that broke through, there was a bull-headed human-like monster.

Liben frantically pulled out his gun, and shot at the goblin who was trying to climb up the mast of this hut. Then he shot and kicked the monster who climbed the pole.

The soldiers in the helicopter protected Liben from above, and carried out a great support shot.

Fortunately, the enemy is not that smart.

After that, Liben climbed up the rope ladder, and the transport helicopter suddenly climbed at a speed of 700 meters per second.

He was hanging above 10 meters at an alarming rate of helicopters.

The members in the helicopter pointed their rifle barrel down, and fired all the remaining bullets in their respective magazines. Then, as a farewell gift, the attack helicopter unleashed four rockets towards the hundreds of monsters below.

Then, an attack jet passed through the transport helicopter of the Cruiser Squad 1. The warplane dropped a napalm bomb, and instantly turned the battlefield into hell.

The smell of the grilled meat of the monsters smelled, and the cries of agony of the monsters sounded melodious in the ears of the warrior of the Cruiser Squad 1.

Thus, the Empire's plan failed, and some of the guerrillas fled.

**

Once inside the transport helicopter, Liben was so tired that he lay breathlessly on the cabin floor. He proudly asked the senior journalist, “How about that? Did you see my action?”

The senior journalist answered him unhappily, “Yes, I saw everything. The army doesn't protect the people, that's what I believe. But you are not ordinary soldiers, exactly you are members of Student Army.”

The senior journalist was surprised by Chandra holding the camera and recording it, saying, “Oi what did you record!? Don't record me!”

Chandra with a mischievous smile continued to record the senior journalist, accompanied by the happy laughter of the members of the 1st Cruiser Squad.

“Eh?”

“What happened...!!!”

Chandra dropped the camera. His entire body was stiff, fresh blood came out of his mouth, and he fell to the cabin floor with his neck spurting blood.

The female Squad members shouted frantically seeing that, and a huge monster appeared behind Chandra.

The monster stuck its long, thick claws into Chandra's neck. The monster shouted loudly and pitched shrillly, and he still continued to grow big!

That's obviously bad. The monster's body was lined with strong muscles, and its claws grew increasingly long and sharp.

Its fur is dark brown, its face is savage like a carnivore, but not a cat or dog. However, her chest part was a clear sign that the monster was a woman. That strange human-like trait made the people here think that there might be human blood on the monster's pulse.

Kuchez was previously a girl until a while ago, but his head is now touching the ceiling of the helicopter, forcing him to bend as his size continues to enlarge. And now, the girl turned into a giant monster that made the helicopter claustrophobic with her large body.

Liben and his fellow soldiers could only stare with dumbfounded faces, they could not move for a moment when it was the girl who killed Chandra and turned into a terrifying monster, which was a terrible one, more terrible than minotaurs or giant ogres.

They cannot fire from this position.

The creature was in front of the cabin, where the cockpit was, if their shot missed, they would probably have shot into the cockpit, where most likely the bullet would have hit the aviator or the helicopter's critical systems.

Afraid of this senseless scene, the senior journalist fainted instantly as he tried to get away.

The monster raised its hand, and shouted to slash its claws at all nearby objects.

Dinda quickly darted forward, and repelled the monster's claws with her sword.

Liben grabs his rifle and grabs the found Demihuman woman, while one of the Squad members pulls the senior journalist's collar and drags him to the back of the cockpit. They were very close to the back door, if it approached a little more, they would plunge fatally.

Dinda, who turns out to have a close combat brevet with bare hands and sharp weapons, discards her helmet and confronts the creature head-on. The helmet was not strong enough to withstand the slash of the monster's claws, and blood flowed from its forehead.

Dinda wiped the blood off her forehead with her sleeves, standing with her sword, with a sharp gaze studying the Kuchez monster in search of weakness.

“To think your true form is a monster like this, you were a very cute girl before.”

With a puzzled look, the monster looked at the little female human who was going against him.

The difference between their physical stature was obvious. Still, Dinda, who was 162 centimeters tall, faced a monster over two meters tall, but the girl stepped forward as a challenge. Of course, the monster creature did not understand about ‘tant’.

“Haaaaaaah...!!!”

With a loud shout, Dinda brandished her sword and lunged for an attack.

A loud clanking sound rang out as the sword clashed against the monster's claws.

Dinda shook her sword again, the resulting clanking sound echoed throughout the cabin once more, and sparks flew as the steel clashed against the claws.

The monster bared its earrings to frighten its enemy, and swung its arms with great force.

Dinda flopped onto the floor, and rolled over to avoid the slash of claws that kept moving forward. He sneaked and attempted to reach his opponent's range before starting a melee battle, slashing and stabbing his enemy with his knife.

Every time it collided, new wounds were created in the bodies of the two, and their blood flowed.

Dinda's arms and legs were full of wounds.

Similarly to the monster, he bled purplish blood from the puncture wound Dinda produced, and stained its fur.

Dinda stripped off her heavy body armor, as if feeling it was disturbing. He toyed with the monster with nimble movements, performed deceptive moves several times and made use of the gap of his enemy to close the distance and would kill him.

However, the monster swung its powerful arm, and threw Dinda against the cabin wall violently.

But, Dinda managed to slash the monster's left armpit, and causing the blood coming out to dirty the floor, she groaned loudly.

Then, the monster was about to pounce on Dinda, as if to say, “You did an incredible fight!”

However, Liben and the rest of the members raised their rifles and retaliated.

Their attack has no purpose to injure the monster, but to protect Dinda.

Enraged by the disturbance of the soldiers, the monster shouted out a deafening loud bellow, then swung its arms wildly. The sharp claw hit and broke the helicopter window and slashed at the inside of the cabin.

After shaking her head vigorously in dizziness, Dinda then continued her combination attack. Unable to withstand it, the monster hugged its own body to protect itself. That was when, Dinda stuck her knife blade into the elbow end of the monster.

“Human ulnar nerves if cut off, their arms become useless. What about monsters like you?”

The monster, whose arms were now broken and folded, now chose to swing his left hand towards Dinda. However, with just one arm, more gaps appeared.

Dinda leapt back to dodge the monster's claws, and then shouted, “Air pilot! When I signal, turn over the helicopter!”

“What are you planning!?”

“Quiet! I'm just going to drive away the jerk who killed Chandra!”

Hearing that, Liben clasped tightly onto the Demihuman girl, and signaled that some members were protecting Chandra's lifeless body and holding on tight so as not to be thrown out.

Dinda stood on both palms like a gymnast, and her legs swung sweeping across the left arm of the monster.

With all the pain centered on his arm, the monster found himself smashing the floor. It was so painful that he gritted his teeth in pain. However, he immediately got up to his feet while extending that hand, and tried to catch Dinda.

That was the moment Dinda waited for. He charged into the chest of that unprotected monster.

“Now!”

With that, he threw the monster from his shoulder towards the back door of the helicopter.

However, Dinda could not make her throw, she was suppressed by the monster's huge body.

The monster searched the inside of the helicopter to avoid being thrown out. Then he showed his fangs to Dinda, intending to chew her head.

“How strong are you, I still haven't lost!”

Dinda tried to push the monster's face by kicking it with her hard boots.

“Probable!”

Dinda tilted her head to the side to avoid a drooling mouth, and both jaws were covered in sharp teeth.

As the sharp teeth were about to touch Dinda's face, the girl slammed her forehead firmly into the monster's snout.

Pain ran from the monster's nose, and Dinda thrashed from the monster's massive body, tied her legs around the monster's neck, and made a choke from behind his back.

“Fall, dammit!”

Facing this reversal of circumstances, the monster tried to release the twists of Dinda's legs on her neck. He suddenly got up and banged his head against the ceiling of the cabin.

The monster's head and Dinda's body hit the ceiling. After that loud bang was heard throughout the cabin, a huge body of monsters slid towards the open back door.

The unconscious Dinda also slid to the back door.

Liben quickly tried to grab Dinda's hand. Three members of the 1st Cruiser Squad reached out their hands to grab Liben's leg. With a small chance, Liben grabs Dinda's wrist and holds on to an object strong enough to withstand her body's weight.

Then, the helicopter aviators quickly controlled the helicopter to fly slightly downhill.

The monster was still clutching the end of the cabin, hanging on the edge of the hatch. It looks like he's trying to get back into the helicopter with his left arm.

Some members of the 1st Cruiser Squad saw this and tried to kick it, attacking repeatedly with their hard boots. The monster struggled desperately to hold himself back from being thrown out, but then Liben pointed his gun at the monster's face.

“Goodbye!”

The barrage of bullets turned the monster's face, aka Kuchez into a hole. As his head was hit by a barrage of pistol bullets, the monster shouted out a loud howl, his limbs motionless as it fell to the ground.

As Dinda came to her senses, she was congratulated by the whole person in awe, “You are truly an amazing woman.”

“Where is this?”

It seemed like it was an effect after his head hit hard enough earlier, so his memory was unclear. His eyes were blurred and his eyes were spinning.

“Are you okay? Do you remember who I am, us? Come on, don't joke!”

Liben and the others rained down on Dinda with dozens of questions, until she started getting fed up. However, it restored his memory in a short period of time, and he remembered where he was.

“Do not ask much!”

“Sorry, sorry. But, I swear, you were amazing.”

Dinda smiled when she heard Liben's words.

“So you've fallen in love with me? Why don't we date after this?”

The whole person looked surprised, some were unable to even close their mouth.

Dinda said that in a half-joking tone, because she knew Liben already had a girlfriend. One more thing, he had already given up on his feelings for Nio after realizing that there were enough women approaching his commander. He said it was not only because it was okay to be rejected, but he wanted to bet on one-to-a-million chance that he was prepared for it.

However, the answer was pretty obvious, and Liben responded in a way that Dinda did not expect at all.

“Sorry if I have to answer it like this. You know, Ivy and I were planning on getting married after this war ended.”

The helicopter cabin was silent, and there was only the sound of engines and propellers of transport helicopters.

“Eh..?”

The rest of the Squad, Fariz and Triana now showed pale faces, and did not know what to consider them in. Dinda trembled as she realized the terrible situation brought about by her careless words.

Besides no one knows when this shitty war ends, Dinda also does not know if she has earned the death flag (in romantic novels it is usually synonymous with unlucky characters, aka rejected feelings).

Dinda curled up in fear after realizing that she did not know the way out of this kind of situation.

“What should I do?”

Dinda said that in a panicked tone, much more frantic than when fighting the monster earlier.

Then there's something else that's much more important, and Liben still doesn't know how he should report Chandra being killed on this mission. He could imagine Nio's face after hearing his words, and he felt more sorry for Nio than for her. Because Nio also had to report this to the superiors, where the aura in the officer room was much more pressing than the battlefield.

**

Napalm, also called a firebomb fuel mixture, has a gel-like consistency that allows it to stick to the target. Napalm is often used in combination with gasoline or jet fuel to make bombs with a thin outer shell that is explosive and flares up when hit.