The Regressor Only Protects Me [EN]: Chapter 105

105. The Beginning of the Counterattack (1)

The Frog in the Flask.

The theory suggests that a frog thrown into hot water will immediately jump out, but if placed in water that is slowly heated, it will gradually die.

While the validity of this theory is debatable, it serves as an apt metaphor for the current situation with Doan.

Kang Si-On was slowly boiling the enemies of Doan who had invaded Anyang Ilbeonga.

* * *

The commander of Doan, covered in blood, trembled violently.

Beside him lay a woman, dead with an axe embedded in her forehead, and to his right, a male soldier shuddered, his mouth filled with blood.

The commander slowly raised his head and looked around.

Many warriors and soldiers were engaged in battle.

Mounted cavalry charged through, mercilessly slaughtering the soldiers of Mangyeong.

Clearly, the warriors were pushing forward relentlessly.

But something was amiss.

The commander of Doan surveyed the battlefield, thinking.

Something’s wrong. Something’s off.

We should be winning, but why doesn’t it feel like we are?

“Ugh… Ughhhh!”

A warrior, his arm pierced by an arrow, collapsed to the ground, screaming.

Simultaneously, numerous enemy archers rained arrows down on the warriors.

It was impossible to advance or retreat.

Despite having numerical superiority, they didn’t seem to have the upper hand.

It was as if they were trapped in a maze.

As if they were circling the same spot for days.

The commander of Doan retreated from the front lines, banging and kicking at the bus-tank door.

The bus door opened.

Clunk, thud!

The bus-tank could only be entered if someone opened the door from the inside. Inside the tank, about 15 men were pushing against pillars.

“One, two! One, two!”

“One, two! One, two!”

The men were working to move the tank.

Their role was similar to that of the rowers on the old Panokseon ships [Korean warships with a multi-tiered structure].

Five archers were stationed on the ceiling.

And on each side of the windows, 5 spearmen, 10 in total, were pushing back the soldiers of Mangyeong who were attacking through the windows.

The commander approached the tank operator sitting in the driver’s seat at the front.

The tank operator was checking the front through a small gap and moving the wheels.

Even without gasoline, turning the steering wheel would move the bus’s wheels.

Next to him were four bells, each making a different sound.

They were command bells for ‘Speed up,’ ‘Slow down,’ ‘Push back,’ and ‘Stop.’

The commander, standing next to the operator, picked up the ‘Stop’ bell and shook it vigorously.

Clang- clang- clang-!

All the men inside the bus immediately stopped what they were doing.

“Haa… haa…! Ugh….”

“Ugh! Puke!”

The men who had been pushing the bus collapsed as soon as they heard the ‘Stop’ command.

Some vomited, and some drooled, searching for nonexistent water.

Startled by the sudden appearance of the commander’s order, the operator turned to him and shouted.

“Why, why are you doing this?! We can take those bastards down in just a bit…!”

“Wait… I think it’s a trap. We need to pull back.”

The commander pushed the operator’s body and looked through the small gap in the front.

It seemed as though the warriors of Doan were pushing back the soldiers of Mangyeong, but something felt unnatural.

For some reason, the enemy soldiers kept retreating, as if luring the warriors.

In other words, it was a trap.

Although he wasn’t particularly experienced in military matters, the commander could tell.

‘If the attack is working too easily, it means it’s a trap.’

The commander, feeling a chill down his spine, immediately ordered the tank to pull back.

Clang clang clang clang-!

The ‘Push back’ command bell rang loudly inside the city bus.

The men, who hadn’t been given even a moment to rest, immediately moved in the opposite direction and began pushing the bus.

The commander didn’t stop and picked up the next bell.

This time, it was the ‘Speed up’ bell.

Cling, cling, cling, cling, cling-!!!

He wanted to get out of here quickly.

Because no matter how he thought about it, it felt strange.

The more they attacked Anyang Ilbeonga, the more their own warriors seemed to die.

‘I have to escape. I have to escape…!’

Not satisfied with the current speed, the commander himself jumped into the ranks of the men and began pushing the bus.

But as is often the case.

Bad premonitions never miss.

Thud… thud…!

After a series of tremors, a dark shadow fell over the city bus window.

At first, he thought it was the shadow of a building, but when the shadow began to move, the commander cowered.

* * *

Anyang Ilbeonga.

The warriors of Doan began their full-scale offensive. They crossed the entrance of Ilbeonga and stormed into the central shopping district.

They had been reporting victories for the past two days.

The soldiers were dying one by one under their offensive, and the front lines of Mangyeong were constantly pushed back.

The strategy of Doan was simple yet brutal.

It was a method of indiscriminately attacking until the defensive forces of the targeted point were completely annihilated.

Manpower, weapons, players.

The warriors were mobilizing all available forces.

Doan pushed forward with overwhelming firepower and numbers. They continued their attacks day and night until they completely destroyed even the most fortified barricades of Mangyeong.

The battles mostly took place in 3-hour intervals, and each battle resulted in over 400 casualties for both sides combined.

Mangyeong set up barricades in the shopping center buildings and defended with long-range attacks, but it was useless.

Doan possessed a ‘fire ladder truck’ that was far more robust than the siege ladders of the Middle Ages.

This formidable siege weapon easily broke through Mangyeong’s barricades.

It only took Doan an hour to capture a building.

But even so, Mangyeong had a glimmer of hope.

The player, Jin Jae-Hee.

She was redeployed to the battlefield.

The rooftop of a building in Ilbeonga.

She knocked down a man and stabbed her sword into the center of his collarbone.

The man, spurting blood, said to Jae-Hee.

“You monster…! You… X bastard… I’m going to kill you… die!”

As if rewarding his provocation, she stabbed the blade even harder.

Crack… crunch…!

As Jae-Hee stabbed the blade even harder, the terrified warrior quickly changed his expression and said.

“It hurts… ah… I’m sorry… ah, I didn’t… curse at you… please spare me… please.”

He had been glaring at her as if he wanted to kill her just a moment ago, but he quickly caved in to the intense pain.

But she had already forgotten the feeling of guilt.

Without any expression, she met the warrior’s eyes and instantly beheaded him.

Swoosh-!

“…Hoo.”

Jae-Hee took a deep breath.

She was indiscriminately slaughtering the warriors of Doan on the rooftop where the battle was raging.

She was already so exhausted that her breath reached the roof of her mouth, but her sword did not stop.

Slice-!

Their power surpassed that of humans, but it could never be divine.

Because of endurance.

Slice-!

But through training and discipline, that endurance could be increased.

Slice-! Gurgle….

“……”

“Cough… kahhh….”

“Agh…!”

The warrior of Doan, whose neck was pierced by her sword, vomited blood.

Jin Jae-Hee put her strength into pulling out the sword.

Gurgle…!

The blood flowing from the warrior of Doan splattered on the asphalt floor.

Already, dozens had died by her sword.

Jae-Hee’s hand, gripping the sword hilt, trembled.

“……”

Her whole body was covered in blood.

From her hair to her toes.

If she wiped her face with her hand, it would be covered in blood.

Jae-Hee stared at the dying warrior, coughing, wiped the blood off the blade, and looked at the street.

Soldiers and warriors were intertwined, killing each other.

Now, there were more dead than alive on the road.

Some warriors screamed and entered buildings without defensive forces.

The reason Si-On hadn’t placed defensive forces in those buildings was simple.

That place was the ‘Swamp of the Alligator Turtle.’

Anyang Ilbeonga was the largest habitat of the alligator turtle [a large, aggressive species of snapping turtle].

The warriors of Doan, unaware of this fact, entered the turtle’s mouth with their own feet.

Once again, the screams and shouts of the warriors were heard.

In that sound, the sounds of humans and beasts were mixed.

“Keep pushing!”

“Caw caw caw! Kyaaaaak-!”

“Don’t leave a single one alive!”

“Kkyahhhhhhh!”

No, in fact, could there be anything that could be called human here?

Everyone is just a beast.

They rush at their prey to achieve their goals, never give up, and attack the same species, baring their teeth.

The relationship between these two forces is not one of predator and prey, but of predator and predator.

It was like two hyenas fighting fiercely over prey that had already been caught.

Now, the two hyenas were bleeding profusely, and the battle was coming to an end.

The warriors of Doan were already exhausted, and the soldiers of Mangyeong, who were fighting in shifts, had energy left.

Si-On had told Jin Jae-Hee.

When the enemy is exhausted from a long attack, that will be the beginning of the counterattack.

And Si-On’s prediction was accurate.

From the central downtown street, the soldiers of Mangyeong were slowly pushing back the warriors.

When they had exhausted all their strength and began to tire, that was when ‘they’ would rise up and advance.

Just in time, the sound of drums came from the distant walls of Mangyeong.

Thump-!

Thump-!

Thump-!

It was the lord’s command to begin the operation.

The time had come to end this war.

‘…Finally.’

Jin Jae-Hee dispelled the Unsung Sword and took out a 500ml bottle of water from her pocket.

And without hesitation, she poured the unidentified liquid inside the water bottle over her head.

Splash splash-.

A subtle, fragrant floral scent wafted from her entire body.

It wasn’t just Jin Jae-Hee.

The soldiers of Mangyeong stopped fighting and opened the caps of the water bottles they each had, pouring the liquid on their bodies.

Every nook and cranny, without missing a spot, to ‘avoid being eaten.’

The warriors who were fighting in front of them thought they had all gone crazy.

But the reason was soon revealed.

Rumble rumble rumble…!

The asphalt began to shake.

As if there was an earthquake.

* * *

Ogres dig caves and live in them.

Uncharacteristically of their large bodies, they dig holes in the ground like small mammals and make hiding places.

So, the Anyang Station underground shopping center was perfect for them.

Si-On had set up a different defense strategy for the defense of Ilbeonga than for Bisan-dong.

It was a strategy that utilized the ogre’s habits.

The ogres had been starving for a long time, and starving predators were extremely ferocious.

Rumble rumble rumble…!

Once again, the area shook.

And the ogres who heard the drums raised their heads one by one.

Crash crash crash-!

The ogres broke through the solid asphalt and began to rise and advance.

“……”

“……”

“Ah……. Ah……!”

As if time had stopped, the scenery of the battlefield changed in an instant.

Among the warriors, huge ogres were all raising their heads, looking up at the sky.

At the same time, they were drooling.

They were very hungry.

Si-On had deliberately not fed them for the past month.

-Kuaaaa….

-Kaaaa….

And they hate the scent of Nepenthes flowers [tropical pitcher plants].

Si-On had taught them that through bells and training.

The ogres would start eating, avoiding only the soldiers of Mangyeong who were covered in the scent of flowers.

The warriors on the bus-tank stared blankly at them.

Front and rear, side and underground. Everywhere was full of ogres.

In a word, this place was an ogre field.

The Doan commander of the bus-tank, watching it, raised the corners of his mouth as if he had lost his mind.

“Puhuhu……. Puhahahaha……!”

The ogres rushed straight at the Doan bus-tank.

-Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

-Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

-Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!!!!!!!!

-Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!

The ogres clenched their fists and struck down, and the bus-tank became as flat as a pancake.

Whack-!

From between the flattened bus, human blood and flesh flowed out like honey from inside a pancake.

* * *

My body swayed up and down regularly on the ogre’s shoulder.

The enemies must be tired now.

The capture of Ilbeonga had continued for the past week, and they had not been able to produce meaningful results.

Also, as the Pamian apartment complex became bogged down, the commanders of Doan must have been getting a headache.

So, now is the most appropriate time to counterattack.

The enemies will think that they have already experienced all of Mangyeong’s combat power.

But they will realize that what they have experienced is just scratching the surface.

-Kuaaaaaaa……!!!

Thump, thump!

The ogre running in front of me suddenly knelt down.

A huge crossbow was slung on its back.

The Minister of Labor, riding on the ogre’s back, meticulously operated the giant crossbow with the math teacher.

Then he turned around and drew a circle with his hand.

“……”

I got up from my seat.

To be exact, I got up from the ogre’s shoulder.

Our special forces were hiding in the vicinity of Surisan [a mountain in Anyang], behind Mangyeong.

We had been quietly holding our breath for several days, so that they wouldn’t notice.

The combat power of the special forces, who had been stockpiling strength, would be the best.

With just one word from me, the aspect of the war will now be reversed.

It was the same in the shopping mall, and it was the same in the police station.

And now, this city. Anyang is mine.

I will unify Anyang.

That way, I will get what I want.

As always.

I turned around.

There, countless soldiers were waiting for my words.

I ordered them.

“Charge.”

With that order, the commander next to me waved the flag greatly.

Then the signal corps of Mangyeong began to beat the drums.

Thump, thump, thump-!

Downtown Ilbeonga.

Toward that place, the ogres all rushed out at once with the sound of the drums.

-Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!

-Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!

-Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!

While screaming so loudly that even God would be terrified.

(Continued in the next episode)