Trenches, Guns, and Magic

"Detonate!"

The breacher pulled down the handle of the detonator.

The "Anti-Vampire Claymore" released all its energy in that instant. The shockwave formed by the directional blast, carrying thousands of silver fragments, swept across the entire street in a fan shape.

The swarming Blood Servants fell in swathes under the coverage of the silver fragments.

The areas struck by the fragments began to rapidly carbonize, spreading outward from the wounds. In less than a few seconds, the entire body turned into a pile of charred remains on the ground.

Regarding this "peculiar" phenomenon of vampire creatures, Morin had specifically consulted Cleric Cristiano, who appeared relatively more "scientific."

The latter told him that based on the research of historical records by relevant personnel in the Holy See, they believed this might be a kind of energy release process that occurs after vampire creatures die... or rather, lose control of their bodies.

But regardless, after this Claymore detonated, the street quieted down.

This silence allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. The instruction unit soldiers hid behind cover, adjusting their somewhat rapid breathing from entering combat, while some took the opportunity to reload their weapons.

But this silence lasted less than half a minute.

From the blood-red mist in the distance of the street, dense pale figures quickly began pouring out again, converging into a new tide pressing in this direction.

"Fuck fuck fuck!!!"

An instruction unit veteran cursed. The light machine gun he had just reloaded with a new ammo box was aimed forward again, but his grip still trembled slightly.

As a veteran who had experienced all kinds of major battles, he and the others weren't afraid of dying. It was this feeling of an endless, inexhaustible enemy that made one's hair stand on end.

Kill one batch, and another comes, like poking an anthill. It felt like being back in Paris...

The condition of the other soldiers around was similar. Even the instruction unit veterans who had fought several hard battles alongside Morin couldn't help but feel their hearts drum when facing this scene.

Just then, Cleric Cristiano and several Paladins beside him spoke simultaneously. Low Latin prayers emanated from behind their hound-faced helmets, converging into a strange resonance.

A layer of warm golden halo spread out from them, enveloping everyone nearby.

That anxiety and fear originating from deep within was smoothed away the instant the golden halo touched their bodies.

Taking its place was an indescribable sense of security, as if someone were whispering in your ear—It's okay, you won't die here.

"This is the Prayer of Courage."

Cleric Cristiano stopped his prayer and turned to the instruction unit officer beside him.

"It can suppress the mental fear of ordinary people... especially fear induced by this kind of dark power. It is extremely effective."

"Are you saying our minds were affected?" the somewhat surprised officer asked.

Cleric Cristiano: "Correct. This is also one of the domain effects of the 'Blood River'. It can affect enemies entering it, manifesting as interference with morale for an army... However, the duration is limited. It needs to be recast roughly every half hour."

The officer nodded. During the conversation with the cleric, he could already feel his heartbeat returning to normal.

"Additionally—"

Cleric Cristiano glanced ahead at the approaching tide of blood-red.

"That directional explosive device you used just now is highly effective."

"I suggest the subsequent advance be spearheaded by your soldiers using explosives to clear the way. I and the other clerics will handle the stragglers that slip past the blasts, but we need to conserve our armaments and divine spell reserves as much as possible for the city center."

"The closer to the Old Royal Palace, the stronger the enemies we face will be... That's when we will truly need to go all out."

The instruction unit officer immediately understood his meaning. Although these macho clerics from the Holy See looked incredibly tough, their armaments and divine spells were not infinite and had to be saved for critical moments.

"Understood!"

After clarifying the situation, the instruction unit officer quickly turned back to the others.

"Demolition team, prepare the next round! From here on, we adopt the 'Explosive Advance' tactic!"

The order was quickly relayed. The instruction unit soldiers began a process they had briefly rehearsed—advance a certain distance, set up a Claymore, wait for the Blood Servants to swarm up, detonate to clear the area, and then continue moving forward.

Although this "Explosive Advance" tactic consumed ammunition extremely fast, it won in safety and efficiency.

And during the intervals of advancing, a portion of the soldiers were assigned another task.

"Press down that manhole cover! Find a way to block it dead!"

"There's another exit over here, get some more things to block it up!"

In the areas they advanced through, all sewer manhole covers and exits along the way were sealed shut with whatever heavy objects they could find, or simply blown up directly.

This was a precaution specifically emphasized before the battle by the Kampfgruppe command post, considering it highly likely that Blood Servants would travel through the sewers, to prevent them from circling beneath and launching surprise attacks from the rear of the formation.

An NCO, after sealing a manhole cover, still feeling uneasy, led his men to pile several stone slabs scavenged from a collapsed wall nearby on top of it.

Thus, the joint assault force composed of Holy See Paladins and elite instruction unit soldiers advanced toward the city center of Bucharest at a slow but steady pace.

The brief tranquility following every Claymore detonation would be broken by the influx of a new wave of Blood Servants, but the soldiers had adapted to this rhythm. Some even started joking with each other during the intervals.

"Hey, have you been counting? What wave is this today?"

"Who the fuck has time to count that?"

"I counted. It's the 7th wave."

"...You really have too much free time."

But at the same time, the front lines in other directions were not as relaxed.

The perimeter troops commanded by Lieutenant General Marwitz noticeably slowed their advance after entering the urban area.

However, this was entirely expected by Morin and Lieutenant General Marwitz. Ordinary troops without Holy See Paladins clearing the way could only rely on conventional firepower and silver weapons to hold out against swarms of Blood Servants; their advance efficiency naturally couldn't be high.

And the two of them never intended for the conventional troops to quickly attack the location of the Old Royal Palace from the start.

These forces attacking from multiple directions had only one primary mission: attract as much attention from the vampires as possible to alleviate the pressure on the central assault force.

So on several front lines that were clearly beginning to stall, the Saxon soldiers decisively stopped their rash advance.

"Halt advance! Post observation sentries! Everyone else, construct positions in place!"

Constructing positions was arguably the Saxon Imperial Army's best skill.

For those instruction unit soldiers, it was one of their signature abilities...

Even in urban ruins, the Saxon soldiers could throw together decent temporary defense lines in an extremely short time.

Overturned carriages, chunks of collapsed walls, furniture dragged out from buildings—everything usable was piled together to form crude but effective barricades.

Then came the positional defensive warfare they were even more familiar with.

Flamethrowers sealing the front, light and heavy machine guns arranged in a crossfire, different firepower echelons combined, minimizing dead angles of fire as much as possible.

In addition, whenever the number of Blood Servants accumulated to a certain level, a pre-planted "Anti-Vampire Claymore" would be detonated, sweeping the charging Blood Servants clean.

After clearing, the entire position would advance fifty to a hundred meters, and then reconstruct the defense line.

Round and round it went.

Although slow, it was undeniably effective.

And Lieutenant General Marwitz, feeling very confident, sent out a large number of radiant crystal trucks fully loaded with ammunition and supplies, following just a short distance behind the frontline troops.

Although those converted Blood Thralls in the city retained the ability to use weapons, their limited numbers of artillery and heavy machine guns could not pose a threat to the supply lines in the rear.

Especially when the garrison's small number of artillery pieces could only conduct direct fire, they would even be counter-suppressed by the light mortars already equipped in large numbers by the Saxon troops, unable to provide adequate support.

And being able to have supply trucks follow close behind meant the frontline soldiers didn't have to worry about ammunition consumption at all. Once they ran out, they immediately unloaded more from the trucks behind them; there was enough.

But even so, the pressure in some locations was still unbearable.

On a main road in the northeast direction of the urban area, an infantry company had just repulsed a wave of Blood Servant attacks.

The last "Anti-Vampire Claymore" had been used up, the fuel for the flamethrowers was bottoming out, and the company commander was considering whether to fall back to the previous defense node.

But just then, from the blood-red mist in the distance of the street, a new wave of Blood Servants poured out.

This time, the number was greater than the previous three waves combined, and quite a few figures of Blood Thralls wielding weapons also appeared in the rear.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

As gunshots rang out, several soldiers on the position were quickly downed by accurate shooting, and the rest dared not easily pop their heads out.

But with the Blood Servants rapidly approaching, this clearly placed them in a dangerous situation.

"Red signal flare! Quick!"

The company commander didn't hesitate for a moment. He grabbed the flare gun from the waist of the communications soldier beside him, aimed at the sky, and pulled the trigger.

A red signal flare trailed a plume of smoke, shooting up into the sky shrouded by the blood-colored dome.

Dozens of seconds later, just as the leading Blood Servants had reached the front of the position, the massive silhouette of the L16 armored airship appeared in the sky above this street.

Immediately following, the 20mm autocannons began to roar. Shells swept all the way down the centerline of the street, each one blasting a cloud of blood mist among the horde of Blood Servants.

For these low-tier vampire creatures, a 20mm shell hitting anywhere above the torso was lethal enough; the massive kinetic energy directly shattered their bodies.

Next, the bomb bay doors at the bottom of the cargo bay opened, and explosive satchels were pushed out one after another.

Explosions blossomed continuously on the street, blowing the hordes of Blood Servants into the air and tearing them to shreds.

The company commander lay prone behind cover, watching the behemoth overhead pouring firepower, and let out a long breath of stale air.

"Thank God..."

The two armored airships floating over the city were the only two units capable of responding instantly to infantry requests for support.

But as the offensive continued, red signal flares rising from all over the city began to increase.

Although the L15 and L16 armored airships shuttled back and forth over the urban area, doing their utmost to respond to every distress signal, Bucharest was a large city after all. No matter how fast the two airships flew, they couldn't cover every direction; there were always places they couldn't reach...

In a somewhat narrow street on the other side of the urban area, quite a few Saxon soldiers were surrounded by Blood Servants vastly outnumbering them, and Blood Thralls further back.

The soldiers stood with their backs against the stone wall at the end of the alley, firing madly toward the alley entrance. Rifles, submachine guns, grenades—all available firepower was unleashed.

The surging Blood Servants jammed together in the narrow alley. Those in front were knocked down, and those behind stepped over their corpses and continued crawling forward.

"Magazine! Give me a magazine!"

"I'm out! I'm out too!"

The platoon leader's pistol fired its last bullet. He shoved the empty gun back into its holster, then picked up a rifle beside a fallen soldier, drew the silver bayonet from his waist, and mounted it on the muzzle.

"All hands, attention! Prepare for—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the stone wall on the right side of the alley suddenly blew open... Or rather, it wasn't an explosion, but something forcibly smashing through it from the inside.

Amidst scree and dust, an Armored Knight nearly six meters tall squeezed in through the gap in the wall.

The "Siegfried Mark I," with its signature boxy design and thick breastplate, appearing from the flying dust and rubble, was simply the most beautiful sight in the world for these Saxon soldiers at this moment.

The Armored Knight's right arm rose, aiming the mounted large flamethrower toward the alley entrance.

A thick pillar of fire erupted, turning the entire alley into a furnace. The Blood Servants emitted piercing shrieks in the flames, their bodies rapidly carbonizing and crumbling.

After completing the first round of spraying, the Armored Knight's left mechanical hand directly grabbed a Blood Servant attempting to climb onto the machine from the side.

As the fingers tightened, the Blood Servant's body was crushed into a twisted lump of meat by the immense force channeled through the magitech muscle bundles, then casually tossed aside.

"Retreat through the gap!"

A somewhat distorted voice came through the Armored Knight's loudspeaker. This platoon leader reacted extremely fast, immediately calling for his soldiers to run out through the gap in the wall smashed open by the Armored Knight.

It wasn't until the last soldier squeezed out through the gap that the Armored Knight slowly backed up, using its massive body to block the gap, and continued sweeping the remaining Blood Servants with its flamethrower.

Similar scenes were playing out across the urban area.

The six Armored Knights brought as reinforcements for the 48th Corps were now dispersed across different front lines. Their towering figures and the flames spewing from their arms became the infantry's most reliable backing.

But there were only six Armored Knights after all; they couldn't cover the entire city.

And as the troops pushed deeper into the urban area, a thornier problem began to surface.

Those Blood Thralls converted from defending soldiers did not charge mindlessly like the low-tier Blood Servants.

They hid inside the buildings, which directly cranked the difficulty of the assault to the maximum.