Chapter 192 – The Knight and the Self-Propelled Artillery (2)

“Life really is a mess, isn’t it? Don’t you think so too?”

Inside the tank, filled with machinery.

Liu Qian, a former Chinese military warrant officer and tank commander, peered out through the narrow observation window before turning around to ask.

However, the loader sitting right behind him didn’t respond.

Not that he expected an answer.

The soldier, who had always been quick to retort before, could no longer speak.

Even without a response, the tank commander continued talking.

“At least you don’t smell. If you were a corpse, the stench of decay would have filled this cramped tank. That would’ve been hell. Well, maybe it’s already hell.”

The tank commander, also the platoon leader, spoke to the now-skeletal former platoon member who was staring at him.

The sight of a skeleton with flickering yellow flames in its eye sockets glaring at him was no different from the ghosts in stories.

But after spending so much time together inside this moving hunk of metal, it no longer felt scary.

“No, maybe it’s because we’re on the same side now.”

The tank commander turned his head to address the other skeletons inside the tank.

“Still, I feel sorry for you guys. I thought if the entire unit surrendered, they wouldn’t kill us…”

When zombies began to overrun the world and the North Korean border collapsed, the armored division, surrounded by the army of the dead, surrendered to the King of the Dead.

Tens of thousands of corpses, including the families of the soldiers, had surrounded the division, and the general of the undead army, unlike the other corpses, was capable of communication.

With communications cut off and soldiers turning into zombies one after another, the command made the decision to surrender.

They had hoped that surrendering would spare them from becoming part of the undead horde, but that hope was brutally crushed.

Of course, the Demon King’s servant hadn’t lied.

Instead of turning the soldiers and officers into zombies, they were turned into skeletons.

However, those like Warrant Officer Liu Qian, who were more useful alive, were left as they were, while the rest were turned into skeletons.

Like Liu Qian’s platoon members, who had become skeletons.

“At least I’m glad that all the officers at headquarters turned into skeletons. Honestly, it’s better to have the Demon King’s servants, or rather, the skeletons, in command than those bastards.”

“Plus, who would’ve thought we’d end up firing cannons in a fantasy medieval world? That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Despite his words, Liu Qian’s expression wasn’t great.

“Of course, everything else is just a living hell.”

The tank commander wasn’t really talking to anyone anymore, just muttering to himself.

“Living with the skeletons of my platoon members in here, finding out that the country has fallen and my family has turned into zombies, being cursed with some strange magic that’ll make my head explode if I betray them—it’s all just one nightmare after another.”

“But the worst part is that even death won’t set me free.”

Even if he killed himself, he’d just become a skeleton, holding a gun and charging at the walls like the other skeletons.

“Unlike zombies, the skeletons can shoot guns and do simple tasks because their souls are still intact, or so they say. Of course, it’s hard to believe what the Demon King’s servants say, but hearing that makes it hard to commit suicide.”

Maybe that’s why, or maybe it’s just because he couldn’t bring himself to die, but in the end, those who surrendered and didn’t become skeletons were forced to attack humans under the Demon King’s orders.

“Speaking of which, they said they’ve broken through everywhere else, so why is it taking so long here?”

As he grumbled, a response came through.

It was from the radio.

The radio, which had been silent when fighting the undead, now worked perfectly again after the skeleton mages did something to it.

If they could fix the radio, they might as well have fixed smartphones too.

If he could at least play games, this hellish life might have been a little more bearable.

While he was lost in thought, an unexpected voice came through the radio.

[All the observers have been taken out, so we haven’t been able to locate the artillery position yet. There must be a skilled sniper on that wall. Over.]

“A sniper? Probably a mage. But is that okay? If all the observers are taken out, we could be discovered too.”

[Keep your voice down. I’m a lieutenant.]

“What’s with the rank play in a surrendered army? The Demon King probably doesn’t even know human ranks.”

[……Anyway, don’t worry about that. They might be using some magic we don’t know about, but they’ve never faced guns or cannons before. They probably just took out some unusual skeletons and have no idea what those skeletons were doing.]

The communication officer’s words made sense.

But having developed a danger-sensing ability after fighting the Demon King’s army, Liu Qian felt extremely uneasy after hearing the radio.

“Well, this ability isn’t always right. Back when we surrendered, I wasn’t anxious, so I thought it would be fine.”

Of course, the ability had kept him safe.

But it only warned him about his own life.

“Still, check again. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

[Understood. I’ll check again.]

Unfortunately, no retreat order came.

Of course, no army would retreat based on a tank crew’s words.

If even human armies wouldn’t do that, there was no way the Demon King’s army would listen to him.

“Ah, this isn’t good… Should I at least move this tank back?”

But sadly, he had to follow orders.

In the Demon King’s army, disobedience didn’t lead to prison—it led to becoming a skeleton.

As he was growing anxious, the sound of machine gun fire suddenly came from the front.

Ratatatat!

Not just one machine gun, but several firing chaotically.

“Damn, they got us again.”

As the machine gun fire grew closer, he shouted into the radio.

“What do you mean you can’t find them? Something’s coming this way!”

As he yelled, the machine gun fire stopped.

A voice came through the radio.

[Machine gun unit wiped out! A single knight is moving through the unit at high speed. The knight’s direction is expected to head toward the self-propelled artillery!]

“Expected? Tell me for sure!”

[There’s no one left to communicate with! We’re barely tracking them with drones! Be grateful we’ve got this much! Damn it, the drone’s down too! What the hell took it out!]

“Then what do we do? Can we retreat?”

[What are you talking about? Hold your position! What do you think you’re in? A People’s Liberation Army warrant officer thinking of running away with his tail between his legs because of one knight!]

“People’s Liberation Army my ass. The country’s already fallen, and the survivors are attacking humans alongside zombies and skeletons.”

Though he grumbled, he wasn’t wrong.

The knights of this world, unlike medieval knights on Earth, were said to be truly capable of taking on a hundred men at once, but that didn’t mean they could surpass modern weaponry.

“Seeing how they took out the machine gun positions and are charging at us, they can probably dodge bullets, but modern weapons aren’t just guns.”

As he steeled himself, another urgent voice came through the radio.

[We’ll have the artillery position soon, just hold off the knight!]

“Got it.”

He gave a curt reply over the radio and then switched to the platoon channel.

“Tank 1 to all tanks. I’ll designate coordinates. All tanks, fire simultaneously at the coordinates I give.”

[Understood.]

[Roger.]

[Over.]

[Over.]

[Over.]

[…….]

He gave the order through the radio, and the other tank commanders, still human, followed his instructions.

Even the platoon leader, who had remained silent until now, complied.

He had no choice.

Among the tank platoon members here, he was the only one who had awakened.

And it was an ability that greatly helped in driving the tank.

He widened his eyes and stared through the observation window.

Then, he activated his newly acquired ability once more.

The ability that told him where danger was, where the threat was coming from.

He relayed the most dangerous area, the place where the threat was coming from, to everyone.

“Seven seconds, 800 meters, 11:30 direction… Three seconds, two seconds, one second. Fire!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six tanks from the platoon fired simultaneously at the coordinates he had given.

Six shells flew through the air, obliterating the area he had indicated.

Flames erupted, and dust clouds rose high.

And the fear he had felt moments ago subsided.

“Did we get him?”

Well, six modern tanks firing simultaneously—no human could survive that.

Still, he couldn’t let his guard down.

It wasn’t as unsettling as before, but something still felt off.

***

“Wow… I didn’t expect that kind of artillery barrage.”

I let out a sigh, half-buried in the ground.

That was a close call.

I almost got hit by those shells and died.

It was a completely unexpected attack.

Getting to the self-propelled artillery unit wasn’t too difficult.

Stepping on zombie heads, leaping over the zombie horde, finding the self-propelled artillery unit several kilometers away, and taking out the skeletons who had set up positions and were firing machine guns—all of that was within my expectations and manageable.

But I hadn’t expected a tank platoon to be stationed next to the self-propelled artillery unit.

And I certainly hadn’t expected those tanks to fire simultaneously in the direction I was moving.

“If this were the old me, I’d be dead by now.”

The tanks weren’t tracking my movements—they were predicting where I’d be and firing ahead of time.

If I weren’t a knight of swordsmaster caliber, surviving that attack would’ve been impossible.

When the artillery shells came flying, I realized something.

There was an awakened individual inside that tank.

And not just any awakened—someone with senses similar to mine.

After becoming a swordsmaster-level knight, I’ve always used the mana inside my body to dodge or block shrapnel, and this time, I buried myself halfway into the ground and hid my mana.

Like an assassin concealing their presence, I hid my mana.

Of course, not just anyone could do this.

Only those who could sense mana and manipulate it with skill could pull this off.

And I happened to be a knight who could do both.

“I knew there would be servants of the Demon King on Earth… but I didn’t expect to see them here.”

In Ea, there were also humans who had survived by becoming servants of the Demon King.

They were professionals—blacksmiths, carpenters, and the like.

They became slaves of the Demon King’s army, crafting dungeons and weapons for them, and when the dungeons were cleared, they all turned into corpses.

“Well, there’s no chance of them switching sides anyway.”

I started moving again, keeping my mana concealed.

Since they failed to kill me with the first barrage, this battle was mine to win.

Tap tap tap.

I quietly approached the tanks.

Even with my mana hidden, my running speed was several times faster than that of a track athlete.

I covered nearly a kilometer in a single stride, then drew up my mana.

Vroom.

One of the tanks quickly turned its turret toward me.

There was definitely an awakened individual inside that tank.

But it was already too late.

I was just a few steps away from the tank.

My sword was already within striking distance.

Whoosh.

My sword extended.

The sword energy stretched over ten meters,

Slice.

And the tank was cut in half.