Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 225: Soulbound

There were about fifty believers who followed Butch's group to gossip. Aside from the few conscientious ones, there were more than forty believers left that vented their anger on the military.

Among those odd-forty believers, most of them only had nine carriers since they still have to leave some energy for themselves, unless they're suicidal and likes to pass out in the middle of a battle. The few believers that had ten summons were the moles in the crowd who works with Butch. Usually, they would act as a spy among the Halfdead community, and they're used to rile people up when needed. In exchange, they would have a better life than everyone elsefood, clothing, shelter, and sometimes rare stuff.

The advantage of the army instantly disappeared as more than four hundred carriers dashed towards them. As if the horde of carriers were not enough, Butch's side took rifles out from their dimensional storage and provided cover fire for the horde, shooting soldiers who gunned down several of the carriers.

Guns are always more efficient at mid-range or long-range distances. Though it can be used at close combat, it must be a few meters away.

At first, the front soldiers manages to control the situation since R0 Carriers would die with a headshot. Everything changed when Butch's group provided cover fire and shot those soldiers who were fighting in the open.

When the battle started, the original two hundred soldiers divided themselves into four groups of fifty. Two groups circled around to flank while two remained to siege. The plan was guaranteed to work, and it was true that they would be able to flank Butch's group. Hold the line and flank to get them to surrender peacefully. With enough guns, nothing would surely go wrong, right?

But a problem occurred. Although the army has intel about the rebel's ability to summon creatures, they didn't expect this much. They haven't realized that this was only ten percent of the community since most of the Halfdeads were either sleeping or hunting. If it was the Halfdeads full force, they would have been swarmed instantly.

Additionally, carriers typically move in a straight line then lunges at its target. But these bound carriers were different. The appearance was the same, but their behaviors were nothing similar. These carriers follow the owner's target around and hunt them in packs.

There were one hundred soldiers left to hold the line, which meant four hundred-odd carriers would not pose a real threat. The real danger came from the agile Hunters that lurk on the ground and strike when the target is unaware.

If it weren't for the autocannon and machinegun on top of the IFV, there would be more casualties from the army.

This was the first time, the survivors really fought the government on a large scale. The few skirmishes they had could be considered a lovers quarrel compared to what was happening now. The soldiers that got lunged on by R0 Carriers were brought to the ground. Though they weren't killed, they got beaten up and knocked unconscious to prevent them from joining the fight. Even if they recover, they would be in pain and won't be of much support.

A few unlucky ones who got killed after facing the Hunters were sprawled on the ground. The soldiers started to feel the terror of facing a horde of Evolved Carriers in close combat. Usually, they would pick them from a distance when doing operations since they have enough ammunition. Some were severely wounded from getting clawed but managed to get away, although bleeding from cuts.

All of a sudden, one man from the Halfdead group plunged to the ground bleeding from his eyes, nose, and ears. The pale-red blood that trickled out of the orifices, hardened shortly after several seconds.

The next moment, another man who was providing cover fire for his summons fell down limply as if the ropes that control him were cut off. The nearby Halfdeads immediately thought they were getting sniped and ran for cover.

Their actions created a breathing room for the pinned down soldiers, which immediately fired back and helped their comrades who were in trouble. As more carriers got killed, more Halfdeads limply fell to the ground, unconscious.

Butch noticed the peculiar event as he backed himself against the wall. He peeked around the corner and saw numerous R0 Carriers get slaughtered under heavy fire from a bunch of soldiers.

To make matters worse, the 25mm autocannon and the machinegun from the IFV continued to mow down the summoned carriers. The operator would have a hard time landing a headshot while using the machinegun, but its firepower alone was enough to mince and grate anything that stands on the end of the barrel.

Each R0 Carrier would die and fall down after getting hit twice while a Hunter requires five to eight hits depending on where the shot landed. In contrast, the autocannon only needs to graze R0 Carrier while a solid shot on an H1 would spell its doom.

More Halfdeads fell as their summons were killed. With the reinforcement from the IFV, the army regained control of the situation.

Butch controlled one of his H2's to rush the IFV. It ran in between running carriers and jumped high in the air as it lunges forward.

The autocannon operator managed to react quickly due to the unusual parting of the horde. He was gunning them down when something flew up in the air, and by reflex, he fired upon it due to level of threatmostly panic.

The H2 received a hole in the chest, and yet the autocannon did not stop. It kept firing until the autocannon can't target it due to angle limitations.

As the H2 died, Butch's health points decreased by a large chunk. He noticed that the amount was exactly the same amount of energy he used to capture the H2.

Then he heard the terrifying sounds coming from the autocannon.

"Bomm! Bomm! Bomm!" Every shot reverberated on the long street. The sounds coming from the autocannon even masked the recurring rifle shots and the shrieks of the carriers. He could even imagine the piping hot shells dropping to the side of the tank after every shot.

Butch instantly realized what was happening. The unconscious Halfdeads died after their summons got annihilated. He also realized that having a high energy pool or owning multiple creatures doesn't really help much in a large scale battle. The soulbinded creatures were like a double-edged sword; it would attack anything you want, and it could also hurt you.

In a sense, the soul was health and soulbinded creatures dying meant health depletion from the owner. The cons and pros weren't explained in the skill description. It mostly describes what the skill can do, together with its cost and not the intricacies of it.

Butch quickly ordered his remaining H2 to drag its dead partner back. It was hard to capture H2's since they're quite troublesome. If he collects the body back, he could just place it under the sun, and it would reanimate after some time.

His crew noticed his actions and immediately called back their summons. They weren't idiots, just slow with the uptake. As the Evolved Carriers retreated, the front liners could finally take a breather. Bruised and injured, they forced their way forward while securing unconscious allied forces.

At this time, the two detached forces finally arrived on the enemy's flank. The Halfdeads could do nothing but raise their hands due to surprise. They begged and apologized, but the soldiers roughly tied them down.

After the cleanup, there were twenty-four casualties from the one hundred soldiers that held the line. These numbers came from the initial attack of the horde. Due to its suddenness, a lot of men got injured.

On the bright side, thirty-three gray people were apprehended, and all of them were alive. Well, it was impossible for them to die since they were immortals, and after several minutes of dying, they got reanimated. Although Jun told them about this ahead of time, the soldiers became dumbfounded after seeing such a scene.

An immortal life in exchanged of skin color?

Major Jaquez eyed the prisoners, and no one knows what he was thinking.

Jun's elite detachment traveled parallel to the marching army. They entered two streets away and would do a blitz towards the municipal building. The group only had five people, but they had the most firepower in the whole army. Grenades, C4, and other types of explosives were given to them.

This time, Jun stocked himself with ammunition, and Corwin couldn't stop him. It was for the mission, after all. He didn't take much but enough to reach the outpost commander's limit. He also got an overall upgrade with his guns, a new automatic shotgun, a new Barrett sniper rifle with a new 5-12x42 scope. That means it has a 5x to 12x magnification, which makes things a whole lot bigger.

He badly needed the new scope since he relies mainly on Time Perse to zoom in and out when 'precise shooting.' If he wants to hit something from afar without wasting additional energy, the new scope is a good addition to his arsenal. Together with the Barrett sniper rifle, bursting Destroyer eyelids would now become much easier.

As the truck reach the next turning point, Suico Panaligan saw a gigantic figure standing at the center of the road, blocking the path forward. It was a D2 that stood three-meter tall.

Suico performed a quick maneuver, which made the truck move from side to side. The D2 tried to grab the roof of the vehicle, but it missed. Unfortunately, even though Suico successfully dodged the D2, there was another one behind it.

The truck crashed on the D2's legs, which forced it to take a few steps backward.

On the house at the end of the street, the Whisperer was watching the event unfold perfectly, together with the Queen. Her eyes were clouded with mist as grey light glowed from the corners of her eyes.

"Isn't this kind of cheating, Yetu? They'll die without even knowing how they died. Do you hate everyone inside that truck?" said the Whisperer into thin air.