Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 11 11: Liliweiss’s First Battle

Although he had just said sothing that sounded pretty cool, Charon suddenly realized a problem, from the mont he drove out of the city's borders, he was already exposed to danger.

Even though the main human forces were currently engaging the Raptures far away from here, that was only the main army. In reality, small scattered groups of Raptures were attacking the outskirts of human cities almost every day, yes, even this city, which was technically deep in the rear.

From the military's perspective, as long as Liliweiss was around, he, as a commander candidate, would be completely safe. But that only worked if she had already t up with him. And right now, who knew where she was? If he ran into Raptures now, he'd be dead for sure.

If he were just an ordinary person, the chances of that happening would actually be pretty high.

[About that, Commander, you don't need to worry too much.] Rose's voice ca through the comms at just the right mont.

[Follow my directions and you won't encounter any Raptures. As for NIKKE Liliweiss, she has already departed and will et you soon.]

"That sounded very official." Charon whistled lightly.

"Well then, I'll leave my life in your hands."

[Yes! Please leave it to !]

To be fair, aside from hacking, Rose was also extrely competent as a liaison. The entire journey was completely smooth. Even though she made him take strange routes, like driving straight through abandoned farmland or forests instead of main roads, it allowed him to avoid any encounters with Raptures.

After nearly three hours of driving under her guidance, Charon suddenly stopped.

Because Rose told him to.

[Stop!]

There was a hint of tension in her voice.

[Commander, do not go any further. Turn around imdiately.] There was a trace of frustration now.

[At your current speed, in about ten minutes you will encounter approximately twenty Raptures in the valley ahead. Most are Husk, but there are also Servant-class signatures.]

Rapture classification had long been standardized. "Husk" was the weakest level, and "Servant" was above it. Only such low-level units could slip past the front lines and cause trouble in the rear.

For the military, this group could be wiped out with a single volley. But for a normal human, it was certain death.

Rose's guidance had always been precise. If she was telling him to turn back, it ant those Raptures were blocking the only viable path.

[I suggest you turn off the engine and wait in the car. Commander, we should deal with them after Liliweiss arrives… Commander?]

Charon thought for a minute, then slamd the gas pedal and drove straight toward the Raptures.

This wasn't reckless. Just monts ago, his mini-map had briefly shown the direction of an extraction point.

That had never happened before.

When an extraction point appeared, it stayed. Why did it vanish this ti?

[Commander?!] Rose's voice distorted instantly.

[W-wait! What are you doing? Stop imdiately! There really are Raptures ahead!]

"Rose." Charon chuckled softly.

"Do I look like soone who wants to die?"

[N-no… but still—!]

"Relax. Take a deep breath. As a liaison, you have to stay calr than the person on-site. If you panic more than I do, then your value drops below zero."

On the other end, Rose held her chest and took several deep breaths. She understood the logic, but she had never seen such a reckless commander. Anyone would lose composure in that situation.

More importantly… she treated Charon differently.

She hadn't realized it herself, but she cared about him more than she thought.

The man who had pulled both her and Liliweiss out of despair.

There was no way she could calmly watch him drive straight into danger.

And yet, strangely enough, his calm voice steadied her heart, even though she still had no idea what he was thinking.

"I just want to observe the Raptures from a closer distance." Charon parked near the cliff at the valley entrance.

He rembered clearly, the extraction point had appeared sowhere beyond this area, but it vanished too quickly to determine the exact distance.

From here, he could see the Raptures gathered in the valley. So were running around aimlessly, so were firing into empty air, others seed to be patrolling.

Overall, they looked like headless flies without command.

"Rose, I rember the main Rapture forces have already withdrawn from the front lines."

[Yes, currently only small Rapture units remain on the front.]

That was why humanity could hold the line instead of being pushed back further.

Compared to before, this was practically a rare period of peace.

Charon stared at the Raptures below.

"Tell , the frequency of encounters on our way here. Was it normal?"

[Yes… it was normal… ah.]

She suddenly fell silent.

Under his guidance, she realized the problem.

"If the Raptures really pulled back, then the encounter rate here should have decreased as well. So why is it the sa as before?"

"And Raptures only act under orders. Especially low-level ones this close to human cities. If they're suddenly without command, then there's only one explanation, their 'command tower' nearby has either withdrawn… or is occupied with sothing else."

"And based on earlier reasoning, it's unlikely to be the forr. So it must be the latter."

"Raptures… are planning sothing big."

Almost the mont he finished speaking, the ground trembled.

[An earthquake? No… there's no seismic activity detected here.]

"That's because it's not an earthquake." A hint of excitent appeared in his eyes.

"Sothing is coming from underground."

[500 ters away–high-energy reaction approaching. Commander, please–]

Before she could finish, the communication was abruptly cut off.

The ground shook violently.

Then, in the center of the valley, sothing enormous burst out of the earth.

Charon had never seen such a massive chanical construct before. Its body was like a small mountain, and its gaping maw took up nearly half of it.

Even he couldn't hide his shock.

He recognized it.

Tyrant-class Rapture – "Gluttony."

In military academy courses, it was one of the most prominent large-scale Raptures.

Its greatest feat: devouring a human ballistic missile and firing back energy of equal magnitude, destroying the missile base – the very reason humanity could no longer use long-range weapons against Raptures.

It was classified as "Tyrant" only because that was the highest rank humans had.

It had many other traits, but those weren't important right now.

Whoosh–

A figure shot past Charon at a speed the eye couldn't follow, kicking up a powerful gust of wind.

"Please forgive . I'll deal with that thing first, then we can catch up."

A playful female voice echoed from afar.

In an instant, she appeared hundreds of ters away – standing atop the massive Gluttony.

The next second–

With a dull, heavy impact–

The enormous steel body split cleanly in half from top to bottom.

Like tofu.

The smaller Raptures were completely erased by the shockwave.