FPS 199

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I moved from the mine to somewhere I could see Drahm Fortress.
It was built to block the wilderness road between the rocky mountains and the Drak Kingdom.
There was no greenery around, only rocks, sand, and soil.
It had a good overwatch.
There wasn’t light now, but during the day, you’d be able to see things far away. 

The fortress was box-shaped with tall walls, probably over 10 meters.
The outer walls of Barga were also high as well as the capital, but this was expected for a border fort.

Beyond the wall, I could see a watch tower.
Looking at the place where the light came, it seemed they monitored 24 hours a day.
Could they see through the darkness? How far could they see? Bending over, I took out a 12x scope, a sniper scope, and looked at the tower.
I could see something like a big bell inside the watchtower.
The guards inside did not look to be taking their watch seriously.
Probably because there was a truce with Kurtmerga and the time of night. 

While paying attention to the movement of the guards, we moved.
Flik was instructed to lurk about until I attacked.
I placed a GPS Dart on him so I could track him.
The wilderness needed to be a wild battlefield until they were evacuated and escaped to the labyrinth.

Let’s attack with the big one…

The distance between the tower was 750m – not close, but it was a large target.
I pulled out a large rectangular box, removed two covers on both ends, and a charging level was pulled.
It extended from 70cm to 90cm.
The trigger and sighting device deployed and I set it on my shoulder in a launching posture. 

It was an M202A1 launcher.
Developed in the USA, circa 1960, it had a payload of 4 66m incendiary rockets loaded into four individual tubes.
It was capable of firing them one after another, and the AOEat the point of impact burned at 1200C. 

I looked down the sight while I took a knee and pulled the trigger once the crosshairs lined up.
A roar and dazzling flash of light sparked in the dark wilds before it jumped forward at the tower.
A tail of line followed and then an explosion.
Sparks erupted like fireworks and the tower collapsed inwards. 

The power was enough. 

Three remaining shots were fired, aimed for the wall in succession.
In real life, it could be used any number of times by reloading the tubes, but VMB did not allow such.
I dropped the device and moved on while preparing another valley from another prepared.
The discarded launcher dissolved into light particles once it hit the ground.
The first wall I attacked was crumbling, but there were another four. 

I fired at the wall opposite.
Since I made sure the first two attacks were as flashy as possible, my position after this won’t matter.
Activating TSS, I accessed my inventory and pulled out more munitions.
Light particles converged into a cylindrical anti-tank missile launcher mounted on a tripod, a type-87 guided missile.
Used by the JGSDF, and originally came with a separate laser pointer.
It was possible to carry it and operate it without it, but the biggest advantage of this weapon system in VMB was that the TSS Screen doubled as a laser-pointing device. 

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In other words, if it was within 200m, it was possible to aim, launch and guide via TSS.
In addition, the number of warheads was twelve with auto-reloading at 1-minute intervals. 

While moving, I summoned two launchers and installed them in intervals.
It was a specification of VMB that up to two support weapons of the same type could be controlled remotely. 

My sound sensor began to pick up activity from the fortress. 

“What was that explosion!?”

“The watchtower is collapsing?!” 

“Is it an attack from Kurtmerga!? Or is it a monster attack?!” 

They had no grasp on the situation yet.
Alrighty then, let’s make you even more confused.
While I advanced on the fortress, I switched the TSS monitor to aim more and operated it like a tablet to control the launchers.
A missile 1m in length from the first unit installed at the rear flew in my FOV.
Then, I switched to the second one – fired.
A roar and white smoke came from the fortress. 

It was the first time for me to actually use the remote-controlled weapon in this world and I was relieved it worked.
When the second-third short landed, light balls rose from the fortress, illuminating the wilderness in bright light.
The front gate that was left unattached slowly opened and Dragon Riders on their mounts rushed out. 

“Enemy sighted, one undead type!” 

“Was all this his work?!” 

“Dragon Rider corps, to battle!”

The number of dragon rider units that came was more than ten – but the division commander was nowhere to be seen.
Was he not participating in the defense? Infantry – mage corps – spread out to the collapsed wall.
Judging from how the view was distorted for a moment, it must’ve been a magic barrier deployed.
It had no effect on me. 

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The dragon riders unit should be dealt with first.
Both the hiryus and their riders opened their mouth wide and let out roars.
However, the path they were treading was more than meets the eye.
It was a path I specifically wanted them to go through since I’d turned it into a death trap. 

Having guessed their movement, I pulled out the grenade ax and took position.
The parabolic line was displayed and I lined it up with the riders before I pulled the trigger.

“It’s releasing something.
Raise the magic barrier! Push through!” 

The forefront rider shouted.
The space around them distorted for a moment, signifying a barrier was erected.
But the grenade I launched wasn’t the usual 40×46 grenade as instead of exploding, it released a lot of white smoke – it was a smoke grenade.
At the same time, the riders ran through as the traps I set began to trigger. 

A cylinder jumped from the ground, a S- mine, exploded with a slight jet sound indicating the trap.
It shot more than 300 iron balls around waist height. 

The S-Mine (bouncing Betty) was one of the anti-personnel landmines used by the German Army in WW2.
Unlike ordinary land mines that exploded underground, the S mine was a jumping mine aimed at damaging the surroundings.
It was activated by an ignition tactile branch attached to the upper part of a cylinder with a 10cm diameter and a height of 13cm.
It jumped up about 1.5m from the ground and scattered iron balls outward beyond 10m. 

Due to the specifications of VMB, even if you did not touch the ignition stick, it would activate upon approaching.
However, the killing range was moved down to 5m. 

This mine was buried on both sides of the highway, and the smoke blocked their few to hide their activation. 

One mine after another exploded.
From within the smoke that blew up into the night, the cries of terror followed.
But that was not the end.
I summoned another supply box from TSS.
What I summoned was a Sentry gun, a stationary remote-operated heavy machine gun that was also installed in the basement of Daikokuya.
I also took out an MG34, a general purpose machine gun, but in many FPS games, was classified as a Light Machine gun (LMG).

A bipod was attached to the bottom of the barrel as it was common to shoot prone.
The VMB counterpart reduced player physical abilities when equipped for balance over its exceptional magazine and firepower.
There was also a trick to using it without the bipod.
When shooting, the barrel jumped violently when firing.
Strong recoil made you make full use of the power suit’s ability to perform precision shooting. 

A sentry gun was installed on the path’s center and while switching in the TSS, I operated both the Type-87 and Sentry.
When in VMB, how quickly, and accurately the FCS via TSS could be operated was based purely on skill. 

I wasn’t aware of it until this battle started, but before, I had to touch the monitor.
Now with the suit’s strength assimilating with my body, I could use it with my thoughts.
As a result, my FCS accuracy now far surpassed my previous skill. 

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The Sentry’s vision was turned to FLIR with a thought.
It showed most of the survivors from the initial attack were mainly Hiryus.
I had already expected it would be less effective against the mounts than their riders.
Using the M15 anti-tank mines to blow away their feet might have been more effective.
But the damage to the riders would be small.
Between the riders or their mounts, the riders were more important to take out.
That’s why I chose the S-Mine rather than the M15s. 

Operating the sentry, red tracers raced down the dark road.
It perforated the smoke and the sound of thunder rang out.
I placed the screen into the corner of my FOV with a thought. 

Although I felt uncomfortable and anxious about the change, I put the MG stock aside and grasped the barrel.
I aimed with only my reticle rather than the gun’s sight and opened fire as I concentrated on recoil control.
I aimed for the mage corps.
They’d deployed a barrier in front in order to prevent more damage to the fortress, but this would not stomp VMB armaments.
As I fired, I used my thoughts to fire the type-87, with perfect grasp on its reload time. 

The magicians forgot about the riders being attacked and looked back to the fortress as missiles broke through.
They could only stare helplessly.
Following my crosshairs, I swept it over the magicians front left to right. 

(E/N: Removed overly-reiterated rant on how strong VMB weaponry is.) 

While exchanging the MG34’s drum mag, I switched the TSS screen to the map and checked on Flik’s position.
While I couldn’t see the details inside the fortress,it showed him descending into the basement and stopping, then returning back up.
It seemed he got her and now they were leaving the area.
I should probably buy them some more time. 

The screen floated away and changed as I selected new weapons and ammo from the inventory to summon.
It was still a few hours to dawn.
I wanted to finish my work.
While the supply box spawned, I checked my surroundings.
It was a few hours from dawn and I wanted to finish my work and return before it grew bright. 

The dragon rider unit had already been annihilated by the S-mine and sentry gun.
The mage corps had been mowed down by the MG.
The roar from the fort had stopped and tranquility returned to the night.
The road had been dyed red with the few survivors moaning.
Except beyond the front gate. 

“Quickly! Extinguish the fire–!” 

“Captain! The food store is collapsing—!” 

“Evacuate the injured and the emergency team, I don’t have them anymore!” 

“We’re done for –!” 

It was a mixture of anger, sadness, and despair at the fact that the fortress was crumbling around them. 

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“What the fuck are you fools doing! This kind of damage..
Not even capturing that slave princess can make up for this…” 

“Division Commander Casium, the undead-type is approaching!” 

“Split the infantry’s equipment in two, respond with heavy equipment and magical barrier equipment! Identify its mean of attack! And bring me my Argyrus!” 

The remaining targets’ voices were heard over the sound sensor.
Drahm Fortress was collapsing from the assault.
Perhaps the VMB system no longer judged it as a building, so it mapped the upon approach.
Following the movement of the dots on the map, it seemed that most of the non-combatants and soldiers began to escape towards their kingdom. 

I had no intention of slaughtering non-combatants.
Besides, the fortress collapsed by the hand of an unknown undead.
If this fact was not properly communicated to Drak, it may turn the ire towards Kurtmerga. 

The supply box opened, and I picked out a grenade launcher with a revolver-like rotary cylinder called Milkor MGL.
Made by Milkor of South Africa, it had a large selection of ammunition such as Anti-personnel, anti-tank, tear gas, and smoke bombs.
It could be used for a wide varity of purposes. 

So, how did I want to finish it…? 

While I looked into the small site attached to the top of the gun,  I pulled the trigger.
Smoke grenades fired with a pop, which was noticeably different from firearms.
The smoke screen hid the wall facing the dungeon, masking Koti and Flik’s escape.
I also used it as a smoke screen to invade the fortress. 

“Division Commander! Princess Cortine cannot be found inside the dungeon!”  

“What the fuck are you saying, you stupid shit?! Go find her, she should still be around the fortress perimeter!!” 

“Ye-yessir!” 

“This is bad… This is really bad… Losing Drahm Fortress… This kind of blunder cannot be compensated just by capturing the slave princess — Oy! What’s with the white smoke?!” 

The Fortress was now wrapped in smoke, as if all the plots of the commander were painted on blank paper… My targets were the commander and his lieutenant.
I couldn’t let any of them escape.