OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 37: Final Stand

Pulling up his terminal, Emir talked to the official who was driving the truck, informing him of the situation:

"We've got a problem! There are too many monsters! Especially for an area like this!"

The official soon replied, clearly sounding concerned:

"We'll have to step up our game then... It's probably a cluster of monsters that escaped the frontlines, so keep your eyes peeled, and be ready for anything."

"I hope it's nothing serious, but if the number of monsters continues to increase, I'll have to call for reinforcements. So don't count on assistance for now." He concluded.

They pressed further into the wasteland, and the horde of monsters continued to multiply.

Emir could see the fear in the eyes of some of the less experienced hunters, but he remained calm and focused his constant firing never stopping.

And then suddenly, a massive creature appeared a distance away on his side of the truck.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Its scaly skin appeared to be as hard as steel, and its massive jaws were filled with razor-sharp teeth.

It was easily the size of three trucks stacked on top of each other, while it looked to be a mix of an elephant and a tiger.

The other hunters next to Emir opened fire on the creature, lighting it up.

Although still far away, they still managed to hit it, mostly due to its massive size.

But unfortunately, those shots did nothing to it as their bullets just bounced off its armored hide.

It was clear that they needed to come up with a new strategy if they wanted to take that thing down.

Emir quickly scanned the creature in slowed time, looking for any weak spots.

He pondered over the creature's anatomy, examining every inch of its body.

As he searched for a weak spot, he exclaimed, frustrated:

"Eyes? No. Ears? No. Hmm... Oh, the mouth!"

Noticing that it slightly opened its mouth when shot, he looked through the scope, and true enough, the insides of its mouth seemed to be more vulnerable than the rest of its body.

Propping up his rail gun, Emir screamed to the hunters next to him:

"AIM AT THE MOUTH!"

They heeded his command and opened fire once again, this time aiming for the creature's mouth.

It roared in pain as the bullets hit their mark, causing it to stumble backward.

'This is our chance!' Emir thought as he quickly activated his TDS ability once again.

He adjusted his aim to compensate for the creature's movement and fired off several shots, aiming for its insides.

The other hunters on his side followed suit, continuing to fire their weapons at the creature.

Finally, the monster let out a deafening roar and fell to the ground, dead.

"ORAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The other hunters on the truck erupted into cheers, congratulating each other on a job well done.

But Emir knew that this was just the beginning.

'If there were this many monsters in just one area, there has to be more to come.'

Interrupting their cheers, the official shouted:

"WE WILL BE HEADING TOWARDS THE NEAREST RUIN TO GET HELP! REINFORCEMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REQUESTED!!"

Ignoring the screaming agent, Emir switched his weapon back to his assault rifle and began shooting at monsters again.

With time, the number of monsters was slowly overwhelming them, draining them of ammunition, and now on his last magazine, Emir switched back to his rail gun, although much slower, it still did the job.

Minutes later, Emir noticed a giant elephant-like monster in the distance, making its way towards their truck.

It was massive, easily half the size of the previous B-rank monster they came across.

"FUCK!" Emir screamed out, stabilizing himself.

Raising his rail gun, he took careful aim at the monster's head.

He then activated his TDS ability, slowing down time to make sure he had a perfect shot.

[The creature's weakness is its ears,] Lyra advised.

Emir nodded patiently, watching as the elephant flailed its head around while rushing at them.

And then, in the blink of an eye, his chance presented itself, with the creature flapping its ears.

Emir aimed his weapon and fired a single, precise shot just beneath the elephant's left ear.

The bullet struck true, and the giant monster fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

He felt a rush of satisfaction as the other hunters looked at him with respect and awe.

But there was no time to bask in the glory of his kill.

Many more monsters were still coming, and they had to keep fighting to live through this request.

Emir's hands fumbled over his rucksack as he bellowed over the sound of constant gunfire:

"ANYONE GOT ANY EXTRA TYPE-C AMMO?! I'LL PAY YOU BACK LATER, SO JUST THROW ME SOME NOW!"

The female hunter behind him kicked four magazines over to him while screaming back:

"YOU OWE ME FOR THIS!"

Picking up the magazines, Emir reloaded his assault rifle and prepared for the next wave of monsters.

Continuing to fire, he laid waste to all that he landed his inky, dark eyes upon.

They shot their way through the wasteland, each monster taking more and more of their ammunition.

Emir felt like the attacks were never-ending as they were almost out of supplies.

But before running out of ammo on his last magazine, they finally reached the ruin, still followed by the horde of monsters.

He didn't expect much from those in this ruin, but they needed all the help they could get.

When the truck reached the entrance of the ruin, the agent once again screamed out:

"EVERYONE OFF THE TRUCK NOW! WE WILL HAVE OUR FINAL STAND HERE!!"

Emir jumped out of the truck alongside the other hunters, his heart pounding in his chest.

The sight before them was terrifying—a sea of monsters closing in on them from all sides.

But they didn't have time to be afraid.

They had a job to do, and they were going to do it.

The hunters who were exploring the ruin soon joined them, and they all began firing their weapons at the monsters.

The sound of gunfire echoed off the ruins, and the stench of blood and gunpowder filled the air.

It was chaos, but they fought on, determined to survive.

Emir fired round after round from his assault rifle, taking down as many monsters as he could.

The hunters around him were doing the same, and together they were making a dent in the horde.

But it seemed like for every monster they took down, two more took their place.

"Keep firing!" Emir bellowed to the hunters surrounding him.

"Don't you dare stop until your last breath!"

The hunters didn't need any encouragement.

They were fighting with everything they had, and it showed.

Emir watched as one of the hunters charged forward, her machete flashing in the sunlight as she sliced through a monster's neck.

Another hunter lobbed a grenade into the crowd, sending monsters flying in all directions.

But the monsters kept coming.

They were relentless, and it felt like they were fighting a losing battle.

One by one, the hunters ran out of ammo and supplies, and Emir didn't know how much longer they could hold out.

And suddenly, he heard a loud roar from behind.

He spun around, his heart racing out of his chest, as he saw a massive creature, easily twice the size of any other monster he'd faced, charging straight at them.

It was the biggest and most terrifying monster he had ever seen.

It easily towered over him many times over, and with each step it took, the ground reacted, shaking endlessly.

Emir raised his weapon, knowing that it was the only thing he could currently do.

"Focus your fire on that monster!" He shouted.

They all aimed for the monster, firing everything they had.

But unfortunately, their weapons were no match for the monster's tough exterior.

The hail of bullets and grenades they unleashed upon it seemed to have no effect whatsoever as if they were shooting at a solid block of an impenetrable diamond with no weaknesses.

"We need something stronger!" Emir yelled.

[Lyraaaa! I need help over hereee!! What the hell is your purpose if you stay quiet in these situations, you useless piece of tech.]

[Use the explosives in the truck,] Lyra advised.

[Those explosives are usually used for killing defective hunters--.]

[Stop fucking explaining shit and tell me how to use them, they are attached to the back of the truck, so how the hell do I pull them off without them exploding?] Emir replied, cutting her off.

She answered with a chuckle:

[Don't worry about that, I can access the network they are connected to and easily disable them.]

Nodding, Emir looked to the truck and saw the cylindrical bombs sitting still in the back.

"Everyone, move away from the truck!" He shouted.

The hunters complied with his command, allowing him to quickly make his way to the back of the truck.

He lifted the explosive cylinder with ease, propping it on his shoulder.

Carrying the explosives, Emir ran back to the front of the truck, where the massive monster was still charging, stomping many hunters in the process.

"Get back!" He bellowed to those beside him, as he hurled the explosives at the monster.

The moment the bomb hit the monster, it detonated with a deafening boom, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.

The force of the explosion caused the beast to stagger backward, its massive body contorting as it struggled to maintain its balance.

Finally, with a groan of defeat, it crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Not bothering to check if it was still alive or not, Emir ran back to his position, picked up a dead hunter's weapon, and began firing again.

But even with the newly acquired weapon and ammo, he was still close to running out, and there seemed to be no end to the monsters coming their way.

After a few reloads, his rifle ran out of bullets.

Without hesitation, Emir hurled it to the ground and began using up the remaining ammo from his AR and rail gun.

Unfortunately for him, the moment arrived when he fired the last round from his assault rifle, as the click of an empty magazine echoed in his ears.

In the next moment, his rail gun also beeped, indicating that it too was out of ammo.

In the midst of the chaotic battle, Emir couldn't help but burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

With his eyes, as dark as pitch, blazed with madness, he gazed upon the seemingly infinite expanse of beasts before him.

He discarded his weapons, fully aware that his trusty knife was his only hope for survival.

Emir then unclipped his knife from its sheath and braced himself for his final stand.