Austronesian Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Mindanao, In The Outskirts of General Santos City, In The Streets Outside Of General Santos City.

2000, 2, 1st Week, January

The dark sky has surrounded the once beautiful city of General Santos, now a desolate place bathed in the eerie glow of moonlight where it could penetrate the gloom.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

A soldier shouted as he fired a rocket from the RPG on his shoulder. In the distance, a group of demons, that appeared to be civilians but radiating bloodlust, aggressively charged across the field with inhuman speed and eager for blood before being blown by a rocket that bombard them to oblivion.

Right now, the Liberation Army had the city completely sealed off by surrounding it with a perimeter wall constructed from metal fences, cargo containers, and cinder blocks to prevent any demons from escaping or allow any potential surviving refugees out of the city, if there is any.

On the outskirts of the city, rows upon rows of soldiers from the Liberation Army stood ready in a perfect column order. Tanks, aircraft, and many different armored vehicles advanced toward the devastated city as part of a massive operation involving 10,000 soldiers, 30 tanks, 100 armored vehicles, and 15 attack helicopters, which will soon be known as one of the largest deployments the Austronesian Empire had ever undertaken.





"10,000 soldiers, that's way too many troops than I expected," one soldier remarked, surrounded by a thousand others.

"The Liberation Army is divided into three groups," a soldier behind him replied. "The other two teams have even larger numbers than ours I heard, while the southern part is being guarded by three battleships and a dreadnought sent by the navy."

"Okay, but it still seems excessive."

"Well, it's because we have to prevent any of the creatures from escaping or sneaking out of the city," he explained, "That's why so many troops have been deployed to surround the city."

"We're talking about 10,000 soldiers targeting one city here! That's too many and unnecessary!" shouted another soldier.

"No, it's absolutely necessary," the second soldier replied grimly. "Just yesterday, in Cebu City, I saw with my own eyes that some sort of demon knight had wiped out a unit of nearly 100 soldiers alone! We only managed to kill it with a battalion of tanks and reinforcements, along with the demon zombies it created from civilians and soldiers it had killed. Not to mention, there have been 13 similar reports across the nation with these monsters, and while we were able to neutralize nearly all of them, we've lost more than half a thousand soldiers so far."

"Wait, you said it turned anyone it killed into some sort of demonic zombie, correct? What would happen if it wiped out everyone and was left unchecked?" the first soldier asked.

The second soldier's expression darkened. "Then we'd have a zombie outbreak problem... like this one," he said, pointing to the city before them.

"W-Wait! Are you saying...?"

"Yeah. As I said earlier, we've neutralized most of these monsters, but we didn't get to kill one, and it's been wreaking havoc in General Santos for God knows how long, and I fear the worst."

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In the command tent, commanding officers gathered to strategize the impending strike against the demons in the city. They stood around a table displaying a map of General Santos. Among them stood a middle-aged man with pale skin and gray hair, he is the colonel in command of the entire army.

"This operation is divided into three directions," he began. "The troops in the northern part of the city will lead the main assault. The right and left flanks are in an encircling position to bombard the enemy with self-propelled A-50 Artillery Paragons and A-111 MLRS Titans to clear the way for the northern troops to execute the encirclement and suppression. Understood?"

The commanding officers nodded in agreement.

"Good. The time is 0033. The operation has begun!"

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On the far side, bright flickering lights were lighting up the entire surroundings, which was enough for the soldiers to see. But in the next moment, a thunderous roar resounded throughout the battlefield, which was followed by a deafening blast that came from the muzzle of the State of the Art Self-Propelled Artillery tank otherwise known as the A-50 that was set up miles away from the city.



A line of ten artillery tanks, each situated from the left and right flank of the city, fired shells every eight to ten seconds. Loud explosions erupted in the middle of the battlefield as the shells landed among the horde of demons, bombarding them to smithereens and significantly reducing their numbers greatly.

[All signs of enemy forces have been wiped out in the field. You are good to go!] the colonel commanded over the radio to the frontline officer.

"You heard the colonel, forward!" a commanding officer shouted from the front. And as he commanded, rows upon rows of soldiers led the way, accompanied by a couple of ZTZ-999 super tanks as they advanced forward.

When all of a sudden...



BANG!



A massive object suddenly went out of the cloud of smoke and slammed onto the ranks of soldiers, crushing and killing a half a hundred of them in an instant.

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[Colonel! There was an attack at the front and half a hundred of the troops were wiped out in an instant!] an urgent voice shouted over the radio.

"What!?"

[A large number of demons had also appeared along with an unidentified creature that had attacked the front! We couldn't see through the smoke and the darkness, but I could tell the thing was massive!]

Rushing outside of the tent with a binocular at hand, he peered into it and was met with the menacing crimson eyes hidden within the smoke and the darkness of the night made it even more difficult to see.

"Send two-thirds of the air force from the left and right wing to the front!" the colonel ordered, turning to a female commanding officer who stood behind him, visibly shaken.

"Yes, sir!"

Returning his gaze to the giant creature, the Colonel raised his walkie talkie and commanded the army on the front.

"Anti-aircraft units, stand by! Deploy incendiary bombs! Fire now!"

In front of the Colonel, a convoy of ten military trucks carrying Anti-aircraft cannons began firing a barrage of incendiary bombs onto the giant beast and the horde of demons below, obliterating countless foes in a matter of seconds and shrouding the battlefield in dense large cloud of smoke.

"Did we get 'em?" asked one of the soldiers manning the AA cannons.

Upon closer inspection, they were able to spot the giant demon had withstood unscathed from the bombardment of incendiary bombs. This monster bore a distinctive feature, and that is the fact it has three eyes on its head.

The bright explosions revealed more of the creature's form. It was gigantic, it stood a towering 50 meters in height, clothed only in a single garment around its waist. It was also carrying what seemed like a long axe on its hands, the weapon dwarfed even its colossal frame.

Seeing it had survived even without a mark, the colonel gritted his teeth and shouted over the radio once more.

"All units! Fire everything!"

Immediately after, explosions and flashes of light illuminated the immediate surroundings of the enormous demon as a barrage of large caliber rounds, rockets, missiles, tank shells, and a good deal of artillery shells from soldiers, tanks, artillery cannons, attack helicopters, and every available asset in the army rained down upon the beast and the surrounding demons, decimating them all but the colossal creature that remained unscathed.

After being hit by a large amount of firepower that is enough to wipe out a small town, the fifty-meter-tall demon let out a powerful roar, not in pain, but in annoyance. It seemed that everything the army threw at it only inflicted minor damage.

In a complete state of anger, the colossal demon slammed its giant axe into the ground and swung it diagonally upward at a breakneck speed, causing some of the residential areas of the city to be demolished and obliterate hundreds of soldiers outside the city, and instantly destroyed dozens of armored vehicles, tanks, and several attack helicopters at once.

"Goddamn it! These damn demons just won't quit, will they?" exclaimed a soldier holding a radio. "Prepare and fire the self-propelled artillery again!" he ordered his subordinates.

"B-But Commander, sir, the barrels have overheated from continuous firing!" one of his men replied.

The commander retorted, "Then piss on it, so it would cool down faster!"

The soldiers, after hearing the commander's orders, were in a state of confusion, then onto realization.

"Yes, commander!"

"No you idiots! Don't do that! I didn't mean it literally! Just pour some bucket of water on it. We don't want our equipment degrading because of someone's piss."

Relieved, the soldiers followed their commander's instructions and poured buckets of water to cool down the overheated barrels.

Just about a dozen hours earlier, this entire place was flooded. However, a mere few hours had already made the water rescind. What's left of the place was nothing but filled with bodies, bodies of dead people, each one surrounded by mud. They all have a single look on their face, it was fear, the fear of drowning, the fear of dying, the fear of not being able to see your loved one, the fear of the unknown.

Since the water had rescinded, they were now able to deploy some of the more heavy equipment such as the Self-Propelled-Artillery, which is the A-50 of the Austronesian Empire. However, there was a good deal of equipment that had been destroyed or rendered inoperative because of the flood, and because the army had failed to protect them against the storm, had to be repaired.

Since a large amount of equipment was destroyed or malfunctioning, which will require a tedious amount of repairing and not to mention the fact that the companies that manufactured had already sunk into the flood and have to also be repaired. They were now in a very precarious position, as urgent efforts were required to both repair existing equipment and ramp up production to replenish their depleted resources as much as possible.

The fact that the entire navy survived the destruction of the storm was nothing short of a miracle to the Austronesian Empire, so any potential attacks occured, they would have to destroy them while at the ocean, but the Austronesian Liberation Navy is already stretched and placed immense pressure on safeguarding the vast expanse of the Empire, as the Empire comprises thousands of islands.

However, the situation was far less promising for the navy and air force. While most of the equipment could be repaired, the extensive damage meant that the recovery process would take a very long time to be able to repair them all. It would likely take from weeks to months or possibly years, before the Austronesian Empire regained its military might.

With the current surviving land and air equipment only sufficient to defend the home islands, the Empire lacked the capability to undertake comprehensive land, sea, and air operations against other nation-states.

Time was ticking. The Austronesians have lost much of their military might and have lost control of parts of their own nation. They would have to conduct a massive operation to reclaim control and cleanse out the remaining demons from their land, which would require a massive amount of time, investment, and costly operation, further straining the already crashed economy.

Various measures would be needed to earn more capital. Thankfully, the Austronesian Empire is filled with unbreakable amounts of natural resources, and all they would need is to harvest them for export. Since being transported to another world, they would need to become more self-sufficient than ever.

There was one problem that would also require a massive amount of naval power into the ocean, since the oceans were now infested with sea monsters.

That is food resources. If they aren't able to provide enough food for its citizens, then the situation would become even more dire. So, as a countermeasure, they would need to eat a lot of seafood, particularly with fish. They have no choice but to rely heavily on seafood to feed their populace as literally the flood destroyed all the crops of the Austronesians. There were absolutely no survivors and the fact that the warehouse where they stored the reserves were also flooded and was rendered to be spoiled.

These were some thoughts of the Commanding Officer in the frontline that the higher ups briefed him earlier. As the battle raged on, a sudden crackle on the radio signaled imminent danger.

[Danger close! All units fall back! Get in to cover immediately! Standby for the AGM-183 assault!]

The AGM-183A ARRW, also known as the 'Apollo's Arrow,' represented the pinnacle of hypersonic missile technology. While most of the details are classified, this next-generation weapon is known to hit speeds of up to Mach 30 and it hits like a son of a bitch. To be in fact, its deployment marked a historic moment as it was about to be unleashed for the first time in an act of aggression.

Upon hearing the radio command, the crews aboard one of the battleships positioned in the southern part of the city swiftly aligned the target laser. With precision, they locked onto the giant demon wreaking havoc on the battlefield.

"Target locked!" exclaimed a young crewmate, his voice filled with determination. "Ready to go. Let's bring this son of a bitch down," he declared as he fixed his gaze on the monstrous entity displayed on the screen before him, which was still tanking the front army's shots from all sides, but unleashing the missile promised to end this nightmare.

[Roger that, Vanguard-Command to Golden Eagle. You have permission to fire AGM-183A. Target is locked on,] came the confirmation over the radio, signaling the momentous decision to deploy the powerful weapon.

Back in the front army, as the soldiers watched in anticipation, the colossal demon advanced alongside a horde of hundreds of other demons emerging from the city. With its axe extended and ready to swing it down, the giant demon prepared to unleash devastation upon them.

Suddenly, without warning, the AGM-183A streaked through the sky and closed the vast distance of a hundred kilometers in a matter of seconds due to its incredible hypersonic speed. Like a shooting star, the missile pierced through the heavens and struck the titanic demon with pinpoint accuracy.

In an instant, the monstrous entity erupted into a cataclysmic explosion in front of everybody's eyes. The combined forces of the missile's kinetic energy and the chaotic energy emanating from the demon's axe unleashed a chain reaction of destruction. The blast is so massive that it engulfed the surrounding area and decimated most of the demons in its wake.

A massive shockwave rippled outward, enveloping the soldiers in its force. Though they remained unharmed, they could feel the intense heat radiating from the explosion.

[This is Vanguard-lead. Threat has been neutralized,] announced the voice over the radio with relief evident in his voice.

"About time!" the commanding officer exclaimed, peering through his binoculars at the splattered limbs and organs of the titanic demon splattered all over the fields.

"Commander! They've obliterated the demon and most of the enemy forces! What are your next orders?" a soldier asked, eager for direction.

Hearing his men's inquiry, the commander who is stationed in the northern parts of General Santos of Mindanao in the Imperial Maharlika of the Austronesian Empire, knew he had to step up to lead and command this part of the army. With the first commander dead, he was now the closest commanding officer to the frontline.

"Forward! Move into the city to search for any survivors! Leave no demons alive!" the commanding officer demanded, his voice firm with determination.

Upon receiving the command, the soldiers nodded their heads in agreement at the commanding officer, ready to carry out their orders without hesitation. Time had passed and the soldiers repeated the same order down in the military hierarchy as they prepared to advance into the city and secure victory.