Chapter 67: A Beautiful Scenic Line

As time passed.

After armored vehicles and military troop carriers appeared, machine war vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns arrived.

In the end.

The earth shook violently, the ground rumbled.

Every reporter and anchor present could feel the ground trembling, the heavy clanking of metal dragging toward them in rolling waves.

Turning to look behind them, everyone instantly grew stiff with dread.

Metal tracks turned, propelling the vehicles forward.

Those were armored vehicles, equipped with tanks.

The military was deploying troops.

Not just troops—powerful military weapons had been mobilized too.

It looked like the entire First Division had been pushed forward.

“Is this going to be war?!” screamed people trapped in cars on the highway, their faces pale with terror.

The moment those words were spoken—

BOOM!!!

A thunderous explosion, like spring lightning suddenly cracking open.

Outside Higashioi, countless people saw flames erupt in the direction of Higashioi, bursting across the sky, illuminating the pitch-black night.

Many screamed, their expressions filled with panic.

This was no firecracker explosion.

Firecrackers don’t have this kind of power—only artillery shells can produce such a roar!

Coupled with the military’s deployment, it was obvious: the military was firing artillery shells—powerful ones.

Flames surged into the sky.

Even from far away, they could be seen.

That firelight was like the spark igniting a fuse—kindling war, firing the first shot.

BOOM!!

BOOM!!

Deafening explosions, one after another, like firecrackers detonating across the heavens.

Above Higashioi, flames erupted everywhere, blindingly bright.

The crimson glow, like the sun, like a blaze, brought no warmth—this fire was cold, chilling the soul, sending shivers through every bone.

“Hurry!! Hurry inside! Floor the accelerator! Go at full speed!!”

Outside the blockade perimeter, a high-ranking Japanese officer leaned out of his military vehicle, roaring at the tanks and war vehicles behind him—his voice urgent, hoarse with desperation.

As an insider, the Japanese officer knew the situation in Higashioi.

He understood what firing those shells meant.

It meant the situation was critical, beyond delay, that the crisis was escalating beyond control.

Military emergency!!

…

The transition zone between Higashioi Hallin Village and Higashioi City Village.

Houses and buildings, scattered and broken—some shattered, others collapsed—none remained intact, a scene of utter ruin, flames burning all around.

This area burned in a sea of fire.

Thick smoke rolled, flames spread wildly.

Looking at this devastated wasteland of fire, it was unimaginable that this place had been bustling and prosperous that morning, filled with towering skyscrapers and laughter.

The horrific scene bore not the slightest resemblance to prosperity.

At this moment.

Outside the blockade perimeter, in a building over ten kilometers from the combat zone, a group of reporters and anchors had arrived.

Driven by the desire for fame and exclusive footage, under relentless pressure from TV station executives, they used every means possible, exhausted all connections, and finally entered the blockade zone, locating a tall building from which they could use high-zoom cameras to film the combat area.

“Dear viewers, I’ve risked my life to bring you this live broadcast—drop some gifts! To get here, I didn’t just risk my life—I spent a fortune and pulled every favor I could.”

The anchor said this, pointing the high-zoom camera toward the distant scene.

Crimson fire filled the view—buildings burned like giant flame gods, howling and roaring before collapsing in a thunderous ruin.

The infernal battlefield footage ignited the audience’s attention.

【What the fuck! Are you sure you’re filming Higashioi and not some Middle Eastern region?!】

【My god, what the hell kind of beast attack is this?!】

【Forget it, I believe you—what a beast attack indeed.】

【Don’t ask anything else—just say this beast is terrifying. I bet it’s a fire-breathing dragon.】

【What are you waiting for? If anyone’s got a Squirtle, bring it out to put out the fire.】

【Hmm, what a huge fire—could this be some demon escaped from the demon world? Hahaha】

【My god, Amaterasu, what the fuck—is America fighting a war on our soil?!】

Thick smoke choked the sky like leaden clouds, pressing down, suffocating the heart.

The camera panned upward, revealing a familiar silhouette soaring overhead—the Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jet, domestically produced in Japan.

On the ground, heavy tanks of massive tonnage rolled through the ruined city streets, their black barrels aimed at the flames.

Beside the tanks, waves of armored vehicles arrived side by side, mounting Gatling guns, with Self-Defense Force soldiers holding powerful machine guns and shoulder-fired rocket launchers.

At this moment.

Right now.

“Fire!!”

“Fire, I said!!”

“Open fire on all fronts!!”

In the combat zone, commands screamed out continuously.

The next instant—

This place went mad.

Deafening artillery fire erupted, shaking the earth and sky, deafening in its roar.

Gun barrels fired in unison.

One after another, armor-piercing shells and heavy artillery rounds blasted forth in unison.

In the sky, armed helicopters rained down machine gun fire; fighter jets launched or dropped missiles—all the most powerful, largest-caliber ordnance available.

Everyone felt their ears would burst; they clutched their heads in pain, the thunderous ringing making them want to rip off their own ears, to abandon hearing entirely.

Flames filled the sky.

Military enthusiasts grew pale, eyes wide.

They recognized: those missiles and shells weren’t area-denial weapons—they were precision, high-impact munitions designed for forced assault, to destroy the strongest, most resilient targets.

“This isn’t fighting a beast!! What the hell are they shooting at?!”

The reporter screamed in horror.

What kind of beast required armor-piercing rounds? What beast’s hide could be so thick it needed artillery and penetrators to pierce?

None! There is none!!

In an instant—

Ten miles of fire erupted into a towering mushroom cloud, flames bursting skyward like a volcanic eruption, engulfing all directions.

The building, already engulfed in flames, could not withstand the artillery barrage—it collapsed in a cascade, turning the already ruined combat zone into something even more shattered, desolate, and broken…

“Keep firing!!”

“No one stops until I give the order!”

A captain stood atop the front-line armored vehicle, gripping a Gatling gun.

HOOOOOOOOOOO!

Three thick, black barrels spun at high speed, spewing countless finger-length bullets in a frenzy, forming three furious rivers of fire that blasted into the flames.

At his feet, shell casings already piled high.

Artillery fire raged without pause for five full minutes.

Inside the livestream, silence fell.

Reporters and anchors stood frozen in terror and awe, countless viewers trembling with chattering teeth.

Now, they finally understood: tonight’s Higashioi lockdown concealed something unimaginable—a war had been unleashed.

【Is it dead?】

“Is it over?”

From the silent livestream and the building, comments and voices emerged one by one.

At this moment, not a single person doubted—even those with no military knowledge believed—the military had destroyed its target.

That was five minutes of nonstop artillery bombardment.

No beast, no person could survive such terrifying firepower—even the hardest steel or alloy on Earth would have been reduced to molten slag.

Everyone thought so.

And the next instant.

Hiss!

As if a century of tree growth had been compressed into a single second, the sea of fire churned, and countless black, branch-like forms erupted wildly, shooting toward the sky—Mitsubishi F-2 fighters and armed helicopters.

Countless people were stunned.

The warplanes, moments ago so formidable and sweeping the battlefield, now fled like birds terrified by bowstrings, desperately dodging—but they could not escape their fate; like thin paper, they were pierced and effortlessly torn apart by the black branches, exploding in the sky.

……