Army vs Hunters ?

Somewhere in the foothills of the Himalayas, on a windswept rocky ledge overlooking, one of the steep-sided valleys typical of this region of southern Mongolia. A man stood perfectly still, binoculars glued to his eyes.

Balboa had been here for 10 days, watching the comings and goings of the dragon below, busy building his nest, or rather his fortress. The fifteen-meter-long , frost-white dragon was currently putting the finishing touches to a huge ice arch marking the entrance to his domain.

A few hours later, the beast retreated to its lair to rest, and Balboa took advantage of the opportunity to crawl into a cave a few hundred meters away, where he noted down his latest observations. After a quick rereading of all his notes and satisfied with the result, he switched on his radio transmitter and brought the microphone close to his mouth.

"This is Eagle 1 reporting"

After a moment of white noise and the shuttering of the radio, an answer came despite the area's interference.

"This is UN Camp, we receive you'r signal 8/10 Eagle 1, we're listening."

Balboa frowned, a reception of 8/10 before the assault even started was not good news, the concentration of magic was already too high, communications for the next few hours were going to be difficult.

"The target has finished its activities for today, its behavior unchanged. Still busy building his nest, intelligence estimated at the limit of sentience, the dragon has begun carving his front door, a rudimentary art form. Estimated rest period of at least twenty hours, given the amount of magic used.

"The concentration of magic in the air is above estimates according to the latest readings. This is consistent with your information about the surrounding terrain. Anything to report, traps or the like?"

"Apart from an increase in the number of subordinates patrolling the area, nothing that deviates from the predictive models provided, the density of flying enemies is still affordable."

The discussion went on for another ten minutes or so, touching on everything from weather conditions and soil consistency to the structure of the nest itself. No detail was left to chance before new orders were issued.

"H.Q have just made their decision, the rest of your unit under the command of Captain Morgensen will join your position in the next few hours, the attack will begin as soon as they arrive."

"Roger," Balboa replied before cutting the transmission.

Ten hours later, the captain arrived. The ten or so heavily-laden men immediately began setting up camp. Meanwhile, Bernt and Balboa retreated a little further to discuss future events.

"Captain, welcome to my humble abode, not as impressive as the one in the valley, but there's everything you need here." The remark made Bernt smile, and he continued with a grin.

"At least yours isn't destined for imminent destruction." They continued joking for a few minutes before returning to the main topic.

"So, what's the plan for the lizard ?" Balboa asked.

"Classic, space saturation by missile barrage to scare the beast into the portal once it's badly wounded. We're there to guide the missiles, and the aim is to eliminate all his minions before bringing down the dragon in the portal. After that, we try to find a dungeon border and test the new toys from the research department."

"You mean we're going to go slay a dragon with twelve people ? With rockets, drones and assault rifles, I'm well aware that the UN doesn't have the means for this type of mission in remote corners, but we don't even have artillery."

"All the budget for this mission goes into missiles and air and satellite surveillance, so we can count ourselves lucky to have missiles. We also have the ammunition prototypes from the research department."

"Why not send the Hunters? They'd be delighted to become Dragon Slayers, I'm sure they'd win at least one title in the genre."

"You know the rules. If no Hunter has come in 2 years and the dungeon has collapsed, it's up to the regular army of the country concerned, if they can't afford it or none of their allies come to their aid, it's up to the UN international force to clean it up. And given where we are, I can understand why no one has come."

"At least the target doesn't look too smart this time." sighed Balboa.

The next few hours were spent preparing for the assault, checking equipment and coordinating with the air and ground forces responsible for launching the missiles.

With the dragon still not out of its icy lair, Bernt ordered the assault to begin.

The radio spat out its first information. "First wave launched, target is the dragon nest"

A minute later, three missiles crashed into the ice walls, piercing them like paper before exploding inside, collapsing most of the structure.

"Second wave is on the way", the radio resumed.

"Light!" roared Bernt. Immediately two flares were fired into the sky, the pallid light produced illuminating the ruins of the fortress below where numerous figures were emerging in a hurry.

It was at this point that 5 cluster munitions exploded a hundred meters above them, delivering the hundred or so explosives each contained to the area directly below, wiping out all forms of life in the open.

A roar of pain rang out over the din of the explosions and the dragon took to the air. Reacting to this new information, the radio continued.

"Air-to-air missile launched, end of air and ground support, we're expecting a communications blackout in the next few seconds, good luck."

The laser-guided missile struck the dragon in the side after it had risen up about fifty meters, sending it tumbling instantly.

Balboa, his eyes fixed on the binoculars, shared his observations with the rest of the unit behind him.

"The dragon had time to summon a shield and ice armor, he's only slightly injured, but his wings are out of commission, one more like that and he's finished."

To which Bernt replied instantly. "Impossible, the concentration of magic has fried the longrange radio communications and, in any case, our supply of missiles is already consumed. Han, can you get it to the head?"

Han, a small Vietnamese man lying next to Balboa, armed with an anti-material rifle larger than himself, responded instantly. "Impossible, this type of monster has a far too developed survival instinct, I've already tried on less evolved targets, fatal shots are useless."

"I suspected as much." Bernt sighed. "Try it anyway, if you get the chance."

"Affirmative," replied Han.

"Balboa, you stay with him as a spotter, the rest of you come with me. The objective is to clear everything that's left and force the dragon into his dungeon. You two meet us in front of the portal at that point.

The rest of the team quickly disappeared into the night towards the ruins below. Seeing that the explosions had stopped, the dragon cautiously looked around before deactivating his shield and starting to run towards the nearest cliff, hoping to disappear into the mountains. One of the drones on patrol instantly crashed into him, the resulting explosion forcing him to turn back. The deployed drones, accompanied by Han's occasional shots, then began to redirect the dragon towards the center of its nest. Seeing that escape to the mountains was impossible, the dragon reinvoked its shield.

"Oh, oh, the concentration of magic is increasing, he's going to detonate all the ice around him, he wants to destroy the whole valley so he can escape."

"Not so fast" Han interrupted him before loading a new round of ammunition, much brighter than the others.

"He's not the only one who can use magic, come on eat this" he added before pulling the trigger. His sniper rifle lit up with fine lines running from stock to barrel, from which three circles composed of numerous geometrical figures emerged and then merged, when the bullet passed through it, it disappeared.

Half a second later, the dragon's shield exploded, throwing him to the ground, a bloody stump in place of his front paw. As new flares were fired from all directions, a red halo appeared in the dust beside the dragon. The dragon disappeared inside a second later.

"First part of mission accomplished, let's go Han, great shot by the way."

Han replied with a smile and while dismantling and stowing his rifle. "Explosive bullet reinforced with explosive mana and a shot with reinforcement, acceleration and cancellation of air friction on the ammunition, I could have headshot him, but he protected his head with his front paw." He added before following Balboa.

The pair climbed down from their perch and joined the rest of the team in front of the gate.

"Han, nice shot, how many bullets left?" Bernt asked immediately.

"Fifteen normal and two amplified."

"With a dozen drones left, it won't be enough, he go away much sooner than expected." He pointed to four soldiers. "You four, fetch me 'that' from camp." The four soldiers frowned and one of them spoke up, hesitating a little.

"Captain... What can I say, we've been ordered to use it only as a last resort on the dragon, it must be used on the edge of the dungeon..."

"If you want to take on a wounded dragon with half his mana left in a terrain that's favorable to him with 2 amplified bullets and 12 drones, I'll leave the mission command to you."

No one replied, and the four soldiers set off towards the camp. Bernt then turned to another soldier bent over his computer with a drone in his hand.

"So? What can we expect?"

"Hmm, snowy plain with light snowfall, possibility of blizzard, an ice fortress at its center, no enemies in sight except for the blood trails leading inside. Otherwise, it remains a classic dungeon, 5 km by 5 km with low cloud cover, the usual force field at the edge."

"Okay, here's the battle plan, automatic weapons and grenades to secure every room in the fortress. Once all the rooms are secured, we'll skin the dragon, I'll explain in more detail when the others get here."

During the twenty minutes or so it took to get back to base camp, Balboa and the others combed the battlefield. Strangely enough, the arch had withstood the bombardment, unlike the rest of the nest, which had been reduced to a field of ruins. The decision was made to dynamite it just in case.

Once the unit was complete, everyone moved towards the portal, shining with a ruby-red glow, forming an oval 5 metres high and 2 metres wide, floating gently a dozen centimetres off the ground.

"Go." Bernt ordered.

The team dashed forward and all entered the portal. As reconnaissance had predicted, they encountered no enemies and simply followed the occasional blood trail to a room in the heart of the fortress.

The dragon was here, delicately freezing its front leg stump. Its wings, still broken and burnt, hung down on either side.

He heard something roll towards him. Turning his head, he saw a steel tube land in front of him, then explode, emitting an intense light and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Go, go, go!!!" Bernt shouted, and the soldiers rushed into the huge hall.

"The shield should already be deployed, you good-for-nothing!!!! Suppression fire!" he barked, aiming his rifle at the dragon's head. The others followed suit, while 4 of them set about erecting a barricade of sorts from the deployable metal plates they'd carried so far, all finely engraved.

Irritated at not seeing what was happening, the dragon finally activated his shield. Seeing that the projectiles had no effect, he reopened his eyes. He discovered 7 invaders armed with strange metal objects pointed at him. Further away, four others were busy securing a long tube to some sort of metal wall, and another was lying against the wall near the entrance. Deciding that his fangs and tail would suffice, the dragon charged.

No sooner had he taken a single step than a powerful explosion stopped him and threw him backwards.

"One more to go!" Han shouted from behind.

"Send in the drones!!! We need more time!" The remaining dozen drones rushed toward their target before exploding, pushing the dragon back even further.

"Shield deployed!" Indicated one of the soldiers at the rear. The dragon tried to stand up on his hind legs, but another explosion knocked him off balance.

"I'm dry, ordinary bullets do almost nothing to him." Han shouted before getting up and running towards the group of soldiers who had deployed the barricade.

"Everyone behind the shield, throw everything you've got!" Bernt ordered, throwing his last grenade. He then rushed behind the barricade.

The dragon, enraged at not being able to fight as he wished, froze and reactivated his shield.

"He's going to breath!!! "Balboa shouted.

Everyone rushed for cover behind the barricade.

"A magic electromagnetic cannon, no less." Balboa whistled as he slided behind the barricade. In front of him stood the artillery piece whose muzzle rested on one of the barricade's specially designed plates, the cannon humming with the characteristic sound of barely contained electrical power.

"Twenty seconds to full charge." said one of the operators.

A laser of ice struck the barricade at that moment, causing it to light up, dispersing the blast and digging into the ground on either side.

A beep sounded and everyone saw the lines engraved on the barrel glow green.

"Light that hypertrophied lizard!" Bernt ordered.

"With pleasure !"

Balboa will probably never forget the scene that followed. The moment the trigger was pulled, the ice laser was split in two along its entire length before disappearing in an explosion that shook the entire room.

A deafening silence followed the tumult of battle. A good ten seconds later, Bernt glanced over the barricade he was sheltering under.

"Han, check if he has a pulse."

Without saying a word, Han reloaded his rifle and fired into the dragon's head, digging a hole. Seeing no reaction, the unit slowly approached. Only when they make sure the beast was dead, its right side completely ripped off, did the captain declare the mission over.

"Mission accomplished, we're packing up. I don't know about you, but I'm a little cold myself. Let's go see if we can break through the edge of the dungeon in the time we have left."

The rest grunted their approval and began dismantling the cannon and barricades. It was only an hour later that they arrived back at base camp, exhausted and having failed to breach the force field covering the edge of the area.

"Communications should be restored in the evening and, with the magical concentration dropping, we should be repatriated tomorrow." Bernt indicated after checking the radio.

...

In the UN Asian Operations Headquarters, Director of Operations Lu had a problem, or rather three. The delegates for the Korean, Japanese and Chinese portals were in his office. It was already the fourth meeting on the subject, but the first with all the participants around the table.

"To recap, a Category A dungeon, an anthill, has opened up on Jaeju Island. The Correan Hunters failed to conquer it and this caused the dungeon to collapse, releasing the monsters contained within. Am I right so far?" he began.

"We suspect outside interference in determination of the category of this dungeon." The Korean delegate immediately replied, looking at his two counterparts.

"Let's not get carried away just yet" Cut him off the host, "As international law indicates, the Korean army mobilized in addition to the local Hunters in an attempt to retake the island, which was immediately opposed by the Japanese government, citing a treaty signed three years ago reinforcing Japanese-Korean cooperation for a joint operation. The operation was suspended for the duration of the negotiations, and three months later it was the Chinese government that mobilized to, and I quote, 'restore peace and prosperity in the Chinese economic zone'. Which brings us here today, a UN mediation to prevent all the other powers on the planet from coming to claim their share of the cake."

"Perfectly summarized." Applauds the Chinese dignitary. "I've come here with a proposal to set up a UN clean-up mission under Chinese command, I've taken the liberty of printing the outline, if you'd care to take a look."

"Unacceptable" replied the other two in chorus. Director Lu rubbed his temples as he watched the three diplomats bicker in sentences far too long to be sincere. His gaze then wandered over the room in search of a solution before arriving at the pile of reports to be consulted. His gaze lit up as he read the title at the top of the pile: 'Report on dungeon battles and research into their limits in Southern Mongolia'.

"Gentlemen, a quick technical question before we continue this conversation: a dungeon containing a dragon is classified in what category? Director Lu asked.

"Um, depends on the age and size of the dragon as well as its affinity with this or that element, but generally, a young dragon is minimum category S up to SSS for the most powerful. Why is that?" asked the Japanese.

"I have a proposition to make to you, we have a UN unit specializing in difficult cases like yours. One of their last missions was to exterminate a dragon, which they achieved without difficulty. What's more, it's headed by a Swedish, a country of peace par excellence, as you know. I'm sure it's the perfect solution for closing this dungeon. The UN will take care of everything from A to Z."

"Out of the question, the resources potentially contained in this dungeon are indispensable to the proper development of the Korean Republic." immediately counter-argue the Korean.

"Japan cannot be left out of this project."

"Nor can China."

"Here's what I propose, we'll seal the dungeon. Until you agree on who can conquer it, Korea and Japan will mount a joint mission with only S-rank Hunters in 2 years from the date the portal is sealed. This is in line with your goal of making your Hunters shine internationally. As for China, it will take command of a UN mission to clean up the island. Once this is done, our special unit will enter the dungeon and seal the interior with ice. The cold will send the ants into hibernation, and you'll have plenty of time to train your teams for the raid. Any objections to the outline of this plan?"

Despite the upset looks on the faces of the delegates, none formally objected.

"Perfect, this meeting is over, I'll have this proposal formatted before sending it to your office for reviewing, I hope to see all three of you again soon."

...

"Ah Captain Morgensen, I've been expecting you, come and have a look at this little jewel of technology."

The scientist in the white coat, whose nameplate indicated that his name was John, led Bernt to an air-conditioning unit on a bench.

"Look at that, it's simply a marvel of magical engineering."

"This air conditioner?" asked a surprised Bernt, examining the device closely.

"No, no, this is the basic model we bought in the supermarket, I'm talking about this." John grabbed some kind of blue crystal set by metal claws on a round base with two knobs on the side.

"I have several questions for you, the first is what is this thing, is it powerful enough to cool the volume of an entire dungeon and if it's an air conditioner, where is the cold and hot air exhaust?"

The scientist's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're smarter than most of the people I get sent to pick up new equipment, they all get blank stares and nod at my explanations and..."

"Hurm, let's not speak ill of our colleagues, shall we? Bernt interrupted.

"Oh yes, sorry, a bad habit. To get back to your questions, it is indeed an air conditioner, our recent research shows that magical engineering works best with forms reminiscent of the fantasy genre, so the crystal you see there is the energy source, the whole cooling part is in the base, I modified the power supply of one of our electromagnetic cannons to multiply its power by 5 or 6 orders of magnitude, I had to reinforce the structure accordingly, but nothing complicated. As for the evacuation of hot air, there isn't any, because heat is converted into cold at the moment of heat exchange, which provokes another heat exchange generating as much cold as energy produced, energy used to create cold, and so on, the cold air is finally evacuated by the base."

"I'm pretty sure that transgresses a good bunch of the laws of thermodynamics."

"That's the great thing about informium, mana if you like. Anything accepted as 'magic' is usable, and adapting it to our current technology is trivial. If it were usable anywhere other than near dungeons, it would create a technological revolution never seen before, just the conquest of space would be accelerated by at least a hundred years minimum. But the main beneficiaries had to be the Hunters with weapons from the Middle Ages, at least that makes for some good fight sequences on TV."

Using the 'magic air conditioner' pending a better name than what the scientist called it, was very simple: an on/off button and one to set the temperature between zero and minus 50 degrees celsius, this temperature being the minimum reading value of the built-in thermometer, after which the machine would go into standby mode, content to maintain the target temperature.

"Nobody knows exactly what could happen if the reaction were maintained. We could reach absolute zero with very little energy. The advances science could make with it would be enormous." said the professor in the course of the conversation.

Despite the Professor's many tangents, Bernt eventually obtained all the information he had come for. Now all he had to do was complete his mission.

---

When the unit landed on Jaeju Island, they were immediately escorted to the gate by the Chinese army and Hunters.

"As agreed in the agreement, we did not enter the gate. The international observers can testify to that. We just shot everything that came out, and the dungeon should be almost empty now that we've shot their queen." indicated a liaison officer in front of the portal.

"I thought it was impossible to take down a boss outside his dungeon?" remarked Bernt.

"We've deployed a team of S-rank Hunters who took care of the Boss without any problems. They're some of the best in the world, so it was a breeze for them, but rest assured: there should be some queen larvae left inside, enough to keep you amused during your mission. Just make sure you don't close the gate by mistake."

"Great." Balboa grumbled. "Now we'll have to be careful about what we kill or risk provoking a major diplomatic crisis, another easy mission he said."

Despite the soldiers' recriminations at this new information, everyone prepared their equipment with all due seriousness before passing through the portal. Exploration of the dungeon went smoothly until the first dead end.

"A wall."

"Yes, a wall."

""etal? With rivets? In a dungeon whose walls are all rock?"

"It's a dungeon, anything's possible, but it doesn't look like the usual force field is there"

"It doesn't look like the ants dug any further once the wall was uncovered" remarked one of the soldiers.

Mapping soon revealed that the insects had dug in all directions, stopping each time after hitting the metal wall. Once they'd reached the boss room, where the new queen was protected by a handful of workers, and confirmed that they were in no danger of being attacked, the unit moved off and continued on towards the lowest point of the dungeon.

"How big is this dungeon?" Bernt asked as he carefully descended into the last unexplored tunnel.

"It's a cube five kilometers on a side, the entrance is at the very top and we're at the opposite extreme, at the very bottom, this tunnel is the last one."

"Nice, we'll put the air conditioner there, activate it and get the hell out of here, an easy mission, I told you." He quickened his pace towards the last unexplored part of the dungeon.

No sooner had he finished these words than they emerged into the last room, where a whole section of wall had been cleared away. The metal, blackened in places, also showed traces of claws and pincers, and several rivets on the floor showed that the insects had begun to partially unseal one of the plates.

Everyone was speechless at this unprecedented sight in a dungeon.

"No force fields, a half-unsealed wall and a position far enough from the entrance to be inconspicuous. Who's to go and see what's on the other side?" Bernt asked. They all raised their hands at the same time.

"It wasn't a question." He continued with a smile. "I want that wall taken down in 15 minutes tops."

Ten minutes later, seeing that no progress was being made, two explosive charges were attached to the wall, then termite, and so it was only after emptying the stock of demolition explosives that the steel wall collapsed to the ground with a thud.

All remained silent before the new landscape before them.

"That's a bit disappointing." was the only comment in the first minute, followed by a "All of this for this." and then a "What the hell."

An empty space about twenty meters long separated the place from another steel wall, this one stretching farther than the flashlights could reach, unable to illuminate. Further down, a metal passageway hung from the wall, regularly punctuated by green light.

After descending to the gangway, the unit moved forward cautiously at first, then, as the minutes passed, the tension gradually disappeared.

"What does the drone recon say?" Bernt asked.

"As deduced inside, we're along a metal box about 5 km on a side, the one opposite is the same and it goes on as far as the eye can see." Answered the droner.

"Okay, let's continue to the edge of this box, take some photos and come back, I want drone coverage in all directions, do we have a long-range one, flying preferably?"

"Sorry chief, as it was an underground dungeon, we only took rovers."

"We make do with what we have, come on, let's keep going, still no GPS signal? Or radio?"

"Neither, I'm trying other frequencies, but only interference at the moment."

"All the magic equipment's gone haywire, boss, it doesn't work at all." Han interjected.

"What?"

All the surrounding lights went out without a sound.

"Drone link cut off, all electronics dead, we've just taken an EMP" exclaimed the dronist.

"Retreat!" ordered Bernt immediately.

The rear guard immediately came up against a force field.

"Deploy the barricades, flare." The orders came without a second's hesitation, and within twenty seconds the dim light of a slowly falling flare illuminated the surrounding area.

A hundred round metal objects with a sort of round lens on top hung all around them on the metal walls covering all directions.

They all activated at the same time in a flash, blinding them momentarily.

The landscape around them had changed, no longer the metal passageway surrounded by high steel walls, they were now in the spacious hall of perfectly fitting stone throne room. In front of them was an empty marble throne, and the rest of the room plunged into darkness.

Bernt put his hand to the floor and felt the cold metal of the passageway. He opened his mouth to point this out, but no sound came out. All the sounds they made were muffled, and the information was transmitted with difficulty by gestures and taps on the shoulder to the whole squad. Just then, footsteps sounded.

Footsteps echoed around the room, approaching unhurriedly and at a steady pace, absolutely terrifying to the unit gathered behind the barricade deployed in front of them, alone in the middle of an empty throne room.

A figure emerged from the darkness, stepped into the light and stood in front of the throne before bowing.

"Welcome to this humble abode, my master is not present at the moment, so I will take care of welcoming you." Began the man, if he was one, about 3 m tall, dressed in a purple suit and with an indefinable voice. "I am the Architect, I built and deployed what you call 'system' on your planet by order of my master, of course."

Straightening up, he turned his gaze on the soldiers still frozen in place. At least, that was Bernt's impression, as the creature's face was covered by a white mask with a neutral expression.

"But I must confess my surprise, who would have thought that military men would get here before what you call Hunters. I'm very impressed and this deserves a small reward. I was going to end the prologue after this meeting, but in view of your efforts, I'll give you two more years." The Architect spread his arms wide and declared in a solemn tone. "This is a message for all mankind, in two years' time my master's army will descend upon your world to enslave you, but he is magnanimous and therefore gives you a chance to fight, part of his powers are hidden in one of the dungeons, that's where I should have met you, but faced with the efficiency of your army, I can only bow, your courage is commendable and that's why these two years of extra preparation are granted to you. As for the lucky Hunter who will inherit my master's power, I look forward to meeting you. In the meantime, struggle and fight against the hordes of monsters in front of you, for it's your only chance of survival." The Architect, who had been circling the soldiers during his tirade, returned to his original position in front of the throne.

"As for you, I hope you survive, in the meantime." He paused dramatically. "Disappear!" The Architect snapped his fingers and everything turned black.

When Bernt and his unit opened their eyes again, they were standing in front of the dungeon entrance. The Architect's declaration shocked the whole of mankind, and the fact that the dungeon was sealed went completely unnoticed. The end of the world was at hand, and the countdown had just begun.