Chapter 91: Chapter 90, Corpse Bomb
Through Georgette’s keen eyes, the governor’s soldiers who had just killed those few enemies had performed very well. The bullets were accurately and meticulously sent into the heads and chests of those armed workers, two rounds each.
The virtually unprotected enemies, once hit in their vital spots by G9 bullets, were undoubtedly dead.
Confirming kills was a necessary tactical move, and Georgette would not interfere. In fact, her gaze had already moved on.
The resistors popping up here and there, though scattered, were indeed numerous. The armed workers who survived the bombardment were now using the ruins of the half-collapsed factory as cover and positions, launching counterattacks as the governor’s soldiers approached.
The soldiers’ advance was impeded, and they too had to find cover to return fire.
But, as Georgette had just witnessed, in most cases, the governor’s soldiers gained an overwhelming victory by virtue of their superior soldiering and equipment advantage.
There were of course some losses, but not significant; on the other hand, the emerging armed workers suffered even heavier casualties and injuries.
And if there was a spot where a larger group of armed workers gathered, fighting prudently and exposing only their gun barrels for the barrage, Georgette wouldn’t waste time, and she and her sisters would go straight in.
To her, all the armed workers mingled with heretics were detestable traitors.
However, just as she set her sights on a spot of stubborn resistance, the area she thought was resolved and safe suddenly changed!
Georgette sensed an intense surge of Storm Heresy there.
Her expression shifted and she immediately warned, “Danger! Get away from there!”
But by then it was already a bit too late.
The bodies of the dead armed workers, like a cluster of corpse bombs, exploded on the spot. Their flesh flew in every direction, as if their bodies had been embedded with a compressed air bomb.
The soldiers who heard the warning but didn’t grasp where the danger lay were blown meters away by the sudden burst of compressed air. Their limbs were twisted upon landing, the force of the blast damaging their innards; sharp air blades tore open the unprotected parts of their bodies, shredding faces, limbs, and throats to a pulp.
Georgette immediately started shouting again, “Don’t go near the enemy’s bodies! They’ll explode!”
This accurate information, along with the just-witnessed scene, was observed by the other soldiers nearby and then rapidly spread outward.
The governor’s soldiers became much more cautious in their actions.
The gruesome fate of their comrades killed by the corpse storm bombs taught them a severe lesson. They altered the conventional tactical requirements, no longer approaching for close confirmation after a kill; instead, they would shoot from a distance if it was convenient; if not, they’d leave it be.
This way there was no worry about approaching bodies being as dangerous as approaching landmines, but the enemy soon came up with new tactics.
Some people in blue robes emerged beside the armed workers. The power of Storm Sorcery pulsed through them.
In Georgette’s eyes, these people weren’t very formidable sorcerers, but they were numerous and cowardly. What they were doing wasn’t using sorcery to strike directly at the governor’s soldiers or the Battle Nuns, but instead, they were stirring up winds that carried the bodies of the gunned-down workers onto the soldiers’ positions.
These bodies, like compressed air cannonballs, caused a lot of trouble for the soldiers.
The potency of these wind-delivered bombs might not have matched a 155-caliber howitzer, but their precision was key.
Some soldiers ducked behind slopes formed from collapsing walls or found small recesses. A gust of wind, spinning as it blew, brought a body right in.
The soldier had seen it in advance and firing at the body to break it up was useless, so all he could do was run out. The corpse bomb exploded, killing three.
This position, which had seemed like a good cover, now appeared to be unsafe.
In fact, nowhere was safe then.
The soldiers’ progress was hindered by the undead bombs.
Even with the support of the Battle Nuns during this time, the problem was only somewhat alleviated.
The Battle Nuns could snipe those in blue robes from a distance, but those targets needed to expose themselves. Hidden behind possibly a few meters thick of building rubble or in shell craters, even the fiercest grenade gun couldn’t penetrate.
After all, they could send over the bodies with the wind, no need to show their heads.
In such a situation, Georgette made up her mind.
“Sisters, for The Emperor! Follow me in the charge!”
She leaped out, and her sisters followed suit. Her ‘Sacred Gold Halberd’ was a transcendent weapon blessed with divine powers; the other nuns didn’t have anything as formidable, but there was no need, whether it be ordinary combat blades or grenade guns, they were enough. Instead, it was the Battle Nun Superior’s Sacred Gold Halberd that dealt devastating damage.
Compared to the weapons in their hands, their defensive capabilities were equally despairing.
After they began their charge, their bodies were completely exposed and naturally suffered concentrated gunfire from the armed workers.
But the ability level of the armed workers wasn’t up to par, while the nuns of the Holy Lily moved quickly and agilely, causing their hit rate to plummet significantly when combined.
Even if they were hit, their power armors didn’t suffer much damage.
The Holy Lilies advanced unstoppably, and as they charged, the grenade guns in their hands fired away.
Simultaneously, the soldiers from the governor’s army also intensified their firepower projection as cover, suppressing the enemy and inflicting causalities.
The nuns successfully broke into the enemy ranks and began to eliminate the opponents at close range.
Their target, of course, was not the ordinary armed workers but the blue-robed Cultists who acted as ‘cannons,’ launching the mortals as projectile bombs.
Their appearance dealt a devastating blow to the enemy. Whenever a Battle Nun approached an entrenchment, the cover lost its protective function, and the grenade gun could annihilate a cluster of entrenched enemies. Even at close enough proximity, the blades in their hands became more efficient than gunfire.
However, killing those enemies was never the biggest problem the nuns faced.
It was the exploding corpses.
Even the nuns clad in power armors didn’t want to take a close-range blast from a heresy bomb.
The nuns had the ability to counteract spells, but for one, they had to be relatively close to the caster; secondly, the explosion of the corpses didn’t seem to be a casting process. Or rather, the casting process was already completed, and all that was lacking was a method of detonation. That was a very subtle action, not easy to suppress.
The nuns could only counteract spells, but not nullify all supernatural powers in an area. There was an essential difference between the two.
The shockwave of the Storm Sorcery bombs, if too close, could damage the power armor; a few more hits, and cracks might appear, leading to a drop in defense capabilities, resulting in casualties.
That’s why, after killing at close range, they would quickly distance themselves to avoid getting blasted. As long as they increased the distance, the impact’s strength weakened, and the damage remained within a tolerable range.
Even because of this, they might only get close enough to slaughter the blue-robed Cultists and then leave the armed workers, who would be used as undead bombs, alone, or wait to deal with them from a safer distance.
Mere armed workers who would explode upon death were not much trouble, but those blue-robed Cultists were.