Mob Protagonist ~ Mob in the Novel But There is a Problem

Chapter 61.1

Chapter 61.1. Mantis vs Spider

-???’s POV-

In the dimly lit interior of the multi-legged tank Iron Spider Type 17, the tank commander of the Iron Spider Battalion calmly gives orders after seeing a group of Scissors Mantis on the monitor.

“As much as possible, make the target of the mantis turn toward us. Start checking with conventional ammunition.”

“Roger that. Commence checking with conventional ammunition.”

The artilleryman quickly taps the touchscreen in front of him, points the machine gun at a group of scissors mantis at a distance, and fires a round.

They don’t have to aim to hit them. There were that many enemies. Once the mantis lays eggs, it produces so many children that it is almost sickening. If they are the same size as adults. They’re even more terrifying.

They have inorganic compound eyes, carnivorous and strong jaw, and a sickle that can easily cut off even a steel pole. And the cilia and multiple legs grow thickly and are visible because it’s huge.

They’re the one who brings disgust and fear. They’re scissors mantis.

A storm of ordinary bullets, neither magic metal nor magic, rains down on the approaching scissors mantis.

With a roar, bullets are scattered from the machine gun, leaving a large hole in the ground the size of one meter, and the earth is blown away and scattered. It is a machine gun of a tank. If it were an ordinary person, it would have the power to turn him into a lump of meat just by grazing him.

But the opponent was a demon. Even in its juvenile form, it was a powerful enemy equivalent to a D rank. The body of the scissors mantis is clad in a magical barrier and is no better than a slingshot ball. No matter how many attacks they received, they were only pushed back a little and did not suffer a single scratch due to the power of the magical barrier.

But that was already expected by the tank commanders. He doesn’t need to complain about the lack of damage. They’re attacking to gain the enemy’s hate and turn the target toward them.

“Fire, fire, fire! Don’t worry about remaining ammunition! Use up all the bullets! Use magic bullets on any enemy that looks like they’re about to cross the defense line!”

“Yes, sir!”

The artilleryman manipulates the lever and skillfully switches between conventional and magic ammunition to defeat the attacking scissors mantis. Several magic bullets shattered the Scissors Mantis that was approaching.

[This is Turtle Two. Commence combat.]

[Turtle Three. We won’t take any steps here!]

[Turtle Four. I’ve been thinking about you, battalion commander. I had heard you were a tank battalion commander because of your connections.]

On the monitor, we see a tank battalion starting a battle at a distance. They verbally report that they’ll start fighting, and they fire their machine guns and blow away the monster mantis.

[That’s right. At first, you told me to put the fire out without even waiting.]

[Right. I was surprised when you suddenly instructed me to start the activation sequence.]

[Ha ha. But lucky for us!]

The tank commanders of each vehicle praised each other with the roar of machine guns and tank guns as BGM. Turtle One. The first tank commander to order combat aboard this tank was the battalion commander leading the Iron Spider Battalion.

However, the Iron Spider Battalion of the Imperial Guard was only 10 tanks. It was a small battalion in name only, and since they never moved the gold-digging tanks, it was in a foil position, a man who gets talked behind his back that he was in it because of his connections.

[Shut up! Make sure the mantids don’t get out of the way!]

[Yes, sir!]

The battalion commander yells at his men and turns his attention back to the monitor. No matter how many times the scissors mantis were coming over the corpses.

“Fire the dummy balloons for the demonic mishaps! Later the rest of the [Missile Flame] and hit them!”

“Fire the dummy balloon!”

The iron spider has a four-man crew: a driver, an artilleryman, a communications officer, an assistant artilleryman, and a tank commander. The communications officer immediately fired the dummy balloon. Three missiles placed next to the body of the iron spider flew into the air, and when they exploded in mid-air, the spider-shaped balloons inside inflated and fell into the scissors mantis.

They must have thought they were bait. The dummy balloons were covered by a swarm of mantises and disappeared. But when it saw that they had gathered to a certain extent, Turtle One fired its last missile.

The missiles’ leaving a plume of smoke in its wake, landed, and engulfed the mantis in a swirl of flames and burned. As it watched, Turtle One fired machine gun after machine gun, taking out one group after another.

After checking the number of bullets remaining on the monitor, the battalion commander raises his head and orders in a stern voice.

“All right! Commence the assault!”

“Ha! Is it an assault, sir?”

“Yes! We no longer have much ammunition left. Use this tank as a decoy until reinforcements arrive. Charge!”

“Yes, sir! Charge!”

“Don’t worry, the iron spider’s magic armor will block the scissors mantis’s scythe!”

He gave the order in a stern voice, and the driver did not argue but began the assault. The iron spider is heavily armored. Not even a scratch can be inflicted on it by those demons.

[Turtle One. You’re going to charge? Are you insane?]

[You guys are soldiers too. The people are behind! Become a shield! ]

The battalion commander yells at him, and the tank commanders of each vehicle return his voice with admiration.

[Awesome …… you’re like a different person. Turtle Three roger]

[Let me buy you a drink when I get back. Turtle Four copy]

[Oops, Turtle Two follows! Cheers to the brave!!!]

Likewise, other iron spiders also charge into the swarm of monster mantises. This caused most of the monster mantis to swarm toward the iron spiders.

The tank’s body shakes, and the scissors mantis scythes clinging to the iron spiders make a grinding sound against the armor.

He listened to the sickening sound of metal being scraped away. The battalion commander also wondered why he could do this.

Was he planning to do this?

This was before today’s party. The Minister of Military Affairs, Duke Kanna, had ordered us to stop the iron spider completely, since just putting it in standby mode would eat up the magic stone.