Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 25 One Man, Three Guns, Forty Corpses

Why? Why would the Emberleaf Legion advance on Springvale City ahead of schedule? Magnus frowned. He’d shifted the fate of a few people, yes, but he hadn’t touched Emberleaf’s plans. There was no reason for them to come early.

Could this be because of Sophia?

Explosions echoed again. A few more cars went up in flames. No time to think.

"Megan, Amber, you two come with me. Madison, hand me your rifle. You’ll take command of the convoy," Magnus barked. "If you see them pushing forward and we’re not back, get the convoy back to the base pronto. Got it?"

"Got it!" all three women responded in unison.

Megan and Amber were Awakened, but Madison wasn’t. That’s why he left her in charge - she wouldn’t be able to keep up in a direct fight.

The three of them slung their rifles, grabbed torches, sprayed on repellent, and slipped off the convoy. They kept low, circling along the edge of buildings toward the flames up ahead.

But Magnus had another worry. The enemy came from the north - that was the same path their convoy had taken coming in. He didn’t know what had happened to Sophie’s depot at Zero Mile. Had the Legion already overrun it? And what about the seven other scout groups that left base today - had they run into this unit already?

When they closed in to about thirty meters of the flamebelching point, Magnus signaled. The trio climbed into a bus. Megan and Amber quickly cleared out the centipede-spiders crawling inside while Magnus shut the door behind them.

"Amber, pass me your binoculars."

Through the burning wreckage of a line of cars, he scanned the enemy’s formation. About forty of them. Six flamethrowers - two standing guard, four torching vehicles directly ahead. The fuel tanks exploded, lighting whole cars up.

Good. This wasn’t the main force. Just a vanguard unit. They were clearing the main road, blowing up abandoned cars so they’d be light enough for clearance vehicles to push aside. That way, their tanks and armored trucks could roll into Springvale City without a hitch.

And pick off a bunch of mutated creatures while they’re at it.

"Megan," Magnus turned, "if we ambush them, what are our odds of wiping them out?"

Megan had the binoculars. Her brow furrowed. "Take them all out?" she repeated, stunned. "They’re not special forces, sure, but they’re trained military. There’s forty of them. We’ve got three. That’s suicide."

"We don’t have a choice," Magnus cut her off. "Our convoy’s just behind us. If those cars start up, we’ll be spotted. With the amount of supplies we’ve got, you think they’ll let us walk?"

He didn’t wait for an answer.

"You take the building on the left. Third or fourth floor. Pick them off from the window. One shot, one location. Switch floors after a kill."

"Amber..." Magnus gave Amber another quick order. "Take the road on the right. Same task as Megan - snipe them. I’ll draw their attention from the front. Wait for my gunfire as the signal. Got it?"

"No problem!" The two women straightened, saluted crisply, and jumped out of the vehicle.

Three against forty. And the other side was trained fighters. The odds were awful. Only advantage he had - they were out in the open, and he was hiding in the shadows. This first wave had to hit hard. Take out as many as possible. If the enemy got their footing and dug in, it’d be game over.

He felt the heat rolling closer. The spiders and centipedes scattered ahead of the oncoming fire. Magnus waited until the bugs had mostly cleared out, then slipped out of the vehicle, crouching low as he crept among rusted wrecks.

Out of nowhere, a stream of flame burst onto a nearby car. It exploded - he was knocked flat by the shockwave, ears ringing, face covered in grime. Shaking his head, he wiped his face and charged deeper into the fiery street.

The forty fire-troopers ahead were set up in four groups. Two in front, spraying flames to clear the way. Once the front row torched a line of vehicles, the rear two would push forward and take over, rotating in rhythm. Between them, two men operated flamethrowers aimed skyward, trying to burn off the giant mosquito swarms overhead.

Seeing that tight formation, Magnus felt a little relieved. Maybe they’d never expected human resistance. They were bunched up too close - perfect for a burst from an auto-rifle.

meters... 14... 13...

Magnus lay flat between two burning cars, teeth clenched against the searing heat. When the enemy closed to within ten meters, he bit down hard and unleashed a roaring burst from his rifle -

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

The Emberleaf advance squad barely had time to react. A dozen or more dropped in a blink. One of the flame-troopers, hit in the gut, blinked in panic. He fell back, but his hand clenched the trigger - his flamethrower ignited, roasting five or six of his own men alive.

At the same moment, two grenades tumbled down from opposite rooftops - one from Megan, one from Amber.

Ten seconds later - two deafening blasts. Another chunk of the squad torn apart.

From forty, they were down over twenty. The last few survivors panicked. Gunfire started flying in wild directions. The two flamethrower sentries dropped flat, scrabbling for cover, abandoning their fire-sweeping formation.

That’s when the massive black swarm of sky-mosquitoes dived as one, honing straight in on the wounded and bloodied. The chaos exploded.

The survivors, even though skin wrapped tight with gear, couldn’t see a thing - the giant insects blocked more than just the sky, they tore through their field of vision. Blinded, they fired in panic in every direction.

The mosquitoes had turned into unexpected allies. Magnus’s team didn’t waste the chance. Megan and Amber each lobbed another grenade and opened fire again.

Magnus swapped magazines, pushed forward ten meters more. Gun raised, he picked off five more enemies with surgical bursts. Two more grenades erupted - and just like that, silence fell over what was once the Emberleaf squad.