Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1238 Some Rum (First Update)

A blackened armored personnel carrier wobbled and slowly drove into the battlefield where bullets were flying.

The Martian technician, clad in a red robe, stood fearlessly at his machine gun position, firing at the Trinity stronghold from the reforged heavy-explosive shell mount. The driver pulled the trigger, and the twin-barreled heavy-explosive shells at the front of the armored vehicle began spewing half-meter-long tongues of fire and supersonic bullets. The sturdy barricades constructed of sandbags and 50mm homogeneous steel plates were as vulnerable as beach sandcastles under the .75 caliber heavy-explosive shells. Huge amounts of dust and sparks from the exploding shells filled the sky. Supilulius breathed a long sigh of relief; he could finally temporarily halt his protection of Queen Paititi and join the real combat mission.

Onuratu crouched behind the prefabricated fortifications, tears streaming down her face. She clenched her fists and pounded them against the leg armor of Supiluliumus, her palms bleeding from the roaring faces and lightning bolts carved on the armor. The battle had exceeded her expectations from the very beginning. She had seen tribal warriors struck by the weapons of the "colonizers" (whom the indigenous people called the Holy Trinity), their flesh and bones pierced and shattered by the high-speed metal, finally falling like rag dolls, bullets whizzing through the narrow zone of fire.

If it weren't for the protection of the Royal Guard and the "outsiders" (whom the natives called Camilla's Squad) bringing "shields" (referring to gray prefabricated fortifications about the height of a person with firing ports), she and the remaining tribal warriors would surely have been decimated by the "colonizer" army. What shocked her even more was the battle between a jet-black "iron bird" (referring to an Apache attack helicopter) and a golden "iron bird" (referring to a Royal Guard hovercraft). The two, which were about the same size, were locked in combat in the air, but the latter was far more agile than the former.

With a deafening roar, the black "Iron Bird" plummeted to the ground as a burning mass of scrap metal, triggering a massive, earth-shattering explosion that killed mercenaries, Kukulkan followers, rocks, and trees in droves, and billowing smoke nearly engulfed the entire highland. Knowing Paititi's isolation and backwardness, Onuratu accepted this fact; she knew Paititi was embroiled in a war between outsiders and outsiders, and between outsiders and Paititi.

The venom of war seeped into the land and its inhabitants through blood ties, culture, and faith from the moment Paititi's ancestors accepted their mission and the colonists brought the Church of San Juan, twisting them to this day. Amaru's desire to destroy the outsiders stems from his knowledge that they are far more powerful than the Spanish colonists, and the outdated Paititi can never defeat them. The Imperial Guard and his master seek to protect the outsiders and destroy the mission Paititi has inherited through bloodlines, as well as the outsiders behind Amaru.

Onuratu did not want to support either side, but reality forced her to take a side.

The one thing she hadn't expected was that the godlike warrior, the golden-armored war machine of the Royal Guard, Supiluliumas, wouldn't lead his army through the enemy lines with overwhelming force as she had imagined. Instead, he remained on the fringes of the battlefield, specifically targeting those who posed a threat to the tribal warriors for beheading, or seeking out more bizarre, supposedly "contaminated" Kukulkan followers. Only after repeatedly turning a stronghold into a bloodbath, and deterring the colonists from advancing, would he lead Camilla's squad to slowly advance to the next stronghold.

Although each of his actions completely turned the tide of battle, giving the untrained tribal warriors the upper hand, he also ordered the golden "Iron Birds" to breathe fire and destroy the battlefield where the Kukulkan Order and the tribal warriors were fighting to the death. It was as if his purpose was not war but to kill certain people or destroy certain objects, completely disregarding the casualties of the tribal warriors. Onuratu wasn't entirely resentful; after all, all the tribal warriors had sworn an oath of sacrifice, and Supiluliumas would suddenly appear to protect her whenever she was in danger. But this didn't stop her from feeling remorse for the tragic and meaningless casualties.

"This is war, Onuratu." Supiluliumas looked down at Queen Paititi, who was crouching behind the precast concrete fortifications. The latter was still quite unaccustomed to the communication headset inserted into her ears. "This war is the only way to save the outside world and Paititi. The sacrifices of those warriors will be remembered. Even if they didn't know what they were fighting for, they still fulfilled our Lord's vision of fighting for humanity, and for that alone they deserve everyone's respect."

"Then who are you fighting for, Supilulius!" Onuratu demanded fiercely. "Aren't you a war machine? Why are you still here?!"

"Because of my lord and His will, certain things should not exist, and my task is to completely erase them." Supiluliumas changed to a full magazine, pressed the button on the spear handle, and cocked the gun. Having done this, he gripped the spear handle again, activated the Guardian Spear's power supply, and coated the blade with blue electricity. "Everything I've done is to ensure Paititi's continued existence. Now that reinforcements have arrived, you can order your tribal warriors to attack from their positions under the cover of armored vehicles. What's inside is not for you to know. Don't follow me until I have completely burned that land. Don't be curious. Stay here, don't communicate with any Kukulkan followers, don't look, don't listen, understand?"

Half an hour after Supiluliumas left, the sounds of hacking and slashing that stretched all the way to the cave gradually faded away. Camilla and her squad remained on guard in that direction. The charred armored vehicles blocked the escape route of all Trinity mercenaries and Kukulkan followers. Anyone who tried to escape through the narrow ravine would be destroyed by the swarming jets of metal and lasers.

Onuratu noticed the sky suddenly darken, as if dark clouds were descending upon the ground. Then she heard a deafening roar, and swarms of gigantic, blotting-out "iron birds" swooped down, landing on the other side of the mountains. They then soared back up, hovering in the distance, spewing flames and metal upon the earth. The continuous roars echoed along the mountain range rising from the earth, reaching the feet of the Paititi tribe warriors. This sight nearly terrified the warriors, who had just managed to accept the power of the "outsiders." They raised their frightened faces in the dim sunlight, like some kind of panicked animal.

Fortunately, Onuratu managed to calm the tribal warriors, claiming they were soldiers brought by the Imperial Guard to help Paititi, and that victory would be achieved once they finished the battle here. Camilla rested the laser gun on the firing port and cast a sympathetic and apologetic glance at Onuratu, who was not far away. Camilla and Onuratu were of the same bloodline, and Camilla was well aware of the locals' superstitious nature, even having once refused UN food aid for fear that outsiders would covet the commoners' fat (referring to the Pishtako).

As one of the few enlightened people in Paititi, even though Onuratu obtained his rule through political marriage, uniting this superstitious indigenous group was extremely difficult. From any perspective, Onuratu was a competent and wise leader; he was simply forced to make some appeasement choices due to circumstances to ensure the survival of his people.

The consensus on survival has now vanished, and Onuratu has no choice but to side with the Imperial Guard.

Regardless of the outcome, the heavy losses suffered by the tribal warriors mean that Paititi will no longer have absolute control over this land. The territory will shift from the Holy Trinity and the Church of San Juan to Latvinia, and those who uphold their beliefs will drag the Paititi people out of their comfort zone, like pulling meat from a snail's shell. They will expose this indigenous people, who have never encountered science and have forgotten the wisdom of their ancestors, to the modern world, leaving them to be brutally wounded by reality until they learn how to integrate into modern civilization. Perhaps there will be no more war, drugs, and crime, but there will also be no more folklore, mythology, and superstition. Camilla doesn't know if this is a price to pay for change, but she is certain that Paititi's future will at least not be worse than the past.

"Want some drinks?" she asked Onuratu. The latter looked at this "outsider" with curiosity. Camilla noticed Onuratu's expression and gave him a big smile. "Although the operational regulations forbid us from drinking at this time, I believe the Imperial Guard won't mind if we have some rum now; it's not their problem anyway."

Onuratu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

She needed some wine, and the tribal warriors needed some wine too.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)