Hearing the rumbling sound in the distance, the entire group immediately entered combat stance.
"Park, how far are those creatures from us and how many are there?"
"There are three groups coming from different directions, sir—around 400 meters to the east with about 50 of them, 500 meters to the north with 39 figures, and from 300 meters to the south with around 40."
"Alright, I've already forwarded the information to central command. Oscar, Sofie, and Lurker, get ready! We'll handle the ones coming from the east!"
Hearing Team Leader Eric's instructions, Oscar, Sofie, and Lurker began circulating their mana.
I could see Oscar preparing dozens of magic circles filled with spell formulas around him.
Meanwhile, Lurker's shadow started writhing as if it could burst out at any moment.
At the same time, Team Leader Eric and Senior Sofie rushed forward and stopped right at the edge of the barrier created by the elves. I could see dark mana radiating from Team Leader Eric's body and brown mana from Sofie.
"Raphael, if you can see them already, scan the data immediately and send it to central command, understood!?"
"Understood, sir," I replied while activating my smartwatch, which was already functioning normally since the wild mana fluctuations in the dead zone had been cleared.
"Alright, it's warm-up time. Let's teach these bastards not to mess around with humans!"
******
After waiting for a few seconds, the horde of monsters finally appeared. Seeing the forms of those monsters—partly resembling animals and humanoid creatures but with wildly mutated flesh—was not a pleasant sight.
As soon as they were within my sight range, I immediately used my innate magic and typed the obtained information into my smartwatch.
'56 monsters. 20 humanoid-types, 14 insectoid-types, 13 beast-types, and 9 avian-types. Judging by their size and visible mana fluctuations, most of them are risk level-4 with 3 humanoids in front being risk level-5.'
I sent that information to central command. Then, when the monsters from the north and south came into view, I did the same and sent the information to central command.
When only 100 meters remained between the barrier and the monster horde, Leader Eric and Senior Sofie pushed off with their feet and dashed toward the monsters with a speed comparable to the top speed of a car.
They headed straight for the 3 humanoid-type monsters with risk level-5 I had mentioned earlier.
Those monsters were shaped like humans about 3 meters tall, with pale white skin and disproportionate bodies. Their whole bodies were formed from dense muscles that looked as if they might burst out of their frames.
They had a massive and long right arm that almost dragged on the ground, but a very tiny left arm. Where a face should have been, there was only a half-spherical cavity filled with sharp teeth protruding outward.
With pitch-black mana coating his fist, Team Leader Eric charged at the two risk level-5 humanoid monsters that were close to each other and struck them both with a wide punch.
The blow sent them flying into the crowd of monsters behind. Team Leader Eric chased after them while smashing the surrounding monsters with mana-coated punches and kicks.
Meanwhile, Sofie was fighting the last risk level-5 monster. Layers of hard rock-like armor covered her small body, except for her face where the gas mask was.
Even though she wasn't as strong as Leader Eric, her punches still carried tremendous weight, making it feel as though it was a car—not a fist—that was being swung.
Despite her extraordinary strength, battling a risk level-5 monster required Senior Sofie's full focus.
That's why Senior Oscar was there to support her. With dozens of magic circles spinning above him, Senior Oscar bombarded the monsters surrounding Sofie with his fire magic.
At the same time, Senior Lurker vanished into the shadows, only for shadow spikes to suddenly emerge in the middle of the battlefield.
After impaling several monsters to death, the spikes receded only to reappear not far from the first spot.
While our team was annihilating the monster horde charging from the east, the other battlefields also progressed smoothly.
Even though the other field division teams only had 1 or 2 combat personnel, thanks to the purification division's support, they could deal with the monster assaults relatively easily.
Seeing Manager Fang, his body shrouded in white mana and wielding a massive battle axe, slaughter the monsters coming from the south, I understood why—even though the security division was not deployed in this operation—he didn't look panicked or afraid, only annoyed.
'I guess no matter the division, positions from supervisor upward require a certain amount of personal power.'
While the purification division executives assisted on the front lines, the elves provided long-range fire support using mana-coated bows and arrows.
They mainly targeted the avian-type monsters that could fly and had high mobility. Their shots were extremely accurate and powerful, able to pierce even the exoskeletons of insectoid monsters with ease.
I saw one elf with a flower crown on her head preparing to release an arrow. The mana contained in that arrow was so immense that the air around it vibrated.
The arrow was released into the middle of the monster horde. Leaving a trail of light behind it, the arrow finally made contact with the monsters.
BOOOM!
A sound reminiscent of an exploding bomb echoed as the arrow hit. The mana within it swept across the monsters around the impact point, killing or gravely injuring them.
After being mesmerized by the battlefield scene, I returned to my task as I saw another monster horde rushing from afar.
******
After the first horde appeared, two more waves of monsters emerged.
But since most of the monsters were only risk level-4, with occasional risk level-5s and a single risk level-6, the battle could be considered relatively easy.
I watched in awe as Team Leader Eric pummeled the risk level-6 monster alone until it turned into a pile of bloody mush.
Of course, no matter how easy it looked, in the middle of a chaotic battlefield, anything could happen.
While I was focused on relaying information to central command, I suddenly felt vibrations from the ground beneath me.
Trusting my instincts, I threw myself to the side with all my strength. Fortunately, I wasn't late, because moments later, the ground where I had stood collapsed and a monster burst out.
The monster was shaped like a giant worm with a body diameter of 1.5 meters. Its gaping mouth was circular, filled with rotating sharp teeth inside.
I recognized that monster—an Earth Worm, the most common dweller-type monster. Judging from its size, that Earth Worm was surely a risk level-4 monster.
Even though I had thrown myself aside at the first signs, the worm's massive body still managed to partially slam into me.
Luckily, thanks to the protective enchantments on my special suit, the impact was dampened, leaving me only with minor injuries.
When I stood to try escaping, the Earth Worm was already moving toward me. Just as I worried I wouldn't have time to flee, suddenly an arrow landed on the side of the worm's head.
That attack successfully diverted the Earth Worm's attention away from me, creating a gap for me to escape.
Without thinking twice, I immediately ran as fast as I could from the monster.
After ensuring a safe distance from the Earth Worm, I sat on the ground, gasping for breath.
'Phew, that was close.'
Perhaps that was one of the most dangerous moments I had ever experienced while working in this division.
Although right now I just wanted to lie down and rest, I knew the battle wasn't over yet and I still had duties to perform.
'The others are also fighting, I can't just laze around here.'
Forcing my trembling body after that incident to stand, I reluctantly resumed my work.