2:10 PM.
The Special Region Alnus Hill Military Base was under attack.
However, the forward observation posts and routine aerial patrols didn't report any enemy troop movements. The spies in the Japanese Embassy didn't report any military mobilization, political movement, nor increased economic activity; it was silent all around.
The assault materialized out of nowhere, erupting instantly within the base.
2:15 PM.
The command center was under enemy control, and all communication centers were destroyed; the recently established communication links were destroyed. The attack was debilitating and precise; the military and civilian command back in Japan was already throwing rumors of foreign disruptive operations or black operations.
2:33 PM.
The Special Task Force Group. A corps of two military divisions under the direct command of Lieutenant General Koichi Hazama was radio silent. The dome that sheltered the Gate automatically and immediately closed during the red alert; some survivors, including soldiers who either abandoned their positions or helped civilians evacuate, made it through.
3:20 PM.
A quick response team was immediately formed.
However, the fact that the base fell within an hour due to nightmarish creatures put the response team on hold. A kill zone was established instead. The moment that something came out of the gate, the orders were to shoot to kill.
The survivor reports were horrifying and truly unexpected, but Japan, accustomed to the supernatural because of the Gate, adapted with little difficulty.
They had little footage of the attack, and the footage they did have was baffling. A team of military analysts was stumped; they merely saw soldiers dying on their own and shooting at nothing. Yet the soldiers who fled swore on their lives that there were monsters.
Invisibility spells, rituals, or racial traits. The military decided. The military asked for the enemy descriptions.
Apparent, a massive swarm of cockroaches immediately erased a single infantry battalion, then flooding the motor pool and destroying hard military assets.
A colossal humanoid monster with an elephant's head and four bulging arms, impervious to bullets, destroyed a whole brigade. There were others too, mostly resembling snakes, wolves, and other terrestrial creatures.
There was absolute media and radio silence about the Alnus Hill Anomaly — no reports or communication about it in official and secret channels. The United States of America, the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation were watching Japan with focused eyes, always looking for a weakness.
A regional power was under the gaze of three competing superpowers. Their surveillance was unavoidable, and there was no doubt they knew something had happened. Japan's choice was to move as quickly as possible and deal with the emergency crisis alone.
The Empire finally found its backbone, the Japanese military thought.
4:25 PM.
The JGSDF armored and mechanized response team arrived in the special region and immediately took positions. The base was empty and destroyed and as the soldiers flooded in, they felt uneasy. It was as if thousands of eyes were upon them.
A leading private with a rifle took position in a fallen wooden foundation. He shakily clutched his battle rifle, the Howa Type 64, scanning the perimeter, waiting for the supposedly nightmarish enemies to show up.
Then, the response team immediately noticed the sound of thousands of crawling insects. A corporal asked a sergeant if he had heard something, but the sergeant hadn't. Then more and more soldiers started to hear and sense it, as if their eyes and ears slowly opened one by one, to truly perceive the enemy.
It didn't take long; a massive swarming army of cockroaches seemingly appeared in front of them like they were there from the start, just watching the soldiers.
The JGSDF response team didn't panic, but they were shaking. They didn't have time to question the nature of their enemies, and they did the only thing they knew in that situation that made sense, which was to:
"Open fire!"
A barrage of lead, shells, and mortar fire rang out.
The swarming cockroaches were systematically destroyed by sheer area denial; several hundred made it past, but they were stomped and squished by the soldiers. Flamethrowers spat out their long, streaming flames, killing thousands every second.
An industrialized slaughter of the supernatural.
The JGSDF strategy was like a spearhead; the tanks would slowly move forward with the infantry supporting and guarding the flanks.
The five Mitsubishi Type 90 tanks crept forward, enacting a slow creeping barrage maneuver with some rear infantry armed with flamethrowers, ensuring that nothing would get reasonably close. The soldiers didn't underestimate the cockroaches, but they still viewed them merely as cockroaches, assuming they couldn't damage the tanks.
Entire buildings were swarmed with these cockroaches; they didn't all attack fully, however, some just observed, as if waiting for a moment. As the soldiers fired, a tall, almost humanoid figure appeared amid a swarm of cockroaches.
The JGSDF response team didn't think twice to bombard that direction with lead.
They identified the main target, the one responsible for the most deaths. The mortars relentlessly bombarded the position of that humanoid. The tanks fired with precision and with one-second delays, producing a loud, explosive tempo.
"I like the taste of irooooooooooooon."
The creature shouted, its voice was raspy and garbled, as if human speech wasn't suited to its throat and mouth. All of the cockroaches swarmed forward. The machine gun fire from the infantry fighting vehicle, effective as it is, cannot stop an endless swarm of cockroaches.
"Back blast clear!" A soldier notified another soldier who was using the Panzerfaust-3. The Panzerfaust's 100mm rocket shot forward and scored a direct hit on the humanoid, producing a loud concussive blast.
The creature, now fully revealed, was like a giant slumped humanoid cockroach standing upright. It had a maroon-colored insect-like exoskeleton with six long antennae coming from its face, and a human mouth with a permanent grin. It had several sets of eyes with multiple sclerae, glaring at the soldiers.
The JGSDF soldiers fired with disciplined grace.
The humanoid cockroach stepped forward, pushing aside the veil-like carapace to reveal its four red, muscular arms and two legs.
A withering barrage of machine-gun fire, spanning various calibers and rates of fire, rained down on the creature. Yet it remained standing, utterly unflinching, as the lead barrage failed to pierce its exoskeleton.
"Anti-tank, load and fire!"
A sergeant shouted as two soldiers moved forward. One of them was carrying an ammunition box, and the other had a Barrett M82 Rifle and aimed it at the chest of the humanoid cockroach that was still standing despite the barrage of modern weaponry.
Within a second, the humanoid cockroach disappeared. The soldier felt a warm stream of viscous liquid drip onto his left cheek and shoulders. He looked at his spotter and found that his spotter no longer had a head, and that the humanoid cockroach was beside him now.
(The next chapter is the end of Saitama and Garou's POV.)