Collapsing

POV: Recruit 79

I observe the scattered remains of my meal, slightly disappointed that I hadn't savored it longer than I had originally.

It was my first in a few days, so I was definitely hungry.

The whole public execution from yesterday left a bad taste in my mouth. Haven't been able to go in the city much after the whole incident, just felt a bit weird to be honest.

Although, can I say it was public?

It happened so quickly, and I don't think anybody was there as audience to witness.

Despite how unreasonably long I dwelled on the matter, he had committed an atrocious crime to say the least.

The rising bits of smoke occasionally clouded my crammed quarters, making mental note of the demolition they've been doing as of recently. Due to the lack of sunlight, any farmland that couldn't run on artificial nexus energy gets burned to a crisp and replaced with... anything. Perhaps the construction of a new cathedral is finally taking order?

While many farmlands sit there, waiting to be demolished, the workers as of recent seem to have been taking their sweet time. Some land have been sitting around for decades, untouched because of the land owner's sentiment to what was.

However, this isn't the past now. Once Zhang had fully taken control of this land, they couldn't say anything to retaliate against his complete, utter rule of these surrounding areas.

Still staring at the drying crumbs that remained on the metal plate, I quickly brushed it aside and stood up. I needed to get some fresh air, I think.

I swing on by the side of my quarters to snatch my helmet, quickly throwing it on. I never usually took off my main armor plates unless I was freshening up or sleeping, yet sometimes I'd sleep with it on.

We have to hide our face and body, punished otherwise of course.

Our looks, physique, and other factors should not be a risk against our capability of working amongst each other.

Running out of the door, I slow my pace as I exit onto the hard concrete. It was still pretty early in the morning, so the lack of any souls was pretty much to be expected, however it was definitely a bit odd.

I strolled upwards, passing the yard from yesterday. The body still hung, which will eventually succumb to the unpleasant smell of rotting flesh. 'Hopefully they'll take care of it soon enough,' I thought to myself, thinking back to a few previous executions that took place. One body held atop for nearly 2 weeks... The benefits of living so close to the yard tend to not really outweigh the negatives at situations like these.

'I wish I had more influence around here, then I'd get an actual room like the soldiers have,' I remarked within my own thoughts.

While recruits were usually bond to tiny quarters, some of the higher ranked prospects got more comfortable arrangements. And if they became a true soldier of the future Emperor, they'd get even more amenities.

I was very low ranking, my use of Nexus Energy being toddler level at best. My use of the sword is lackluster, as I am always too afraid of a real fight to properly sustain myself. The only weapon I can use is my fist, and that's simply just to beat down those below me.

However there are very few below me, but many above. So it doesn't come in handy all that often, except for the situation at the bar as an exception.

I scoffed. What use is it in moaning about it anyway?

My self pity came to a crashing halt when the sirens came on. While it shook me just a bit, I paid no attention.

The sirens go off once every few days.

It simply means that another militia might be getting a bit too antsy, or a straggler was found on the outskirts of the village. Nobody can ever make it this deep into Zhang's territory.

Two guards came rushing by, almost in a hurry.

"Well that's unexpected," I talked to myself, slightly under my breath. I didn't want to cause any disturbance to the guards if they heard me and hesitated for a moment.

Finally, another pair of two guards came rushing by.

They were a bit slower paced, so I started walking with them.

"I apologize for my intrusion on the matter, but do you mind enlightening me on the situation? It seems pretty strange," I ask.

"We don't know much either," the far guard spoke anxiously.

The other guard rested his head downwards just slightly. "Typically they'd only dispatch one pair to handle most of these alarms, however all of us are being dispatched. Maybe there was more than just a few stragglers?" He spoke in suspicion.

"Could it be maybe a village resistance?" I asked, curiosity always getting the better of me in more important situations.

"Unlikely. The village, while unnamed, has been utmost loyal to Emperor Zhang and his rule over the surrounding lands for over a decade now," he began explaining in response. "Not to mention, they don't exactly have a lot of able-bodied men to stage something of high enough caliber to mobilize all of us in the base."

'Shit,' I cursed, pushing away all my thoughts.

'If the worse came, would I be sent out to the frontlines? I can't fight! I'm too weak!'

'At least, if I die, I'd die serving the future Emperor,' I remind myself, able to calm down just a touch, my expression hidden by the helmet.

Few times am I grateful for the helmet, one of them is a time like this.

As I continued my pace downwards with them, I thought about stopping and turning back. Maybe taking shelter in my quarters, or standing 'guard' somewhere on the safer side of the base. That would be cowardly, though, so I couldn't.

The sound of explosions, almost in a symphony, erupted amongst my ears. Whatever it was, it was loud—powerful, and close.

Very close.

"Shit, what was that?" One of the guards spoke.

We had all come to a stop at the sound of it, I even heard the slight tremble of the steel armor from one of the guards next to me.

They weren't trained for this. None of us were. This base wasn't designed to handle an invasion.

So, could it be? Could it really have been an invasion now?"

Another series of explosions erupted, this time behind us. Whatever was attacking, was not only packaging very powerful weapons and/or nexus users, but was coming at the base from all sides. And they were only getting closer.

We began sprinting towards the center of the base in attempt to regroup with others. "Could the general still be around?" I asked, worryingly.

"H-He left for HQ right after his announcement," one of the guards stuttered.

"That's not good, not good at all," I reply back. The general would've been a great security and asset to fight against whatever was directly attacking us.

It certainly wasn't a resistance, that's for certain.

Finally, another explosion rung, this time knocking us all to the ground. Everything was black, before it became blurry. Muffled screams barely filtered through, noticing piles of dead guards surrounding me.

'What is this?' I couldn't speak aloud, choking on my own blood before spitting it up. I looked over, my vision still zapping between reality and utter darkness. A piece of metal protruded from the surface of my leg, piercing my rusted armor with ease.

I noticed many armored guards, similar to us but very different in the same ways. Their aura was much more powerful than anybody on this camp, unrivaled. While the general's aura still dwarfs theirs, he's not exactly here right now.

They came rushing in. Not out of urgency to help, of course. Silly of me to think they were on our side, the rescuers that I had dreamed would come in my mere moments before death.

The guards became nothing more than shadows to me as I was unable to process anything.

I heard mumbling to the faintest degree, I couldn't comprehend what was being spoken though. I was falling unconscious...

What a bummer... this is how I would die?