Chereads / The Hopeless Hero (Draft) / Chapter 32 - Evacuation

Chapter 32 - Evacuation

"How long until everyone is evacuated?" Gleam asked Xylvia.

"It'll take us another ten to fifteen minutes!" Xylvia replied.

It's been about two hours since the hooded figure said that their army was going to attack us tonight, and we were trying to prepare the best we possibly could while trying to get all of the citizens to evacuate the city.

"When will the Army of Light get here?!" I asked Gleam.

"They should be here any minute now!"

"Gleam! Hiro!"

I turned around to see Leonna running towards us. She had a panicked look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The Army of D-Darkness...their...THEIR HERE!!"

"A...Already...?"

"Shit! We still haven't evacuated everyone yet!"

We still needed another ten minutes to get everyone out of here. Our only option was to try and hold the Army of Darkness back but I had no idea how we were going to be able to pull that off. Gleam couldn't help us either because interfering with the world that a god or goddess watches is against the rules. Luckily, the help that we needed managed to get here at just the right time. The Army of Light.

"Commander Zeigal," Leonna shouted running to the man in front. "Thank goodness you're here! The Army of Darkness is almost at the barrier!"

The city filled with bright and pretty colors known as "The Town of Colors" was a huge city-like territory that stretched our to a least thirty to forty miles. Beyond that was a huge forest known as "The Forest."

It's pretty self-explanatory.

Right now, the Army of Darkness was burning and chopping their way through the trees. The thought of all of those different colored trees the glowed a bright and beautiful color at night get chopped down brought a few tears to my eyes. But insanity would fill my entire being if even one civilian was killed in this town, so we needed to get every citizen of this city out of here safely.

The entire city was surrounded by a thick magical barrier that was, from what I heard, created by a hero about fifty years ago. However, from what Gleam said, the Army of Darkness apparently has some kind of weapon that can disperse it instantly. It's a good thing that Gleam can at least help us out through information, otherwise I doubt that we would've been able to prepare on time.

"Don't worry," Commander Zeigal said. "We can hold them back while you try and get the rest of the people out of here. We'll try and bye you about fifteen to twenty minutes but we can't guarantee anything."

"That's fine," I said. "Because we'll be sure to get everyone out safely before they breach the barrier."

"Hey young man, what is that blade that you have there?"

Zeigal was pointing at my Devil's Blade that was strapped to my side.

"Well...it's uhh..."

I didn't know how to respond. Inwas afraid that if I told them that this was the same sword that belonged to Devil, then they would brand me a heretic.

"That isn't important right now," Gleam said. "What's important is stalling that army and getting everyone out of here."

"Of course, my goddess," Zeigal said. "Forgive my personal intrusion."

Zeigal then turned around and began to give his commands to his army.

"EVERYONE," he shouted. "OUR ORDER HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US BY THE GODDESS HERSELF!!! WE ARE TO HOLD BACK THE HELLISH MONSTERS AND GIVE THESE FELLOWS OVER HERE ENOUGH TIME TO GET EVERYONE ELSE EVACUATED!!! NOW, LET US FIGHT FOR OUR PEOPLE!!!"

He pulled out his sword as he said that last part. It shined a bright, aqua blue. In fact, his entire feature was blue. From his combed- back hair, to his bright blue armor that had a golden outline, and all the way to his bright blue eyes. He truly had the looks of a true leader.

Everyone in the army let out a roar as if to let Zeigal know that they were ready. I couldn't believe that the brave sould of all of these men and women were brave enough to protect this city with their lives at stake. They truly were an admiration. I pitied myself for being so weak and hopeless. I couldn't even look at blood without freaking out. I only knew the life of an adventurer, so I had no clue what was like on the battlefield.

My only guess was that it was a hell that you need to fight your way out of.

"Everything will be ok," Xylvia said with her hand on my shoulder. "Just keep your cool and you'll be golden."

As usual, her smile calmed me down and made me smile to. I had no clue how she has that kind of skill, but I guess it doesn't matter. As long as she can smile a happy smile, then I'm ok with not knowing.

"You're right," I said. "I shouldn't be panicking right now. I have people that I need to protect, so I'll do just that!"

Both the light and the darkness were colliding in a battle filled with cries, screams, and bloodshed. I couldn't stand seeing all of those people die, but I knew that they chose to do this. They knew that their lives were at a high stake, and yet they chose to fight anyways. All I could do was hope that they all fought with everything they had all the way to the end.

"HEAD SOUTH, STRAIGHT TO THE FOREST," I shouted to the evacuating citizens. "YOU'LL FIND A CAVE THAT'S BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL OF YOU!!!"

"Thank you so much!"

"Please stay safe!"

"Their are still some more people back their!"

I took the last guys words as my first priority and headed to where he pointed to. I found myself at a clocktower with black bricks and a huge clock on the wall at the top.

"HELLO," I shouted. "IS ANYONE IN HERE?!!"

"wwaaaghh...mama...papa...help me..."

A little girl?

"DON'T WORRY!! HELP IS HERE!! JUST TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!!"

"...I...I can't see...anything... I...I...don't...want to die..."

"You're not going to die. I'm here to get you out of here. Just tell me where you are."

Her voice kept getting louder as I walked forward. The inside of this building looked like a church with a huge staircase leading up to the huge clock. I walked over to the podium to see if the little girl was hiding behind it.

She wasn't.

"I'm scared...wwuaaaagh...I...don't want to die..."

"You're not going to die," I reassured her. "Just listen to my voice ok."

I walked over to the huge staircase to and started to climb it. I was getting an eerie feeling and a cold chill shot down my spine. I didn't like this.

"Where are your parents?" I asked her in a calm voice.

"They're...dead..." she said.

Those words punched me in the heart. She was all alone with no parents to protect her. No wonder she was so scared. But then again, how were her parents dead? The Army of Darkness didn't breach the barrier.

"Are you sure that they're not just missing?" I asked her.

"...no...they're dead... I saw the boogeyman cut them into pieces."

The boogeyman? Cut them into pieces? How was that possible? No murders were ever reported here. As far as I knew, this place was always peaceful.

"H-How did that happen?" I asked her in a pretty shaky voice.

I was getting extremely paranoid as I walked up the steps of the long staircase. My instincts were practically screaming at me to run, but I couldn't just leave this little girl in here all alone. I needed to get her somewhere safe before the Army if Darkness breaches the barrier.

"Why didn't you save me?"

"... .... ..... ..."

I was paralyzed right where I was standing. Those words were like an anesthetic drug that numbed every part of my body. My limbs felt like they were dangling by a thread. I started trembling on my feat.

"When my head left my body, why didn't you put it back on me?"

"... ..... ...."

I knew who it was. It was the little girl...that I let die.