Explosions sounded one after another as the flashes of the blasts gleamed through the darkened and cloudy heavens along with the misty and devastated city below it.
*BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!*
The beaming flashes of the explosions brought upon the revelation of the airships with their giant shadowy silhouettes within the thunderous black clouds in the stormy skies.
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
Artilleries kept releasing their iron shells onto their enemies as the cries of those who met such explosive projectiles echoed throughout the vast wasted battlefield resembling a city.
In the capital city of the eastern country, the republic of Lechia, the flames of war had ravaged all. Its bright and chaotic flames spread throughout the city like the plague, with its road bloodied with corpses and death.
Such was the final road of the imperial crusade, the last of the covenant war.
The imperium army, navy, and many more had pierced through the republic of Lechia and were invading its capital. Only the capital remains under the republic's control, meaning that the victory on the offensive was dependent on the domination of the capital.
A massacre was on the way, and there was nothing those from the republic could do about it. But one must not consider the imperium army as unstoppable in times of war. After all, this was the dark age, the era of Arcana.
*BRRrrrrttt!!!*
*BANG!!!* *BANG!!!* *BANG!!!*
"Sir! Report!"
A soldier ran towards the captain of the squad and saluted upon his arrival.
The soldier had vital information under his mouth coming from the squads at the offensive line of the imperium army.
Meanwhile, the squad captain, who was talking to the communication officer, was forced to stop the conversation, raising an eyebrow along the way. He turned his gaze towards the soldiers and calmly questioned.
"Speak, soldier."
"Sir, the republicans are beginning to push us back!" The soldier yelled as he continued saluting toward the squad captain.
The squad captain furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing the soldier's report. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the soldier with a questioning gaze.
"Hmm… How is that possible, soldier?" The squad captain was somewhat sure that the republican forces holed up in the capital city were nothing compared to the ones they had fought before. It was leftovers of the republican army.
"I don't know sir, but… According to our reports, certain individuals are helping the republican army push us back. They might be people with arcanas." The soldier continued reporting as the squad captain's eyes became colder, understanding the seriousness of the situation before them.
"People with arcanas? Republican Kriegers, eh?" The squad captain mumbled to himself before continuing. "The military reported that most of the republican kriegers died while defending the Romanus bridge. Are these the leftovers from that battle?"
The squad captain was a bit surprised since it was already past news that the republican kriegers had fallen in their futile defense against the invading imperium army. The imperium military thought of the leftovers as nothing much of a problem.
"Are there any corresponding orders, sir?" The soldier asked, considering that ordinary soldiers fighting against kriegers would be nothing more than suicide.
The squad captain quietly thought about it for a short while and then calmly answered. "Let us hold our position and report the possibility of leftover enemy kriegers in the offensive. The communications would also have to call for reinforcing kriegers and be sure they will be swift."
After giving his orders, the squad captain momentarily looked at the fight in front of the offensive. It was mostly covered in mist, with flashing lights here and there. But the songs of war were already too ingrained in his body that just looking at them gave him the most realistic possibilities one could have.
The soldier and the others nodded in understanding, giving their replies while immediately going to do their jobs.
"UNDERSTOOD!!!"
The communications officer reported everything the squad captain had said and ensured that the command would have every information regarding the possibility of the enemy kriegers within the battlefield.
Meanwhile, among the soldiers making their stand, most were preparing sandbags as barriers against the republicans in the city. Some readied the heavy machine guns, pointing them toward the direction of the offensive.
After the preparation, a soldier started stretching his body and yawned.
"Damn… It's been a while since I closed my eyes."
The yawning soldier remarked as he couldn't help but feel a bit tired after doing all the heavy work needed to prepare their small outpost and line of defense.
"It's better for you to have your eyes open than having them shut foreva." Another soldier jokingly replied as the one stretching his body smirked and cunningly stated. "At the very least, I shut my eyes to sleep."
"You seem to be closing your eyes to imagine an imaginary girlfriend you always bragged about, which you never had and was never real." Such a mocking tone escaped from the yawning soldier's words.
"Yeah, good joke. But my girlfriend is as real as your 1-millimeter defeater." The soldier who jokingly replied calmly refuted with elegance and precision.
The yawning soldier was about to counter, and an argument was about to start between soldiers. But before they could continue their quarrel, an officer second to the captain stopped them.
"Why don't the two of you shut up. Your loud quarrel is revealing our positions to our enemies." After asserting such words, the officer couldn't help but sigh to himself.
'I knew the new recruits were young and were only trained for a couple of months. But this is too much.' The officer thought since the crusade had been ongoing for too long, most first-generation soldiers were already dead.
"What do you mean by enemies, sir? Everything in this place had already been cleared. This is the last nation that would fall victim to the crusade. Afterward, the imperium would stop the war efforts, and we will be able to return back." The yawning soldier said with confidence as he continued.
"Besides, even if someone does come. We can always-"
*BOOM!!!*
The building near them exploded for no reason sending a thunderous boom. Dust began to escape from the blast, slowly covering the surroundings of the small defensive outpost.
The soldiers instinctively crouched as the squad captain yelled and gave an order.
"Prepare for battle! Incoming republican forces!"
"The enemy has pierced our offensive line, be sure to not let them pass, no matter the cost!" Hearing such orders, the soldiers immediately ran to their positions and hid behind sandbags.
The ones operating the heavy machine guns pointed their barrels toward the general direction of the offensive line. Silence enveloped everything as they noticed gunfire in the offensive line was nonexistent.
Seeing this, the squad captain squinted his eyes as he thought to himself. 'They fell this fast… It seems that enemy kriegers are incoming.'
Upon such a thought, the captain turned his gaze toward the communication officer and questioned. "Where are our Krieger reinforcements arriving?"
"Sir, it should be about 5 minutes for the reinforcements to come." The communication officer replied as lights began flashing on the opposite side.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
The republican soldiers were firing toward their outpost, creating an encounter.
"Return fire!" The squad captain ordered as the machine gunners nodded and started laying waste to whatever direction the light flashes originated
*BRrrrrttt!!!* *BRrrrrttt!!!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
The soldiers hiding behind sandbags assisted the machine gunners and returned fire toward the republican soldiers on the other side of the dusty mist.
"Destroy everything in that general direction!" The squad captain shouted as the soldiers followed his command without a hint of delay or hesitation.
They might have been recruits from the military, but they were still trained to have no mercy against their enemies. It was the mindset embedded in their skull by the imperium military.
The barrels of the heavy machine guns began heating up, and after a short while, the soldiers' counterattack quelled the enemy fire. The soldiers stopped firing as the captain's eyes narrowed.
At first, the soldiers thought they had successfully gained a victory in their defense against the republican forces. They sighed in relief as casualties might have happened if it had been a full-on assault.
Unfortunately, though, they were wrong.
A figure on the roof of the devastated buildings jumped toward the defense outpost and landed inside, creating a huge disturbance along the way.
*BAM!*
Dust began to cover all of the defensive outposts as the imperium soldiers were surprised and confused about what had happened.
The yawning soldier looked at the center and confusingly asked.
"What happened? Did something explode in the interior of the outpost?"
"I-I don't know… There was no ammo at the center, so there shouldn't be anything exploding out of nowhere. Besides, if something did explode. It would be more damaging than this." A soldier replied with a puzzled expression.
The squad captain was cautious at first and silently signaled the soldiers to point their guns toward the center of the outpost. The soldiers followed his signal and calmly pointed their barrels to the center.
A couple of seconds later, the misty dust slowly dispersed outward.
What was revealed afterward was.
Nothing.
There was nothing, the area was clear, and nothing had attacked them. It might have been a stray from the airships or an empty shell. Such were the thought processes of the soldiers, including the captain.
"Phew… It was nothing… Sh*t, that gave me chills." The yawning soldier couldn't help but utter as the other soldiers were silent. No words escaped from their mouth as they were still tense about what had happened.
It was too strange for a stray bullet to land at their center.
At this moment, a realization emerged within the captain's mind. A terrifying idea of what might have happened. 'An enemy Krieger!' The squad captain thought to himself as he immediately yelled toward the soldier.
"Be careful! It is a republican Krieger!"
The soldiers turned their heads to their squad captain after hearing his shout.
Some of them then felt something strange. They couldn't feel an ounce of their body, and their perception seemed weird. It was as if they were falling, yet their bodies continued to stand.
But to those outside of their perception, it was terrifying.
The other soldiers were watching their comrades being beheaded in an instant. It was horrifying to see their long companions' heads falling to the ground and rolling on it.
Blood then splattered everywhere as the remaining soldiers gave their reactions.
*BANG!!!* *BANG!!!* *BANG!!!*
The only thing they could do was blindly fire, but no matter what they had done. None would work.
The beheading continued as the squad captain had no choice but to order a retreat.
"All of you retreat and spread out. An enemy Krieger with invisibility is on the loose." Such was his order and his last words.
The squad captain felt strange as his head fell to the ground with his crimson blood spurting out of his neck.
The communication office beside him was shocked and stumbled. He was on the ground, seeing every soldier in the defensive outpost being beheaded. It was a massacre. The kriegers were individuals that were synonymous with mythical warriors.
Normal soldiers stand no chance against them.
'Am I going to die?' The communication officer quietly thought to himself.
Death was imminent for him, and it was something he clearly understood.
Seconds after the massacre, only the communication officer was left behind. A distorted mirage emerged before him, and what was revealed afterward was an assassin clad in jet-black armor. The silver knife held by the enemy Krieger was bloodied, and sadly.
It doesn't end there.
Many shadowy figures emerged before the communication officer, and he immediately knew who they were.
The figures were none other than the supposedly dead republican kriegers.
Those who should have died in the offensive on the bridge were standing before him.