While Renji disappeared under the strong currents of the river, some of the Jackals didn't jump along with him, only 2 jumped but one of them fell directly on the rock and died right at that instant. The other one just like Renji disappeared under the current.
.......
While there was no sign of Renji in the river, his future seemed bleak. The same was the condition at the slums, many people had died trying to get away from the monsters that infiltrated the slums. The situation seemed bleak for the people living inside the slums.
"Give me the briefing, how many enemies are there? I heard it was a human invasion, was there any enemy spotted? I need all the details even the minute ones. Fast I don't have a lot of time on my hands, I need to send reports to the big clans and guilds as well as the academies." Said a man who seemed like an army official, the man had many badges on his chest.
They were currently inside a room that seemed like some kind of meeting room, they were currently inside the military headquarters inside of the Fortress City. The headquarters was vast, and the military camp itself covered 30% of the entire city. Back in the day, the military camp used to cover 75% of the entire city, but now that the threat to the city was much lower, they decided to make this frontline into a bustling city.
By doing so they managed to convince the people that, there was a chance of survival if people didn't lose in humanity. This strategy worked fabulously, experienced awakeners started to open up academies, sects, clans, and all sorts of places. They started to teach and train the younger generations about the monsters, and their experiences as a veteran. As a direct result of this the generations of awakeners that followed after the change, started to grow stronger and stronger with each passing generation.
Cities like these became the light at the end of the tunnel for the people who had already lost hope in the survival of humanity. The Iron Fang fortress was part of one of the many cities that brought hope. This military was also the training ground for the new generation of soldiers, they were sent here to complete their training and experience the glory this place holds.
"Captain, this is a recruit that was stationed on the outskirts of the forest. He has seen and experienced, what has been going on inside the area, I would like to get permission for him to speak about the situation." Said a man who had a few fewer badges on his chest, by looking at the tag on his uniform it seemed like his name was Mathew.
The captain didn't say anything in response, he just nodded his head.
"SIR, my name is Toby, as for what I have seen, the situation isn't that severe only 1st shard monsters are attacking the city. We haven't found the signs of any enemy humans; we have just spotted monsters. I think we are capable enough to handle those threats, you don't need to concern yourself about such a small matter." Said Tom as he gave the briefing about the situation.
Everyone present inside the room glared towards the recruit instantly, by his expression it seemed like he didn't know what he had done to deserve such treatment, even Mathew who told him to brief the situation was glaring at him.
"Blugh…." Toby splatted out some blood as he fell to his knees, it seemed like some of the people even unleashed their aura upon him. The pressure was just too much to handle for him, he was hurt internally as well because of the pressure.
"You dare to run your mouth however you want? You imbecile, where do you..." Mathew said in anger, he was about to hit the recruit just then the captain said his hand. He gestured for Mathew to stop, and Mathew followed the order.
"Go I have heard what you had to say." Said the captain. He didn't seem bothered a bit he still had a cool head like earlier.
"You should just kill that rat." Said one of the many people present in that room, although it seemed like he had the same authority as the captain, he didn't wear any military uniform. He was wearing some type of armor and had his sword in his hand.
"This isn't your guild, here we don't kill people we help them learn. Here we gather future talent and nurture them." Said the captain, by his expression it didn't seem like anything had happened. After what the captain said, the room went back to how it was before, everyone retracted their auras.
"Tsk…You are too soft on your cadets." Said the man in the armor, he disapproved of the decision of the captain.
"You may leave now young cadet, and remember to just speak about what you have been asked about. This is your first strike; you better improve your behavior and for now visit the infirmary to check if you have suffered any internal injury." Said the captain as he let go of the cadet. The room became silent for a while, after the cadet left everyone looked at the captain for further orders.
"We can't let any human lives be lost at the hands of monsters or any enemies, I hereby command the 11th battalion to be deployed all over the outskirts of the forest to kill any monsters at sight. Only use magic, if necessary, I don't want them to hurt any people in the slums even by accident. Saving all of the people in the slums should be the priority." Said the captain as he one by one gave orders to the military.
"Should we also send some awakeners from our side?" asked the armored man, he was speaking for everyone present at the meeting room when he spoke.
"No, for now, tell them to be on standby until further notice. From what the cadet said there doesn't seem to be any kind of high-level monster activity, so for now, we will handle it. If the situation were to change I would ask for reinforcement. IS THAT CLEAR." The captain gave out all of the orders and he was just about to head out, just when suddenly the door opened with a bang.
"Huff….huff Sir, sorry for barging in but it was extremely important." Said the cadet as he bowed towards everyone present there.
"Go ahead, tell us what is it that couldn't wait, it better be important," Mathew said angrily as he walked close to the cadet, this was the second time today a cadet had broken the rule.
"Sir, the thing is it seems like the attack in the slums seems to be the work of humans, it is not a monster invasion." Said the cadet, as the room went silent no one spoke out of confusion for some seconds.
"Do you mean that a summoner used his summons to attack the capital? Have you gone mad?" asked Mathew even more now than he was before.
"No, sir if it was a summoner we would have found out when it started. But that's not what happened here, look we found these in every place there was a monster attack." Said the cadet as he took out the same device that Renji had when attacked in the forest.