Standing at the edge of the MECHFrame launchpad, Jack surveyed the ongoing bombardment of the once lush landscape of grass and rolling hills that stretched out before him.
For the imperial mage officers hunkered in trenches and fortifications, a nuisance, but for the regular men and women who bore Roland’s colors, hell.
Jack could hear their screams, the Wind Seraphim class augmenting his senses and picking up the cries of anguish on the winds.
Colette was out there, somewhere amidst the chaos commanding soldiers.
“Sir! Sir!” Jessica huffed, the lieutenant finally catching up to Jack. “Please reconsider! You cannot take to the field! It's too dangerous!”
“For who?”
“You! If you go out we can't support you! And if you die it will demoralize our army and embolden the Roland defenders!” Jessica exclaimed as Jack's silver feathers twisted into wings. “Please, this isn't like the Cintelli front, the Roland soldiers are trained and supported, Ada would have my head if something happened to you!”
Ada not Selfia… Jack smirked, amused that the lieutenant was more afraid of the pregnant Ada than the Queen of the Empire.
“I'm well aware of what I'm doing,” Jack assured, spreading his wings. “Besides, a leader should make a name for himself. Have Admiral Skirita continue his bombardment, I'll need the screening.”
And like that Jack was off, soaring through the air amidst the canopy of artillery rounds and cannon fire that flew nearby as Jessica screamed "WHAT?!"
Sara, Lilith, help me. Jack asked, the two specters flying in different directions to search for Colette as Jack hovered atop the enemy defensive lines.
Suddenly a spark, a ricochet of a bullet snapping off of his mana barrier. The soldiers below were firing at him, shooting their guns despite the hail of hellfire surrounding them.
Jack ignored the soldiers, funneling the hyperactive mana in the air to strengthen his mana barrier as his eyes scanned the battlefield.
Hm. Sixteen awakened nearby. A few yellow. Mostly orange… two cyans. Jack counted the awakened, his angel vision picking out the Roland mage officers clearly through the chaos.
None nearby were a threat to Jack, at least none that he recognized.
The cyans are probably officers, maybe I should ask them.
Jack decided to descend, landing in a trench where he was immediately beset by a hailstorm of automatic gunfire.
“Enemy mage! Enemy mage in the trench! FIX BAYONETS!” A Roland soldier cried before charging Jack with a bayonet.
“Move,” Jack said, catching the barrel of the man's weapon and crushing it under his grip.
The soldier balked, eyes wide before screaming at the top of his lungs and pulling out a shovel. "DIE SELFI-"
“I said move,” Jack said, grabbing the man by the face and forcefully displacing the soldier into the nearby trench wall.
With his path clear, Jack continued forward, the other soldiers fleeing and shooting at Jack as he strolled calmly down the trench.
“Earth shape!”
Jack suddenly found himself bound, the earthen walls of the trench morphing to catch him in a vice.
Before Jack was a mage officer, a blonde Roland lieutenant in red armor and blue dress, glaring at Jack who was now surrounded by armed infantry.
“Jack,” Sahaqiel said, “They’re moving cannons to target you. I can deflect them or search for Colette, but I can’t do both. If they start pummeling us we might be in danger.”
Okay, keep a wind barrier up. Jack replied, deciding to find the information he sought another way.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“You must have a death wish jumping into our trench like that!” The officer spat, clenching his fist together with the earthen vice around Jack tightening ever so slightly.
“Where is your company headquarters?” Jack asked calmly, much to the dismay of the awakened officer.
“W-why isn't my skill crushing you?!”
“Answer my question,” Jack ordered, the earthen vice breaking apart as the magical energy that kept it together abruptly vanished.
With his skill nullified the mage raised his hand, chanting a quick incantation before firing a bolt of mana at Jack who promptly caught it in his palm.
“This is the last time I ask nicely,” Jack said, crushing the sphere of energy with the mana becoming his own.
“O-o-open fire!”
Annoying way it is then.
The air shifted, the nearby soldiers impacting the ground unceremoniously as Jack simply waved his hand.
“Wh-what?!” The mage officer exclaimed, not sensing a skill activation from Jack.
“Oxygen toxicity,” Jack said calmly as he towered over the officer and lifted the man up by his throat, “The spike in air pressure forces an excess of oxygen into their bloodstreams, causing an instant blackout. The reverse to what I'm doing to you but with similar results.”
Jack tightened his grip, the officer flailing frantically.
“Having to repeat myself is getting annoying,” Jack growled before bringing the terrified man to meet his gaze. “Where IS your command post?”
“JACK!”
At the warning Jack spun, twisting his body just in time to catch a blast of mana with his forearm and deflect a tank round with wind.
Under the canopy of falling debris, Jack glared at the crew of the hidden anti-tank emplacement under his wind dome, the red-armored soldiers rushing to reload as two yellow-core mages charged toward Jack.
“Ruby, deal with them,” Jack ordered, the shadow knight emerging from his shadow to engage the twin assailants while he went to work prying the information he needed from the officer. “Tell me what I want to know.”
With Lilith’s help, the officer withered, his memories being forcefully sifted through as Jack invaded his mind.
Guttural screams filled the air, both from in front of Jack and around him as Ruby’s shield and chains ripped through the Roland imperials.
“I see…” Jack frowned, dropping the soldier, more questions than answers in his mind. “So you’re underground…”
From the man’s memories, he could see that the Roland soldiers weren’t operating from a singular command structure but rather several, a spider’s web to link their forces in case of a Selfian decapitation strike.
Clever. Jack frowned, climbing out of the trench, walking upon open ground where hundreds of guns opened fire to greet him.
This just meant he would need to search each and every one of them until he found his target. In the meantime, he might as well take care of that list.
***
Under the constant barrage of Selfian artillery, Colette grit her teeth, the reports of numerous casualties reaching her ears down within the concrete bunker that served as the eastern command bloc.
“Captain Light!” An operator called out, taking Colette’s attention away from the holomap she and Hoffman were standing over that depicted the battlefield.
“What is it?”
“An enemy mage officer has infiltrated our trench lines!” The soldier reported.
One?
Colette had a sinking feeling who it was.
“Details, get us more information,” Hoffman demanded with the technician sending the relevant information to a large monitor.
“Cameras fifty three and six are up on screen. Feed live from South Bloc-4.”
Colette and her adjutants gathered around the screen, watching as six 120mm cannons fired in unison at a plume of smoke.
“Switch to HE and airburst! Hit near him! Direct shots won't work!” A line officer at the front barked.
Then, Colette's and Hoffman's jaws dropped, their hearts sinking in horror as a man wearing nothing but a blue Selfian’s officer uniform adorned with silver wings on his back stepped unharmed from the smoke.
“Jack…” Colette whispered unconsciously, drawing Hoffman's eyes.
“KEEP FIRING! Where is our mage support?!” The Line officer barked, drawing his sidearm and firing alongside the barrage of cannons.
“Commander Light and the Sand Mage are gone! They've fallen!” A radio operator reported as Jack drew near. “HQ is dispatching MECHFrame reinforcements! Our orders are to hold! We cannot allow him to attack our train lines.”
“Then keep firing!”
Colette flinched as a cannon fired at Jack with the shell exploding and releasing hundreds of flechettes that were carried away by the wind.
“He's not stopping! Nothings working!” A loader cried, dropping a shell and fleeing.
“Fall back! Get the fuck out of here!”
“Where are you going?! Come back here! Stand your ground! Your family is depending on you! The future is depending on you! ARE YOU NOT MEN OF ROLANDA?!” The Line officer spat, grabbing a fleeing soldier only to freeze as a shadow descended over him.
Hoffman turned to Colette, “Captain, allow me to sorte with a squad of mages to support the QRF.”
Colette peeled her eyes away from the man and his black armored shield maiden.
Four years. Four years had passed since she'd last seen him. Four years since she gave up Celeste…
“No, I will go. Inform Major Light of my departure,” Colette said, grabbing her sword as she readied herself to meet Jack in battle.