The rules regarding how much energy a Guardian had to save during a breach were simple to understand but complex to execute. There was no default ratio of how many weak Void Spawn to kill or let pass by you. It was instead an exercise of trust in your superiors and responsibility for your subordinates. You had to estimate what you and those below could deal with while preparing for the enemies you could see coming for you, plus any surprises.
The Brigade had trained it, but not enough for Shen to believe everyone would make the right decision. He guessed he would practice his trust twice as much as the others. Not only did he have to believe Zyn would kill a sensible amount of Void Spawn, but also that the First Lieutenant and the Captain wouldn't let anyone die because of someone else's mistakes.
The ones responsible for first contact didn't have to overthink things. They had to kill everything to gain a footing in the region. That's precisely what Uya and Xun did.
And Heavens, were they good at it.
Each one of them wielded a weapon in each hand, and two extra weapons floated nearby with their qi. There were obvious similarities in how Uya used her longswords and Xun his maces, evidencing they came from the same origin. However, the technical basis had long diverged into specialized styles partly because of their weapons' different natures.
Right now, as they killed Void Spawn, the two focused on fast and wide attacks. However, while Uya cut creatures down with expansive arcs, often extending her blade's reach with qi, Xun struck entire regions with his maces. Whenever his mace hit something, it wasn't just a shockwave that continued forward to damage everything in the way. It was something similar but different. To Shen's limited senses and experience, it felt like he was trying to crush space itself and everything within. It turned many a Void Spawn into mashed pulps before they could dissipate into nothingness.
Uya and Xun also moved to and fro to kill as many creatures as possible, leaving none alive. When Zyn and Abbav stepped into the farm's area, a considerable half-circle area was completely clear.
Right about then, the two Staff Lieutenants stopped with their unfiltered massacre. Henceforth, they only killed one Void Spawn in five, plus whichever creature attacked them.
Shen's Battalion was behind Zyn and the first to return to the farm. His four Staff all froze temporarily when they left the Void-like area. Shen understood why when it was his turn. If hearing about gaining AP had been energizing, leaving the darkness was like feeling a breeze of icy air after coming out of the seven hells.
Before the Wild Shift, his Laws' senses had been limited to thirty yards. The Shift had made him afraid and paranoid so fast that he hadn't even had the time to pull his senses back before things went South. Now, with his True Self and coming from the darkness that limited his Laws to his body, Shen swiftly revisited how much sensory feedback he could get from his Path.
He was awed by finding out that not only had his willpower improved significantly, but it also wasn't the only thing to benefit from the Path-Will Merging. His mind felt wider and faster than it had been before the Shift.
Shen could deal with the sensory feedback of up to fifty yards—and while the Wild Shift was happening!
That, more than anything else, made him better appreciate the value of the Path-Will Merging—and how horrendous the situation in the dark region was.
Unfortunately, Shen still had to keep pretending to be paranoid because the responsible had been the Shift that was still underway. Still, he felt confident he could save his people if he stayed close enough.
He didn't tell his Staff Lieutenants how many Void Spawn to let pass by them, but not because he trusted them. They were being tested not only by Zyn. Shen also wanted to find out how far he could trust their judgment.
Shen himself was Battalion Commander and supposedly paranoid, so he only killed the Void Spawn that got to him. He might still do something if needed, but before disobeying his orders he would see how the D-ranks fared.
There wasn't much to say about his attacks. He swung his spear, and Void Spawn died. No C-rank Warrior ever approached, and anything weaker than that died with a single swing of his spear. He had no opportunity to showcase his improved power yet.
It eventually became clear that everyone was faring well. Not as good as before the Wild Shift, but better than he expected. Mana and qi were still an issue, especially for mages, but the D-ranks had enough mana remaining to kill a few thousand enemies before they ran out.
The C-ranks had more energy, but they suffered more because their Laws were limited. Even so, Shen could see how people's pressured minds wouldn't be their downfall if they remained focused and didn't commit too many mistakes.
The initial onslaught was so well executed that mere moments after Zyn gave the order to attack, the almost 20,000 troops were back on the farm, fighting for their lives with distinction.
Yet, the most significant issue remained: stamina. The system supplied mana and stamina to all Guardians. Without the system, stamina regeneration rate dropped to one-tenth of what it was supposed to be. That wouldn't be enough to deal with the hundreds of thousands of Void Spawn on the farm.
But they didn't have to kill every Void Spawn yet. Zyn had killed a lot of the creatures when the Wild Shift happened, and only a few tens of thousands of the creatures waited at the border. The troops were well-rested enough to deal with that.
They got in and killed all Void Spawn that took offense to their presence.
The creatures deeper into the farm didn't approach—as Zyn probably knew would happen. Abbav reached out to all Battalion Commanders, saying, "Commander's orders: arrow formation; rest until stamina is recovered." This had likely been the original plan all along.
Shen forwarded the orders and waited like everyone else.
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The following days were spent much the same way. Groups of Void Spawn defended specific areas, and Zyn ordered the Brigade to move through the farm's edge, killing all Void Spawn there. No creature was C-rank at the borders. The troops rested after every battle.
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Everyone gained considerable experience—but combatants also died in droves.
Blood flowed freely. Zyn didn't seem to care. Abbav wordlessly collected the corpses to be later delivered to their family.
Shen watched every death closely and admitted it at least looked like they were those people's own fault. With minds less pressured after leaving the darkness, many fighters became less trusting and unwilling to assist each other. In fact, it seemed like showing vulnerability by sleeping made a few people more suspicious than ever.
To prevent that from being the cause of death, Abbav lowered the pressure on their minds before and during combat. Shen could tell because his Law Vision had also improved; he could see more clearly and detailed than before. He noticed the Laws that made their souls grow more relaxed, obviously not as tightly gripped as before.
The ones suffering the most under Stress Discipline training were allowed to return from the brink of paranoia to complete control of their minds—or as much as they could on the farm. Most grew angry and resentful, and many became stupid, trying tricks to get others killed or attempting to fight alone.
Shen understood them. They realized something was wrong and couldn't trust those nearby. But they had to know when to fight alone and how to position themselves so that only a series of small betrayals would see them dead. It was basic common sense. Instead, they behaved like foolish children incapable of dealing with the cold truth of existence without throwing a fit. Worse, timid entitled children who were upset that they had shown vulnerability and took it out on others.
Traitors were overly disposed of by Zyn. D-ranks died with ethereal Sabers materializing inside them, while C-ranks were quickly disposed of in very short bouts. Abbav also stored their bodies, which would also be returned, but not their possessions; those would be available for purchase in the military soon.
Once, Zyn was killing one traitor, and another tried to take advantage of the distraction, only to be culled by Abbav's domain. Shen couldn't see the domain, but the traitor suddenly acted sluggish and was cut down by a Void Spawn.
The ones who didn't accept help usually survived the first time because a colleague saved them. Repeated saviors were rare because saving anyone cost an injury or a lot of energy. No one was stupid enough to keep sacrificing themselves for someone who didn't want their help.
Well, maybe not "no one;" a few altruistic saints were revealed.
Almost every single one of them ended up dead.
Shen felt a bit saddened by their demise, but this was a war of survival for everyone, including the Alliance. Taking care of individualist warriors who couldn't see reason would eventually see others dead in their place. It just wasn't sustainable.
Still, he was surprised that Uya and Xun were mercifully always there to save the saints the first time they were about to die. Zyn would then summon each survivor and explain to them how much of an imbecile they were and that they wouldn't be saved again.
Unfortunately, very few heeded the warning.
Alicia was one of the fools who saved a Staff Sergeant of hers. The man had positioned himself in a way to fight alone and cause the others to be in greater danger. Paranoid Shen wouldn't try to help her more after Zyn talked to her, so he had been prepared to assist her if she did it again.
Fortunately, whatever Zyn had said worked wonders. Alicia just stared down at the Staff Sergeant the next battle. The guy died when he tried the same thing. Shen guessed the First Lieutenant had revealed the man's underhanded intentions, and she hadn't taken kindly to the traitor. She had a history with people betraying her, after all.
Of course, Abbav might only be making things seem somewhat fair to get rid of people, but Shen had no evidence. He also saw no reason for the Captain to do it.
The sheer number of deaths surprised Shen. Over five thousand people were gone when the Brigade finished clearing the farm's surroundings. Less than three-quarters of the Brigade remained. The ratio was roughly the same among C and D-ranks, so a little shuffling allowed the 223 remaining Battalions to remain operational.
Also surprising was that half the dead had never displayed much aggressiveness before coming to the Voided Subnode. That removed most of Shen's doubts about how fair and necessary this gauntlet was to filter the unworthy. He wouldn't want to fight beside those people or have anyone depend on them. Even the saints were a liability because saving people who insisted on placing themselves in needless danger caused the saints themselves to get out of position or waste energy that could be crucial later.
Shen also became convinced that Zyn had many more tricks than he had let on.
Returning to the farm made people hear more voices than in the darkness, yet, they all resisted for a long time. Then, the moment they finished clearing the farm's perimeter perfectly matched when the first D-rank dropped unconscious—to stop them from turning into Void Spawn. That was too much of a coincidence; Zyn clearly had a way to help people withstand the voices.
"Commander's orders," Abbav said when they stopped to rest, "some people will start to fall unconscious; we cannot maintain this pace; prepare for the final push as soon as everyone's stamina has recovered."
Shen looked at the about two hundred thousand Void Spawn in the middle of the farm, including tens of thousands of big C-rank Warriors. While a Void Spawn might be stronger than its size suggested, it was never weaker. What he had witnessed in the past fights didn't fill him with confidence.
The remaining couple thousand C-rank Guardians weren't good enough to deal with that.
However, as another D-rank fainted like a puppet with its strings cut, it became evident that they would soon lack people to even carry the unconscious ones, and protecting them would become a heavy toll.
Despite the Brigade's losses, things had been relatively smooth until now. But it looked like they were about to face the actual danger of a C-rank Voided Subnode—the danger that made Zyn state he expected even veterans from his Brigade to die in a deployment such as this.
It didn't take long for a stumbling Alicia to approach, breathing heavily, and throw a string a Shen. The string wasn't need in the farm proper because sound propagated in the air there. Still, she used it for privacy.
"DEATH!" she screamed in a frenzy. "I WANT! DEATH! I NEED! RELEASE!" she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Come with me," she whispered. "Come free yourself once and for all."
Shen asked, "Why would you want that?"
"Look around you!" she yelled. "Look! Is this worth fighting for? Living for? THIS! THIS!"
"Did you forget already?" Shen asked. "You don't fight for yourself. You fight for those on Earth to can't protect themselves. You fight for the weak."
"The weak betray," she replied. "He betrayed me. I saved him. He betrayed me again. And I watched him die. I let him die. And I understood. He's free! Free! I want that! I want the same for me!"
"Not all weak people betrayed you," Shen countered.
Alicia turned her bloodshot eyes at him. "How do you know? You can't know. They betray. They all betray. My uncle betrayed me. My aunt. You betrayed me. You pushed me away. Traitor. All traitors. Release is easier. Sweeter. Better. Mama and papa are free, too. Free. FREE!"
Hearing her call him a traitor was unpleasant. He was hiding things from her, after all. Both had accepted it might happen in a place with a military structure, where orders might put Shen in a situation like this one, but it still sucked.
Still, he showed no emotion as he replied, "You can't know they all betrayed you, Alicia. What if a single innocent remains? What if a little kid needs you? A starving baby somewhere? Will you let them die because you can't be bothered to fight any longer?"
That gave her pause. She frowned and thought for a moment. Then, she just turned back and left without a word.
Shen didn't like pushing her further into a Path of altruism, but it was just so she would keep fighting in this place. She had a lot to gain from it still.
Her ideals could change later—if she wanted.
Everyone waited for as long as needed. A third of the D-ranks and even a dozen C-ranks had fainted by the time Abbav delivered the long-awaited command, "Commander's orders: row-by-row cleansing; advance!"
Shen clenched his spear, ordered Wu Bai to forward the orders, and advanced.