Decisive

...At the central side of the protective array's barrier.

POM... POM... POM... POM...

"Phrenic teams! You better be killing those at the back!" A man that was a bit fat and bald yelled to his Identification Token after hearing the exploding sounds of more and more projectiles coming from the back of the enemy's lines. Before putting it away and with his dirtied, bloodied, and stern face looking at those around him, he was a simple 8th stage Spirit Gathering realm sect disciple. But the battalion regiment leader had already fallen when leading right to the front.

Now, as the bald man took a long breath when looking at them, he closed and then opened his eyes before his face turned ruthless and nothing of the sort of being anxious and whatnot from just a moment ago. And as they opened, he began standing up, while all those behind and around him began following his movements, ready to engage again. “Let’s move! The southern or northern side must be in trouble, after this, we still have to help either side of them!”

Step… Step step step step step step step step step step~!

Many of the still a few thousand sect disciples nodded in silence, too affected by the battle but still capable of fighting. Talking just seemed unnecessary in their heads as they saw close to a couple thousand of them die - and those were the strongest people within their sect…

“Let’s go!” The slightly fatty and bald man gave the order while already charging towards the remaining few hundred Spirit Gathering realm believers that were backing away from their Link Consolidation realm partners, looking to survive this battle and retreat.

‘Oh no, not that!’ But none of the charging sect disciples thought about letting that happen, especially their brand new leader although he had such a low cultivation base, he was still able to face off those at the 10th stage and aid many of his comrades around.

“GRAAAHH!” - “Take them down!!” - “KIIIILLL!” As they got closer and closer to the enemy, the people all around the slightly fatty man began roaring. The believers, in turn, tried moving backwards faster, faster than at least the one at their sides, and simply hoping to not be targeted by the incoming, raging on sect disciples by throwing whatever items they had at them.

Whistleee, swoosh swoosh! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk!...

But as some ran and some faced the sect disciples while moving backwards, trying to attack or to avoid incoming projectiles, tools, and so on. Arrows, stones, daggers, and even swords, polearms, and axes flew to their side, hitting dozens and dozens of believers and directly impaling most of them without being able to directly send a killing last hit.

The sect disciples only took enough effort to pick up another weapon from the fallen believers on the ground before rushing towards the still remaining others, doing so with not a pair of cold feet nor shaky hands and with tired faces that yet could move and act accordingly as their trampling feet ended the lives of those who were caught.

And at the very center of the charging sect disciples, it could be seen how the slightly fatty and bald man used his fists to directly hit believers down to the ground directly and breaking bones, rupturing skin anywhere he went - while his feet, on the other hand, were only needing to trample onto a believer’s body once for it to be wholly crushed by said foot but from which the slightly fatty man was letting as many steps to fall on those bodies without slowing down in the slightest.

“AAAAAH…” - “GUKAAH!” - “NO, noooo…” - “Help, heeeeelp! Senior broth- buwwlpklsshh~!”

Suddenly, from the very front of the sect disciples charging forward, they heard sounds of flesh being torn and broken apart by the familiar steely sounds from the Phrenic realm sect disciples’ thruster tools!

The moment the fatty heard them, those around him also heard it, and it was also the moment that he shouted for his entire remaining sect disciples at his side to go all out! Even if it was with just fists, kicks, and headbutts if necessary!

“Chaarge! Don’t let the rest of our fellow sect disciples down! Accompany me to join them, KILL!” The slightly fatty man shouted to the top of his lungs, wearing a ferocious face that was still sober and lucid. And in response, the temporary battalion regiment leader was roared at from all sides! “Charge!!” - “Charege!!” - “For the sect~!”

Step! Step! Step! Step! Step! Step! Step! Step!...

… … … … … Just about 20 minutes later, the slightly fatty heard the last of a colliding metal sound against someone else’s bones while he was seated with his bum on the ground, his back slumped and his face darkening. His body had quite some injuries on his back, being from desperate believers trying to take as many as they could with them.

“Siigh.” - “SIIGH…” - “...sigh, sigh…” The moment the last bit of the metal against bone sounds were heard, the sect disciples around which were quite obviously tired, and some even with their limbs sprawled around on the ground. No one could lift their bodies up anymore.

Buuzhhh~!

“Po Tai! Go back to the outpost and rest for those who need it, but to keep on fighting, send your available people to move towards the northern side already!” Suddenly, from the Identification Token that Po Tai, the slightly fatty and bald man, the voice from another battalion regiment leader sounded, and it quickly made him stand up to garner the attention of those around him.

“Can’t we go back and then grab our vehicles?” Po Tai’s questioning words made those around him then start standing up, looking at him with their eyes wide open, they might be tired, but it was still a battle that they were all fighting!

“Of course not! You’ll be watching us come back to the outpost if you’d do that. Decide quickly!” The other battalion regiment leader’s voice sounded one last time before the connection was cut off. In the distance, slight sounds of roaring engines could be heard as very thin shadows zoomed from the right to the left without a stop.

“Everyone…!” Po Tai then took another deep breath. And with tiredness written all over his face and noticing just the same all over the others’ faces, he began ordering these people who for now trusted him…

. . .

On the northern side of the barrier.

Whiiiisttlee~- PAH PAH! Crrreeesshhhhkk~~! Phhshk!

Makis suddenly heard from the back of his head, amidst the large and still fiery ongoing battlefield, a dangerous sound. He immediately turned around and was already impulsing himself backwards, his eyes looking at the incoming believer with a pair of large, double-curved blades from the latter’s daggers approaching him with a few puppets accompanying him.

When the believer arrived before Makis, Makis’s right-handed rapier with a unique 2 inches wide blade flew, and its elastic blade directly hammered down the left-handed dagger of the believer. But the believer was able to set his foot on the ground before Makis and with his body being forced around from the strength of Makis’s rapier, his right-handed dagger was already on its way to cut off Makis’s face and neck vertically.

But Makis’s rapier intercepted that dagger as well in a below-to-up slash, throwing the believer’s dagger a couple of meters in the air, spinning uncontrollably, and finally landing on the back of a believer who was just now molesting a weakened female sect disciple, almost raping her in the middle of such tedious battle, before being taken away from the battlefield by a fellow sect disciple.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“!!” Without a single pause, Makis sent his rapier to make a diagonal slash on the enemy’s forces leader, the right shoulder of the believer pried open a bit by the wide rapier’s blade all the way down to his left hip bone, intestines coming out right away.

And if that wasn’t enough, as Makis was moving his body to the left with such a flow of Power Energy being sent to the rapier, Makis took advantage of his positioning as his left hand took out a normal-sized crossbow made of purely wood and let loose the bolt into the believer’s sternum.

Fwweueuuushh~...THUD!

“Leader is dead!” - “Leader is dead!” - “FUCK! AAh, run, everyone, run!-” - “Go back to the base, to safety!!”

The believers’ leader was sent flying backwards for a dozen meters before crashing into the back of a believer wielding a hammer and with high agility puppets accompanying him, complimenting his slowness. But the moment that believer felt something hit his back, he kicked backwards and turned around already effectuating a hammering down movement…their own leader was killed in their own hands just like this.

Innards flew, some landing inside the believer’s mouth and some in his eyes. A bit of shit flew about as they probably just ate and then marched to take down the seemingly weak and small outpost

The organs in his torso were so flattened and torn into chunks that the back of the believer’s leader’s back wasn’t even able to implode, instead simply becoming like a 3d person suddenly becoming 2d right in the middle and only in the middle.

Step step step step step…

All of the believers suddenly took a run for it, dropping even their own injured comrades and rushing back in retreat, their faces sweaty as they heard some new, strange things but still kept on going without even bothering to take a look at them.

Trckrr, trckrr, trckrr, trckrr, trckrr, trckrr…

“GWAAWWHH…” - “Nooooo, can’t run!” - “Nooooooooo!!” As armored vehicles appeared around them, the believers thought there were ordinary people inside. Some tried screaming to intimidate them into giving them the vehicles while some others sent tools to destroy them. Yet, none worked, shocking them and slowing their already slow rushed retreat.

“...Makis, what do we do?” A sect disciple said while standing in front of Makis, seeing the other sect disciples’ cars from the southern side of the barrier already here and beginning to take down the rapidly fleeing enemies, ignoring the slowest ones as if they were worthless.

Makis came from behind him and stepped forth, not stopping to answer, his rapier and crossbow in his hands as his back looked wide, strong, and thick. His voice was finally heard, not through his mouth per se but through the Identification Token and the device on everyone’s collars. “We move, of course. New orders…chase them down and kill them, from our commander!”

With that, Makis unceremoniously began running, his crossbow reloading on its own with its own mechanism as he shot believers to death. His unseemingly run at the enemies’ backs and killed them slowly as he took his time with his crossbow, aiming randomly and not killing them directly before reaching up to them and impaling their lower back with his rapier made many others’ bloodthirst and vengeance to stir up.

There wasn’t much to think about. Just kill!

Even then, the sect disciple who had been fighting alongside Makis looked at the latter’s back and wondered to himself how come Makis had…actually listened to the commands of a kid?

. . .

Within the main tent back, at the temporary randomized living quarters.

Over time, as the ongoing battle started and all the way until it ended, Ciemnosc’s facial expression changed several times, gaining attention and even some mild interest from the people inside the main tent on the other side of the monitors.

It began by being excited, which many could comprehend. But then it turned pensive and slightly frowning; at times, it would become eased and even as if in joy, but at others it would directly change to just frowning with a displeasing glint in both his darkest eyes that even up ‘till today are a very difficult thing to look at and not feel as if they were being absorbed…

Ciemnosc went from excited to even frowning, worried, pensive, reproachful, glad, feeling it was tough, comprehensive, bored, and in deep seriousness. His face is sometimes supported by his hands, forearms, and even arms with such against the table or with his elbows in return supporting them.

…All the way until it all finally ended, he showed many ways that the people in the main tent would’ve thought that they would’ve been as the commander of this entire mission in charge of so many people in his first time carrying out a mission himself and without much support to speak of.

…buzzh!

“Sir- gasp, gasp, gasp…” The sound of buzzing came into the main tent at last after about an hour went by, just an hour since the start. And from it, Makis’s tired, exhausted, and heaving up and down lungs-like gasping voice came into the ears of everybody. “We’ve won…we’ve won! There are no more believers, sir, their entire bodies have been confirmed, not a single one left out!”

“...!” Though it was a mild reaction and response to ‘Makis’s victory’, the people inside the main tent with Ciemnosc smiled, smirked, and felt good about this win. They looked at Makis’s face as he faced his own Identification Token, but he couldn’t see them. Only a smallish image of Ciemnosc was visible.

“Mm, good then. Count our bodies and come back,” Ciemnosc said, nodding at Makis and the others inside the main tent, looking like he wanted to take credit for these things happening, which made the people somewhat silent…

From the side of Makis’s, seemingly hearing the conversation between Makis’s and Ciemnosc, a few sect disciples that were with Makis began shouting and celebrating, interrupting Ciemnosc’s words all the same. “Woohoo! We made it, we- made- it~!!” - “Let’s go! We killed those maniacs!” - “We defeated them! We- we- we…”

“Makis, don’t forget to bring the puppets and corpses’ bodies back. If there are any hidden believers around then tell the scouts to bring them back alive. If those believers suicide…that’s gonna be your fault. Oh, also. Makis, prepare to make your way back to the temporary living quarters to accept your punishment.” Ciemnosc’s words, at the end of them all, immediately chilled everyone’s bodies and minds.

“...b- but sir! We won…we’ve won!” Someone from Makis’s side suddenly said amidst the glares from those in front of him, and while Ciemnosc saw Makis’s face turn wordless. Without giving any bit of thought out, Ciemnosc’s tone was blunt calm, and serene. “Makis, you were about to send all of the people at outpost 3 into a prolonged battle where the result would’ve been still a win; but a win with more than 10,000 losses. And that is being optimistic.”

“You sent people to each side, practically randomly, and could only fight properly due to my words, orders, and decisions. Or did you really think that those were all yours?” Ciemnosc stood up, this time without being sat back down by Valeria. And continued with his chin lowering towards his neck a little.

“You even wanted to wait for them to come to you. Why do you think there are barriers tens of kilometers away from the outposts? To see how some random animal or enemy inspected them? You are to make a move in order to defend those barriers, especially if there is a much lesser number of enemies on the other side!!”

“You didn’t even think of using the cars. Are they much too precious to you? Would you rather suffer ‘a few’ thousands of losses than those cool, amazing cars instead? Well, now there will be dozens of those who will be left to rust in your outpost 3’s garage! I’m sure you would’ve let such cars become useless without maintenance if I didn’t even remind you now!”

“Thanks to you, there wasn’t even a chance to use cars anymore, there wasn’t any advantage between the protective array’s barrier-illusion anymore, and it became a single barrier for protection then. With the enemy almost escaping, the most necessary means to attract the enemy and maim it from creating any strong assault in the future has been compromised.”

“Those forces you saw? Do you think they are that capable of sending them every half a month or so? Those were mostly from the ones that were already spies and within our territory, our sect’s territory! As long as you would’ve not acted dumbly, they would’ve been dispatched with just half of outpost 3’s forces and at most suffering some casualties by mistakes or unluckiness.”

“...” Makis fell even more silent, if it was even possible, with his head low and facing the ground. Only after what seemed half a minute after Ciemnosc spoke the last word and with him sensing the speechless stare on his person, Makis raised his head and asked weakly but clearly, “What about if something occurs. What will happen to the chain of command?”

“Am I not here for that?” Ciemnosc tilted his head to the left and a bit backwards, his eyes showing obvious ridicule but his tone as serene and calm as before. He straightened his pose and then said with his eyes meeting Makis’s, the latter avoiding them instinctively after merely 2 seconds of looking back. “Now get your ass here for punishment, immediately. With your squad.”

…vburr.

The monitor was turned off, and only black was visible. The others could only look at their own faces before moving their eyes a little bit to gaze at Ciemnosc’s face, new lights gleaming over them but still not being convinced of anything.

Buzzzh.

Then, Ciemnosc’s hands moved a little bit at the far front of his table, and another person appeared. This one was the southern side of the barrier’s battalion regiment. Ciemnosc looked at him, while the latter remained silent before rolling his eyes, and then speaking out right away. “Good thing that the battle is over pick up everything and help the wounded come back, let the others on foot carry tier own things. It’s going to be tough to take a break to heal and recuperate but do it.”

“As for you, however, come out of your vehicle, and also help pick up the spoils. Help people get the injured into the vehicles. As a leader of the battalion regiment, almost rushing to your death several times is not acceptable and next time, don’t forget to greet your commander.”

…vbuurr.

Everyone else within the tent at this moment: “...”

…