“Another attack!”

The next morning, when the sun was only just beginning to peek over the horizon, everyone was woken by alarms and the yell of a warlock.

Usually if I got less than 8 hours of sleep, I would feel groggy and even a bit sick. But I didn’t feel any of that as the explosions of magical spells rattled the Hunker and woke me with a surge of adrenaline.

“5 am? These guys really need to fuck off.”

My nerves had died down as of late. A couple of sudden battles was enough to condition me, at least to the point where I wasn’t in a constant state of fight or flight and hyperawareness.

That was the only reason some of my irritation could slip through as I climbed up into a turret and took aim.

I immediately took count, finding about 13 warlocks posted not just in their own vehicles, but in the forest beyond the road. We had hit a roadblock of boulders that seemed to have been placed by the enemy warlocks, and now we were being pincered from both sides.

And this time, the warlocks seemed to be hiding behind natural formations a bit more, not just standing out in the open where I could shoot them. It made this more difficult, and because the sun wasn’t fully out yet, it was a bit harder to see into the treeline.

But with my scope, things were made easier. Plus, the lights from their spells made them stand out like beacons, guiding my crosshair.

Learning from prior battles, every warlock had a barrier up, and all of them were strengthened. They were specifically countering me, and not every warlock was casting spells. They seemed to be searching. In fact, several were looking toward my Hunker.

It was clear that I had caused them no small headache, and perhaps now they were trying to do something about it. I knew that the moment I took a shot, I would probably be bombarded with spells. And If I stepped outside to try and reposition, then I would be putting myself in danger.

So they wanted to pin me down or eliminate me entirely. So I waited, thinking of what I could do to help with this battle while avoiding the focus fire of a dozen warlocks.

And then, it hit me.

Why did I have to only shoot the warlocks? Why not the knights? I would have to use more power, but if I switched guns as well then killing several knights wouldn’t be a problem.

But going outside at all was still a problem, even if I had more freedom out there as opposed to in a stationary turret.

Suddenly, I thought of my most glaring problem besides the sounds my guns made. It was the muzzle flash, which was incredibly obvious considering how much I stood out in general.

If I got rid of that, they I would be golden. The sound was so loud that it couldn’t be precisely traced at a distance, so I could still operate despite it.

That’s when I had an idea.

Kicking open the door of the Hunker, I headed out and crouched down.

And looking at the vehicle, i smiled.

Suddenly, I crawled under the Hunker itself, taking up position on the ground. From there, I could see up to everyone’s waist, and it was easy to tell apart the Tavera Knights from the enemy knights.

After that, I aimed my rifle. The knights were always much closer than the warlocks, so I didn’t have to stress my aim. And since I was now under this vehicle, I couldn’t be hit by the warlocks.

It was the perfect solution, so I aimed at an enemy knight with a smile, pulling the trigger.

*BANG*

My bullet flew, and the knight that I shot buckled almost instantly. It gave a window of opportunity that the Tavera knight took immediate advantage of.

With that, I let off round as fast as I could send them.

I had to infuse a large amount of Psyka into each round just for the bullet to pierce through both armor and the tough bodies of the knights. But I quickly learned that my shots didn’t have to be lethal for them to be effective. Suddenly getting hit by a bullet was a death sentence when you were also fighting against an enemy. It was a fatal distraction.

So I even lightened up on the Psyka, focusing on my fire rate.

And like that, the knights swept through their enemies. I didn’t even have to kill the warlocks. With my assistance, the knights were able to pierce through all defenses and kill them for me.

And I wasn’t disturbed a single time, the enemy warlocks unable to deduce my position underneath the vehicle and behind the bodies of my fellow knights.

And so the battle was won. After I crawled out, I could see everyone either getting treated or cleaning up. The Captain also came and found me.

“John! Excellent work!”

“Thank you, Captain.”

I smiled at his enthusiasm while we shook hands.

“I saw exactly what you were doing, and I have to say that it was a genius tactic. In fact, because those stupid warlocks couldn’t find you, they stood around hiding for half the battle! Just your presence alone is enough to disable them! And don’t worry, even though you didn’t kill anybody, you allowed us to kill those knights far faster than otherwise. I’ll make sure you are paid for this battle.”

“Just doing my duty, sir.”

I felt a bit shameless, saying that while grinning ear to ear. I had to admit, the huge paycheck this was turning out to be was a great motivator.

However, this battle did indeed take a larger toll on me. Even though I was smiling, my head was screaming at me with a migraine after using so much Psyka. I felt like I would pass out any moment.

So I kept our conversation short, and my next stop was the bunk where I fell right asleep. I couldn't even be bothered with breakfast, and I slept until well after noon.

Of course, I woke up to a starving stomach because of that. Thankfully I had been saved some food, not by Plex, but by some of the knights.

I was thanked to no end while eating, probably because they had received my direct help. I was also guaranteed protection by the entire troop, so it was nice to know that everyone would be looking out for me.

I just told them to make sure nobody attacked the Hunker, because it had basically become my nest. If I lost that, then I would be in serious trouble.

After that, evening dawned. After this, we would only have to make it through one more day. We would arrive the following evening, and so farr, everything was going amazing.

I had barely been hurt, and deaths were minimal. Injuries were prevalent, of course, but in normal cases most of those injured knights would be dead.

I had saved no small amount of lives, and even though the last battle was more difficult than the other, I thought we could make it through the rest smoothly.

Unfortunately, thinking that seemed to have conjured quite the opposite.

Because when the moon appeared high in the sky, I was once again shocked awake by all too familiar explosions.

Thankfully I was rested, so I didn’t have issues responding.

But when I saw what we were up against, I could only curse under my breath.

It looked like an army was waiting for us. Of course, we had an army of our own, but we were tired.

Thinking back, I suppose the healers had it the worst.

Well, they would need to step it up pretty soon.

Because when attacks were launched, copious amounts of blood was shed.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

And the pressure I was put under skyrocketed as these enemies sought the head of the American who had been causing no small amount of trouble.

……

…

“Shit!”

“Break through!”

“Get those fucking vehicles out of the way!”

“Agh! Someone kill that warlock!”

*BANG*

Screams and gunshots made my ears ring. I suppose I was finally getting a small taste of what war was like on Earth, in this case.

Thankfully, my air mask filtered what I breathed, so I didn’t get the dense stench of blood and fire. It was my only solace during these battles.

While fighting, I thought back a couple of times to what I had surmised at the beginning of the trip.

My conclusion was that the final days of the trip would be the hardest since the enemy would be more desperate, throwing everything they had at us. I knew it was bound to come, especially since I was here keeping a vast majority of the convoy alive through every battle.

But I underestimated just how difficult it was going to be. Well, I couldn’t be blamed either. After all, I didn’t expect that another mafia would come and try to bar our path.

For most of the time, we had been facing the Clockwork Association. But on the last day, not only did we fight two back to back battles with those damned warlocks, but another mafia known as the Yeon Guild suddenly appeared.

They were supposedly a rival mafia that operated in the only black market in the City of Joffrun, our destination. And through the shouts and screams of battle with them, I learned that the Tavera Family was attempting to encroach on their territory there.

These mafias were more widespread than I initially thought. They had slices of the black markets of several major cities. There were even entire villages that they controlled, these small settlements acting as places for their families to grow and produce more children who would later be inducted into the mafias.

Of course, the Capital was always where most of their power resided, so I wasn’t missing much. But that was beside the point.

There were naturally other mafias than the few I knew of, most being entirely localized to a single city. But that didn’t mean they weren’t powerful, and because they only had one nest, they didn’t take kindly to others trying to intrude.

Well, I knew there was more to the story, but that was all above my paygrade. I was only hired muscle who needed to help them reach their goals.

Still, whatever the Tavera family was doing, it was enough to garner what seemed like the full force of their rivals.

I wondered several times through the trip why our enemies didn’t just send their full armies all at once. Surely it would be more effective, right?

But this was wrong. Wearing down your enemy was effective, and striking when they were tired and when you were well prepared was the best.

And, well, what they struck with when all was on the line seemed like their full army.

It was like everything beforehand had only been a warmup. Dozens of knights, many of which were terrifyingly powerful, and just as many warlocks.

Not only that, but I finally got to experience a full force battle between not Authority 6’s, but Authority 7’s.

Turns out, the Captain was an Authority 7 Knight, as well as the strongest person in this convoy. And after asking Plex, the highest power in a mafia usually stood around Authority 9. For the Tavera Family, that was their Patriarch.

So sending an Authority 7 was big. After all, although the highest power was Authority 9, that didn’t mean they had many Authority 8’s. The Tavera Family may have two, at best four, and leaving the Capital wasn’t usually acceptable under any circumstances. So Authority 7 was the best we had.

Not that it was shabby. The Captain was at the height of Authority 7 as well as someone who had served for many years in the military. He was experienced and powerful.

And this showed in the battle he fought. Honestly, the entire thing made me want to cower.

Atrocious strength and speed was basically all there was to it. The Captain could create craters in the ground with his feet, tear apart an entire vehicle with his hands, jump higher than trees could grow, and attack with speed that my eyes couldn’t keep up with.

I quite literally wouldn’t last a second if I had to fight him. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could dodge my bullets.

Of course, displaying such feats of strength took a lot out of him. There was a reason he didn’t show such strength earlier.

And perhaps more shocking was the enemy he fought, who was likewise a knight, but not the type you’d think.

He was a martial arts specialist, someone who fought with his body. He wasn’t just a boxer who only fought with his fists either.

His kicks could take out the trunk of a tree, his fists blowing holes in steel, his arms and abs able to deflect blades, and his footwork allowing him to reposition with blinding speed and impossible agility.

His body just floated around while he attacked the Captain, and their fights took them to all corners of the battlefield. In one moment, they’d be right in the center of a dozen men, and the next, they would be flying over the treeline and laying into each other on the other side of a hill.

Their power wasn’t something I could wrap my head around. It was disorienting seeing it at all, because it was stuff I had only seen in movies and the like. To actually see it in the flesh jostled my brain. It was like it didn’t want to think that it was possible.

But the damage they wrought was very real. I could only thank the Captain for keeping that pugilist from tearing apart the hunker I was hiding inside.

But, other than that distraction, I was wholly occupied with trying to stay alive.

For the entire final day, we bounced from battle to battle. It was like there was a long line of people just waiting down the road and taking turns beating us up. And every time, we sustained more damage.

It built up. More deaths, more injuries, and greater exhaustion. We were lucky our convoy was large, because any less people and we may not have been able to make it this far.

And there was no opportunity to rest. At first it was manageable. I would get tired, restrain my use of Psyka, and gradually recover between battles.

But as each hour passed, my mind’s fatigue built bit by bit. First it was a constant headache, but then it turned into sharp pains that made me flinch with every surge of blood from my heart.

Not only that, but I was attacked rather often.

I had thought that I could just hide like I had, whether that was amidst the knights or around the Hunker. But no matter where I went, it wouldn’t be long before I was spotted by a knight or warlock and attacked.

Running away from bloodthirsty knights was especially fun. My speed couldn’t compare to theirs, so I was forced to move as fast as I could, delaying them with a shotgun, before getting an ally to save me. That scenario played out four times, and each time, I was pulled closer to death.

The warlock spells that exploded around me weren’t much better. No small amount of damage was blocked by my coat, but I still sustained several nasty bruises and a possible fracture in my left arm after getting slammed in the side by a large rock. Holding up a rifle became harder after that, and how I continued to manage was a miracle.

But I did, even though I sometimes wanted to climb into the Hunker and just hide for a while.

But my willpower was strong. If there was one thing that I knew about myself, being one of my better qualities, was that I didn’t buckle under pressure. Something about adversity like this spurred something within me, compelling me to step up and push back. It was a quality that only came out during sports, but here, it showed itself in full force when it really mattered.

Despite the head splitting migraines, despite the blood that dripped down my arm from a wound under my sleeve, despite the physical and mental exhaustion from trying to help while being hunted by knights and warlocks…

I found it within me to continue surviving. And I never stopped shooting back.

……

“Hah… Ugh…”

I lay against one of the trucks while catching my breath, groans coming from underneath my mask.

I felt some blood stream down the side of my head, a small wound from a small rock that came flying in from seemingly nowhere. What hurt the most though wasn’t the wound it gave me, but the impact it had against my head that was already dealing with the nastiest headache of my life.

Not only that, but my left arm throbbed with shooting pains every time my heart beat. It had been that way for more than a few hours now, and moving my fingers had gradually become more difficult. I concluded that my arm was broken, but unfortunately I couldn’t get it treated in the middle of a battle. I barely even remember how I got that injury.

In fact, so much as opening my eyes felt overwhelming. There was too much stimulation, the battle overwhelming my senses. But I couldn’t close my eyes just in case I had to dodge another spell, nor could I just tune my hearing out and ignore what was going on.

In the distance, I could see all the knights intertwined in fights. The tides were turning in our favor, the enemies of the Yeon Guild falling beneath the sabers of the Tavera Family.

Pulling my gaze away, I looked toward the Hunker not far away. From their turrets, the few warlocks that we brought were launching the occasional spell. Unlike me who could get hit by fire and water that easily slipped through the window, they had barriers that could block all that stuff, letting them fire freely.

Looking at that tank on wheels, I felt the urge to go over and climb inside. I just wanted some rest, and surely the Hunker’s defenses could afford me that.

But at the same time, there was still more I could do.

I learned through much pain that maintaining a communion with a gun basically cost as much Psyka as I passively recovered. This meant I could keep a gun in my hands and shoot unempowered bullets as much as I wanted.

Of course, bullets that weren’t infused with Psyka weren’t as powerful. Depending on the conditions, the best they could do was pierce a knight’s armor and damage a warlock’s barrier, yet do nothing to the body underneath.

But in this battle, those two things were enough. So when I ran out of energy, that’s what I resorted to, trying to afford my allies any advantage I could.

After all, a bullet to the face, although not enough to kill a knight, was still a nasty distraction equal to a sucker punch. And if I was lucky enough to hit their eyeball or mouth, then even unempowered bullets became lethal.

Unfortunately, my accuracy also lowered when I was exhausted, so those chances were low. Still, my bullets afforded our knights many opportunities, sometimes outright securing kills. So I couldn’t stop.

The only tough part was that, with every shot, I needed to move. Having my position locked down was a death sentence, so if I wasn’t ready to run, then I didn’t want to shoot.

Even the air mask couldn’t keep me going forever. In fact, I had eaten food on the battlefield during a morning battle, trying to keep my energy levels up. Taking a piss also wasn’t out of the question, though doing so while watching out for spells was an interesting experience.

“Ugh. Dammit. I just need a breather. There’s food there too, and I’m starving right now.”

I grunted before deciding to head over. I ducked low before slowly making my way, arriving at the beat up door to head inside.

But that’s when I heard something in the distance. A scream, getting louder and heading my way.

I looked up.