CHAPTER 52: FRIENDLY FIRE

Hermes looked up at the darkening skies in abject horror. His emotions continued to churn like waves in the ocean. With his meditation in progress, he continued to ponder about the meaning behind these events.

'Is this also a part of the trial?' He had no answer to such a question. His injuries were quite severe, making it hard for him to move swiftly. Now that his state of mind itself was being attacked, his rapid mood swings made it difficult for him to stay focused on a singular goal.

-Mehhhh! Mehhhh!

An unfamiliar sound startled him. One that was too sinister to describe. It radiated from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. A sound so high pitched, he could have heard it from beneath Mars' crust. A sound fitted with the mellowness of a goat-sheep hybrid and the aggressiveness of a lion's roar, however, it sounded unlike any of the animals within the description at all.

By this point, Hermes had enough. He was beginning to believe that the delirium had gotten to his senses. The sound only passed by once, prompting him to question his own ears. Though, his trepidation warned him not to ever try and seek out its origins.

Suddenly, a new development occurred. Across the battlefield, he could see large flame pillars surrounding the battlefield. The flames were ghostly white, however, their inner flares were pitch black.

'I need to group up with the others quickly... Whatever is happening is no good... I can probably assume by now that my emotions being in such a disarray is due to this... Field?' He had no clue on how to describe it.

He stood up and slowly walked along the dunes, trying his best not to cause his injuries to worsen. The wind howled in agony and the black rain poured endlessly, slowing down his pace even more. Then another oddity occurred. The corpses surrounding the battlefield began to melt into puddles of black liquid; the same mixture falling from the sky.

Over in the distance, the remaining Mutant Devil Beast was hit in the chest by a plasma beam by Lance's tank, killing him instantly. Before he even had the chance to fall to the ground, his body broke apart and melted immediately. No corpse surrounding the battlefield was given the sanctity of a burial.

Seeing this, Hermes' heart began to beat faster. He tried to trick himself into believing that everything he was seeing was an illusion, a fabrication of his broken mind. But even such a concept was driven away by the intensity of his emotions.

...

Inside the hover tank, Eleanor and Elara huddled each other as they awaited the outcome of the battle. After witnessing the mysterious man watching over the battlefield, Sam forwarded the information to Lance. Both sisters sat comfortably. The tank had stopped, and the lack of explosions outside gave the impression of victory.

"Big Sister... Are we really going to make it back home?"

Eleanor smiled softly. "Don't worry. Sir Hermes is really strong. I heard he already defeated one of the Devil Wolves by himself." Eleanor looked at the floor while comforting her sister.

'We are both Stage 1 Celestials, and yet he could do so much already... Even if his dimensionality is 1.0, it should still not be enough to defeat so many mutants... The amount of cosmic force he has must be really impressive... Meanwhile, I cannot even stop a single lecher from attacking my little sister...' She clenched her fists.

Suddenly, Sam, who was sitting across from them, stood up quickly. Her eyes were open wide. Eleanor observed this reaction and tilted her head to the side. "Miss Sam, is there something wrong?" Sam simply stared at her silently, her eyes wider than an owl.

"..."

"Miss... Sam?"

Not receiving a response, Eleanor stood up and walked up to her. She tried to hold her shoulder when suddenly, the cadet pushed her away violently.

"Get away from me!" Sam sunk to the floor and hugged her feet, her eyes dilated to the extremes. She began to rock back and forth, counting the seconds passing by and mumbling something to herself.

Eleanor was shocked. She had not expected such an intense reaction. "Miss Sam, what is wrong?! Are you alright?!"

"..." No answer once more. It was as if the female officer had isolated her mind from the rest of the world. Eleanor continued trying to communicate with her, but each attempt only amounted to more failure than the one before it.

Elara, who was sitting in the back watching everything unfold, decided to chip in. "Big Sister, maybe we should call someone to check on her? Miss Sam seems to be experiencing something bad..."

Eleanor nodded and walked to the door, which was secured in multiple layers of metal. She knocked on it, trying to grab the attention of the officer guarding the compartment from outside, however she obtained no response.

"Is anyone there?!" She yelled, but was met with silence. A shiver ran up her spine. 'Has something happened?' She tried to open the door herself, but it was locked. Suddenly, she heard a response.

"Miss Eleanor... Do you need something?" Sighing in relief, Eleanor spoke softly. "Yes, I need someone to check on Officer Sam. She is having some kind of mental breakdown. Can you open the door? It looks fairly serious."

The officer outside paused for a bit before responding, "I am afraid... I can't do that."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Eleanor furrowed her brows. "Why not?! I am telling you to open the door! That is an order! Miss Sam needs immediate medical attention!"

"Apologies Miss Valencourt... But I cannot do that."

"..." She was left speechless. 'What in the Monarch of Wisdom is happening?!'

She decided to forward her query. "Can you tell me... Why you aren't allowing us out?"

"... The situation... Is not safe for you. Sam is better off inside..."

She grit her teeth, "and why is that?!"

"..." No response. Suddenly, a scuffle was heard outside. Then the door clicked open. This only confused Eleanor, who backed away from it in worry.

Suddenly, the figure of a large and muscular officer was reflected in her eyes. His expression was warped and twisted as sweat poured out in droves from his forehead. His eyes, sharper than a knife, were glaring at Eleanor and Elara.

"I finally got to the two of you... I will have my revenge now." His fists tightened hard. The longer he looked upon the two sisters, the darker his expression became.

Eleanor's eyes widened. 'Revenge? Who is he? What is he going to do?' She frowned. Looking behind him, she saw the figure of another officer, covered in blood, laying against the wall, motionless. The air seemed to hang heavy with an eerie stillness, broken only by the sound of the colossal soldier before her cracking his knuckles.

She gulped a mouthful of saliva. "W-what are you trying to do?!" She took a step back, creating a barrier between her and her younger sister. The man closed his eyes. The blood splattered on his arms had finally become visible to her.

"I have waited for this day..." The man took a step forward, "the day I kill the both of you... Your disgusting lineage.... I will finally end it..." He primed his arm back, readying a mighty punch. Noticing his actions, Eleanor flinched, putting her arms up in front of her for protection. However, her flimsy limbs did little to mitigate the impact. With a single punch, she was thrown back into the wall!

"Ugh!" the air in her lungs was forcefully blown out as she began to see stars twirling in her vision.

"Big Sister!" Elara ran up to her in worry. The bruises on her arms made her face turn pale. She glared at the man who attacked Eleanor.

"Why?!" Her body began to quiver. She knew she stood no chance. She wanted to flee with her sister, but her uncontrollable shaking made it hard for her to even stand.

The behemoth of a man stared at her coldly. "Why, you ask?" He snapped at the young Elara, "because you fucking deserve it!" his bellowing voice entered her ears, sending her heartbeat racing.

"It's because you are a noble. All nobles deserve death." Elara's eyes widened. She had no words for the violent man before her. 'Because I am a noble? What does that mean?' She had lived a sheltered life for the past 14 years. To her, nobles were simply the people who lead humanity to their continued survival. Was that not what they were? She began to hug Eleanor, who was half awake.

The man saw this and paced in front of her. By now, his skin had turned red as his eyes bulged out, staring intensely at his target. Readying another punch, the man grit his teeth. "Now die!"

-Boom!

A gunshot was heard. The man stumbled backwards before falling on top of Eleanor and Elara. Blood seeped from the back of his head. Elara tried her best to move his body off of them. She stared at the gun wound intensely as her eyes dilated. An intense chest pain consumed her as she began to hyperventilate. Eleanor, who had just awoke, hugged her sister and covered her eyes.

"It's fine... Relax..." She tried her best to comfort her.

Elara passed out promptly; her emotions were amplified to such a degree that her mind could not handle it. Eleanor's eyes twitched in pain as she stared at the door. Their savior's silhouette became apparent to her. A 6'foot tall man carried a pistol in his hand as he looked at the two sisters.

Eleanor was able to glean a glimpse of his figure. A handsome face with dark black hair, fitted with emerald green eyes. She recognized him. "Sir Lance!"

With a frown on his face, he walked over to them. "Lady Eleanor, are you alright?" She nodded her head. "Yes... Just minor injuries. I can handle it." She shifted her attention to the large man who attacked them.

"Why... Did he attack us?"

Lance sighed. "I am unsure, but it seems like some kind of ritualistic magic has been invoked in our area. The effects of it being, amplification of suppressed emotions. I too am barely holding on right now. I had to use [Brain-Overclock] to control myself to some degree..." He turned around to face the door. "Frederick over there had to do the same."

She looked at the door. A large man with a wrinkled face and disheveled blonde hair looked at her and nodded. He stroked his golden mustache while holding an SV rifle in the other, watching the hallway for any enemies.

Lifting her now unconscious sister up on her shoulder, Eleanor looked down at the corpse of the man who attacked them once more. Her frown deepened. 'Could it be that Trevor too...' She shook her head. 'Even if that was true, the fact that he was harboring such emotions in the first place says it all...'

She placed her sister on Lance's shoulder and kneeled down before the colossal soldier. Closing her eyes in prayer, she began to ponder. 'This empire... Where is it heading?... If the nobles continue to act the way they are, how can I blame the common man for harboring such hatred?'

Lance stood over her and watched in silence. After a minute of repose, she grabbed his dog tag and stood up. Then, she walked over to the lifeless cadet, who was hunched over on the wall. He was the cadet guarding her compartment. Catching a better glimpse of his face, she was able to recognize him from beneath his tactical helmet.

"Theodore..." She shifted her neck backwards and gazed at Sam, who was huddled on the floor, shifting about chaotically.

She ordered Lance while biting her lips. "Help Miss Sam up. The ritualistic magic is having an effect on her state of mind... Make sure she doesn't see what happened to her precious comrade. Her emotions are already chaotic enough..."

Lance let out a weary sigh and complied, lifting her as requested. Frederick joined him, and together, they escorted the trio of girls to the pinnacle of the deck. At the terminus of the top-floor hallway, a lone figure maintained a vigilant watch, a cigarette casually dangling from his weathered fingers. The disheveled tufts of gray hair and beard spoke volumes about the years he had gone through.

Lance greeted him, "John. Have you sent out the distress signal? How is it looking?"

John shook his head. "No reply yet. Also, we have some messed up developments."

Frederick stroked his mustache and frowned. "What d'you mean?" John simply tilted his head to the door leading to the deck. "You'll know once you look outside." He pointed at the monitor mounted to the ceiling.

Without hesitating, all of them gazed at the screen as their faces turned ashen white. Displayed within the confines of the pixels was a scene none of them wanted to be true. They had all somewhat expected it after realizing what the ritual was doing to their state of mind, but not to this extent...

On the deck painted in black from the mysterious liquid raining from the sky, the soldiers were furiously shooting at each other in anger. Gunfire spread across the battlefield; all of it aimed at other humans. Some of the soldiers were bashing corpses in ecstasy. Others, consumed by lust, were trying to sexually assault their fellow cadets; even the corpses were fair game.

Some, however, did not enact violent tendencies on others, but on themselves. A soldier smiled and placed his SV rifle inside his mouth and pulled the trigger, exploding his head instantaneously. Another simply huddled in fear in one of the corners as foam dripped from his mouth. He continuously gnashed at his cheeks until they bled. A cacophony of emotions was being expressed forcefully, with no end in sight. Humanity had lost any semblance of self-control.

End of Chapter