Hours became a blur.
Searing pain was the only proof I was still alive.
My thoughts had long since become numb. That wasn't a bad thing. Thoughts were hesitation, hesitation meant death.
All that mattered was action.
Thinking was saved for those twilight moments of regret just before sleep.
Gritting my teeth, I dragged another soldier into the tent. Marsh ran over immediately, grabbing his legs and helping me shift him to a bed.
A healer rushed forward as I stumbled back out.
Cold wind brushed my face, but that's not what made me smile.
No. Instead it was the warmth in my chest. The warmth of another life saved.
Not all of them made it. Some slipped away in my arms, their breath rattling, eyes blank.
There I would leave them, on the battlefield they had traded their life for.
'Another hour of sunlight left' I judged.
Keeping my body low, I rushed back into the battle, weaving through the chaos, but never joining it.
Battle was always such a loud thing. Clashing steel and war cries always overshadowed tears and final words. No matter how many battles I fought, I knew I would never get used to the sound.
'Who el-"
BANG
Light exploded to my right.
I leapt to the side, rolling back to my feet, eyes searching.
MageKnights.
'Shit!'
Not just one. Three.
Suicide. 'I need to run!'
Just as I moved, my eyes locked onto another figure that was approaching them.
Officer Mara?
Her body radiated heat, a quiet, intense orange flame licking at the edges of her body, sword gleaming in her grip.
The three MageKnights approached her swords ready. A three-on-one.
Ducking away I kept close but out of sight. I had no idea how strong Officer Mara was, or indeed, how strong Officers were in general. But a three on one?
I doubt she was going to win.
So I kept close, so when she lost, I might just be able to sneak her to safety. Not because I particularly cared for her…but a MageKnight was worth a hundred soldiers.
So I couldn't afford to let her die.
Mara stepped forward, and the very air around her shimmered. Her scarlet hair pulsed with a faint glow, her sword an ember of contained fury.
"Come," she beckoned.
The MageKnights lunged as one.
Blades clashed. Sparks flew.
The speed of the battle was dizzying, their movements near impossible to track.
But Mara—she was keeping up.
No, she was doing more than keeping up—she was forcing them back.
Her sword flared, its heat warping the air. One rebel slammed his foot down, the earth rippling outward, throwing up corpses and debris.
Mara leapt, the movement impossibly fluid, almost weightless, as though gravity itself bent to her will.
She landed far away, but not to retreat.
Her sword ignited, mana swirling around her like a vortex. The wind picked up, her dark eyes turning molten red, glowing like embers in a furnace. Stepping forward, she vanished in a flash of embers.
She reappeared mid-air, descending like a meteor, sword cutting down. One MageKnight barely raised his blade in time, but the impact sent him skidding back, molten cuts burning into his armor.
Another one attacked from behind, swinging a blade coated in jagged, crackling lightning.
Mara twisted, blocking with her forearm guard and redirecting the energy along her sword. Fire met lightning causing an explosion of raw power.
The third MageKnight lunged in the opening, but Mara was already moving. She caught his blade with the edge of hers, sliding it down and twisting her wrist—disarming him in one smooth motion before driving her knee into his gut.
He crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath.
She stepped to the side bringing her sword down and piercing the fallen MageKnight's heart with a terrifying precision.
Two left.
The earth-shaker roared, slamming his fists together. The ground beneath Mara ruptured, threatening to swallow her whole.
But instead of retreating, she pushed forward, charging through the quaking terrain like a force of nature.
She drove her sword straight through his chest.
He gasped, eyes wide in disbelief before he collapsed.
One left.
The last MageKnight hesitated, pain in his eyes. Just for a second. But in battle, a second was an eternity.
Mara was on him.
A feint to the left, a parry, then a brutal, downward slice.
He dodged by inches, countering with a desperate, mana-infused thrust. Mara ducked, pivoted, then brought her sword up in a swift, final stroke.
Steel met flesh.
The rebel staggered, his weapon clattering to the ground as he fell beside it.
Mara stood above his corpse, victorious against all odds.
Then her sword slipped from her fingers.
She swayed.
Her body, still wreathed in flames, flickered as if struggling to maintain itself.
Blood dripped down her arm, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. The fight had been so fast I hadn't even managed to take in that she had been receiving wounds herself.
She staggered slightly, then collapsed.
'Shit!'
I shot forward, at her side in moments.
Her eyes cracked open weakly, then widened in surprise.
"You're a sight for sore eyes. Come to finish the job?"
Snorting softly, I focused on examining her body.
It wasn't too bad, but they were still serious.
"Damn," she muttered, a weak smirk on her lips. "Thought I'd last longer you know. Kind of embarrassing really."
I pressed down on the worst of her wounds, feeling the heat of her mana still coursing through her. "You did just fine," I said. "You won."
She huffed a quiet laugh, her eyelids sliding close.
I clenched my jaw.
She wasn't dying. Not today. Tearing off the Aresium forged areas of my armour I used it as a bandage. There was barely any of it left, but it'd do.
Officer Mara's eyes opened again. "What are you doing?"
"Saving your life" I grunted back.
I didn't miss her flinch as my hands began working on her wounds methodically.
"Please" I snorted, "I got standards."
She flushed in red, turning away from me.
Tourniquet in place, I leaned back, giving myself a chance to breathe properly.
Then without warning I scooped her up in a fireman's lift. Pleasantly, she was lighter than the soldiers I was used to dragging.
"Hold on," I exhaled, my voice strained as I began to move as fast as I could.
Each step felt increasingly difficult as I maneuvered through the chaos, dodging battle, stumbling over corpses and forsaken blades.
The battlefield seemed endless, a forever expanse of blood and fire.
Then it happened…
I didn't even notice it.
One moment I was moving forward, the next I was airborne, the force of a blast sending me sprawling to the ground like a ragdoll as I collided with it heavily.
Pain exploded through my body as half a dozen cuts and bruises formed instantly.
'What…what the fuck?'
Groggily I got to my knees, vision swimming. My head swivelled, trying to find what the hell had hit me.
'Ahh shit.'
A MageKnight. Another MageKnight.
I recognised this one immediately.
It was the same one from back then, the one who had sent that comet after me on the first day. His hulking form practically radiated power, fire and earth swirling around him as he moved like a walking calamity, radiating oppression.
Each step was destruction, each person he faced, dead.
The MageKnight's grin was wide, predatory, as he tore his way through. Seemingly relishing the carnage as he toyed with the soldiers that tried to escape him.
I ran, scrambling towards Officer Mara, there wasn't a lot of time.
"Don't make a sound," I hissed over her.
She looked at me, nodding weakly. We both knew she was in no condition to fight another MageKnight.
I worked quickly, burying her under a pile of corpses to hide her from view.
It wasn't the best idea, but it'd have to do.
The MageKnight was getting closer.
I ran, hoping to hide myself as well.
But it was far too late for me.
A fiery explosion erupted nearby, and I was sent hurtling to the floor again, slamming into the ground with a sickening crunch.
Each nerve screamed in pain, my breath shallow and fast.
"What the fuck" I groaned. Trying to get up, my left leg flamed up in agony.
Looking down, I saw clean white bone sticking out.
"No" I breathed.
The MageKnight loomed over the battlefield, his grin widening as he spotted me.
I turned, trying to scramble away. 'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Fuck, not yet at least!'
"Oh no, you don't," the MageKnight sneered. "-You…white hair?…haven't I killed you already."
I didn't respond, clawing to the faint hope I could still escape.
"So you survived then" he surmised, voice dripping with sadistic pleasure. "Well then little rat…allow me to finish the job this time."
The MageKnight stood over me, stepping on my broken leg.
"AAHHHH!!!!" I screamed, voice tearing in pain. But my screams were overshadowed by the MageKnight's booming laughter.
There was a moment's pause, then a fresh agony exploded through my chest.
'Huh?'
Looking down I saw….a sword…
Its point sticking out my chest.
I expected white hot pain…but no, it was quite the opposite.
Instead I felt cold.
Very cold, as if ice was circulating through my veins.
This was a feeling I knew.
'Is this how I die then?'
Panic seeped out of my body, along with my lifeblood.
'So soon huh…' Usually transmigration MC's were at least smart enough to survive till the end of the novel. I guess it wasn't as easy to survive as it seems in the novels.
I felt it as my heart beat its finally THUMP.
Then…it stopped.
Leaving behind nothing.
It was over….
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CONGRATULATIONS : ARTHUR GRAVEWALKER
YOUR TRIAL IS NOW UPON YOU!!!
YOU ARE NOW BEING TRANSPORTED TO YOUR TRIAL…..
ERROR….
ERROR…
ERROR FOUND : BODY IS IN A STATE OF DEATH!!!
FINDING SOLUTION….
SOLUTION FOUND!!!
ACTIVATING TEMPORARY STASIS…..
STASIS SUCCESSFUL!!!
YOU ARE NOW BEING TRANSPORTED TO YOUR TRIAL...