Chapter 22 - 21 - Blood and Walls, Part Three

After a short while, once they confirmed the Fragmentum monsters would not counter-attack, the Trailblaze party began to walk towards the Silvermane Guards' defensive position. "Fragmentum monster spotted! Open fire!" Before they even reached the defensive line, the party heard a loud shout from the other side. A large group of Silvermane Guards scrambled out of the trenches, aiming their rifles squarely at them! "Hey! Is there something wrong with your eyes?! How could you mistake a big, gentle, and cute beautiful girl like me for one of those ugly mugs! That's so insulting!" March 7th fumed. "Don't get excited. The Fragmentum monsters have retreated. It's safe here now," Wende said calmly, raising his hands as he slowly approached the trench under the watch of several dozen rifle muzzles. "Quick, lower your weapons! They're the benefactors who just saved us! Everyone, put your guns down!" The Second Squad officer whom Wende had just saved saw the four people approaching and immediately shouted excitedly at the other guards, lowering his own rifle as he did. "This..." The armed guards looked at each other, momentarily unsure of what to do. On one hand were their brothers' saviors; on the other were the direct orders from the Great Guardian. The guards were caught in a dilemma. "All of you, lower your weapons." The acting commander of the Silvermane Guards, Bronya Rand, had at some point walked to the front of the defensive line. She commanded the assembled guards. "Yes, Lady Bronya!" Seeing the order come from Bronya, who acted with the Great Guardian's authority, the guards lowered their rifles in unison, looking at the young woman with reverence. "Thank you all for coming to the aid of the Silvermane Guards. If it weren't for you, the Second Squad would have had its designation eliminated as well..." Bronya's lips were pressed into a thin line, her voice heavy and suppressed. Beside her, the Second Squad officer clenched his fists, his jaw tight, his fierce eyes welling with tears. The First Squad... its last few members had also succumbed to their severe injuries. Now, only a handful of people remained in the Second Squad... Those were his comrades! The comrades he spent every day and night with! Watching them fall hurt more than having a knife twisted in his heart. A sorrowful atmosphere suddenly descended upon the entire position. Seeing so many familiar faces gone, some of the younger guards couldn't help but sniffle, only to be slapped by an older guard, even though these veterans were also struggling to hold back their own emotions... "Haaah... Please... come to the command tent." After letting out a long, heavy breath, Bronya placed a hand on her chest and invited the Trailblaze party. "Mm." Wende nodded, and the four of them followed behind Bronya. The atmosphere at the defensive line had been incredibly oppressive. Even the perpetually cheerful March 7th was silenced by the somber mood, her face sullen. "..." Stelle didn't know what to say, but she found her gaze unconsciously drawn to Wende, who walked ahead. Dan Heng shook his head, remaining silent. Wende turned to look back at the guards. After the party left, the guards didn't release their emotions. They simply picked up their weapons and continued to hold the line that was forged from blood and life. The snow... had started falling again at some point, landing on the guards' armor before melting from their body heat. Following Bronya into the Silvermane Guards' command tent, they found it was very simple. Although there were a few exquisite teacups on the table, the tea inside them had long gone cold. On the table, a strategic map of the perimeter road was propped up, but the dense red X's marked all over it gave off a suffocating feeling. Bronya set her personal weapon aside, brushed the water droplets from her shoulder, and then invited the group to sit at the table while she took the main seat. "Thank you for your assistance. If it weren't for all of you, we might have lost this defensive line as well..." On the strategic map behind Bronya, only this one location was not marked with a red X, indicating that this was the guards' last line of defense. Wende frowned, looking at the map that was almost entirely red. The Astral Express had only arrived a week later than in the original story... As if sensing Wende's gaze, Bronya's eyes were also drawn to the map. In truth, it was less a strategic map and more a map of defensive positions... and the places marked with red X's were all garrisons that the guards had once captured. Seven days ago, the Great Guardian, Cocolia Rand, had summoned her and ordered her to lead several squads of Silvermane Guards to reclaim the lost territory in the perimeter road. Another high-ranking officer, Gepard, was ordered to the front line to defend Belobog's outermost position... Although she had strongly advised the Great Guardian against it, she was ultimately convinced by her mother's reasoning, even though she knew that for hundreds of years, no one had been able to reclaim lost territory from within the Fragmentum... At first, she and her guards achieved astonishing results in the Fragmentum. Even she began to naively believe that she could truly accomplish what no one before her had: reclaim the lost land and drive out the Fragmentum. But she didn't know that she and her guards had already walked into a dark trap. Within just two days, a tide of Fragmentum monsters emerged from nowhere. They broke through the guards' defensive lines one after another with incredible speed, until only this last line remained... And of the guards she had led out... less than one in ten now survived. But she hadn't retreated. It wasn't that she didn't want to retreat to preserve these effective forces! But if she did retreat, and that horde of Fragmentum monsters broke through the guards' blockade and swarmed into the city, the immense casualties would destroy all of Belobog! The battle on the other front was also tight. All available automatons and large-scale weapons had been sent there. All that was left for her were some underpowered mortars and transport automatons with little combat capability... "I'm sorry... I must have been a laughingstock to you all this whole time..." Bronya said, her voice heavy. In her eyes, these capable individuals were likely "folk heroes" from elsewhere, who had only come to help because of her incompetence. "No. You've done very well, Miss Bronya." Wende shook his head, looking at the Bronya before him who had been worn down by failure. He spoke softly, then took out a photograph from his coat. It was a picture March 7th had taken on the Express before they landed. He had asked for a copy and had kept it in his breast pocket. "This is..." Bronya's pupils shrank as she looked at the frozen planet in the photograph.