OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 156: Parting III

In the next bombardment, they witnessed something unimaginable...

It was as if the sky itself was raining bombs at them.

Everywhere Jake turned, his field of vision was marred by ominous dots of black, a foreboding shroud that cast an unnerving tapestry of impending death.

Before he could even muster a command, their commander's voice pierced through the cacophony of chaos:

"For the glory of Earthkind!"

Just as the weight of those words settled into Jake's mind, a grim realization dawned upon him.

He understood the commander's reckless intent-his desperate act.

With bated breath, he could only watch in stunned silence as Xavier charged forth, breaking free from the protective shield's range and ascending into the perilous skies, directly into the path of the descending bombs.

A heartbeat passed, filled with anticipation and dread, and then it came-an earth-shattering KA-BOOM!

KA-BOOM!

KA-BOOM!

KA-BOOM!

The shockwave cascaded across the battlefield, a thunderous testament to Xavier's sacrifice. The very ground quivered beneath their feet, and for that fleeting moment, the entire world seemed to hold its breath in the face of such colossal destruction.

In that momentary pause, the sky appeared to birth a new sun, casting a glow across the wasteland.

But this celestial beauty swiftly gave way to a terrifying transformation.

The mushroom clouds merged and entwined, forming a colossal explosion of smoke and dust that transformed the day into night as if the very fabric of reality had been torn asunder.

The battlefield, once a scene of frenzied chaos, now lay cloaked in the shadowy shroud of a graveyard.

An unsettling uncertainty gripped them all, for they were now riding blind, unaware of where the next deadly strike would come from.

A saving grace in this bleak situation was the parting of the smoke clouds as something descended from above.

They watched in astonishment as the commander's body returned to the ground.

Although he appeared charred to the bone, the man had somehow survived the explosive ordeal.

Landing with a heavy thud, the commander struggled to push himself up, but he was soon lifted by Jake as the army never stopped their charge, with the captains leading the way.

"Thank you, commander. Your display of bravery will inspire the troops to follow in your lead..."

Xavier simply looked at him and nodded, his vocal cords cooked and now rotting.

Propping Xavier up on the front of his bike, Jake hurriedly placed some old-world medicine in his commander's mouth and shouted:

"MY FELLOW SOLDIERS! DO NOT LOSE HOPE! HAVE YOU NOT SEEN YOUR COMMANDER?! FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS!"

"NOW SPELL WEAVERS... WIND!"

"WIND!" All the captains shouted in unison.

Without the slightest delay, the clouds in front of them parted, granting them a small, see- through window to glimpse what might come next.

"TECHNOMANCERS! PROCEED WITH PLAN B!"

"ALL SQUADRONS WILL SEND OUT A SINGLE UNIT TO DISRUPT THE BOMBARDMENT, WE CAN NO LONGER RELY ON OUR SHIELDS!"

No sooner had those words left his mouth than another set of missiles materialized in front of them, hurtling their way with alarming speed.

"COHORT 1! UNIT 14, ARCHON'S SPEED MASON!"

A fellow team captain ordered, sending a man to their grave.

Jake's heart shattered as he witnessed the man hurtle toward the oncoming bombs, a twisted smile etched on his face, a haunting resignation to his apparent fate.

'DAMMIT!'

'Why didn't HQ give us rangers?! All of this would've been avoided!'

Jake screamed inwardly, the weight of being a captain bearing heavily on his shoulders.

KA-BOOM!

KA-BOOM!

"May 'They' have mercy on the weak... May 'They' have mercy on us..."

A prayer escaped his lips as he bore witness to yet another explosion, yearning for nothing more than this relentless parade of death to end.

...

The hour-long charge had taken its toll on the surviving soldiers, the Celestials.

Their bodies ached, and their Aether reserves were nearly depleted.

All of the Technomancers were dead, their bodies left behind in the ravaged wasteland.

And despite their exhaustion, they couldn't afford to stop.

They needed to lure the construct away, buying time until reinforcements arrived; otherwise, it would secure this position, granting a significant advantage to their enemy in this ceaseless

battlefield.

So they pressed on, embracing the task of postponing the inevitable for as long as they could. "Keep going! We can't give up now!" Jake urged, his voice strained from his constant

shouting.

Emma nodded, her breaths coming in heavy gasps.

"Our last Technomancer is gone... The only ones we have left are Spell weavers, Knights,

Brawlers, and Gun Mages..."

"We can't keep going, we've done our job, we've held it off for one hour, and now our only job

is to survive, find cover, regroup, and make a stand."

Jake let out a long, tired sigh.

"But that construct will lose its aggro on us if we leave it alone..."

"Though I guess that we have no other choice, huh."

Seeing her nod, he motioned for them to head toward the rock formation they had been

circling for a while.

"EVERYONE FOLLOW ME!" He bellowed.

Vroom! Vroom!

And the soldiers followed his command, knowing that their only ticket to survival was under

his leadership.

Jumping off their bikes with their last ounce of strength, they pushed forward, climbing over the rocky ridge and into a narrow crevice.

The construct's bombs continued to rain down around them, but for the moment, they found some reprieve from the direct assault.

In the crevice, they caught their breath and swallowed some old-world medicine, knowing they had mere moments before the construct would send its army in.

Jake wandered around for a few moments, finding a place to hide Xavier's body away.

After dropping his commander down in a small opening, he turned to Emma and quickly assessed the situation.

"That construct would soon lose interest, it's definitely going to send in smaller-sized troops to kill those of us remaining..."

"We need to find a defensible position. Somewhere we can hold them off until reinforcements arrive, and an hour has already passed, so we can expect them to arrive any time now..." He

said, his mind racing for a solution.

Emma's eyes widened as she spotted a nearby cave entrance.

"There! That cave might provide some cover. It's narrow, and we can use it to funnel them

in."

The surviving soldiers wasted no time, their urgency driving them into the cave. Inside, they positioned themselves strategically along the narrow passage, preparing for the imminent onslaught.

Time crawled by until they finally heard the distant sound of incoming footsteps, signaling

the approaching danger.

"They're coming! Brace yourselves!" Jake called out.

Moments later, the enemy constructs, who appeared to have been designed to resemble a

diverse array of animals, from creatures of the wild to mechanical beasts, poured into the

cave entrance.

The clattering of their metallic feet echoed ominously through the tunnel, creating a chilling cacophony that reverberated in the hearts of the soldiers, who braced themselves for the

inevitable clash.

The knights met them in a charge with incredible force, their mighty strikes cleaving through

the enemy constructs.

Emma stood with the Spell Weavers as they conjured flames and ice bolts, each ability a

display of the elements.

The Gun Mages, their colorful bullets a deadly spectacle, mowed down any adversary in their

path.

The brawlers acted as stalwart defenders, guarding the Spell Weavers and eliminating any foe

that dared approach.

Amid the chaos, Jake found his place alongside the Gun Mages.

Though he had chosen the challenging path of an Arcanist, a specialization that required intricate rune knowledge, he did what he could to support and lead.

His presence boosted the formation's effectiveness, and his strategic commands guided them

through the fierce battle.

The narrow confines of the cave played to their advantage, bottlenecking the enemy and

forcing them to attack in smaller numbers.

The Celestials held their ground with unyielding resolve, fully aware that they were the last

bastion against the onslaught.

Yet, as the battle raged on, the seconds stretched into what felt like an eternity. Exhaustion was setting in, and it seemed as if their defenses were about to crumble as the

Knights, their only defense began to fall one by one.

But just when hope appeared to wane, a distant rumbling resonated throughout the cave, a

tremor that shook the very ground beneath them.

"Reinforcements! They're here!" Emma cried out, her voice a mix of relief and joy.

And then, like a tidal wave crashing upon the shore, a massive influx of Aether surged into the

cave.

A single man drove back the enemy by his sheer presence alone, stopping them in their tracks.

Then, with a simple flick of his wrists, all that stood before him turned into a massive block of

ice, filling the air with chilly silence.

The man then slowly dropped to the ground and turned around, facing the troops.

"You've all done well today...."

"I must applaud you for surviving, as none of us expected it."

He paused for a moment and locked eyes with Jake. "Where is your commander? I'll have him promoted, he deserves it."

Although barely able to move, Jake nodded and hurried to the spot where he had hidden

Xavier.

The wall of ice blocking his path vanished instantly as he ran through it, causing the

constructs to collapse around him.

After a brief sprint, he reached the opening and peered down, only to find the lifeless body of

a man who had long departed this world.

The corpse was frozen stiff, encased as if within a coffin, with vacant eyes that seemed to gaze

eternally at the rugged cave ceiling.

"We did it," Jake said, his voice filled with emotion.

Raising his hand, he gently pulled down Xavier's eyelids. "Thank you... Thank you, commander."