BMD 222

“Rainer?”

Isabella, the 12th Battalion Commander of the Southern Branch, was the first to notice his movement. Her soliloquy caused those nearby to turn their heads.

Soon, others realized that Rainer had woken up when the medical officer, who was examining the injured, screamed and stopped him. Rainer frowned and groaned softly, but as soon as he saw the darkened sky, he almost had a seizure and sat up.

“Hah―, hah…. The core, where is the core?”

“9th Battalion Commander, you mustn’t move! The bleeding hasn’t stopped yet….”

A pain like a knife stabbing his abdomen flared up, but Rainer didn’t have time to care about that. He searched for the already destroyed core, his blurry vision darting around in his dazed state.

Immediately, the medical team and the commanders of the Southern Branch’s 9th Battalion approached and examined his unfocused state in detail. Then, they calmed him down, who seemed ready to go to battle at any moment, and explained that the battle was over.

Listening to their story with a blank face, Rainer took a deep breath and tensed his throbbing abdomen. He couldn’t believe that the seemingly immortal monster was already dead, even though he had only heard about it.

But the commanders gathered before him, the injured lying scattered around, and the mountain of corpses beyond the Barrier Stones erected densely behind them gradually came into his sight. Before long, the last thing he discovered was Charlotte Hastings lying next to him.

‘…Vice Commander?’

His subordinate, who was always confident to the point of being arrogant at times, was now lying limp and miserable. It was a terrible sight and mental anguish that would once again trigger his trauma.

Rainer’s face turned pale, and he immediately leaned forward to check on his subordinate’s condition. But he couldn’t even touch Charlotte’s fingertip before collapsing face-first into the dirt. The startled medical staff quickly supported his shoulders, but only after crunching the dirt in his mouth did Rainer realize the absence of his left arm to support his body.

“…….”

From that moment on, Rainer’s mind turned cold. He finally faced reality.

Even as the medical team hurriedly replaced the blood-soaked bandages, Rainer couldn’t take his eyes off his severed arm. Underneath his bluish shoulder, like necrotic tissue, dark, congealed blood and flesh were dried and stuck together.

As he stared at it, he was reminded of his powerless self who had done nothing in the last battle.

He had lost his mind and rushed at the core, rendering the painstakingly established plan useless, and had been dazed on the battlefield for a while due to the shock of having his arm torn off. He had barely regained his senses and joined the battle with Charlotte’s support, but the result he faced afterward was too devastating to even recall.

The monster’s claws that had pierced his abdomen at the edge of his consciousness still made his body tremble with horror.

Recalling the fleeting fragments of memory, Rainer silently lowered his head in a daze. He was ashamed to be here, having survived without doing anything as a Battalion Commander of the Council.

His only remaining hand pressed against his eyes, filled with self-reproach. He wanted to clear his head for a moment. But the shout of someone that followed didn’t give him time to think.

The continuous, unidentified explosions and the ominous tremors of the ground made it seem like the battle wasn’t completely over. And soon, a familiar figure approached Rainer as he tried to grasp the situation. It was Vice Commander Bruno Amos, who had been devising a plan while being unilaterally criticized by Nero.

“Rainer, there’s something you need to help with.”

When Rainer first heard Bruno’s words, he was so consumed by self-loathing that he didn’t immediately understand his superior’s meaning. But when he heard that the Supreme Commander and Leonardo Blaine were trapped inside the barrier, his dull eyes gradually regained their light.

“I know it’s still difficult in many ways, but we need your strength to save those trapped inside.”

“Vice Commander. I know the situation is urgent, but Rainer’s condition is serious. He may have regained consciousness, but he’s still a critically injured patient―.”

“I’ll do it.”

Isabella interrupted and asked Bruno to reconsider and find another way, but Rainer abruptly cut her off and answered firmly.

“I’ll do anything. Whether it’s something I can do or not. I’ll do it no matter what.”

His face was expressionless as he said that. However, each word he uttered blindly gave the impression that he was desperate. Because of that, both Isabella, who was trying to stop him, and Bruno, who was asking for his help, were momentarily speechless.

The whites of his fierce amber eyes were bloodshot. He looked precarious, as if he were out of his mind, but Bruno couldn’t bring himself to stop Rainer, who was about to step forward.

The biggest problem that could arise when deactivating part of the barrier was that the energy, intricately woven to maintain hardness and density, would break, and the entire barrier would be unable to withstand the impact and shatter. Just like failing to drill through glass and shattering it to pieces.

Therefore, to prevent the worst-case scenario, the area around the deactivated part of the barrier had to be made strong enough to withstand the air pressure and fluctuating energy waves passing in and out. And the only person who could easily do that right now was Rainer Molton.

Bruno, with his mouth firmly shut and his resolve hardened, knelt down on one knee in front of Rainer, who was willing to do anything. Then, he placed his hand on Rainer’s right shoulder, made eye contact, and nodded briefly.

“Will you come with us?”

Bruno’s subsequent question was not directed at Rainer. His gaze, slowly turning, was now fixed on Nero, who had been indignant.

Nero, who had been panting, paused at that moment and stared at Bruno. Then, feeling the gazes pouring in, he suddenly scanned his surroundings.

The Council commanders were all staring at him. It was a situation he had wanted to avoid as much as possible, but somehow he was facing the worst situation since entering the peninsula.

But was this the time to worry about that? Rather than entrusting the Captain to these guys and leaving the peninsula alone, he would rather escape with him before ascending the guillotine and become exiles forever. At that moment, Nero made a firm resolution.

Once he did, there was nothing more to think about.

“Yes, I will go too.”

His voice, clearer than a thunderclap, reached Bruno and the commanders.

The trajectory of the ejecta drew a hazy parabola across the dark field of vision. Leonardo Blaine’s body shrank with each hiss of boiling steam passing by his head.

Hugo, feeling that Leonardo’s body was more rigid than necessary, glanced at his face. Then, he hugged Leonardo’s back and thighs even tighter, just enough not to hurt, pressing their bodies together so that there were no gaps. As they clung together as if they were one, the shaking subsided relatively.

Currently, Hugo was heading not towards the northern plains but towards the southern coastline. He had passed through several Portals and reached somewhere on the northern barrier line, but the area was already completely sealed off, so that not even an ant could pass through.

He had considered breaking through, but Hugo, sharing Bruno’s concerns, couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wasn’t sure if he could handle the damage that would occur if his attack had a Butterfly effect and the entire barrier collapsed.

Having no choice, Hugo changed direction and decided to find a gap to escape through, rather than breaking the barrier as much as possible. Unlike the north, the southern coastline had a relatively weaker barrier, so he thought that if he looked carefully around that area, he could escape without using force.

He opened a Portal to the south again, but the Teleportation Device’s energy ran out in the middle, and Hugo, who didn’t have time to sit and recharge, was crossing the southern area as it was, heading towards the coastline.

Kwaaaang!

Each time a Boulder flew right in front of them, the Aura he instinctively deployed barely blocked the collision. But if he was careless, they would both suffer quite serious injuries, so Hugo moved forward quickly, keeping his nerves on edge, and continued to check on Leonardo’s condition.

“No need to be nervous. It’s okay.”

He could feel the hands around his shoulders and neck twitching each time a shockwave exploded. Hugo thought that the continuous booming noises were stimulating Leonardo, so he often said things to reassure him.

But Leonardo, with his face buried in Hugo’s shoulder, was nervous for a slightly different reason. The heat that had been emanating from his heart now felt like it was tearing apart the skin all over his body.

Leonardo’s trembling hands were gradually covered with red spots.