Chapter 22: Chapter 21

“Give them hell.”

Conrad Pierce watched with a bittersweet feeling as the students he cared for left to fight for their lives.

They were old enough to join the military, but the training and education provided at the academy were entirely different. In the end, the goal was the same, but the methods used and the freedoms provided were incomparable.

If only they could be trained like soldiers - shown purely how to fight, and directed on the battlefield…

But spirit users were not so simple.

Their individuality was what made them strong. The free mindset of the younger generation had granted them powers beyond imagination, and those powers were needed in the fight against the demons.

“Alpha team leaving the bounds of the measured safe zone. Entering demon territory now.”

Ji-Hye’s attentive voice called out from beside him as she dutifully began her guidance. They had gathered all the available monitors and computers in the camp in one place so that she could somewhat replicate her familiar setup, and have access to as much information as possible all at once.

“...Alpha team, first visual contact northeast, heading 38 degrees from your current position. ETA two minutes.”

Conrad’s fingers twitched as he rolled his thumb in his palm nervously.

“I could really do with a smoke.”

He grumbled to himself to occupy his mind, but a response came from Dr Natsumi at his side as she similarly tried to keep herself busy.

“I thought you quit?”
“I have. My wife would kill me if I started up again.”
“With little Jonathan around I’m not surprised.”

They shared a courteous chuckle, but the conversation was forced and uneasy, and their eyes never left the monitors showing satellite images of the students.

“Bravo team, set up a defensive perimeter centred on your current location. Minor resistance expected.”

The moment Ji-Hye would open her mouth, they would both quietly listen to her orders. In the end they were the ones in charge of the operation, but the girl’s processing ability and professional attitude in a pinch meant that feeding her instructions would often just slow down critical communications.

“Alpha team, confirm spirit deployment… Deployed.”

It was time.

This was the calm before the storm, as they waited with bated breath.

“Alpha team, engaged. Massive movement east, north, west… minimal response south.”

Conrad felt a slight relief despite the high-strung tension. So far, the operation was proceeding as expected, and it was just down to the students to complete the task they had been given.

“Bravo team, confirm spirit deployment. Deployed. Prepare to engage… engaged.”

Yuuji and the rest of Alpha team had begun to tackle the giant horde of lesser demons before them, and their escape route back south towards the city outskirts was being covered by Bravo team’s smaller skirmishes.

All according to plan.

“..?”

As Conrad and Dr Natsumi watched in silence, they saw Ji-Hye’s face tighten with confusion, and their hearts sank.

“...What is it?”
“The ARD is reporting a colossal influx of lesser demons in Bahía Blanca. Casualties are skyrocketing.”
“Dear god…”
“...How horrible.”

They had no direct ties with the Argentinian Reclamation Drive, but as fellow humans in the war against demonkind, each loss was a tragedy. Even if their operation was a success, the larger campaign had suffered a crippling blow, which would be hard to recover from.

“Were there just more demons than expected?”
“That’s the problem… There wasn’t any sign of these kinds of numbers just days ago on the most recent reconnaissance mission.”
“What..?”

A chill ran down Conrad’s spine as he turned to Dr Natsumi in shock, who was equally pale-faced.

This wasn’t the first mission of its kind, not by a long shot. Even the academy had almost a year of experience assisting with these kinds of operations, and the procedures were well-practised and reliable - or at least, they should have been.

“What’s the situation with our squads?”
“Both are engaged in full combat! Swarm numbers appear stable and within expectations…”

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She bolted out of her seat, her eyes fixed on a single map, and her fingers frantically dancing along the keyboard.

“No..!”

Ji-Hye’s worry was replaced with horror, as her monitor screens quickly flickered to show a scene that stole her breath away and made the camp freeze in stunned silence.

It had started with just an unusual blip on the edge of her detection range. But that blip grew, and grew, and only as she looked closer did she begin to understand why.

The blip was a man.

A human, sprinting through the dilapidated streets on the outskirts of the city, wailing and cackling maniacally as he went.

And following him was a sea of lesser demons that was growing ever bigger by the second.

“What is he doing!?”
“He’s insane!”

Conrad and Dr Natsumi responded with similar looks of confusion and disbelief. The direction the man was coming from was deep within demon territory, and it was well known for over a decade now that noise and commotion would attract them.

The man’s features were difficult to make out from a distance, but the clothes he wore weren’t old and tattered: he wasn’t someone who had somehow survived the apocalypse for over 15 years and coincidentally ended up here.

A chilling thought began to spread in the back of Conrad’s mind.

“Ji-Hye, were there any reports of civilians being spotted in the ARD’s advancement?”
“...No, but it looks like the survivors claim there was a sudden surge of lesser demons, all coming from the east.”

The fears had begun to spread to the others as well, as the three of them faced the same nightmarish conclusion.

“The surge was man-made…”

Dr Natsumi covered her mouth as her face filled with dread.

“We need to get them all out of there! What’s their status!?”
“Both squads are engaging the main bulk of the demon forces in the city! Retreat considered extremely dangerous without eliminating current targets!”

Lesser demons didn’t grow tired, so simply running from them wasn’t an easy task. One or two could be outrun without much issue due to their mismatched limbs and low intelligence, but there was never just one or two.

If they gave the order to retreat now, the students would be cut down as they turned their backs, and the ‘lucky’ ones would be chased until they couldn’t run any further.

It only took a single lesser demon hiding in the shadows to trip them up, and that would be the end of it. Even if they somehow managed to scramble through the ruined city back to the Firebirds, there were other non-combat personnel in the camp that would be put at risk, and there wasn’t enough time to safely evacuate.

“We have to go help them!”
“Damn it Aoi, keep your head on straight!”
“They’re just kids!”
“Those ‘kids’ are far stronger than the both of us! We’d be dead weight in a fight, we’re much more useful here giving orders and information.”

He bit his tongue hard enough to bleed as thoughts raced through his mind.

“How long do we have, and which direction will they be coming from?”
“3 minutes, maximum. They’re arriving from the east side of the city, and will funnel down towards Alpha team.”

He had silently prayed that they would be able to deal with the current horde and make a quick getaway, but that hope was quickly dashed.

“...Alert both squadrons. Bravo team is to relocate to a similar choke point to the east ASAP, it’s a battle of attrition from here on out.”

Ji-Hye nodded and quickly passed the information on to the others and gave directions while a bleak mood fell over the camp.

“Ugh-”

Ji-Hye winced with a grimace as she had to briefly look away from the monitors. Dr Natsumi gently held her arm, as Conrad watched on with disgust.

The man who had been leading the demons had collapsed to his knees only a few blocks away from the battle, and with his hands raised and an ecstatic look on his face, vanished into the approaching abyss of swathing hands and claws.

He was torn to shreds almost immediately.

The now unguided masses paused for only a moment before they began migrating towards the sound of clashing in the distance, closing in on the students of Phoenix Academy.

…It wasn’t until 7:21 am the next morning that the sound of fighting finally ended.

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