《The Slayers》


 Chapter 1: This is not a good start for the MCs

    ¡°Hey! Wake up!¡±


    Jerry felt himself being pushed awake by someone. As soon as his eyes opened up, his entire body tensed up. He really didn''t like being touched by other people, even if the said people were his friends. It made him feel like his personal space was being violated. But as he tried to find out what was going on, he found his sight blurry.


    Odd. He thought he had his glasses on. Confused, he reached toward his glasses and was surprised to touch them. He quietly removed the glasses and realized he could see perfectly clear. It was as if his nearsightedness was completely gone.


    ¡°Jerry! Do you hear what I¡¯m saying?¡± The voice that woke him up continued.


    Jerry turned around and found himself facing a short brunette. Alex was his friend from school and the last person he was talking to when he...passed out? He didn''t exactly remember what happened. All he knew was he lost consciousness and then woke up in this place.


    Speaking of this place, he looked around and found himself no longer inside his classroom. Instead, he was in the middle of...a forest? He could see trees and bushes all around and he could hear birds chirping and bugs buzzing. What the hell just happened to him?


    ¡°Jerry!¡± Alex¡¯s cry drew Jerry¡¯s attention back to her.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to know? I just woke up a couple minutes ago.¡± Alex replied. Her tone could be considered rude, but neither her nor Jerry rose a question. One thing about them was that neither of them cared too much about formalities. This meant they didn''t have much friend, but it also meant they were perfectly fine with each other. ¡°But we¡¯re not here alone. Maybe they know something.¡±


    Jerry looked around and found dozens of people in a similar state. All of them were familiar faces. They were all part of the same class: the class they were in when they were all kidnapped and brought here.


    Fear started to grow at the bottom of Jerry¡¯s heart. He wasn¡¯t a robot. Being brought to the middle of nowhere with no understanding of what was going on was terrifying, but he tried his best to calm himself and think logically. Silently, he told himself fear, or any emotion at all, could only keep him from making the right decisions. Right now, he needed to be perfectly logical and observant.


    Ok. Start thinking.


    Who would want anything from 30 teenagers? Money? Leverage? Wouldn¡¯t there be better targets? Plus, why kidnap them just to dump them in the middle of a jungle? He wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think it was a reality show or a prank because it would cause an outrage and lead to severe legal consequences. But what could be a possible explanation?


    The other students reacted differently. Some knelt down and started sobbing in fear. One girl punched herself in the leg to see if she was dreaming and was disappointed to realize she wasn¡¯t. One large man, an athlete, picked up a heavy tree branch and waved it around like a weapon. Jerry hated to think he might need to defend himself. A tall, quiet boy looked around with obvious distress in his brows. His hands were shaking heavily.


    Finally, everyone got up. After a wave of confusion, they finally came together.


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming no one knows what¡¯s going on.¡± A blonde asked. Her name was Sophia. She was rather famous due to her academic achievements and her ability to get along with everyone. Hearing the question, everyone shook their head in response.


    Sophia lowered her head and started thinking.


    Suddenly, as Jerry was still glancing around, he saw what could only be described as a transparent interface appear in front of him. It had white edges and a stack of words and numbers in the middle. He frowned and touched the interface. His hand went through. Stabilizing himself, he read the content of the interface.


    Name: Jerry


    Gold: 100


    Merit: 0


    Tier: 1


    Available units to summon: Villager. Militia.


    Press to upgrade to tier 2.


    ¡°What the heck?¡±


    Jerry snapped around and found Alex also staring into the empty space in front of her. This reminded him. A scan around the entire group told him they were facing the same thing. Whatever was happening, he wasn¡¯t alone.


    The field remained silent for a few seconds as everyone started to mess with the interface. Jerry tapped on the word militia, and a secondary interface appeared.


    Militia:


    Definition: Basically villagers with a few weeks of training and uniform spears as weapons. They still don¡¯t have any armor. They are slightly more durable in a fight than villagers, but if they are in a difficult fight, or even an even fight, they would turn and flee.


    Comment: Just because they have a somewhat decent weapon and know how to walk in a formation don¡¯t make them soldiers.


    Cost: 15 gold. 0 merit. 10 minutes.


    Summon: {Enter number}


    Is that information on a soldier? Curious, he tapped on the word villager.


    Villager:


    Definition: They are the most basic cannon fodder. Armed with pitchforks and spears, they can do some damage if they have overwhelming numbers. They don¡¯t have any armor or steel weapons. Their morale is as low as morales can be. Perhaps they can stand and fight a little longer if they have no other way out, but they don¡¯t stand a chance against a professional army. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Comment: If you are relying on them to win a war, then you deserve the defeat that will soon come...


    Cost: 10 gold. 0 merit. 10 minutes.


    Summon: {Enter number}


    ¡°Are you seeing this?¡± Alex turned to Jerry and demanded. Jerry nodded slowly.


    The crowd went through the initial moment of shock and started discussing. Jerry felt his head buzzing as every single one of the twenty eight other people seemed to want to say something. He was never a fan of social situations, but he kept his mouth shut and tried to analyze the situation logically. Unfortunately, he didn''t have long.


    ¡°Everyone calm down!¡± A voice called out. It was from a man named Patel. He was friend with Sophia. Jerry knew he was the president of a ton of clubs Jerry himself didn''t bother to learn about. Point is, he¡¯s a natural leader. Usually Jerry didn''t enjoy being told what to do, but in this situation, having someone be the head might be the ideal option.


    The crowd went quiet as they looked at Patel and wondered what he had to say.


    ¡°Let¡¯s process all the information we have.¡± Patel continued. ¡°We are in a forest in an unknown location. We have screens in front of us that are seemingly invisible to others. Has anyone tried summoning the units?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The large man with the club spoke up. His name was Christopher. ¡°When you were busy chatting, I tried to summon a villager. I can see a time bar in front of me. It has three minutes until completion.¡±


    Honestly, Jerry would never do something like try to summon the units without knowing what would happen, but he was confident Chris didn''t share the same concern. Chris was a brute. Legend says he got expelled from multiple schools before getting into the one Jerry was in. He was the type of student that if a gunman wanted to shoot up a school, he would hide around a corner and ambush the gunman and play the hero.


    ¡°Very well. Nice job.¡± Patel nodded. ¡°Now we just have to wait. If nothing happens when the timer is complete, then we¡¯re probably just being played or something. If something is indeed summoned, we are in big trouble.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the smartest plan, but it was better than no plan at all. None of the students were in the mood to think of some sort of master plan either. Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye. When Christopher announced his timer has reached zero, everyone looked around him with their lips tight and their fists clenched.


    In an act of magic, a figure appeared in front of Christopher. One second the space was empty. The next second the figure was simply there. It was a man. He wore a white piece of clothes that looked like it was from the medieval ages. A long spear was in his hand. Most of the spear was made of wood, but the tip had a tad bit of metal.


    Despite not existing a minute ago, this figure looked like a living, breathing human. He quickly turned to Chris.


    ¡°General.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Jerry¡¯s mouth hung open in shock. It took him a few seconds to regain control of himself. ¡°So, if this... interface is real...¡±


    ¡°Then we can have control of our own personal army.¡± Alex finished it off. A look of ambition appeared in her eyes. ¡°Just one thing. How do we get these gold? Do we literally find gold and...put them into the interface?¡±


    Patel and Sophia were also paralyzed. As smart as they were, they simply couldn¡¯t comprehend what just happened. A man just appeared out of nowhere and called one of them general. How? Last time they checked, soldiers don¡¯t just magically appear.


    Suddenly, before anything else could be said or done, the sound of loud thumps appeared from a distance away. It was rapidly closing in.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a car or a plane,¡± Sophia noted. Everyone looked around in a mixture of fear and curiosity. ¡°Are those...footsteps?¡±


    One of the crowd suddenly froze. Her eyes widened in shock as her lips trembled and formed a few words.


    ¡°But...that¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Patel turned to her and demanded. He had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°You know, my parents own a racecourse. My ancestors were cowboys. I occasionally helped my parents out with the work and stuff¡­¡±


    ¡°Get to the point!¡± Sophia cut the girl off. They really didn''t have time for this.


    ¡°Horses.¡± Finally, the girl replied. ¡°A lot of horses.¡±


    <hr>


    A distance away, countless riders approached. All of them wore bright red armor and helmet. They all had swords in sheaths attached to their belts and were holding onto spears. Some of these men were equipped with bows or crossbows. Each rider was at least a meter away from his comrade. Their expressions couldn¡¯t be seen under the red metal face shields that were a part of their helmets.


    Suddenly, the leading rider saw something and raised his hand.


    ¡°Halt!¡± His lieutenant saw the command and screamed. Obviously, the entire cavalry force couldn¡¯t see the leader¡¯s signal. In fact, only the few riders close to the leader could. But the leader had to be elegant, so he, as the lieutenant, had to do the screaming.


    The rider gradually slowed down. None of them completely stopped their horse immediately. Horses weren¡¯t as smart as human. If the first line came to a screeching halt, even with the meter or so of cushion, those in the back might still run into those in the front. It would be a mess and it might be costly.


    The leader turned to the forest by the road. For a few seconds, he didn''t say or do anything. The riders waited patiently. Apart from the occasional impatient snarls of the horses, everything and everyone were dead silent, displaying a truly impressive level of order and discipline.


    Finally, the leader saw something. He pointed at the treeline not far away and turned to his lieutenant.


    ¡°There are people inside the forest. They might be spies. Hunt them down.¡±


    ¡°My lord, they may just be ordinary farmers or hunters.¡± The lieutenant frowned and protested at the order.


    ¡°Ordinary farmers or hunters wouldn¡¯t try to hide from the mighty warriors of the Sullivan Empire. Do it, lieutenant.¡± The leader of the cavalry squad didn''t wait for a response from his subordinate before bringing his horse into motion again. As he rode down the road, most of the riders followed him.


    The lieutenant sighed. Of course ordinary hunters or farmers would hide from the soldiers. The Sullivan Empire wasn¡¯t known for being fair to its people. His leader, the commander of the nearest city, Maynard City, wasn¡¯t a fan of justice either. If a soldier raped a woman, the soldier would not only be innocent but might also be rewarded for his bravery and cruelty. If the woman tried to take the soldier to court, she would be called a whore and a seductress and tortured and executed. It wasn¡¯t that surprising. The Sullivan Empire was known for its brutality and reliance in force. To the commander, the loyalty of the soldiers was much more important than something as vague and as meaningless as justice.


    But he had his orders. If he was to let these innocent people go, he would be the next on the commander¡¯s chopping block. The commander, like any general, didn''t allow even a strand of disobedience of his subordinates.


    ¡°Ride them down. Kill them quickly.¡± He ordered, believing a quick death would be the only mercy he could afford, before suddenly remembering something and changing his mind. ¡°Actually, chase them down, capture them, and bring them to the mines. The commander talked about not having enough labor for the mines. I will solve that problem.¡±


    "But...sir." One of the riders left with the lieutenant, a member of the lieutenant''s own squad, couldn''t help but raise a question. "The commander gave his orders to ride them down..."


    "Perhaps, but I am acting on the good of the Empire, and even the commander can''t criticize me for working to help solve the lack of labors in the mines. Plus, it''s not like I''m letting them go. Once these people are sent to the mines, it will just be a matter of time before they are worked to death. It will make no difference."


    The rider was about to say something else when the lieutenant tossed him a look that clearly said this was the end of the discussion. And so the rider lowered his head in obedience.


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    One by one, the riders turned their horses toward the forest and launched their charge. As the riders left, the lieutenant sighed once again.


    Whoever was in the forest were simply out of luck.

 Chapter 2: Welcome to the mines

    Jerry¡¯s eyes widened as the group of twenty or so fully armed riders approached.


    In hindsight, they should¡¯ve fled as soon as they heard the thumps of horse hooves, but Patel and Sophia decided they should find out where the horses came from and, more importantly, who were riding the horses. They had no idea where they were or how they got here. If they could talk to someone, that would change.


    Now it was obvious this was a poor decision. The riders obviously weren¡¯t here to invite them to drink coffee. Plus, as far as the students knew, there wasn¡¯t anything even resembling these riders on Earth. This wasn¡¯t a movie set or a place for cosplayers. No...these riders, just like their horses and their weapons, were real. Real and dangerous. They needed to get the hell out of this place right now!


    As soon as the situation became clear, everyone turned and started running deeper into the forest. At first, they tried to stick together, but as the sound of the riders came closer and closer, the students got more and more desperate. In the beginning, those who tripped and fell would be helped up by their friends. As time passed, fear took hold, and the students were more worried about keeping themselves out of the hand of these mysterious horsemen than doing the moral thing and helping their fellow classmates. In the scuffle and chaos, they were also completely scattered, with many boys and girls running as far as their legs could take them with no care of where they were heading.


    The riders came to a halt in front of the forest. They dismounted and laid their spears on the ground. Two of them stayed behind to guard the mounts where the rest moved into the forest on foot. In the trees, horsemen were even slower than foot soldiers. Plus, the horsemen didn''t feel like they needed to be mounted to defeat a bunch of unfortunate farmers either.


    One by one, the dismounted riders made their way into the treeline. They quickly split up into multiple groups and started tracking.


    <hr>


    In one part of the forest, Sophia and Patel stumbled across a ditch before Sophia tripped and fell. She tried to use her hands to support herself, but that only resulted in several bloody gashes being drawn across her hand. Patel hesitated for a brief second before stopping and helping her up. The two breathed heavily for several seconds as they stumbled a few more steps and took up cover behind a large rock.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think those people got into the woods.¡± Patel reasoned through labored breaths. He was no stranger to exercises, but all that happened today had taken a toll on him physically and mentally. ¡°Normally, horsemen are too valuable to be used as foot soldiers. I heard a horseman is worth more than ten foot soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡±


    The young man froze in fear as he turned around and found one of the dismounted riders standing right in front of him. He was holding a thin sword. The blade was designed to be used by mounted warriors against infantrymen, but it was still dead in a situation like this.


    Sophia yelped from behind. Another rider grabbed onto her by the neck and rested his weapon on her cheek. One wrong move, and he would gladly open her throat and watch her bleed out.


    ¡°How did you¡­Who are you?¡± Patel could feel his legs shaking. What was happening here? Where even were they? He had a thousand questions and no answers. All he knew was that he was facing two armed grown men while not having a thing to use to defend himself. As such, he did the smartest thing he could. ¡°We...we surrender. Don¡¯t hurt us.¡±


    The rider in front of him smirked before punching him in the face.


    ¡­


    A single rider walked across the woods, frowning at the sound his boots made as they crushed pieces of twigs on the ground. He looked around vigilantly. His blade was ready.


    Suddenly, a figure appeared from behind a tree and jammed his spear at the rider. Behind the rider, Christopher raised his club, ready to move in for the strike.


    Ambushed and surrounded, the rider seemed to be in a dangerous situation. Yet, instead of faltering, he simply smirked. He was a veteran of a dozen battles. He had slain many, and it would take more than two amateurs to threaten him! With an impressive level of decisiveness, he quickly moved to the side and dodged the tip of the pike. The militia obviously didn''t expect to miss, and his spear missed his target, causing him to stumble. When he tried to pull back, it was already too late. The rider grabbed onto the wooden, harmless part of the spear with one hand and jammed his sword into the militia¡¯s chest with the other. Blood dashed out of the wound and stained the rider''s face red, making the man look more like a demon than a mere mortal.


    Within two seconds, the mysterious militia Christopher summoned was on the ground, dead.


    Christopher froze. A minute ago, he would think he was the bravest person alive. He could say with confidence that he could face death with a smile and make some sort of cheesy joke like he was the hero in an action movie. He imagined what would happen if he could continuously summon militias and ambush the individual riders that have split up to chase after the students. He imagined the gratitude the other students, especially the girls, would show him after he saves the day.


    All of those popped like a bubble when the rider killed the militia like a chicken.


    His club fell onto the ground. He tried to pick it up, but his hands were shaking like crazy.


    The rider scoffed at the traumatized young man and returned his sword back to his sheath. He didn''t need that anymore.


    ¡°You idiot. You know how I knew I was watched?"


    Chris gulped.


    "Usually, in a forest, there are a lot of animals making a ton of noise."


    Chris tilted his head. He couldn¡¯t hear anything.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Precisely. They are silent, and they only do that when they feel threatened.¡± The rider proceeded to kick Chris in the stomach. The man collapsed on the ground, vomit rushing to his throat. The rider chuckled gleefully before giving him another kick to the belly. That was when he added something. "Oh...also, I caught a glimpse of your friend...could be the animal thing though..."


    ...


    Raymond ran across the forest. He repeatedly turned around and looked to see if there was someone was behind him. That was until he ran into a tree.


    Two riders ran up from behind. They wore heavy metal armor and helmets and Raymond was in t-shirt and shorts, but the riders barely broke a sweat from all the running.


    Once escape became impossible, Raymond immediately threw his hands into the air.


    ¡°I yield! Please don¡¯t kill me.¡±


    The riders exchanged looks of boredom.


    ...


    After a few minutes of running blindly through the forest as far as their legs could carry them, Jerry and Alex finally came to a stop. Both of them were panting. Alex was a little better, but Jerry was never a fan of cardio. He could swear that if he ran for a more minute, his heart would explode in his chest.


    ¡°I think we lost them.¡± Jerry suggested, hoping for the best.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m tired of running anyways.¡± Alex replied in annoyance. Slowly, she reached down and picked up a stick. ¡°If we didn''t outrun them already, we can''t do it. These people know the surroundings much more than we do. We have to fight." She looked around. "We¡¯ll make our stand here. If we can take out whoever is coming after us, we may be able to get the information we need out of them.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jerry coughed, partially because he was never a strong athlete and partially because of surprise. ¡°Did you say stand and fight?¡±


    ¡°Are you deaf?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Jerry groaned. ¡°Look, we can¡¯t win a fight. We are not fighters!¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Speak for yourself." Alex retaliated. "You can go yourself if you want. I''m done with running."


    "I..." Jerry''s eyes suddenly landed on three figures that emerged from behind a line of trees. Even taking the difference in number out of consideration, the three men were still better armed and armored. They also seemed like real soldiers, while he and Alex...well, an hour ago they were still talking about geometry.


    Their fate was sealed.


    ¡­


    Soon, the thirty students met up once again. This time, they were all bruised up in some way. The riders weren¡¯t happy that they had to dash through the forest for pretty much no reason at all, and they were glad to beat up their defenseless captives just because they could.


    ¡°Uhhh...That didn''t go so well.¡± Jerry commented. He had a bleeding nose, but compared to the swollen eyes Alex received, he had it off easy. ¡°What were you thinking back there? I don¡¯t know about you, but when I face an impossible enemy, I run!¡±


    ¡°Worth a try. We couldn¡¯t have outrun them anyways. They¡¯ve got more stamina than we have combined.¡± Alex shrugged casually as she wiped off a few drops of blood on her lips. Jerry couldn¡¯t imagine how she could do that after everything that has happened, but he was in too much pain to ask.


    The riders brought the captured students back outside the forest, where they met up with their horses and the lieutenant.


    The lieutenant glanced at the captured young men and women. He keenly noticed how what they wore wasn¡¯t exactly the standard choice of clothing for civilians in the empire. They also didn''t look like farmers or hunters either. In fact, everything about them felt weird. A group of over two dozen young men and women wandering around the forest that run as soon as they saw the forces of the Sullivan Empire?


    If the lieutenant was a careful man, he would take it upon himself to interrogate these young men and women. Break a few bones and flay a few patches of skin, and he would learn everything he desired. Yet...the lieutenant had no such intentions. He didn''t care what the stories were with these people. All he knew was that their fate was already sealed. They would be brought to the mines, where they would be worked to death under the harshest of conditions. Who were these people? He didn''t know and he didn''t care. He had more important things to attend to.


    No one ever credited the lieutenant for his wisdom. He had been called a brute and a butcher, but never a wise one.


    ¡°Take them to the mines.¡± The lieutenant ordered quietly before turning his ride and returning to the road. This entire time, he didn''t bother exchanging any word with his captives.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    The walk to the mine was gruesome. While the riders had their mounts to work with, their captives were all on foot. The students haven¡¯t eaten or drank anything for a while, and the dash across the forest was already exhausting enough. When some started stumbling and slowing down, especially the girls, the riders didn''t hesitate to use their whips to give them some extra incentive to move. As the wound of whips crackling echoed through the air, those who were falling behind suddenly found the strength to keep going.


    Within twenty minutes, the boys and girls were close to collapse. Jerry did his best to keep this fear down and his legs moving, both of which were becoming harder and harder with every passing second. Strangely, Alex didn''t seem to have a similar problem as she managed to somehow keep a poker face even in a situation like this. Chris looked like he was ready to punch one of the riders, but his broken arm prevented that from happening.


    Suddenly, one of the girl¡¯s knees buckled. She took a cut to the calves and it made every step burn like hell. Patel¡¯s eyes widened as he quickly moved to beside the girl and supported her. He knew if she collapsed, the riders would more likely kill her on the spot than treat to her injuries.


    "Playing the hero, huh?" One of the riders smirked at the sight before whipping Patel in the back, hard. A deep wound was drawn across his skin. The short pained groan from the young man was music to the rider''s ears.


    The path started to grow more mountainous. Jerry noticed they walked past a valley of some sort. Almost subconsciously, he imagined what would happen if he had a group of archers to rain down arrows from the cliffs on both sides of the valley. The riders would be pinned down and slaughtered. Unfortunately, another whip to the back brought him back to reality.


    He didn''t have an army of archers, and the magical interface he had that could summon troops? Something told him a few militias wouldn''t do anything against several dozen mounted knights...knights?


    Finally, after marching for what seemed like an eternity, the group reached their destination. In front of them, a line of wooden fences formed something of a wall. An opening at the fences acted as the entrance and was guarded by a dozen men in red armor, just like the riders. Two wooden towers stood tall around the entrance. Thanks to whatever was done to him to repair his vision, Jerry could see multiple archers on the towers. No doubt if they tried anything, they would be pinned down. Literally.


    The lieutenant rode up to the guards.


    ¡°Captain, these people are suspected to be spies of the Crescent Empire. Under the orders of Commander Hartfield, they are to be punished accordingly.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir. I will inform Vice Commander Liam about this.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± The lieutenant turned back around and waved at the riders, who left the prisoners alone. Not bothering to waste another second with this meaningless affair, he joined the riders and rode away at full speed. Before the students could say or do anything, the guards at the entrance walked up and pushed them past the fences and into the camp.


    At a first glance, the camp was far from flattering. The ground was covered in mud and dirt, which was quite unique to the students, who were used to the concrete ground of the 21st century. There was also a weird stench in the air. It seemed like a mixture of sweat, blood, and feces. Concerning, but unsurprisingly, considering sanitation wasn''t really a thing for a big part of human history. A few of the boys and most of the girls turned pale and forced the vomit that had rose to their throats back down.


    Once they ventured into the camp, the students were forced into two groups by their sex. The boys were led to one side of the camp while the girls were led to another. As they departed, Jerry couldn¡¯t help but think about what happened at the gates of Auschwitz. He just hoped this wasn¡¯t a similar situation. That was when a horrible thought hit him. Even if his group, or Alex''s group, was led to their slaughter, there was nothing they could do but march along to their death.


    He could barely maintain his calm when he and all the boys were brought to an open field.


    A guard walked up and tossed a stack of rag-tagged clothes on the muddy floor in front of the boys.


    ¡°Strip down and change.¡±


    The boys looked at each other, but nobody moved.


    ¡°Hmm...looks like we¡¯ve got some tough guys here¡­¡± The guard smirked and rested his hand on the handle of his sword. ¡°I said, strip down and change.¡±


    Chris¡¯s fists tightened. He looked around. The guard was alone. If they made a stand, even without any weapon, they might have the numbers to overwhelm that guard. They could make a go for the door...


    Behind him, Patel¡¯s eyes widened. Unlike Chris, he knew if they fought, they would die. Every single one of them would be slaughtered by the guards around here. There was no way they could get by the fences. He tapped Chris. As the man turned around, Petal turned to everyone.


    ¡°Do it.¡± He pushed it through his teeth.


    Everyone started at Patel in confusion. Chris¡¯s face turned red in disbelief. In the middle of the spotlight, Patel felt his heart racing. He could see the guard was getting impatient, and it was a bad sign.


    Finally, he took off his shirt, picked up a piece of clothes from the ground, and put it on.


    The boys turned away. One by one, including Chris, they stripped down and dressed up in muddy clothes. As Jerry put the clothes on and smelled the filth, he felt his eyes getting wet. Everything seemed so blurry but now was the moment when he truly recognized where he was and what position he was in.


    In just hours, he has been taken away from his home, given some sort of magical summoning device, and tossed into a world with knights and slavers. It was a lot of change in a short period of time.


    But the grief and fear disappeared almost as quickly as it came. Before he knew it, Jerry¡¯s eyes turned cold once again, and his logic returned to him. Tears wouldn''t help him. A lesson he had learned long ago.


    Seeing the boys have submitted, the guard smiled.


    ¡°Honestly, you should feel lucky. No one wants to watch a bunch of men get naked, but I bet a lot of us are willing to see your girlfriends change.¡±


    Almost as soon as those words were said, Patel knew things would get messy.


    ¡°What?¡± Chris¡¯s eyes widened once again. He was about to charge forward when Patel grabbed onto his arms and held him back. It was a difficult task, just like a monkey trying to keep a tiger back.


    Jerry silently turned around and stood in front of Chris.


    ¡°We need to calm down.¡±


    ¡°Calm down?¡± Chris screamed. ¡°Our friends are getting raped out there! We need to get out there and do something! If you don¡¯t have the guts to do it...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about courage. It¡¯s about survival.¡± Jerry peaked at the guard and saw he was leaning back on a fence with his arms folded and watching this play unfold. He showed no intention of putting the boys down, and Jerry knew why. It was the same reason he told the boys what would happen to the girls. He wanted to see them suffer. ¡°If we fight, every single one of us will die! What good can that do to anyone?¡±


    ¡°Good?¡± Jerry could almost feel Chris¡¯s breathe on him. ¡°I don¡¯t expect someone with no balls to understand. Now, get out of my way.¡±


    Chris¡¯s eyes were bright red. He was crumbling under the pressure. Everything he went through, from summoning the militia to fleeing from the riders to trying to ambush one of the riders to losing his militia to getting captured to being humiliated to now this...it was driving him mad. All those fear and anger came together to make him ignore logic. His adrenaline was pumping. All he wanted was a fight. If Jerry stood in front of him, he might be the one Chris was about to fight.


    ¡°My girlfriend was in the other group!¡± At that moment, Jerry suddenly shouted. His face was still poker, but his voice was shaking. ¡°If something happened to them, we will live on and avenge them. To do that, we must live on.¡±


    Chris gulped as logic climbed back into his brain. He wanted to fight, but he knew he couldn¡¯t. Fighting was easy. Dying was easy. If he died, then that was it. Game over. He would be a martyr. But so what? His friends would be slaughtered. He would be gone. Death was just an easy way out.


    Surviving, staying alive and persevering through everything, that¡¯s hard.


    Chris lowered his head.


    But his fist was still so tight Jerry could see his veins.

 Chapter 3: Everybody wants to stay alive

    On the other side, the girls¡¯ situation was indeed dangerous.


    A group of guards formed around the dozen or so girls. They didn''t even bother to hide the lust in their eyes. They don¡¯t get too many girls here in the mins, especially not pretty girls. This was a feast.


    ¡°How about this?¡± One of the guards scanned Sophia from top to bottom. ¡°If you girls make me and my brothers happy, we won¡¯t kill you. How about that?¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a terrible deal.¡± At the heat of the moment, Alex stepped up. The guards were intrigued to see she wasn¡¯t exactly afraid. ¡°Look, you have to make a choice. Do you want to have sex or do you want to keep your head?¡±


    The guards froze. For a second, they couldn¡¯t believe their ears! They were threatened? By a handful of unarmed girls? Was this some sort of sick joke? ¡°What?¡±


    Alex tilted her head. She could feel the eyes of her fellow girls trained on her. A part of her knew she was playing a dangerous game. If she failed, she and her classmates wouldn''t just be killed. They would be tortured and killed. Yet, even in this position, she was strangely calm. Her words were slow, yet they were filled with confidence and resolve.


    ¡°You are obviously short-handed. If you guys force yourselves onto us, do you think we will be in any condition to work? The boys that came with us, do you think they will work if they hear about what happened to us?¡±


    ¡°We will make you work.¡± One of the guards retaliated, not willing to be cast low by the words of a mere girl.


    ¡°Really?¡± Alex rose her eyebrows and took a step forward. ¡°I wonder how you are planning to make dead bodies work, because I don¡¯t know about others, but I will kill myself before I let myself get raped.¡±


    The guards exchanged a few looks, and when none of them made a move, Alex knew she was right. The group of riders went through all the trouble to chase them down across the forest, march them across the road for half an hour, and hand them to the guards. They wouldn¡¯t do it if they had sufficient labor. In that case, it wasn¡¯t up to a few guards to decide. If the commanders knew the mining process was delayed because a few guards couldn¡¯t keep their pants on¡­


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± A voice called from behind the guards. The guards stepped to the side, revealing a short man. Instead of wearing a suit of red armor like everyone else, the man wore a red cloak.


    ¡°Advisor Jonah.¡± One of the guards acknowledged. He knew Jonah was the most trusted advisor to Vice Commander Liam. He might also be the smartest man in the field. ¡°What do you suggest we do? These girls are defiant...and we cannot allow this to go unpunished.¡±


    Jonah scanned Alex from top to bottom. Alex faced his gaze without any hesitation. She knew her fate, as well as the fate of all those behind her, was at stake. Yet...she wasn''t afraid. She just wasn''t. Of course, the same couldn''t be said about all the other girls.


    Finally, after a few long seconds, Jonah spoke.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t afford to lose the labor of all thirty of you...but we can afford to lose one of you.¡±


    Alex could hear the girls gulp behind her. Jonah searched Alex¡¯s expression for any trace of fear, but he didn''t find any. Originally he wanted to take Alex and make an example of her. The girl¡¯s calmness might make her difficult to subjugate, but the lack of fear on her face changed his mind. Instead, he turned to another girl.


    Sophia.


    ¡°Bring her to my chamber.¡±


    Two guards stepped into the crowd and dragged Sophia out of the crowd. The girls sobbed, but there was nothing they could do. Alex glanced at the guards and toyed with the idea of jumping on them, but she managed to control that impulse.


    As the two guards brought Sophia away, Jonah turned to the rest of the girls.


    ¡°Now, get them to work. We have a quota to fill!¡±


    <hr>


    Three days passed in, well, three days. Every day, the boys and girls would get into the mines with an ax and try to break down pieces of iron ore. put them into a cart, and bring them outside. It was back-breaking work. They would work for hours, going from before the sun even came out to nightfall with little rest. The food was terrible. The shelters were like pig barns. Within days, everyone was completely worn out. They have suffered more in three days than they have for their entire previous life.


    The boys and girls weren¡¯t the only slaves. There were at least five hundred more people acting as forced labor inside the mines. Some of them were prisoners from other empires captured in battle. Some were criminals, or at least those accused of being criminals. Some were former Sullivan soldiers who were sentenced to slavery for disobeying superior officers or for other reasons. Even more were just Imperial citizens from surrounding villages and cities who the Imperial forces simply decided to kidnap.


    Inside one of the better rooms of the camp, Jonah stood in front of a battered Sophia.


    Sophia wasn¡¯t in a good place. Thanks to what happened, she didn''t have to work. Unfortunately, that didn''t mean she could take it easy.


    Jonah turned out to be a sadistic dick. He enjoyed beating her over and over again and only laughed when he heard her screaming and begging.


    ¡°Please¡­¡± Sophia coughed. ¡°Don¡¯t do this anymore¡­I can¡¯t take this anymore...I¡¯ll die...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll live. You aren¡¯t my first toy, you know.¡± Jonah grabbed onto Sophia¡¯s cheek and squeezed it hard. ¡°I have had quite the experience.¡±


    He dropped Sophia and kicked her in the stomach once again. Sophia closed her eyes as she coughed blood. An overwhelming ache covered her entire body, but she managed to keep her scream down and her tears in.


    She wondered how much longer she could endure. She always took pride in being a strong and determined woman, but strength and determination could only do so much when she was tied up and beaten like this. A part of Sophia was looking forward for all of this to be over, but another part of her didn''t want to die. Not here. Not like this. Not when she was tied up like a defense animal and beaten to death by a sadistic monster.


    Meanwhile, in the mines, Raymond collapsed on the ground. When he tried to escape back in the forest, even though he surrendered, the rider that captured him still proceeded to land a slash on his back. The wound was never treated, and it had festered. The fact that he could stay standing for three days was already a miracle, but his will to live only did so much.


    When Raymond collapsed, he was in a corridor with only him, Jerry, Alex, and one other guard. The guard walked up to Raymond and kicked him. He tried to get Raymond to stand back up and back to work, but it soon became clear that it was a lost cause.


    Jerry saw it, but there was nothing he could do. He simply turned his head the other way and sighed. Alex gave him a comforting look. Neither of them could do anything. If they tried to jump on the guard, they would die. Up to this point, their unit summoning systems were merely for show. They could only summon individual units one by one, and every militia took ten minutes. Even if they could get a handful of militias out before being inevitably discovered, they would simply be slaughtered by the guards.


    The guard was slightly annoyed. He drew his blade and knelt down beside Raymond. If he killed a healthy worker, he would be punished. If he slit the throat of someone who could no longer work and provide value, it was a different story. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Raymond suddenly coughed. His eyes were getting blurry, but he was able to see the piece of metal that might land on him any second. The fear of death drew a primal surge of fear from the bottom of his heart, and he suddenly made up his mind. ¡°take me to your leader.¡±


    The guard simply smirked at the request. "You are delusional, fool." He declared quietly.


    ¡°He will thank you for this!¡± The injured young man on the ground added. "I won''t try anything! I promise! I have important information to give him!"


    The guard thought about it. There would be no harm done. If it turned out well, he would be awarded. If it turned out to be problematic, he could always just kill the prisoner and have some extra fun for his trouble. The entrance to the mine was guarded. It¡¯s not like the others could escape. With that in mind, he decided to take some risk and proceeded to prop Raymond up with his arms and head out to the entrance.


    This left Alex and Jerry alone.


    ¡°You know,¡± Alex suddenly dropped her shovel and slowly walked up to Jerry. She licked her lips and touched her ragged-tagged clothes. ¡°It¡¯s been a few painful days. What do you say we have some fun?¡±


    It took Jerry a few seconds to understand what Alex was proposing, but he decided to ignore the offer. Now was neither the right place nor the right plan. Even if it was the right time and place, he would simply say no. He treated Alex as a friend, not a girlfriend.


    Instead of saying anything, he opened his interface and tried to figure something that could get himself and Alex out of this hell hole. He knew his chance of escape would only dwindle as time passes.


    Suddenly, as he moved with his eyes trained on the interface, he accidentally tripped. As he hit the ground, a piece of iron was suddenly placed in where the interface was.


    Transform iron ore into gold? Yes or No?


    Jerry tapped the yes. Immediately, the piece of iron disappeared. In return, Jerry¡¯s gold storage rose from 100 to 105.


    ¡°Wow. That is...good to know.¡± He turned to Alex, who seemed a little irritated because of Jerry¡¯s lack of response. He informed her of his discovery.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± Alex''s response was a simple comment.


    ¡°Nice? That¡¯s awesome. We are in the middle of a gold mine!¡± Jerry¡¯s breathe went heavier despite his attempts to calm himself. It was pure luck, yet the luck might¡¯ve saved everyone¡¯s life. Without this accident, he would never be able to figure this out. ¡°Give us enough time and we can make an army and overwhelm the guards¡­¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have the time.¡± Alex cut him off.


    ¡°What do you mean...oh crap.¡± Jerry suddenly remembered he could only make a militia every ten minutes. ¡°If us two can somehow get an hour in the mines alone, then we will only get, what, 12 militias? That¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°But what if we can tell the others about this? Get them into the fight as well?¡± Alex threw her hands up and suggested.


    Jerry tapped his forehead. He didn''t know how he missed it, but Alex had a good point. ¡°Then we can get thirty times the units, if we have the gold.¡± He glanced at the surrounding floor. ¡°We don¡¯t know when the guard will come back. We should convert as many minerals here to gold as possible. Leave some so the guards don¡¯t get suspicious.¡±


    The two proceeded to clean up all the remaining iron ores lying around in that sector. Some of them were placed onto a cart, and the two split the rest. The guards didn''t bother to constantly keep an eye on the prisoners. They didn''t have the manpower. Plus, without a way out, how in the world were the prisoners supposed to hide tons of iron ore?


    Alex and Jerry divided the gold evenly. They each got an additional 62 gold. That was more than four militias.


    Given the time and resource, they could assemble an army. Unfortunately, time was something they really didn''t have a lot of.


    <hr>


    That night, Jerry sneaked up to Patel and told him his discoveries. Thankfully for him, while the guards patrolled the fences and the towers, they paid very little attention to what was actually happening inside the tent. They just didn''t bother. As long as the slaves couldn''t escape, what they did in their free time didn''t matter as long as they could keep providing the necessary labor.


    Most of the prisoners were asleep already when Jerry made his way to Patel''s bed. The young man was, luckily, still awake.


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Patel asked after Jerry finished explaining his discovery and his plan.


    ¡°Tell everyone about this. If we are to rebel, we need to do it together to even have a chance.¡±


    "Fair enough." Patel nodded slowly. That was when he suddenly realized something and tossed Jerry a suspicious glance. Why are you telling me this instead of doing it yourself?¡±


    Jerry frowned at the question.


    ¡°You are afraid of the risk.¡± Patel already knew the answer. ¡°You don¡¯t want to be brought down if this thing goes south. You want the benefits, but you don¡¯t want the consequences. You are using me.¡±


    ¡°You''re paranoid. I just don''t like dealing with people. I am not a leader.¡± For a second, Jerry found himself scoffing as the accusation. "Now, if there is nothing else, I have to go."


    As Jerry left, Patel gave this matter some more thought. Maybe Jerry really wanted to use him as a tool. Maybe he really was paranoid. Either way, getting out of captivity was good for everyone. Plus, it wouldn''t necessarily be bad for him to lead this whole rebellion. If this failed, he would indeed be the first to pay, but if this was successful...Patel had enough experience to know it also paid to be the leader. If he led the others to victory and freedom, then his possibilities were boundless.


    Jerry returned to his shelter and got onto his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to think through his plan of escape once again. Suddenly, he heard footsteps closing in. Immediately, he grabbed onto a piece of sharp rock he found in the mines and held it up.


    What the piece of rock could do didn''t matter as much as showing the visitors that he wasn¡¯t afraid of defending himself with force.


    Alex and Christopher were standing in front of his bed.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Jerry asked, slightly relaxed after he saw Alex, knowing she would probably be the last person to hurt him.


    ¡°Do you want to get out of here?¡± Christopher demanded bluntly.


    ¡°Of course. What did you think I¡¯m gonna say?¡± Jerry¡¯s response was a little irritated.


    Alex followed Chris up. ¡°We¡¯re planning an escape. Chris has found an opening in the fences to the north side of the camp. We can get out. We move tonight. We have already got a couple of people with us. Raymond is in. He somehow got the guards to treat to his wounds. Five more of us are in. We can make it out.¡±


    Jerry¡¯s mind flew to Sophia and the rest of his people. ¡°And the others?¡±


    ¡°All of us moving will draw too much attention. We have to save ourselves first. We will go to the wild and create an army before coming back and wiping out this camp. There¡¯s no room for us to work with in here.¡± Alex continued.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if we can outrun the horses. We don¡¯t know if we can find resources in the outside to convert to gold. We have no information about the surroundings and who these soldiers are...¡±


    ¡°Yes or no?¡± Chris finally got impatient. ¡°I am not staying in this place any longer. We can never make sure of everything! If you want to join us, do it. If you don¡¯t, shut the fuck up and keep quiet about this.¡±


    Jerry ignored him. Instead, he turned to Alex.


    ¡°We should talk privately.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you in the rendezvous area. Be quick.¡± Chris turned around and left the room.


    Once Chris was gone, Jerry snapped to Alex with anger in his voice. A foreign sight.


    ¡°What are you thinking? I thought we decided we were going to mass up an army and take this place down from the inside! What was that? Couple of hours ago?¡±


    ¡°That plan takes too long.¡±


    ¡°What¡­¡± Jerry was taken back by surprise. ¡°Takes too long? That plan is safer. If you get caught trying to escape...¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t get caught.¡±


    Jerry¡¯s mouth went wide open. ¡°What is wrong with you, Alex? It¡¯s one thing to not do homework in school. It¡¯s another to mess up here! You¡¯re being reckless with your own life and that¡¯s not good! It¡¯s almost as if you want to die or something¡­either that, or you can¡¯t feel fear, which is equally bad when it comes to your chances of survival!¡±


    ¡°Speaking of fear,¡± Alex didn''t back down at Jerry''s words. If anything, it seemed like those words rubbed her the wrong way.¡°you¡¯re a coward, do you know that? We have a chance of escaping this hell, and you want to sit back and do nothing?¡±


    This time Jerry was truly hit. Patel calling him coward was different from Alex doing the same thing. ¡°Coward? I¡¯m just trying to keep both of us alive. I thought you could tell that! Christopher''s plan is too risky...¡± He couldn¡¯t help but defend himself.


    "And hiding an army within these mines and hoping the guards don''t notice anything is not?" Alex stood her ground. "Nothing is without risk, Jerry! If we take our chances this time and get out, then our future is limitless! With this summoning interface, no one will be able to stop us!"


    "If you get out!" Jerry repeated once again. "If you''re caught...you will die! Every single one of you! And it won''t be a pretty end!"


    Jerry thought his concern was genuine and reasonable, but it was clear Alex didn''t share his belief. Then again, he had always known Alex to be an irrational one. She was emotional. Impulsive. He couldn''t count the number of times where she took action and got into trouble before she didn''t care about potential consequences.


    The brunette standing before him bit her lips.


    "I think I will take my chances. In the meantime...take care of yourself."


    With that said, Alex turned and left the room, leaving Jerry alone and speechless.

 Chapter 4: Betrayed

    A few minutes later, seven men and women waited in one of the rag tagged shelters inside the camp. Chris and Alex were among them. Chris had a large club with him, but he hoped he wouldn¡¯t need to use that.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Raymond? He should be here by now.¡± One of the students said impatiently. ¡°I get he¡¯s injured, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Something¡¯s off.¡± Alex commented coldly. She quickly snapped to Chris. ¡°What if he¡¯s caught or something? He¡¯s not in his best shape. If he stumbles across one of those patrols out there...the guards don''t have much of a presence within the camp, but they are still there.¡±


    Chris lowered his head. Leaving now would be safe, but if Raymond was simply late, he would be abandoned. Leaving someone behind was never something he was a fan of. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for another ten minutes. We¡¯re not leaving one of us behind.¡±


    Most of the students nodded in silent agreement. if they were the ones late, they wouldn''t want to be left either. However, Alex didn''t share their belief. She suddenly stood up from her bed.


    ¡°This is stupid.¡± She declared. ¡°Jerry¡¯s right in that this whole plan is risky. We can¡¯t stay here any longer. If we are to leave, we should go now.¡±


    Chris frowned at the challenge of his authority. He knew the risks, but perhaps it was a sense of honor, he stuck to his idea. ¡°We¡¯ll wait a little longer. Maybe a few more minutes. If Raymond isn''t here by then, we leave.¡±


    But that was already enough for Alex. She was impulsive, but she wasn''t stupid.


    ¡°No. You will wait a little longer.¡± With that said, she turned and walked out of the room without any hesitation. After all, why wouldn¡¯t she? Staying with Chris and the others would lead to more harm than good. If they wanted to remain in this camp and risk getting caught, then let them stay. She had no such plans.


    Alex got out from the back door. Just as she was about to head for the fences, she heard footsteps approaching. It was late in the night, so the entire camp was quiet. The only sounds were the Sullivan soldiers talking and the wind blowing...wait.


    Alex made to the cover of a few bushes and stayed there while observing what was going on outside.


    With cold eyes, she watched as thirty Sullivan soldiers in red armor surrounded the shelter she was in just moments ago. They had swords, but all the swords were kept in their sheathes and they instead were all holding large batons. With an order from an officer, the troops suddenly kicked the wooden door open and poured into the house.


    Cries and screams immediately followed. Alex thought she could hear Chris¡¯s war cry, which was quickly silenced.


    How did the Sullivan know¡­


    Alex¡¯s doubts quickly disappeared when she saw two figures walking into the now silent room. One of them was a Sullivan officer with specialized, more sophisticated red armor. She could distinctly see the engravings of a lion''s head on the chest of the armor. The other figure had a familiar face.


    Raymond.


    The betrayal came unexpectedly, but Alex simply turned and left. A surge of irritation flashed through her mind, but it was quickly put down. There was no point wondering why Raymond turned or feeling betrayed about the fact that he turned. All she knew was that most of her accomplice were probably dead. If she wanted to get out of this death camp, she needed to do it ASAP.


    As for Chris and the others...they made a choice, and that choice turned out to be the wrong one. They have been caught trying to escape, which meant they would probably be tortured and executed soon. And Alex''s opinion on this...was that she really didn''t care.


    Alex made her way to the breach in the fences. Her heart sank a little when she saw a dozen Sullivan guards around the fence. The swords and bows they carried meant fighting her way through would lead to a quick death.


    She was trapped. More importantly, if Raymond betrayed them, and he did, the Sullivans would know the name of everyone that tried to escape, including that of Alex. Even if Raymond didn''t know about her involvement, Chris and the others did, and Alex doubted they would be able to keep that a secret for long from the ruthless and brutal Sullivans. She couldn¡¯t go back and pretend like nothing happened. She would be hunted down and killed.


    Her mind turned. It appeared that she only had a single person to go to.


    Meanwhile, inside the room, all the students that tried to escape were subdued. Chris¡¯s club rested by his feet. The Sullivan soldiers took them down easily. Pressed down by two soldiers, Chris had his eyes trained on Raymond. His eyes were filled with fury.


    ¡°Why? Why are you doing this?¡±


    Raymond looked away in slight shame as the Sullivan officer returned the question gladly.


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing what the will to live can do to a person, kid. When Raymond came to me, dying, I saved him. In exchange, he promised to tell me everything he knows...including your little plan to escape. Now.¡± He looked around. ¡°From what Raymond whispered to me, there should be one more of you. Also...I still don''t understand why you told him all the names of those who wanted to flee when he asked you. You are either very stupid or very trusting...or both.¡±


    Raymond quickly answered. ¡°Yes. A girl named Alex.¡±


    "Fuck you! Fuck you, Raymond!" Chris cursed at the top of his lungs. ¡°You will burn in hell for this! You will pay!"


    Hearing these curses, the Sullivan Commander scoffed. "I don''t know about him, but you, my friend...you and your people will certainly pay for this. As for the girl..."


    The man waved his hand.


    ¡°Vice Commander?¡± A soldier stepped up and saluted. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Scan every single bunker and shelter in the camp. Find this girl called Alex and take her back to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find her, eventually.¡± Vice Commander Liam, the commander of the entire mining camp, turned back to Chris. A satisfied smile was on his face. ¡°But you should worry about yourself instead. Take them outside.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Jerry, Raymond turned against us. Chris is captured. I¡¯m being hunted.¡±


    Alex charged into Jerry¡¯s bunker and found the man lying asleep on his bed. Fair enough. It was late in the night. Glancing around the shelter to make sure everyone else was asleep, Alex quickly woke Jerry up and dropped the big news.


    As soon as he woke up and processed what had happened, Jerry¡¯s mind turned faster than the engine of a race car. ¡°Does Raymond know you are involved?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, but Chris certainly does and he is captured.¡±


    Jerry didn''t say anything like ¡®I told you so¡¯. It would be a pointless waste of time. Instead, he jumped off his bed and removed the layer of grass that acted as a bedsheet, revealing the muddy floor.


    He patted his hands on the ground before reaching something and pulling on it. Immediately, a layer of wood was pulled out, revealing an opening.


    ¡°It¡¯s a safe house. I dug it in the night in case I needed to hide. It took me several nights.¡± Jerry stepped to the side and turned to Alex. ¡°Get in.¡±


    Alex looked at Jerry before jumping into the pit. Jerry closed the door and laid back onto the bed, pretending to be asleep. Just half a minute later, five Sullivan soldiers busted into the room.


    ¡°Step to the side!¡± One of them demanded. Jerry obeyed.


    One of the soldiers searched Jerry as the rest ravaged through the room. Whatever furniture Jerry had in his shelter was smashed apart and broken to pieces. Jerry kept his eyes on the ground. He was afraid if he tried to look around, he couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the bed where Alex was hiding in. The Sullivan soldiers weren¡¯t fools. They would know.


    Thankfully, nothing came up.


    Jerry was about to take a breath of relief when the soldier searching him pressed him against the wall.


    ¡°Where is your friend? Alex?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! She hasn¡¯t seen me since we left the mines!¡± Jerry replied as nicely as he could.


    ¡°She tried to escape, and you are saying you don¡¯t know anything about it?¡± The soldier demanded. He suddenly drew his dagger and pressed it so tightly on Jerry¡¯s cheek that it slashed his skin. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one last chance before I scratch up your face. Where is Alex?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything. Please!¡± Jerry held his ground.


    ¡°I sure hope that¡¯s the truth.¡± The guard suddenly turned his hand, and Jerry felt a burn on his cheek. Giving out a suppressed groan, he closed his eyes and felt his arms and legs shaking. But he kept his mouth shut. A part of him wanted to betray Alex and just save his own ass, but another part kept on reminding him that the guard wouldn¡¯t dare kill him.


    Finally, seeing he couldn¡¯t get anything, the guard turned around and left the room. As he departed, Jerry let himself slide back onto the ground. His heart was jumping out of his chest. Those that never experienced it would never know what a near-death experience felt like. And now, Jerry was proud to say he looked death in the eye.


    A tap on his wound on his cheek told him it was nothing more than a small slice. Reasonable. The Sullivans, at least the bottom level foot soldier, couldn¡¯t afford to lose a labor just based on suspicions.


    <hr>


    Tap. Tap.


    Jerry smiled. That was the thing he loved about Alex. She wasn¡¯t the brightest, but she wasn¡¯t a fool either. Although it sounded like all the soldiers have left, instead of taking the risk and talking to him, she tapped the layer of wood. If there were Sullivan soldiers, they might think it was from a source other than a girl below the bed. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but it wasn¡¯t too bad to come up with on the spot.


    ¡°It¡¯s safe now.¡± He announced. ¡°But unless you need anything, don¡¯t come out. We don¡¯t know who might come in.¡±


    Inside the pit, Alex nodded. She quickly remembered Jerry couldn¡¯t see her.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± She heard Jerry¡¯s groan.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Jerry replied quietly. ¡°Just a scratch.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. It could¡¯ve been much worse.¡±


    Alex leaned back in her spot. ¡°Jerry, there is something you need to know.¡±


    ¡°Yah?¡± Jerry nodded. He was slightly worried that this might be one of those ¡®I love you¡¯ talks. If that happens, he might need to come up with a soft rejection as soon as possible.


    Thankfully, it was something else.


    ¡°I don¡¯t process emotions like normal people.¡± Alex continued. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly feel fear. I mean...I can cognitively recognize being beheaded is bad for me, but I don¡¯t get scared if I am to be beheaded.¡±


    Jerry rose his eyebrows. His eyes lit up. ¡°So...you don¡¯t feel any emotion?¡±


    ¡°Not any emotion. I just have less emotion than normal people.¡± Alex did her best to come up with an explanation. ¡°I don¡¯t really feel sad or angry. Well, I do feel angry, but it¡¯s just rare. For example, when I saw Raymond betrayed us, for one second I wanted to kill him. For the next I no longer felt anything.¡±


    ¡°Anti-social Personality Disorder.¡± Jerry suddenly commented.


    Alex rose her eyebrows again.


    ¡°It matches all the characteristics you talked about. Were you like this since birth?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m like this ever since I can remember.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯re a psychopath in contrast to a sociopath. Psychopaths come from defects in the amygdala before birth while sociopaths are caused by their experience. It¡¯s nature vs nurture.¡±


    Jerry left a part out.


    Psychopaths don¡¯t get grateful or emotional, at all. Almost all that they do were done for their own benefits, which means if what Alex said was true, she didn''t initiate this conversation with him because he saved her life. She did so because it could provide her with gains.


    ¡°Ok.¡± Alex nodded calmly. The information Jerry just provided her didn''t seem to linger on her mind for too long. ¡°Now that I told you mine, you should tell me yours.¡±


    Ahhh. So that¡¯s what she¡¯s going for. Jerry tilted his head as his eyes turned ice cold. It was her manipulation. After arriving, and everything that happened after, Alex must¡¯ve seen how helpful he could be. She wants to use him, and she intends to do so by establishing a bond via sharing secrets.


    Usually in a case like this Jerry would just turn and leave, but in this case he was willing to fall for it. Sure, trusting someone who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to manipulate him could be a risk, but Jerry decided it was better to trust someone as decisive and logical as Alex than brainless idiots like Chris. At least Alex knew when to yield. It was all part of his plan. Perfectly logical plan.


    What Jerry didn''t realize was that his decision was hardly ideal. He was risking his own life protecting someone who would stab him in the back. He tried to justify it with logic, but¡­


    ¡°Basically, I have trust issues. I rarely trust anyone. I just think the worst of them.¡± He replied as his mind turned. ¡°I have also realized the truth in life.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°Emotions are the source of all our pain. I¡¯m trying to control, if not eliminate, my emotions. It¡¯s the only way to truly be victorious.¡±


    ¡°I sense a story.¡± Alex said slowly. Her mind turned as she processed the information. ¡°I guess that¡¯s why we¡¯re so close.¡± Someone who was born with problems in recognizing emotion and someone willingly trying to block out emotion. What a match.


    ¡°Perhaps. Maybe there¡¯s a story, but that¡¯s for another time.¡± The day was already getting brighter. Jerry stood up from his bed. ¡°I should be going out soon. I will try to bring you some food, but it will be best if you stay down there. We¡¯ll talk when I come back.¡±


    He walked out of the room.

 Chapter 5: Interrogation

    ¡°My name is Vice Commander Liam, the commander of this camp, and today I will be enforcing the emperor¡¯s justice!¡±


    ¡°These six people have been sentenced to a lifetime in the mines, but they tried to escape! And now, they will be punished accordingly.¡±


    The next day, in front of all the hundreds of slaves, the Sullivan soldiers tied Chris and the five other teens that tried to escape to six wooden poles.


    Patel was among the teens. His expression turned as he realized what happened. He couldn¡¯t just abandon these six teens. Emotionally, they were his people. Logically, they represented more militias. But there was nothing he could do. He spent the entire night uniting the teens that he could contact. They didn''t have an army. If they fought, they would merely add to the prisoner count.


    Raymond stood among the Sullivan ranks. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, hoping everyone would forget about him. He tried to convince Liam that it would be better if he remained undercover among the teens so he could keep on feeding Liam information, but Liam had other opinions in mind. Raymond didn''t dare resisting.


    Jerry was among the observers. He kept Alex hidden under his bed. Hopefully, nothing would happen to her while he was gone.


    Behind the Sullivan soldiers, Jonah and Sophia were watching the scene as well. As the things unfolded, Jonah turned to Sophia. The girl almost flinched, but she forced herself to stop. She knew if she backed away, she would only be punished more.


    ¡°See? Without me, you might be one of them. After you see what happens to them, you will be glad you¡¯re with me.¡±


    Sophia forced out a smile.


    Tied to a pole, Chris turned to the other prisoners and sighed.


    ¡°Sorry, guys.¡±


    Vice Commander Liam waved his hand. A line of Sullivan soldiers walked up to the prisoners. Two men carried a large metal cart over. One of them reached inside with a metal stick and pulled out a piece of iron.


    ¡°We can¡¯t kill you. That will be a mercy. Instead, we will make your life hell. Hopefully it will convince your friends to learn to obey.¡± Liam announced as the soldier pressed the iron onto one of the prisoners, who screamed.


    ¡°Work, and you may live. Try to flee, and you will learn death will not be the most menacing thing.¡±


    The soldier went on to the next prisoner. As the scream rang out, Liam turned to Raymond.


    ¡°Step forward, my loyal servant.¡±


    Raymond felt his face burning. He didn''t want to do this. He wanted to either run away and hide under a rock until the end of the world or punch Liam in the face. But he could do neither. Doing anything except for obeying would get himself killed.


    He took a step forward.


    All the teens looked at Raymond in shock and confusion.


    Liam smirked.


    ¡°When those fools down there wanted to run, Raymond here came to me and informed me. Thanks to him, I escaped the fate of losing six slaves. As a result of his correct decision, he will be rewarded handsomely.¡± He clapped again, and two soldiers dragged over a heavy chest. One of the men opened the chest and revealed it to be filled with gold.


    Liam had his plans. Using only force to subdue the slaves might be efficient on the surface, but it would also plant the seeds for resistance. Even in the ideal case, it would lead to a drop in the efficiency to the workers. He needed to use both punishments and rewards. Burning the escapees, that was the punishment. Giving Liam gold, that was the reward.


    Sure, Raymond might get cornered in some ditch and get stabbed to death or eaten alive by the other slaves for his betrayal, but why did he care? All he needed was an example.


    The prisoners¡¯ gazes turned from that of confusion to that of anger, but there was nothing he could do.


    Jerry watched along with the others. He had some sympathy for the tortured escapees, but a part of him knew they saw it coming. They trusted the wrong people and decided to take some risk, and they paid the price. He didn''t really care about them. Alex was safe. Good. He would save the prisoners if he could, but he couldn¡¯t.


    On the other side, it was finally Chris¡¯s turn. The man stared into the soldier¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I swear to god I¡¯m gonna kill you.¡±


    The soldier pressed the iron onto his chest.


    When the torture was over, for the moment, Liam took another step forward.


    ¡°Now, according to Raymond, there is one more escapee. Girl named Alex.¡± He announced. ¡°She has gone into hiding. Where is she?¡±


    The crowd exchanged confused looks.


    ¡°She couldn¡¯t have gone into hiding all by herself. The fences weren¡¯t breached. The gate wasn¡¯t breached. Where is she?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Liam pushed. A lesser person might wonder what was the big deal of a single escapee, but Liam knew if he let her go unpunished, it would be sending a signal that resistance, as long as it was done carefully, was ok. He needed to crush that idea before it could truly take place.


    Honestly, Liam felt a little exhausted. If it was up to him, he would order all the escapees to be burned alive and even one third of the camp be massacred just to make an example. He was sure no one would dare escaping after that. Even if someone tried it, the others would stop them for fear of retaliation. Unfortunately, things weren¡¯t as easy. The Sullivan Empire was at war with the Crescent Empire, and resources were dragged thin. He needed every single man he could get. If he slowed down the mining progress because of his impatience...the Sullivan hierarchy was rigid. Just because he was Vice Commander didn''t mean he could get a free pass for screwing up.


    Jerry did his best to keep a poker face. Deep down, he kept on reassuring himself. Neither Raymond nor Chris knew he hid Alex. As long as he kept quiet about this, there was nothing the Sullivan guards could do. They would have no choice but to let it slide.


    Liam waited ten seconds and the crowd was still silent. Slightly disappointed, he turned to Raymond.


    ¡°Who is Alex closest to?¡±


    As soon as that question was asked, Jerry knew he was in trouble. He just realized something. This wasn¡¯t back on Earth. As far as he saw, the concept of rule of law and innocent until proven guilty didn''t exist. All the teens were captured literally because they happened to be in the way of a group of Sullivan calvary. If Liam felt like he harbored Alex, whether he has evidence or not, he could take action.


    Raymond took a deep breath before turning and pointing to Jerry.


    ¡°Oh crap¡­¡±


    <hr>


    All eyes turned to Jerry. He twitched uncomfortably. He really didn''t enjoy being the focus of the attention. Of course, that discomfort ranked second compared to the fear of what was going to happen next.


    Stay calm. Fear and anger can only lead to a quicker end.


    ¡°Please.¡± He begged and allowed his fear to take over control of his face and his voice. ¡°Show mercy! I don¡¯t know where she is!¡±


    Mercy wasn¡¯t something Liam had in mind. He snapped his finger, and four Sullivan soldiers walked into the crowd and grabbed onto Jerry and pushed him onto the stage.


    Jerry lowered his head as he faced Liam.


    ¡°Please...I have did everything you told me to¡­please don¡¯t hurt me.¡±


    Liam smirked before waving for the soldiers to step back. He suddenly reached into his belt and pulled out a dagger.


    Jerry flinched. He took a deep breath and evaluated if he could grab the dagger and kill the Sullivan officer and then get out alive. He decided he couldn¡¯t. Then again, he silently made up his mind. If this Commander Liam wanted to make an example of him, he wouldn¡¯t die without a fight. A possibility of survival, no matter how small, was always better than no possibility at all. It was all in the numbers.


    ¡±Please¡­¡±


    Liam suddenly grabbed onto Jerry by the neck and pulled him in. As soon as his arm made contact with Jerry¡¯s neck, Jerry knew fighting was really the worst possible idea. The commander was perhaps twice as strong as he was.


    Liam stuck his dagger next to Jerry¡¯s neck and started pushing it in slowly. Jerry shook both in fear and in pain. The cold piece of metal right next to his warm skin constantly reminded him that he might be dead the next second.


    ¡°I am going to ask you one last time. Where is that girl?¡±


    ¡°Look, if I know where she is, I will lead you to her within a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s ask fate, shall we?¡± Liam suddenly pushed Jerry onto the ground. As he got back, he heard Liam talking to his guards.


    ¡°Bring him to the pole.¡±


    Jerry gulped as he was dragged to one of the polls twenty meters away from the commander. At first he thought he would be involved in one of those sick branding processes Liam did to the escapees. Fortunately, that wasn¡¯t what Liam had in mind. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t what Liam had in mind.


    Liam picked up a bow and placed three arrows in a counter in front of him.


    Jerry coughed as the Vice Commander placed an arrow on the bow before pulling it. The arrow was trained on Jerry¡¯s direction. Liam turned his face to the audience, who were either worried or angry.


    ¡°Anyone?¡±


    No answer came up.


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    Liam said before unleashing the arrow.


    The arrow flew through the air. On the other end, Jerry watched as it approached, but he couldn¡¯t do anything to stop it. The arrow was in front of him in less than a second.


    ¡°Sssssss.¡± He hissed.


    The arrow whizzed beside his left leg. It didn''t touch him, not in the slightest, but he wasn¡¯t exactly reassured. His heart was beating so hard he felt like it was getting out of his chest. Just seconds ago, he kept on brainwashing himself that he wasn¡¯t in any real danger. Liam was just making a show for it. Now he realized his mistake.


    As far as he could see, across this much distance, Liam had no control over if the arrow missed or if it landed on his chest.


    Fear started creeping into his heart. Oh how he wished he couldn¡¯t feel fear.


    ¡°Oh god.¡± Sophia whispered on the side and turned away, but Jonah grabbed onto her neck and forced her to watch.


    Patel held his fist tight. He wasn¡¯t a fan of Jerry and his cowardice, but this didn''t mean he was fine with seeing Jerry suffer.


    ¡°Anyone?¡± Liam loaded another arrow.


    The field was dead silent.


    Jerry held his fist tight and tried to breathe. He considered summoning units, but even if his hands weren¡¯t too tied to control the interface, a single militia in ten minutes wouldn¡¯t do anything.


    Another arrow flew by. This time it left a long slash on his right shoulder. Jerry screamed before catching himself. If he was going to die, he wasn¡¯t going to die filled with emotions.


    Liam loaded the last arrow and pointed at Jerry¡¯s head.


    ¡°Last chance.¡± He shouted.


    Jerry closed his eyes.


    The arrow was unleashed. It went through the air before finding its target.


    ¡°pff¡±


    It took Jerry two seconds to realize he didn''t feel any pain on his body. He opened his eyes and looked around. Immediately, he saw the arrow, which landed just a couple centimeters on the pole above his head.


    ¡°Bring this Alex to me, or the next time I will do the same thing to one of you.¡± Liam announced at the slaves. ¡°Trust me. He¡¯s lucky this time. The next person might not share that luck.¡±


    His plan was going on well. Whoever harbored Alex would think twice about keeping the girl safe. The boy he just shot out was probably scared to death. People have a tendency to submit to the stronger party and then blame the weaker party for their pain. The boy wouldn¡¯t dare blame Liam for it, so he would likely place the blames on Alex. He could be a helpful tool to hunt Alex down.


    It was the only reason he allowed Jerry to live. Otherwise, he would gladly nail the boy to the pole and watch him bleed to death.

 Chapter 6: Uprising

    Two more days went by.


    Chris and the other escapees were put to work in the toughest parts of the mine. They were put under constant guard. Patel tried to get in touch with them. It was an unsuccessful attempt.


    Speaking of Patel, the man was putting everything together to form a rebellion. Militias were continuously summoned and hidden around every corner of the camp. There were a ton of nooks and hooks in the mines, and Sullivan didn''t have the manpower to cover every single one of them. The unit count has already gotten up to five hundred.


    This sounded like a lot. Unfortunately, Patel had no idea how many Sullivan soldiers there were inside the camp. He couldn¡¯t afford to fail. If he failed, the Sullivan would no doubt slaughter them to the last. If they fought, they had to win. Even with five hundred men, he laid low. The plan was to get out as many units as possible before they strike.


    Honestly, Patel deserved some credit. There were over twenty available teens across the camp, and Patel not only managed to contact all of them, convince them to strike, but was also able to arrange them so their forces were completely hidden. One misstep, one betrayal, and all would be doomed. Raymond was the prime example of that. The fact that Patel was able to keep all the hot headed teens in line was incredible.


    One thing to note was that the teenagers were pleasantly surprised when they discovered that the summoned units, while closely resembling human beings, weren''t completely human. For one thing, they could go without food, water, or sleep for a long time. Patel tinkered with the interface a little and found out that if they went without these supplies for too long, their combat capabilities would start dropping and eventually they would die, but none of that would happen within a few days. This was what made it possible for them to hide entire armies in the mines without needing to resupply. This also helped catch the Sullivans by surprise.


    Meanwhile, Jerry was busy keeping Alex alive. Alex obviously couldn¡¯t go out and get food, so Jerry had to hide some of his own food during the meals until he could return to the bunks at night and give the food to Alex when everyone was asleep. It was by no means ideal, but it was enough to keep Alex from starving to death.


    Except there was one problem. Living in a hole wasn¡¯t the best for a person¡¯s health. Jerry wasn¡¯t too happy to return to the shelter one day and find Alex catching a cold.


    Back on Earth, catching a cold meant taking a few days off from school and resting in bed while drinking orange juice. This wasn¡¯t quite the same here. Without any medicine at all, a decent shelter, or even adequate food, Alex might just lose her life to a common cold. Thankfully, she wasn¡¯t exactly on her death bed, but she needed to be in a better condition as quickly as possible.


    ¡°We can¡¯t get any help inside the camp.¡± Jerry tapped his chin. It was late at night, and Alex was able to come out to eat and relax a little while the others in the room were deep asleep. She was ravaging through a small piece of bread Jerry saved for her. ¡°We need to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Patel¡¯s army going?¡± Alex asked as she finished the bread. She was stranded, but Jerry told her everything that was going on so she was at least somewhat aware of the surroundings.


    ¡°He¡¯s still getting ready.¡± Jerry recalled when he last talked to Patel. ¡°He¡¯s being careful, as he should be. We can¡¯t afford to lose. In the ideal case, it will be a while until the rebellion.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a while.¡± The girl coughed again. She did her best to keep the noise down. Jerry glanced at the door in caution.


    ¡°Then we will get out of the camp by ourselves. I have 30 militias in the mines. We can meet up with them and try to bust out of the fences.¡± While he took care of Alex, Jerry wasn¡¯t slacking off either. He stole minerals here and there and converted them to gold and then to militias to the best of his abilities. Militias, like their description claimed, were far from the best soldiers. At the same time, 30 of them taking the enemies completely by surprise could potentially achieve plenty.


    Busting out the fences with force wasn¡¯t the perfect tactic either, but it was better than watching Alex die. At least that was the case for Jerry.


    ¡°If you can, we will move before dusk. The longer we wait, the weaker you will be.¡±


    Jerry remembered reading something about the time before dusk being the time when people were the most sleepy. Night patrols might be able to stay awake a couple of hours into the night, but they would likely lower their guard after most of the night went by in peace. Jerry and Alex needed all the advantages they could get if they wanted to get out of this death camp in one piece.


    Alex nodded in agreement. She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes. A wave of sleepiness took over her. As she slept, Jerry sat by her with his eyes open. There weren¡¯t alarm clocks here. If he fell asleep as well, he might not be able to wake up in time.


    For a while, Jerry considered sneaking out of his shelter, finding Patel, and have him get ready for mobilizing all the militias and seizing the camp tonight, but he knew that would be too risky. The patrols across the living quarters have increased since Chris and the others tried to flee and failed. If he was caught on the way, or if someone, prisoner or guard alike, came across his bed and found the sleeping Alex...all would be lost.


    Honestly, what Jerry was doing here was a little reckless. He should wait a few days for a better chance to contact Patel and the others. Making a run for the fences with a few dozen militias might end up with all of them killed. But Jerry, despite his personality, was still a young boy, and the days of torture had stressed him out a lot. As he looked down on the sick Alex, he could no longer think as logically as he would''ve loved. He had to take his chances, and if it failed, well...then so be it.


    Hours flew by. Jerry felt fatigue washing over him, but he knew he had to stay awake. When biting his lips no longer worked, he tried to dig his nails into his palm. It stung, but it was able to keep his eyes open.


    Eventually, when Jerry decided it was time, he tapped on Alex¡¯s shoulder repeatedly and woke her up. As Alex¡¯s eyes opened, just for a second, Jerry could see the coldness inside, but it was quickly replaced by a friendly look.


    Jerry held out his hand to help her get up.


    It was completely dark outside. Jerry and Alex sneaked out of Jerry¡¯s shelter.


    ¡°Watch your steps.¡± As they moved, Jerry constantly reminded Alex as he glanced at her steps nervously. The darkness provided some cover, but there were still Sullivan guards patrolling the area. If just one of the soldiers saw them, the entire camp would be awakened in just minutes.


    The two started making their way toward the mines. Jerry hid the militias he summoned in one of the mines. As long as they could meet up, although thirty militias were by no means enough to fight a real battle, they should be enough to open up a breach at the fences with the element of surprise on their side.


    The cold night wind blew on both teens. None of them had near sufficient clothing to repel the cold. Jerry was able to be shrug it off. Unfortunately, Alex was too weak for that. Jerry could feel her shivering beside him. Her steps were getting slower and slower. They were still a distance away from the mines, and Alex already had to pretty much lean on Jerry to move. As much as he hated touching others, Jerry had to wrap his arms around Alex to provide as much warmth as possible. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Time flew by. The entire time, Jerry prayed they wouldn¡¯t be noticed. Unfortunately, when Alex paused and produced a loud sneeze, he knew it was impossible.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t help¡­¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± A loud voice demanded in the quiet night. ¡°Show yourself!¡±


    Instead of answering and trying to fool the guard, Jerry grabbed onto Alex and ran toward the mines. As he ran, the guards chased. He could hear footsteps getting louder in the back as the soldiers pursued after them.


    While the summoning system did give the teens the ability to, well, summon units, the summoned units were very similar to ordinary human soldiers. They had to eat and sleep, albeit in a rather odd fashion. More importantly in this case, even the system didn''t grant the teens away to contact the summoned. In other words, for Jerry to get help from his militias, he needed to reach the mines first.


    ¡°Stop them!¡± Sullivan guards cried from the back. Footsteps appeared all over the camp. Jerry¡¯s worst fear has come true. They have lost the element of surprise and were being hunted.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Alex asked. She was still coughing, but she was able to keep her mind clear through all the fatigue and pain.


    ¡°Get to the mines.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± That was the truth. Jerry had no idea what to do. The circumstances didn''t give him the chance to have a backup plan. Usually, Jerry wouldn¡¯t make such a risky attempt, but¡­


    The two got closer to the mines. Suddenly, in the dark, Jerry saw a figure stumbling to in front of him. The single source of light in his hand allowed Jerry to see him.


    He was wearing red armor, and he was carrying a sword in one hand and a torch in another.


    A Sullivan soldier.


    Jerry acted before he could think. Releasing Alex, he grabbed onto the soldier¡¯s arm that was holding the torch and yanked it to the side. The soldier was obviously caught by surprise as well, and this allowed Jerry to temporarily overpower him. As the torch hit the ground and the scene went dark again, Jerry grabbed onto the arm holding the sword with his left hand. His right hand reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of sharp mineral.


    He jammed the mineral into the man¡¯s palm.


    Everything happened quickly. The soldier was a guard that fell asleep while on duty. He was woken up by the voices and was on the way to finding out what happened. When he realized he was facing an enemy, it was already too late. As he subconsciously released the handle of the sword due to pain, Jerry snatched the sword over, turned it around, and pushed it into the guard¡¯s body.


    The man screamed and died. Light armor didn''t do a thing against the piercing blade.


    Truth to be told, Jerry didn''t expect this to be as easy. He expected to be beaten down or even easily defeated, judging by the power of Sullivan soldiers he has seen. What he didn''t know was that his view of the Sullivan units was largely skewed. Just like with everything else, there were good Sullivan soldiers and bad Sullivan soldiers.


    All the Sullivan soldiers Jerry had experience fighting were the best of the best. Unknown to him, the riders that captured them weren¡¯t just random Sullivan calvary but were actually the personal guard of Commander Hartfield. Vice Commander Liam was able to subdue him easily, but a commander in the ruthless Sullivan army without much skills in fighting couldn¡¯t survive long.


    These guards in the mines were completely different. They have undergone basic training, but their experience was limited. Maynard City was in the inner area of the empire. The toughest enemies they faced were bandits. These men were used to beating down disobedient slaves or slick thieves. They weren¡¯t in the mindset for combat.


    Jerry, on the other hand, was desperate. The result of the fight between him and a half-asleep Sullivan mine guard wasn¡¯t that surprising.


    A few notices popped up in the interface, but Jerry had no time to check it out. He grabbed onto Alex¡¯s hand and pulled her into the mine.


    <hr>


    When Jerry and Alex finally stopped, both were breathing heavily. Alex was so because her legs felt like they were made of steel, as in they were heavy. Jerry was so because he finally realized he just killed a man.


    I¡¯m a killer. No pressure.


    ¡°I hope wherever you hid your men, it¡¯s close, because I can¡¯t...¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡±


    Alex and Jerry turned around another corner and found themselves looking at thirty militias in white clothes. Just like the militia Chris summoned, they all had spears.


    ¡°General!¡± They turned to Jerry and greeted him.


    Jerry nodded, doing his best to catch his breath. ¡°Prepare for battle.¡± At this point, all he could do was pray that these militias would have a different fate than the one Chris summoned.


    Within half a minute, rapid footsteps started closing in. Jerry took over a spear one of the militias handed over and drew in a deep breath. Now was no longer the time for plans of schemes. Now was the time for blood and steel.


    At the heat of the moment, he suddenly realized something. Given the current situation, no matter if he lived or died, Liam would certainly find out where his forces came from and do a sweep of the entire mine. It would no doubt reveal Patel¡¯s planning. If Patel chose to wait any longer, all could be doomed. The problem was Jerry didn''t have a means to contact Patel.


    Ok...this was really a terrible idea on his part. Alas, it was too late to turn back now.


    Before Jerry could think of an idea, several Sullivan soldiers have already made it past the corner.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± One of them that first came around the corner was taken back by the wall of militias and their spears. They expected to find two teens, trapped and afraid, not a group of soldiers with uniforms and weapons. Where did they even come from? How did they get within the fences!


    Unfortunately for him, he didn''t have the time to ponder that question.


    ¡°Attack! Kill them all!¡± Jerry ordered loudly and waved his spear at the Sullivan soldiers.


    The militias moved forward. Their spears moved out at once and stabbed the first two Sullivan soldiers in the chest and stomach. The two men screamed. Their light armor offered some protection against arrows and other projectiles, but multiple spears were a little too much. They quickly collapsed. None of them were killed immediately, but that quickly changed when the militias at the front sent a few more thrusts into their chest. Soon, the militias moved forward. Their shoes stepped over the dying men.


    Honestly, Jerry was pleasantly surprised by how well the militias did. Then again, it was 30 vs 2, so...


    ¡°Stand your ground!¡±


    ¡°For the emperor!¡±


    Despite lacking the numbers, the Sullivans fought bravely. After recovering from the initial shock, the first line of troops launched themselves at the militias and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat rather than fighting in formation. This made the spears of the militias less effective. Still, the militias had the numbers, and in melee situations, numbers could be very important.


    Casualties started to rise. Jerry saw a Sullivan soldier opening up the stomach of a militia with a clean slash, only to get stabbed in the back of the neck by another militia. The metal tip of the arrow went clean through. Blood dripped down from the tip just before the militia pulled the spear back out and moved onto another target.


    One of the soldiers had his eyes set on Jerry and Alex. He charged forward with a bone-chilling battle scream. Jerry raised his spear and poked forward, but the attack was easily deflected by the soldier¡¯s blade.


    Facing the enemy, Jerry couldn¡¯t help but flinch a little. The kill he took in front of the mine was in a flash, and he didn''t even have time to get scared, but this was different. The longer he waited, the less courage he had. He really wasn¡¯t built for fighting.


    The soldier saw that as well. He simply stood back as Jerry¡¯s hands started to shake. He knew give him a couple more minutes, and his opponent would either drop his weapon or make a stupid move.


    Suddenly, blood dripped out the soldier¡¯s mouth. Jerry rose his eyebrows as the man collapsed.


    Alex was behind him. She was holding a blood-covered blade. While the soldier was mingling with Alex, she sneaked behind him and snatched the kill.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Jerry smiled in relief before suddenly stepping forward and pulling Alex back. Close to where she was, two Sullivan soldiers were being dissected by half a dozen militias.


    The battle ended quickly. At the end of the day, Jerry counted eight dead militias and twelve Sullivan casualties in the short but brutal skirmish.


    ¡°General, what do we do now?¡±


    Jerry knelt down and picked up a sword that once belonged to one of the soldiers. His mind turned despite his racing breath.


    Sneaking out was impossible. Vice Commander Liam no doubt knows about what was happening already and must have all the exits secured. The camp security is probably assembling as well. Right now, his only chance would be to join Patel¡¯s forces and take down this camp by force.


    The best way to do that was no doubt by creating more chaos.


    ¡°Advance!¡± He ordered with his calmest voice. ¡°Move out of the mines and slay every Sullivan soldier in your way!¡±

 Chapter 7: A potentially fatal error

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±


    Patel stood in front of his barn and wondered.


    A distance away, Sullivan soldiers marched into formation.


    What Patel didn''t know was that minutes ago Vice Commander Liam was thinking the same thing. When he was woken up from sleep by the noise from outside, Liam demanded to know what happened.


    ¡°Two slaves broke the curfew? Is that really a reason to wake up the entire camp?¡± He wasn¡¯t in his best mood when he woke up, especially after he realized it was just a petty thing. He was sure the sentries could take care of the escapees. He was already thinking about how to intimidate the rest of the workers tomorrow.


    But when a soldier ran in and announced the team that pursued into the mine was ambushed by a group of unknown enemy, he knew this was serious.


    The entire Sullivan garrison was assembled. Men got out of their beds, grabbed onto their swords and shields, and charged out of the room. They quickly formed a phalanx. Liam stood in front of the lines. He had a large sword by his belt and he wore a set of carefully crafted armor. A helmet covered his face and shielded his confusion from his men.


    ¡°Captain, bring fifty men into the mines and put down the rebellion!. Take the leaders alive and kill the rest.¡± He ordered. A captain obeyed and moved head on into the mines. Five lines of Sullivan soldiers followed him tightly.


    Patel watched from a distance away. He didn''t know exactly what happened, but he had hundreds of militias inside those mines. If just a squad of them was discovered by some random guard...he knew the time to act was now.


    He turned to the teens who have gathered around him after being woken up by the chaos.


    ¡°Go find your units and attack the Sullivans. Take them down. Regardless of the cost.¡± He announced as he scanned the teens one by one. ¡°We must win this, and we will win this. If we fail here...we won¡¯t have a chance to try again.¡± He paused. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The teens turned and started moving.


    <hr>


    As Jerry and his group of militias turned around another corner, the exit was just in front. Unfortunately, the exit wasn¡¯t empty.


    ¡°How the hell did they get in here? Were the sentries blind?¡± The Sullivan captain cursed as he saw the militias on the other side of the hallway. Fifty men stood behind him. He had no idea how these spear carrying men got behind all the fences and defenses and into the mines, but as the militias charged forward with their spears up, the captain realized the how could wait.


    The militias and the Sullivan soldiers charged into each other. Unfortunately, the Sullivan forces outnumbered the militias this time. Several militias fell in just twenty seconds.


    Jerry looked around for a way out. The mines had many intertwining tunnels. There were two tunnels close to where the exit was, but they were behind the Sullivan lines. Jerry didn''t believe he had the manpower to break through.


    Another militia was beheaded by the guard captain. The captain has already taken down two militias already. Jerry glanced at the spear in his grip and advised against trying to play hero and take the man down himself.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Alex asked. All the running was burning up what was left of her energy. She was starting to doze on and off.


    Jerry opened his mouth. He wanted to say some words of comfort, but there was nothing to be said or done.


    He only gripped onto his spear tightly.


    Suddenly, footsteps came in from the two tunnels behind the Sullivan forces. Jerry couldn¡¯t help but let his mouth hang open in excitement as two groups of militias struck the Sullivans in the back.


    The soldiers in the back should¡¯ve been watching the back of the entire squad, but their lack of experience caused them to stare in the exciting combat in the front rather than watch the vulnerable back. When the militias struck, the soldiers were caught by surprise. Several of them collapsed in the initial contact. The rest rushed and turned around, doing their best to fight back.


    The guard captain turned around as well after knocking one of the militias off his feet. He saw the new hostiles have already surrounded the entire group of soldiers. At this point, the most he could do was fight on and hope Liam would send reinforcement in time.


    One militia jammed his spear forward. The captain had comrades on both sides and he couldn¡¯t really dodge, but this didn''t stop him from swinging his sword and deflecting the spear to the side.


    Unfortunately, just as the captain was about to retaliate, another spear was pushed past his armor and into his body from the side. Another militia used the first militia as distraction and finished the kill. The captain was a skilled fighter, but in a situation where there wasn¡¯t much space to work with, numbers was more important than skills.


    The entire Sullivan group was gradually engulfed. Sullivan soldiers were repeatedly stabbed and fell dead. Blood soaked the rugged ground of the mines.


    Jerry carefully jumped from one piece of elevated stone to another, avoiding a small puddle of blood. A small surge of disgust was in his mouth, but he kept it down.


    Two teens walked up to him. ¡°Jerry, what happened? Is that Alex?¡± One of them glanced behind Jerry and asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Jerry replied. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter now. Are we going for it?¡±


    The teens nodded. They guessed Jerry was the source of the sudden change of plan, but they weren¡¯t exactly pissed off at him. None of them had a choice. ¡°Patel called for everyone to attack those guards. We should outnumber them.¡±


    Already, screams and cries were coming from outside. Jerry realized his mistake. At this point, timing was everything. He shouldn¡¯t waste time talking. ¡°Then we should go now. Let¡¯s go!¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Militias from all three teens converged into a single swarm and moved toward the exit of the mine.


    <hr>


    On the outside, Liam¡¯s expression turned from confused to horror as countless men in white charged out of the multiple exits of the mines with their spears ready.


    ¡°I want all the sentries in the past two days executed for treason!¡± Liam cursed as he drew his sword. His thoughts were the same as that of his fallen underlings. How did an army get into the middle of his fortress without getting seen by a single guard? The sentries deserved to die.


    All the Sullivan soldiers drew their weapons as well, but none of them liked the odds.


    There were three hundred Sullivan guards stationed in the camp. All of them were infantry. According to the thought process of Commander Hartfield, small groups of enemies could be fended off by the three hundred guards. Large groups of enemies would be taken care off by the forces stationed in Maynard City. Putting a larger army in the mines would simply be a waste.


    But not all these guards were present. Fifty men were sent into the mines and were isolated and slaughtered. Another fifty or so were scattered across the mines. They were too far from the camp to hear the initial chaos. At this point Liam only had two hundred men.


    He faced five hundred militias.


    Patel was holding onto a sword taken from a fallen Sullivan guard. It worked better than a spear. ¡°Attack! Take them down!¡± His voice was desperate. It was now or never. The former high school student wasn¡¯t quite used to making decisions that can be a matter of life and death.


    Militias charged forward and slammed into the first way of Sullivan soldiers. Immediately, following a wave of sickening sound of metal tearing through human flesh, a dozen militias and five Sullivans fell.


    More men from both sides quickly replaced the fallen.


    The teens fought in the fray as well. They weren¡¯t the most skilled group of fighters, but they weren¡¯t too bad either. Most of them came from relatively wealthy families, and in a world where food was a scarcity, they were even stronger than some of the Sullivan soldiers. After getting past the initial shock and fear, they fought well with the cover of their militias.


    Two militias launched themselves onto Liam. His carefully decorated armor showed the militias he wasn¡¯t just any common foot soldier.


    Both militias struck forward at the same time. Liam produced a war cry as he blocked both spears and tried to push it to the side. The two militias worked to keep pushing forward, but the Vice Commander was stronger. He finally deflected the two spears before taking a step forward and slashing horizontally. One of the militias was cut in half while the other took a step back just in time to avoid the miserable fate of his comrade. As Liam¡¯s blade flew by and he was on the way to pulling it back for another swing, the militia sent his spear forward again. This time it was aiming for the Vice Commander¡¯s chest.


    The spear stopped right on the armor.


    Liam breathed a sigh of relief as he cut open the neck of the confused militia. His armor was made by the best smith in Maynard City. It would take more than a single strike from a wooden spear to break through. But before he could take a break, two more militias charged up.


    As the battle continued, more militias circled around the Sullivan soldiers on all fronts. Every soldier on the side would face more than one militia. Unlike Liam, most soldiers would fall from a single stab.


    At the same time, Jerry and the two other teens got out of the mines. They paused for a few seconds as they processed the entire battlefield. All the screaming and crying and fighting and dying made them both excited and afraid.


    The two teens drew their blades, produced a scream, and charged forward with their men.


    But Jerry stay behind. His eyebrows knit together as he suddenly remembered a potentially fatal problem.


    Immediately, he grabbed onto one of the teens.


    ¡°Did Patel talk about sending some people to the gate?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The teen yelled.


    ¡°Did Patel send men to the camp¡¯s gate?¡± Jerry repeated equally loudly.


    ¡°Ahhh...I don¡¯t think so¡­¡± The teen looked at Jerry like he¡¯s crazy or something before breaking free and charging into the battle. His heart was pounding like crazy. The adrenalin in his body made him feel like he could rip through an army. He wanted to fight.


    Jerry stood there, frozen.


    This was bad. Really bad.


    The teens didn''t have enough power to challenge the entire Sullivan Empire. Jerry didn''t know what exactly Patel was thinking, but putting himself in Patel¡¯s shoes, Jerry knew the basic idea was to take over the camp, quietly, and work from there. Ideally, by the time the Sullivan forces knew the camp was gone and sent reinforcement, the teens would have emptied the mines and had an army behind their back.


    But if the gate wasn¡¯t taken over from the first possible moment, Sullivan messengers could get out of the camp and deliver the news to Sullivan commanders with more than a couple hundred men. The teens didn''t have calvary and didn''t stand a chance of intercepting the messengers. Lose the gate, and even if the teens win the battle, they would lose the war.


    Well...time for him to save the day.


    He turned to his men. ¡°Follow me...¡±


    He barely finished when he realized how small his army was. After the two battles inside the mines, half of his thirty militias were gone. With a handful of men, he could barely stay alive inside the battlefield, much less take over the gate.


    Screams continued as Jerry¡¯s mind wandered over all the things he could do. Finally, he made a decision.


    ¡°Leave ten men with her. Keep her safe at all cost!¡± He pointed at Alex. The girl was already asleep. Ten militias nodded and complied. Jerry gave Alex a last glance before stepping into the battle with three other militias.


    As soon as he stepped in, men continued to fall around him. Thanks to the protection of the three militias, he made his way to one of the teens in one piece.


    ¡°Where is Patel?¡± He screamed into the girl¡¯s ears.


    Without an army of his own, Jerry had no choice but to get help from other teens. This powerless feeling made him angry, really angry, but he had no other option.


    The girl shrugged. A stain of blood was on her pretty cheek. The small smile on her face suggested she might be enjoying this. ¡°Don¡¯t know! Saw him a while ago. He might be on the other side of the battle.¡±


    ¡°Wait...he¡¯s fighting in the field?¡± Jerry almost coughed. What the hell was Patel thinking? He was the commander! The Commander! Which wise commander would charge into the fray like a random foot soldier? An army was only strong when every member did his or her job. The role of the commander was to stay behind in safety and coordinate all the underlings. Without a leader, everyone was just blindly attacking, and victory or defeat was completely by luck. In an emergency situation, a situation like this one, there was nothing they could do.


    Calm down! Anger can¡¯t do anything. Change of plan.


    ¡°Listen to me!¡± Jerry turned to the girl and said as calmly as logically as possible. ¡°We need to go to the gate¡­oh shit!¡± A Sullivan soldier charged at him. A militia jammed a spear into the soldier¡¯s back, and the girl in front of Jerry beheaded the man with a decisive swing. Blood was splattered all over Jerry¡¯s face. The headless body collapsed on the ground while the head rolled to beside Jerry¡¯s leg.


    Jerry stared at the head for two seconds before returning to his task.


    ¡°We need to go to the gate¡­¡±


    ¡°Why? To run?¡± The girl looked at Jerry like he was a coward. ¡°Are you trying to run while the rest of us fight? You spineless bastard.¡±


    ¡°What? No¡­¡± Jerry stopped as he realized the girl simply threw him a dirty look and continued to push forward. She had no intention of listening to what he had to say, and it annoyed him. He didn''t enjoy trying to convince people.


    Again, he had no choice.


    Jerry turned around and walked to find other teens.

 Chapter 8: Victory

    Chris laid on the cold, hard floor.


    As a punishment for attempting to flee, Chris and his followers were sent to the deepest and darkest caves of the mines. They barely had any food or opportunity to see the sun. Liam intended on exhausting whatever value they had and simply getting rid of them.


    Chris¡¯ entire body burned, but he didn''t mind that too much. Over several days, the guards that watched over them gladly tortured them with any chance they got. His most several injuries were on his chest, where the Sullivans burned him at the pole two days ago. It still hurt like hell, and every contact made him feel like his skin was falling off. Then again, at this point, he just didn''t care anymore.


    All hope was lost. All he had left was hatred and rage.


    Footsteps occurred behind him. Chris turned over and found three guards walking over. They were holding whips.


    The teenager sighed. He should¡¯ve known he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to get a good night of sleep. Still, he worked to hold a straight face. There was nothing else he could do.


    The three guards looked at Chris mockingly. As the infantrymen of the lowest level, these guards didn''t have much opportunity to get some fun. Being granted the opportunity to mutilate someone was rare. They knew they would enjoy this.


    One of the guards took out a piece of paper wrapped object from his pocket. He peeled off the paper to reveal a piece of baked meat. The smell immediately filled the tunnel.


    Chris¡¯ eyes twitched. He hasn¡¯t eaten well for days, and he was working hard almost every minute he was awake. He was starving. The piece of meat attracted him more than a mountain of gold right now.


    His expression changed when the soldier dropped the piece of meat on the floor.


    ¡°Oops.¡± The soldier smirked viciously. ¡°Sorry. I guess you¡¯ll just have to eat it from the ground. Then again, this won¡¯t make a difference for a rat like you.¡±


    Chris¡¯ fist tightened. He glanced at the meat but didn''t move.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you.¡± He merely stated.


    ¡°Well, good luck on that. Speaking of kill...¡±


    The guards exchanged a look before approaching Chris. Just as they were about to do something, they suddenly heard footsteps from behind. They turned around and found a fellow guard walking over with his back facing the trio.


    ¡°John? What is it?¡±


    One of the guards frowned. When there was no answer, he walked over and tapped the guard.


    As if the tap led to a domino effect, the guard collapsed onto the ground. A deep wound was in his chest.


    The other guard¡¯s eyes widened as multiple figures approached around the corner. He dropped his whip and reached for his blade, but before he could do that, a spear went through his neck and ended his life.


    The other two had the time to drew their blades. Just as they were about to strike back, Chris leaped onto one of them from the back. He wrapped one arm around the guard¡¯s neck and pulled out his sword with the other. He easily slit the man¡¯s throat and held him still as he struggled for breath.


    ¡°I told you so.¡± He whispered before completely beheading the guard, partly for just in case and partly because he enjoyed it.


    The other guard survived two seconds longer before being dissected by the militias.


    Chris finally let go of the body and turned to the teen that came to rescue him, whose militias have already secured the tunnels.


    ¡°Can you still fight?¡± Chris¡¯ rescuer was a tall redhead. She flipped two daggers in her hands. The third guard¡¯s corpse was still twitching, and the girl casually stepped on the corpse¡¯s neck and pushed down, causing a series of cracking sound.


    Chris smiled coldly. The way he executed that guard painted his face full of blood, but he didn''t seem to be bothered at all. He picked up the sword from the other fallen guard.


    ¡°Always.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Get this wagon loaded!¡± Jonah screamed as his servants loaded up a large, horse-drawn wagon. The content of the cart was covered by pieces of clothes, but from time to time, when the wind blew by and lifted the curtain, anyone could see the cart was filled with minerals.


    When he heard the situation wasn¡¯t going well, Jonah didn''t hesitate to run. If Liam fled, he would be executed for abandoning his duty. But Jonah wasn¡¯t a soldier. He was an advisor. There was simply nothing he could do here. Plus, if it comes to it, Jonah could always just take these minerals, trade them for gold, and hide somewhere. Almost anything could beat being ripped apart by angry slaves in rebellion.


    All the minerals on the cart were results of years of corruption.


    Sophia walked behind him. A chain was around her neck and her wrists. She scanned the surrounding, looking for a way to escape. But when Jonah turned around and caught her glancing around, he didn''t hesitate to whip her. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    As the girl screamed, Jonah couldn¡¯t help but feel a sickening sense of pleasure. He didn''t enjoy having to run away one bit, but if anything could make him feel better, it was the scream of his victims.


    Suddenly, a figure appeared behind a line of now empty tents. Jonah tensed up at first, but he relaxed when he realized it was Raymond, the slave that betrayed his own people.


    Truth to be told, Jonah was mostly afraid of seeing rebels or soldiers. Rebels would obviously want to feast on his flesh, and soldiers wouldn¡¯t be too happy that he was fleeing when they were fighting to the last moment. During the heat of the battle, the rule of law might be weakened. Any soldier could suddenly decide to kill Jonah and his servants and take the minerals for themselves.


    Raymond was different. He was alone. Also, judging from what he did, he was a coward. He would never risk his own life by making an attempt on the wagon.


    Jonah took a breath of relief and turned back to the wagons, ignoring Raymond. Sophia looked at Raymond in disappointment. Suddenly, she saw multiple figures moving from behind Raymond.


    ¡°My lord!¡± One of the servants saw it as well. Under his horrified eyes, dozens of militias in purple clothes charged out. They immediately charged forward and executed the servants. Servants weren¡¯t soldiers. They had neither the number nor the strength to resist. When they tried to flee, they realized the enemies have them completely surrounded and were coming in from all directions. They were quickly slaughtered to the last.


    When the screams died down, only Jonah and Sophia were standing.


    ¡°Raymond? What are you doing?¡± Jonah demanded while nervously glancing at the shiny spears of the militias. ¡°Vice Commander Liam treated you well...no no no!¡±


    Raymond stuck his knife into the advisor¡¯s left eye. As the man collapsed, a satisfied grin appeared on Raymond¡¯s face. However, his grin changed when he turned back to Sophia.


    ¡°Sophia,¡± He paused and lowered his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what I did.¡±


    ¡°You betrayed Chris!¡± Sophia remembered what she saw several days ago. ¡°They were captured and tortured because of you!¡±


    ¡°I had to do what was necessary to survive.¡± The man replied. ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy what I had to do. Just like you don¡¯t enjoy being the personal toy of this pathetic sack of meat, I don¡¯t enjoy being a traitor either.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t choose to be enslaved!¡±


    ¡°And I didn''t choose to be a tattle-teller either.¡± Raymond sighed. ¡°When I was brought to Liam, I either had to strike a deal with him or I was dead. I was too weak to try to escape with Chris. If they made it out, Liam will no doubt unleash his frustration on me, especially if I made a deal with him but failed to tell him about the escape.¡±


    He turned around and glanced at the militias. ¡°But that¡¯s changed now. Liam gave me a chest of gold. How stupid of him. I used the gold to summon soldiers. Now I have an army. We can join forces with the others and take down these Sullivans. This nightmare will be over soon.¡±


    ¡°You just realized we¡¯re going to win, so you decided to join us.¡± Sophia suddenly realized where Raymond¡¯s sudden change of heart came from. ¡°You¡¯re a turncoat! You joined the Sullivans because they were the victors then, and now they¡¯ve lost you¡¯re joining us!¡±


    Raymond tapped his head and changed the topic. ¡°Do you want to win this battle or not? I have a hundred men. Give me your word, and I will lead them into battle.¡±


    ¡°What word?¡±


    ¡°You have to promise me that you¡¯ll tell the others I had no choice. Tell them to accept me back into the group.¡±


    While Sophia spent most of the time in the camp being enslaved, she used to be the leader in the class, along with Patel. She was seen as the smartest girl in the class. People listened to and trusted her. Circumstances changed, but her influence remained. Raymond knew he would likely be untouchable with an army behind his back, but he wasn¡¯t taking any chances.


    Sophia frowned. A part of her wanted Raymond to pay for his betrayal, but she knew that was impossible. Plus, the screams from the middle of the camp, where the two sides were clashing, wasn¡¯t quieting down anytime soon. Sophia couldn¡¯t see how the battle was going. All she knew was a hundred fresh troops could certainly change the field of battle.


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    <hr>


    Sullivan forces and militias were at each other''s throat all across the center of the camp. At this point, the formations have been shattered, and men were simply wandering around the field, attacking any enemy they met. Countless were stabbed in the back by one enemy while facing another. Commanders from both sides were fighting in the field, and there was little coordination. The entire thing was a mess.


    The two reinforcements quickly turned the tide of the battle.


    Chris, his followers, and the girl that rescued him, Isabella, charged into the field with two dozen militias. The man was a beast. Days of torture only seemed to have made him more zealous. The fear he once had while facing Sullivan soldiers was turned to rage, and this rage allowed him to move faster and strike harder.


    A Sullivan soldier was in his way. Chris jumped on top of him with reddened eyes and struck down repeatedly with his double blades. The soldier tried to protect himself by raising his weapon to meet Chris¡¯ blades, but the man¡¯s attacks were relentless. Eventually, the soldier¡¯s arm was numbed and he failed to recover from one of the strikes quick enough. The follow up hit almost severed him into two. It was almost because there was still a string of skin attaching the two parts.


    His followers were equally violent. They attacked fearlessly and quickly mauled down multiple Sullivan soldiers.


    Isabella was more agile. She seemed to be dancing rather than fighting. Whenever a Sullivan soldier tried to strike her down, she would get out of the weapon¡¯s way as delicate as a ballerina before slicing down on the hand holding the sword. When the soldier dropped his weapon and was defenseless, Isabella would go for the neck.


    Of course, none of the teens were really experienced, but the Sullivan soldiers were uncoordinated and confused. Several of them were struck in the back while others mostly engaged the teens one by one. They were also exhausted after fighting the militias. If they were still fresh troops in a tight formation, Chris and Isabella would find themselves decimated.


    When Raymond and his men entered the field, it was the last breaking straw. The additional men was great, but the reinforcement did the most damage to the morale of the Sullivan soldiers. The soldiers held their ground expecting reinforcement. At the very least they hoped their foes would lose this war of attrition first. The new troops shattered that dream and sent them fleeing.


    Liam was killed. It was anticlimactic. One of the militias managed to jam a spear into his leg. When Liam collapsed, a teen was able to stick a sword into his neck, practically taking his head off. Without his head, the Vice Commander died just like any other one of his underlings.


    When the smoke finally cleared, over a hundred militias laid dead in the field. Out of the three hundred Sullivan guards, two hundred and eleven perished. The rest were all taken prisoners.


    The teens have successfully taken over the mine.


    But just as they dropped their weapons and sat down on the blood-soaked ground, ready to take a breath of relief, they found a young man running toward them.


    ¡°Guys?¡± Jerry announced as he came closer. ¡°We have a problem.¡±

 Chapter 9: Seal the gate

    When the militias were still fighting the Sullivan forces, when Chris was still getting rescued and when Raymond was making a move on Jonah, Jerry scoured through the battlefield, trying to find someone willing to listen to him.


    This wasn¡¯t a good idea. Most people he met ignored him either before or after listening to him.


    A scream came from the side. One of the Sullivan soldiers leaped onto one of Jerry¡¯s militias. Jerry was about to turn around to help when a wave of friendly militias pushed him and his men forward. Jerry happened to be in their way. When Jerry finally got out of the horde, he found himself facing half a dozen Sullivan soldiers. More importantly, his bodyguards were scattered along the way.


    The Sullivan soldiers saw Jerry almost as soon as he saw them. They charged forward with swords raised. Jerry gulped. Just as he was about to turn around and flee, an arrow came in from the side and pierced one of the Sullivan soldiers through the chest.


    Jerry turned and found a brunette holding a bow. A quiver was on her back. She pulled out another arrow from the quiver, loaded it onto her bow, and fired it. The arrow struck another soldier in the leg and sent him to the ground. In the middle of a battle as intense as this one, on the ground was equal to death. Even if a sword or a spear didn''t get them, the shoes of their comrades would.


    Militias moved in from behind her and engaged the enemies. Spears clashed with swords.


    Jerry walked up to the brunette. He recognized her as an absolute lover of archery from his class. She saved his life, but he had no time to thank her.


    ¡°Nicole! Listen to me! We have a problem!¡±


    Nicole rose her eyebrows. Instead of brushing past Jerry like everyone else, she actually lowered her bow and listened.


    Jerry, slightly surprised, explained to her his concerns.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t hold the gate, we will be facing an army the next morning.¡± He finally concluded. He just shot out several sentences in just seconds. It was the fastest he has ever talked.


    Nicole nodded in agreement. Almost without thinking, she turned to her militias. ¡°Fall back!¡±


    The militias that belonged to Nicole pulled back. Their absence left an opening in the militia formations. If the Sullivans were led by a skilled commander, they would deploy a squad and strike the opening, potentially breaking a hole in the militia lines. Unfortunately, at this moment, the Sullivans were as blind and aimless as the militias.


    Jerry, Nicole, and fifteen or so militias started making their way toward the gate. From time to time they would run into a Sullivan soldier, but Nicole dealt with them easily. Her arrows rarely missed.


    Archery used to be a mere hobby to her, but now it made her several times more powerful than her fellow teens.


    ¡°I got third in the State archery contest.¡± The girl commented as Jerry looked at her with surprise.


    Finally, the squad reached the gate. Jerry was slightly taken back when he saw the gate was still guarded. Even when the militias were launching a full on assault on the Sullivans, Liam still kept a dozen men at the gate. Both towers held several archers. This might be more complicated than just walking to the gate and closing it.


    Unlike Jerry, Nicole attacked without hesitation. She took aim and fired in less than two seconds. A Sullivan archer screamed as he fell down from the tower. The arrow struck him in the chest.


    The rest of the archers retaliated. Jerry has wisely cowered behind a piece of large rock as militias charged forward.


    Several Sullivan sentries at the gate drew their blades and went into melee combat with the militias. They had fewer numbers, but the archers on the tower provided some support. Ten seconds after the initial contact, two militias were shot by arrows and one was sliced apart by a Sullivan sentry.


    Nicole acted as the only ranged unit of the attackers, and she was damn good at it. Archer after archer fell off the towers. When the archers tried to take Nicole down, the girl hid behind trees or other obstacles. When the archers tried to reinforce their brothers on the ground, Nicole would pop her head out and take down another archer.


    Eventually, all the guards were down.


    Jerry finally walked over.


    ¡°Crisis averted?¡± Nicole asked as she knelt down beside an archer and plucked the arrow that killed him out of his corpse. Resources were scarce in this circumstance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jerry frowned as he moved from body to body, trying to find someone that survived the onslaught but couldn¡¯t find any. ¡°We should¡¯ve kept one of them alive to ask if a messenger has already left. I¡¯m sorry. I should¡¯ve told you that sooner.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to apologize,¡± Nicole replied casually. She looked at Jerry and smiled in reassurance. ¡°I¡¯m sure everything¡¯s going to be fine¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Jerry answered bluntly.


    Jerry¡¯s blunt response obviously took Nicole by surprise. At this time, the sound of battle has already died down. The sight of militias a distance away told them their friends were the ones who came out op top. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    But Jerry had no time to talk to Nicole. Instead, he turned and ran toward the battlefield. If news about what happened here indeed got out, then the teens needed every second they had to get ready just to have a chance of survival.


    <hr>


    ¡°You are saying one of the messengers might¡¯ve got out?¡±


    The teens formed a circle around Jerry while militias cleaned up the battlefield. Patel was the one that asked the question.


    ¡°Yes. We need to...¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the worry? We can just kill whoever attacks here.¡±


    Chris'' voice came from the side. Jerry turned and found the man swinging a standard Sullivan sword around. Scars covered his body. Several other teens stood behind him. One of them was the girl who ignored Jerry when he first attempted to get help to go to the gate.


    She tossed him a dirty look.


    Jerry took a deep breath.


    ¡°Kill the attackers? If you cared to talk to other prisoners inside this very camp, you would¡¯ve learned that the Sullivan Empire contains hundreds of larger cities and thousands of smaller ones. It has hundreds of thousands of soldiers under its banners. How are we going to stop them? With a handful of farmers with spikes?¡±


    He did quite some research before the rebellion. A couple of chats with his fellow workers told him all about the Sullivan Empire. Information was one of the most important parts of war. Unfortunately, his fellow comrades didn''t seem to know that.


    The teens looked worried for a second, but one of the teens suddenly spoke up.


    ¡°They won¡¯t send too many men to a random mine in a random ditch. We can deal with them. Hell, we don¡¯t know if a messenger got out either.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that!¡± Jerry turned to him. ¡°Are we really leaving our fate to luck?¡±


    ¡°Speaking of luck.¡± The girl that gave Jerry the dirty look, Jerry remembered her name to be Kirsten, stepped forward and spoke. Jerry suddenly had a terrible feeling about this. ¡°Where were you when we fought those guards?¡±


    How in the world is that related to luck? ¡°That¡¯s not important right now¡­¡±


    ¡°I killed three men back there. How many did you kill?¡±


    Jerry paused, seeing where Kirsten was going. He knew he couldn¡¯t let her continue down this road.


    ¡°Fine. You¡¯re worth three militias and 45 gold. So what?¡±


    Kirsten smirked. Her dislike for him was right on her face. ¡°I saw you in the field. When we fought for our lives, when I killed those men, you tucked your tail behind your legs and ran away. Why should we listen to the words of a coward? Also...who initiated the attacks? We were completely caught by surprise. If we would''ve known about this, we could have been so much better prepared!¡± The girl stared at Jerry, knowing the answer to her own question.


    Jerry¡¯s mouth hung open from disbelief. What made him even more shocked was that the other teens seemed to have agreed with him. Their look at him started turning to annoyance and even mocking.


    He did his best to press the issue.


    ¡°Look, if we can set up barricades¡­¡±


    His words became less important to the teens when a wave of footsteps approached from the side. The teens and their militias converged and raised their weapons.


    They were met by Sophia, Raymond, and a hundred militias in purple leather jackets.


    Chris stepped forward. Rage was in his eyes. His knuckles went white as he gripped tightly onto his sword.


    ¡°Traitor!¡± He stared at Raymond. Behind him, the other teens that were part of the failed attempt to escape were furious as well. If it wasn¡¯t for Raymond, they could¡¯ve been days away from this camp already. Especially after killing multiple Sullivans, these teens weren¡¯t afraid to add some more blood to their hand.


    The militias under their command were ready for battle as well.


    Before Raymond could do anything, Sophia stepped forward.


    Sophia started explaining how Raymond didn''t have a choice and how sorry he truly was. Jerry could hear Chris complaining and Patel trying to calm everyone down. Unfortunately, he didn''t care.


    Why would everyone think a random teen is more important than the safety of everyone in the camp? They should be worrying about getting ready to either defend the camp or evacuate!


    Voices kept on coming, but Jerry wasn¡¯t listening.


    <hr>


    Six hours after the uprising, the battlefield was already returned back to normal.


    Raymond and Chris still weren¡¯t best friends, but they managed to restrain themselves from killing each other. Raymond¡¯s one hundred men added to the around four hundred militias the teens had left and returned the overall unit count in the camp to five hundred.


    To Jerry¡¯s disgust, the teens were celebrating. Over a week of torture made them tired, hungry, and stressed. It also made them feel justified to relax a little. Food from the camp¡¯s storage like pork and steak, reserved for the Sullivan officers, were carried out and shared by the teens.


    When Jerry talked to Patel about this, the virtual leader of the camp didn''t find a problem with that.


    ¡°You need to learn to relax a little, Jerry. We can work on the defenses tomorrow.¡± The man looked certain. ¡°I talked to one of the prisoners that used to be a soldier stationed in the closest city, Maynard City. It takes two days to march an army from there to here. Considering the time it takes going to and coming back, I¡¯d say we have some time to lay down and take a break.¡±


    Jerry turned and left without another word.


    On the positive side, Alex¡¯s situation got better. Jerry always knew she was a tough cookie. Her fever was disappearing. She was still asleep, and Jerry gladly allowed her to continue doing that. Underneath his bed wasn¡¯t exactly a comfortable place to rest.


    After he left Patel, Jerry went to the mineral bank of the camp. The bank kept the minerals harvested from the mines before they were taken away by Sullivan transport parties.


    He was stopped by two militias.


    ¡°Hold it right there, General Jerry. General Patel has ordered the warehouse to be sealed off to everyone, including you.¡± One of the militias declared. He belonged to Patel.


    As Jerry was stopped, instead of being angry or irritated, he was glad.


    If Patel left the warehouse unguarded, any teen could walk into the warehouse, loot all the minerals, and walk out with a private army. If Patel did that he would be beyond salvation. At that point Jerry might even consider leaving.


    ¡°Very well.¡± He replied to the militia before turning around and walking toward the mines. The other slaves beside the teens were no longer forced to work either, so the mines were pretty much empty.


    Jerry went from tunnel to tunnel, turning scrap pieces of metal into gold. When he came out of the mines an hour later, he had over six hundred more units of gold.


    That meant forty more militias. This was enough to replenish Jerry¡¯s exhausted forces and allow him to do something by himself without anyone else¡¯s approval or support.


    Judging from the situation, Jerry might need to rely on himself quite a bit.

 Chapter 10: Two ways to deal with stress

    When Jerry rejoined the crowd, the feast was already pretty much over. In fact, after all the fighting and all the leisure, the day was already getting dark.


    Everyone should be ready for some logical talk on a full stomach, right?


    Jerry realized his mistake when he saw the teens were leaving...in pairs.


    Seriously?


    Jerry¡¯s eyebrows tightened. His eyelids were growing heavier and heavier. He hasn¡¯t slept for nearly two days. The running and fighting didn''t help him to stay awake either. But Jerry knew he had no time to rest. Enemy forces could be here any minute. He rested his hand on the handle of his sword and felt his mind slightly clearing up at the feeling of cold metal.


    ¡°Jerry. Where have you been?¡±


    Jerry turned around and find Nicole. The girl had her bow wrapped around her body. The piece of string went through between her breasts. It made her look even hotter than she originally was.


    ¡°Busy.¡± He replied, not feeling the need to give details about his whereabouts to Nicole. ¡°Apparently I¡¯m not the only one.¡± He glanced at the other teens with disappointment.


    Nicole rose her eyebrows in interest.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like seeing others have sex?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like seeing people waste time when they¡¯re about to die.¡±


    ¡°As blunt as always, aren¡¯t you?¡± Nicole replied with a small smile. ¡°You know, the others are right in one thing. We need some rest. All of us, including you.¡± She grabbed onto her bow and turned it around in her hand. ¡°You¡¯re like this bow. Keep it stretched, and eventually, it will snap. Only when you let it go when you don¡¯t need to shoot it can you keep it working for a long time.¡±


    Jerry felt his eyelids continuing to stick together. ¡°I won¡¯t snap. Even if I do, it¡¯s better than about to die and not knowing it.¡±


    He tapped his forehead and sat down on a piece of rock. Nicole sat down right next to him. Jerry glanced at her. He didn''t like to be too close to someone else. It made him feel like his personal space was invaded. He slid slightly to the side.


    Nicole glanced at him and did the same thing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have something better to do?¡± Jerry could no longer contain an outburst. ¡°I don¡¯t know...find a boy or a girl or something. What do you want with me?¡±


    ¡°Finding a boy.¡±


    Jerry turned around just in time to feel Nicole leaning toward him. Her lips met his.


    Instead of feeling sexual desires, Jerry immediately reacted in the most dramatic way possible. His hands pressed down on the rock and pushed him back, keeping a distance between Nicole and him.


    ¡°What was that?¡± The girl demanded in confusion.


    Jerry¡¯s mouth opened immediately, but it took him a couple seconds to come up with a response he saw as suitable.


    ¡°We have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Go get some rest.¡±


    The entire time, Jerry did his best to be as logical as possible. Logically speaking, having sex now would be all harm and no good. Nicole¡¯s bow analogy had a point, but there was another side to it. If the bow was relaxed, it couldn¡¯t be stretched again when it was needed. Likewise, Jerry felt like if he allowed himself to take a break and enjoy himself now, he would never gather the strength to do what has to be done.


    His personal pleasure could be sacrificed for the greater good.


    He turned around and left Nicole without a sense of regret.


    Behind him, Nicole tilted her head. Being denied didn''t seem to stop her curiosity.


    Jerry got back to his bunker. He found a way to queue the units he needed to summon so that after one militia was summoned, another would follow automatically. He positioned all of his militias around his house. This way, he could take some rest in safety.


    Or that was what he thought.


    Jerry fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the ground.


    Meanwhile, the rest of the teens were having fun. Chris found himself in a threesome with Kirsten and Isabella. Patel found a companion in Sophie. The teens who weren¡¯t having sex were enjoying bottles of wine looted from Liam¡¯s chamber.


    Perhaps the only one sober was Raymond. Similar to Jerry, Raymond retreated to a large tent that formerly belonged to a Sullivan captain and went to sleep under the layers of protection of his militias.


    Everyone had his own way of dealing with stress. Some used distractions. Others tried to solve the sources of the stress. Which method is better?


    The answer is debatable.


    <hr>


    Jerry woke up several hours later in cold sweat. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    When he was asleep, his mind still refused to go completely dormant. Instead, it jumped between multiple different things. One second Jerry¡¯s mind was filled with images of his friends being slaughtered. The next second he was about to be hung in front of a crowd of hundreds. And yet the next a sea of red riders descended on top of him and crushed him to a piece of well-made meat pie.


    He was finally woken up by the nightmares.


    Jerry wasn¡¯t stranger with these type of occurrences. Ever since he was a child, he was a sensitive person. He worried about everything, from getting a bad grade in school to potentially walking into the wrong classroom in the first day of school. From time to time he would even have nightmares about them.


    The only problem was worrying about test scores wasn¡¯t quite the same as worrying about being killed.


    Jerry closed his eyes and tried to grab on to his logical front.


    Relax. You¡¯re safe. The closest Sullivan garrison is two days away. I talked to multiple sources and confirmed that. Even if a messenger got out on a horse, it would take him at least one day to get to Maynard City. It will be at least three days until the attack parties return. You¡¯re safe.


    But that led Jerry to a problem. What happens three days later? What happens when hundreds of Sullivan soldiers arrive to crush the rebellion? Jerry was sure the others were aware of this problem, but they chose to ignore it. All the drinks and sex were just to distract them from the inevitable truth.


    But Jerry couldn¡¯t. He would rather die than knowingly blind himself and rely on others to hopefully solve the problem.


    People are untrustworthy. Depending solely on people will only lead to unfavorable results.


    Jerry¡¯s eyes snapped open, and he sat up from the bed. He rubbed his eyes before walking out of the tent. It was still dark outside, but Jerry could see a shade of light on the horizon. All the teens were asleep. Jerry saw several boys lying across the field. Empty bottles laid around them.


    ¡°Assemble!¡± Jerry shouted, and his 52 militias assembled.


    ¡°Leave twenty men here. The rest of you follow me!¡±


    The militias obeyed without question. Twenty men stayed behind and patrolled around the tent. The rest followed Jerry and approached the exit of the camp.


    As Jerry walked by Patel¡¯s sentries, he paused.


    ¡°Tell your general I¡¯m out for reconnaissance objectives. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    <hr>


    Patel was woken up by the chaos outside. He was about to get up when he noticed the warm, soft body beside him.


    Sophie.


    His head hurt. He remembered talking to Sophie during the meal. Patel was talking about his stress and fear when he set up the rebellion. At those days, even the slightest sound made his head hurt and his heart pound because it might mean a group of militias were discovered, and the Sullivans were here to arrest and torture him. He could swear he lost twenty pounds during those few days.


    Sophie was venting about her days of torment at the hand of Jonah. The sadistic Sullivan advisor put a collar on her and whipped and burned her. The physical pain was matched by the humiliation. Sophie did her best to stay strong during those days, and she was indeed strong enough to live through the torture, but during this period of relaxation, no matter how small, she allowed herself to take off her armor and let her vulnerable side out. She knew Patel for years, and the two were quite close. Sophie felt comfortable crying in front of him.


    Before they knew it, they started drinking to forget the pain. With alcohol in the stomach and their heads getting dizzy, they gained a false sense of security.


    And then the talks started to turn to action...on bed.


    Patel groaned again as the chaos grew louder and louder. He tapped on Sophie¡¯s shoulder gently, and couldn¡¯t help but enjoy the soft feeling.


    ¡°Sophie.¡±


    ¡°What? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Patel said as he got off the bed and started getting dressed. ¡°I¡¯ll go check it out. You can stay in if you want.¡±


    The man got out of the camp two minutes later. His head continued to hurt, and it only hurt more when he saw what was going on outside.


    Chris was standing in the field. Several other teens stood behind him. Three lines of militias held tightly to their spears. In front of them were two lines of Sullivan prisoners.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Patel demanded.


    During the uprising, when all hope of victory was lost, a number of Sullivan soldiers surrendered. There was nearly a hundred of them, in fact. Patel had them imprisoned in a warehouse. He didn''t give any thought about what to do with them.


    Chris glanced at Patel. ¡°Ah. Here comes the king.¡±


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Patel ignored Chris¡¯s mocking tone.


    ¡°Oh...nothing. We''re just talking about how we¡¯re going to slaughter a few pigs. It¡¯s no big deal. In fact, it¡¯s certainly not important enough to wake up the king. I sincerely apologize for that.¡±


    ¡°Slaughter a few pigs...Ahh.¡± Patel turned and saw the Sullivan prisoners. He realized what Chris was planning. ¡°Wait a second, they are prisoners!¡±


    ¡°They are monsters who tortured us and humiliated us. They even branded us, remember?¡± Chris suddenly grew extremely impatient as he pulled his shirt up, revealing the large burn mark left on him as a result of his attempt to escape. ¡°They deserve a slow, painful death. Every single one of them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s murder.¡± Patel stood his ground. ¡°Kill an enemy in the field, and you¡¯re a soldier. Kill an enemy here, and you¡¯re a murderer. If we kill these Sullivan soldiers, we will be no different from them.¡±


    He remembered hearing this theory from some tv show or movie. It always worked.


    But this time Chris smirked again.


    ¡°I assure you, we will be different from them¡­¡±


    ¡°...because we will be much, much crueler than they are.¡±


    As Patel stood in shock, Chris scanned the entire crowd.


    ¡°Last night, I was made aware,¡± He glanced at Isabella and Kirsten. The latter licked her lips. ¡°that while some of us fought bravely, others cowered behind. Some of us have killed, yet others preferred to keep their hands clean.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. That must be changed. If you are too afraid to take the risk. Fine.¡± The man scanned all the teens. ¡°I have terminated the risk, but at the end of the day here, every single one of you must have taken a life.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not our boss.¡± One of the teens shouted. After all that happened, and with an army in their command, most teens here weren¡¯t exactly obedient.


    Chris smirked. ¡°Perhaps, but if you refuse to kill an enemy, even if it¡¯s completely safe for you, it means you are a liability, and I will not lay down my life for a piece of liability. I will have to ask you to leave.¡±


    Half the militia in the camp suddenly thumped their spears on the ground. They either belonged to Chris or his followers and supporters. Most of the teens subconsciously shook, taken by surprise.


    Chris smirked.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s get started.¡±


    He looked through the crowd again.


    ¡°Where is Jerry?¡±

 Chapter 11: Prepare for war

    When Jerry finally made his way through the gate, pass the sentries, and back into the camp, he found himself facing the crowd of teens.


    ¡°Ah. I see you have finally gotten up.¡± He frowned when he realized the crowd had their gaze fixed on him. The attention made him flinch. ¡°Something wrong?¡±


    The crowd moved to the side, making a way for Chris. Isabella and Kirsten followed him.


    Chris quickly stated his demand.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Jerry¡¯s face twitched. He was near speechless. ¡°What I am hearing is...you want me to kill a prisoner to prove a point?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kirsten nodded with a proud smirk.


    ¡°There are more important things to do.¡±


    ¡°What can be more important than this?¡±


    ¡°The Sullivans!¡± Jerry felt his temper growing. ¡°We need to do something!¡±


    ¡°And we will...after we decide who¡¯s friend and who¡¯s foe.¡±


    Jerry looked into Chris¡¯s eyes. The larger man returned the gaze without any fear or hesitation.


    ¡°And if I refuse?¡±


    ¡°Then you will have to leave. We will not allow someone who is a liability to remain with us and drag us down to the graves.¡±


    Jerry took a deep breathe. He had several dozen militias. It wasn¡¯t enough to do anything at all by itself. If he wanted to repel the inevitable Sullivan attack, he needed to stick to the others. He has talked to the prisoners and realized the mining camp was in the middle of Sullivan territories. He couldn¡¯t even flee if he lost the cover of the alliance.


    But he really didn''t want to do this. He killed a Sullivan soldier back in the mines, and it was horrifying, but he could justify that by saying it was what must be done. Killing the prisoner was different. The prisoner didn''t pose a threat to him at all. Jerry turned and glanced at Patel, seeking for help, but the man simply shook his head slightly.


    The hierarchy inside the group of teens was a little complicated. Patel was the one that united everyone inside the mines and turned them against the Sullivans. He had the support of most of the teens. People listened to him. Chris, on the other hand, attracted many supports for his brutality and decisiveness. People saw his willingness to use violence freely as a sign of power. Apart from those that went through the same suffering with him and shared his ideology in the process, people like Kirsten and Isabella joined him as well.


    In this case, Chris¡¯s argument had some logic to most of the teens, whose sense of ethics have been largely diminished by the cruelty of this new world. Just days ago, they would¡¯ve seen this action as a war crime. Now, they saw executing prisoners as a shown of strength.


    Realizing he could get no support from the other teens, Jerry turned back to Chris.


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    He pushed the words through his teeth.


    Chris smirked and waved his hand. Two militias dragged a Sullivan prisoner over. The man looked tired and hungry. He was trembling with fear.


    ¡°Please...I didn''t do anything! I¡¯m just a cook! Show some mercy!¡±


    Jerry¡¯s head snapped at Chris, demanding an explanation.


    ¡°Well, I was afraid you couldn¡¯t handle a soldier, so I took the liberty to give you someone easier.¡± Chris gestured for Jerry¡¯s sword. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t even handle an unarmed cook.¡±


    Jerry gulped and turned back to the prisoner in front of him. He had no other choice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    He drew his blade and raised it, ready to strike.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    The cook sudden shouted. Jerry paused. His hand continued to shake as he held his hand up.


    The cook took a deep breath.


    ¡°My mother is in Maynard City. She¡¯s over eighty years old. If I die...she will be alone and without support. Please, if you can, take care of her for me. I¡¯m begging you...¡±


    ¡°Put down her name and her address. I will do what I can.¡± Jerry replied quietly. He took out a piece of paper and a pen and laid it in front of the prisoner. He waved his hand, and two of his militias untied the prisoner¡¯s hands. Jerry felt sympathy toward the prisoner, but his logic remained. He didn''t want to be attacked by the prisoner because he felt bad for him.


    The prisoner put down a line of address and a name on the paper. He handed it to one of the militias, who handed it to Jerry. Jerry glanced at it and nodded. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The prisoner knelt back down and closed his eyes.


    Jerry pushed his sword into the prisoner¡¯s heart.


    As the body collapsed, Jerry¡¯s face was pale.


    Without a word, he pulled the sword out of the body and, holding it, walked toward Chris. Kirsten and Isabella rested their hands on their swords in alertness, but Jerry ignored them. Chris gently pushed the two girls to the side.


    ¡°Happy now?¡± Jerry asked, doing his best to keep his voice as calm and cold as possible. Deep down, he wanted to either lose his calm and attack Chris or break down in tears. Unfortunately, he could afford to do neither.


    Chris grinned.


    Jerry finally turned back to Patel and the other teens.


    ¡°Now, can we talk?¡±


    <hr>


    The teens assembled in the house that formerly belonged to Vice Commander Liam. They could still hear screams and cries from outside. Chris eventually managed to force everyone to kill a Sullivan prisoner. When he tried to force Sophia to do the same thing, Patel objected, but Sophie herself decided she wanted to do it. She grabbed a spear and pushed it through a Sullivan officer¡¯s neck. The man bled to death, slowly and painfully.


    Those that survived the teenagers were executed by the militias.


    ¡°While you were doing whatever bullshit it is you were doing, I went to examine the surrounding.¡± Ignoring the chaos, Jerry took out a large piece of paper and laid it down on the table in the center of the room. It was a rough map of the camp and its surrounding areas. Jerry made it when he was outside.


    ¡°There¡¯s a giant valley to the north of this camp. That¡¯s where we went through when we were captured and taken here. That is also the closest path to Maynard City, which means that¡¯s probably where the Sullivan forces will be coming from.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s where we will face them in the field.¡± Chris declared.


    Jerry glanced at him like he was an idiot.


    ¡°Can we set up an ambush?¡± Patel was wiser. ¡°If we get on the two sides of the valley and attack when the Sullivan soldiers are passing through, we can take them by surprise.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea. Technically speaking, it¡¯s possible.¡± Jerry recalled what he saw when he walked through the valley. ¡°The two sides aren¡¯t too steep and aren¡¯t too narrow. Our people can charge down safely, and it will be much tougher for the Sullivans to launch a counterattack up the slope.¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s what we will do.¡± Patel decided. Chris shrugged. He didn''t enjoy having Patel make the calls, but as long as he could kill someone, he was fine.


    Jerry, on the other hand, considered more sides of the issue.


    ¡°The element of surprise will give us an edge, but I¡¯m afraid we still don¡¯t have the men. Keep in mind we only have militias. When we took the camp, we outnumbered the Sullivan soldiers by over five to one. And those Sullivan soldiers weren¡¯t even elite. They were just guards who haven¡¯t had experience with battle for quite a while, judging from what I heard from the prisoners. This time, we will be facing elite Sullivan soldiers that are more plentiful in numbers. We can¡¯t win the fight with, what, four hundred militias?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred, but I see your point.¡± Patel reminded. A hundred militias perished in the previous battle, but Raymond¡¯s entrance replenished those losses. ¡°I have secured the mine storage after taking over the camp. We can divide them and turn them to militias.¡±


    ¡°But how are we going to divide them?¡± Raymond suddenly asked.


    ¡°Evenly?¡± Patel answered in confusion.


    ¡°Evenly?¡± Chris suddenly objected. ¡°You are saying we should give the same resource to those that fought in the frontline to those that hid themselves through the battle? I say we divide the resources based on merit.¡± Isabella, Kirsten, and his followers nodded. They have fought side by side with the militias. This way of division was good for them.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair¡­¡±


    ¡°This is not a democracy!¡± Chris decided. ¡°Period. If anyone have a problem, they should face me and challenge me like a man.¡± He tapped his sword. ¡°Anyone?¡±


    Jerry gripped his fist tight. Just moments ago he was forced to take an innocent life because Chris had more forces and more supports than he did. If he backed off now, then the difference in power between him and Chris would grow even more. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t afford to make a stand and risk dividing the alliance, not when the Sullivan forces could be at their door any minute.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Jerry had to swallow the loss. He quickly changed the topic. ¡°We also need to have a plan B, just in case things went wrong. I didn''t have time to do it, but we should send some people to check out the other sides of the camp. If the battle doesn¡¯t go well, we need to have a way out.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I might help with that.¡± A female voice came from the side. Jerry turned and found Nicole. ¡°You weren¡¯t the only one that did his homework.¡±


    Jerry couldn¡¯t help but let a satisfied grin escape his face.


    Nicole walked to the map and tapped a point.


    ¡°The South and the East side of the camp leading into the mountains. I didn''t have time to go too deep into the mountains, but the trails are quite difficult to move across. If we get a group of archers on the trails, we can cover the retreat.¡±


    She pointed at another spot.


    ¡°There¡¯s a river west to the camp. If we need to, we can build some wooden boats and ferry across.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Patel smiled warmly and nodded at Nicole. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, we should get moving at once.¡±


    The teens turned and left the room.


    <hr>


    Throughout the camp, the teens opened up the warehouse that held the minerals and divided them. Most of the followers got a nice cut, but those like Chris, Isabella, Kirsten, and Patel got the most reward. Nicole got a pretty cut as well. She shot down multiple Sullivan guards with her arrows. The unique way of attacking left quite an impression in the mind of the teens and bought Nicole a lot of respect.


    Jerry got nothing. Kirsten made sure of that.


    Instead of futilely putting up a fight, Jerry returned to his house and was glad to discover Alex was awake. He sat by her side and talked to her about everything that has happened.


    ¡°You should talk to the others. Get them on your side.¡± Alex suggested after hearing about the unfair treatment Jerry received. ¡°Raymond. Sophia. You¡¯re definitely not the only person mad at Chris.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not mad at Chris. I¡¯m just...annoyed.¡± Jerry tried to correct Alex¡¯s words to a more subjunctive word choice. ¡°And I won¡¯t attempt to start a civil war. We are already the underdog. If we fight between ourselves, we will lose everything.¡±


    ¡°Your concern for the greater good will not be appreciated. People like Chris will only see your compromise as weakness. They will continue to push forward and eat you up. You need to make a stand.¡± Alex looked into Jerry¡¯s eyes. ¡°Unless if you¡¯re afraid.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid.¡± Jerry sighed. ¡°Perhaps I will make a stand, but not before the Sullivan threat is neutralized. As of now, Chris is doing more good than harm.¡±


    Alex finally backed off, but the look in her eyes suggested she wasn¡¯t quite convinced.

 Chapter 12: Arrogance is the mother of defeat

    Metal sword ripped through human flesh.


    Sophia pulled her blade out and wiped the stain on it on a piece of cloth before returning the weapon to her belt.


    A bloody corpse was in front of her. It was covered with slashes and cuts from top to bottom. It was once a Sullivan prisoner. Not anymore.


    Sophia¡¯s face was pale, and she gently raised her hand to cover her mouth, as if she was going to throw up, but she didn''t throw up. In fact, instead of turning away as her nature suggested, she forced herself to stare directly at the gory wounds on the corpse. Her nature resisted it, but she forced herself to enjoy it.


    Jerry wasn¡¯t the only one in fear. Sophia was afraid as well. Patel had the support of most of the teens. He is the virtual leader of the alliance. Great. He would certainly do his best to protect her. But Sophia refused to rest her fate at the hands of someone else. Even if the alliance wasn¡¯t a tiny lifeboat in the storming ocean, about to be tipped over anytime, she felt like she needed to do whatever she could do make herself more capable of defending herself.


    The memories of being imprisoned and tortured by that Sullivan advisor lingered in her head. That experience was even worse than death. She would do everything possible to keep that from happening to her again. Everything...including forcing herself to turn from a schoolgirl to a maniac who enjoyed blood...just because it meant a greater chance of surviving.


    But mutilating the body and getting used to bloodshed was just one of the steps. Sophia turned and walked out of the tent. She made her way to a large field, where Raymond was waiting.


    The man smiled and took a step back. Two of his militias stepped forward. Instead of holding a spear, they were holding sticks.


    Sophia nodded gently at Raymond in gratitude before picking up a stick as well. She weighed the stick in her hand before walking toward the two militias. She attacked, and the two militias retaliated.


    Although they were using sticks, the militias, under Sophia¡¯s specific requests, weren¡¯t going easy on her. They struck heavily and their sticks left mark after mark on Sophia¡¯s body, but Sophia kept on going. Finally, when the sound of sticks hitting other sticks and human body died down, when Sophia finally collapsed, exhausted, the two militias backed off.


    ¡°You¡¯re growing stronger. Impressive.¡± Raymond congratulated as he clapped slowly. ¡°You know, I can never do something like this. I don¡¯t like pain, but still, color me impressed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like pain either, but if we¡¯re really going to fight in a battle without an overwhelming advantage, we¡¯re going to need much more than a blast of courage. We will need skills and endurance.¡± Sophia replied as she laid back on the ground. Her entire body hurt like hell. ¡°I talked to some of the guys that fought in the front. Almost all of them would have been killed if their militias didn''t save them in time. That won¡¯t happen again if it¡¯s our forces that are outnumbered.¡±


    Raymond suddenly paused. ¡°But do we really have to fight those Sullivans?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Raymond knelt down beside Sophia. ¡°Look, I just got another thirty militias. If we can get into the mountains...large groups of Sullivans won¡¯t chase as. Small groups, we can deal with. We don¡¯t have the make a stand here!¡±


    ¡°We could do that.¡± Sophia thought about it slowly. ¡°But if we want to establish a foothold in this world, we can¡¯t afford to run from trouble. If we get into the mountains, we may never be able to come out again. Plus, what about food and other supply?¡±


    ¡°Sure beats dying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to run!¡± Sophia suddenly sat up and snapped at Raymond. ¡°If those Sullivans want to come, let them come. How many men do we have? Nearly 900? We will kill the invaders and we will defend the mines.¡±


    Fear leads to anger. When someone like Sophia was put under too much fear for her to handle, these fear were channeled out through anger. It was a natural defense mechanism.


    Raymond nodded and backed off, but the frown on his face suggested he had other thoughts in mind.


    <hr>


    Jerry walked into Patel¡¯s tent.


    ¡°You wanted me here?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Patel replied. He was looking down on the map, and he didn''t look up when Jerry entered. ¡°Wait a moment, please. I have another guest.¡±


    ¡°Who...oh.¡± Jerry heard footsteps closing in. He turned and found Chris entering the tent.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Chris¡¯s attitude toward Jerry was far from polite. Jerry was allowed to stay after he executed that prisoner, but Chris still saw him as a spineless coward.


    ¡°I have called both of you here to discuss the Sullivan movement, or rather the lack thereof.¡± The leader of the alliance interrupted and turned to Jerry. ¡°It has been three days since we took the camp. Even if the messenger that got out was on foot, he should¡¯ve gotten out by now. But none of our scouts have reported anything.¡±


    After coming up with the battle plan three days ago, Patel deployed a ring of scouts, chosen from the other slaves in the camp who had previous experience with horses. These horse mounted scouts were positioned across every major intersection that allowed large armies to pass. This should give the teens enough time to set up an ambush. Obviously, the teens couldn¡¯t hide on the cliffs with their forces the entire time until the enemies come. Stolen novel; please report.


    Strangely, there wasn¡¯t any sighting of enemy forces for all three days. Not a single Sullivan soldier approached, much less an army.


    ¡°I never said for sure a messenger got out. I just said a messenger might¡¯ve gotten out. Either way, the Sullivans in Maynard City must¡¯ve known about what happened here. The mineral transports are delivered to Maynard City every two days.¡± Jerry replied thoughtfully. ¡°We should send someone to Maynard City and find out what is happening over there. If the forces there are going to march here, they will make quite the mess. Send one of those riders.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go along. Make sure the message can still get back if the rider¡¯s cover is blown.¡± Despite all this, all Chris saw was a chance for combat. He tapped his sword and was about to leave before Jerry stopped him.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Chris couldn¡¯t believe his ears.


    ¡°No.¡± Jerry looked up at Chris. ¡°If he¡± He pointed at Patel. ¡°is the brain of all of us, then you¡¯re the backbone. Your presence inspires people. You can¡¯t be put at risk, at least not for a task as dangerous as this one.¡±


    Although Jerry didn''t want to admit it, Chris was like the anti-hero among the teens. He was dark, badass, and decisive. Those like Isabella and Kirsten admired him and followed his every command. Chris was the type of person that could lead an army and charge into battle. His followers had control over at least one third of the entire army of the alliance. Putting him on a risky mission like this one, where he was alone and his bravery couldn¡¯t save him if things went wrong, was an inefficient use of resources.


    Chris rose his eyebrows. ¡°If I¡¯m the backbone and he¡¯s the brain, then what are you?¡± He provoked. He wasn¡¯t planning on taking orders, especially not from Jerry.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The commander should never charge into battle unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary.¡± Jerry glanced at Patel. ¡°Same goes to you.¡± He was still salty over the fact that Patel decided to fight in the front when the teens took over the camp. Most saw that action as bravery. Jerry saw it as stupidity.


    Patel wasn¡¯t too happy about the comment, but he wasn¡¯t as emotional as Chris. He asked Jerry to come to this meeting for a reason. Despite what people thought about Jerry, Patel knew he was smart. Smarter than most people in this camp, in fact.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± He looked at Chris. ¡°you shouldn¡¯t go.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll send one of my people.¡± Chris finally agreed, but not before sending a death glare at Jerry.


    <hr>


    Meanwhile, the Sullivans in Maynard City that Jerry and Sophia were so worried about didn''t share the same concerns.


    Commander Hartfield, Lord of Maynard City and Commander of the Maynard City Defense Corps, sat in his house, located at the center of the city.


    A man knelt down in front of him. His armor was covered with blood.


    ¡°Commander Hartfield, the mines have fallen. When Vice Commander Liam sent me to get help, the enemies have already overwhelmed our men. You need to send reinforcement immediately!¡±


    Hartfield was a large man in his forties. Coincidentally, it was he who ordered the teens he met on the road to be captured and sent to the mines. He forgot about that insignificant event just moments later. He had no idea those random teens were the cause of the death of hundreds of Sullivan soldiers.


    ¡°Who are the enemies?¡± The commander demanded slowly.


    The messenger paused.


    ¡°You said the Mines have been taken over by a group of enemies, but you don¡¯t even know who they are?¡± Commander Hartfield groaned and stood up. He was like a lion, towering over the defenseless lamb. ¡°I can have you executed for desertion now!¡±


    The messenger shook. He knew Commander Hartfield could easily do such a thing. The man was known for his brutality. Sometime, when he was in a bad mood, he would go into the city prison and simply beat the prisoners to death with his bare hands. If he thought he was facing a deserter, the messenger could only ask for a swift death.


    ¡°Please,¡± He paused again, running through all the hostile factions he could place the blames on. The Crescent Empire was too far away. Random bandits couldn¡¯t defeat an army of three hundred Sullivans, much less wipe them out. Wait a moment...that¡¯s it!


    ¡°It¡¯s the Brotherhood!¡± He suddenly shouted, as if he found a lifeboat to hang on to in a deadly storm. ¡°It¡¯s the Brotherhood! I saw their banners when I fought them! I¡¯m not a deserter!¡±


    ¡°The Brotherhood.¡± Hartfield nodded before standing up and walking to the messenger. The messenger shook violently in fear, but he didn''t dare to move. If he tried to flee, he doubted he could make it past the first three steps before getting taken down. He could only lower his head and pray.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Hartfield finally nodded.


    The messenger couldn¡¯t help but smile. His prayers were answered.


    And then Commander Hartfield grabbed onto the messenger¡¯s head and turned it by ninety degrees.


    Never mind.


    As the body hit the ground, the commander¡¯s lieutenant took a step forward. The younger officer tried his best to ignore the corpse.


    ¡°Commander, should I assemble the troops?¡±


    Hartfield smirked. ¡°Why should I do that? Whoever went across the fences and wiped out that fool Liam probably has a thousand soldiers, at least. I am not trading my own men for them. The Maynard City Defense Corps will stay in the city.¡± He turned to the lieutenant. ¡°Tell the 20th battalion to take back the mines.¡±


    The Sullivan military structure had three levels. On the first level, an army of 300,000 served the Sullivan Emperor and the Emperor alone. They were the fist of the empire. Some of them remained at the capital while the rest were at the empire¡¯s borders, defending against and attacking into other empires.


    On the second level, each city had its own defense corps. These defense corps were usually a couple of thousand men, depending on the size of the cities. Their main job was to keep the cities safe, both from internal threats and external ones. They answered directly to the city commander.


    On the third level, there were hundreds of military bases across the empire. Each of these bases held fifteen hundred infantry, commanded by a single commander. Their quality tended to be less than the central army but equal to the defense corps. These forces were usually used to deal with bandits and rebels like the Brotherhood that resided in the rural area outside the jurisdiction of the city defense corps. These bases also served as a source for the central army to recruit from.


    If Hartfield wanted to send men to the mines, he could. After all, he had 3,000 men in the city. Taking away half of them wouldn¡¯t plunge the city into chaos. But he didn''t find a reason to. His 3,000 men belonged to him and him alone. Without them, he would be nobody. Much less killing anyone he wanted, without his forces, he might just be cornered in an ally and stabbed to death by some thieves and thugs. His soldiers were his life. He would rather let the nearest military base deal with the trouble in the mines.


    The lieutenant frowned. The safest thing to do would be to take 1,500 men from the Maynard City Defense Corps and take the entirety of the 1,500 men from the 20th battalion. 3,000 men could run over the mines easily. But he didn''t say anything. Even if he did, Hartfield was too arrogant to listen. Plus, deep down, he didn''t think the 20th battalion would have trouble either.


    Arrogance is the mother of defeat.

 Chapter 13: Were finally at the ambush

    It has been hours since one of the riders left with one of Chris¡¯s followers, Karl, and thirty militias. Karl was a longtime friend of Chris. He followed him in an attempt to escape, and he suffered the same pain Chris did. Upon hearing of this mission, Karl gladly took it. He was almost as eager for combat as Chris was.


    In the meantime, Jerry put all the resources he had to work. Even before he and his friends came along, the mining camp was filled by slaves the Sullivans found from other sources. This included convicted soldiers, criminals, and even civilians who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were released after the uprising, but for a few days, no one knew what to do with them. They were sort of just lying around, eating food and occupying and not making any contribution. Some individuals were chosen as scouts, but that was it.


    Jerry decided to put an end to that. First, he went to Patel and suggested putting the slaves back to work in the mines. They would be given better working conditions and shorter working hours than when they were under the Sullivans, and their harvests would be converted to units. Unfortunately, while Patel was still considering, Sophia gave a decisive no. She saw it as a reason to enslave those people. Her times as a slave left her with some serious PTSD. She wasn¡¯t going to let that happen when she could stop it.


    Honestly, Jerry was slightly unhappy. They were at the brink of death. Every piece of resource needed to be put to use if they wanted to survive. If it was his call, he wouldn¡¯t place the vague morals over actual benefits. But he quickly ignored that grudge because the grudge wouldn¡¯t lead to any benefit. Instead, he suggested putting the men to work on setting up the trap for the Sullivans.


    Working in the field against the enemies that took those men prisoner was different from working in the mines in the interest of the teens. This time, even Sophia didn''t have anything to say.


    Jerry had Patel go in front of all the men and announce that decision. The rescued slaves could either take the offer, and in return get supply and protection from the teens, or they could leave. Every single one of them stayed.


    The labors cut down large bulks of trees, chopped off the branches, and put the finished logs along the edge of the cliffs. The round logs could easily row down the cliffs and hit the main road, crushing anyone in its way. Even if the logs didn''t hit anything, it was pretty hard to march an army through a road that was practically wasted and still be in fighting formation.


    In addition to the logs, the labors collected stones of all sizes. The smaller ones, tossed from the cliffs, would gain velocity on its way down. Jerry has never tried it on a human target, but he suspected even helmet wearing soldiers couldn¡¯t take a hit to the head. The larger ones were much more deadly. They could cover less ground than the logs, but they were much taller. All Jerry knew was he wouldn¡¯t want to be on the wrong end of a rolling stone.


    The field was already set up when a mounted figure approached the camp from a distance away. As he got closer, Nicole, on the towers, lowered her bow. She recognized that man as the rider sent out.


    Militias opened the door, and the scout rushed in. He almost fell down his horse when he tried to get down. His breath was like thunder.


    Jerry, Chris, Patel, and a few other teens walked to in front of him.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Patel was the first to arrive. He quickly demanded.


    ¡°It¡¯s...the Sullivans¡­¡± The scout finally started to gain a hold on his breaths. ¡°We ran into them on the way to Maynard City. There were so many of them¡­and they were heading here!¡±


    ¡°We? Where¡¯s Karl?¡± Chris suddenly demanded as he realized the rider returned alone.


    The scout shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know...we were discovered...the Sullivans sent their calvary after us...we were scattered¡­I don¡¯t know where Karl is.¡±


    Jerry frowned. Karl had a horse. The whole point of sending Karl and the militias in was so that if something went too wrong to be fixed, like if they were pursued by large groups of enemies, Karl could sacrifice the militias and escape by himself on horseback. But both he and Patel made a mistake in assuming that just because the Sullivan guards in the mines were on foot, this new group of invading forces would be on foot as well. Given that both Karl and his pursuers had horses, and Karl only learned to ride in two days, it was likely Karl didn''t make it out alive. He might either be captured, or worse.


    Doesn¡¯t matter. As someone who barely knew Karl, Jerry could put his cold, logical mask on and say the life or death of a single teen wasn¡¯t important when the safety of the entire alliance was at stake. It was cruel for Karl, but there was nothing they could do.


    Or was there?


    ¡°Send out a search party.¡± Chris turned to his followers without consulting either Patel or Jerry. ¡°Karl¡¯s alive, and we don¡¯t leave one of us behind. We¡¯ll find him!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re under siege!¡± This time even Patel is having some trouble with Chris¡¯s decision. ¡°We need every man we have here against the Sullivans.¡° An effective search could take hundreds of men. These were hundreds of men the alliance didn''t have.


    Jerry quickly turned to the scout.


    ¡°How many Sullivans are there?¡±


    ¡°A lot. Thousands.¡±


    In reality, it was impossible for a single scout to determine the full size of an enemy force, especially not if the scout was being chased away. Skilled scouts could make an accurate estimation, but a random horseman couldn¡¯t do such a thing.


    Jerry turned to Chris. He didn''t say anything, but the meaning was already conveyed.


    Chris¡¯s expression changed as he held his fist tight in anger, but as he turned and glanced at those standing behind him, his anger disappeared and was replaced by despair. Jerry was right. He was one of the leaders in the alliance. His every action represented the will of the alliance. If he ordered search parties to be sent out, there would be search parties sent out, but could he really afford the cost? If the camp fell and people died because of that, could he still look them in the eyes and say he did the right thing?


    ¡°To the cliffs!¡± He finally shouted.


    The alliance moved. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    <hr>


    Eight hundred militias moved onto the two side of the cliffs. The rest of the militias were left to guard the camp with all of the labors. Patel took command of one side of the cliff with Sophia and Raymond. Chris took the other one with Jerry, Alex, Kirsten, Nicole, Isabella, and all his followers. Jerry chose to go with Chris because he felt like the brute might need some extra logic on his side to balance out his irrational choices. Alex and Nicole just followed Jerry.


    Everyone waited patiently. Alex tapped a log in boredom. Nicole flexed her bow. Jerry scanned the entrance of the road for any sign of enemy. He was ice cold on the face, but his hand was actually shaking. The tension was killing him. Every second, thousands of thoughts flew by his mind about things that might go wrong. He closed his eyes and ignored all of them by telling himself he has already done all he could.


    Chris put on a cold face. Behind him, Kirsten grabbed onto Isabella¡¯s hand with one hand and grabbed onto Chris¡¯s with the other.


    ¡°We stick together, and we will get out of this alive. Those idiots won¡¯t stand a chance.¡± Chris comforted. The question was if he was talking to the girls or to himself. ¡°And then we will find Karl. He¡¯s alive. He has to be. When we practiced, he defeated me more than once. Hell, he might just come back to the camp with a dozen Sullivan heads attached to his horse, you know, because he killed everyone that chased him...¡± He was almost rambling.


    Kirsten nodded. She subconsciously turned to Jerry, expecting to find him peeing his pants. That didn''t quite happen. In fact, Jerry was dead silent.


    The blonde rose her eyebrows. She was slightly surprised. Quietly, she let go of Chris and Isabella and sneaked to beside Jerry. The boy took a step back.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Uh...no.¡± Kirsten shook her head. ¡°I just want to say that, perhaps, I might¡¯ve seen you wrong. What I¡¯m saying is...we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.¡±


    Jerry tilted his head as Kirsten continued.


    ¡°I just want to say that...if one of us dies today, know that I¡¯ll think of you as just as worthy as any one of us.¡±


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    As Kirsten backed off, Jerry looked at Alex and Nicole in wonder.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Just some random pointless bullshit.¡± Alex shrugged. She was checking out two swords curiously. Unlike most of the teens, instead of feeling afraid or anxious, she felt something that could only be described as thrill. To her, what was about to come wasn¡¯t a fight for survival but rather something exciting and stimulating. She looked forward to it. At the same time, Kirsten¡¯s words to Jerry made no sense to her.


    Nicole frowned. She could, sort of, understand where Kirsten¡¯s sudden change in attitude came from. It was a natural response. Kirsten thought she was about to die, and in times like these, she was able to look at old, emotional grudges or opinions with a new light. She realized perhaps Jerry wasn¡¯t the coward she always thought he was.


    Obviously, neither Jerry nor Alex truly understood what happened. Alex was simply incapable of handling such emotions while Jerry saw it but refused to analyze it. Instead, for some reason, he was willing to let the icy wall between him and Kirsten remain.


    What Kirsten didn''t know was that in Jerry¡¯s mind, logically, if Kirsten died, it would be easier for him if Kirsten was someone who hated him rather than someone who understood him and even admitted her mistakes. Deep down, he sensed something, but he shut it down like one would cover up the hole in a leaking water tank.


    On the other side, Patel was looking at the entrance. He was barely blinking. Sophia stood tall. She was holding a spear in her grip and she had a sword tied to her belt. Most teens used swords because it was easier to use a sword and kill someone with brute force than use a spear. But Sophia felt she was able to handle both weapons at the same time. During the days of nearly restless training, as her bruises increased, so did her skills with combat.


    Raymond stood in front of his 130 militias. He wore an armor taken from one of the killed Sullivan officers. After the uprising, the teens stripped the armors of the Sullivan corpses and got hundreds of armors. Unfortunately, fighting with armor on wasn¡¯t merely a matter of wearing the armors. Armors were heavy, and neither the militias nor the teens were trained with kilograms of metal on their back. A few attempts to fight with armors on told the teens it might be better to leave those protection off for now. It didn''t matter if you could survive an extra stab if you would collapse, exhausted, after fighting for several minutes.


    Raymond, on the other hand, didn''t see himself fighting on the front line. He mainly wore this armor in case a random arrow or something happened to come his way. As far as he could envision, if he had to start fighting, then things have gone horribly wrong, and fighting for five minutes and fighting for ten minutes would make no difference.


    After what seemed like eons, loud footsteps finally approached at the entrance of the canyon.


    The vanguard of the Sullivan army was made up of twenty calvaries. These horsemen were the Sullivan scouts. They wore light armor and carried swords and bows and arrows. They quickly ran across the canyon and made sure there weren¡¯t enemies hiding behind the trees. The militias on the cliffs kept their head down and easily got through.


    Jerry didn''t know he got it lucky. Horsemen couldn¡¯t get up the cliffs, but standard Sullivan procedure called for the scouts in this scenario to dismount and examine the cliffs by foot before signaling the main army it was safe to enter. This pretty much eliminated the chance of being ambushed. Once again, the Sullivans didn''t bother to be patient. It was already bad enough they had to come to the middle of nowhere to take down a group of bandits and rebels. Why bother make it extra long with these pointless concerns. The rebels have probably fled already. Who would be foolish enough to make a stand against a full Sullivan army?


    This was a huge mistake on their part.


    One of the horsemen stopped in his tracks, took out his bow, and fired an arrow into the sky. The arrow made a loud, piercing sound as it flew by.


    ¡°Ringing arrow.¡± Nicole whispered.


    The main Sullivan army started marching. Infantrymen marched into the canyon in columns of four. Giant red flags were held up all throughout the army. On one side was a giant S. On the other was a number. XX.


    20. So these medieval barbarians know roman numerals. Great.


    More and more rows of infantrymen entered the canyon, and Jerry¡¯s expression started to change. There were only 800 militias. With the element of surprise they might be able to deal with an equal number of Sullivans, but they didn''t stand a chance against over a thousand of them.


    Finally, after he counted over 250 rows of 4, after he saw the first columns of men have almost reached the exit while those in the back still haven¡¯t entered the canyon, Jerry knew this ambush was a no go.


    There were simply too many of them. If the forces Jerry had were of equal quality to those of the Sullivans, he might just go for it, but militias...he remembered one of the lines in the unit description.


    They are slightly more durable in a fight than villagers, but if they are in a difficult fight, or even an even fight, they would turn and flee.


    Jerry didn''t trust them to carry out a mission as difficult as this one.


    He turned to Chris, ready to tell him to pull back. It would be a difficult task, but defeating the Sullivans in combat was even more difficult. They could fall back and use small groups of forces to harass the Sullivans and buy enough time for everyone to run into the mountains. They haven¡¯t lost yet. They would just be trying a different way to gain victory.


    Just as his eyes glanced across the Sullivan lines, they suddenly landed on something, and Jerry simply couldn¡¯t move them away anymore.


    It was a pole.


    That wasn¡¯t the problem.


    The problem was there¡¯s something on the pole.


    Jerry squinted, trying to see the object more clearly. Whatever force brought them here also mended whatever physical problem they had. In the case of Jerry, it meant he had near perfect eyesight. In fact, he suspected the eyesight was almost supernatural, not that it mattered. All he knew was that he squinted and clearly saw what was on the pole.


    It was a head...and it belonged to Karl.


    ¡°Oh shit¡­¡±

 Chapter 14: Charge!

    Jerry snapped to Chris. He knew what was going to happen.


    ¡°We can¡¯t win this fight¡­¡±


    He never finished as Chris stood up and drew his sword. His eyes were red as blood. Endless rage burned in his gaze.


    ¡°Charge!¡± He screamed. His face was a mixture of extreme rage and pain. ¡°Kill them all! Everyone, charge!¡±


    Jerry reached for Chris, trying to hold him back, but it was too late. Chris pushed him away. He would¡¯ve fallen if Nicole didn''t catch him.


    ¡°No one moves!¡± Having no time to thank Nicole, Jerry turned to the others and yelled as well. This was a fight they couldn¡¯t win.


    A few hesitated, but most teens obeyed Chris¡¯s orders. Their men did as well. Jerry¡¯s worst fear has come true. The alliance was launching a war on an enemy they couldn¡¯t beat, and things were completely out of his hands now.


    Militias followed the previously made plan. Men who were positioned behind rocks and logs proceeded to push them down the cliff. On the other side, Patel and Sophia¡¯s men did a similar thing. Personally, Patel considered retreating, but Chris has already gone for it, and he couldn¡¯t abandon half the alliance.


    ¡°Incoming!¡±


    ¡°Take cover!¡±


    ¡°Stand your ground!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an ambush!¡±


    As hundreds of projectiles rowed down the cliff, the Sullivans in the canyon quickly realized they were under attack. Immediately, they were plunged into a period of confusion. Most men wanted to stand their ground, but some saw giant rocks and logs coming toward them and tried to get out of the way. Unfortunately, they were blocked on all sides by their comrades. Before they could do something, the logs have already reached them.


    ¡°Ahh!¡±


    ¡°Shields! Where are the shields?¡±


    ¡°Move out of my way...ah!¡±


    ¡°Help¡­rrrrr¡±


    Hundreds of projectiles hit the Sullivans. As soon as the rocks hit, the first line of Sullivans collapsed. The amount of velocity the rocks gained on their way down made them absolutely deadly. Some soldiers tried to raise their shields and block the attacks, but they were knocked back along with their shields as the rocks continued to smash down and crush them.


    Even worse, some of the logs continued to roll forward after crushing the first line of troops. The second line of men faltered as well. Since the militias came from both sides, all four columns of Sullivans were under attack.


    When the first wave of attack ended, several parts of the Sullivan lines were in ruins. Countless men, along with their weapons and armors, were buried under giant stones. Wounded soldiers screamed as their arms or legs were crushed under logs and rocks. Some of those screams were from pain, but most were from fear. They knew very well they were dead men breathing. Even if they had medical treatment, they would be maimed for life. Plus, the Sullivans would never give precious medical attention to maimed soldiers who could no longer contribute to the empire.


    Countless more were lightly injured. Blood dripped off from helmet-covered heads. Concussion was widespread.


    And that was just the first step.


    ¡°Charge!¡± Chris was the first to leap out of cover. His followers were right behind him. Hundreds of militias charged down at the canyon with their spears ready.


    ¡°Attack!¡± On the other side, Patel gave the order as well. But just as he was about to leap into the field, he remembered what Jerry told him. A commander should never be in the front. He hesitated for a few seconds before sitting back down. Behind him, Sophia stepped forward, but Raymond grabbed onto her arm and shook his head.


    Sophia pulled her arm away and continued to go forward. Raymond wanted to stay back and keep himself safe. Fine. She respected his choice, but she wouldn¡¯t do the same thing. She expected Raymond to respect her choice as well.


    Raymond sighed and ordered eighty of his militias to follow Sophia into battle. He kept fifty for himself. Patel glanced at him, eyeing for him to send the remaining troops forward, but he simply ignored it. There was no way he would stay by himself.


    Jerry cursed before drawing his weapon. What¡¯s done is done. Since the battle has already began and it was too late to stop it, he might just try to do maximum damage to the Sullivans. This would make the eventual retreat easier. He led Nicole and Alex and their militias and charged down the slope.


    Chris ran faster than he has ever ran before. He got to the bottom of the canyon in less than a minute. A Sullivan soldier with a bloody nose raised his sword when he saw Chris, but Chris was faster. His fury made him ignore his fear. With a quick move, he pushed aside the soldier¡¯s sword and sent his own into the soldier¡¯s chest.


    Warm blood splattered on his face barely eased his anger.


    Isabella and Kirsten moved around Chris. They worked together and stabbed and slashed down on anyone that got too close. Their cooperation on the battlefield was no weaker than their cooperation on the bed. Behind them, militias overwhelmed the confused columns of Sullivans. The men in red were no match for those in white. Screams became a constant factor on the battlefield as militias sent their spears into the chest of confused Sullivan soldiers. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Sophia held onto her spear with one hand and drew her sword with the other. Several Sullivans had their back facing her as they were paying more attention to Chris¡¯s side than to hers. Immediately, Sophia went into action.


    She stabbed one of the men in the back and watched as he screamed and tried to turn around, but Sophia ended that attempt by pulling the spear out. As soon as the spear came out, so did blood. The man¡¯s knees buckled as he collapsed, bleeding to death.


    Another man turned around. Just as his head was half a second away from facing Sophia, the girl slashed her sword across his neck. The strike nearly took off his head. For a second, the soldier just remained there with just a piece of skin connecting his head and the rest of his body.


    A third man managed to face Sophia alive. He glanced at his two comrades and realized he could get no help from them. He subconsciously took a step back, as if he wanted to flee, but Sophia was aggressive. Fear fueled her anger, and adrenaline raced through her body, demanding her to take action. The girl charged forward and pushed her spear toward the soldier.


    The Sullivan raised his sword horizontally and barely deflected the spear, but before he could take a breath of relief, Sophia¡¯s sword has already gone into his chest.


    As the man¡¯s vision turned black, the last thing he saw was Sophia pulling the sword back out and walking by his corpse.


    The Sullivans weren¡¯t in their best condition. The rocks and logs cut the entire battalion to multiple pieces. The shock of being ambushed lowered their morale. The basic foot soldiers didn''t know how many enemies there were or if they were winning. All the screams and cries of their comrades wasn¡¯t good for morale either. Their retaliation against the militias was relatively weak. Militias were falling as well, but all the Sullivans knew was that their casualties were much higher.


    When Jerry reached the Sullivan lines, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was being too careful. The Sullivan lines were in pieces. Their soldiers were ready to flee. Perhaps they could totally win this fight.


    Alex and Nicole were having fun. Arrow after arrow came from Nicole¡¯s bow and flew into the body of Sullivan soldiers. Alex bravely took on a large Sullivan captain. Daggers in hand, she landed several cuts on him before being knocked off her foot. Just as Jerry was about to help, two of Nicole¡¯s militias pushed their spears into the captain¡¯s legs. As the captain collapsed, Alex got back up and pushed her dagger into his neck.


    This was a battle, not a boxing match. Survival was more likely if you¡¯re stronger and faster, but nothing was for sure.


    Now feeling slightly ashamed of his own caution, Jerry turned and saw Chris was making his way down the columns toward the part of the Sullivan lines where Karl¡¯s head was mounted. Jerry looked to the surrounding and realized the pole was surrounded by dozens of horsemen with large lances and heavy armors. Even when all the Sullivan foot soldiers were looking around in fear and doubt, these riders didn''t budge an inch.


    ¡°Follow Chris! Push forward! We can¡¯t give them time to regroup!¡± Despite the initial victory, Jerry knew there were simply too many Sullivans. If they were given the time to recover from the initial shock and confusion and regroup, they could still be a deadly force. Logically speaking, elite horsemen and military trophies should be kept around the army¡¯s commander. In other words, if the alliance could take over that location, they could either capture or kill the commander of this army. Without a leader, the Sullivans would lose the will to fight.


    Militias from both sides combined into a single force. Chris and Sophia led the charge. Chris, with a single sword and a mind blinded by fury, was nearly unstoppable. Honestly, in another situation, a single shield wall made by half a dozen soldiers could keep him back. If they could isolate Chris, they could even put him down. Unfortunately, the Sullivans were in complete disarray. Most of those killed by Chris weren¡¯t even facing him when they died. The random pieces of rocks and logs around the battlefield didn''t help with uniting a group of soldiers either.


    Sophia wasn¡¯t any less of a fighter. Dual-wielding, she fought with much more skill than her male counterpart. If Chris was a berserker, then she was a skilled swordsman. Her training with the militias was proven to be incredibly effective, at least against these confused, average Sullivan soldiers. Even if a Sullivan could survive the initial few hits, he would lose his calmness when he saw the sea of white behind Sophia and try to flee. A fighter looking for a way out wasn¡¯t a good fighter. In those cases, Sophia could easily mow her victim down.


    With the man and the woman as the spearhead, the militias kept on going. Nicole continued firing until her arrows ran out. Then, wrapping her arrow around her body, she grabbed onto the sword of a fallen Sullivan and proceeded to fight the Sullivans in melee. Even without her bow, she wasn¡¯t any less of a fighter.


    Jerry dodged the strike of a Sullivan soldier and took a step back and watched as his militias dismembered the soldier. What would have made him vomit a couple days ago still made his heart beat faster, but he realized he could stare at the corpses and not flinch. People really do have the potential to adapt to an environment quickly.


    Men continued to scream and fell. The alliance pushed quickly, but they weren¡¯t quick enough. There was just too many buffer between them and the Sullivan general.


    ¡°Form a wall! Spears and shields! Victory will be ours!¡± Jerry frowned when he heard a wave of loud cries. In the front line, Sullivan soldiers who heard the order complied while they themselves repeated the order as loudly as possible so others could hear it as well. In just moments, when Sophia and Chris cut down the last of the scattered soldiers, they found themselves facing a wall of shields.


    The shield wall wasn¡¯t perfect. In fact, there were multiple openings due to the rugged environment, but it put a stop to the alliance¡¯s push. At the same time, it also symbolized the initial period of shock was over, and the Sullivans were ready to stand and fight like the soldiers they were trained to be.


    ¡°Shield wall, forward!¡± A new order was issued. The entire shield wall took a step forward in unison.


    ¡°Break the wall!¡± A sense of logic returned to Chris¡¯s mind, but it was immediately overwhelmed by his anger. He looked at the red armor of the Sullivan soldiers and just wanted to make them even redder with the blood of their owners. Immediately, a line of his militias charged forward.


    But this time, instead of just breaking through, the militias realized most of their spears were deflected by the shields. The Sullivan soldiers, now with their backs protected by fellow soldiers, moved forward safely. The shield wall meant they could only be attacked from the front, and their shields were more than enough to take care of the attacks from the front. In a fair fight, the Sullivan soldiers demonstrated the skills of professional soldiers. An entire line of militias fell when only two Sullivans died.


    Screams intensified from the entrance that led the canyon to the way of the camp. The problem was those screams were gradually turned to war cries, and the noise didn''t feel like it was dying down anytime soon. In order words, the Sullivans have stabilized at that entrance as well.


    Which means the alliance was practically trapped in the canyon, surrounded by hostiles on both sides.

 Chapter 15: Retreat and regroup

    On the cliff, Patel realized the severeness of the situation as well. His position on the higher ground allowed him to see the battlefield more clearly than anyone else involved, which was precisely why he knew the militias had to fall back now.


    He quickly turned to Raymond.


    ¡°We need to get our men out of there. Gather your men. We¡¯re going in.¡±


    He had around forty militias with him. Raymond had fifty. Ninety militias weren¡¯t enough to change the tide of the battle, but they were enough to make somewhat of a difference.


    Raymond suddenly hesitated.


    ¡°We can still make it out.¡± He said. ¡°The Sullivans are focused on the canyon. We can still get out of here and into the mountains with our men.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡± Patel retaliated fiercely. ¡°Without an army, there will be nothing we can do. We will be hunted down and slaughtered. You should be smarter than this.¡± He drew his sword and charged down into the canyon with his men.


    Raymond bit his lips. The screams continued in the canyon. He finally made up his mind.


    ¡°To the canyon!¡± He screamed.


    Meanwhile, the Sullivans continued to push forward. Patel and his forces charged down and merged with the main forces of the teens. He found his way past swords and spears and arrows to Jerry and Chris.


    ¡°The Sullivans are closing in from the two ends. We need to find a way out or we will be gradually overwhelmed.¡± Patel screamed into Jerry¡¯s ears as he saw Chris launching another charge at the Sullivan shield wall. When he was pushed back, he lost another half a dozen militias.


    Jerry nodded and darted toward the front line.


    ¡°Chris! Sophia!¡± He reached the two spearheads. Sophia took a few steps back and fell behind the protection of a line of militias when she heard Jerry. Chris was a little more tied in the battle, and Jerry had to have two of his militias to pull Chris back by force. It took him a while to calm down.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Chris demanded loudly.


    ¡°We need to fall back now! We¡¯re getting ripped apart!¡± Jerry replied with equal volume.


    ¡°I can still fight!¡±


    ¡°Our men can¡¯t!¡±


    Chris couldn¡¯t help but look around. Both the teens and the militias were exhausted. They have just charged down a cliff and fought enemies near non-stop for nearly half an hour. Sure, the Sullivans had it even worse, but they had more men. Some could fight while others rested. The militias were dragged thin. Nearly every single one had to keep fighting, and this was having a toll on their body. Some militias could barely hold their weapons.


    Now that his rage started to wear off, Chris felt his sword getting heavier and heavier as well.


    Jerry grabbed onto Chris¡¯s arm and pulled his attention back.


    ¡°Bring your people to the other side and break the Sullivan lines! Open up a way for us to return to the camp and regroup!¡±


    ¡°What about here?¡± Chris glanced at the Sullivan lines, which continued to close in. ¡°I¡¯m the one holding the door!¡±


    ¡°Not really!¡± On the side, Sophia smiled weakly. She flipped her dagger. ¡°You go! I¡¯ll cover the retreat here!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t hold them back alone!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be alone!¡± Sophia turned around and saw Raymond arriving with fifty brand new militias. All of them were fully rested. ¡°I¡¯m glad you came.¡±


    Raymond shrugged.


    Chris gave one last glance at Sophia before nodding and leaving. His followers and their militias followed him. He didn''t want to leave a sister in arm behind, but he also knew if he couldn¡¯t create a path soon, everyone here would end up like Karl.


    The Sullivans continued to push forward. Sophia turned around and faced them as Raymond and Jerry casually backed off. Neither of them were fighters, and they both knew that. Their presence could only cause problems.


    ¡°Charge!¡± The Sullivans obviously saw the weakness in the militia ranks. Following a scream from the captain, the swordsmen abandoned their formation and charged forward.


    Sophia and the militias fought back.


    The first Sullivan saw a flash of reflection. He struck his sword forward and clashed with the source of reflection. As soon as the two weapons made contact, the Sullivan found himself pushing the opposing weapon back with nearly no resistance. Just as he wondered why the enemy didn''t even try to hold her ground, Sophia jammed her spear into his neck. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Fresh, warm blood added to the ones on the ground.


    Another Sullivan took a leap at Sophia from the side. Sophia took a step back and dodged the strike. The Sullivan took another step forward and attempted to continue to push. Sophia turned around her spear and smacked the Sullivan on the side of his helmet, knocking him off his feet. Just as she was about to finish off the man, another Sullivan got too close for comfort.


    Militias behind her fought bravely, but they were outnumbered. Take down one Sullivan, and another would take the place of the fallen in a heartbeat. Countless militias took down a Sullivan after a long fight, only to get cut down by the replacement.


    Gradually, Sophia found herself facing multiple hostiles. Multiple swords slashed down on her at the same time, forcing her to spend most of her time backing off or deflecting the attacks rather than attacking.


    The fighting got bloodier and bloodier. As more and more time passed, Sophia¡¯s movement turned more machine like. She was no longer able to strike elegantly and carefully like she did when she first charged into battle. Instead, the war has being turned from a battle of skills to a battle of attrition. All Sophia knew was to stab the figures in red, not stab the figures in white, and raise her sword when she was about to be stabbed.


    Finally, the path behind was opened up. Sophia took a step back, dodged a strike from one of the Sullivan foot soldiers, and turned around and saw the rest of the militias have broken through the blockade on the other side and were heading back to the camp.


    ¡°Fall back!¡± She screamed.


    The militias retreated successfully. The Sullivans weren¡¯t able to pursue in time. Their cavalry, positioned around the banner and the commander, was stuck behind layers and layers of exhausted infantry. The foot soldiers were exhausted. They have marched for miles and fought an ambush. They were just happy they were alive. Asking them to chase after the fleeing enemy was simply not going to happen.


    Finally, the Sullivans got out of the canyon. They promptly collected the bodies from both sides on the battlefield and buried them. It wasn¡¯t a matter of respect. It was a matter of preventing an epidemic. Afterward, the rest of the Sullivans camped at the outlet of the valley. Their morale was too low to keep on moving. Their commander decided to give them a night of rest and see if it could bring the morale back up.


    <hr>


    Sophia and no more than twenty militias returned to the mining camp. As the men laid down and rested, she wasted no time to walk into the commander¡¯s tent, where all the teens were.


    ¡°What were you thinking back there? We shouldn¡¯t have attacked! That was nothing but stupid! Do you have any idea how many of our men died? Four hundred! Four hundred! How many men did we have in total, huh? Eight hundred! We lost half of men in a single battle!¡±


    Before she walked into the tent, Sophia could already hear Jerry screaming. This made her slightly anxious. She has never seen Jerry angry. The teenager was always so calm. Even when he was used as target practice by that Sullivan commander, he still had a hold of himself. This was never seen before.


    ¡°We killed at least eight hundred Sullivans!¡± Sophia could hear Chris protesting.


    ¡°So? So what? Even if we killed half of them, they still have at least a thousand men! They outnumber us 2.5 to 1! We have lost the element of surprise. We have lost the army strong enough to allow us to safely retreat into the mountains!¡±


    Jerry pointed at outside the tent. ¡°Tell me, genius, how much do you know about our men? Do you really think they¡¯re just pawns that are willing to follow your every command without question? They are living, breathing men! They need food! They need water! They need rest!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how that¡¯s connected to¡­¡±


    ¡°They can also feel fear! Truth to be told I¡¯m surprised they didn''t crumble in the battle, but I have already seen the way they looked at us! They were built to trust us and obey us after being summoned, but if their commander is an idiot that keeps on leading them to suicide missions, how long do you think it will be until they abandon us?¡±


    Chris suddenly snapped. ¡°Stop being so condescending! You think you¡¯re so clever? Why didn''t you stop me?¡±


    ¡°Stop you?¡± Jerry almost felt disgusted. ¡°Use that pathetic, emotion clouded mind of yours! Would you have listened? Would any of you pathetic idiots have listened to me?¡± He turned to most of the tent and yelled.


    ¡°It¡¯s no time for pointing fingers. We need a plan.¡± Sophia just couldn¡¯t listen to this anymore. The alliance was falling apart. Her voice brought some attention to her, and both Chris and Jerry seemed to have calmed down. Both of them saw how Sophia took the giant risk to cover the retreat of the majority of the forces. This deserves some respect.


    Another figure entered the tent. Patel. He went to check out the exact amount of resource the alliance had left. That was partially how Chris and Jerry were at each other¡¯s throat and no one stopped them.


    ¡°We have 412 militias in total, as well as five hundred or so liberated slaves. They can fight if they have to, but we can¡¯t count on them.¡± Patel announced.


    ¡°And the Sullivans?¡±


    ¡°I estimate a thousand or so of them left.¡±


    Jerry tapped his forehead. He could feel his mind was a mess. He wasn¡¯t exactly the strongest person either, and all the running and fighting really made him physically drained, but he did his best to suppress those feelings. There was no time for rest.


    ¡°We can¡¯t engage them front on. We just don¡¯t have the men. If we somehow manage to hold their attacks during the day and then harass their camp at night, we can eventually wear them out...but we don¡¯t have the men. The camp will probably fall in the first day.¡±


    ¡°So no ideas.¡± Chris knew his mistake as soon as the words came out of his mouth.


    Jerry turned and walked out of the room without another word.


    The camp remained silent for a couple of seconds.


    ¡°Everyone go back to your forces and make sure they¡¯re ready for combat. Whether we fight or we retreat, we will need our men to fight.¡±


    The teenagers nodded and left. When the camp was almost empty, Patel turned to Sophia.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Sophia tilted her head.


    ¡°What you did back there, it was brave.¡± Patel pulled out a stool and placed it in front of Sophia. Sophia smiled slightly before sitting down. ¡°You risked your life to protect us. If no one stopped the Sullivans from just chasing after us all the way into the camp, we¡¯ll all be dead by now. We owe you our lives.¡±


    Sophia smiled before suddenly frowning. She looked down and saw there was a small graze wound on her calve. When the adrenalin wore off, it started to hurt like hell. Patel saw that and carefully knelt down and ripped off a piece of clothes from the tent.


    ¡°I learned how to work a first aid kit. I should be able to work this.¡± He reassured.


    Sophia smiled as she felt the warmth on her leg. It was as if the pain was eased. She smiled slightly and laid back...before falling off the stool.


    ¡°Ow!¡±

 Chapter 16: This is war

    ¡°Hey! Wait up!¡±


    Running out of the command tent, Nicole caught up to Jerry, who was walking back to his tent quickly.


    ¡°I need some time alone.¡± The response was cold and distant. Jerry realized it as well. Chris was responsible for all this, not Nicole. She didn''t deserve to have harsh words thrown at her. Jerry wasn¡¯t feeling the best, but he did his best to reassure Nicole. ¡°Look, I am really tired. I need to go to my tent and lay down for a while. If you want to talk to me, we can do it another time.¡±


    He walked into his tent, but Nicole came in as well. The two militias at the door turned the other direction.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok to feel angry.¡± Nicole said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not angry!¡± Jerry turned and glanced at Nicole, slightly surprised. He quickly denied. ¡°I am just...annoyed. Chris is starting to do more harm than good.¡± He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. ¡°You should really go. I need some personal space.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are angry.¡± Nicole pushed forward without any hesitation. She ignored the obvious bad mood Jerry was in. ¡°You¡¯re angry and you¡¯re afraid, just like the rest of us. It¡¯s ok.¡±


    Jerry hissed. He turned to Nicole, wanting to prove her wrong, but his words never came out. Nicole was right. No matter how much he tried to deny it, he was angry and he was afraid. If he was truly void of emotion like he tried to convince everyone, including himself, he wouldn¡¯t be pissed off at Chris. He would simply think of a way to solve the problem back in the command tent. Even bursting out and leaving for his own tent was a sign that he was no longer able to control his feelings.


    Nicole saw Jerry was shaken.


    ¡°It¡¯s perfectly normal to be afraid. We just lost half of our men, and the enemies are at the gate. Anyone will get scared in a situation like this. There is nothing bad about this. You don¡¯t need to hide it...¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this.¡± Jerry finally snapped. ¡°The Sullivans are taking a break now, but we have no idea when they will strike us. I don¡¯t have time for a pep talk.¡±


    Before Nicole could say another word, Jerry turned to the entrance of the tent.


    ¡°Guards!¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± Two militias walked in.


    ¡°Escort Commander Nicole outside.¡± Jerry turned around and turned his back to Nicole. He knew Nicole meant well, but he really couldn¡¯t afford to get all emotional right here, right now.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The militias turned to Nicole. ¡°Please, commander.¡±


    Nicole sighed before walking out of the tent.


    Jerry groaned and sat down on his bed. He tapped his forehead, trying to think, but he simply couldn¡¯t get what Nicole said out of his mind. It was like one of those songs that get stuck in your head. No matter how important the situation was or how hard you try, you just can¡¯t get that thought out. Likewise, what Nicole said kept on echoing in Jerry¡¯s head.


    Perhaps letting his mask down and embracing his fear wasn¡¯t so bad of an idea after all¡­


    As Jerry was doubting his creed, chaos was growing inside the camp.


    A group of liberated slaves walked up to where most of the teens were. They were stopped by a line of militias on guard duty. They exchanged a series of looks before one of them finally stepped forward.


    ¡°I want to speak to your commander.¡± He demanded.


    Patel frowned when the militia reported what happened to him. What could these people possibly want?


    ¡°Let them through.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°Commander Patel.¡± The head of that group walked up to Patel. He lowered his head slightly to show respect. ¡°Commander, my people and I have noticed the Sullivan forces have reached the gate of the camp. Your forces seemed to have underwent combat, and casualties seem...to be high.¡±


    ¡°Ya think?¡± Chris commented with slight annoyance. He was already having a bad day. Having to listen to some random guy wasn¡¯t helping.


    The man continued.


    ¡°Commander, my people want to know, and trust me when I say I don¡¯t mean any ill intent, if you can defeat the Sullivan forces.¡±


    Patel frowned. He wasn¡¯t a fool. The freed slaves were wondering if the Alliance could keep them safe from the Sullivans. They weren¡¯t mindless NPCs. They knew what was going on and they had their own interests in mind. Before, they helped the Alliance set up the ambush because they thought the Alliance could keep them safe. When that wasn¡¯t going on so well, they thought of fleeing.


    ¡°I assure you that we will do all we can to defeat the Sullivans.¡± Patel replied to the best of his abilities, but the man wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    ¡°I admire your courage and dedication, commander, but our people are made up of criminals, deserters, and those who the Sullivan Empire want dead. If we are captured again, we may not even be put into the mines again. We will all be put to the sword.¡±


    ¡°As if we can get a free pass.¡± Chris once again commented rudely. Stolen novel; please report.


    A few teens nodded in agreement.


    ¡°What do your people want?¡± Patel frowned and asked. He really didn''t like where this was going.


    The man avoided Patel¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°We want to leave this camp.¡±


    ¡°How dare you?¡± Chris¡¯s face turned red. He wasn¡¯t the smartest man in the camp, but even he knew what the man was suggesting. He and his people would leave the camp from the back door and flee into the mountains, and the teens and their forces would be left in the camp to delay the Sullivans and keep them from pursuing. ¡°You ate our food and enjoyed our protection, and now you want to run? I should have you killed right here!¡± He drew his sword.


    Both the man and the other teens were shocked. Sure, leaving now was a betrayal, but neither side expected to see blood. What they didn''t know was that Chris has already had enough. He was afraid and he was furious. He needed a way to unload those emotions, and what was a better target than a group of unarmed, defenseless men?


    Militias that belonged to him readied their spears. His followers hesitated, but they complied nonetheless.


    The group of thirty or so has already grown ten fold during the time the man and Patel talked. Most of them were consisted of people that wanted to leave as well. When the Alliance showed some force, some of them faltered, but others stood their ground. A few former soldiers even raised sticks and clubs.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to do this!¡± The man¡¯s expression changed. He turned and shouted at Patel. Knowing Chris was in no good mood, the man was sure Patel was the only chance for peace. ¡°Killing us won¡¯t do you any good! Save your strength for the Sullivans!¡±


    ¡°Patel!¡± Holding her spear, Sophia turned to Patel. Her men didn''t raise their arms. Sophia was fine with being a stone cold killer on the battlefield, but there was no way in hell in which she would strike down these defenseless people who were their fellow slaves several days ago. ¡°Let them go! This won¡¯t do us any harm!¡±


    Patel was dead silent.


    ¡°Patel!¡±


    ¡°Perhaps your people will be more compliant...when they see what happens to ungrateful sons of bitches.¡± On the other side, Chris tilted his head and smiled wickedly. He took a step toward the men, and his militias took a step forward as well. The group of freed slaves took a step back almost immediately. As much as they tried to look tough, they knew they would be no match against the army with uniform weapon, training, and formation.


    Sophia turned to Chris.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do this! Chris!¡± She screamed.


    Chris glanced at Sophia. The two have fought side by side on the battlefield, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to change her mind.


    ¡°You want to keep your hands clean, Sophia, fine, but don¡¯t stop me from teaching these cowards what honor means.¡±


    ¡°Chris! That¡¯s enough!¡±


    Patel finally shouted. Chris turned around at Patel in shock. He took the man¡¯s silence for permission to proceed. Patel¡¯s sudden words shocked Chris. The man tried to continue on, but when most of the teens and militias lowered their weapons, Chris finally signed and jammed his sword into the soil below. He turned and walked away in anger.


    Patel turned back to the leader of the freed people, who had a small victorious smile on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Edward.¡± The leader replied.


    ¡°Well, Edward,¡± Patel spoke slowly. ¡°Chris was a little rude, but he said one thing right.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t leave.¡±


    Edward¡¯s smile disappeared and his face turned pale. Behind Patel, Sophia stared at Patel in disbelief. She couldn¡¯t believe her ears.


    Patel continued.


    ¡°Ok. Let¡¯s assume you and your people make it into the mountains. And then what? You can¡¯t farm. You can¡¯t hunt enough game to support all of you. You can¡¯t even get any necessity because they are all sold in Sullivan controlled cities. If your people get sick, they will die because they don¡¯t have any medicine.¡±


    His words were slow, but they were ten times stronger than Chris¡¯s sword. The men looked at each other as they started to doubt the decision of leaving. Inside the camp, all the food and other necessities came from the Sullivan storage. If they fled into the mountains, they would starve.


    ¡°Commander,¡± Edward knew he couldn¡¯t let Patel continue. ¡°if we flee into the mountains, we may die, but we may live. If we stay, we will certainly die.¡±


    Patel suddenly smiled.


    ¡°Edward, what were you before you came here?¡±


    Edward frowned. It was a totally unrelated topic. But he didn''t dare to refuse to answer.


    ¡°I was just a farmer.¡±


    ¡°Why were you imprisoned.¡±


    Edward sighed.


    ¡°A Sullivan captain saw my wife...and...and he wanted her. I tried to stop him, but¡­¡± The man paused. ¡°the captain had me arrested and sent here for trying to assault an officer.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not angry?¡±


    Edward rose his eyebrows, but Patel has already turned to the entire crowd.


    ¡°You were innocent people! Civilians! You have done nothing wrong, and yet you were forced into a life of slavery! For what? Why? Because you were weak! You lost everything because you didn''t have the courage to stand up against those who seek to rob you of your wealth, your family, and you freedom!¡±


    He pointed at the Sullivan camp.


    ¡°And now, those robbers have came again. They have taken away your money and your land and your wives, and now they¡¯re coming for your lives! It¡¯s your decision, your choice!¡± He pulled out his sword. The sound of the metal clashing with the sheath formed a brilliant metallic sound. Patel handed that sword to Edward.


    ¡°If you want to make a stand here, or if you want to turn and run like you have done countless times before.¡±


    Edward glanced at the sword in his hand for several seconds before raising it into the air.


    ¡°Kill them all!¡±


    ---


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Inside the command tent, Sophia faced Patel with fury in her eyes.


    After the speech, the freed slaves were completely mobilized. No one talked about running away anymore. Everyone picked up the weapons and armors of Sullivan soldiers previously killed in battle, and they got ready for war. The spirit was high.


    But Sophia saw it differently.


    ¡°You have seen what happened in a real battle with the Sullivans! The Sullivans are trained, experienced, and highly disciplined. If those people out there really fight the Sullivans, they will be crushed instantly. By calling them to war, you have sent them to their death!¡±


    Patel sighed.


    ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that?¡±


    ¡°Then why?¡±


    Patel¡¯s words suddenly turned ice cold.


    ¡°Because we have no other choice. We need them.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± Patel turned to Sophia. ¡°If we have nine hundred men, even if most of them are untrained civilians, we can still hold off the Sullivans for a while. One thousand vs nine hundred, and the Sullivans will think twice before they strike. If we let them go...it will be one thousand vs four hundred. They will overwhelm us in a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°So you decided to manipulate them to stay?¡± Sophia stared back at Patel without any hesitation. ¡°It¡¯s manipulation! Saying you have no other choice can¡¯t justify this!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to justify anything,¡± Patel¡¯s answer made Sophia cringe. ¡°because this is war.¡±

 Chapter 17: She-wolf

    ¡±Give me fifty good men, and I¡¯ll hit the Sullivan camp and slit their leader¡¯s throat.¡±


    Jerry almost choked on water when Alex said that to him.


    ¡°Look, that¡¯s crazy, even for you.¡± He commented after he finished coughing and turned to Alex.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m serious.¡± Alex¡¯s straight face told Jerry she wasn¡¯t kidding. ¡°I just came back from a trip to the exterior of the Sullivan base. They¡¯re exhausted from the ambush. If I can go in during the night, I can do a lot of damage. With any luck I can delay their attack on the camp.¡±


    ¡°Really? Attack a camp of one thousand with fifty men? That¡¯s Spartan level craziness.¡±


    ¡°Look, they will never expect it after what happened in the day.¡±


    ¡°Because that¡¯s stupid and they know it.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t sit back and do nothing.¡± Alex continued. ¡°Patel managed to stabilize the camp, but there¡¯s no telling how long we can hold if the Sullivans push forward.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way we can catch a professional army by surprise. After the ambush in the day, the Sullivans no doubt have nets of scouts around the perimeter. The entire camp will be woken up if just a single sentry spots us.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t sit back and do nothing.¡± Alex repeated. ¡°Talk to the others.¡±


    Jerry frowned. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Chris might be a brainless fool, but Sophia and Patel are some of the smartest of us all. Having them help you come up with a plan can never hurt.¡± Alex declared. ¡°Go talk to them and work with them.¡±


    Jerry paused. His eyes landed on the floor as he tried to think of a reason to refuse.


    ¡°What are you afraid of?¡± The brunette pushed. ¡°No harm can come of this.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to rely on others.¡± Jerry finally answered. He gulped before continuing. ¡°I just don¡¯t trust them to come up with decent strategies. That¡¯s it. They can¡¯t help me.¡±


    ¡°And you think you are flawless?¡± Alex was blunt. ¡°Can you really say for sure that you are so perfect that there is nothing you can learn from people like Patel and Sophia?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure there are some things that they are better at than me¡­¡±


    ¡°Then learn from them.¡± Alex threw her hands up. ¡°Work with them and learn from their advantages. Use them to make up for your own disadvantages! You have to recognize your own flaws, Jerry!¡±


    Jerry¡¯s face turned slightly red. Alex¡¯s criticism was harsh, and it was enough to make him realize his mistake: He was being arrogant. After the battle in the canyon, Jerry decided to pin all the blames on Chris. Was Chris responsible for the losses? Yes. Was Jerry without responsibility? No. Jerry¡¯s decision to send a scouting party to Maynard City directly led to Karl¡¯s death and Chris¡¯s decision to enter battle. Plus, if Jerry was more cautious, he would¡¯ve ordered the militias to charge out of the Sullivan lines than charge in toward the center, which would decrease the casualties. His false estimation of the number of Sullivan soldiers in the army also took a huge toll on the Alliance.


    He wasn¡¯t the most responsible, but he wasn¡¯t blameless either.


    Jerry knew it deep down, but a part of him simply blocked it out and refused to acknowledge it. It was his ego. He subconsciously refused to admit the fact that he made a series of costly mistakes.


    Alex popped his bubble mercilessly.


    Just as Jerry was about to snap, Alex continued.


    ¡°It¡¯s the most logical thing to do.¡±


    Yes. Indeed, it was the most logical, unemotional thing to do.


    Jerry¡¯s anger disappeared into thin air.


    ¡°Thank you. Thank you for waking me up.¡± He said to Alex.


    ¡°Now, where is Patel?¡±


    <hr>


    The Sullivan camp wasn¡¯t the most decorated, but all the essential parts were there. While setting up the camp, Sullivan soldiers found logs in the surrounding, some of them from the scene of the ambush, and used them to make a layer of fences. The fences could be cut through, given the time, but then again their purpose was simply to keep the enemies back in the case of a full scale attack and buy some time for the Sullivans to get ready.


    Groups of patrol marched across the sea of tents. They were unlucky enough to have to stay awake after marching and fighting for an entire day. At least they could get some rest after standing and walking around for three hours, after new patrols take their place.


    Each Sullivan tent held ten men. The entire camp was made up of over a hundred tents. The tents closer to the fences held foot soldiers, while the ones in the center either acted as the resting area for the Commander of the battalion and his cavalry guards, or as warehouse for the army¡¯s food, fresh water, and other supply. The entire camp was set so that in the case of an attack, those on the outside could keep those on the inside safe. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The Twentieth Battalion might just be a local garrison, but it fully adopted the Sullivan military traditions that were used in the most elite corps.


    Outside the camp, fifty men marched across the field. Most of them were freed slaves. Chris was leading them.


    Just as they were about to approach the camp, a scream cried out in the silent night.


    ¡°Hostile incoming! To arms!¡±


    Chris snapped around as one of the men behind him sent an arrow into a nearby bush. Immediately, the bush collapsed, and a Sullivan soldier fell out. The arrow was lodged into his shoulder. One of the men walked up and ended the sentry.


    The sentry was slaughtered, but the scream couldn¡¯t be undone. Immediately, other Sullivan scouts and sentries in the perimeter that heard the scream passed the news down with shouts of their own. Not long after, the entire camp was woken up.


    As soon as they were woken up from their dreams, Sullivan soldiers went into full action mode. Their mouth opened and they shouted as loud as possible to wake up their comrades. They themselves grabbed onto swords and shields and walked out of their tents. They were in a combat situation, so their armors weren¡¯t taken off when they slept. Otherwise, in the case of an attack, the enemies would already be in front of them before they could put their helmets on.


    Countless Sullivan soldiers gathered in the alleys between their tents. Captains stood in front. Torches banished the darkness. Unfortunately, soldiers weren¡¯t cats. They couldn¡¯t see in the dark. This was especially dangerous in an age where the most efficient way of communication was by shouting. One misstep, and the entire Sullivan army might turn on itself in the chaos.


    ¡°Formation!¡± Men in the first line raised their shields toward the fences.


    ¡°Shield up!¡±


    ¡°Spears out!¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡±


    The Battalion Commander walked out of his tent. A lieutenant with the commander¡¯s warhorse stood behind the commander. Twenty fully armored horsemen were ready. They didn''t shed a single drop of blood in the day. This would change if the enemies think they can take the Sullivans by surprise.


    As the formation formed, the concern in the commander¡¯s heart disappeared. Whoever the attackers were, they were being awfully slow in their surprise attack. At this point, the element of surprise was completely gone. The attackers might as well call it a day and go home.


    Just like he expected, a scout ran down the alleys of the camp and stopped in front of the commander.


    ¡°Commander, the intruders killed four sentries and left.¡± The scout¡¯s voice was full of relief. He didn''t need to die. It was obviously good news.


    ¡°They know they can¡¯t achieve anything.¡± The commander smirked. Fools. First, they try to ambush fifteen hundred men with nine hundred. Now, they try to attack one thousand men with less than half that count. Their courage is admirable, but courage doesn¡¯t win wars. Resources do.


    ¡°Commander?¡± His lieutenant asked. ¡°Our men are exhausted. If we want them to launch an assault tomorrow, we need to give them some rest.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± The commander nodded. ¡°Tell the men to go back to sleep. Replace the sentries and scouts.¡± He didn''t think the enemy would attack again, but this was just in case.


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    The Sullivan soldiers returned to their tent, laid down their weapons, and closed their eyes while cursing the commander of the enemies. Every inch of their body was hurting, and their eyelids embraced each other. The few unlucky sentries swore when they heard the orders, but they had no choice but to comply. Nonetheless, this time, they could barely stay awake on their posts. Plus, the enemies needed rest as well. Their men have just fought in the day, and after bringing the entire army out and achieving nothing, there was no doubt the enemy soldiers were exhausted as well. Who would be dumb enough to try again?


    The Sullivans didn''t know the militias fought in the day and the freed slaves, who were untouched, were the ones attacking the Sullivan camp. The men also attacked in tiny groups. In other words, they could afford to do this a lot more times.


    Half an hour later, when most of the Sullivan camp was asleep, the wolves were here again. This time, it was a she-wolf.


    A sentry that was between awake and asleep suddenly felt a surge of pain. The pain was so intense that it shook him completely awake. Opening his eyes, the man coughed before losing control of his body. He collapsed. An arrow was in his chest.


    Nicole lowered her bow and waved her hand. Beside her, another fifty men, not the ones that followed Alex, sneaked toward the camp. This time, these men got through without any fuss. Most of the sentries got their throats slit before they could even open their eyes.


    Nicole and five more archers approached the gate. All those archers were former hunters who have had experience with shooting arrows. Simultaneously, they took aim at the half a dozen sentries at the gate, loaded an arrow, and fired it.


    Five of the six sentries collapsed. The last sentry was woken up by the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Just as he opened his eyes, he found a raging Nicole charging at him with her blade drawn.


    ¡°Incom¡­¡± Just as the sentry drew his sword, Nicole was already on top of him. She jammed her sword down into his chest. The man screamed briefly, but before the full scream could come out, Nicole slashed him across the throat again, nearly beheading him.


    Within minutes, all the around twenty sentries were no more than bodies on the ground, and the Sullivans were still unaware of the attack.


    Nicole and her squad continued to push forward. All the archers stayed behind at the gate and had their bows pointed at the tents. Nicole and the other men, who drew their melee weapons, got into the camp and sneaked into the tents.


    As soon as they entered, the sound of metal going through human flesh rang out. When the men came out, their weapons and clothing were covered with blood.


    Nicole got into one of the tents with five other men. Ten Sullivan foot soldiers were snoring like thunder. Nicole wrapped her bow around her back and grabbed onto her sword. She knelt down beside one of the men, covered his mouth, before pushing the sword into his heart. The man struggled and tried to form a scream, but Nicole held him tightly. The girl¡¯s expression was blank as a paper. She only released the man after his struggling stopped.


    The other men went into action as well. Silenced groans echoed throughout the tents.


    Honestly, the Sullivans shouldn¡¯t suffer that many losses. The asleep men were completely defenseless, but there were patrols who could¡¯ve realized something was wrong. Fortunately for Nicole, the patrol group near the entrance decided to take a short nap before continuing with their mission.


    As a consequence, dozens more Sullivans died in their sleep.


    The onslaught finally stopped when the patrols decided to take another walk before taking a break again.


    Imagine their horror when they find a group of assassins slaughtering their comrades, as well as a dozen tents with nothing but corpses inside.


    Nicole sent another arrow into the patrol captain¡¯s chest before ordering the entire squad to retreat. As the Sullivans woke up, the attackers were already gone. When the patrol tried to pursue, they were welcomed by a wave of arrows from the shadows.

 Chapter 18: Ambush from the inside

    The Alliance continued to harass the Sullivans the entire way through the night. The Sullivans tried everything. In one case, they kept a group of men awake so they could repel any incoming attack while the others slept. That sounded good, but it was pretty hard to sleep when there were screams and horns right outside your tent.


    Another case, the Sullivan commander had his cavalry and another group of soldiers set up an ambush in an attempt to catch the Alliance forces off guard and surround them, but that didn''t work well. The teen in charge of that attack, Sophia, simply turned the group around and fled. It was impossible to pursue with an exhausted force through the dark night.


    At one point, the Sullivan commander was forced to keep the entire army awake.


    When the night was finally over, and when the sun beat back the cover of the shadows, the Sullivans were able to attack the mining camp. Unfortunately, their morale didn''t allow it.


    Over the course of the night, over two hundred men have perished. Most attacks just claimed the lives of the sentries, but the attack that Nicole led did a lot of damage. The girl and her hit squad exterminated twelve tents before being pushed back. All the soldiers in those tents were just slaughtered like pigs. In fact, pigs could still screech and run, but the soldiers were just executed.


    When men of the Twentieth Battalion was assembled by the commander, they thought they would be allowed to get some rest. Attack now and they would be crushed.


    But the commander¡¯s orders were the direct opposite.


    ¡°Attack! Take the camp.¡±


    The men couldn¡¯t believe their ears, but when the commander showed his determination by executing the remaining members of the patrol group that literally slept on the job, the men were forced to comply.


    But when the Sullivan soldiers charged into the mining camp, they didn''t face any resistance at all. In fact, the camp was completely empty.


    ¡°Sir, the rebels have fled.¡± A soldier reported to the commander.


    The commander¡¯s widened. He realized something. He thought the rebels were trying to attack them when they poked around in the Sullivan camp, but apparently, they were just trying to cover the retreat of the majority of the rebel forces. This way, there was no chance of pursuit.


    Whoever commanded the rebel forces was slick.


    Glancing around, the commander knew there was no way he could force his men to go above and beyond their mission and hunt down the rebels who have already had a head start. Their mission was to take back the mines. They have taken back the mines. The army started with 1,500 men. Now they have 800. Even those men were exhausted. If he tried to push them to keep moving, he could have a riot at his hand. Even if that didn''t happen, the efficiency of his men wouldn¡¯t be near ideal.


    Normally, an army would fall apart when they reach a 20% casualty rate. The Twentieth Battalion went way beyond that count because they were fighting on the home front against a group of bandits. They would likely win anyway, so no one thought of desert, at least not yet. Asking them to pursue into the mountains was just delusional.


    ¡°Set up the camp here. Send a messenger to Commander Hartfield and tell him to send men over. We will hold this ground until then.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°Also, double the sentries. I don¡¯t want us to be hit again.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    <hr>


    Hours passed as the day turned from morning to noon to evening. The Sullivan forces settled in the mining camp. The commander took over the command tent that used to belong to Vice Commander Liam. Squads of sentries took over the towers at the gate. To reward his men for pushing through despite the casualties, the Commander decided to allow the entire army to have a small feast. He knew if he didn''t do so, his men would spread words of complaint, which would somewhat threaten his position. Plus, he planned on going to Commander Hartfield to ask for compensation for all the loss of men and resource. After all, the Twentieth Battalion was only here because of Hartfield¡¯s orders.


    Finally, as the night fell again, the Sullivans were full and sleepy. Still, they remembered of the massacre the day before. Scouts who haven¡¯t had a single drop of wine were spread out across the exterior of the camp. Sentries guarded the towers and patrolled the fences. A group of archers, over fifty of them, were on the ready. They could get to the fences and gun down any intruder within a moment¡¯s notice.


    The commander was confident what happened last night wouldn¡¯t happen again.


    A Sullivan soldier was woken up by the urge to relieve himself. He stood up, dizzy from all those wine, and stumbled his way out of his tent. Slowly, he tried to make his way toward the bathroom.


    As he stumbled, he suddenly realized he might¡¯ve gone the wrong way. Instead of going to the bathroom, he found himself approaching the mines.


    Whatever. The mines are empty anyways. It¡¯s not like anyone will see him. He took off his pants and was about to proceed when he suddenly found a fellow Sullivan soldier in front of him. He was holding a spear.


    ¡°Howdy.¡± The drunk soldier casually waved his hand before continuing to reach for his pants. Just as he was about to touch it, the other Sullivan soldier started walking toward him.


    ¡°What do you¡­Uh¡±


    The drunk soldier looked down on his chest, where a spear was pushed through. He looked up. This time he was close enough to see that under the Sullivan helmet was a feminine face and long, blonde hair. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The Twentieth Battalion doesn¡¯t have female soldiers¡­


    As the drunk soldier slowly collapsed, Sophia pulled her spear out.


    Behind her was nine hundred men.


    <hr>


    ¡°Incoming!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re under attack!¡±


    ¡°Where are the enemies?¡±


    ¡°Help...help...Ahhhh!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the enemy¡­.no no no!¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    The Commander was woken up by screams from outside. His eyes snapped open again, and this time it was filled with fury. Deep down, he believed the rebels were gone already. Since they were no longer a factor, this chaos probably has something to do with the foot soldiers. Maybe they decided to have a bar fight?


    When his lieutenant charged in with blood on his face, he knew this was serious.


    ¡°Commander, we¡¯re under attack!¡±


    ¡°By who?¡±


    The lieutenant shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Commander was slightly taken back. ¡°We¡¯re in combat and we don¡¯t know who we¡¯re fighting?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s...complicated. You have to see for yourself.¡±


    Commander cursed and drew his sword. He thought he was safe and took off his armor before he went to bed. Now he was practically naked. A single arrow could kill him, but he no longer cared. What the hell was going on outside?


    As soon as he walked out, he knew where the problem was.


    Throughout the camp, Sullivan soldiers were fighting each other. Men in red clashed with men in red. Sullivan styled swords pierced Sullivan styled armors. The Commander could see many men who were as clueless as he was, only to get attacked by their comrades. These men were either taken down by surprise or were forced to defend themselves, in which case they added to the chaos.


    ¡°Everyone stop!¡±


    Commander screamed, but his voice died down in the wave of cries and screams. His lieutenant and guards shouted as well.


    Some of the men close to them stopped, but others didn''t. In fact, some men were so blinded by fear and rage that they continued to slash down on the men that have stopped fighting.


    ¡°What the hell...I said everyone stop!¡± Just as Commander was about to repeat his orders, three Sullivan soldiers ran to him. Both he and his guards thought these soldiers wanted to report something to him and they allowed the men to come close, but as soon as the men came close, they drew their weapons and attacked.


    More joined the fighting, and the chaos quickly engulfed the Commander and his men.


    A distance away, behind the cover of twenty men, Patel, Raymond, and Jerry stood in pleasant surprise.


    Yesterday night, Jerry finally decided to go to Patel and Sophia. The three talked, and they were able to come up with a plan.


    The attacks during the night were designed to wear the Sullivans down, but not for the purpose the Commander envisioned. No. It was so that the Sullivans would be too tired to fully examine the camp, especially the mines, where all the Alliance soldiers were hidden.


    Yes. The Alliance never fled into the mountains. Instead, they struck a subconscious belief in the Sullivans that their enemies would try to flee. In reality, the Alliance stayed behind and got ready for an ambush.


    At first, the plan was to just bypass the fences and take the Sullivans by surprise, but Sophia reminded that the Alliance still had confiscated Sullivan armors and weapons when the Alliance took over the camp. They equipped all the militias with those armors to an attempt to enhance the element of surprise.


    This factor worked better than any of them have imagined. Neither Jerry nor Sophia nor Patel imagined the Commander would let his men feast and drink as a reward, not that they were complaining.


    When the Alliance militias struck, the Sullivans were completely thrown off guard. Unlike last night, where a small group of men infiltrated and assassinated quietly, this time it was impossible to cover the tracks of nine hundred pair of feet.


    But this worked to the advantage of the Alliance. When half-drunk, half-asleep soldiers saw a wave of fellow Sullivan soldiers charging over and striking them down, they couldn¡¯t tell the difference between friends and enemies. If it was in broad daylight and they weren¡¯t drunk, they would realize all the militias wore a white armband on their right arm. Unfortunately, they were too busy staying alive.


    Chaos started to spread. The militias just attacked half of the Sullivan tents. If the rest of the men banded together, they might still be able to launch a counterattack. But the men in the back were riddled with confusion. They simply had no idea what happened. As far as they know there might be a mutiny among the men.


    Problem started to rise when several men who had grudges against each other decided to use the opportunity to attack each other. There was also news that Sullivan soldiers were attacking each other, and all the men started to look at each other with suspicious eyes. Working together was made impossible.


    Without reinforcement, the Sullivans at the front line collapsed. As the freed slaves and most of the militias mopped up the field, several teens led their militias toward the command tent, which was at the center of all the other tents. They knew they needed to take down the commander of this army to truly seal the deal. Despite the initial success, the Sullivans could always mount a counteroffensive and simply push them back.


    These groups stuck tightly to the fleeing Sullivans, who ran into the already confused men. This immediately made the already tense situation even more intense.


    The situation went even worse when the fake Sullivans suddenly struck down real Sullivans.


    All of a sudden everything exploded. Sullivans who didn''t know each other attacked anyone they didn''t recognize. After all, this was the only way to get an upper hand if those people were indeed enemies. Being in an army of fifteen hundred, chances are you can¡¯t recognize anyone. Some of the men were calmer, but they were immediately targeted by the militias.


    Sullivans attacked Sullivans. Militias killed Sullivans. Sullivans killed militias.


    Even when the Commander tried to stabilize the field, the fake Sullivans ignored the order to stop and continued fighting. The real Sullivans, forced to defend themselves, were forced to ignore the order as well to defend themselves. Before the Commander could recognize who¡¯s really his men, he was under attack as well.


    Sophia pushed forward. Her spear landed on a real Sullivan¡¯s neck and drew a fountain of blood. Another man collapsed when she slammed her weapon into his leg. Unfortunately, her wooden spear shattered as well.


    ¡°Oh crap!¡± Swearing, Sophia tossed the broken pieces of her spear at the fallen Sullivan and drew her sword. She jumped to the soldier and stepped on his chest, keeping him from getting up.


    ¡°Please...have mercy¡­¡± The man begged. His helmet has fallen off. Sophia saw he was a young man in his early twenties. She couldn¡¯t help but frown. Her sword, already at the man¡¯s throat, froze as well. The man was barely older than her.


    At the moment of hesitation, the soldier reached into a pocket next to his leg and pulled out a dagger. The dagger was about to land on Sophia when the girl saw it and pressed her leg down on the man¡¯s chest. The man coughed and his hand paused for a second. Before he could move his dagger again, Sophia pushed her sword into the soldier¡¯s neck.


    She shouldn¡¯t have hesitated.

 Chapter 19: Victory and Merit

    The Commander slashed his sword across one of the fake Sullivans and deflected another attack as the first man collapsed.


    Behind him, another horseman beheaded another fake Sullivan. The militia¡¯s spear landed on the horseman¡¯s chest plating and slid off to the side without achieving much. Metal spears could punch through the leather armor of ordinary Sullivan soldiers, but against the metal platings of the Commander¡¯s guards, they were nearly useless.


    ¡°Commander, we need to fall back and regroup!¡± The lieutenant screamed. His sword was stained with blood as well. Three militias have fallen under his strikes.


    Just as the Commander was about to reply, an arrow came out from the side. The Commander swore as he tilted his head, dodging the projectile. The arrow came out of nowhere, but he didn''t exactly become the leader of more than one thousand men with just his tactics. In the brutal Sullivan army, strength was even more of a qualification requirement than intelligence.


    ¡°Take him out! He¡¯s the commander!¡± In the dark, Nicole reloaded.


    Sullivans were dying all around her, but there were just too many of them. It was difficult to understand how large an army of 800 is just by looking at the number. 800 soldiers could form 8 squares of 10 by 10. They were enough to fill multiple basketball fields.


    The initial blow to the Sullivans claimed hundreds of dead, but gradually, more and more Sullivans learned to identify the imposters. Militias were discovered, outnumbered, and terminated. The freedmen were still fighting, but after the initial rush of adrenaline faded, their lack of experience and equipment started to show. Casualties rose.


    If the Commander could lead his horsemen on a counterattack, the Alliance might just be broken. Militias have performed well until now, but no one has forgotten what their unit description was.


    Basically villagers with a few weeks of training and uniform pikes as weapons. They still don¡¯t have any armor. They are slightly more durable in a fight than villagers, but if they are in a difficult fight, or even an even fight, they would turn and flee.


    If twenty nearly invincible horsemen charge into the field, it would be a matter of time before the militias turn and flee. Without their forces, the teens would be picked off one by one.


    The Commander has to die.


    Luckily, her call for aid quickly reached the ear of her comrades.


    From the side, Chris and Sophia, each with a dozen militias behind them, closed in. Their swords and spears were ready to embrace blood.


    ¡°Charge!¡± The Commander turned to the incoming Alliance forces. He waved his sword, and his twenty cavalries started charging. They quickly smashed into the militias.


    The first collision left ten militias impaled and a two horsemen dismounted. The militias, with their wooden spears and plain clothing, didn''t stand a chance against heavily armored cavalry units.


    One of the dismounted horsemen was on the ground before his ride accidentally stumbled onto a hole in the ground in the dark. The beast collapsed. The second horseman was simply pushed over by multiple spears. Yet none of them was seriously injured.


    Chris dodged a rider¡¯s spear, grabbed onto it and held it in place, and smashed his sword into the man¡¯s chestplate. It made the rider cough, but the sword wasn¡¯t able to do any real damage. The two held that position for a while as they tried to bring each other down.


    Sophia saw a similar problem, only she was smarter.


    ¡°Go for the legs! The horse legs!¡±


    She slammed her spear into the front legs of one of the horses beside her. The legs weren¡¯t armored because it would simply be too cumbersome for the horse to move efficiently. With the front legs broken, the horse collapsed. The rider barely recovered from the fall before two militias stepped on him and started stabbing him with spears. The rider¡¯s spear was on the ground, and his sword has fallen out during the fall. Defenseless, he could only watch as some of the stabs made it through his armor and claimed his life.


    Chris tried a similar thing and took down the horseman he was struggling with.


    Nicole loaded another arrow and fired it at the Commander. It missed again.


    The battle continued. With the commander trapped, Jerry and Patel, in the back, pressed on the attack. More and more ordinary Sullivan soldiers were outflanked and put down. They had the numbers, but one side had command and the other side didn''t. Eventually, the militias and the freedmen started to get an upper hand.


    As more and more militias came in, more and more riders fell. The Commander tried to charge forward, but after decapitating a couple of militias, he was pushed back. The random arrows from the side didn''t help with his cause either. None of them really hurt him, but the archer firing those shots was skilled. He was forced back again and again.


    Beside him, the lieutenant collapsed. A freedman, a former hunter, shot an arrow into his left eye. When he hit the ground, two more militias mutilated his body and made sure he was dead.


    At this point, the Commander realized a dire thing. His men might still be fighting, but as more and more of the forces of the Alliance were attributed to him, he himself has been surrounded. His guards were falling one by one. Eventually, he would be knocked down and captured. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    He needed to break out of this and get to his men now.


    ¡°Guards, on me!¡± He screamed as he whipped his horse hard. The beast, in pain, charged forward with all its strength. It ran into a militia and simply stepped on him and ran him over. The sound of bones cracking echoed through the chaotic night.


    A handful of cavalry guards followed him.


    Chris saw it.


    ¡°Militia, form a wall! Spears out!¡± One of the teens whose militias happened to be in the way the Commander was charging at decided to stop him. With a single order, fifteen militias formed a two men thick wall. Their spears pointed at the commander.


    The Commander ran head on into the wall. He wore full body armor. The militia wooden spears crashed into the metal armor and broke, but after four casualties, the militias still managed to get the Commander off his ride.


    ¡°Die you rebel scum!¡± Even on the ground, the Commander wasn¡¯t easy to deal with. He didn''t even need to use his weapon as he grabbed onto a militia by the neck and broke it. Militias attacked him repeatedly but failed to achieve anything. Sometimes, armor was really helpful.


    Behind him, the last riders were consumed by reinforcing militias. Once they lost the momentum, they quickly became sitting ducks for the militia spears.


    Suddenly, Chris leaped up from behind and smashed the hilt his large sword at the Commander¡¯s neck. There was still armor there, but the defenses there were weaker. The strike knocked the Commander off his feet. He was a good fighter, but being a good fighter didn''t give him eyes on the back of his head.


    More militias came in and piled on top of him.


    At this point, without further backup, the Commander was subdued. The strength of a single person was nothing if he was facing an army just by himself. A single stab from the back could end him.


    Chris raised his weapon again. Before he could bring it down for the killing blow, Sophia stopped him.


    ¡°We should take him alive. If we don¡¯t need him, we can kill him afterward.¡±


    Chris nodded and took a step back.


    As the Commander went down, the rest of the Sullivans knew the battle was lost. They tried to make it for the gate, but there was too much chaos and too little command. The retreat turned into a route. Before long, the battle was over.


    At the end of the day, 500 Sullivans fell dead. Corpses of red armored men was scattered across the mines once again.


    Overall 120 militias were killed in the battle, along with 100 or so freedmen. Just looking at the numbers, it was a clear victory, but there were nonetheless concerns. The Sullivans had an empire, but the teens only had a few hundred men left.


    ¡°What do we do with the prisoners?¡±


    When the teens met up again, that was the first question.


    ¡°Put them all to the sword, starting with their commander.¡± That was obviously Chris. Even now, he couldn¡¯t forget the sight of Karl¡¯s head on a spike, been marched down the road. It was only fair to return the favor.


    Blood must have blood. An eye for an eye, and three hundreds heads for one was more than enough.


    ¡°They¡¯re defenseless.¡± Nicole objected. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not saying we should show how we¡¯re better than they are, but if we let them go and have them tell their own people what happened, then the next Sullivans will know that if they surrender to us, they get to live. That will be a heavy blow to their morale.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t work.¡± Chris shook his head. ¡°The Sullivans run their empire with fear. They will only see our merciness as a weakness. We need to make them scared of us, not thank us. Gratitude will not stop them from putting a blade into our back.¡±


    ¡°I suggest we kill them all.¡± Sophia suggested. She was almost like two different people when dealing with the Sullivans and when dealing with the others. To the innocent people like the freedmen, she tried to be as nice as possible, but when it came to the Sullivans, she had anything but mercy.


    Patel frowned as the others shared their thoughts. He didn''t want to kill the prisoners. He knew he wasn¡¯t exactly a saint. When the freedmen wanted to leave, he prompted them to stay, and now a hundred of them were dead. But killing unarmed, defenseless prisoners was still a bit too much for him.


    Finally, he turned to Jerry. Last time he checked, the man wasn¡¯t exactly a fan of killing prisoners either. When Chris forced him to kill the cook, he almost wanted to punch Chris in the face.


    ¡°Jerry?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Jerry looked up like he was just woken up by something. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°We captured 300 Sullivans. What should we do with them?¡±


    ¡°Send the ones capable of working into the mines. Kill the rest.¡± Jerry¡¯s answer came out quickly.


    The next second he realized Patel and Nicole were staring at him in surprise.


    ¡°What? This is what must be done. If we keep the prisoners alive, we need to feed them. The capable ones can still earn their food by working in the mines and giving us gold, but for the ones too sick to work, they¡¯ll die soon anyways without medical supply. Might as well give them a clean death.¡±


    Behind him, Alex smiled at the suggestion.


    ¡°Jerry¡­¡±


    Nicole was about to say something when Jerry suddenly added.


    ¡°Actually, another thing. Identify all the Sullivan officers and round them up. Extract every piece of information they know. We will need information if we want to expand.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± Alex¡¯s smile went even wider as the girl quickly walked out of the room. Her hand on her dagger.


    Patel sighed and gave a slight approving nod. A few dozen being merci-killed was better than three hundred people getting slaughtered. Nicole bit her lips, silently making up her mind to go talk to Jerry afterwards.


    She really didn''t like where this was going.


    ¡°There are more important things to attend to.¡± Jerry suddenly spoke up. ¡°Bring up your control panels.¡±


    As the others turned to their control panels, Jerry pulled up his own.


    Name: Jerry


    Gold: 0


    Merit: 2,000 * 0.2 = 400


    Tier: 1


    Available Units to summon: Villager. Militia.


    Press to upgrade to Tier 2 (Now Available)


    The most obvious change was the merit tab. When Jerry looked at his personal interface before the series of battles, he had 0 merit. He checked out the personal interface a few times, but he never paid any attention to that.


    He gently tapped the upgrade to tier 2 tab. It flashed, and a popup came out.


    Upgrading to Tier 2 requires 100 merit. Press Yes to continue.


    Yes/No


    How...interesting¡­


    Jerry pressed the upgrade to tier 2 button.

 Chapter 20: Tier 2 Generals & New Units

    Jerry pressed the upgrade to Tier 2 button.


    The next moment, his personal interface transformed.


    Name: Jerry


    Gold: 0


    Merit: 300


    Tier: 2


    Available Units to summon: Villager. Militia. Spearmen. Swordsmen. Pikesmen. Horsemen. Archer.


    Press to upgrade to Tier 3


    He tapped the press to upgrade to Tier 3 key.


    Upgrading to Tier 3 requires 5,000 merit. You have insufficient merit.


    Fair enough.


    At this point, most of the teens were exclaiming in surprise. They realized the change in merits as well.


    ¡°I got 500 merits!¡± Chris looked thrilled. He pressed something on the interface, likely the upgrade tier button.


    Jerry did his best to deduce.


    ¡°The merit you earned is a number multiplied by a decimal, which probably stands for a percentage. It¡¯s 2,000 for me, is it the same for you guys? Yes. Well, that 2,000 is probably attributed to the 2,000 Sullivans we killed. The percentage after that? I think it¡¯s our contribution to the battle.¡±


    He was slightly surprised he claimed 20% of the contributions, but then again, he did fire the first shot of the rebellion. With the Sullivan attackers, he set up the initial ambush and played a huge role in setting up the final battle. He only had a few body counts under his belt, but without him, the Alliance might be gone already.


    Now, Chris was impressive. He did no planning or plotting, but just by fighting in the front, he claimed one fourth of the total merit. That was enough to show how badass a fighter he was.


    ¡°I upgraded to Tier 2. It costed me 100 merits.¡± Chris explained as he tapped on the invisible interface. ¡°There are a lot of new units unlocked. Spearmen. Swordsmen. Pikesmen. Archers and horsemen. Wow!¡±


    Of course, whenever someone was happy, someone was not.


    ¡°Why did I only get 70 merits?¡± Raymond demanded, slightly annoyed. ¡°I had more men than all of you!¡±


    Jerry could give it a fair guess. Raymond had the resources, but he failed to use it effectively. Did his men help? Sure. But the result of the battle would¡¯ve been the same with or without him. But he had no intention of explaining that and risk annoying the man. Instead, Jerry diverted his attention back to the new units he just got access to.


    Spearmen:


    Definition: Men armed with wooden spears. Plus side? There are some metal at the spear tips that can pierce human flesh and minor armor. They are one step up from the militias, but in most cases, their numbers, not their spears, is their best advantage.


    Comment: You know how in fantasy shows a large group of evil goons gets defeated by the protagonist without landing a single hit? Well, that pretty much sums up the spearmen.


    Unit Size: 300


    Total Cost: 4,500 gold


    Time: 3 hours.


    Swordsmen:


    Definition: Somewhat decent soldiers armed with shields and swords. They have leather armors that looks cool. They can easily cut their way through less professional soldiers, and they can stand their ground against an even foe.


    Comment: Like those shields, the leather armors aren¡¯t useless. At least they can clean the enemy swords up before they slice your warriors apart.


    Unit Size: 180


    Total Cost: 5,400 gold.


    Time: 4 hours.


    Pikesman:


    Definition: Soldiers with no armors. Thankfully, they have large, one man tall shields and long pikes. They have daggers, but the daggers are more often used to make barbequed meat than to kill. They can hold their position if they hide behind their shields and use their pikes to deal with the enemies a safe distance away, but if the shield wall is broken and the flanks are broken, these pikesmen would be turned into your mediocre militias and flee.


    Comment: Use them well and they will be stronger than you best prayers. Use them poorly and they will be weaker than your worst expectation.


    Unit Size: 300


    Total Cost: 6,000 gold.


    Time: 3 hours.


    Horseman:


    Definition: A man on a horse. They are armed with cheap leather armor, a lance, and a sword. Don¡¯t get yourself too excited. These horsemen aren¡¯t the biological tanks that can crush through any enemy. They are more often used as scouts or used to chase down fleeing enemy. In a frontal assault, you will find them as durable as spearmen. They are more expensive and come in less numbers than the spearmen, so be careful with them...


    Comment: A horse and a man is a greater target than a man on foot.


    Unit Size: 80


    Total Cost: 4,000 gold. 30 merit.


    Time: 5 hoursThis content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Archer:


    Definition: Bow and arrows can be terrifying. Only problem: Not all bows and arrows are created equal. These archers only have hunting bows and wooden arrows. Any decent armor can deflect these arrows. Even if someone without an army is shot, the victim will probably just pull the arrow out and continue fighting. They are mostly used to distract the enemies or wear them down for your other, more competent forces to step in and seal the deal. A whole army of thousands of these archers can do quite the damage, but a look at the cost and unit size will tell you only the most foolish fool would do such a thing.


    Comment: You know how in movies arrows can wipe out an entire army? That¡¯s not how it works here.


    Unit Size: 100


    Total Cost: 5,000 gold.


    Time: 5 hours


    ¡°There¡¯s a problem.¡± Jerry frowned and turned to most of the other teens who didn''t have enough merit to do an upgrade. ¡°At Tier 2, all the units come in different packages, and their cost is packaged as well. For example, with the spearmen, we can only summon them in groups of 300, which each cost 4,500 gold and takes 3 hours.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the problem in that?¡±


    ¡°The problem,¡± Sophie, who has also been tapped her interface. ¡°is that we can no longer get them individually, so for poor people like us who can¡¯t afford entire groups, it¡¯s an unfavorable change.¡±


    Jerry glanced around. Including him, there were five teens who looked like they have upgraded their tiers. Him. Chris. Sophie. Patel. And Nicole.


    Speaking of Chris¡­


    ¡°Wow, check this out!¡±


    The teen suddenly turned and dashed out of the command tent and out into the open. The next second, he tapped something in midair, and 24 figures formed in front of him.


    Jerry¡¯s eyes went wide. It was 24 horsemen. All of them had a spear, a round shield, and a sword attached to their belts. They wore leather armor with pieces of metal protecting their chest. Metal helmets covered their heads.


    All 24 of them dismounted and turned to Chris before kneeling down.


    ¡°My lord!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the General¡¯s Guards.¡± Chris smiled like a teenager. ¡°They come with the Tier 2 upgrades.¡±


    Jerry rose his eyebrows and looked through his interface. Chris was right. He found a small blinking dot at the corner. A single click opened up another tab.


    General¡¯s Guards:


    Definition: Elite mounted warriors armed with lances, shields, and swords. The armors they wear are a mixture of leather and metal. They are unlimitedly loyal to their lords, and will fight until the end no matter the enemies. Every Tier 2 general can only have 24 General¡¯s Guards. Every General¡¯s Guard killed in battle will be replaced in 24 hours unless the entire unit is wiped out.


    Comment: They are a force to be reckoned with. A squad of General¡¯s Guard can challenge and even route ten times its numbers. However, the General¡¯s Guards are the General¡¯s last line of defense, and if you find yourself frequently using the General¡¯s Guards, then something is really wrong.


    Cost: ---


    Size: 24


    Jerry and the other three teens quickly summoned their General¡¯s Guards as well. Before long, a total of 120 armored, mounted warriors stood tall in the middle of the camp.


    Even Jerry couldn¡¯t help but let out a little smile. People like Chris, Sophia, and Nicole were fully capable of handling themselves, but he and Patel were practically defenseless. Militias were simply insufficient to keep them alive if things were to get too heated. Now, a squad of 24 elite warriors could surely change that.


    Plus, an army of cavalry could do wonders. Back in the fight against the 20th Battalion, 120 General¡¯s Guards charging into the field could break the defenders in one charge.


    Just look at how much trouble the 20 guards of the Sullivan Commander did to the militias and the freedmen.


    No one saw the flash of jealousy from Raymond¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°We should put the prisoners to work in the mines at once.¡± Jerry suggested as he led the teens back into the command tent. The General¡¯s Guards were good, but right now, the Alliance needed a plan. ¡°The gold in the mines doesn¡¯t mean anything to us if we can¡¯t transform them into units.¡±


    ¡°But how about the Sullivans? It¡¯s certain some Sullivans got out. They may be on the way back to the other Sullivan commanders now. We will be facing a larger invasionary force in a few days.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to Edward and send some of his men back to the closest Sullivan city, Maynard City. If the Sullivans are to muster an army to march here, chances are that¡¯s where the army will be coming from.¡± Patel concluded. ¡°One thing for sure. What we did with the last Sullivan battalion won¡¯t work here.¡±


    If routed Sullivan troops ran back to Maynard City, it was certain they would pass the knowledge of the Alliance¡¯s battle style to the next commander. Things like ambush and night attacks could only do wonders when they catch the opponents by surprise. It could still delay an alerted enemy, but that was it.


    ¡°We can try to relocate ourselves.¡± One of the other teens commented. ¡°Edward and his men have people familiar with the surroundings, right? We can use them as guide and stay away from this mess.¡±


    ¡°You want us to tuck our tails between our legs and run?¡± Chris¡¯s question was far from polite.


    ¡°Actually, I agree with Chris.¡± Jerry shook his head. ¡°We just exterminated a local garrison, which means the Sullivan influence here has already been dwindled. If we move to another battlefield, that will be no more. I doubt we can find a gold mine like the one we have now either. Chances are we will be caught in the open with no reinforcements with armies of fresh Sullivan troops descending upon us.¡±


    Finally, it was the virtual leader of the Alliance that stepped in.


    ¡°Without adequate information, all we can do now is prepare ourselves as much as possible.¡± Patel started to hand out instructions.


    ¡°Who wants to interrogate the Sullivan officers?¡±


    That was more of a question than an order, and rightfully so. Teenagers weren¡¯t known for being obedient, and teenagers with armies beneath them were even more rebellious. If Patel tried to give orders, the others might feel neglected or even insulted.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Jerry had to cut him off. ¡°Actually, Alex is already on it.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Patel nodded. He didn''t know much about Alex, but if the girl volunteered to do the dirty work, well, then so be it. ¡°Chris, will you be fine with picking out the prisoners too injured to work, and, ummm, handle them?¡±


    Chris smirked. ¡°Gladly.¡± He turned and left the room at once. Picking out sacrificial victims from a group of defenseless prisoners with 24 fully armed knights behind him? He would never refuse something like that.


    ¡°I will talk to Edward, and when the prisoners are put to work, I will calculate their daily gold output and distribute them.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to do that?¡± Jerry suddenly asked. ¡°Evenly or by merit?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I was thinking we put all the gold harvested together for now. Given how the summoning mechanism has changed after Tier 2, dividing the resources between dozens of us may not be the wisest idea.¡±


    Jerry nodded slowly.


    ¡°Jerry, Sophia, Nicole.¡± Patel turned to the other three Tier 2 Generals. ¡°Please take turns leading your General¡¯s Guards around the perimeter of the mines. Set up scouts around our camp so no one can sneak up on us. I don¡¯t think the Sullivans will arrive until a few days, but we can never be so sure.¡±


    Jerry nodded. ¡°Good thinking. It never hurts to be careful.¡±


    ¡°Can I take the first turn?¡± Nicole suddenly spoke up.


    ¡°Hmm...sure. Why not?¡± Sophie shrugged.


    ¡°But what about us?¡± As the meeting came to an end, Raymond suddenly turned to Patel.


    There were dozens of teens in the group, but only the five with enough merit to upgrade to Tier 2 were given an opportunity to do something important. The others were simply neglected.


    Patel obviously didn''t expect that.


    ¡°Well...just take a break. You know, you guys have fought well today. Go get some rest. You deserve it.¡±


    Most of the teens left, satisfied. They formed pairs and trios and discussed what they would drink tonight or what they would do in the darkness of their tents. But Raymond wasn¡¯t satisfied. Instead, his heart sank.


    Right now, Patel, Sophie, Jerry, Nicole, and Chris have practically dominated the camp. Five of them claimed most of the merits, and with their General¡¯s Guards, they represented at least one third of the Alliance¡¯s forces. That was not counting the difference in troop quality and the militias they too commanded.


    Even a fool could tell the more influence a teen had in the Alliance, the more likely he or she would get more merit next time. And who could say they, with armies behind their backs, would share the harvested gold evenly with those whose forces only consist of a handful of wooden-spear-wielding militias?


    Before long, all the teens but the top few would descend into nobody. Their forces would dwindle in comparison to that of the top few, and their influence would be all but lost.


    Raymond couldn¡¯t allow it. He couldn¡¯t, and wouldn¡¯t, tolerate the idea of having his life depend on the kindness and honesty of his peers. He would rather take things into his own hands.


    But how? How could he take back power when he lacked the forces?


    It was simple. He needed allies.