278 Aftermath

The sheer size of the battlefield surpassed anything Khan had ever experienced. His group dispersed as the wave of soldiers reached the trench. Bullets flew everywhere, and cries filled the area.

Khan could shut down his thoughts and lose himself on the battlefield. His eyes and ears worked, but he didn't rely on them to fight. Stal and humans filled his surroundings without relying on any specific tactic or strategy. Everyone attacked everyone, often ending up in friendly fire and similar problems that the chaos in the area swept away.

Khan felt whole but also empty. He was one with the world but not himself. His knife never stopped glowing and cutting the air. His feet always kicked the ground or incoming enemies. Blood, dirt, gore, and sweat covered his body as he shot left and right toward every alien that he found.

A Stal tried to approach Khan from behind, but he jumped forward to stab his knife at a distracted opponent. The weapon left a deep cut at the center of the alien's back, but the latter turned while swinging its arms.

Khan kept the sharp membrane active and slid his knife in the opposite direction of the alien's rotation. The Stal found a curved cut that went from the center of its back to its torso when it completed its movement. As for its opponent, it couldn't see him anywhere.

A series of bullets flew toward Khan, and he sensed them, but fights were happening all around him. He couldn't dodge, not completely at least, so he ducked and let one of the projectiles fall on his shield.

The watch went dark now that it depleted its charges. Khan felt the barrier dispersing, but his attention quickly went on the Stal falling toward him.

Khan had to take a step back to avoid the Stal. The soldier on the other side voiced a weak "sorry" when he noticed his ally, but an alien exploited that moment of distraction to slam its arms on his head.

Khan saw everything and nothing. His brain memorized information, but it reacted only to the mana. He felt lost, but he also had complete awareness of his situation and position.

Conflicting sensations filled Khan's mind as he continued to fight. Chaos raged, but he was at peace. Deafening noises reached his ears, but he heard nothing. The strangeness of the situation seemed able to freeze his joints, but his limbs moved faster than ever.

The first-grade knife broke at some point. Khan had kept the sharp membrane active during most of the battle, and his element had eventually gotten the best of his weapon. The event forced him to rely on the chaos claws, which allowed him to notice the differences between his spell and the Divine Reaper.

The chaos claws spell seemed similar to the Divine Reaper in its uses, but it lacked the martial art's swiftness and speed. The red-purple short sword destroyed instead of cutting, so each attack was inevitably slower than when he used the knife.

The battlefield prevented other soldiers from noticing that Khan relied on his spell non-stop. Some of his fights would have gone better if he used his version of the Divine Reaper, but he didn't want to abuse the [Blood Shield]. 

His sensitivity to mana allowed him to avoid strong Stal. However, Khan decided to jump on them whenever he noticed an opening or a distraction.

The battlefield slowly thinned down until it went silent. Soldiers inspected their surroundings and searched for other opponents, but they soon realized that the area now featured only humans. Disbelief soon replaced their battle intent, and everything eventually fell prey to loud cries that announced the victory.

Khan took a bit to return to his normal mental state. He had remained in a daze when he inspected the sharp changes in the mana around him. The energy had gone from pure chaos to peaceful to ecstatic. The soldiers' happiness filled the world with raging waves that flew upward and engulfed the whole army.

Khan discovered that he was out of breath when the battle ended. Deep tiredness filled his arms and legs, and his body felt heavy. Mana still flowed out of his mana core and filled his insides, but the long battle had drained him. 

Some of the happy cries transformed into sobs. Many soldiers sat on the bloody ground, uncaring of the corpses and gore lying around them. The first-level warriors were exhausted, and those who had yet to reach that level were even worse. Even the Lieutenants couldn't bother dealing with their duties in that situation. Everyone wandered, rested, or lost themselves in what was left of the area.

Khan wanted to wipe his forehead, but he stopped when he noticed that both his arms were full of blood. He couldn't even find a clean spot on his torn and ragged uniform. One of his shoes had also disappeared, but he couldn't remember how.

The ground had turned muddy after all the blood that had fallen during the battle. Craters, metal shards, and corpses also filled the plain. Most of the trench had crumbled, and smoke still came out from where the large bullets had crashed.

The scene depicted death and reminded Khan about the Second Impact. He had already seen such destruction, but the event had involved a vaster area at that time. He had even been one of the causes behind that mess, but that realization barely affected his mindset.

His gaze stopped when he noticed a soldier puking in front of the gruesome spectacle. The scene was pitiful, but Khan couldn't move his eyes away from the poor man. That was a natural reaction to the disgusting images that the area could provide, but Khan had lost the ability to suffer because of them. 

'I've grown cold,' Khan sighed before forcing himself to look away.

Only a few soldiers had remained active on the battlefield. Captain Clayman shouted orders to the Lieutenants around him and tried to get everyone moving. The army had to gather the bodies and check all the equipment that the Stal had left behind before regrouping and making a point of the situation.

The cleaning operations began, and the other soldiers slowly started to get to work. Even Khan received orders at some point. He had to move the corpses of the Stal and amass them on a pile that someone would eventually set on fire.

Tents began to appear in the area as parts of the battlefield became free of the corpses. The ground absorbed the blood but remained muddy. Still, it was stable enough to allow the creation of a messy camp and defensive lines that used the intact vehicles.

The outcome of the battle became clear by the morning of the next day. The human army had lost half of its members and many vehicles to achieve its victory. A few cannons and tanks from the Stal's side had also remained intact, which improved the prospect of future fights.

The numbers were encouraging. The human army had been on the offensive side, so Captain Clayman had been ready to lose far more troops. However, the initial distraction and the soldiers' general superiority due to their spells had contained their losses.

Captain Clayman ordered everyone to rest while the higher-ups dealt with food and other basic necessities. Many soldiers had to sleep in the open due to the lack of portable habitations. It even took a while for trucks with new provisions to arrive. HQ also had to send fresh troops to refill the losses since the army had to approach the city in the distance afterward.

No one really socialized during the days after the battle. The army also partially dispersed since many soldiers didn't want to sleep on the muddy ground where friends and Stal had died. The event wasn't problematic since the higher-ups had stretched the Global Army's network in the area, but the Lieutenants still reminded everyone not to wander too far from time to time.

Khan notified Lieutenant Leville about his need for a new knife. The weapon arrived together with some trucks that carried provisions and more portable habitations. The blade met his requirements, so his isolation could continue peacefully as he waited for the army to resume its advance.

A message eventually interrupted Khan's usual training routine. Captain Clayman had summoned him to his tent, and he didn't hesitate to cross the camp to reach the largest habitation in the area.

"Did you want to see me, sir?" Khan asked after the metal door of the habitation opened to reveal a relatively large room with an interactive desk at its end.

"Khan, yes," Captain Clayman exclaimed before raising his eyes from the menus on the desks. "Please, sit. We have a few things to discuss."

Khan felt surprised, but he still followed the orders. He reached one of the armchairs before the desk and sat while glancing at the various menus on the interactive surface.

The desk featured multiple reports and profiles of specific soldiers. Khan was among them, but he saw nothing strange during that glance. He could look at the same descriptions and stats from his phone.

"HQ is taking the attack seriously," Captain Clayman announced while laying his back on his chair and placing his hands on his nape. "We are actually advancing instead of remaining locked in useless trenches."

"The anti-mana project is scary," Khan commented. "I'm not surprised HQ wants to take it down so badly."

"Indeed," Captain Clayman sighed before clearing his throat. "Well, your performance in the battle has been great. They have told me that you have taken down one of the cannons during the initial attack. Good job, you have saved many lives."

"Thank you, sir," Khan stated without adding anything.

Captain Clayman laughed as he took a bottle and two cups from a drawer of the desk. A smirk appeared on his face as he poured the drink and voiced a casual announcement. "It's great to be captain. They bring these bottles with the furniture."

"Are we setting camp here?" Khan asked while picking up the cup and searching from the Captain's eyes only to remember that the soldier didn't know about Nitis' customs.

"We have to build a settlement," Captain Clayman exclaimed before taking a short sip from his drink, "But we won't live here. HQ will create a branch of the thirty-seventh battalion here to use it as a base for our assault."

"It's almost about time to leave then," Khan guessed while savoring the strong booze.

"Are you disappointed?" Captain Clayman teased through a chuckle.

"Not at all," Khan honestly admitted. "I don't mind fighting."

"You are a rare breed," Captain Clayman declared. "You are young, talented, resolute, and mature. Your mastery over your element is also quite astonishing considering that you have trained for less than two years with mana."

"Thank you, sir," Khan could only repeat before focusing on his drink. The Captain had yet to mention the reason behind that meeting, but Khan had no intention to press him.

"I have already forwarded your application for a promotion," Captain Clayman said before raising his hand when he saw that Khan's widened his eyes in surprise. "You don't need to thank me or anything. It's only proper that you gain a chance to become a Lieutenant. I've added my recommendation, but your age might be a problem. Still, don't worry. Very few soldiers succeed at the first try."

"Thank you, sir," Khan said for the first time. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," Captain Clayman announced. "You deserve some recognition."

Khan could only nod at those words. Becoming a Lieutenant was the first step toward the answers he needed to learn about the Nak. He almost couldn't believe that something like that could arrive so soon.

"Let me ask you one thing," Captain Clayman said while Khan was still immersed in his thoughts. "Do you like Ecoruta? Do you like the battlefield?"

"No sane mind would like the battlefield," Khan responded. "As for Ecoruta, it's just another planet."

"That's a good answer," Captain Clayman laughed. "I feared you had become addicted to fighting. It happens, you know? Some soldiers became unable to have a normal life after witnessing the dark aspects of war. They begin to feel at home only when bullets fly over their heads."

Khan didn't know what to add there, so he remained silent. Yet, the Captain continued his line with something that created cracks in his poker face. "It's a pity that I won't be able to see your growth."

"Are you leaving Ecoruta, sir?" Khan asked.

"No, you are," Captain Clayman exclaimed. "The Global Army wants you to head toward Onia. You have to join one of the tournaments."