Disastrous Victory (2)

 

 

 

5 days passed by since Heian Ciemnosc slaughtered Cio. During this time, the army has been preparing to siege the first City. They had started a massive effort to create the cannons. They were also busy with many weaponry and tools. Some armor was forged, but Heian Ciemnosc was very busy as he had to fabricate many more cannons and their systems besides tools under the commander's orders. Ever since Cio's legitimate death, which the Academy didn't come to question, the army has been put to work toughly.

The ‘quota’ he had to complete daily was enormous, so much so that the student troops questioned the commander’s actions and frowned upon his cruel and unsatisfying decisions. Heian Ciemnosc was in charge of 80% of all the cannons, 500 to be exact, to see they were produced before the time limit was over. He was also forced to make tools and stuff for free without the troops to give him materials.

Of course, the troops weren’t brainless, and they helped the army’s scouting group leader. Not everyone was like that, though. Others didn’t care and had Heian Ciemnosc do some tools, weapons, and armor for them. He barely had any more time to cultivate. But he could still semi-dual-cultivate with Oleg, Victor, Violet, and Aleksander. Everyone except Violet had reached the Crabstynian realm 10th stage and were at the peak.

Oleg and Victor wanted to remain there to consolidate their foundation. Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t their master or something to tell them what to do, and they weren’t him to have such an impossible foundation. Thus, as they would wait for the most splendid chance to breakthrough, Violet was already midway to the 3rd stage at the 2nd stage of the Spirit Formation realm. The terrible trio was at the middle of the Spirit Formation realm 3rd stage and nearing its advanced level.

Sakura’s cultivation base was the most stable, and she had the most solid foundation among the team besides Heian Ciemnosc. Due to intimating a lot with her during these 3 weeks and a few days extra, she had gained a lot of solidification for her path while Heian Ciemnosc had advanced by the legendary leaps and bounds. It was known in the team. But hell, it was even known in the scouting group, but the scouts didn’t gossip outside their circle. They would be the scouts’ dishonor if they did.

However, it was fine. Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t a perverted person trying to look for a harem everywhere he went. It was the Academy’s fault that they had Elena and Milyy, right? As for the homosexual Sakura, she wasn’t Heian Ciemnosc’s project to ‘fix’ her. Though it was weird. Their team leader fucking their teammate. They were also in the same league with another teammate.

It balanced things in the end. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t act like a naive boyfriend after spending so many days banging Sakura, such as touching her hand or smiling at her. But his behavior towards her did change. Though they didn’t see it, they believed their teamleader molested and slapped Sakura’s body occasionally. There were hints about it, but other than turning even the pair of dorks in the team horny… it didn’t make things weird.

Heian Ciemnosc’s cultivation base reached its peak at the 5th stage. His team members thought they would catch up to him regarding battle prowess during the war, but it was the opposite. Swiftly, Heian Ciemnosc was leaving them behind, and if that wasn’t enough to motivate them, that he banged Sakura, and she was becoming more formidable did.

While Heian Ciemnosc spent almost the following 5 days working for the army, they only helped him 50% of their time. They did not have time to chatter and progress in their silly love relationships. They could only focus on their cultivation for the upcoming operation. Heian Ciemnosc practiced Craftsmaking hard, and they cultivated even harder.

To the commander, Heian Ciemnosc was wasting his time not cultivating, not becoming stronger… He was, perhaps, terrified by Heian Ciemnosc’s prowess. Anyone would, especially since Heian Ciemnosc’s last few words and behavior before suddenly becoming a threat weren’t those of a victimizable child. Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t aware of what occurred. But Cari, another second-in-command, seemed to have convinced Lionel to no longer arbitrarily target him.

Still, Heian Ciemnosc was stranded with no time to properly cultivate. The other second-in-command, Zi Ye, remained quiet and seemingly did not care about the fatso’s slaughtering. But this one wasn’t a simple nut to crack. Heian Ciemnosc could feel Zi Ye could breakthrough into the Spirit Formation 6th stage at any time. In any case, Lionel and Cari were pretty much settled at their current realm and stage, still at the initial levels of each their own.

3 days before the end of the 5 days limit, commander Lionel had Heian Ciemnosc and his scouting group go out to give the first City another look. He wanted to know if there was even a single rock accidentally turned and many more unnecessary things that his scouting group rolled their eyes at.

They only needed a few hours to complete this mission. It was only the first City, and they were already aware of its terrain around it. Heian Ciemnosc brought his scouting group in broad daylight to travel through and near the routes they knew of. Besides that, they also explored a little like a merchant cultivator group. But they didn’t find more clues about other courses being created.

They also became aware that though the enemy was aware of their presence since the moment they arrived, since the Academy’s army didn’t react or mobilize, these cultivators believed them to have grown cowardly. They weren’t even paying much attention anymore, and the enemy scouts Heian Ciemnosc found when coming back and forth were practically eating and getting drunk as if they had already won.

Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t blame them this time, though. Within the reports, 17 armies were routed as soon as they entered the enemy’s territory. Most transporting ships were confiscated, and there were reports of the enemy from those territories flying over to the Divisions nearer to the Academy to conquer them. But that was only a portion of the Wrath Nihility Academy’s forces. Many more armies arrived safe and sound in the enemy’s territory and prepared before engaging.

A smaller portion of those armies were routed. But the majority were either winning or preparing as the army Heian Ciemnosc belonged to. Of course, the enemy couldn’t access this much information. And in such little time. But the Academy’s forces did. It was expected for these enemies in the Endless Desert Division to believe they were against spineless cowards.

Finally, Heian Ciemnosc returned with his scouting group intact. They did a few kidnappings and killing her. They didn’t directly belong to the enemy’s main force, so they wouldn’t care even if they knew it was the Academy’s forces. But that also meant offending Lionel more. There was indeed a merit point system in the war. It was pretty simple but efficient.

Whenever a student killed an enemy, 1 merit point would be added. Whenever a student killed an enemy while in a team, it gave them 1 extra merit point! While Heian Ciemnosc was busy ‘at home’ creating tools, weapons, armor, and cannons, the students on patrol gained hundreds of points in less than a week. Of course, he would go into the first City’s siege so Heian Ciemnosc could amend his inactivity.

The days passed, and it was finally time to siege the first City!

… The army was still around the temporary base’s camps. But they were now in a full mobilization. They simply needed to swing their sleeves and the Spirit Birth realm cultivators or above stored everything. The rest went into the transporting ship orderly, rushed in, and went to their respective places. They couldn’t go to their bedrooms. They were about to attack the enemy and start vanquishing the enemy out of their territory!

Step, step, step… step, step… step… whoosh, whoosh… tak, tak-ka takku, clank clank…

“Team leader, everything’s ready?”

Heian Ciemnosc was packing a few more things before heading to the transporting ship. He was naturally going with Cari. Cari and the commander now had 20,000 and 30,000 more student troops under their name, but there wasn’t a change in sub-commanders. The ship without a second-in-command was piloted by a sub-commander that Lionel found pleasing enough. Whether or not that sub-commander was capable or on his side was left to be seen.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Heian Ciemnosc lifted his head and saw Violet’s belly. After meeting her eyes, he nodded and stood with his back straight. He had been bending, stretching, and twisting his back for the last few days. If he was a non-cultivator, he would’ve been crying in pain right now and couldn’t participate in the slaughter about to come.

“We’ll act as a team, not a scouting group. Tell the others. I’ll join you after delivering the last batch of tools.” Heian Ciemnosc said as he cracked his neck’s bones and nudged his head towards the ship’s center. Violet understood his words and nodded. Just as she was about to turn around and walk back in, Heian Ciemnosc added, “The new members must protect each other well. Assign more to you and Aleksander. Since he likes looking after people, let him do as he wishes.”

“...” Violet silently nodded in seriousness. She knew Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t mad at Aleksander for taking Gloria in and turning her into a little assassin. But since he was doing so, Heian Ciemnosc would test him. Just as much, she was being tested on every mission by Heian Ciemnosc. He wouldn’t say much and always let her have roles where she would have an overall insight into the mission’s field or infrastructure.

Heian Ciemnosc might have sweated these last few days and didn’t achieve much progress in his cultivation base, unlike the days before. But Violet was the one to sweat the most during their journey here. The army thanked the scouting group in their hearts for protecting them from the Academy’s territory up to here. In the scouting group and the Concealed Ornament Team’s eyes, they thanked Violet for making everything possible.

Heian Ciemnosc watched Violet enter the ship, and he followed a couple minutes later. He wasn’t the last one to get in. Some troops were farther from the transporting ship, bringing more stuff, but he knew their time to set off had been delayed by Cari. Additionally, this second-in-command had requested Heian Ciemnosc a few extra tools. Naturally, the pale teenager had to see what the second-in-command had to say.

He walked in and went directly to the transporting ship’s center. When he arrived at its command center, he saw Cari and the pilot team ready and waiting for all troops to get in. Heian Ciemnosc walked towards Cari and presented the second-in-command a few items inside a Covert Space bag before directly turning around and walking to the exit.

“Heian Ciemnosc, may I have a word?” Cari spoke, knowing Heian Ciemnosc was expecting it. The piloting team didn’t react much but sneaked glances at Heian Ciemnosc. He was handsome. The pale teenager turned around and nodded. “Here?”

“There’s no problem here,” Cari responded. Heian Ciemnosc then walked forth and asked again, “Are you sure? Or are you not afraid the commander will think you’re rebelling?”

“What makes you think so?” Cari lifted his left eyebrow, arching it significantly upwards, and asked. Heian Ciemnosc pointed at the backs of 2 in the piloting team as he elaborated. “These 2 are the commander’s bought people. They each receive about 10,000 Inferior Powerful Stones weekly. Aren’t they suddenly good at cultivating that you kept them with relish? Or am I wrong?”

“Are th-... sigh~,” Cari looked at their backs, and his eyes were suddenly bathed in realization. However, he didn’t seem to mind. He looked down at Heian Ciemnosc, and all the courtesy words he had prepared to say vanished. Instead, Cari let it all out sharply. “It’s better if you do not provoke Lionel. I’ll try my best to have him not affect you. Your presence here can help a lot in his fuck up to reduce our numbers. Without you, I bet we would’ve lost at least 5,000 troops before arriving here. And forget about getting any information about the enemy.”

“I don’t know if you’re his friend or just want to take control, but I am not looking for trouble. Not on my own accord, at least.” Heian Ciemnosc said, making Cari a bit contented. But then, his pale red lips moved again, “I’m not dumb enough to also try killing him at my current level. Besides, no matter how foolish he is, I don’t think he dares attack me… Unless your patrons didn’t tell you who my Master is?”

“Wel-... !” Cari was just about to respond when he realized that what Heian Ciemnosc said was true. Lionel, him, and the other 2 hadn’t reflected on it before. But he now realized what monstrosity of an enemy they were making if they followed this path against Heian Ciemnosc. While he was silent and sweating coldly a little, Heian Ciemnosc exited the center room. Cari only saw Heian Ciemnosc’s shoes and the lower end of his cloak after Heian Ciemnosc walked around the corner.

… Step, step, step- rustle rustle.

… Heian Ciemnosc walked to the hangar they were supposed to be in. He walked towards the locker rooms to meet up with his team. When he arrived at the locker rooms and nodded at the new members, he went to the ‘vip’ room where the CO’s were and immediately met a ‘delicious’ scene.

Trying to hide themselves after sensing their team leader’s presence, Esteban and Violet separated their mouths with a labial, smacking noise. Fengli and Oleg even jumped to opposite sides of the vip room. Sakura and Victor meditated to the side, and Aleksander and Gloria meditated together. When Heian Ciemnosc walked in, the latter four looked at Heian Ciemnosc with bothered eyes, telling them of how annoying the couples had been.

“Esteban, Oleg… Can’t you just hold it in? You can only do those things in private… unless you’re trying to invite everyone else to taste you and your partners. Be polite.” Heian Ciemnosc berated them a little, making them bashed before lowering their heads. They weren’t ashamed, but even Heian Ciemnosc could tell the gals were forcing the poor, innocent boys into indecent, public behavior.

‘My, how effective is my status? You were just bussing around, calm down…’ Heian Ciemnosc mentally shook his head when seeing Esteban and Oleg behave so bashedly.

“T- team leader, how are we going to fight? How should we proceed?” Violet asked after recuperating her bearings. Her heart was still sharply beating, but her breath was even. Fengli and the rest lifted their heads to gaze at their team leader… This was their first time actually participating in the war.

“...” Heian Ciemnosc looked down. He felt complicated as mixing emotions cursed through his heart… Would the flame arise if…?

“First, obey my every command. If your sub-team leader says something, but I say ‘no’... you will not question me. It’s not time for me to tell you I’ll kill you if you disobey me. With you fighting by my side for weeks, I already know telling you such a thing is only an insult. But if it happens, whatever the reason, I’ll punish the wrongdoer and whoever was with you when it happened.” Heian Ciemnosc started. He didn’t know if what he felt was ambition or if he was feeling unconfident.

“We know that includes me, team leader… But, does this command include our sub-commander, the second-in-command, or the commander?” Violet asked, her face becoming calm and her sapphire eyes shining sternly.

“...” Heian Ciemnosc looked at her, his silence somewhat comforting despite giving them a cold and a terrifying feeling. It was mostly a superficial sensation, but it was there. Yet, instead of harming or affecting them, it made them feel that - comfortable. He looked at everyone before returning his face towards Violet, his voice reaching the new members. “What did I just say?”

“!” - “~...” There were 2 different reactions. The new members were astounded, silly! But before long, their faces eased down, and their stiff faces morphed into… unequivocal excitement. On the other hand, the CO’s immediately grinned. Their faces shone as they looked at their respected team leader. Who knew they would come to be like this?

As the sub-team leader, Violet forcefully eased her smile down and brought the team together in mind again. “Team leader Heian Ciemnosc. We all fight and cultivate in our lives for a reason. In this war, we all fight for the Academy. Because of its warm embrace. But, besides that… what does team leader fight for?”

“... hmf~,” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes innocently looked at Violet before slightly raising his eyes. He looked at an upper corner of the vip room and devilishly smiled. “To eat, of course. If I eat more, I become stronger and faster. That means I can do what I want earlier than most. If this war is like a buffet to my stomach, then the fruits bore from it will be my impulse to my desires.”

“...” Violet and the other CO’s looked at Heian Ciemnosc without saying a word. Their eyes twinkled as they stood up and walked over to him. They wanted to do something for him before their first battle. Their first slaughter!

Violet, Fengli, Esteban, and Sakura placed their hands together, overlapping each other. They looked at Heian Ciemnosc as their lips’ corners slightly raised. Then, they put their hands on Heian Ciemnosc’s chest, causing him to jolt his eyebrows up. ‘What, want an orgy before a battle?’

And on his shoulder and back, Oleg, Victor, and Aleksaned placed their palms, making Heian Ciemnosc feel more awkward. But before he could open his mouth to comment, his darkest eyes blinked, and he suddenly became seriously intrinsically. Heian Ciemnosc felt something seeping into his being, from their being…

“Team leader, we trust you,” Violet said. Followed by Fengli, who softly spoke with gentleness, “With our lives.”

“No matter what your future is like. We will follow you or your instruction wherever and whenever you go.” Sakura continued, their hearts seemingly as one. Esteban continued, his voice was somewhat cheeky as if wanting to tell him how confident their hearts were. “Even if you want to discard us, we’ll do our objective before returning to you. There’s no way we’re missing such a strong thigh to hold on to.”

“I’ll never deny a moment to kill for you, with you, too,” Oleg said, and the room suddenly felt like there was a misty blood fog in the room, filling everyone’s nostrils at once. Victor nodded and spoke without urgency, nor did he hesitate. “If you ever need us again, we’ll hope to still be helpful if we ever separate.”

“Because we’ll be there,” Aleksander finished their hearts’ speech with Gloria’s hand between Heian Ciemnosc’s back and his hand. At that moment, Heian Ciemnosc felt as if Aleksander had his back. There was nothing better than having such a top-notch assassin as a bodyguard.

“Sigh…” Heian Ciemnosc looked into everyone’s eyes as they finished, but their hands were still on his body. After mysteriously sighing, he slightly circulated his dual cultivation method before nodding at them. Patting each back of a hand on his body, they separated from him one by one. As they formed in a line before him, they somehow thought to have seen a dull orange and yellow flash in his darkest eyes cross through them as a flash.

“Ongoing,” Heian Ciemnosc simply said, but it connected the CO’s, new members’, and Heian Ciemnosc’s heart altogether. Afterward, 55  pairs of feet came out of their vip room, met the ready army, and saw the monitors showing the first City starting to mobilize in craziness at the sight of their transporting ship. The machine guns rotated at the rear and front under Heian Ciemnosc’s Spirit Sense… and were activated!

They opened fire!!

BANG- BANG- tadaradaradaradaradaradaradaradaradaradaradadadadadadadada…

 

…