Chương 47: The Second Wave

Seeing he had everyone's attention, Spur continued, his voice booming out across the meadow.

"I hope you all had a pleasant trip and that you're ready for a fun time at camp!" Most people simply looked at Spur in confusion, but at least some must have recognized him as Vin saw a good dozen of those closest to them turn and snap crisp salutes as though they were back in boot camp. Though not everyone that recognized him reacted in such a way.

"Colonel Spur," an irritated voice rang out as a manicured woman with a long bow strapped to her back stepped forward. The woman didn't really strike Vin as the military type, and Vin didn't know how to read military ranks, but seeing as how the scattered military members parted like water and hurried to get out of her way as she walked forward, he could guess she was rather high up there. Based on the sarcastic grin Spur wore, he clearly recognized her.

"Ah, General Lones! So they did decide to send you in charge of wave two after all! My oh my, how on Earth did you get that honor? Last I read they were still deciding between you and General Witherson. What'd you do, have her killed in her sleep?" When Spur failed to salute the general, Lones had frowned at the disrespect. But when he directly asked if she'd had Witherson murdered, she began sputtering in shock and outrage, clearly not used to being spoken to in such a manner.

Before she could respond, a second voice called out from the new crowd.

"Actually, they decided to send us together." A second woman stepped forward, this one striking Vin as military immediately. Heavily muscled, yet strangely without a single weapon to be seen, the woman Vin could only assume was General Witherson walked up to stand beside Lones, presenting a unified front. Maybe it was because of Vin's high focus, but he swore he saw the woman frown ever so slightly at her fellow general before turning her attention toward Spur.

"Colonel Spur, I am aware of your… tendency, shall we say, to disregard rank and military decorum. But considering the circumstances, now may be a good time to be on your best behavior. General Lones and I have been given complete authority by the higher ups of Project Ark to assume command now that we're on the ground after all, and keeping our military structure in place will go a long way toward ensuring our survival in this foreign land."

"Meaning it's fully within my authority to have scheming little miscreants court-martialed and even executed, should they prove to be a problem," Lones said, sneering at Spur. Witherson shot another quick frown at her companion, but didn't say anything to contradict her. Rather than give Lones the apology she was clearly expecting and waiting for, Spur clapped dramatically, his eyebrows raised.

"Wow! Complete power over others with literally no oversight. Congratulations! It's what you've always dreamed of having after all!" That comment was apparently too much for Lones, as she turned beet red, snapping her fingers like she was ordering around a team of servants.

"Major McDaniel! Major Yates! Take Colonel Spur into custody! I'll decide what to do with him later." As though they were used to this, two burly men stepped out of the watching crowd and began making their way over to Spur. One had a heavy mace strapped to his belt, and the other a large maul slung over his back. Shaking his finger like he was admonishing a child, Spur tutted the approaching men.

"Now now, things aren't about to go down like you'd hoped they were, Lones. I've been working myself to the bone these past ten days with your very arrival in mind. Vin, if you would be so kind?" When he explained the plan earlier Spur hadn't informed Vin he'd be asking for his help, but having been in General Lones' presence for less than a minute, Vin already better understood why Spur was taking such a risk.

He'd already regenerated a portion of his mana thanks to some time spent in Meditation after the battle, so he shrugged, raising his hand." Entangle." Seeing as he was only trying to halt two adult men rather than a three-ton snake monster, he didn't bother adjusting the spell with Runic Recalibration.

Sure enough, the base spell was more than enough for his purposes, and the moment the word left his lips the grass shot up out of the ground and tightly wrapped itself around the men's lower legs, halting them in their tracks. One of them even face planted, his legs getting snagged midstride.

Vin felt the eyes of a thousand shocked people staring at him after that open display of magic, but strangely, he wasn't bothered by it. He didn't know if he'd just become numb to what other people thought of him by this point, or if he was just too emotionally drained from everything that had happened recently.

"You!" Lones sputtered, her eyes bulging out after Vin detained her muscle so easily.

"You just… assaulted two military officers!"

"Oh, we're about to do far worse than that," Spur chuckled darkly, squinting at Lones like she was something he'd found on the bottom of his shoe. To Lones' credit, she must have realized things truly weren't going to go the way she'd planned, as she reached for a holster at her hip with speed that only came from years of serving in the military. Spur didn't move so much as a muscle, grinning at the confused look on Lones' face as she realized her gun had mysteriously vanished.

Realizing she was completely defenseless, the blood quickly drained from her face and she took a hesitant step back.

"Ah… there it is," Spur said with relish, taking a step forward to keep the distance short between them." Finally, she realizes what's happening here!"

"Colonel Spur," Witherson said, her calm and cool demeanor unchanged despite everything that was happening right in front of her. Her eyes flicked quickly between Vin, Spur, and Lones, as if analyzing the situation in real time.

"I believe the majority of us are in the dark as to what you are referring to. Care to enlighten us as to what is happening?" Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Why, I'm happy you asked, General Witherson!" Spur said loudly, ensuring everyone could hear him as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at a shaking Lones.

"This woman here… why, this woman is nothing more than an insect. A pitiful creature that somehow managed to worm her way up the ranks over the years. A blight on the military, who has been responsible for harassing, torturing, and even going so far as to make people's lives a living hell until they left the military all together."

"Lies! All lies!" Lones shouted, turning around to see if anyone would come to her aid. But the combination of witnessing Vin deploy actual magic, along with their guns suddenly vanishing kept anyone from intervening.

"Nothing has ever been proven in court!"

"The fact that you think that means your actions were okay is exactly why you're currently in the situation you're in!" Spur shouted, the tip of his blade unwavering as Lones paled before him.

"Do you honestly think an innocent person would say something like that? That the courts found them justified?"

"Colonel Spur, it sounds like you are accusing General Lones of some heinous acts," Witherson said calmly, but still loud enough for her voice to carry. Her eyes flicked to Vin once more, before clearing her throat.

"I assume you have some method of proving your claims?"

"Elena!" Lones said, staring at her fellow general in shock.

"Surely you're not going to let this farce continue!"

"General Lones," Witherson said, without a shred of emotion to be heard.

"I find myself without my firearm, in another world, standing against a man who has clearly demonstrated some ability far beyond my understanding. I believe it would be in our best interest to hear them out."

"Thank you general," Spur said, never taking his eyes off of his target.

"It just so happens that my companion here isn't the only one capable of magic. There are a lot of things you don't know about this world just yet, and while we will fill you in over the coming days, allow me to give you a sneak peek as to the things to come." To prove his point, Spur hefted his sword above his head for all to see, raising his voice to the point he was practically shouting.

"After a very recent battle, I am proud to announce that I have become a level 13 Commander! And what that means, is that the Gods that be in this world have granted me my first Capstone skill! Something I've always dreamed of having! The entire reason I pushed myself so hard ever since arriving on this new world! Allow me to show you all, the magic in this world!" Taking a deep breath, Spur screamed out his Capstone skill, the very power echoing across the crowded field." Traitor-bane!"

With a crack of thunder that sent a flinch through the crowd like a wave, Spur's raised sword began glowing a painful bright white, forcing those closest to them to shield their eyes from the glow. Pointing the shining blade at Lones, Spur called out, his voice echoing across the field.

"This ability allows me to detect those within my ranks that would do us harm!" He explained to an ever paling Lones.

"And seeing as I have yet to officially transfer command of this active operation to either general here, at this moment, I am the highest authority on the field!" Spur seemed to pause for the briefest of moments, and again, it was only thanks to Vin's high focus that he saw Witherson's ever so slight nod before the colonel continued. Taking a few quick steps forward, Spur stood directly in front of the cowering Lones, staring down at her like she was scum.

"General Lones!" He cried, raising his glowing sword high above their heads.

"I ask you one question, and one question only! Can you honestly tell me that you are working with our people's best interests in mind?"

"This is madness!" The cowering general screamed, trying to backpedal before tripping and falling to the ground, looking around for someone to help her.

"I am a brigadier general! I'll have you all court-martialed if nobody does anything!"

"General Lones," Witherson called out softly, her arms clasped behind her back as she calmly watched the proceeding.

"Perhaps you should answer the colonel's question."

"Elena!" Lones shouted at Witherson, desperation clear in her eyes as she realized her fellow general wouldn't be stepping in. Looking for something, anything, that could save her, the woman's eyes fell on Lieutenant Myers and the marks on her uniform. A small glimmer of hope ignited in her eyes when she saw the crossbow attached to Myers' hip.

"You! Lieutenant! Stop this madness and I'll see you promoted to colonel before the day is over!" Slowly, Myers pulled her crossbow from its holster, loading a seemingly normal bolt and cranking it back before pointing it directly at the shocked woman's face. For the first time Vin could remember, Myers had clear anger on her face, almost an exact mirror of Spur's own.

"I had friends that suffered at your hands you know," Myers said, glaring daggers at the panicking woman.

"Good people that could have made a difference in the military, forced to upend their lives and leave because of your actions. And even the few who were able to stick it out and stay in the military until they managed to get transferred or you lost interest in them never were quite the same after what you put them through. Some became alcoholics. Others continued the cycle of abuse to their own underlings. And others yet developed unhealthy obsessions that almost got them killed over the years."

Vin caught a brief shuffle of movement out of the corner of his eye, and a quick glance at the crowd of people from wave one showed a battered and bloodied Phil standing ramrod straight, watching everything go down with an almost too blank expression on his face.

"My point…" Myers continued, gesturing toward Spur's glowing sword with her crossbow.

"... is that I recommend you answer the colonel's question within the next three seconds, or I'll save us all some time and shoot you in the face right here and now." Silence stretched across the empty field as a thousand people held their collective breaths, waiting to see what would happen. Finally coming to terms with the fact that nobody was going to step in, Lones took a shaky breath of her own, scowling up at the now impassive Spur.

"Yes! Of course I have everyone's best interest at heart!" Before she'd even finished her sentence, Spur's blade bathed the woman in a deep, crimson red light; the very blade itself seeming to drip with blood. Seeing Spur's wicked grin, the last bit of color drained from the general's face as she began sputtering.

"You don't understand! Everything I did was just to toughen people up!" The woman cried out, attempting to shuffle backwards out from under the glowing red blade hanging directly above her like a guillotine. All the while Spur walked steadily forward, never lowering the gleaming blade as he savored the moment he'd been working so hard for.

"It was tough love!" Lones begged, her eyes flickering through the unmoving crowd for some form of salvation.

"It was to make them stronger! I was doing it for them!"

"Funny," Spur said, giving the woman one last look of disdain.

"That's why I'm doing this too." In a single slash, Spur brought down the glowing red blade, separating the screaming woman's head from her body with ease. As her corpse crumpled to the ground, all the light from his blade vanished in an instant, returning to a pale, gray steel once more.

Letting out a breath that Vin felt Spur must have been holding for years, the colonel gave General Witherson a simple nod before turning and throwing his hands up to the wide-eyed crowd that had traveled between worlds just to witness one of their own leaders' execution.

"I said it before, but allow me to say it one more time!" Spur called out, grinning wildly at the thousand people standing before him.

"Welcome to your new home everyone! Welcome to Edregon!"