Chương 61: Chapter Sixty-One: The Entrance to Hell

"Offload and form up!" A deep voice commands upon our arrival at the Veil. Since I am in the last seat at the back of our cart, I hop out first with my backpack while I let my Flare Loop slip outside and wait for me. While the rest of the caravan unloads, I examine our surroundings and find the same rocky ground and towering wall that stretches across my entire vision.

Surprisingly, I have a smidge of nostalgia seep into my mind at the sight, but I quickly shake it off and head toward the growing mass of people forming rows off to the side. With Vince as the lead, we all head toward the formation and fall into place alongside the unfamiliar faces of the other caravan passengers. The people come in all shapes and sizes; man or woman, old or young, but it is clear they are all trained well as they fall into place on either side of our group like spare puzzle pieces.

"Alright! Now that everyone is unloaded, listen to my next directives very carefully. Captain Gerard has tasked me with distributing our assets." Craning my neck, I attempt to spot the source of the man giving commands, but his visage continues to allude my sight. I remember it from the tavern as well during our initial pickup, and it took me a while to realize the voice is familiar. Unfortunately, I couldn't place where I had heard it from before, though.

"You all will be divided into platoons of twelve. Each of you will listen to your assigned platoon sergeant, and I don't want to hear a single complaint from them about any lollygagging. You will listen to the commands of your sergeant without question. Some of you might have fought in a previous wave, but that doesn't mean you know any better than your leader. Use your prior knowledge to assist your comrades so we can minimize any deaths.

With that said, listen closely for your assigned platoon and make your way to your station after I call your name." The man dulling out orders begins to work down a list of names. There are roughly a hundred or so people in the formation, so I don't expect to be moving for a while. Using the spare time before I am called, I look around between the stationary bodies to observe the Southern Gate more closely.

Despite how familiar the place looked in comparison to when I first came stumbling through the giant metal gate, I now see multiple new tents and scaffolding lining the wall where supplies and interesting looking devices are moved up and down the face of the large barrier. Bodies stream along the top of the wall, and I can tell our caravan was not the first to arrive at the wall.

If I had to guess, there are roughly a few thousand people in the area, and I'm sure there are even more lining all sides of the ever-stretching Veil. The sheer size of the wall makes me wonder just how many people they have enlisted to fight against the wave, yet something tells me I won't get a straight answer if I ask anyone around here. The formation begins to thin as time passes. Soon enough, there are just a few others as well as Squad Five still waiting in line.

I still can't see the man calling off names, as it seems that the rather large man in front of me still hasn't been called, and his presence cuts off the majority of my forward vision. Looking to my left, I see Wade holding Pawl while he abuses the cute kitty in order to pass the time. It's kind of weird to watch because the blond man randomly changes his arm into a larger version of Pawl's cute little paws. Does this mean that Wade could become a cat boy if his skill reaches a high enough level?

Part of my mind runs through the idea in my head, and I find that all avenues of this stream of thought lead to conclusions I don't want to think about. Finally, the remainder of the randoms in the formation get called, leaving only the man obstructing my view.

"Gragas Smith. Platoon 67, your station is a half hour walk east, and your sergeant is Elias Graham." The giant dude finally steps out of formation and lumbers away, revealing who the familiar voice I had been hearing belongs to.

"Alright. The rest of you are the Fallen leftovers. Your platoon will be smaller than the others, and your station is a few hundred meters to your right. Since you are all lower levels than the average merc here, you will have two platoon sergeants to pick up the slack, with each being a member of the Veil Guard. My name is Brian Herth. I will be your leader alongside another member of the guard named Tobias Wilderd. He's waiting for us at our station already."

As the wide Gragas finally moves out of the way, my eyes lay on an armored man of which I had been previously hoping to never see again for the rest of the floor. When Brian finally looks up from the clipboard in his grasp, I spot a spark of recognition in his bloodshot eyes as I finally see him with his helmet off. When I first arrived on Floor Two, this man had escorted me to the city in full armor, so I never saw what he looked like.

Now though, I get to lay my eyes on his ugly mug while the man's lips pull apart to show his crooked teeth and the probable thick order pouring from his sweaty brow. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I'm not surprised by his looks, however. I have already seen that face before. Brian is the same fat bastard that stole my money in the city.

Following the rest of my group, I stay behind everyone else while I attempt to burn a hole in the back of Brian's head with my glare as he leads us toward our station. How the hell is this guy a member of the Veil Guard? Is he seriously just walking around and stealing from citizens on his days off? I look at his identifier one more time and seethe at the fact I still can't see his level. < Physique Builder - Level??? > What the hell kind of physique is he building? A goddamn sphere?

I'm surprised that armor can hold all of his smelly bulk. My mind reels at the knowledge that the man supposedly in charge of my life during the raid is the same guy who swipes money from people and threatens others lives for asking about his level. I can't trust him in the least. The others are in the same boat, and they don't even know it. The man guiding us to our station is probably the same man that will be sending us to an early grave.

After a few minutes of stewing in anger, I realize that we are approaching a nearby stairwell that leads up to a large wooden platform on the top of the wall. Brian suddenly cuts left toward the stairs, so I assume this is our home for the next few days. It's still very close to the main gate as was expected, but there are fewer bodies moving around and noticeably less recruits like the ones I saw in formation earlier.

As we begin to ascend toward our fighting position for the next couple of days, I silently promise something to myself. Regardless of how bad I expect this wave to get, and regardless of the suspicions I have about our gate being breached; I swear that Brian will not live to see the end of the wave. I don't care how much higher a level he is. He will die, and if his skinny buddy Tobias wants to get in the way, he will die too.

Passively checking my Flare Loop to make sure it's still filling properly; I am happy to see that the overall capacity of the construct can still hold even more energy. I wasn't planning on changing the loop's general construction so soon, but as we move up toward the platform, I quietly strengthen the mana barrier and shrink the loop ever so slightly.

Even this much of a change is enough to significantly increase the maintenance attention I need to dedicate to hold the construct together, but I accept the cost without complaint. Compacting the energy inside won't increase the capacity at all, but it will sure as hell make the resulting blasts that much more devastating.

"I been runaway…" Looking up from my focus on the stairs beneath our feet, I find Angus mumbling to himself while weirdly balling his fists to march up the steps. Regardless of our average gait, he seems to be taking the staircase very seriously, and I swear I hear him mention something about an 'Aura Monster'. Is that some kind of beast he heard about that we will be facing during the wave? I'm not really sure, but his behavior is enough to make me sweat a bit.

I still plan on killing Brian and most likely Tobias, but Angus's serious expression and knowledge about this mysterious aura monster make me even more cautious of the two as well as the wave. While he continues to mumble to himself, I try to ignore the high-schooler and instead focus on our destination. It takes a minute or so longer to reach the top, and after we emerge from the stairwell, I am met with a breathtaking view of the other side of the wall.

There are some people, machines, tents, and more in the way, but beyond all of them lies the infinite expanse of rocky terrain I vaguely remember from my initial appearance on this floor. Like looking out towards the ocean back home, everything on the horizon is engulfed in varying shades of grey that stretch beyond the distance my eyes can register. Just like before, there are no clouds in the sky at all, leaving the land on the other side of the Veil a rocky wasteland filled with craters and irregular mounds.

Part of me thinks that this is what the Moon would look like to an astronaut: everlasting emptiness blurring into the dark vacuum of space lying overheard. The sight is strangely calming, and I feel the unease that had been knotting up my muscles slowly unwinding. Turning my attention back to the task at hand, I follow the small group until we arrive at the biggest tent on the platform. It's bland and earthy in color, just like the canvas covering the carts.

Similar to a group camping tent from Earth, I spot a small red flag a few meters above me at the peak of the shelter.

"Alright recruits, this is the command tent. You will not enter this tent unless otherwise instructed. Basically, this means you won't enter the tent period, as I doubt there is a single reason any of you Fallen would anyway. Outside of the tent, you are free to mill around the station for all I care. Stay out of the way and follow commands. Your only job here is to do what your platoon sergeants say. Do your job and perhaps, with a bit of luck, you will live through the wave."

Just as Brian is about to dismiss us and enter the tent, Vince raises a hand to speak up.

"Excuse me, sergeant. Do we have any barracks here or specific positions we need to report to? I realize we need to do as we are told given our lacking experience and levels, but is there anything we can do to prepare us for the wave?" He asks professionally while standing at attention. Brian pauses at the entrance and looks the man up and down with his toad-like eyes.

"Pick a spot and it's yours. No spare tents here or fancy bedrolls, you're either sleeping on the wall or you ain't sleeping at all. If you need to take a shit or whatever, head down the stairs and dig a hole." He drawls in a snide tone.

"As for the wave: Just make sure you got your listening ears on because the only way you're living through this shit is if you listen to every goddamn word I say. It doesn't matter if y'all were trained by Garf or even the King himself. You're all as good as dead on your own because of your levels. I don't even know why the hell you're allowed to fight the wave. You're all practically children." Brian continues to complain before ducking through the folds of the tent without letting Vince get a word in.

As much as I hate to admit it, he isn't exactly wrong. If we weren't inside The Pillar, I doubt we would even be allowed near the wall, much less receive training from Master Lirin or the others who I suspect are high-ranked personnel. The gods, The Pillar, the System, or whoever is in charge put us here. Unlike the first floor, this one seems to have a specified plotline for us to follow regardless of whether we're willing or not.

I don't know why we are here, but something tells me that in a couple days when the wave comes- we will find out.