[2:35]
…
The boys were now near their destination, unaware of the horror that had unfolded back at their base.
From afar, the sound of screaming men and women rode the wind, carried across the quiet evening like distant thunder. Steel clashed against steel again and again, the sharp ringing of metal echoing across the fields as if the battle itself refused to stay contained within the walls.
When they reached the Love symbol gate, they climbed the fence.
The moment their heads rose above the metal bars, the scene inside confirmed their worst suspicions.
The girls' base was already under siege.
Several fighters clashed violently within the compound, seven of them locked in savage combat. Weapons flashed through the air, strikes thrown without hesitation as every swing carried the desperate weight of survival.
The girls stood in a tight circle near the center of the yard, backs pressed together so none of them could be attacked from behind. Their weapons were gripped tightly in trembling hands, knuckles pale from the strain.
They fought fiercely—blocking, striking, stepping together like a wall that refused to break—but the attackers kept pressing forward, slowly closing the gap with superior numbers.
"The Broken Shields have arrived!" a man screamed suddenly, his voice cracking with alarm as he spotted the boys climbing over the fence.
The shout sent a ripple through the attackers, several of them glancing back in confusion.
On a normal day, Alexander would have twisted that misunderstanding into a weapon. He would have turned their panic against them, letting doubt spread through their ranks until their formation collapsed.
But this was different.
This wasn't the moment for tricks or mind games, this required force.
Brutal, decisive force that ended the fight before the situation could spiral even further out of control.
"We could kill them, take their special skill!" some whispered excitedly as they noticed the new arrivals.
"Yeah, that way we'll own three bases!" others muttered greedily, their eyes gleaming at the thought of what that power would bring.
The boys stood silently above the fence, unmoved by the whispers spreading below them. Their faces remained hard, their eyes locked on the battlefield unfolding inside the base.
"I don't see any of the Commander's goons," Alexander muttered while scanning the area again and again, his gaze moving across every corner of the yard.
Something about the situation felt wrong.
A tight knot formed in his stomach, a quiet warning that something worse might already be happening somewhere else.
"Who cares,let's just do what we came here for."
Without another word, bray vaulted over the fence.
His boots slammed heavily into the dirt as he landed inside the base.
Alexander followed a second later, dropping beside him.
"Alright, ladies! We've come to save you" Bray shouted loudly, throwing his arms wide as if announcing his arrival on a stage.
"You don't have to rub it in!" Charlotte snapped back immediately, swinging her weapon in a wide arc that forced one attacker to stumble backward.
Two towering men stepped forward from the group of attackers.
Both carried enormous weapons that gleamed faintly beneath the fading evening light. Their bodies were thick with muscle, their posture confident as their eyes moved greedily over the newcomers.
Their faces slowly twisted into grins.
The kind of grins scavengers wore when they stumbled upon something valuable.
"Where do you think you're going?" one of them snarled.
His sickle dragged lazily across the ground as he walked forward, the metal blade scraping against the dirt with a long, grating screech.
The sound alone was enough to make several of the girls tense.
The bloodlust in his voice was heavy and unmistakable.
"Get out of the way,I don't have to kill you early" Bray warned, his eyes turning cold as he stretched his shoulders.
"I'm a miner,I've dealt with worse" the man replied casually, rolling his shoulders as he flexed his arms. Thick muscles tightened beneath his skin.
Bray shot forward without hesitation, his fist driving straight toward the man's chest with all the strength he could muster.
The punch landed with a heavy phu!, the sound echoing across the yard.
But the man didn't move,not even slightly.
"Woooh!"
Bray leaned back, staring at the man in disbelief as if his brain was still trying to process what had just happened.
"These guys are tougher than the first game's participants!" Emily shouted from across the yard while pushing back an attacker that had rushed her.
"Yeah, no kidding!"
Bray snapped back while shaking his hand, a dull ache already spreading through his knuckles.
Before he could say anything else, a sudden kick whipped toward his chest.
Bray twisted sharply, barely slipping out of the way as the leg sliced through the air where he had been standing a moment earlier.
That brief exchange was enough, because the really battle had finally begun.
"You're mine!" the other brute roared, lifting his axe high above his head before bringing it crashing down toward Alexander.
Alexander stepped aside smoothly, the massive blade tearing through the air beside him with a violent whoosh.
He caught the weapon's haft with both hands and twisted sharply, forcing the attack off course.
The axe nearly clipped him anyway, but Alexander ducked low and rolled across the dirt before rising back to his feet in one fluid motion.
A blade shimmered in his hand.
His counterattack came fast and precise, exactly alexander style.
He drove the weapon deep into the man's leg.
But surprisingly no blood came out.
"What…?" Alexander's eyes flinched in disbelief.
The blade was buried deep inside the flesh, yet the wound refused to open.
It felt wrong, like stabbing into something harder than bone.
The man slowly turned his head toward Alexander.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Your attacks can't work on me.My name is Gojo, the king of endurance. "
He flexed his arms slowly, muscles tightening and veins bulging beneath his skin.
[2:07]
The Broken Shields' base.
Jamie lay sprawled across the dirt, his body trembling violently as if it no longer belonged to him.
His breaths came shallow and uneven, every inhale scraping painfully through his chest.
Sweat soaked through his clothes, mixing with the dirt beneath him.
As his thoughts spiraled out of control.
Greg's death replayed again and again inside his mind, the image refusing to fade.
Every little detail about what happened. From the sound to the impact.
To the way his body had been thrown across the battlefield.
Helplessness clawed at Jamie's chest.
And beneath it all, one terrifying realization slowly settled into his mind.
He was the next in line as heavy footsteps approached him.
Through his blurred vision, Jamie saw the Commander walking forward.
The man's subordinates moved aside for him without being told, stepping away from his path like servants making way for royalty.
Each step echoed loudly in Jamie's ears,each one feeling heavier than the last.
But somewhere inside the suffocating weight of despair, a small spark refused to die.
I have to protect this base…
At all costs.
Jamie forced his trembling body upright.
His legs shook violently beneath him as he wiped sweat and tears from his face.
His hands wrapped tightly around the kali sticks, gripping them so hard his fingers trembled.
"Aaaah!"
Jamie did a battle crie,the sound tore from his throat like something broken.
Then he ran towards the commander,desperation pushing him onward as his kali sticks flashed through the air in uneven strikes.
He baited the vice commander with an opening, and luckily he took it. Making him extended his leg foward.
Jamie's foot stepped down on the man's knee.
The impact forced the vice commander to shift slightly.
Jamie used that tiny moment.
He jumped, smashing his boot into the man's face before he flipped backward and landed hard on the ground.
Jamie staggered as he regained his balance, his chest rising and falling violently as he struggled to breathe.
"HAHAHA!"
Laughter erupted around him.
"He humiliated you!"
"Why even make him your second in command?"
Jamie's chest heaved as he glared at them through bloodshot eyes.
"If it wasn't for you interfering earlier," he snapped hoarsely, "I'd have kicked your asses too!"
For a brief moment, stubborn defiance burned in his eyes.
Until the Commander joined in on the fray.
"Show them why I chose you."
The vice commander's grin slowly widened.
Then he run towards Jamie.
Jamie didn't even see it happen.
A punch slammed directly into his chest.
Something inside him cracked.
Pain exploded through his ribs as the air was violently forced from his lungs.
Blood surged up his throat.
He clenched his teeth and swallowed it down.
The subordinates stared in stunned silence.
Punch after punch he slammed into Jamie's body.
Each strike snapped his head violently from side to side.
His feet barely touched the ground as the blows lifted him again and again.
His screams were swallowed by the violence.
I can't move…
His vision flickered as
darkness slowly crept into the edges of his sight.