Khan had many questions and doubts. He didn't know his role on the battlefield, his team's arrangements, the chain of command, and more. He was unaware of anything connected to his new location. Still, getting answers wasn't an option.
Even as the team began amassing corpses, Khan continued feeling hesitation and distrust toward him. No glares or specific gestures flew in his direction, but the symphony confirmed that he was an outsider.
Lacking intel wasn't ideal, especially after seeing the size of the Thilku battlefield. However, Khan couldn't get accepted through words. He could only prove himself and cause as few problems as possible.
Khan focused on cleaning the battlefields, imitating his alien companions whenever he doubted his actions. The task wasn't exactly difficult. He only had to amass corpses into piles, and looking at the Thilku told him how big they had to be.
The task wasn't tiring, but Khan didn't enjoy doing it. He couldn't even try to learn new details about the Thilku. The area only had silence, and Khan focused on the symphony while dragging corpses from one place to another.
Hours passed while the team continued to clean the battlefield. At times, trucks arrived to remove the piles of corpses, but that didn't free Khan and the Thilku from their task. Half the morning had to go by before the aliens hopped back on their vehicles and returned to the building.
The return to the building didn't change the overall coldness around Khan. Part of his team joined friends in the main hall while others went back to their rooms. A few even remained in the corridor before their habitations, but Khan had no right to join them.
Khan returned to his room since the building couldn't offer him anything yet. It turned out that the habitations had soundproof walls, which told him something about Naoo's character. Still, he put that information in the back of his mind and focused on resting to prepare for the night.
The ostracism toward Khan didn't involve his duties as a soldier. The Thilku ignored him for any social interaction. Yet, when the night began to approach, Naoo's rough voice resounded inside his room.
"[Gather up]!" Naoo said through the room's speakers. "[We leave in two minutes]!"
Khan was still wearing his uniform, so he jumped out of bed and left the room, closing it to wait for his companions. Naoo was the first to come out but only snorted at his presence before reserving the same treatment to all the other Thilku reaching the corridor.
As Khan had predicted, the Thilku didn't carry any firearm. Some wielded big maces, metal spears, or gauntlets with spikes on their knuckles. Others retrieved pieces of armor from their lockers, but nothing that relied too heavily on technology. They wanted a fair fight with the aliens, no matter how bloody it got.
"[Let's move]!" Naoo shouted once the two minutes were up. She charged ahead, crossing the corridor's exit even if a few Thilku were still wearing their armor. Her action forced them to move and finish the process in the following passage.
The new corridor had gotten busier in the meantime, showing three more teams waiting for their chance to reach the main hall. The presence of so many aliens made the area feel cramped, and Khan had it worse than his companions since the general attention fell on him.
Curious and questioning gazes flew through the corridor. Many searched for answers from Khan's teammates, but they only showed helplessness and snorts. A good chunk of the building wasn't aware that Khan would have entered the battlefield, but his presence there couldn't mean anything else.
The teams began to advance in order. The Thilku followed their respective leaders to enter the main hall. Naoo's group was last, and Khan noticed the peculiar absence of the previous crowd once he left the corridor.
The carpets and tools previously used by the Thilku were still there, amassed near the walls, but the crowd had left, showing how big the hall was. The place could fit an entire battalion, but only two hundred troops gathered there and began dealing with the security measures.
That manpower already surpassed what the Global Army had stationed on Cegnore, but Khan couldn't feel surprised after seeing the Thilku battlefield. He actually believed more soldiers would come out to face the fearsome night.
Humans would take hours deploying so many soldiers due to their lengthy security measures, but the process was quick with the Thilku. Naoo's team reached the gate and retrieved the appointed tablets in a few minutes before heading outside.
The scenery was completely different from what Khan had witnessed during the morning. Cegnore's star shone on the horizon, creating long shadows that stretched through the plain. Hundreds of Thilku filled the area, sending stern vibes into the symphony.
The various teams ignored the vehicles and marched ahead, jumping across the trench or settling inside. Except for Khan, everyone knew their role, but loud orders still echoed and fused with the heavy steps caused by the advancing troops.
Khan followed Xai across the trench and continued to march. Naoo led her team deeper into the plain, and each step forward intensified the overall tension. The Thilku were scared, but no trace of that feeling appeared on their faces.
Those feelings told Khan enough, and the march eventually confirmed his hunch too. Minutes passed until the group reached the areas they had previously cleaned. The place was still a mess of holes, cracks, puddles, and body parts, but Naoo made everyone stop there anyway.
"[Get in position]!" Naoo shouted, and the Thilku began to move. The group spread across the area, covering as much ground as possible. Khan instinctively followed Xai, but a sudden glare forced him to stop.
Khan turned and found Naoo staring at him. She had crossed her arms and worn an angry expression, clearly annoyed that the human had ended into her team.
"[Our job here is to stop as many beasts as possible]," Naoo explained, stomping her foot on the ground and digging a line. "[If they cross this, kill them]."
"[What if they cross me]?" Khan asked.
"[Don't chase them]," Naoo declared, and Khan didn't need anything else to understand that strategy. He could feel multiple teams stationed in the distance behind him. His group simply was the first line of defense.
'So,' Khan thought, aligning himself with the rest of the team and occupying the spot behind Naoo's line, 'The monsters don't care about us.'
That development was surprising but not completely unexpected. Khan had seen the packs ignoring him to charge at the human trench. It was odd that something similar would happen there due to the amount of manpower deployed on the plain, but the Thilku building probably was a bigger threat in the monsters' eyes.
'Should I call them today?' Khan couldn't help but wonder while drawing his knife.
The deal with Lord Exr involved changes to the battlefield. Khan had to become bait, but implementing his plan without testing the size of the fights was unwise. It was better to play by the rules for a few nights before moving to something reckless.
'I'm sure Lord Exr won't mind waiting a few days,' Khan thought. 'Mister Wulfo probably will.'
Khan didn't forget his deal with Winston, but the chance to reach the Thilku trenches had priority over it. The scientist probably didn't like that transfer, but Khan was ready to make him unhappy to pursue his true goals.
Those thoughts continued to swirl in Khan's mind as the afternoon slowly transformed into night. Everything grew still as a faint red halo stretched through the plain and dispersed the darkness. The Thilku building was sending its light, but Khan saw different colors.
According to the symphony, a total of three hundred Thilku had left the building to occupy the trench or the plain past it. Those on the frontlines were all third-level warriors, which filled Khan's senses with countless colors.
Nevertheless, Khan mostly focused on the absence of synthetic mana. Except for the building and trench, the Thilku weren't using any technology. They didn't even rely on goggles that could disperse the lingering darkness in the distance.
Khan also noticed the absence of vehicles on the battlefield. The Thilku were ready to handle the incoming battle with their bare hands, spells, and simple weapons, and no one seemed to resent that arbitrary disadvantage.
The event made Khan curious about Cegnore's backstory. He also grew eager to see more specimens, especially intelligent ones. However, all those feelings vanished when new colors appeared past the red halo.
Khan's shoulders instinctively relaxed, and the same went for his knees. He leaned a bit forward while slightly lifting his knife. Those actions were barely noticeable, but he was in an environment with knowledgeable soldiers.
The team had formed a long line, but a few Thilku could still see Khan. Naoo was also nearby and noticed his slight change in stance. The Empire had updated her about Khan's skills, so she could instantly connect the dots.
Naoo glanced ahead and lifted her arms to wear a battle stance. She couldn't see anything in the darkness, but her stature made her more visible than Khan. Her companions noticed her, and similar reactions unfolded.
Khan knew what was happening around him, but his eyes remained glued to the darkness. The symphony grew messy, trying to shock him with its meanings. Yet, his mind was devoid of thoughts and emotions. He had regressed to a mere weapon.
An earthquake spread through the plain, enlarging cracks and creating new ones. The ground caved in due to the tremors running through it. Thudding noises filled the area, and faint growls began to echo.
Soon, figures became visible at the edge of the red halo. A chaotic mass of odd bodies advanced madly ahead. Fifty wolf-like monsters with levels between the second and third ran through the plain, stepping on each other and shattering the ground under their weight.
From the Thilku's perspective, the incoming monsters resembled an azure wave that destroyed anything in their path. Those Tainted animals were almost glued to each other, going up and down depending on what the ground could support.
Of course, that wasn't the Thilku's first battle. They had already gone through similar fights for many nights, so they prepared their spells, weapons, or arms to deflect the incoming wave.
Naoo growled loudly, launching a battle cry that her companions echoed. The entire team was ready to hold its ground against that monstrous and chaotic threat. Still, a purple-red light suddenly flashed in the distant darkness, making those firm stances falter.
Khan saw the world through different senses. He didn't only notice the sudden flash. He also sensed its source and the effect it had on his teammates.
The Thilku did their best to appear confident, but their mana began to convey fear. They knew what that flash implied but felt hopeless against it.
Calculations happened in Khan's mind while the massive pack of Tainted animals continued to advance. Mana quickly moved toward his legs, generating an incredible sprint that teleported him a few meters to his right. He appeared next to Naoo and grabbed her cape to pull her away.
Naoo was so focused on the incoming pack that the pull made her lose her balance. That allowed Khan to drag her further away, but the gesture earned him her anger.
"[Human, what are you-]!" Naoo shouted, but a purple-red light suddenly filled the area, blinding her and hiding a loud explosion.
Naoo quickly stood up, but her eyes took longer to recover. Yet, when they did, she failed to find Khan. He had left her side, but something else attracted her attention.
A crater that released a thick pile of smoke had appeared in Naoo's previous position, and she could only feel disbelief looking at it. Her gaze immediately returned to her team, searching for Khan, but he was nowhere to be found.
Naoo found Khan only when the incoming pack reclaimed her attention. She felt shocked seeing him halfway through the space that divided the team and the monsters. The Thilku were focusing on holding their ground, but Khan had decided to move on the offensive.
