Saturn was facing an unexpected crisis.
Guests from the distant lands, a Blood Heir, one of the Abyssals in crimson made her presence known.
The planetoid Oyan, a planetoid perpetually covered in snow, was now facing chaos.
The human army gave up the offense as they hurriedly retreated back to their bases.
The Abyssal army chased them with more and more aggressive tactics. When the army was about to enter their base, the Abyssals ignored any form of self-defense and attacked the human soldiers.
From the sky, these two sides appeared like groups of black and grey dots moving on pure white paper.
"Hurry! Start it!"
"But Sir, it's not advis—"
"It's the only choice!"
Begrudgingly, the technicians started the defense mechanisms of the military base. The latest weapons started shooting down the Abyssals.
The weapons worked well for the low level Abyssals. To a certain extent, the explosions hurt even level 4s.
But that's it. Level 5s and higher easily dodged these attacks.
The problem became serious when the telekinetics finally intervened and blocked the attacks in the defensive weapon itself.
These highly technological armaments were already studied by Abyssals. With a clever tactic, the telekinetics messed up the launching of the attacks.
So, the defensive weapons that were supposed to attack Abyssals either misfired and killed unsuspecting humans or simply exploded.
Humans had an option to use highly destructive weapons like nukes. But if a level 7 or even a level 6 telekinetic intervened, then they could easily turn the tables.
This happened in the past and humans were bombarded with their own nukes enough times until they gave up trying to win Abyssals with mass destruction weapons.
The fight continued and as the Abyssal army pressed on,10% of the weapons were destroyed before they stopped firing. It was the human army itself that deactivated the remaining ones since the Abyssals started taking advantage of them.
The human army, despite a whopping 5% loss, managed to make it back to the defense base.
The defense base quickly enclosed itself and formed a giant fortress. Several formations began to kick in and a defensive system was created.
The temporary Commander of the base, a peak level 7, observed the overall situation.
The Abyss army was regrouping. It was a prelude to their long invasion.
'Even with our losses, we should be able to hold off for a whole week with the base's support. Only…' The commander's eyes flashed and he raised his head to look at the horizon.
Oyan's horizon which was traditionally dark blue was now orange-red. And not just that, he could see a patch of blue in the long distance. Not the normal white of snow, but a blue of the water.
Oyan's perennial snow was melting.
As for the reason…
The sky suddenly turned red and the sounds of a phoenix screeching reached the base.
Before anyone could respond, a huge explosion occurred on the horizon and a red shockwave spread out at a breakneck speed.
The tongues of the flames hissed like snakes as they melted away the snow upon contact. These shockwaves spread for hundreds of miles and finally hit the human soldiers. Even then, they still felt their skin burn.
"Wait!" The Commander held his breath as he realized the Abyssal army outside was in chaos.
The snow they were previously standing on turned into ankle-deep water. Even though it wasn't a big deal for the strong Abyssals, most of the army was made up of low and mid awakeners.
"We can use this chance." The Commander's eyes flashed brightly.
If someone saw Oyan from space at this moment, they'd see a tenth of the white planetoid was turning blue.
"Water Folks!" The Commander ordered.
"Yes, Sir!" A few thousand soldiers stepped forward.
The Commander glanced at the increasingly red shade of the sky one last time and made a final decision.
He smiled at the Water regiment and said. "Give your everything and create the best opportunities."
Then, he turned to the main army with a scorching gaze. "Brave men and women of Oyan!"
"Yes, Sir!" The military base shook at their roar.
"We will all die." He said in a calm tone.
Even though the soldiers were already clear about this, hearing it from their highest superior still dimmed their eyes.
"But!" The Commander stretched his hand toward them.
"Your death." He clenched his fist and raised it to his eye level. "It's still in your hands."
At those words brimming with valor, the hundred-thousand-strong army stiffened.
"Chose!" The Commander roared. "You can have an insignificant death when that Crimson Abyssal eventually wins and kills us like cannon fodder."
"Or." He took a deep breath before he raised his voice even further.
"You can die killing an Abyssal or two! You can die fighting! Like a real soldier! As a real human!"
The commander turned around and jumped into the Abyssal army, leaving behind his last words. "Choose!"
The brave men and women felt their blood boil as they not only accepted their death but also chose it.
"Kill!"
The Abyssal army was still in the middle of changing their tactics due to the sudden water when the ground shook.
A hundred thousand men and women rushed out of the defense base as they launched a horrifying attack.
The Abyssal army was dumbfounded at this reversal.
The sky was painted in myriad colors and the ground cracked apart as countless attacks of all kinds enveloped the battlefield.
The snow was painted red and green.
"We don't have much time, forget everything, see one, kill one!"
The humans that embraced their death were far more terrifying than the Abyssals imagined.
"Die? I want to die! But as I die, I want to bring down ten of you with me!"
The Abyssals suddenly fell into a defensive formation, yet they couldn't stop the suicidal attacks of the human army.
Due to these mad tactics, each human endured far more pain and injuries than an average Abyssal.
But it didn't matter to them.
Even as their blood spilled out like a fountain and their flesh was sliced off, they marched forward.
"I killed four Abyssals!"
"I killed two!"
The dying soldiers announced before breathing their last as if to prove their death wasn't in vain.
Witnessing the death of the people he shared many life and death moments with, the Commander's eyes turned moist.
But he didn't stop attacking the Abyssal Commander. Instead, his attacks grew fiercer, and finally, he sliced the throat of the Abyssal and in exchange, his own chest was blown apart, destroying his heart.
As he lay on the melting snow, the Commander glanced at the scarlet sky and said his parting words.
As if they were a testimony to his strong resolve, they lingered in the air longer than others.
"There isn't much time. Die well, my fellow brothers and sisters…I'll see you on the other side."
