Ethel arrived on the seventeenth floor. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, he could feel countless pairs of eyes turning toward him.
"Yashin, we're here!"
Yinbing called out cheerfully.
Yashin, whom Ethel had met once before, walked over to greet them.
"Hey, Yinbing. If I remember correctly, you're the one from that urban demon subjugation the other day, right?"
He extended his right hand.
"Yes. I'm Ethel."
Ethel shook it. At the very least, the Second Squad's Vice Captain seemed every bit as approachable as he looked.
"Let's get started then. Captain Soth should already be waiting in the training room."
"He's participating too?"
The last trace of hope Ethel had been holding onto instantly vanished.
"Of course. He's actually been looking forward to having you help us."
"Really? You'd never guess from looking at him."
They had run into Soth in the cafeteria yesterday, and he had been just as sharp-tongued as ever.
"So the deadweight with Heart is joining my squad? Hope you've already learned how to pack your own ashes."
His usual venomous greeting only made Ethel wish Soth would somehow skip today's coordination training.
"He's just not very good at expressing himself."
"Yashin... I think you've misunderstood him."
"Haha, you're funny."
"No, I'm serious."
Apparently not hearing Yinbing's last remark, Yashin led them into the training room.
Just as promised, Soth was already there.
The Second Squad members entering behind them grumbled quietly as well. Apparently, even his own squad wasn't particularly fond of their Captain.
"Took you long enough."
"The coward with Heart."
Choosing to ignore Soth entirely, Ethel turned to Yashin instead.
"So... what should I do today?"
"I've already synced everyone's communicators with their earpieces and explained how your commands work."
"The rest is exactly like your usual coordination training. Just stay at the rear and give instructions."
"And don't worry."
He raised the rifle in his hands.
"These are training rounds. They won't kill anyone."
"Got it."
"Are we done yet?"
"Quit dragging your feet."
Soth walked over impatiently.
"Almost."
He glanced at Yinbing.
"And why are you here?"
"I'm the Vice Captain. Is there a problem with accompanying one of the Third Squad's most valuable members?"
Ethel expected another biting remark in return.
Instead, Soth merely clicked his tongue and dropped the subject.
Once Yashin had returned to the formation, Ethel quietly leaned toward Yinbing.
"Why doesn't he ever insult you?"
"Because he can't beat me."
"Seriously?"
Ethel stared at her in disbelief.
A Perfected One... unable to defeat a Lost One?
He had always believed the gap between them was impossible to overcome.
"My Concept completely counters his."
"I remember his Concept is..."
"Concept: Rebound."
"What exactly does it do?"
"You'll see soon enough."
"Ethel, ready?"
Yashin looked back from within the formation.
"Ready."
"Second Squad!"
"Raise your weapons!"
"Aim!"
"Fire!"
Including Yashin, every member of the Second Squad raised their rifles and unleashed a barrage at Soth.
Yet before a single bullet could reach him, every round slammed into an invisible barrier.
The bullets froze in midair for a split second before being violently hurled back, as if an unseen batter had smashed them away with a bat.
"Left leg."
"Right shoulder."
"Forehead."
"Left side."
"Right knee."
"Left eye."
Compared to the largely inexperienced Third Squad, the Second Squad was clearly far more battle-hardened.
Although they still couldn't compare to the First Squad, their reflexes, awareness, and concentration had all been forged through real combat.
"Cease fire!"
Five minutes later, Yashin called for a stop.
Not a single person had been struck by the reflected bullets.
Ethel also noticed that nearly thirty percent of the shots were dodged without needing any warning from him.
Just as expected from people who've actually seen the battlefield, he thought.
"Take five."
"So?"
Yinbing asked.
"Figured out his Concept?"
"He creates an invisible wall that reflects attacks."
"Exactly."
"Bullets, swords—anything that reaches him gets repelled before it can touch him."
"He has the power to reject everything... and send every attack right back."
"But it's completely useless against you."
"That's right."
"The moment I touch his barrier, it disappears."
"To me, he's basically just an ordinary Force User."
Against Yinbing's Concept: Extinction, a defensive Concept like Rebound was practically powerless.
No wonder Soth never bothered picking a fight with her.
Getting into a shouting match with someone who had already beaten him would only make him look pathetic.
After a short break, training resumed.
This time, however, reflected bullets occasionally came flying toward Ethel as well.
Fortunately, he remembered Oenone's advice.
While covering everyone else, he never neglected his own safety.
Meanwhile, every time Ethel successfully dodged another bullet, Soth wore an unmistakably disappointed expression.
The second round went as smoothly as the first.
So did the third.
And the fourth.
Only during the fifth round did things finally change.
"Yashin."
"Understood."
Soth spoke only a single word.
Yashin immediately understood what he meant.
"Ethel."
"The Captain's getting serious now."
"You'd better prepare yourself."
The warning caught Ethel off guard.
Realizing what was about to happen, he sharpened his concentration to its absolute limit.
"Concept Release: Ricochet Plane."
Gunfire erupted once more.
Countless bullets poured toward Soth.
Just like before—
They stopped in front of him.
Just like before—
They were reflected back.
But this time...
The angles were different.
The speed was different.
The force behind every bullet was different.
If the earlier reflections had resembled random ricochets...
These felt as though Soth himself had personally aimed and fired every single shot.
Faced with the deadlier barrage, Ethel devoted every ounce of his focus to the battle.
Soth clearly noticed.
Nearly thirty percent of the reflected bullets were aimed directly at Ethel.
He was forced to dodge constantly while continuing to guide the Second Squad.
Then...
He saw it.
Several bullets were converging on one particular squad member in a perfectly coordinated pattern.
This wasn't an attack that could be avoided with a simple instruction like "step left" or "duck."
Only extremely precise guidance would allow that person to survive.
To make matters worse, the target happened to be one of the slower members of the Second Squad, someone whose reactions lagged behind the others.
Ethel knew they wouldn't be able to evade the attack alone.
At the same time, Soth eased his assault on the rest of the squad.
Nearly half of the reflected bullets shifted toward Ethel.
Make your choice.
It was as though Soth were saying those exact words.
If Ethel focused on giving detailed instructions, his own evasive movements would inevitably suffer.
But if he concentrated on protecting himself, the brief commands he could still manage wouldn't be enough.
The bullets hidden behind the first wave—
The true killing blows—
Would strike that squad member without fail.
As he was now...
Ethel couldn't save both.
In less than half a second, Ethel made his choice.
As if responding to that decision, the Concept within his mind issued instructions unlike any it had given before.
Swing your left arm outward at a thirty-degree angle with full force. At the same time, cover your right eye and forehead with your right hand.
"Step one pace to the right, then duck immediately! Raise your rifle to shield your temple! The moment the impact hits, drop straight to your knees and throw your body backward!"
Out of the corner of his left eye, Ethel watched the squad member successfully evade every bullet.
His guidance had worked.
But he himself failed to dodge.
A hail of bullets slammed into his left arm.
The arm he had deliberately swung out intercepted the shots that would have pierced his heart and lungs. Only a handful of rounds struck his abdomen—painful, but nowhere near fatal.
His right hand, covering half his head, blocked the bullets aimed at his right eye and forehead.
Even with Force reinforcing his body, and despite the training rounds being modified to avoid lethal injuries, a wave of agony surged through both arms, racing along his nerves and into his brain.
"Cease fire!"
Yashin called out.
The five-minute session had ended.
"...Are you an idiot?"
Soth crouched down in front of the struggling Ethel.
The words were just as harsh as always.
But for the first time, there wasn't a trace of mockery in his voice.
"Why didn't you dodge?"
"So what if you stopped the fatal shots?"
"Once you've lost the ability to fight, you're nothing more than prey waiting to be slaughtered."
"My job... is to protect my squad."
"And who's supposed to protect you?"
"If this is how you fight..."
"Then how are you any different from Tia?"
Without waiting for an answer, Soth turned and walked out of the training room.
The coordination training was over.
The Second Squad members each offered Ethel a few words of thanks before leaving as well.
"Thank you."
The squad member Ethel had saved at the very end stopped beside him.
"I know you got hit because you chose to cover me."
Ethel didn't answer.
He simply remained seated on the floor, lost in thought.
The final exercise hadn't been some cruel game designed to watch him suffer.
It had been Soth's lesson.
A brutal one.
"I have to admit..."
"He's right."
Yinbing stood quietly beside him.
"If you go down, what happens to the rest of the battle?"
"And what about every battle after that?"
"..."
"Sacrifice is inevitable."
"Even Captain Oenone has accepted that one day she may have to sacrifice her own squad members."
"We've fought together for over ten years."
"If the situation demanded it, she wouldn't hesitate to abandon even me."
"The battlefield is cruel."
"When you're forced to choose, there's only one thing you can do."
"You place two lives on a scale..."
"...and abandon the one that matters less."
"Whether it's your closest friend..."
"The person you love..."
"...or even yourself."
"You still have to make that choice."
Yinbing's words pierced straight into Ethel's heart like ice.
Until now, he had always supported battles from the rear.
He had never truly faced the moment where he alone had to decide who lived...
...and who died.
But he knew.
Sooner or later...
That moment would come.
ns216.73.217.139da2
and then Add to home screen.