The Only Path - The Fall of Touimai (Final Part)

"One might say that winning a battle only requires soldiers and some form of leadership. While another might say that winning a battle requires many things. Constant supplies, well-maintained equipment, trained and skilled soldiers and excellent leadership skills are some of the necessary requirements to win a battle. Without them, then the force will utterly fail its goal. 
But what's the answer? 

None. 

A battle's outcome can be anything and can be decided by anything. It is like a liquid. Able to take any shape or form by one means or another."

Vula requoted the text in her mind. She sat on a chair that was randomly placed outside. But it was a good view though. She was able to see most of the entire army and the entirety of East Touimai and a bit of South Touimai also. The ruined cityscape was nothing like she had seen before. One half was completely destroyed while the other side still had neon lights, colourful advertisements and tall preserved skyscrapers. 

"Curious about the dual 'personalities' of the city, Lieutenant General?" a Lieutenant Colonel asked Vula. 

"Yeah, you can say that, Lieutenant Colonel Hari." 

From her relaxed position, she got up. 

"If you are here, then are the soldiers ready?" 

 "Yes. And the combat androids are also ready." 

"How many?" 

"All 3,000. And we expect the other 7,000 to arrive later today." 

"Great. Send your battalion and the 2nd battalion to the Eastern Gate. The 3rd and 4th battalions will cover them with artillery and gunfire. The 5th battalion will prepare to receive the remaining combat androids." Vula ordered. 

"Roger. And if I may add, what about the 3,000 combat androids we have at hand currently?" Hari asked. 

"Hmm. Let the current 3,000 form a brigade or regiment. They will follow the 1st and 2nd battalions when the remaining arrives, and then they will form a division." Vula replied to the Lieutenant Colonel. 

"Roger." 

She quickly left and first informed her colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan, then Colonel Yaishki about Vula's orders. 
They nodded when Hari told them the orders and left soon afterwards. Before Lieutenant Colonel Hari went off to her own stations, she gave a salute to Vula and then disappeared over the hill. After a while of observing the situation from afar, Vula made her way to the radio station where a few Captains, two Majors and one Lieutenant Colonel overseeing were operating. When she entered, everyone gave her a tense salute. 

"No need to be so tense. I don't bite," she said. 

One relaxed and so did the others. 

"Give me a status report." 

"Roger." 

Everyone in the station quickly got to their posts and began to collect information and summarise it into a report. 
Minutes later, she was given a status report. She went over it and nodded. 

"Okay. One of you guys send a message to the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of the 3rd battalion. Tell him or her to send a company that will act as assassins to take out the soldiers defending the gate. I can't afford to waste more time just to breach the entrance."

"Copy that." someone responded. He then proceeded to contact the 3rd battalion's radio man and he then passed on Vula's order to the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of the battalion. 

"Roger that, Lieutenant General." 

Vula relaxed on a seat. If they can take out the defenders of the gate, she could have fun (fighting/battling) in the city. 
She smiled. 

...

North Touimai, Greygor Bridge 

We were both very shocked when we reached Greygor Bridge. It had completely collapsed. I looked at Heodia and she looked at me. 

"Did that shell explode and destroy the bridge?" I asked. 

"Most likely, yes," replied Heodia. 

"Well, what do we do now?" 

"Let's try using one of the other bridges."

"Nope, they are all most likely destroyed or heavily damaged due to artillery fire." 

"Ugh." 

We decided to rethink our plans but unfortunately for us, fighting between some of the citizens forced us to leave the area. But we owe those citizens with our lives since a moment later, something like a bomb or explosive was set off, roasting them alive. 

"An explosion?" 

"Seems like it." 

"But how though?" I asked. 

"I don't think we should be worried about that for now..." Heodia replied. 

"Hm?" 

I turned my head to where Heodia was staring at. My eyes widen with shock. The sky turned black. But suddenly, the darkness was soon changed to fire. The sky was now brighter than 100 suns shining at the same time. And of course, with the immense light, came immense heat as well. I was blinded and was unable to do anything but I was saved by Heodia as a strong wave of heat came my way. 

She applied some cooling liquid onto me and the girl, whom I was carrying in my arms. This protected us from the heat, unlike the unfortunate others. 

"You guys okay?" Heodia asked me. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. And I'm pretty sure the little one is also alright." I answered. 

"Well, that's good." 

"And also is there any way to get rid of this liquid?" I then asked. 

Heodia looked at me and answered. 
"It will come off eventually." 

"Oh okay..." I replied. 

I don't mind getting soaked but with this liquid? Not so really. It just makes me feel weird and uncomfortable. 
But since we were in a life-or-death situation, I decided just to follow what Heodia said. And for now, the biggest concern for me isn't about the liquid that Heodia sprayed on me and the girl or where she got it from but rather the heat wave itself and if does have any connections to the earlier explosion we just avoided. 

"Hey..." I said.

"Yes?" 

"Do you think that the earlier explosion had any connections to the heat wave attack?" 

Heodia stopped. Her red eyes sparked (I swear I saw them do so) and she grabbed my hand and began running towards the explosion site.

"Hey, hey! Hold on!" I protested. 

"Got no time for that, Void! Your suggestion gave me an idea about what had happened." 

Heodia dragged me to the explosion site and where the explosion had happened, it left a crater behind. 
While Heodia was scanning the crater with all of her fancy equipment, I scanned the surrounding. And as expected, I saw human-sized charcoal. And it actually wasn't charcoal at all. It was humans. They were turned into charcoal after the heat wave attack on the city. I don't think that many died as almost everyone is taking shelter from the artillery but since it had stopped, I could be wrong. 

"How's the progress, Heodia?" I asked. 

"Going well..." she answered. "Just a bit more time to confirm the details though." 

"Alright." 

I sat down, took a breather and waited for Heodia to finish up. Minutes later, as I nearly fell asleep, Heodia finished. She silently walked up to me and spoke, which scared the life out of me. 

"Void, you there?" 

I jumped in surprise. 
"Oh, it's just you, Heodia. Don't scare me like that again." 

"I can't really help it. You were half-asleep." 

"Yeah, because the girl is sleeping and it made me tired as well!" I replied. 

"Well, okay. But try not to fall asleep again, Void." 

"Alright, alright I get it. So what did you find or find anything useful?" I asked her. 

"Hm? Yeah I did. But let's find a better location for me to tell you this information." 

"Okay." 

I got up and followed Heodia into the streets with a few sharp turns, and finally, we reached a building. It was filled with advertisements and it was glowing with lights and neon. It was something you wouldn't expect in a war-torn city like this. And it wasn't this building either. The surrounding area was also like this. 

"Where are we?" I asked Heodia. 

"North Touimai of course. But since there's a visual barrier here, only if you know if this place exists, you can access it. But since the barrier got some damage, those on the outskirts of the city can also see this place." 

"Wow. I see." I replied. "So? Why did we come to a place like this?" 

"Well, Uto said to come here so I obliged." 

"Uto?" 

"You called me?" said a new but familiar voice. 

I leapt back in surprise to see Uto just standing there, with a smile on his face. (Cannot tell what kind of smile though)

"Can you stop doing that, Uto?!" 

"Ha. I'll see what I can do about that," he replied. 

"What do you mean by that?" 

"It means that I will continue to have a sudden appearance but I'll do something different from time to time." 

"Ugh. I guess I just have to deal with it then..." 

"But anyway, I had underestimated the Entanian Alliance's reaction time to deploy a force to siege and capture a city so there's basically no time to give you proper training on the 'powers' I gave you, and so I'll be doing something similar. Both of you, follow me please." 

Uto entered the building and we followed him. 

"Woah..." 

The inside of the normal-looking building wasn't normal at all. Computers big and small with people in white lab coats working on them. A view that you wouldn't ever see in a frontline city like this. 
Blue light was everywhere as it was the most common colour for modern computer screens, and as many as several hundred people were working here, on this floor alone. 

"Ah. These people are hand-picked by myself personally to work on our projects in this world. Meaning that they know that this is an artificial world created by me and they kind of worship me as their sole and true god." Uto explained. 

"That last part of what you just said... it reminds me of what you said when we first met." 

"Does it? Hmhm. I guess so." Uto said.

He continued walking through the almost limitless amount of hallways and desks, but we finally stopped after what felt like an eternity. 

"We finally there yet?" I asked him. 

"Nearly," Uto replied. "We are halfway there" 

Only halfway there?! How big is this place?! 

"It's around 40km in diameter and around 100 stories high." Uto suddenly said. 

"How did you know what I was thinking- wait no. You said that you can read the minds of your creations right?" 

"Yes, I did. You already forget?" 

"But how is this place 40km in diameter? Back at the entrance, the width of the building didn't even exceed 50 metres!" 

"Ah... Well you see-" Uto began. "Heodia, you mind explaining to Void? I'm not so good at summarising complex things." 

"Understood." 

Heodia slowed down and waited for me to catch up to her. When I got near her, she walked with me at the same pace and started explaining. 

"I'll try to make things as simple as possible but the technology Uto uses to make this possible is called 'P-31C' which works by basically changing the size of the atoms and their protons, neutrons and electrons. In higher level P-31Cs you can even change the quarks inside of the rons." 

"Ah, I see. And what is 'rons' you say?" 

"Hm? Rons? Oh, it's the short term we use to say protons, neutrons and electrons. Saying them all is quite a mouthful so we just gave it a slang." 

"Hm. Quite useful actually." 

Afterwards, we walked without talking for the rest of the trip. 

...

Touimai, Eastern Gate 

The roaring sound of the Heulus River could be faintly heard. A company of the 3rd battalion handpicked by the Lieutenant Colonel of the battalion for their stealth and speed were lying in wait for the right moment to strike. These 125 soldiers are considered the fastest and the most elite of the 3rd battalion of the 30th attack force. 

The commander of the newly formed company, Captain Mila Priddy is considered the strongest not only in the company but also in the entire 30th Attack Force with only the Lieutenant Colonels and the commander of the attack force, Colonel Yaishki rivalling her. 
They were supporting the 1st and 2nd battalions with artillery and gunfire when orders from the commander of the 3rd battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Radovan, were passed on to them. 

When she took a look at the order, she was quite surprised that it was not from the commander of the battalion but rather from the new (and temporary) commander of the attack force, Lieutenant General Vula.  

She quickly followed the order, gathering the most elite soldiers she knew from the 3rd battalion. She briefed them on the situation and got them to do the same until they reached the size of a company. They were greeted by Vula and she explained to the company on their new orders and they acted soon after. 

I still can't believe Lieutenant General Vula would even come up with a plan like this. Assassinate the soldiers defending the gate in order for the 1st and 2nd battalions to secure the gate and allow reinforcements to enter.

"Captain." 

"Yes?" 

"It's almost time for you to give the order to strike." 

"Oh right. Thank you, Lieutenant Junon." 

"No need," she replied. 

Mila raised her pistol in the air and fired at the target; a small sheet of metal. The bullet pierced right through the thin metal sheet as sparks emitted due to it. The loud metallic sound was not noticed by the defending soldiers as they were under extreme pressure due to the 1st and 2nd battalion's assault. 

However, the entire company was able to notice the sound and they knew it was time to strike. They were able to expand a crack in one of the guard towers and entered through it. It will take some time for all of the company to enter one by one so we decided to split the company in half, with 2 platoons inside and 2 platoons outside. 

When the signal sound reached the ears of the soldiers inside the guard tower, they quickly and easily captured it and waited for the rest of the company to enter. 

"Good work lads." Mila said when she entered. 

"You too, Captain." 

"Thanks," she replied. "Now, everyone! Get your melee weapons out and let us do some hunting." 

""Roger that.""

Meanwhile, at the outskirts of Touimai, the remaining 7,000 combat androids had just arrived at Vula's doorstep. 

"Wonderful." she said while smiling joyfully. The smile scared everyone around her but Vula just thought they were being cautious around her since she now got 3 combat androids as bodyguards. Of course, she didn't need bodyguards at all since she is quite the fighter but since she wanted to experiment and test the combat android's capabilities personally, making them her bodyguards was a great option to do so. 

Once Vula had grasped the basics of what they can do, she sent 200 of them to aid the 1st and 2nd battalions to test out their combat capabilities. 

Within the first few minutes of being deployed, one was already shot down. 

"Already?" asked Vula. 

"I'm afraid so." replied one of the majors with her. 

"Oh well, they most likely got a sniper somewhere." 

"I agree." 

Vula continues to watch the android fights and observe their limits, strengths and weaknesses. She wanted to observe them personally on the battlefield rather than from a camera crew but since there's always a risk of getting killed, along with the fact the other commanders wouldn't let her so do since she's the commander of the attack force. 

"Oh well, let us just wait and see the results then!" she cheerfully said. 

Hours later, the remaining androids were sent back to the Northern Front HQ for a damage report where Vula soon received the results. 

"Not as expected but good enough to pass my standards I guess."

"And what shall we do with the remaining androids here?" asked someone. 

"Good question. Judging from the report, they should be fine. Send them all into battle. After all, the elite company of the 3rd battalion must be done with the defending soldiers soon." 

"Roger that." 

I guess I should send a progress report to the general soon... no. Actually, I'll send one now. Since I plan to lead the soldiers myself for the battle of the city, then I would have no time to do so. 

"Major?" Vula called. 

"Yes, Lieutenant General?" answered a major. 

"Bring me one of those secure messaging devices would you?" 

"Of course." 

The male major opened up a desk and handed me a tablet that she instantly recognised. 

"Oh! An old model of the modern communicator is it?" 

"Correct, ma'am." the major replied. "Did you use one during your soldier days?" 

"Yes, I did. Very useful. Saved my life a couple of times as well." Vula answered the major. 

"We have many things in com-" the major started. "Please excuse me." 

"It's fine. What's your name?" Vula asked. 

"It's Jonas von Voigt ma'am." 

"Eh? A von? So you're from Groyu or somewhere similar?" 

"Yes, ma'am. I'm from the Groyu Peninsula." 

"Interesting. So Groyu still uses von eh? I remember when the Cloud Empire still have many families with von in their names. Anyway, last question for you, Jonas. Does the Groyian use of von mean nobility or something completely different?" 

"In Groyu, von means 'from'. So the actual translation of my name is Jonas from the family of Voigt." 

"I see. Well, thanks for the info, Jonas. I'm going to send a report over to the general now, so you are dismissed." 

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you for your time!" he said as he left. 

Oh right. I never got to know which company he leads. Oh well, that's not too important now. 

...

Touimai, 'Heaven's Tower' 

I got no idea where I am. Uto told me that this building was called 'Heaven's Tower' I tried asking Heodia where we were but she also had no answer. She only knew the name of the building and where it was. Anything else besides that, she doesn't know or so she tells me. 

"Uhh... so, Uto, tell me why are we here again?" I asked. 

"To forcibly activate the powers I gave you of course." 

"Then why are we standing in front of a torture room?" 

A room with blood and many wooden machines and tool all covered with blood was in front of me. 

"Torture room? Oh, wait... You mean the storage room for bloody items?" 

I looked at Uto and then back at the room. 

"This room is literally screaming the words 'torture room' y'know?!" I yelled at Uto. 

"Shesh. Calm down. No need to yell. You might wake the sleeping girl in your arms. We aren't actually going to be activating your powers here. I just to get a tool from this room. Then we can actually move to the medical centre." 

"Oh. I see. Well sorry for yelling at you before. Well, what kind of tool is it?" 

"You'll know when you see it," Uto answered as he unlocked the door. The scent of iron filled up my lungs which caused me to back off from the room. "Too strong for you, Void?" 

"Yeah. It's way too strong. The smell of blood is the main reason though. I can handle it if it's without the iron smell." 

"Well, just bear it for a bit." 

"Got it." 

I walked away from the room and into a hallway with many people of all sizes and ages wearing white lab coats. They didn't pay me much attention so I just waited for Uto to finish up. 

After some time, I turned my head towards the room again and saw Uto talking with Heodia about something. After they were done, Uto handed her an item which I was unsure what I was at that time. 

Heodia walked towards me after dealing with Uto. 

"You guys done?" I asked. 

"Yeah. Now this may be a little pain full but bear with me would you?" 

"Huh?-" 

Before I understood anything, a sharp pain occurred in my stomach area. I looked down and saw Heodia using the item that Uto had given her to stab me. I grunted collapsed in pain and tried to get back up. I dropped the girl when I fell but Heodia caught her. 

"I'm currently forcibly wakening your powers gifted by Uto so they can be used. You may distrust me right now about the usefulness of this power but in the future, you will not regret it, I can guarantee that." Heodia said. "And also, don't try to stand. It will be more painful if you try to do so." 

I felt like my body was about to burn itself alive. Sweat poured out from all over my body as I slowly lost consciousness. 

"Ah. It seems like ... is working ... finely. Now don't die on me, Void." these were the last words I heard before my consciousness fully disappeared. 

When I woke up, I was in a white, and fluffy bed. I was also in new clothes. The dirty and ragged clothes on mine were replaced with a silky white shirt and black shorts. Wounds from bullets all over my body healed and disappeared. I scanned the room. 

Nothing out of the ordinary... is this place a medical centre? If so, then that will probably explain the medical equipment across the room... but that doesn't really explain why all my wounds in the past were healed. Did Uto do something while I was out? 

I continued to think for a while. Then, the door opened. 

"Morning Void. Have a good rest?" asked a Heodia in casual clothing. Her fire-ruby hair was not all tied up or anything so I was surprised at how long it was. 

"Ah, Heodia. Morning..?" I greeted. 

"Hm. I'm glad you're up. Do you want a status report of things when you were out?" 

"Yes, please do." I answered. 

"Okay then. I'll list the good news first then over to the bad news," Heodia replied. "So, the good news is that your powers are successfully activated and you can use them without much of a drawback. The bad news is that Touimai is basically fallen to enemy hands during the 5 days you were out." 

I was shocked. 
"Did I hear you correctly? Did Touimai fall?" 

Heodia did not reply. All she did was nod her head. 

"How..?" 

"Through the use of assassins, they were able to take out a large portion of the already undermanned defenders and after that, everything fell apart. They used a new weapon called 'Combat Androids' to easily counter the intense urban warfare reputation that Touimai recently gained. And with their superior numbers and technology, they easily crushed any remaining defences. Even the United Western Council's HQ in Touimai was easily captured by the Entanian Alliance." 

"Even that building?!..." I said, surprised. 

"Yes. And also about the girl, she is now awake. She's under the care of Uto for now but he says he will send her to us when he is done running scans and health-related things on her body. 

"Ah, I see," I replied. "And how long until we can get her back?" 

"Around a week or so." 

"I see." 

"..." 

"Hey." I said. 

"Yes?"

"Are we doomed to be killed?" 

"Perhaps so," she replied. "Mass shootings have already occurred. But those are usually to rebel forces." 

"What choice do we have left?" 

"Join the military of the Cloud Empire or the Second Entanian Alliance as a whole." 

"Well, that's better than death at least." 

Heodia laughed. 

I got up from the bed. 

"Where are my clothes?" I asked. 

Suddenly, the white top and black shorts transformed into the clothes I knew and had worn for the last few hundred years. 

"What?" 

"You just used your new activated powers. It's the use of one's imagination to create, destroy or bend reality. That is your power. In other words, it's creational magic." Heodia explained. 

"That's... impossible! Nothing can bend reality to their will!" 

"Yes, that is widely considered true... but remember, you got them from the creator and god of this world. He can easily bend reality to his will and grant other people the power to do so as well." 

"..." 

I looked at Heodia and at my hand. 

"Augh. Fine." 

"You made up your mind?" asked Heodia. 

"Yes, I did. We have no other choice other than to join the Entanian Alliance's military to gain somewhat of a future life of freedom." 

"Eh? You sure?" 

"I'm dead sure." 

"Well, I have no complaints." 

I let Heodia guide me to the exit and when I stepped out of the building, I turned around and was shocked to see it gone. 

"Don't worry, the tower hasn't disappeared. It just turned invisible to the naked eye." 

I nodded at Heodia, showing that I understood. I proceeded to breathe in and breathe out to calm myself down. 

"I'm ready. Let's go." 

I walked with full confidence and went to Central Square (where Heodia told me where the recruitment location was at). Along the way, I saw everything covered in blood. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, in alleyways, buildings, and behind structures. It was the perfect breeding ground for disease so I hurried and got out of those areas as soon as possible. I wouldn't want to catch some random disease that probably has no cure afterall. 

I saw a long line of young men and women in front of a desk, so I figured that it was the recruiting station so I joined the line as well. 

"Well, well, would you look at that?" commented someone. 

I turned my attention to the person who said it. I was turned speechless. Same coloured blue hair but shoulder length, and same coloured blue eyes. She was in a black military suit uniform with a black tie and a white shirt underneath the black jacket and had a smug smile on her face. It was a standard for high-ranking persons in the military on both sides of the war. She was escorted by 2 other soldiers. They were both quite experienced in combat from what I can tell and I probably can't beat them in a 1v1. 

"A look-a-like in this city? What a surprise. Hari, bring him to the Northern Front HQ for questioning and information extraction, would you? I still have a job to do because of these new recruits." 

"Roger," she said, jumping down in front of me. "Now, please follow me. If you try to do anything suspicious, I cannot guarantee that you will make it to the HQ alive. And also, is that your partner? If so, please follow me as well." 

I looked at Heodia and shrugged. 

"I can't say I can defeat her right now. Best option right now is to play it safe." I whispered. 

"I don't mind. I'll follow your lead." she answered. 

And thus that is how I made it to the Entanian Alliance's Northern HQ.