Reborn as a Mechanist with a God-Tier System-Chapter 219: Escalation [1]

"What did you just say?"

Leon stood his ground in front of the middle-aged mercenary, the E Rank Ascended leader of the Order of Iron mercenary squad.

Alone, he stood against 11 E Rank Ascended of the mercenary squad.

Tension crackled in the air like static electricity.

Today’s battle against the Federation Army was the closest and most intense battle since the war started 3 days ago, and for the first time the Order of Iron suffered heavy injuries though there were no casualties yet.

But that was all the reason the mercenaries needed to bail out of Iron Reef.

Just like Leon, as veteran mercenaries, they could smell it from afar that Iron Reef’s valiant resistance against the Federation Army was fracturing.

They wanted to jump ship before the ship sank.

According to the mercenary captain, Iron Reef was already a lost cause, it was only a matter of time before the Federation Army overran the city.

All the mercenaries agreed and collectively decided to leave the city that night, except the only Mechanist in their squad, Leon Ardent.

"What did you just say?" The mercenary captain repeated his question with a cold look on his face as he glared at Leon.

Leon didn’t flinch when subjected to the captain’s intimidating gaze, his black eyes stared back in an eerie manner, completely unfazed.

"I said I’m not leaving".

"Why?" The captain asked coldly.

"Because I said so".

Silence.

BZZZ!

Violet ADE flared around the body of the mercenary captain as he glared at Leon but unwilling to back down, grayish white ADE flared violently around Leon’s body in response, converging in his black eyes.

Instantly, the tension in the room escalated as it seemed like both E Rank Ascended would come to blows.

This lasted for a few seconds.

And then the vice-captain of the mercenary squad, an E Rank NetRunner placed his hand on the captain’s shoulder. "It’s not worth it. If he wants to stay, let him stay". He said softly.

The mercenary captain’s violet ADE finally subsided as he glared at Leon dangerously, then he laughed. "If you want to die, so be it".

His eyes ignited with a violent purple light. "But from today, you’re no longer part of the Order of Iron!"

With that, the captain turned around and stormed out of the room.

The vice-captain of the mercenary squad looked at Leon and nodded at him, then he also left.

The others looked at him with complicated emotions in their eyes, in the end, they also left. Some wished him goodluck as they left.

The moment they all left, Leon exhaled.

’Phew, I almost thought I had to fight against 11 E Rank Ascended’.

’But that’s still light work compared to plotting against a C Rank Ascended, right?’ He chuckled in a self-deprecating manner. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Leon sat down in his room, lost in his thoughts as he had a review of all his actions today, trying to nitpick anywhere that he went wrong.

"Davis, project a blank drawing board for me".

DING!

"Yes master".

He went to work.

Once again he slept very late that night and just before midnight, his smartphone beeped with a new notification.

BEEP!

[Credit Alert!]

[Your account has been credited with 10,000 Neo Credits!]

Leon slept.

That night, there was no harassment attack from the Federation Army.

...

Day 5.

March 25th, Year 583 A.G.

Another day in Iron Reef, another day of war.

This time, the Federation Army ramped up the tempo after their success yesterday as they launched 3 different intermittent skirmishes just that morning.

Though General Sylvari didn’t participate in the morning skirmishes, the nerves in the city were stretched taut as every soldier and civilian in the city could feel the pressure palpably now.

After the triple threat attacks in the morning, the Federation Army let them have a peaceful afternoon and then in the evening, General Sylvari Charr led another military assault on the city!

For another day, the sky above Iron Reef was made to rain blood and fire.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The casualties on both sides were far less than yesterday, but the battle was more even this time as both armies lost about 5000 soldiers in the assault!

The war was a life reaper and it was consistently harvesting more lives.

This time, for the first time since the war started, Ren Nora didn’t give a motivational speech to his soldiers to buoy their spirits up because he could keenly sense that they were growing numb to his speeches.

This was another major psychological blow to the rebel leader. Like a certain mercenary said, he was losing the plot.

It was another day for him to realize that even with all his preparations, the resistance of the city kept on deteriorating. And it was another day to realize that leaving himself vulnerable by attempting a Trial was synonymous with suicide.

The city was barely hanging on with his presence, Ren Nora dared not imagine what would happen if he was not there.

Without him, even with Purgatory, the army of freedom fighters had no chance of stopping a C Rank Ascended.

The war was escalating and Ren Nora was running out of ideas.

That night, a letter was secretly delivered to him in his office.

["This is a friendly reminder that your pride is admirable, but pride and stubbornness alone is not enough to win the war against the Omnicore Federation."]

["To win, you must be flexible!"]

["This is not a war that can be won alone, you need allies, powerful and capable allies from anywhere you can get."]

["Time is not on your side, make your decision!"]

[Sender: Mercenary Guy]

...

Day 6.

March 26th, Year 583 A.G.

Another day, another intense battle and this time for the first time since the war began, General Sylvari Charr led his army to hammer the rebels, decisively harvesting over 10,000 lives in a battle that lasted all morning!

The rebel army killed less than 7000 enemy lives in return!

For the first time, though the Federation Army retreated, the rebel army concluded the battle with a sense that they lost.

The tides were beginning to turn, General Sylvari Charr was beginning to develop more effective ways to war inside Purgatory and abuse his overbearing power as a C Rank Ascended.

At the end of the intense battle, amid the gloom and grief in the city, bloodied and injured, Ren Nora was forced to have another passionate speech as he addressed his soldiers.

He couldn’t lie though, Ren Nora admitted the currently vulnerable state of the rebel army but still, he promised his soldiers that they would win.

"Long live the Freegrid Collective!"

"LONG LIVE THE FREEGRID COLLECTIVE!" The crowd responded though it was a bit less enthusiastic than before.

Yet, despite the endless casualties, despite the pain and the grief, the army remained united in their unwavering belief of their General.

Throughout that afternoon, as another mass burial was organized in the city to bury the dead, Ren Nora secretly watched it all not from his office this time but hidden among his soldiers.

Ghost-in-the-Machine!

No one saw him but merged with data streams, he moved among them.

He soaked in the sorrow and grief of his soldiers, he put themselves in their position and for the first time, Ren Nora saw the hopelessness of his situation clearly. He soaked himself in the emotions of his soldiers.

That afternoon, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t have his usual afternoon nap after a major battle.

Ren Nora locked himself in his office, overthinking everything.

He felt like the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders and it was weighing him down, drowning him slowly.

BEEP!

[NEW! Unread Message from Mercenary Guy!]

Ren Nora didn’t bother to open the message because he could already guess its contents, and though he wanted to deny it he knew that whatever the strange mercenary would say was most likely right.

Over the past 2 days, alongside Major Kai, they’ve secretly tried even more means to verify the identity of the mercenary but the more they looked, the more Ren Nora found the mercenary shrouded in mystery.

’Leon Ardent, who are you?’

’Where did you come from?’

’How come you have no digital imprints left in the psionic network?’

For a long time, Ren Nora was lost in his thoughts, struggling between pride and duty, but then in the end, by the end of the day Ren Nora’s armor of pride and stubbornness was finally broken.

Around 11pm that night, he snuck out of his office.

Ghost-in-the-Machine!

He informed no one, not even his closest confidants, not even Major Kai. Alone, he secretly visited the strange mercenary.

...

[Special Appreciation to Shadesworn, Katcan20, SlickOne, and Yametekudastop for the Golden Tickets!]