The broadcast of General Grimm of course caught the attention of the crowd.
Despite their horrible situation, they still watched it with rapt attention and gave the general the benefit of a doubt.
At this point, the news about the war is already known by most people, so when the General pointed that out, nobody was really surprised. After all, their situation wouldnât decline this much if there werenât anything happening behind the scenes.
When they heard that that their God Emperor is fighting someone extremely strong, that surprised them.
Truth to be told, theyâre used to their race being the dominant one. Being the oppressor and the winner is something that theyâre used to. Thatâs the whole reason behind their prosperity to begin with.
But to think that there was someone out there who can match their God Emperor and keep him occupied enough to be unable to contact them, was something that is really shocking to them.
When the General said that theyâve underestimated humans, this words resonated within them. Theyâre grown arrogant indeed and because of that, they are suffering greatly.
With the Generalâs words however, their fighting spirit was roused. He said that humans were fragile. Unlike them, they arenât immortal. This meant that they have a chance to fight back and recover from this.
There is a chance that they could still winâ¦unfortunately, it seems that Humanity doesnât have any plans on staying put while they regain their morale.
The interruption of the broadcast shocked everyone. A human appeared right in front of General Grimm. It was a middle aged man wearing a crimson scarf and a leather armor. Thereâs a pair of swords strapped on his waist and his arms were crossed as he stared at the General with a dull face.
âHow have you been since we last met, General Grimm? Is it just me or look older than the last time I saw you?â
âYou!!â Grimmâs soul shook to its core.
He shouldâve realized it the moment he heard that voice. That same haunting voice that promised certain death to him.
âYes, me. Surprised?â Mark sneered as he leaned at a nearby pillar. âIt hasnât been long since we last met. Hardly a year, maybe? Ah, whatever. But you do older than before.â
ââ¦â
âIt mustâve been difficult to hold down the fort on your own huh?â Mark continued, âEspecially when youâre surrounded by idiots. Ah, you poor soul.â
âHow did you get in here!? Guards!?â
The General sounded strong and dominant. He doesnât appear to be intimidated by the human in front of him.
â¦truly couldâve fooled everyone though, unfortunately he canât fool Mark.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Mark can smell fear from him. He knew that the General is completely terrified out of his mind. The trauma he left to him during their last meeting is still fresh. It only due to his experience that he can bluff his way out of this but that doesnât have any effect on Mark.
âDonât bother calling, General.â Mark stretched his neck slightly, âYouâre loyal soldiers already died under the Crimson Affliction. Theyâre not coming to save you. Even if theyâre alive at this point, they donât have the ability to save you.â
âWhat is it that you plan to achieve by coming here?â The poor General asked as his back slowly sweated coldly.
âOh, nothing much.â Mark shrugged, âSee, I was strolling around your streets and I happened to see the broadcast. I figured that I should see it in person for a better experience. Donât worry, I donât have much to do anyway so itâs fine.â
ââ¦â
âAhh, who am I kidding. This isnât my style at allâ¦â Mark snorted as he tapped his finger on his arms. âIn truth, Iâm here to correct you. I saw you spouting bullshit from a mile away and I just couldnât take it so I came here. There. Satisfied?â
âCorrect me?â The General had the audacity to scoff. âWhy? Did I hit a sore spot? As far as I know everything that I said is true.â
âReally?â Mark sneered, âOn what basis then? Pray tell, dear General? How come youâre so sure that youâre intel about us is true? How many humans have you captured ever since this war began? Mind telling me?â
The Generalâs mouth firmly pressed into a thin line. Seeing that, Mark scoffed.
âIf youâre not willing to say, then why donât I tell everyone for you sake. It should be fine right? After all, Iâm human.â Mark leaned forward and raised a finger.
âOne, General.â He said, âYouâve only captured one human so far, and that happened even before this war began. In fact, the only reason why your race got to know the existence of ours was because you lured that pure human into thinking that you were the good guys.â
âYou stripped him off of his flesh, replaced it with yours and used him to scour as much information about us as you could.â
âThe moment you smelled the scent of fresh prey, you lot lost your sanity, including that God Emperor of yours, and you began plotting against us. You wanted to conquer us to stroke your nonsensical egos and satiate your overwhelming greed.â
âIsnât this the case? Dear, General Grimm?â
The people who were watching the broadcast reeled in shock. They looked at the General with disbelief in their faces, yet seeing how the General kept his mouth shut and just looked at the human with a dead stare, that pretty much confirmed it.
The hope that just re-ignited within them mere moments ago is already being tested.
ââ¦we felt it you see.â Mark stated, âWe knew you guys were coming. We knew how much trouble you and your people will bring to us. Thatâs why we prepared.â
âWe never had intentions of fighting you. Frankly enough, we already knew that your race existed long before you lot even knew about us. But did we come knocking on your door, asking you to lay down your lives for us? No, right? We stayed put and minded our own business.â
âThe distance between your home and mine was originally far enough for our interest to never intersect. We merely just wanted to exist and we were satisfied that way. But youâ¦you and that tyrant God Emperor yours didnât want it that way.â
âIn hindsight, we shouldâve already known. You lot are conquerors after all. But unfortunately, even though we tried our best to stay as far away from your radar as possible, you still managed to catch a whiff of our existence. And as expected, you lot wasted no time and immediately followed your instincts.â
âReallyâ¦how crass. Youâre no different from beasts who smelled blood.â Mark sneered.
ââ¦â
âThough, Iâd admitâ¦what you said about us was mostly real.â Mark shrugged, âIt is true that weâre Immortals. Only a select few of us can regenerate flesh as swiftly as you all could do, even then weâd still fall short.â
âWe can reincarnate, believe it or not. In fact, ours is much better than how it works for you lot but still, since weâre humans we will never be as physically strong as you lot.â
âA direct clash between our races isnât unfair to begin with. Which is why we opted a different strategy to even out the playing field.â
âYou would understand right? I mean, this is war after all, and youâre a General.â Mark scoffed, âItâs surely not our fault that you all werenât prepared for any of this. After all, werenât you guys the one who came to us? You guys wanted this war to happen right? Now, why are you crying when you noticed that youâre losing? That doesnât make sense.â
âYou wouldnât happen to think that we would just sit around and wait for our doom to arrive even if we knew about it, wouldnât you General?â
Markâs words pierced the hearts of many. All of his statements are all true. It is indeed stupid to think that their enemies would just lay flat and accept defeat even though they knew it was coming all along.
Not everyone shared the same sentiments about this whole war though. Most of the Abyssals who are suffering right now are openly claiming that they didnât want any of this. But to the eyes of others, this is just them washing their hands, just in case thereâs a chance of survival. A way out, more or less.
âOh, and uh, one more thingâ¦â Mark adjusted his posture, âYour God Emperor isnât battling our Boss.â
âOur Boss just trapped him in the tower. Thatâs all there is too it. Donât glorify that, itâs embarrassing you know. Plus, our Big Boss even told him the method of breaking out of there but your God Emperor is too stupid and arrogant to comply, thatâs why heâs still up there. Honestly, heâs pathetic and hopeless. Why did you guys even choose him to be your leader?â
Mark stretched his body for a bit and said:
âOh well, Iâve talked long enough. My final point is thisâ¦â
âWe couldâve blown up the Forbidden Ultima Core right from the get go and ended this war before it even began. But we didnât. You guys wanted a fight right? Then weâll do it according to our rules.â
âYep, thatâs about it. Now, General. Youâve lived long enough. Time to die.â