Arc of the Souls Chapter 103: Arc 3, Chapter 26 - The Beginning to Destruction

Read chapter 103 of Arc of the Souls by Noyr on NovelPedia.

[ 14:57 - 30th of the 6th Galactic Month, 2195 ] [ Fortner City, Kobaji ] The fighting was already happening for a few hours now. About 20,000 people from both the Soul-Core and Dark Intrinium were going at it, killing and pillaging each other for the sake of the war. Nextellar Star Clan were focusing on the main White Eye forces but would occasionally pick off any Soul-Core soldier that was in their line of sight. Rounding up to the nearest hundred, 1,100 Soul-Core soldiers have died so far, along with 1,300 Dark Intrinium soldiers. These numbers are only from the initial attack. By the end of the day, this may double or even triple. Civilians were caught in the crossfire, some hiding in their homes, others joining militia groups to fight back with whatever they could. About a few hundred thousand soldiers from the 17th to 64th Ground Infantry divisions were being deployed onto the planet to reinforce the city. They were still a few minutes away from the surface. It was gut-wrenching for the people living in Fortner City. While essentially a mining city, they were also a place where many people called home. And now, that home was being torn apart. For the second time in 2 months. The sky was a bruised purple, streaked with crimson. Plasma fire arced between towering skyscrapers, thickening the air with the stench of burnt metal and cooked stone. The screams of the dying were the calling for a God that could not see. All that was left to hear was the cooking of flesh, the splattering of intestines across the ground and the yells of the children witnessing it all. The rotten stench of sanguined guts falling prey to putrefaction and death only increased the foul menage of smells, swirling in a nauseating cocktail. Beneath all the damp fumes laid a person flat, before standing up with a missing arm. He was a Soul-Core enforcer, wailing through the pain as he tried to hold the stump of where his arm used to be. Blood gushed out, the man's eyes widening in horror as he realized the gravity of his situation. Next to him laid two corpses, both of which were his squadmates. Now, he was left to die alone in the streets of Fortner City. He couldn't even cry, nor laugh. His eyes widened and the biting of his lip busted it open. The enforcer fell to one knee, clutching the stump, trying to stop the bleeding. Then a figure approached, with green and grey mists around his body. His face was concealed by smoke that created an unnerving face. The enforcer looked up, seeing the figure standing before him. He tried to reach for his pistol... couldn't. He dropped it from the pain of moving his now-missing arm. The figure walked towards him, each step bringing the enforcer closer to his undoing. He stopped in front of the enforcer, looking down at him with a hidden pity. “The hell... are you...?” The enforcer managed to get out, his voice weak and strained. The figure didn't smile. In fact, it was hard to tell if he had any emotion at all. “An end to your suffering, that we create for the New World.” The figure raised its hand, which glowed green. The last thing the enforcer saw was a green beam of light engulfing his face. His skull didn't even have the chance to melt. He was simply gone. The figure looked up into the sky, which was blocked by a large amount of Soul-Core and White Eye ships incoming. He sighed, turning around to join the battle. “... Grand Follower, they are here.” Without awaiting an answer, the figure disabled the comms. They wouldn't be able to track him now that he disrupted his own comms and suppressed his Soul-Energy to near null. He was a ghost. The unknown Sixth Follower. The Star Gazer broke through the atmosphere, its hull groaning and creaking. The new shuttle was still a novice against the turbulent air, but it held its own. The view from the cockpit was a nightmare made real. Fortner City was a canvas of fire and destruction, much like Veyron's poetry. This was several levels worse than Nextellar's first invasion on