183 Overwhelming might (II)

“Blood-Lightning Vice Captain.” Lurin clasped his hand and vowed once he reached Cain’s side. Whether or not they were friends did not matter in events related to military conduct.

“Explain.” Cain was like a rock, immune to the gazes of the thousands of people around him, focusing only on Lurin and Jortar.

“Shortly after we finished with the encampment, hundreds of students came to our side, and that man began to spout nonsense. He shouted that there should be a friendly spar between the best N°1 Rising Roc and the N°1 Lightning Cadet.

At first, we chose to ignore him, but soon he began to taunt us. His words were full of arrogance, and the way he spoke about us made it seem that the military would only be helpful as cannon meat.

It did not take long for him to question the honor and bravery of us soldiers, something I could not allow, so as one of the best 1st-year soldiers, I challenged him to a battle.”

Lurin’s eyes were full of resolution and courage, something that resonated in the hearts of many soldiers. However, those who had spent decades on the battlefield and the Vice-Captains showed complicated expressions as they heard his words.

“Hmph, don’t twist my words! I never say that the military was good for nothing.” Jortar immediately refuted Lurin’s declarations. Even if he looked like a brute, he was more than smart enough to know what would happen if he insulted the Imperial Military Force.

It did not matter that Jortat was in a Wave University, and his future was bright and glorious. He knew that insulting the Imperial Military Force was a great sin in the eyes of the Godslayer Humankind Empire.

Cain focused on Jortar and knew that while the students were wise with words, the meaning behind them was clear to all the soldiers. However, that was not the part that drew his attention but the fact that this one wanted to fight against the N° Lightning Cadet, meaning he.

.....

That drew some confusion, and Cain’s eyes went to the people behind Jortart, specifically the youths with shining green hair and fiery red eyes. It did not take a genius to know that the shot callers were those two.

‘By their emblem in their robes, they come from the Hellblazer Universe and Sundering Sky Roc University. Those are the best Wave Universities from the Hellblazer Sector and the Collapsing Lightning Sector. ‘

Cain could not help but frown as he did not intend the agenda behind the duo, but he did not lose too much thought in that, and his eyes returned to Lurin.

Lurin was surprised by those eyes as they unleashed a shocking pressure and coldness. He had learned about the Ego Path of Power recently from his father and knew that Cain was generating a clash between their wills.

He had experienced a lot of battles and near-death experiences in the last half a year, so he thought he could handle those red eyes much better than the first time he saw them in Korin City.

However, Lurin felt that the pressure of those eyes was much more potent than before. He understood that whatever he faced, Cain had endured something much worse.

“You say he insulted the honor and bravery of our military, but since when have those pillars of our brotherhood become so weak that the words of a mere child could put them in question?

We are about to enter a gruesome fight against millions of Wave Beasts. Death is inevitable, yet you chose to participate in a battle and risk getting injured for something so vain.”

Lurin’s eyes widened as he heard that, and his face grew pale, losing all the fighting will he had before. Something similar happened to all the other soldiers watching from the side.

Veterans and the Vice-Captains acted differently than the rest of the hot-blooded soldiers because they knew getting injured before the war was a great mistake. This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.

“Your actions did not just put your life in danger but also that of your fellow comrades. What happens if you are too injured to fulfill your role in the battle formation, if you need to be escorted out of the battlefield, or if a medic needs to spend time healing you and neglecting others?”

Lurin began to tremble, and a great sense of shame appeared on his face. There was a deep sense of belonging to the military inside his heart, and he saw all the soldiers fighting by his side as brothers. The fact his stupidity risked their life was something he would never forget.

“Lurin Sinar, due to your lack of discipline and awareness, I take away your rank as First Lieutenant. You are now a Second Lieutenant. Since this is your first deployment as a true military member, there will be no data in your military record. Now leave.”

Lurin did not say a word and just nodded before returning with the rest of the soldiers.

Benjamin Ceres, one of the Vice-Captains that worked under Captain Aaron, glanced at Lurin before staring at Cain. Lurin was part of his battalion, so Cain did not technically have the authority to demote this one.

While others might think that Cain was harsh, Benjamin knew that was not true. When the battle ended, he would have harshly reprimanded Lurin and left a striking mark on this one’s military record.

That would have made Lurin’s rise in the military ranks much harder. However, now he was just demoted to Second Lieutenant, something that would not really affect his military path other than delay it a few months at best.

Benjamin stared at Cain for a long time before nodding. Since this was the first time Lurin made this sort of mistake, he would let it slide.

Cain returned the nod toward Benjamin before calmly walking toward Jortar, only stopping when they were less than five meters away from each other.

“Who are you again?”

Cain’s eyes were still bursting with red light as he made that question.

Jortar was surprised by the pressure he felt when looking at those red eyes. His instincts told him that he should leave, but that was not possible since Dominic and Amos were right behind him.

” I am Jortar Hammer. A second-year Sundering Sky Roc University student and this generation N°1 Rising Roc!

Of all the first-year students in the entire Collapsing Lightning Sector, I was the best!”

Jortar shouted those words, hoping they would fill him with courage, which they did.

Cain’s eyes narrowed as he heard all that. The Sundering Sky Roc University was the best Wave University in the entire Sector, so if Jortar was the N°1, there was nothing wrong with this one saying he was the best of all the first-year students.

As for the Collapsing Lightning University, there was no such thing in the Collapsing Lightning Sector.

The relationship between Wave Universities and the Imperial Military Force was complicated, to say the least. Wave Universities were put in place by Noble Families, with the mightiest family usually founding the strongest university, just like in the case of the Hellblazer Family with the Hellblazer University.

The strongest Noble Family in the Collapsing Lightning Sector belonged to no other than the Collapsing Lightning Duke. Yet, this one chose to adopt the path of the military.

Technically, both the forces generated by the Wave Universities and the Imperial Military Force are under the command of the Emperor of Godslayer Humankind. However, the emperor only gave missions to the Wave Universities, and the Noble Family in charge could choose how to handle them according to their wishes.

It was not wrong to think of the students of Wave Universities as the personal army of Noble Families.

Cain stared at Jortar, and before choosing to do anything, he scanned this one with his [A.I. Chip Module]. The Absolute Life Form System did not take long to finish the task.

[Scan of target completed

—

Name: Jortar Hammer

Race: Godslayer Humankind

Path of Power: Astral Rebirth (Level 5 Wave Warrior)

Lineage: ??

Wave Talent: Pseudo Tier 6

—

Stats:

Strength: 5.1

Agility: 2.7

Vitality: 5.6

Wave: 4.0

—

Marrow washing: 66% completion]

Cain was surprised by what he saw. Jortar was almost at the limit of Level 5, but his stats could compare with someone at Level 7.

‘It makes sense. No one who became the best student in the entire Collapsing Lightning Sector could be mediocre. Fighting against him a week ago would have been very hard and the only reason, but things have changed.’

Fighting spirit emerged in Cain’s eyes as he stared at Jortar and ignored the rest of the students.

“You wanted to fight the N°1 Lightning Cadet? Well, here I am.”

“?Boom!”

Shortly after saying those words, Cain unleashed the full power of his Astral Wave, generating a small blast. The Wave he generated was incredibly dense and pure.

The power of his aura began to rise higher and higher as mighty gales formed around his body.