1 Awaken by shells

Before he even opens his eyes, the loud sound of guns being fired rapidly enters his ear, together with unfamiliar voices being shouted at each other. Feeling the muddy ground on his back he opens his eyes to the world, trying to find out what's going on.

"ENEMY ARTILLERY!!! TAKE COVER!!" And as someone shouted desperately at the incoming danger, the whistling sound of cannonballs flying through the air can be heard getting closer and closer.

Still lying on the ground facing straight up, dark dots soar through the sky and eventually land on the ground near him.

"BOOMMM!" And with the sound of a large explosion occurring, the dirt comes bursting out from the dirt wall around him due to the impact, with some splashing onto his body. His ear was deafened by the sound of the roar, causing pain to his brain at the same time.

Trying to get a hold of himself, he slowly lifts himself up from the ground, shaking off the dirt off his grey color uniform with an unfamiliar badge of Eagle on his right shoulder, and the number 26 that he notices. Still blur, he stands up tall to find out what is going on around him. The unfamiliar environment strikes fear into his heart together with this stranger body.

Besides him are two dirt walls that create a long narrow passageway on where he is standing. Quickly identifying that he is in a trench, he looks at the opposite side where gunfire could be heard being directed towards his direction. Across a barren land are many trenches that stretch as far as his eyes could reach. There, he could see some men with a European's face slightly showing off their head from the trenches, aiming their rifle towards his direction, with flashes coming out from their barrel constantly.

And one of them is looking at him now, through their rifle iron sight.

"Idiot! Didn't your officer tell you to always stay low when you're in the trenches? Do you have a deathwish!?" A deep voice of a male entered his ears. Although the word is foreign to him, he could still somehow understand its meaning.

And with that, he found himself being pushed down on the muddy ground again, as a rifle shot just shot off his helmet with immense impact, throwing it onto the ground far away. His brain is at risk just now.

Entering his eyes, is a young-looking soldier with blonde hair, his face filled with muds and scars. After pushing him down to the ground, the soldier proceeds to put his rifle on top of the dirt wall, aiming it at the enemy forces.

"Bam! Bam! Bam!," Firing at a constant pace, the soldier aims his shot at the enemy. Within his eyes, he could see one of his shots piercing through a soldier's head as blood splashes out from his brain. And just like that, a responsible husband who is fighting for his country dies pathetically, creating another widow in this hellish world.

As the soldier counted until five after each rifle shot is delivered, which is the ammo left in his gun, he proceeds to bow down his body immediately without hesitation.

"Fu*king Diedrich! Where is your rifle!? They're gonna charge our trench any moment now! Are you gonna fight them off later with your fist?" As the man reloads a clip into the rifle, he shouted at Diedrich for losing his rifle, unfit for a soldier of the fatherland.

'Dammit, had the war really gone that bad that they need to replenish new recruits at this rate? I doubt he has received training for more than a week.' Thinking in his mind, the soldier suddenly feels a large impact coming from behind his head, with the sound of a bullet hitting his helmet. And just like that, his vision fade into darkness

Looking at the soldier who just saved him, his brain has just been penetrated by a bullet. As his blood begins to burst out from the hole, he immediately falls onto the ground, lifeless, just like the many people he had killed before.

Diedrich, who is still lying on the ground, looks at the aftermath of the soldier's death. His face turning pale, disgusted by the thing he has witnessed. Part of the soldier's brain and blood splashes onto the trench wall, painting it red and reminding him of the hellish war he is in.

"WRaug." Vomiting on the muddy floor, nothing much came out except some gastric juice, revealing that he had not eaten for a while. Just when he finishes puking after a few minutes, wanting to sit on the ground for a while to recover, a sharp whistle begins to be blown on the opposite side.

"Charge! Charge! The attack has begun! Victory is ours!" An officer waving his pistol around, standing on top of the trenches with an enthusiastic voice encourages his man to charge to their death. Around 50 men with blue uniforms begin to jump off from their trenches one after another, holding their Lebel Model 1886 rifle which is armed with a bayonet. Lowering their body, they run through the wasteland covered with burned trees and pits, and possibly the souls of those 500 men who have died here before them.

Noticing the sudden rush by the soldier in blue, Diedrich mine went blank. Only after seeing a soldier with the same uniform as him returning fire, does he find out that an attack has begun. Realizing that he needs to do something to save his life, he picks off the rifle from the dead soldier who just saved him, a Gewehr 98, and begins to aim his rifle at the enemy rushing him.

Hesitating slightly when aiming at the young faces of one of the soldiers, Diedrich bite his lips, and convinces himself that it's alright.

"Bam!" Pressing the trigger, the shot is inaccurate, as it went far off to the sky. Meanwhile, Diedrich is slightly stunned by the recoil the rifle produces, slightly hurting his hand.

At the same time, gunshots coming from his trenches didn't stop. Order in german being shouted everywhere, ordering their side to open fire at the advancing enemy. With that, enemy soldiers who are charging start falling left and right, as they were shot by the german, explosion coming from the enemy stepping on a landmine that has been deployed. Some die on the spot, while most suffer wounds and are immobilized, lying on the godforsaken wasteland.

Behind a dry, burned tree, a soldier is calling desperately for a medic to help, his leg wounded by a german rifle when he is charging, immobilizing him. However, his comrades ignore his plea and continue forward mercilessly, trying to save their own life. And eventually, the soldier bitterly closes his eyes and lies lifeless on the ground, as the pool of blood begins to appear beside him. Thinking of his family and children he has, who is still in Paris, he wonders if they are doing fine now.

On another side, a soldier is crawling on the ground, his lower body being completely destroyed by the landmine he just steps on. His intestines and other organs exposed to the air signifying the pain that he had been through. Crawling on the ground, he reaches for one of his legs that remains relatively intact. Convincing himself that he could stick it back if he manages to reach it. But sadly, he never could.

However, some lucky ones were able to come near the trenches.

In front of Diedrich, an enemy soldier manages to come near to the trench. With his bayonet on position. He is determined to cut down the german soldier in front of him who has come to invade the very land he swore to protect. The soldier thus speeds up his footsteps, wanting to jump in the trench and starts a melee with him.

"Bam!" And with the sound of bullets hitting flesh, the soldier falls down silently. As Diedrich has fired his rifle into the human in front of him, right into his left chest, piercing his heart instantly. A quick death.

Breathing heavily, Diedrich lowers his body into the trenches again, his body trembling due to his first kill. Biting his tongue, Diedrich tries to remain calm with the intense pain. And as his tongue begins to bleed, he quickly stands up from the trench again, fighting off the enemy who is still charging.

In front of him, a few enemies are getting close again, pressing his trigger, Diedrich tries to gun them down just like the last soldier.

"Bam!" "Bam!" "Bam!"

And with the sound of the rifle being fired, all of his shots have missed unlike the last time.

As the enemy gets closer and closer, he tries to search for ammo on his still unfamiliar body, but to no avail. And with that, the faces of the soldier become closer and closer. Some young, some old. Finally getting close, Diedrich could see their bayonet shining from the reflection of the sunlight. Within their eyes, is the burning desire for revenge for their comrades who they had known for a few months.

"Dadadadadadada." And with the sound of machine-gun being fired, the enemy in front of him is cut down like a scythe cutting wheat, becoming yet another corpse on the battlefield, losing their chance to revenge forever. Hidden long to maximize their damage, the machine gun emplacement begins to fire at the advancing soldier. Dozens of them fall down immediately, with body parts flying away from their owner due to the intense impact. Screams and cries of pain begin to appear in front of Diedrich. And soon, a whistle is being blown again by their officer, but this time signaling a retreat.

And with that, Diedrich falls to the ground with his butt, his adrenaline cooling down after the battle he had. Beside him is the soldier who has saved him, but couldn't save himself. Diedrich could see the pierced brain and skull of his, the blood has now dried up, turning dark red as a result. Watching his still young face reminded him of the fragileness of a human body.

"Diedrich!? Thank God that you're alive! I thought that you would've died from those charges just now! How about Albert, where is he...Oh, nevermind." A German soldier who looks like in his thirty looks at Diedrich, and supposedly Albert who is dead on the ground. Realizing that his friend didn't make it, he proceeds to sit down beside Diedrich who is still cooing down from what he've experienced.

"Rest for a bit, must have been a lot for your first battle. Albert is a qualified empire soldier who dies for his country, so don't be too upset." Comforting Diedrich who the soldier thought is mourning Albert's death, he patted Diedrich on his back, comforting him.

"...where are we now?" Remaining silent for a while, Diedrich asks the seemingly more experienced soldier beside him. "And what is the year?"

His heart feels no remorse over the dead Albert who saves him, perhaps it's because of the lack of bonding between them, or perhaps it's because he had just too killed a living human being himself through his own hand. And now, he just wants to know where are him right now.

"Did you lose your memory?" And with a strange face, the soldier answers his question. "We are in France territory right now, you didn't know this when you marched over here?"

"It's 1914 right now, to be exact. August 15"

'1914...how the hell did I end up here.' Looking at his hand filled with mud, the white skin of his makes him feel like a stranger. Diedrich continues to explore his new body, which he isn't yet familiar with.

"Shoom!" And suddenly, a loud sound comes closer to him. Turning his eyes to the sky, many black dots could be seen flying towards them, but it's too small to be an airplane.

"Is..is that a human...flying." With a trembling voice, Diedrich asks, his mind tired with the many intense things he has been through.

"Oh, you didn't know about them? They are from our Division!" Saying it proudly, the soldier lifts up his chest slightly. "They are our pride!"

"The 17th Mage Platoon, winning us many battles in the past, and in the future." "They are the empire's fist to victory!"

"Ma..mage?" Watching the young man and woman flying through the sky with their gun, firing shots that create immense explosion over its target, presumably to chase down the retreating enemy, he thinks to himself.

'Where the hell have I been transmigrated to!?'