Surrounded

As their steps clanked with nearly silent sounds on the cold pavement, Mark kept glancing left and right until he spotted what he was waiting for. 

"Fragmentum monsters... and yet it's a lot more than in the game. Hell, no wonder these things are threats for the Silvermane Guards..." 

With a satisfied smile on his face, he prepared his metal pipe, and yet no words could even leave his mouth that everyone else had gone ahead to handle it. 

"Stay there, Mark. We'll handle this," ordered Dan Heng, his tone making it firm that he should just stay there and watch the scene unfold instead of actually trying to help. 

"There goes my shot at having fun on this supposed 'adventure' that they're on..." 

His eyes followed their movements, feeling as his grip increased in strength, holding on to the pipe for dear life. However, other thoughts soon came in to swarm his mind and cover it with something akin to a sense of uselessness. They were fighting well, even more so than he would have expected from the gameplay. 

The contrast was stark and evident in their movements. Dan Heng swung his spear with ease, shattering the crystal creatures into pieces, dropping fragments of bird-like beings. Stelle swung her bat with a vitality that far outdid what he thought was normal in a being. Sure, she wasn't exactly human, yet her power did throw him off more than expected. March made sure to provide support with her bow, using her ice to freeze the enemies from a distance. 

His eyes followed their synergy, taking it all in. They fought as one, covering any blind spot, ensuring that no enemy would even make it through. It was in that moment that doubt took seed in his mind and heart, pushing aside his joyous idea of a supposed isekai where he could have fun and kick ass. 

"Damn. How should I even feel? I thought that I'd get a chance to just... do something, be of use, and yet..." 

March's chuckling snatched him out of his thoughts and into the cold reality that surrounded him. 

"Hehe, I guess you're amazed by our little battle here. No worries, this is standard Astral Express stuff." 

Mark nodded, masking any hint of emotion on his face, and yet Stelle and Dan Heng seemed to stare at him with a tinge more than needed, with hidden expectations on their faces, waiting for any crack in his facade. 

"Yeah, you guys sure work well together; I gotta give you that. Here I thought I'd get to give this thing of mine a good twirl; alas, you handled it before I could even try." 

With that, he spun his metal pipe once, the long piece of iron moving through the air with ease, coming to a halt with a thud as he pressed it on the ground. 

"Let's keep moving. We still have to shake off any pursuers." 

Said and done, everyone followed Dan Heng, yet this time Mark stood in the back, lost in thought. Little did he care about the glances that March and Stelle were giving him, unbothered by the slight hint of concern in their eyes. Somehow, silent as he was, his feelings seemed to sort of make themselves known. 

Bit by bit, they kept pacing at a steady rate, with most of the tasks, be it battle or some gates needing to be opened, being handled by the others. Mark was slowly being buried beneath his own doubts and insecurities. He thought he could at least make something work, and yet he found himself in an awkward silence where he just watched everyone from his own spot—just like in the game. 

Soon enough, they reached a point where the guards were stationed. March took a peek, then spoke in a hushed voice. 

"There are Silvermane Guards here. Careful not to alert them!" 

"They must have come in from another direction to cut us off. We should avoid an open conflict. Let's find another path," said Dan Heng, to which Mark felt like adding a tiny something. 

"We should try and find a way in the Underworld. It's beneath the city, a place where people live. For some reason, Cocolia chose to close them off, and yet there should be a path leading there." 

Everyone walked off, only to be faced with a closed gate with a broken mechanism. While Stelle and March noticed how familiar it looked to what Serval had given them to tinker with back at her workshop, Mark had already jumped over the fence, sliding his metal pipe and sword through to not drop them and make noise. He sheathed his sword over his back, then finally found a moment to enjoy some combat. 

"Watch out, Mark. Those things can really hurt you," said March, clearly worried for his safety. Stelle began working faster on the device to open the gate. Meanwhile, Mark came face-to-face with a humanoid Fragmentum monster, one that mimicked a Silvermane Guard, yet its head was of an odd shape, a faceless amber that burned despite the cold. 

With a poleaxe in hand, it dashed straight at Mark in a line, no shroud of intelligence in its mind. With the threat coming his way, he could feel his heart pick up, the adrenaline building up in his system. 

"Now or never, I need to get used to it. Screw it," he mumbled to himself as his left leg slid across the ground, placing him firmly into it. 

With a swift motion, he moved to the side, bringing in the pipe in a hearty swing, backed by the perfect syncronization of his muscles. With a loud thud, the creature fell to the ground, its poleaxe clanking on the cold ground as fragments of the burning head fell like dark snowflakes in a timid shower. 

"Phew... knew I had it," chuckled Mark as the gate finally opened. The others walked closer, tiny smiles on their faces. 

"It seems to me that someone was eager for a fight. You look a lot better now when you're not a rained-on puppy," said Stelle, patting him on the shoulder with a satisfied smirk on her face. March just chuckled along, and Dan Heng gave the tiniest hint of a grin, half-assed with just the corner of his lips. 

"Let's just say I want to experience this adventurous life as well, you know? Trailblazing and stuff—the things that you follow on the Astral Express. Let's just say that I'm a huge fan, and hey, bashing monster skulls in is a nice change of pace." 

Once more, they found themselves walking away in a group, yet Mark still stood at the back. His mind, despite being lighter, was still worried about a lot of complications and issues that mainly clung to himself—a sense of helplessness that he couldn't brush off. Sure, he was lucky enough to get the timing right and kill a monster, but what if more tried to fight him at once, or if some stronger one decided to corner him? 

"We should keep going now and be prepared... I'm not sure, but I have a hunch that something's about to happen." said Mark, his shattered memories resonating a tiny bit with the familiar scenery. 

The rest of their walk was pretty uneventful, until the last gate was opened. As they all rushed towards the Fragmentum, the images of Silvermane Guards with guns pointed at them showed up in his mind. 

"March! Ice above, both sides!" 

His shout resounded at full blast, scaring everyone, yet March, more out of pure instinct, froze everything where he told her to. As the guards peeked over to try and shoot, their weapons froze, yet they were still surrounded from the front and from behind. Bronya slowly walked up to them, her expression a crossbreed between anger and annoyance. 

"Hmph. You dare underestimate me?" asked Bronya, the guards watching carefully from all around her, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Mark scoffed and crossed his arms, annoyance on his face as well as more memories coming back to him. With a sigh, he wiped away the blood that poured down from his nose. 

"Look here, whatever function you have, lady. I don't care what Cocolia told you about them, about us all, since now I'm some sort of aid to them. Sure, she told you some bullshit about us being here to overthrow the Architects, blah blah blah. Bullshit!" 

She stared at him, wide-eyed, and even the Astral Crew by his side was flabergastered at his bluntness and choice of words in that situation. Bronya's expression instantly turned to one of anger, her eyes flaring with unspoken venom. 

"Publicly insulting the Supreme Guardian only elevates the seriousness of your crimes. Throw down your weapons and surrender." 

As a few dozen rifles turned at him, Mark could feel his heart pick up again, the burst of adrenaline stronger than when faced with the Fragmentum monster. In spite of that, he kept his cool and spoke again, as if unaffected. 

"Oh, cut the crap already. YOU, the one who was always by her side, noticed it all better than anyone else could have. Her choices, which seemed to slowly go against the people, choosing to seal the Underworld, all of that... don't tell me that you're going to blindly follow her instead of listening to reason!" 

The world around them came to a halt, chills running around them, watching the scene unfold. The sound of the rustling equipment of the guards shyly broke the silence in tiny bursts as Bronya found herself giving some thought to his words. 

Finally, her hand dropped from her chin, and she spoke coldly. 

"Arrest them."