Chapter 49 - To Remain On The Battlefield

Chuckling to herself, Claire sat down on a broken war machine to rest for a brief moment.

"Haaah!!... What a day!" Even though Claire seem exhausted after these endless battles, she's completely satisfied with her decision to stay and keep fighting.

And her ranks have climbed drastically, from being rank number 94 she's now rank number 81. That basically promotes her to the position of vice platoon commander.

"How many days has it been again?" She randomly wondered while looking up to the dark night sky.

Claire have lost track of the days she spent on this battlefield after getting immersed in fighting enemies that gets in her way. Though she just shrugs from the thought and noticed another round of enemies marching up to the E.D.L. frontlines.

"TAKE 'EM ALL DOWN!!" The enemies yelled.

E.D.L. and I.E.A. soldiers began to clash once again until dawn arrived. And upon that new day, the war still rages on as men kill each other, fighting for the sole purpose of humanity's fate.

But does all this bloodshed even necessary?

What does it truly mean to go to war for something?

War is nothing but chaos and destruction created by humans themselves, fueled by selfish goals and desires disguised as idealistic beliefs and a supposed greater good, controlling the vulnerable and foolish fellow humans to become disposable pawns for their plans.

Lives kept getting wasted on something that can be sorted out in a more peaceful way.

"One of I.E.A.'s Infantry Troop has been wiped out!!" Declared a proud E.D.L. soldier. The comrades cheered with their success, but the battle continues as they seek more enemies from the I.E.A. to eliminate.

The smell of decaying flesh, puddle of bloods, burnt and rotting guts, mutilated limbs, detached heads, piles of corpses can be seen everywhere as this destructive war goes on.

And on that battlefield exists an individual that claims to be a woman named Claire Duvent, seeing this whole situation as a playground for her to play and test her strength on.

"You damn wench!!—" Claire is currently fighting an enemy that tries to kill her. She wields her shifter katana and cuts her enemy's left arm that had him screaming. "Aaaaarghhh!!"

"Who's damned now?!" She laughed with an arrogant look on her face.

Anyone who dared to fight Claire had only ended up meeting their demise, and war machines that gets caught in her sight have been destroyed by her hands immediately.

Claire may appear to be formidable, still she can feel her stamina getting drained and the extreme exhaustion of over exerting herself to keep on fighting. Though she only takes short naps and breaks before recklessly diving into the chaos again.

"Oof!!" As she lays herself down behind a defense barrier and shut her eyes for a few minutes. Then she felt a familiar presence that sat beside her. "Claire?!..." the familiar voice made her open her eyes.

"Oh, it's you." She said as she looks at Ross.

"Don't 'oh' so casually!! We're in the middle of a war here!!" It was clear how terrified and agitated he is from this battle. "A-And what are you doing here?! Aren't you from the 3rd Platoon? You're supposed to be back at the base by now!"

"I stayed behind... by choice."

"What the hell does that mean!?"

"Calm down, Ross—"

"How am I supposed to calm down in the middle of a war!?" This was a common experience for rookies like Ross, unlike Claire who was always looking for battles to become stronger.

Perhaps it was due to her past experiences at war that she's immune to despair inducing situations, even when she suffered from amnesia and forgot her past—or did she?

"Gosh, atleast turn your voice down when talking to me, my head's been aching with all the boom and blam they're all making out there." Claire complained.

"How are you so relaxed here?!... it must have been hard for you to be stuck here for days! Claire, you should go back to the base while your platoon is on off-duty—" Ross clings to her arm and added, "—and take me with you!!"

"I don't plan on going back. Not until the battle here in the eastern coast is over." Claire gets up and takes a deep breath before offering a hand to her comrade. "If you're that terrified, then come with me."

"C-Claire!..." Ross was a bit touched by her comforting words, he takes her hands and the two goes back in action together.

Maybe fighting along side with somebody isn't so bad, Ross thought as he managed to blow up an enemy's head he was fighting. He glance back at Claire every so often to check on her, and he'll find himself astonished by her fighting style and technique while facing many enemies head on.

"Ross!! Are you still alive there?" He heard her calling for him.

"Y-Yes!... how about you? Don't you feel tired after all that?"

Claire smirks and stretched her arms. "Heh, I'm just getting started." She looked very cool and awesome in Ross's eyes for a moment before he realized what she meant.

"Huh!? That whole fight was just a warm up for you!?"

"Not really, it wasn't even a challenge."

"You want something challenging!?" Ross looked at her with disbelief. "Damn, you treat this battle like no big deal."

"That's only natural for strong people like me." Claire boasted.

"If that's only natural for you, then I'm worthless as a rival." Ross felt down as he can't even get on Claire's level at all, though he always knew he was all talk and no show.

Claire pitied him a little as he obliviously showed how he felt. She pats him on the back and tried to comfort him. "Oh come on now, you're not that worthless... maybe a little, but still... uhmm... yeah." Though she can't even think of a good reason to oppose his self-declaration of worthlessness at the moment.

"I said I'm worthless as a rival... as a rival!!" Ross repeated.

"Oh, right, right! Yeah... as a rival... right."

"You just thought I was worthless overall!? That's offensive!" A war machine from afar aimed at Claire and launched an attack. Unaware of its impending danger.

"I didn't mean—" before Claire can finish, her head was suddenly blown up, leaving her corpse falling to Ross's arms. With that unexpected moment, Ross's whole body turned as cold as a corpse. "...C-Claire?"