Chapter 4: Unrest

With guns pointed right at them, Jogrin and Proxer froze completely in place, as if they were statues. At that very moment, reason has been taken away by immense fright, be it the pointing at or the pointed at. The gazes of the soldiers were not only cast at Jogrin, but inconceivably, at Proxer as well.

"Hey! What are you idiots doing, pointing your guns at our commander! Have y'all gone nuts?! Put them down right this instant, you flagrant bunch!" In such a dire situation, there were surprisingly a few soldiers that were able to maintain their reasoning, though they were also in a panic state, so they tried to warn the others. And as anticipated, it was to no avail.

'It's no use. They're definitely not going to listen to me as well. Seeing how I just went and confronted Jogrin, they must think that I have a screw loose. They still can't take note of how scared he is... Not that I can really blame them, since their own fear is shrouding their own judgement... Not that I'm the one to say anything about that. If... if only I had tried to calm him down instead of running away.' With these words in his mind, Proxer gritted his teeth pensively.

But if one were to judge this circumstance objectively, having done either couldn't be said to have been an incorrect decision. Telling the workers there to flee due to an unexpected and unwanted development was surely sensible, but calming Jogrin down, could've avoided this chaotic scene. The risk of putting everyone in danger couldn't be neglected, but treating Jogrin like a wild beast was just unfair for him. In the end, all of this stemmed from none other than the "fear of the unknown". That was the "wrath" of uncertainty.

No matter how Proxer pondered what he should've done instead, the current situation that was presented before him needed to be taken care of, but he knew the fear of the soldiers who raised their weapons couldn't be allayed as he wished.

Even faced with this inexorable march toward the death's door, Proxer opted to put Jogrin's life as the first priority. Intrepidly, he stepped foward and opened his arms. His action astonished the soldiers and Jogrin alike. However, it was Jogrin who shifted his attention to the soldiers in the next second, He glared at them with a little disdain. However, the disdain that was displayed on his face didn't seem to be directed at the ones who had pulled their weapons out, but at something else that wasn't visible to even himself.

"This scoundrel! He's mind controlling our commander and have him take hits for him! WE MUST KILL HIM, NO MATTER THE COST!" One of the soldiers incited the others to begin the extermination.

"NO NO NO, WE CAN TALK THIS THROUGH!! LOWER YOUR WEAPONS, YOU INSOLENT!!!" One of the soldiers who tried to stop the others attempted to forcefully take away the gun of the soldier next to him, only to be pushed away.

"... Could this be from a remote location?"

Jogrin uttered these words in a soft voice that could barely caught by the ears of Proxer. What Jogrin said was completely irrelevant to the situation they'd caught themselves in. Proxer had the urge to unveil the meaning of those words by directly confronting Jogrin, but said situation wouldn't allow that.

"FIRE AT WILL!!!" Before one of the more sensible soldier could dissuade those who were panicked beyond saving, the soldier who incited others spearheaded the firing.

With a strong desire to protect Jogrin, Proxer's will became clad with steel, with his feet standing steadfastly. He was so focused on what was incoming that he paid no mind to any movements behind him. A weak yet non-hesitant pull from behind made Proxer lose his balance, and as he was toppling over, a silhouette of a boy with spindly limbs stepped in front of him and opened his arms just like Proxer did. His expression was of absolute resolute.

"Wha...!?" Shocked, Proxer screamed. "What are you...! Stand b..." He tried to warn the boy, but it was too late.

Amidst the field where soldiers were standing and forming an arc altogether, were horrified eyes glaring at the scrawny boy, and teeth gritting in contempt. A profuse number of bullets and electro balls discharged from the guns. The discharged objects all converged toward their target. With a spate of attacks raining down at Jogrin and Proxer sporadically, trying to run away would be for naught.

Despair, was the only thing that was left within Proxer. With both his arms supporting the ground, he was completely still as if he'd been petrified. 'At this rate, even if I miraculously make it out alive, Jogrin would...' He wanted to protect Jogrin, whose eyes were lifeless and seemed to have relinquished his meaning of life. 'Why... why does it ALWAYS have to be those who experienced traumatic nightmares that suffer even more!' Proxer agonized over how things were going to end for Jogrin, as he had a flashback of a certain event that he had gone through during a time in his life.

In a fleeting moment after the resounding gunshots, holes plunged into the weak and thin body of Jogrin. Even so, he managed to stop the bullets and the electro balls in their path, with few bullets reaching Proxer.

Having been shot, Proxer let out a pained groan, but as for Jogrin, he was already in a stupor before he could make any noise. "Jo... JOGRIN!!!" Wailed Proxer woefully with a hoarse voice as Jogrin was collapsing. Before he could dart to catch Jogrin, s scene caught his eyes, it was his comrades that he trusted aiming at him with rocket launchers, and then rockets fried from those launchers made their way to their destination, and blasted both of them backward.

Having received the intense blasts, Proxer, too, blacked out.

...

Tumultuous rumbling quelled not, and awoke the injured muscular man with blonde hair. His memories were fuzzy that he couldn't tell what had happened. Staring at the bright blue sky covered by dark gray soot, this scene immediately rang a bell: he was knocked out by a huge blast.

"Jogrin! Where is... Ow!" He burst out a person's name before he could fully regain his consciousness, whilst getting up. However, his wounds from the explosion were nowhere close to recovered, so he moaned feebly and stopped making any movements.

As he rolled his eyes around to scout the environment, he realized the unchanged location from before he had passed out, and even all those who were present in that scene were in the very same position. It was as if time had been quenched from the moment his consciousness slipped away.

That was what he thought until he saw the state a scrawny boy who was standing beside his feet was in. Even with his unique stature, the most note-worthy about this boy was that there were so many bullet holes all over his body that no one could bare to look at him directly.

Kneeling down, with his arms shaking, the boy stood back up. From his movements, Proxer could tell this action was extremely arduous for the boy. Looking more carefully, one would see the worn out and hopeless looks of the soldiers.

'Just how long has he been holding them back?' Proxer's mind was filled with doubt and worry.

Then, the unbelievable regeneration that Proxer heard from the doctors happened right before his eyes. Awe-struck and terrified at the same time, Proxer remained lying down, and became flustered and uneasy.

Having perceived the emotion fluctuation coming from Proxer, Jogrin turned his head back slightly and gave Proxer a cold gaze. Somehow, it looked extra threatening with the light gray pupil of Jogrin's eyes...

With a face bereft of any expressions, Jogrin, the scrawny boy who had barely any holes left on his body, turned his head back at the soldiers. The state of his body would no doubt be fatal to any normal being, but somehow, the holes were closing off themselves one by one which had taken Proxer aback. Not to mention, the black matter that was filling up the holes felt... revolting.

As Jogrin kept holding up against them, the soldiers became more dreadful and desperate. Their minds, at that moment, had had their capacity filled with eliminating the threat before their very eyes, they didn't question the peculiar behavior of Jogrin protecting their commander, nor did they query why their commander was stopping them from hurting Jogrin when it was him who frantically called all of them to flee.

Their bodies were trembling with fear, eyes were expressing immense fright... It was as if, they have gone completely mad. The rally raised their arms once more, pointing their weapons at the same spot where the two were positioned.

Having noticed that, Jogrin, who could barely stand on his thin legs, opened his enfeebled arms, readied his will, and prepared to directly take another array of bullets and rockets.

Anticipating Jogrin's suffering he was going to have to endure again, Proxer tried his utmost to give his absolute order, "STAND DOWN, I SAID STAND DOWN, YOU DESPICABLE BASTARDS!" His forlorn eyes were emanating a little rage, with concern toward his comrades mixed in It was laudable that he would still be thinking of the soldiers' well-being, especially after what they had to him and Jogrin just a moment ago.

Having learnt from last time, reprimanding the soldiers like that was undeniably going to be futile, except... it was the opposite this time.

The soldiers became hesitant, and one by one, lowered their arms, followed by Jogrin doing the same.

"It looks like it has worn off at last." Without expressing any relief, Jogrin spoke monotonously.

"Huh? Wh... what do you mean... by that?" Queried Proxer with a baffled look and a shaking voice mixed with a somewhat relieved tone.

Standing amid the aftermath of the explosions from the rockets was Jogrin, who just let out words which Proxer, who was still mildly wounded but unable to get back on his feet, was failing to comprehend.

'Worn off? What has? Their fear? But that's not how that works... Or could it be another one of his capabilities?' Bewildered, Proxer couldn't help but raise numerous questions in his head. The man who had been claimed by his subordinates to be erudite has had his mind filled with doubt since the meeting with Jogrin.

Another strong wave of emotional change hit the water level gauge that was the emotional perception in Jogrin. He figured that his words might have been what struck Proxer with bewilderment, so before Proxer could solicit the meaning behind his words, Jogrin opened his mouth while his severe wounds were still healing one by one with unprecedented speed. Once again, he turned his head around, but this time the cold gaze Proxer had seen before hid itself away from him.

'I'm pretty sure his face now and just now were the same, but why... did it give off a different feeling...'

"They... your soldiers and you... had a massive and sudden surge of the "fear" emotion simultaneously. It was abnormal and the source seems to be from afar. But you were able to break out of it, which led to several others breaking out too, while most were consumed by the "fear", and..." before Jogrin could finish his verbal essay that was simply too vague for one to comprehend, he was cut off by Proxer.

"Hold on a sec. A sudden surge, simultaneously? You mean..." Proxer failed to speak further as the pain was starting to become overwhelming for him. Even so, he was still able to attentively listen to what Jogrin had to say.

'He should be in more pain than I currently am... Did it all vanish the moment he healed his wounds with that... creepy dark stuff, or he just can't feel any pain to begin with? No, he actually can, I know from the start.'

"Someone was tampering with their emotions, leading them to behave... maniac-like, to lose sensibility. I don't know who did it, but it wasn't among them... To be frank, I'd even say that certain someone isn't even on this planet..." explained Jogrin with a dull voice and a look of "expressionless certainty".

'This is getting even more complicated... No... it has been ever since this youngling arrived...' thought Proxer as he stared into the nothingness of the outer space above him while still laying down, writhing slightly from the pain from the wounds resulted from the blasts.

'What just happened didn't seem to amount to much to him... Just what the hell have you gone through, Jogrin?'

Now, not only the origin, the ability to perceive emotions, and many other mysteries regarding Jogrin, but also the "mind tampering" that possibly instigated the bombardment that was manifestation of the "fear of the unknown" has come into the ever-growing equation that could make even the greatest mathematicians feeling like their minds would explode the moment they came into contact with it. And of course, one wouldn't be dumbstruck should they ever be told that the number "unknown factors" so far, was merely the tip of an iceberg...

What could be awaiting Proxer, and possibly the people of Zuta?