Chapter 22 : Hearts of Ice

Adam watched in amusement as Raou accused Onvyr of hiding secrets from the rest of the clans and the demon lord himself. He knew that in fact, Raou was right, but he also couldn't help but find his panic over such trivial magic to be comical, especially since the same magic was not even worth a thought during the war.

Mind control magic huh? that's what got you so freaked out? Not one but two clans were known to be able to use some variation of it, both were killed off down to the last member when I was still in training though. Not that it explains what happened yesterday anyway.

The incident with Shiira caused multiple clans to panic. Those who knew about how she, or whoever controlled her at the time, managed to overpower two clan heads and almost kill them started consolidating the defenses of their own territories out of fear. The others who were spared from knowing the truth were only digging deeper for a way to find it amidst the silent chaos that consumed the political sphere after the incident.

"what more do you need me to say? I'd never seen such magic, even before we crossed the gate."

Why does he keep so much hidden from them? Onvyr seems to be loyal but he keeps more secrets from his lord than even I. I'll ask him about it after we are done here—If he's trying to make some…sudden changes to the power structure of their so-called leadership I'd rather not be dragged into it unwillingly.

"…what about you Moren? you claim to be from the time of war, have you ever seen something like that?"

Raou turned his sight onto Adam, dragging him into the game of political cat and mouse that he so desperately wanted to avoid, and a single glance at Onvyr told him what he thought of it. He did not want Adam telling them anything they didn't already know.

Adam sighed tiredly and spoke in a monotone voice, trying to signal to everyone present that he cared very little for their questions and political games.

"no, I've never seen any magic like that before."

Raou, clearly unsatisfied with Adam's answer, slammed his hand on the table next to him in anger, cracking its delicate wooden surface.

"you lie, how can a warrior fighting demons on the battlefield not know of magic that powerful?"

Idiot, the only thing weird or surprising about that magic is how easily you were defeated by it.

"the corpses rose from the dead and turned into unbreakable ice chains in front of my very eyes, such disgusting magic doesn't appear out of—"

"WHAT?"

Adam's face took on a wholly different expression once he heard about the ice chains made of corpses. The look of anger, disgust, and surprise paired with his loud voice and quick change in posture made it abundantly clear that he knew something about it, something that disturbed him deeply.

Raou was the first to react to Adam's small outburst, demanding he shares any information he has with them. The demon lord and Onvyr on the other hand remained silent, vigilantly listening for what was about to leave his mouth next.

"uh…well there might've been similar magic I encountered during the war."

Why didn't you tell me about that little detail you bastard, I thought they were trapped by regular ice magic.

A peek at Onvyr showed that he was as confused as the rest of them, clearly oblivious to why Adam was reacting the way he was, even though it should've been clear to him.

What? How the hell do you not know about it? you were around back then, weren't you? God damn it, you should've just filled me in when we met in that storage room.

"not long before I…died, an area used for extracting and treating oil in the arctic mysteriously cut communications. The army was sent to investigate only to disappear with no contact as well. A team of Augmented soldiers led by me was sent to eliminate the threat and retake the oil fields."

Adam's mind drifted as memories of the frozen tundra and its cold air reemerged from the deepest parts of his psyche.

Memories of a plane flying too high above the cloud to be seen or heard by anything on the frozen ground below. 5 soldiers sat in the back, some checking their weapons, and others fiddling with the thick layer of clothes they had to wear above their armor for warmth, much to the detriment of their comfort. Adam stood next to the exit, looking at a small screen above, displaying their location as they soared through the sky.

"say, boss, how come they sent us to this shit hole instead of their fancy new 3rd gen augmented. This place is supposed to be of 'the utmost importance to the production of fuel for the region' so why send us old-timers? And why force us to wear these pieces of shit instead of just giving us the new, fully sealed battle armors, I heard that those ones have a built-in heating unit."

A soldier spoke while roughly adjusting the coat above his armor. like the others, most of his face was hidden behind a thick mask and protective glasses yet his frustration could be seen as clear day by the others.

"The 3rd gens are still too inexperienced to be sent to this frozen hell hole and we are too expendable to be given the new toys. We aren't even getting enough anti-magic ammo anymore, I mean c'mon, 3 magazines and no side weapon? It's a fucking death sentence."

Another soldier answered him, the only woman on the team and the second most experienced behind Adam himself. Her tone was spiteful and cynical, carrying great anger towards the ones leading mankind's vast armies from the safety of their bunkers.

"tell me about it…even the supposed 'greatest warriors of humanity' have a damn expiration date apparently. But at least we aren't normal soldiers, trying to fight against the goats without any augments sounds like a nightmare…I heard that the African corps had to launch nukes at themselves after the lion regiments lost. They glassed half the continent trying to slow down the goat army."

Silence consumed the room for a moment, as the soldiers prayed for the souls of their fellows who sacrificed everything for a victory they weren't going to live to enjoy.

"nothing is confirmed yet but it's probably true. It was the biggest push by the demons since japan, and if they hadn't stopped them, the demons would've gotten a clear path toward a weakened Europe from the north…thinking about it, we probably won't survive for long, so it's a good thing that the 3rd gens are here already, there is no retirement waiting for us after all. Just look at what happened to our predecessors."

"right, only one 1st gen got to retire while the rest died on the battlefield. He was the previous commander of this regiment right boss? I heard that you were his second in command for a while."

With the press of a button, the massive door at the tail end of the plane opened wide, revealing the clouds dancing in the freezing wind below. The time to disembark from their relatively comfortable flight was here and they all stood up and quickly finished their preparations.

"shut it and get ready to jump. We'll land right next to the target location and split into the usual 3-team formation, remember to keep your radios open at all times and kill anything that moves, there are no people left here, only demons."

Adam jumped out of the plane and the others followed. Faint blue light enveloped their bodies as the plane got further and further away, slowing down their descent until they pierced the clouds and landed on the frozen ground.