บท 48: 8.4 Pressure

I stood frozen in place, a nervous smile stuck to my face as I struggled to come up with more stuff to spout to the crowd. I didn't think I'd get this far, but it was just sad if my speech died like this.

Think, dammit! You're ruining the moment!

"The right!"

I heard a shout come from amongst the crowd. Wait, did they come up with something themselves?

"Yeah!"

"We deserve better!"

My eyes widened. I could work with this!

"Y-YES! THE RIGHT!" I shakily continued, riding off of the crowd's growing fervor. "THE RIGHT TO LIVE AS PEOPLE! THE RIGHT TO BENEFIT FROM OUR OWN CREATIONS!"

I felt the swell of pride grow from my fellow Nenners. I turned to Lise, the one person who has never left my side ever since I found myself in this hellhole. It was still hard for me to believe that this young girl was now my sister in all but blood, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Yeah, Bro!" she beamed. "We'll build a new future for ourselves!"

I gave her a smile before turning my gaze back to the crowd. "WE'LL BUILD OUR OWN FUTURE! ONE WHERE WE'RE NOT SLAVES! ONE WHERE WE'RE FREE TO DO AS WE DAMN WELL PLEASE!"

"YEAH!"

I suppressed the grin that was threatening to form on my face as I watched my hack job of a speech do more than what I expected it to do. Already, I could feel their spirits lifting as they looked at me with rapt attention. It was honestly intimidating what a decent rallying cry could do to morale.

"PREPARE YOURSELVES, DIRT EATERS! YOUR REFUSAL TO SURRENDER WILL BE DEALT WITH IN A SWIFT AND CONCISE MANNER!"

I gritted my teeth as I watched the army of Dezimals inch closer to our front line, their halberds at the ready to try and break our formation. With a grim sense of determination, I drew my katana as I prepared myself for a bloody defense.

"FVCK OFF, TIN CANS!"

I found myself shouting at the enemy, hoping that my foreign words would confuse them long enough to give us more of a fighting chance. I quickly nodded to my fellow Nenners, hoping that they'd ask about my words after the battle had already been won.

Like the weeb that I once was, I pointed my katana directly at the enemy forces. Already, I could feel my serious side cringing internally as I uttered what could possibly be my last words before we all died in a blaze of glory.

"WE WILL HOLD THIS LINE! OR WE WILL DIE TRYING!"

Battle cries rang from both sides of the fight as we waited with bated breath for the Dezimals to begin their charge. The blazing hot fires around the Central Hub visibly distorted the air around us as whispy mirages of the enemy forebodingly continued their approach.

"GET READY!" I shouted at my ragtag army from behind the veritable wall of Nenners blocking access to the Central Hub. "THEY'RE COMING!"

*THUD! THUD! THUD!*

I tensed up as the march grew louder, their footfalls now reverberating through my body as the Dezimals now visibly lined up in front of us. We waited...

And waited...

Beside me, Lise visibly coiled into herself, her shortsword poised to strike at a moment's notice despite us being positioned in the relative safety of the backline.

"Ready when you are, young ."

Just behind us, Baccus's mature voice echoed in my ears. I didn't need to look at his group to know that their rifles were at the ready, the telltale hum of charging Seigels being all the confirmation that I needed. I simply nodded, my eyes still peeled at the forming line of Dezimals looking eager to overwhelm us with their sheer numbers and heavy armor.

The faint sounds of molten metal around us filled the atmosphere with a sense of volume, as if I was fighting in the middle of hell itself while I led an army of crusaders in an attempt to escape.

For a few more seconds, we waited...

And waited...

The ever-increasing footfalls echoed...

Then it hit me.

"FIRE!"

*BANG!*

The collective discharge of over a dozen rifles filled the air with metal death, shrapnel, and ball bearings soaring well past our line and visibly shredding some of the enemy's front-line Dezimals that I could manage to see.

"Ahh.. AARRGGGHHHHH!!!!"

It was... The sound of it...

"I-IMPOSSIBLE!!!"

Even from where I stood, I could hear the confusion and panic spreading throughout the Dezimal line. The amount of damage a concentrated salvo could dish out was frightening, the tiny ball bearings that were our ammunition absolutely shredding through the armor of the poor souls that were unlucky enough to be at the receiving end of our attack.

"They're bewildered..." I whispered to myself as I watched the enemy front shake with some kind of... fear?

"W-What was that?" I turned towards the sound of the question, finding one of my fellow Nenners staring blankly towards our makeshift riflemen's perch. "T-That's..."

"Amazing..."

"How does it even work?"

Wonder. Amazement. The imminent battle was temporarily forgotten in favor of marveling at the weapon that'll give us the edge we needed to get out of this place alive. The way that I saw some of the Nenners that looked at the platform holding our riflemen was telling. Fear... Confusion... Hope...

It was deafening. Still, we had a battle to win.

"HOLD THE LINE!" I managed to stammer as I held my katana aloft. "WE HAVE THE MEANS! WE CAN WIN!"

With just a simple display of power that was not of this world, I felt like I had crafted a legend.

"FREEDOM!"

"FREEEEDDDDOOOOOMMM!!!"

Our rallying cry was all that was needed for the Dezimals to begin their attack. As expected, the Dezimals somehow had no ranged weaponry of any kind, allowing our shieldmen to keep them at bay with whatever makeshift shields we managed to make.

*BANG!*

Flinching at the second salvo, I barely had time to look at the carnage being wrought at the enemy lines as I quickly tried to estimate just how long and hard this defense could possibly be.

*CLANG! BANG!*

If I were to estimate the number of enemies on the field right now, I'd easily say we were outnumbered by at least ten-to-one, maybe even twenty-to-one...

*BANG! CLANG!*

Taking into account the amount of damage our rifles could dish out with every salvo... No... I could see the true numbers for myself...

*CLANG! CLANG! BANG!*

It was clear that we could hold out our position for a while, but I needed more information...

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