[Nightmare]

"Riley! Please give me a spirit particle transfusion! I genuinely need it!" Helix yelled.

Riley snapped out of her daze and nodded.

She quickly moved down the massive northside hill with absurd speed.

The people in the audience watched with awe as it happened.

If Helix requested a spirit particle transfusion and said he needed it, he'd die without it.

Riley stepped before Helix, and he grabbed her waist.

Their mouths connected.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The crowd burst into wild applause after watching their [celebratory] kiss.

"Thank you, Riley. This… it's massive." Helix chuckled with madness in his eyes.

He leaned into her ear.

"What scares a 350-foot Colossus?" He asked in her ear.

"I… don't know…." Riley whispered back.

"A 450-foot predator." Helix laughed with a malicious grin.

"GYYYAAARRRRRRRRRAAAAAAHHH!"

Behind him, a massive four-legged dinosaur-like creature was pounding the earth.

With every step, a fifty-meter dust cloud followed.

It was a Colossus from the days that the Stalkwalker was alive.

It had a grin with three rows of massive teeth, and it was [smiling] at the Stalkwalker.

"KYAAAAAAH…. KYA! KEEEYYYAAAAAAHHHHKKK! KYA!"

The Stalkwalker thrashed on the ground violently.

However, [Domain] was keeping the Colossus in the same place.

With every motion, the wounds on its body deepened.

Its punctured organs were getting thrashed harder by the shrapnel.

However, the beast didn't notice.

The sight of the larger Colossus filled with primal terror it hadn't experienced for over a thousand years.

"KYAAAAAAH…. KYA! KEEEYYYAAAAAAHHHHKKK! KYA!"

"KYA! KYAAAAAAH….!"

".....KEEEYAK!"

"KYEA…."

"Kyaaaaahhhh…."

"Key…."

After fifteen seconds of thrashing, the beast's good eye clouded over.

Blood loss and organ failure took their toll.

When it finally gave up, Helix released his Nightmare.

Tilo, Charlotte, and General Lackbolt ran to the battlefield.

Each went to greet Helix now that the battle was over.

They were nervous about speaking to him in his unstable state.

However, when they got to him, the fearless, ruthless leader had disappeared.

He looked like a lifeless husk whose soul had been stripped away.

General Lackbolt was the first to move.

"Good work, boy." He said as he walked over to Helix.

The young man stayed silent.

His mind was blank, and he felt as though his mind would distort and break apart forever.

"It wasn't your fault, boy." The man continued while putting his hand on Helix's shoulder.

Helix didn't look at the man or react.

"No. This was my fault." Helix whispered.

Tilo, Charlotte, and Riley approached Helix cautiously.

All of them had conflicted expressions on their faces.

Each wanted to hug Helix and tell him that Tyrene would be okay, but they knew it wasn't likely.

They wanted to shower him with praise, but they were experiencing a massive loss.

They all desperately wanted to tell Helix it wasn't his fault.

It was the truth.

No one would blame Helix for wanting to protect Marie.

It would be cruel to expect him to see a trap from the other side of the field.

He risked his life for his lover, and they would never blame him for what happened.

However, every one of them knew that he wouldn't listen.

Helix was still recovering from the death of Emelia.

While he was strong, his partners knew that he was suffering on the inside.

Now, during a training exercise, he lost his master.

"Helix. You made the right decision." Tilo said, breaking the silence.

Helix looked at him with a confused expression.

"I only saw the end after chasing after you." Tilo continued.

"However, if you didn't arrive, the hand would have crushed Marie.

You did arrive, so the beast used its trap instead."

Everyone's eyes filled with confusion.

Especially Helix's, whose state of conflict was driving him to insanity.

"You acted immediately but didn't rush out to grab Marie.

You thought quickly, devised a strategy to slow the attack to give you a chance." Tilo argued.

"Most of all, you went to save your lover, even at the cost of your life."

Tilo's olive-green eyes pierced his frozen soul.

"You did the right thing. If I were you, in a simulation of 1000 scenarios, I would have done the same thing 9900 times."

Helix chuckled awkwardly.

He was feeling so many emotions and didn't know what to feel.

"Now, boy. As a leader, you must address your people.

They're broken and need support too.

So give them a speech so we can go see Tyrene." Tilo requested with a serious expression.

Helix circled with awkward steps.

Over seven hundred soldiers were staring at him.

Thanks to him, only two hundred died, and one hundred were injured.

They all understood that they would all be dead if he hadn't taken charge and brought his reinforcements, they were all dead.

So their leader's pain was magnifying their own.

Helix closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Tilo, can you activate all of the amplification circles possible?" He asked.

"Yes. I'll do that now." Tilo replied with a serious tone.

"[Chain Activation]."

Helix waited patiently for the operation to be completed.

"It's ready." Tilo whispered.

Helix's eyes snapped back open with a fierce gaze.

"Soldiers! Where the hell did the cheering go!?" Helix roared with false anger.

The group was shocked by his words.

However, when a group saw the slight smile he followed his statement with, they sparked into cheers.

The yelling and roars rippled like dominos.

They waved through the throngs of soldiers until everyone surrounding them was cheering.

"Woah…." Charlotte commented with an amazed expression.

She grinned when she looked back and saw Helix acting like a fearless leader.

"Hellie…." She whispered.

Riley watched her partner with awe.

Her heart was pounding, knowing he was uninjured and protecting others.

When she saw the level of emotion coming from the faces of others, tears welled in her eyes.

"Much better!" Helix yelled with a grin.

The soldiers laughed with emotional expressions.

"Let me ask you something…." He yelled with a slight smile.

"How does it feel…."

He circled his position to meet the gaze of as many of his troops as possible.

The silence was overwhelming, and the quiet excitement was pulsing.

"TO BE A LEGEND!" Helix roared with his arms held high.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He panned the audience to ensure everyone saw his wicked grin.

"This battle!" Helix roared.

"This battle will go down in history!

It will be recorded in books, read to children in stories, and taught to aspiring warriors!

Tell me! …."

Helix paused and matched the soldier's gazes to ensure they were listening.

"How does it feel…." He asked with a low voice.

"To know that you're the warriors that will be spoken about!?"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Battle cries laced with joy and excitement radiated from the crowd.

Every person in the medical tents and recovering area heard his voice.

No matter where a person was, they could hear the success and share in the victory speech.

Wicked grins developed on the faces of the wounded.

They were grinning unless the person was screaming in agony or knocked out cold.

Marie and Elsa's faces lit up with emotion when they heard Helix's rally speech.

Both of them knew he was suffering, yet he was putting that aside for the people around them.

"How does it feel…." He asked while walking over to the Colossus.

The crowd quieted down to hear his next statement.

"... to know you killed this thing?" He chuckled while kicking it.

Wild, ecstatic yells and howls shook the soundwaves.

Laughter filled the medical tents.

Regardless of their rank, position, or standing, everyone was celebrating.

"How does it feel…." Helix asked.

"Know that you're alive!?"

The troops cheered and screamed and cried.

Many of them fell to their knees and sobbed.

"How does it feel knowing that your family is alive because of you?

How does it feel knowing your country is safe because of you?

How does it feel knowing that you have protected humanity!?" Helix asked in a booming voice.

The cheers were deafening.

The cries were overwhelming.

It was a moment of passion no person present would ever forget.

"Many of us have experienced losses today!" Helix roared.

"But the sacrifices made today ensured that countless women, children, and friends will be able to live as a result of it!

Tell me! Will you ever forget the names and faces of the brothers and sisters you fought with today!?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The soldiers cried their answer from the bottom of their lungs.

"That's right! They will live on with us forever!

And due to the mythical scale of this battle, they will live on for countless generations as legends!

That is the scale, power, and magnitude of their accomplishment!

Let's hear it for the legends that fell today!"

Thunderous applause and roars filled the darkening sky.

Marie burst into tears again.

However, this time her tears were laced with conflicted joy.

Elsa hugged her close and closed her eyes with a slight smile.

"Soldiers! Today you fought with the legendary Winter General Tyrene!

She fought and bled beside you!

Like many, she is injured right now!

Like many, she may fall!" Helix announced.

The crowd hushed down in shock.

"The legendary Winter General Tyrene led us here today!

She is why your war goddess came to help you in this fight today.

Soldiers! Let's make sure she knows that we are thankful for her!

Let's hear a warrior call to Grandmaster General Dame Tyrene Masney!"

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Monsters and animals could hear the battle cry miles away.

It was a loud roar that shook the earth itself.

Marie and Elsa smiled as tears streamed down their eyes.

Charlotte and Riley hugged each other, and Tilo held back tears.

General Lackbolt's gruff face scrunched up, and he swallowed.

"Now cry your tears! Let out your emotions! Recover your minds and steel your hearts…." Helix ordered with a fierce gaze.

"... because tonight we celebrate!"

Helix closed his eyes to listen to the cheers of those he swore to lead.

"Now, listen up! I need [everyone] to help me cast the Intent Spell on this beast.

Not a single person here isn't leaving with a momento and material for battle armor fit for legends!"

Shock hit the crowd like a wave.

After a moment of silence, the area exploded with celebratory cheers.

"As for me…." Helix said with a feral grin.

"I'm taking this thing's head."