First Day's Reckoning
Balrag's pressure sensed me first. The force crushing down on the entire gate eased slightly, like it was catching its breath, as I drew near. The ramp ended. The gate embedded in the sheer cliff-face of the wall slowly pushed inward. Red mist and the stench of blood poured out all at once through the widening crack.
"You're back."
Inside the gate, Balrag stood like a stake hammered into the ground. He slowly lowered his head.
"You... held out longer than I thought."
I glanced down at him.
"Because you all endured to the end."
Balrag's mouth corner twitched just a fraction.
"Those words make it worth breaking for."
I took another step into Nova. My legs didn't buckle. It was just that the muscles and bones inside me still ground together in rebellion. No plans to collapse right here. I'd only fall when I died.
A few more steps in, and a familiar presence blocked my path.
"Raksha."
It was El. Her hair, matted with blood and ash, clung to her forehead. Her shoulders were crusted with dried blood—hers or someone else's, impossible to tell. But her eyes were strangely clear.
"If you keep walking in that state—"
Her voice trembled at the end.
"I'll just get annoyed."
I curled my lip.
"I came back alive, didn't I?"
"That's why I'm grabbing you, idiot."
El yanked my wrist roughly and shoved me down onto the flat ground deeper inside Nova.
"Sit."
El knelt before me. Her palms pressed onto my ribs and shoulders. A dull red light wormed its way into my wounds. Light that forcibly knit flesh together and barely reconnected severed tendons—just enough to stave off paralysis. El's breath came in harsh gasps.
"You went out ready to die anyway."
"So live through to the end."
I looked down at her face and said curtly,
"...Don't overdo the Recovery."
"Shut up."
El cut me off.
"When have I ever told you not to push yourself?"
The red light swept over me once more. It wouldn't fully seal the gashes. Just enough to keep me breathing. The line between life and remembering the battlefield. That was our standard.
I added softly,
"...Thanks for saving me."
El's hands paused for a moment, then resumed their quiet work.
"If you die, most of the kids here die too."
"That'd be a real hassle."
That was enough. I didn't press further.
I lifted my gaze to the gate above. A red curtain. Zan's Breakage draped over the gate and Nova. It was murkier than during the day. The smell of scorched paper, the ashen remnants of prayers crumbling from within the veil.
Below the curtain, on the gate's railing, Zan stood. Her body swayed faintly. The veil extended deeper inside the gate, draping thin membranes over the demons teetering on death's edge. Like drawing lines between life and death.
"Zan."
Zan looked down. Her eyes were tinged faintly red.
"You held the line well today."
"The curtain too, and keeping them breathing."
Zan's throat bobbed slightly.
"Y-yes... I'm glad you're alive."
Her voice was hoarse but didn't waver to the end.
"We need to hold at this level tomorrow too."
Zan steadied her breath before replying.
"At this threshold... it should last until morning."
A thicker red line swept across the curtain.
"Good."
I nodded.
"Keep listening from up there. Report any changes immediately."
Zan's eyes flickered briefly, then steadied.
"...Understood."
"Will you keep standing in your current state?"
A familiar voice came from behind. It was Nas. He wore a blood-soaked coat haphazardly slung over his shoulders, with Navriel standing quietly beside him. Behind them, high-rank demons lined up in the shadows.
Kama. Astamar. Balrag, returned to the gate. The pillars of the battlefield gathered as one.
I straightened fully from my seated position. My joints popped with a sharp crack where reinforcement had faded.
"Report first."
Nas steadied his breath and spoke.
"First Day Battlefield Report."
"Disguised fortress forces deployed outside the gate today: total 2,800."
"Losses, including combat incapacity: around 1,200."
"Complete annihilation—irrecoverable corpses: around 600."
"The remaining 600 have been stabilized by El."
El said flatly,
"The ones worth killing are already dead. I just patched up the ones worth saving."
Nas continued.
"Mid-rank demons: about 300 deployed, losses around 120."
"Complete annihilation around 50. The rest can return sequentially from Day 2."
"Low-ranks and near-adults: 2,500 deployed, losses just over 1,000."
"Complete annihilation around 550."
"The rest can be rallied slowly after reorganization."
I rolled the numbers through my head once.
"Angels."
"Direct combat kills: 500 to 600."
"Including those crushed in the descent corridor collapse, up to 2,000 max."
Astamar chuckled softly. A whiff of rotting flowers bloomed and faded.
"Beautiful numbers."
Nas summarized Nova's forces next.
"Current Nova total: 19,832."
"Combat-ready: around 11,000."
"High-ranks: around 30."
"Mid-ranks: around 4,000."
"Rest low-ranks and near-adults."
"Rear guard, logistics, plague cleanup, intel, security, facilities: around 8,800 handling it."
He broke down the formations crisply.
"Tomorrow's battlefield divides into five axes."
"Gate Defense: Ironblood Shield Troop."
"Breakthrough: Shadows."
"Ability Suppression Counter: Ironbody Troop."
"Airspace Control: Heaven's Arrows."
"Plague and Aftermath: Bloodflower Unit."
"Battle Records and Intel compiled by Black Ledger Office."
I nodded curtly.
"Day 2, numbers we can stand up front immediately."
"Immediately deployable: around 8,000."
"Ironblood Shields: 3,000."
"Shadow vanguard: 2,000."
"Ironbody: 1,500."
"Rest on walls, air support, Bloodflower backup."
"Surplus forces for rear reorganization and reserves."
"Good."
I nailed it down.
"Tomorrow, we divide from the start."
"The endurers."
"The biters."
"The ones who endure without abilities."
Nas nodded.
"From here, I'll take over."
I closed my eyes, then opened them, summing up.
"Gabriel's tactics are simple."
"Sanctuary deployment locks allies in place and binds targets simultaneously."
"Then mixes four elements."
"Sanctuary."
"Pressure Wall."
"Abyssal Prison."
"High-Pressure Water."
"Bind (target)—block (pressure wall)—imprison (abyssal prison)—slice (high-pressure water)."
"These four turn ground, walls, and skies into one mass battlefield."
I paused a beat.
"And the holy citadel."
"From the moment Gabriel dropped, the pressure's intensity barely wavered for twenty minutes."
"No matter where the force was split, the incoming weight felt the same."
"After twenty minutes, it changed."
"Same pattern, but timings slipped, pressure arriving just a bit later each time."
"Not tactical shake."
I cut it sharp.
"Forced output spike, then drop back after twenty minutes."
"What we confirmed today: one."
"Holy citadel for self-authority amplification."
"Twenty minutes max output."
"Thereafter, embers."
"Second and third not yet deployed."
I pressed my lips together, then released.
"Second: tomorrow or the day after."
"Third... when we seize clear victory, or the opposite."
Kama asked quietly.
"What if all abilities are sealed?"
I answered.
"Then we fight an ability-less battlefield."
Balrag rumbled low.
"Meaning flesh-focused forces step forward."
"Yes."
I swept my gaze over a few.
"The ones enduring pressure and weight with muscle and bone."
"You, Gart, Morkan, that sort."
Nas added immediately.
"Ironbody Troop dedicated to suppression zones, front line."
"From tomorrow, separate line for those zones from the start."
Kama snapped his fingers lightly.
"Just sync breaths, and the blades handle themselves."
Navriel stepped forward. Her black ledger-like wings rustled softly.
"Conclusion first."
"As of today, the primary descent corridor linking the heavens and this battlefield..."
She drew a breath.
"...severed completely, in a manner unrecorded."
The high-ranks drew quiet breaths.
"Bell devoured the corridor's upper sections from within, snapping the prayer lines entirely."
"No more 'legion-scale stable path' from the heavens on their whim."
"Today's descent forces: first and last legion."
"Left: twisted, splintered detours."
"Limit to slipping in 'a few' elites, not legions."
I chuckled shortly.
"Perfect."
Kama laughed low.
"Then now, we break them."
"Summary."
I swept my gaze over them all.
"Day One was the test."
"One holy citadel."
"Twenty minutes max output."
"Thereafter, embers."
"Heavens' legion baseline."
"And Bell's corridor severance result."
I tapped the ground twice with a finger.
"Day One calculations complete."
I drove the conclusion home in one sentence.
"From Day Two: 'Endure—Bite—Prepare for seals.'"
"Ironblood Shields: shields enduring first twenty minutes."
"Shadows: fangs ripping lines when pressure lags."
"Ironbody: frame holding sealed zones."
"Overlaid: Zan's Breakage. Astamar's Bloodflower. Kama's breaths."
El crossed her arms, glaring at me.
"You know that calculation was forged in your own flesh, right?"
"I know."
I answered curtly.
"That's why from tomorrow, we endure with less grinding."
Nas chuckled low.
"A Raksha conclusion."
The insides of my body creaked a bit more. I hadn't fully dropped reinforcement. Felt like it'd crumble if I lowered it even slightly. Fingertips still tingled. Sensation cutting in and out.
"Nas."
I called him.
"Draft the formations yourself first."
"Bring by dawn tomorrow."
"Understood."
"El."
"What."
"From now... only save who can be saved."
El glared a moment, then bit her lip hard once.
"...You say that too easily."
Her eyes flickered briefly.
Then she tossed it out.
"...Got it."
"Zan."
Zan's presence atop the gate faded slightly.
"Your line saved today's battlefield."
Brief silence. Then Zan's voice drifted down.
"Tomorrow... I'll hold to the end too."
The meeting ended there. Everyone dispersed to their posts. Balrag to the gate. Nas and Navriel to numbers and records. El to the wounded.
I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them.
"Day Two..."
The murmur rolled out in my mouth.
"Will unfold before the gate, and above it."
Nova's night was black. But woven into that black were blood and ash, and wills yet unbroken. Even knowing tomorrow would shatter more than today.
I stood at the center of it all.