Transmigrated As An Extra In The Apocalypse-Chapter 71 - 70: War (5)

The sky was drowning in darkness.

Millions of arrows hung above us like a storm frozen in time, just moments away from descending.

A sight so overwhelming, so final, that for a brief second, the battlefield stood still.

Every soldier, every awakened, turned their eyes upward, their breath caught in their throats.

Then reality crashed back in.

Panic spread like wildfire.

Soldiers ran for cover, dragging their wounded with them.

Awakened raised their weapons, their cyber suits flickering with energy as they tried to summon shields or barriers.

Some shouted orders, others just screamed.

But it was clear, most of them knew.

There was nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide.

I clenched my fists, my mind racing.

My body was still pulsing with adrenaline, but even I felt the exhaustion creeping in.

And I wasn’t the only one.

I looked around. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Some soldiers were barely able to stand, their legs shaking from fatigue.

Blood dripped from open wounds, guns rattled in trembling hands.

Even the awakened, their bodies reinforced by cyber suits and abilities, were starting to falter.

The battle had already drained them, and now this, a death sentence hanging in the sky, ready to strike.

A soldier near me collapsed to his knees, his rifle slipping from his grasp.

He looked up, eyes hollow, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

He wasn’t alone.

Others stood frozen, their minds too exhausted to process what was happening.

They had fought too long.

Survived too much.

And now, in the face of an unavoidable end, their bodies simply refused to move.

I gritted my teeth.

No.

Not like this.

I had to do something to help them.

My breath came in sharp, controlled gasps as I stared at the sky, the millions of arrows frozen in the air for only a moment longer before their descent.

The battlefield was already chaos, soldiers scrambling, awakened activating their last defenses, exhausted fighters collapsing where they stood.

But amidst all of that, something gnawed at the back of my mind.

This wasn’t just an attack.

This was the attack.

The final strike.

My eyes flicked across the battlefield, taking in the scattered bodies, the weakened fighters, the sheer exhaustion in everyone’s movements.

The goblins had been relentless from the start, forcing us to fight wave after wave, never giving us a moment’s rest.

They had driven us to our limits, making us believe that this horde, this overwhelming, seemingly endless flood of enemies, was the battle.

That if we held on, if we fought long enough, we could win.

But I had never believed it.

Not really.

And now I knew why.

This was their plan all along.

A cold, sinking realization settled in my gut.

The goblins knew they couldn’t win in a head-on battle.

They knew we were stronger.

Even with their numbers, we had the advantage in power, in skill.

But none of that mattered if we were too exhausted to use it.

They had designed this fight to break us.

Make us spend our energy.

Make us think we were almost done.

Make us believe the worst had passed.

Then, this.

The arrows.

I clenched my jaw, my fingers tightening around my gun.

This wasn’t just a final move.

It was a killing blow.

A clean sweep to wipe out everyone still standing, soldiers, awakened, civilians in the city.

They had never intended to take this place through brute force.

They had always planned to finish it this way.

I turned toward the others, trying to see if anyone realized it too.

A few looked seemed to realize it.

Some just clenched their weapons tighter, the last remnants of their strength rekindling in their grips.

We didn’t have time.

I turned my gaze back to the sky.

Now, I just had to figure out how to stop it.

Or survive it.

A sharp static crackled in my ear, cutting through the chaos of the battlefield.

At first, I thought it was just interference, my suit struggling to maintain connection through all the gunfire and explosions.

But then, a voice came through.

"All Soldiers and Awakened, fall back immediately! Retreat in the walls! A barrier is being deployed, I repeat, retreat in the walls now!"

For a second, I just stood there, my mind processing the words as they echoed not only in my earpiece but across the battlefield.

Every awakened and soldier still standing heard it through their own communicators, their heads snapping up in unison.

The order was clear.

Fall back.

They were deploying a barrier.

The awakened mages seem to have successfully done it.

I exhaled sharply.

Around me, soldiers who had barely been able to stand moments ago were suddenly moving, adrenaline overriding exhaustion.

The promise of safety, of survival, gave them new strength.

Even the awakened, drained from pushing their self to their limits, turned and ran toward the massive walls that loomed in the distance.

I didn’t hesitate.

I turned on my heels and sprinted, my legs burning as I pushed forward.

The battlefield was a mess of bodies, debris, and gunfire still lingering from those too slow or too stubborn to retreat.

The arrows were still hanging in the air above, their descent inevitable.

Every second counted.

Through my earpiece, the voice spoke again, urgent.

"Barrier deployment in sixty seconds. Get inside now!"

Sixty seconds.

I forced my legs to move faster.

My breath was ragged, my muscles screaming at me, but I couldn’t stop.

I wouldn’t stop.

The city’s massive gates were already sliding open, the defense teams inside waving soldiers through, ushering them in as quickly as possible.

Behind me, the battlefield was still littered with those who couldn’t keep up, wounded soldiers dragging themselves forward, awakened whose suits flickered from critical energy depletion.

I gritted my teeth.

Not everyone was going to make it.

The battlefield had become a race against death.

Boots pounded against the blood-soaked ground, soldiers and awakened alike pushing their exhausted bodies beyond their limits.

No one spoke.

No one looked back.

There was no time for hesitation, no time for anything except running.

The city gates loomed ahead, slowly sliding open, their heavy mechanisms grinding against metal.

Safety was so close, just a little farther.

But the arrows were descending.

The sky, once darkened by their sheer number, was now alight with the eerie glow of their poisoned tips.

They fell like a rainstorm of death, streaking toward the earth, faster and faster.

The moment they hit, there would be only few survivors outside the walls.

Probably I would be one of them.

I ran harder, my breath burning in my chest.

Around me, others did the same, their suits flickering as their energy reserves drained from overuse.

The soldiers, without the enhancements of the awakened, struggled even more, their bodies near collapse.

And the injured...

I could hear their screams.

See them reaching out as they crawled, their bodies broken and battered, too weak to rise.

Some had tried to drag themselves forward.

Others had already given up, their heads tilted toward the sky, watching their fate descend upon them.

But no one stopped.

No one could stop.

The arrows were too close.

Just a second’s hesitation, and the runner would become the fallen.

I clenched my teeth, guilt clawing at my chest.

I wanted to help.

Every part of me screamed to grab the nearest wounded soldier, to throw them over my shoulder, to do something.

But...

This was the harsh reality of war.

A soldier beside me stumbled, his legs giving out just a few feet from the gate.

His rifle slipped from his hands, clattering against the ground.

For a split second, his wide, terrified eyes locked onto mine.

He didn’t ask for help.

He just squeezed his eyes shut as the arrows began moving downward upon us.

The ground beneath me trembled as I pushed forward, my legs screaming in protest.

The city gates were within reach, but the weight of those left behind clawed at my conscience.

The injured lay scattered across the battlefield, their pained groans barely audible over the chaos, their bodies too broken to move.

I couldn’t just leave them without trying.

I had to do something.

Gritting my teeth, I skidded to a halt beside a fallen soldier, his face pale, his breathing shallow.

A deep gash ran across his torso, crimson staining his uniform.

Without a second thought, I pressed my hand against the wound, channeling what little healing energy I had left.

The wound closed slightly, not enough to fully heal, but enough to stop the bleeding.

"Go," I urged, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him to his feet. "You can still make it."

His eyes, filled with pain and something like gratitude, locked onto mine for a brief moment before he nodded and stumbled forward, dragging himself toward the gates.

I turned to the next one.

A lady, her leg twisted unnaturally, gasping for breath as she tried to crawl.

I knelt beside her, my fingers brushing against her skin.

The air grew heavier.

A shift, subtle at first, then undeniable.

I looked up.

A massive, glowing barrier was descending from above, stretching across the sky, its golden edges crackling with power.

It expanded outward, its sheer size overwhelming, reaching down toward the battlefield like a divine shield.

It was almost in place.

I cursed under my breath.

There wasn’t much time.

I grabbed the injured woman, helping her to her feet as best as I could.

"Move!" I shouted. "The barrier’s about to close!"

She stumbled forward, leaning on me for support, her breath ragged.

I pushed through the pain in my own body, forcing my legs to keep going.

More soldiers and awakened were still running, a final desperate sprint to get past the barrier before it was too late.

Behind us, the first arrows struck the ground.

I ran, my breath ragged, my body aching, but I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t.

The people I had helped stumbled beside me, their steps uneven, their bodies weak from injury and exhaustion.

I could feel their desperation, their fear pressing down on them like a weight.

Every second mattered now.

Then I saw them.

Edward and the rest of my team stood inside the gates, their figures barely visible through the dust and chaos.

Edward’s voice cut through the noise, rough and urgent.

"Amber! Move Faster! The barrier, it’s closing!"

I could make it.

If I ran at full speed, I could reach them in seconds.

But the people I had saved?

They wouldn’t.

A knot twisted in my stomach.

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to block out the pity threatening to slow me down.

I had already done everything I could.

Now it was up to them.

"Run!" I barked, pushing forward. "Slow down one bit, and you will be a corpse in an instant!"

Their eyes widened, terror giving them one last surge of strength.

They forced their bodies to move faster, dragging themselves toward the gate.

I pushed my speed to the limit, my suit humming as I burned through the last reserves of energy boost.

The barrier was descending rapidly now, the golden glow stretching downward like a closing maw.

Too fast.

It was going to shut before we made it.