The second rat came through the wall, there was an open door but it decided to come through a metal plate, tearing it open with ease.It was the size of a large dog, both heads low and swinging independently. One head faced one person. The thing had talons instead of claws with a yellowish slimy liquid secreting from it. It burned a hole in the metal floor of the caravan. Exuding steam as metal shrunk back from it."*Oh my, you will be the first sovereign to die as a scion and get killed by a rat.*” Heron cuckled in his head. “*I hope you see the corrosive liquid that will melt you with a single touch?*”"I can see that," Jett said with laboured breath. He's seen a Titanic robot, a spider like one. He had been chased by scraps of metal. Hell, he's fought killer machines but when he saw this rat, he wished he'd died when Monica shot him.The rat's right head opened its mouth and hissed, a sound like steam escaping a pipe, and Jett felt his body do something it hadn't done in a while.

They waited for three hours before the sign of anyone. Anoma and Jett were awfully quiet but Red and Gracia seemed to have a lot to talk about. They sat in the dust outside the supply caravan, Anoma with Cavalry across his knees, Gracia reading something she'd pulled from her pack and Red joining in and describing stuff. Jett watched the ruins and said nothing.Then the first group came stumbling through the eastern gap yelling in panic. Jett’s first thought was that they were being chased by those filthy rats or the wolves. So they rushed out to meet them, ready to fight mindless beasts.There were nine of them, and two of them were wounded limping off the shoulders of others and frantically trying to match the speed of the others. Their leader was a tall girl with a split lip and maniacal eyes."Men of Iron," she said before anyone asked. "They are coming for us." She looked back at the gap they'd come through. "They were right behind us."“Hey, calm down. Speak to me! Men of Iron

The mountain pass spat them out on the other side into a different world entirely.The ruins here had been reconstructed, shaped into a functional city, but the bones of the ancient civilization still remained. They climbed the hill directly ahead and from its crest the school was visible in the distance, its towers catching the last of the afternoon light."We can make it before dark," Red said.Jett nodded and they moved forward. They walked for several hours, following the obvious terrain. However, they soon realized that the school was farther than they thought. The light was gone by the time they reached a supply point on the lower road, a wide sealed caravan, panel glowing blue, large enough to hold all of them if nobody was particular about personal space. They bought what they could afford between them and filed inside.The dead were laid along the far wall with whatever care the space allowed. Five of them. Nobody said anything about it directly. They just made sure there w

Jett opened his eyes and he was in an empty void. The void had no walls but it felt enclosed. It had no light source but everything in it was visible. It had no floor but he was standing on something. It moved and stayed still simultaneously, shifting at the edges like something breathing, but the center of it, where he stood, was perfectly motionless.Jett looked at his hands. They were there. He didn't know why that surprised him.A girl was sitting in front of him.Black hair, straight and simply kept. A slim frame. A long white dress that touched the non-floor beneath her and spread slightly, the hem dissolving at the edges into the shimmering of the void itself. She was looking at him with a patient expression."You are dead," she said.Jett looked around at the void. "Again," he said."Again," she agreed."Where am I?""Limbo." She said it simply. The same word the screen had shown him the first time, in what felt like another life, which he supposed it was.He sat down across

The road back to school was quiet. They didn't talk much. Red's pace was steady and slow, he seemed to have a lot on his mind. Jett also followed in the same manner.The school gates came into view mid-morning.When they cleared the final bend in the road the full picture of the school assembled itself. The entire student body was assembled in the main courtyard, seven hundred people at least, arranged in loose rows facing a line of instructors. The assembly was interrupted as the guards opened the gate to let the two in. The two guards were rather surprised to see the two of them and one of them had to march them in, gazing at them cautiously.When they reached the grounds, everyone turned their head towards them.The silence that followed was deafening. It was Orz that approached them first.He came across the courtyard with an unhurried stride. He stopped in front of them and looked at them both for a long moment. His expression was unreadable."You were confirmed dead," he said