UNLOCK: I CAN SEE MY STATS

chapter 14 : the camp fallen

“It was close…” Marcus muttered with a grim expression, lowering his hands, which still sparked with lightning serpents dancing faintly across his skin.

He stared at the sight before him and sighed bitterly. All the soldiers were dead. The only one left standing was Tina, staring at him with wide eyes.

“That explains everything…” he thought, eyes narrowing at the Stone Clan warrior, Louise, who had regained his senses and was now glaring at him with deadly intent.

“No wonder they managed to attack the camp without resistance from the outer patrol. This man must’ve taken them out beforehand…” Marcus murmured thoughtfully, then vanished and reappeared beside Tina.

“Are you alright?” he asked, eyes fixed on her pale face. “Can you stand?”

She nodded weakly.

“I can stand… but how!? I thought you died in that explosion!”

He shook his head. “No time…”

He helped her up and added in a grim tone,

“There’s an army on the way. The fall of this camp is inevitable. We need to leave , now.”

“What!? That can’t be!” Tina gasped, staring at Marcus in disbelief.

She quickly stepped back, protesting stubbornly,

“I won’t leave before warning the others! If we run now, we’re sentencing everyone to death!”

Marcus pressed his lips together, glancing sideways at Louise, who had reactivated his stone armor and was rising slowly, violet sparks flickering across his rocky cheeks.

Louise growled,

“Finally realizing the scale of this disaster? But there’s no way out for you. The earth will devour you both!”

Marcus ignored him, turning his focus back to Tina. He sighed and whispered,

“Forgive me.”

He swiftly raised his right hand and tapped a pressure point behind her ear.

His actions were too fast to follow. Tina’s eyes glazed over, and her body collapsed unconscious into his arms.

He lifted her onto his shoulder and stared coldly at Louise, who was preparing to strike.

“I don’t have time for you…” Marcus muttered darkly, then began forming seals with just one hand.

Louise’s eyes widened.

“He’s doing one-handed seals!? Who the hell are you!? No one that strong could be a nobody!” he shouted anxiously.

Marcus didn’t answer. He finished the seals.

∆ Lightning Style: Thunder Cataclysm ∆

A thick bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking Louise directly.

BOOM!!

CRAAACK!!

The bolt obliterated the area, leaving a charred crater. Marcus had overcharged the technique, and even at its lowest level, it was devastating, after all, it was an A-rank technique.

“Gwaaah!! This… hurts!” Louise’s hoarse scream echoed from within the crater. His skin was blackened, his body covered in severe burns.

Lightning was particularly deadly to members of the Stone Clan. Even a simple jolt could cause serious injury, let alone a fully-powered A-rank attack infused with massive Eternal Energy.

If not for his high rank, he would’ve died.

Grimacing in pain, he pulled himself out of the crater and stared at Marcus’s retreating figure, hesitating.

“…Forget it,” he muttered with narrowed eyes. He didn’t dare chase him. He spat on the ground and roared,

“Run, lightning boy! I’ll see you again!”

Marcus didn’t look back. With Tina on his shoulder, he kept running, leaving the burning tents behind.

He headed for a narrow path toward the southern barrier. He didn’t raise his head or waste energy in combat, just maintained a heavy silence to avoid drawing attention. After a few dozen steps, the explosions faded behind the rising smoke.

Outside the barrier, he slipped onto muddy ground and sprinted south, counting breaths and seconds. No one saw him. No one called his name. He was just a shadow, dissolving into the fog.

---

Back in the heart of the eastern camp, the last units of Lorana had regrouped. Barely fifty fighters stood among the ruined warehouses, waiting for the storm. The guard captain raised his voice:

“Form two lines!”

“The first group will retreat while the second provides cover…”

“Comms are down. We need to notify HQ ourselves.”

“One of you must survive to deliver the message…”

“If we fall here, the south will not.”

A young soldier shouted, trying to hide the tremble in his grip,

“S-Sir, staying here is suicide! They outnumber us, over a thousand, sir...!”

The captain replied while sharpening his short sword,

“That’s just a number. Remember, this is the line between the enemy and your families…”

“No time for fear, hesitation, or trembling.”

At the northern gate, the barrier collapsed under the cries of Ironland’s army. The front lines advanced with square shields raised high, rows of spears forming a forest of steel.

One of their soldiers shouted,

“I don’t want a single ant escaping! Don’t stop until this place is wiped out!”

The lines clashed. Metal screamed. A Stone Clan warrior struck down a Loranian soldier with a hammer, but a final spear pierced his shoulder joint, forcing him to retreat.

---

Roughly two hundred meters north of the border, the commander of Ironland’s army, Rono, watched the advance. A short aide asked him,

“How long has it been?”

Rono folded a small map. “Five minutes. It’ll be over in ten. Then we push south.”

The aide raised a red flag and signaled the rear ranks.

“Move out. Command wants the supply line secured before sunset.”

Their war horns echoed across the plains like a tidal wave, heralding complete collapse.

---

Far to the south, Marcus was running at a steady pace. Tina remained unconscious on his shoulder, her head bobbing with every step. After five kilometers, his sprint slowed to a jog, then to a heavy walk.

Once he crossed the rocky marker separating the steppes from the thickets, he knew he was far enough.

He looked back and saw dark columns of smoke rising from the border. Without a second thought, he kept walking, covering over twenty kilometers.

Finally, he reached a patch of thick grass near a dry stream. He scanned the area and spotted a shallow pit under a tree. He rushed over and cleared away the surrounding brush.

He gently laid Tina beside the pit and sat down to catch his breath. Then he pulled himself into the hollow and covered them both with branches and plants.

With a single thought, he deactivated All for One, which was nearing its time limit. A wave of intense pain and fatigue swept through his body instantly.

The violet light around his veins dimmed. A sudden chill surged through him, and his muscles gave out. He tried to lift his hand, but couldn’t.

He collapsed onto his side, unconscious.

---

In the ruling fortress south of Lorana, seven military leaders gathered around a wooden table. The intelligence officer placed a short report before them.

“The eastern camp has not transmitted any signals for over an hour...."

" Last aerial scan confirms Ironland banners flying over the southern barrier.”

General Arlin asked, his voice devoid of emotion,

“Has the camp fallen completely?”

The officer answered,

“All evidence suggests so.”

Commander Mira traced a circle on the map with her pen.

“That means the road to Lorana’s heart is open. We must lure them to Goat’s Ravine, there, we can offset their numbers.”

The artillery general objected,

“Our cannons aren’t ready yet. The engineers are still reinforcing the platforms.”

Silence fell for a second, until Arlin slammed his fist on the table.

“We declare full fifth-level mobilization now. Dispatch signal riders to warn every village along the southern line. No room for delay.”

The leaders stood, each grabbing emergency documents before departing. The stone fortress bells rang three times, marking the first large-scale alarm in years.

Outside, the guards spread through the alleys. Massive torches were lit, casting dancing shadows on the fortress walls, shadows that marked the beginning of a night unlike any other in Lorana’s history.