The night had gone by. While Kaits had spent it sleepless, Weyr and Caesar seemed to have had a good sleep as they brimmed with energy.

"We have reached their camps now," Weyr spoke, turning around.

In front of him now stood almost ninety thousand soldiers, all marching towards battle. Some seemed to be fully prepared as their eyes did not falter, their bodies did not shake—instead, they stared at Weyr with anticipation.

And then there were those who trembled, scared of what was to come. Some stared at a small picture of their loved ones they seemed to have kept, while others seemed to be scared that this would be their end.

Not paying much attention, he continued. "Halt here," he said as he turned around once again and stared down at the camp.

Weyr's eyes widened as his body became as still as a statue crafted out of marble.

The camp, which should have been visible, was now covered in dense layers of fog. Not a single thing was visible underneath.

"What is this?! Th-The entire place… it’s covered in fog, there’s nothing visible down there." Kaits was scared. His breath began trembling slightly.

'Could Kaits have been right?
sigh.
What am I thinking, there’s no way that’s possible. The one leading them, Lux—he would never gamble. This thing, this fog, must've been triggered when they escaped. Judging from the looks of it, however, it doesn't seem to be something built-in. A visi—'

"A vision-obstruction device." Before Weyr could finish his deduction, Kaits, who had come to the same conclusion as him, said it out loud.

"Yes. Now, can you give me the Vision Amplification Artifact?" Weyr spoke, stretching his left hand out.

He knew of Kaits' concerns. Even so, he decided that it was best to attack—perhaps it was out of arrogance.

In an instant, he was handed the artifact. A monocle-like object. On one end of the circular ring was attached a black, fabric-made thread. The thing connecting the thread and the rims of the monocle was a rectangular wedge. On top of it was attached a small, circular, silver button. The monocle used no glass; instead, it was hollow.

After rubbing his hand over the rough, golden rim, he put it in front of his eyes and slowly pressed the button on the artifact. As he did so, a display appeared. Everything was now visible to him—even things beyond the thick fog.

Weyr began scanning the entire area.

The sands that made up the ground seemed to be uneven. Thousands of shoeprints made out of sand were visible. Not a single sign of light could be seen; the same could be said for a sign of life. It seemed abandoned. Some of the tents that lay on the ground seemed to be destroyed, laying flat. There appeared to be a few broken weapons lying on the ground. As his eyes moved forward, they caught sight of scattered supplies all over the ground.

After a few seconds of scanning, his eyes finally came to a stop, locking onto a certain area, much like a falcon when it finds its prey.

'Debris… all over that area. Judging from how it’s shaped, that is the escape tunnel. I should try zooming in even further.'

In a quiet voice, which only Weyr himself could hear, he gave the artifact a voice command: "Zoom."

Almost simultaneously with his voice, the artifact zoomed in even further.

Now he could even see the shapes of all the debris. What was once a sector that had taken him only around two minutes to look around entirely now seemed like it could take almost five minutes—maybe even ten. Weyr looked at the place where all the debris lay and found a red blinking device.

'Found it.'

Weyr slowly spoke, "I thought so. He did get trapped, and the entire escape route has been destroyed. They're locked in between the debris."

'This is perfect. Now then, how should we attack? I could just simply go and win, but I need something more—Ah.'

"Listen here, everyone," Weyr spoke up in a commanding voice.

Almost everyone froze or flinched for a second before concentrating fully on Weyr, awaiting his orders.

"We will be dividing the army into three wings, each wing consisting of almost thirty thousand of our soldiers. As soon as we reach there, the wing at the front is to move towards the left side, and the wing in the back is to move towards the right side. That way, we'll have them surrounded entirely. Do you all understand?" he ordered.

"YES, COMMANDER!" they all shouted with great vigor. Seeing such a sight, the corners of Weyr’s mouth curled up to form a large smile, radiating his arrogance.

"Good. As for Commander Caesar, you are to stand at the very back of the middle wing, while you, General Kaits, are to be at the center of the middle wing. I, of course, will stay at the front."

"Understood, General Weyr," Caesar said, nodding his head.

Whatever. If I die, then I die, I guess. That’ll be the end, Kaits thought to himself as he silently nodded.

Weyr looked at the army and shouted out, "FOR THE RED MOON!"

In unison, all the soldiers chanted, "FOR THE RED MOON!"—except Kaits, who let out a silent sigh while mouthing the chant.

sigh.

'I-I think they took the bait. That is good, but it doesn’t mean we’ll win. We’re outnumbered. Terribly. Why the hell were we even put in this simulation?!'

Collecting his thoughts, he lifted his right arm and clicked on the communications artifact in his ear—a small, matte black earpiece.

"They’re here, everyone. Stay calm and remember what you’re supposed to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Lux." Unlike the voices of their enemies, which were loud and brimming with energy, the voices of those with Ryo were focused, oddly calm, and faithful.

Seeing this, Ryo couldn’t help but smile for a brief second.

thud~

"Halt," Weyr spoke in a quiet voice as he raised his left hand and then clenched it, signaling all the soldiers to stop.

They were now in front of the debris Weyr had previously seen from the top of the cliff.

'The debris… it means we’re here now. This is the escape route. We win. A victory here means we’re now one step closer to claiming this place and shutting down this planet, and the Resistance.'

Weyr was quietly pondering, thinking of what he wanted to say next.

'Maybe I should provoke that kid a little. I mean, what can he even do now?'

Weyr stood straight and taunted with great vigor, "How does it feel knowing you’re going to die here, Lux?!"

There was no response—only silence lingered.

Such a thing made him uneasy. However, he moved his plans forward. Weyr raised both his hands and stretched them out in both directions. With this signal, the wing in the front moved towards the left, while the wing in the back moved towards the right. They had now surrounded the debris—the escape route.

"Everyone, move in. Slowly pull away the debris," Weyr commanded.

crumple.

The sound of rocks falling, cracking, and breaking was the only thing that could be heard in the odd silence that loomed.

After around a minute, they had finally removed enough debris to be able to look in. And so, Weyr moved forward and bent down, peeping through.

As he did so, his eyes widened, and another noise—which was not the sound of rocks—could be heard.

shiik.

The sound of a sword slashing.

Weyr quickly turned around, and the slashing sound was followed by a loud thumping noise on the ground.

thud.

It was followed by the sound of a body dropping.