I was ready to step forward to stop Omega from mutilating the soldier, but then I remembered what he said.
Whatever happens, I'm not losing control.
That was the sole reason why I backed down and watched the show.
Omega put up a great performance; if you met him for the first time, you would get the sense that he was powerful—and had anger management issues. His quietness seemed more like he was brooding, and not as though his habit was to observe.
"Stop!" the soldier gasped when Omega reached threateningly for his hand. "I'm not going to tell you anything! This is all pointless!"
"We'll see about that," Omega said in his best impression of a villain—which was, again, very convincing.
Meanwhile, the other soldier was slowly pulling out his backup-backup knife in a way that he probably thought was stealthy, but I could see it easily.
A glance at Chaos showed he was fighting the urge to laugh at his ridiculousness as well.
When the unrestrained soldier also lunged at Omega to save his buddy, we didn't react, knowing Omega had it handled.
Sure enough, he spun around, grabbed the soldier by the scruff of his neck, and pinned him on the wall next to his buddy, even as the soldier was trying to wildly stab at him.
Chaos and I cringed in unison when Omega kneed him in the nether region, effectively shutting him up.
"You friend cares a lot about you," Omega observed. "Maybe it's the other way around too. I'll break his arm if you don't tell me why Void wanted Eon to escape."
The soldiers laughed. "That's what you wanted to know?" one of them asked incredulously. "You guys are dumber than I thou—"
The last word was cut off with a pained groan as Omega threw him across the room. The soldier hit the metal bed and dazedly got up with a deep gash above his right eyebrow.
"Don't talk about Lord Chaos like that," Omega snarled. "You deserve much worse—and you'll both get it if you"—he turned towards the soldier he was restraining—"don't answer my question."
The soldier's eyes traced over his friend's wound before looking back at Omega. "You won't hurt us if I tell you, right?"
"If you tell me everything," Omega corrected. "After the battle, you'll also be freed."
For a few moments, the soldier wavered. Suddenly, he cracked like an egg. "Fine! We were tasked to distract him"—he pointed towards me—"if he tried to stop the Generals from escaping. Lady Void wanted the Generals for the battle, and that's all we know."
"Not for any other devious plans to sabotage us?" I asked.
"Not as far as I know. The battle's today in a few hours, right? There's not enough time."
He sounded like he was telling the truth, and his eyes were full of honesty and worry for his friend.
Apparently, Omega thought this as well, since he took a step back from the soldier and let him run towards his friend, who was sitting on the lower bunk and watching what was happening with a pained expression on his face while keeping pressure on his wound.
"Here, this will help," Omega said while leading us out of the cell before throwing a plastic bag towards them which seemed to be filled with beef jerky.
The soldier nodded in thanks and fed the injured man some of it. While I was watching, the injury magically started to heal, leaving no apparent scar.
"Was that ambrosia?" I asked Omega while I followed Rosaline—who had joined us—out of the dungeon.
"They're micrafs. Similar to ambrosia, but since mortals can eat it, it's a bit slower to heal."
"They'll be very useful in the battle," Chaos jumped in.
Instead of taking the turn that would lead us to the Situation Room, Rosaline made a left, towards the front of the castle.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Where else?" Chaos asked. "To the battlefield with the troops."
~~~
When I thought of a battlefield, I usually thought of something that was directly implied by the word: A field to battle upon. But apparently, primordials took it to another level.
"So let me get this straight," I said, eyeing the empty expanse of land that stretched for what seemed to be forever. "We're on Planet Battlefield, and the whole planet is a battlefield?!"
"It's to prevent any innocent casualties," Rosaline explained. "At the start of the fight, Void's going to stop blocking Chaos' power so they can both finally fight to their fullest extent. if they're going easy, it's enough power to destroy this planet."
"I see," I said, gulping.
"But that's not going to happen," Chaos cut in. "Void and End and I will fight each other. You will be focused on the Generals and the soldiers."
I tapped on the silver metal plating of my full armor. "Do I really need this?"
"If you don't want to get cut down by your comrades, you'll keep it on," Rosaline ordered, more serious than usual. "This isn't a duel; if you get injured once, every single enemy around you will unfairly strike at you. You probably know that already."
I looked behind us. "When is your army coming?" I then added, "We're not fighting alone, are we?"
"They'll be appearing at the same time Void's will be: At the start of the battle, which is ten minutes from now."
"Then why are we here?" I asked, fidgeting with Riptide in my hands.
"Why, to decide on the rules," A new voice said. "This isn't going to be a dirty fight in the slightest."
Void appeared right in front of us, looking as beautiful as ever, and with her Generals flanking her. They were all in golden battle armor which looked strong enough to deflect a ballista bolt. I narrowed my eyes at a smirking Eon.
"Sister," Chaos said to Void, giving her a curt nod.
"Brother. Sister," Void greeted. Her eyes flicked toward me for a moment before resting again on Chaos. "The usual rules?"
Chaos nodded. "We're only allowed to fight each other. Our armies—including us—will stand a quarter-mile from each other before starting. Anybody that has powers can only use them against people with equal strength in power."
"Only my Generals have powers. I assume the same with your commanders?"
"Including Perseus, but yes," Chaos corrected.
"Milady," Eon started, "may I request to have Perseus as my mark?"
Void took this opportunity to study me. It took a significant chunk of my self-control in order not to fidget under the silver-eyed gaze.
"Very well," Void finally said.
"Omega, Rosaline, and Jessica collectively will fight your other Generals," Chaos told Void.
"So be it," she said. "I wish you luck on the battlefield."
Chaos only nodded. On a silent signal, all turned and walked towards where their army was going to appear.
"Well . . . That was awkward," I said.
"More like . . . nostalgic," Chaos corrected. "Nostalgia for the good old days."
Then our army appeared.
"Whoa," I said, looking at the professional soldiers that I could see from my vantage point in appreciation. "There are like ten million warriors here!"
Indeed there were. All were standing shoulder to shoulder in neat lines, making more soldiers fit into less space. Even though they were compacted, I still couldn't see the end of the mass of soldiers.
With a big smile, I spun around, knowing that we had a definite victory . . .
But the smile slipped off of my face when I saw Void's troops.
They just didn't look tougher. They looked faster, more skillful, bigger, and stronger. Plus, there were more of them.
A lot more.
Like a lot more.
Like double-the-size-of-our-army more.
I looked towards Rosaline, wondering if she was thinking what I was: That despite everything we had done in order to prevent it, Void's army made ours look like a Chihuahua in comparison. And since Chaos couldn't help us, we were definitely dead.
"Time to kick some bad-guy butt!" Rosaline exclaimed, cracking her knuckles.
Apparently, we weren't thinking the same thing. And I didn't know if that made her or me the weird one.
"When can I attack?" Rosaline asked Chaos, bouncing on her feet like an ecstatic child. "When when when when?!"
"Thirty seconds until our doom," Omega said, striding up to us alongside Jessica. He had been teleported with the army.
"What does it mean to 'mark' someone?" I asked, remembering Eon's unsettling words.
"It's a job," Jessica explained. "Soldiers' jobs are just to kill anything that moves. If somebody marks you, that means it's your job to get rid of them before you focus on the real fighting, since they might turn the tide of the war. Speaking of which, who's my mark?"
"Ten seconds," Omega said, making my insides squish together in apprehension.
I uncapped Riptide, ready to attack anything that moved and wasn't part of Chaos' army.
"Any of the Generals except Eon," Rosaline told her. "Like me."
"Omega got her?" Jessica asked.
"Nah. Jackson."
"Five seconds," Omega warned, and everybody got into their ready positions.
Jessica winced. "Ouch. Good luck."
"Tha—" I began.
"Attack!" Omega roared, charging at the other side with his spear held high.
The soldiers shouted in approval and ran after him, in formation.
The battle had begun.