Chapter 304: Breaking the human spirit

Doyle and crew had followed instructions, retreating as far from the site of encounter as they could.

Their legs were already burning from exhaustion, while their inner cooling system failed to catch up.

Leaving their battle armour dripping with sweat and leaving them extremely dehydrated.

The exercise was sudden and unexpected, causing them to scale back on land they had cleared, distance they had shortened.

Honestly speaking the evolvers felt fury and frustration... mostly driven by their growing thirst.

Doyle had no choice, they had come quite far already, taking a rest to rehydrate wouldn’t be wrong right?

Holding that thought in mind, he called for halt, now they were back at the uneven, jagged terrain, difficult to scale.

But with plenty of cover, they took shelter, camping to recuperate, until they heard news or received more orders from their leader.

Or at least that was what was supposed to happen...

Doyle’s eyes shook, as a familiar presence loomed, the same presence their leader had sent them retreating from.

He wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with this stifling presence, heart shook, as a conclusion settled in the soldiers’ hearts.

A thought no one dared voice as the presence loomed faster than they could flee if they tried.

The Boss was possibly dead...

A being they had defied in their heart, a man of unfathomable means... Was it really possible?

"We are all going to die," a female soldier suddenly screamed, panicked and fear stricken.

Her words caused the others to shiver from fear. Doyle frowned at the sight, and before he could make an attempt to bring order...

Whooosh!!!

The winds suddenly turned tumultuous, heavy and stormy, a wave of goosebumps rose across the skins of the humans in sight as a dark shadow cast over them.

A cold current ran wild in the blistering temperature, the cold of fear, as the shadow of a predator of overwhelming might cast over their frames.

The evolvers’ hearts shook, their faces went pale, and their lips cracked dry.

Some had their feet going weak and collapsing in defeat.

They had faced so many dragons that they had learned to see their kind as prey, nothing much.

But they could tell this dragon was of a different breed than those they had faced so far, its presence towering even higher than its size.

Its eyes turned down at them, and they saw the only possible future they could have by facing this monster... death!

The humans remained still, not in a battle stance but with the gait of a prey paralyzed by fear.

"There you are, you pests..." a thunderous voice rumbled down the skies causing the humans to shiver more, their helms sparking and sputtering from the overload of sound.

Leaving their ears unprotected and damaged...

The dragon saw all of this, its lips curling in disdain, revealing its rows of pristine jagged teeth, while a haze of dark smoke coiled off of its seams.

"Too pathetic..." the dragon declared.

Such a weakling dared attack its home? The more it thought of it the more irritated Ash became.

Meanwhile Doyle, listening to these mocking words, felt a stirring in his mind, snapping out of his fearful daze.

His arm whipped out, charging his energy weapon, he got into a stance...

His arms trembled from lingering terror, while he struggled to keep them steady.

"Wake the fuck up you fools! If the boss sees us like this I bet he’d be ashamed he got to lead a bunch of spineless pussies!!!" He screamed berating.

His teeth clenched tight as he stared at the dragon, his heart palpitating but his mind tuned for battle.

"Yeah you can say that, but he’s dead... there’s no hope." A soldier cried weakly and listlessly, his arms slacking in defeat.

Doyle frowned hard, seeing the morale of his unit plummeting, no they couldn’t die here... not until the mission was complete.

His eyes reddened, jaws locking due to the hopelessness...

Deep down he knew there was no fighting it, whether they resisted or not they were probably no match for this beast.

It was clearly at a level above the dragons they had met so far, even great dragons... almost on par with that calamity they had encountered outside the island.

But despite his despair, lights of conviction flickered from the depths of his eyes, he’d be damned if he made the dragon’s task even easier.

Even if he couldn’t defeat the fucker, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t try, staring back at his comrades, he spoke.

"And who told you he was dead?" He asked coldly towards the sulking soldier.

Causing everyone to go stiff, turning to him, heart shaking the soldier replied.

"Isn’t it obvious though?" the soldier let out a weak reply.

Doyle’s eyes cold, scoffed, "well then did you see his corpse?"

The soldier blinked weakly for a moment, before shaking his head...

Turning to the female soldier who had exclaimed from terror earlier, frightened she shook hers too.

Coldly scanning the rest, Doyle’s voice cut in, "well then till his body is found no conclusion will be made. For all we know the boss might still be on his way trapped by the means of the enemy."

His words, causing the soldiers’ eyes to light up at the thought of such a possibility, "You all saw it yourselves what he is capable of, I am really ashamed to see you all still doubt him."

Doyle berated coldly, while inwardly he knew well that his soldier might just be right, the boss might be dead.

But still if he had to lie to raise his unit’s morale, it would be permitted. "We owe it to him to survive until he comes, we owe it to our families, the human race, the president, to see this mission true!"

His words thundered, raising his weapon as a show of his stance, his words influencing the soldiers to wake from their stupor, as what was left of their confidence was gathered.

The crumbling morale held, and began to slowly rise...

"I owe it to my abuela..." a Spanish soldier chanted his energy weapon...

"I owe it to the boss." Another chanted, his weapon buzzing to life.

"I owe it to my daughter... I promised her I’ll be home." The lady once in a mess gathered herself, arms still trembling but her will to fight reignited.

One after another soldier rose, their crumbled wills reigniting, their bronze cells gleaming from renewed vigour.

As all their screens flashed at the same time...

[The indomitable human spirit reigns, your racial traits have been boosted by 50%]

Doyle’s eyes lit up, excited about getting the unexpected assist.

Staring up at the dragon as his body flushed with power, their adrenal gland pumping their system full of adrenaline...

[Trait Activated! Adrenaline rush provides you with a massive boost...]

The words of the system whispered, as the humans finally faced the dragon ready to battle.

Seeing all this play out, Ash scoffed, finding the sight amusing, a bunch of weaklings gassing themselves up to face inevitable death?

Hilarious... a wave of crimson welled...

"Well then you leave me no choice but to show you true despair..."