Chapter 86: Suited Up
Nadia followed Ross into the back, alongside Seraphine. And along the way, she found that the metal interior was heavily damaged or gaping, like someone had come over and stripped it for parts.
She chose to ignore it and continued onwards. Eventually, when they reached the workshop, they were immediately met with a crowd of roughly thirty to forty individuals, including Roxy and Beatrice.
At the sight of this, Nadia was slightly taken aback, having not expected so many people here. ’What’s going on here? Why are there so many people here?’
On the other hand, Seraphine was confused as well, but for a different reason. ’There should be around sixty... why’s there so little!?’
The two ruminated on their thoughts for a split moment before watching Ross take a metaphorical stage. They then listened to him speak:
"Out of the roughly two hundred individuals in the combined group, we have estimated you all to be the most superior in terms of Vitality and physique. Because of that, we shall be handing you tools to better assist in your survival."
One by one, Ross’ helpers began to hand out sets of metal armour to everyone. When Nadia got hers, she quickly assessed the set.
’There’s some weight to it, but as long as I circulate my Vitality throughout my body, it should be enough for me to ignore it entirely.’ She then narrowed her eyes. ’But what about moving in it...’
When she went ahead and put them on, she found that the armour had a comfortable design. It accommodated enough room for certain areas to not feel tight, like her chest or areas around her crotch.
The armour had the impression that it was originally made for men, before being made to fit both genders.
"Hmm..." Nadia narrowed her eyes as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. Now that she was looking down at herself, she couldn’t help but...
Embarrassingly imagine herself as some sort of knight from one of those fairy tales.
Seraphine, who had just put on the set, also found herself surprised by the comfort. In the original story, the set was described as tight around the chest and not particularly well-suited to feminine builds.
’Could it be because Roxy is here?’ Seraphine cast Roxy a subtle glance.
She originally regretted not being able to join Roxy’s group, but now that she was technically in it... she didn’t know what to think.
There was just never a scenario like this at all in the story! Hilda had never gone to either group to steal their eyes, no matter what the player picked.
’I know I had some effect, but that shouldn’t be enough to give Hilda the idea of doing that!’ Seraphine internally clutched her head. ’And now that I think about it, why am I even in the back! I’m weak as hell!’
When she thought about it even harder, didn’t this kind of thing take place right before the Predicaments attack!?
As she began to panic inside, now face-to-face with the reality that her life was in jeopardy, Ross continued on talking — unbeknownst of her stress:
"These sets are made with layered, but impure metals. So, while they won’t help much against the claws of Predicaments, they should help well against blunts and falls."
Afterwards, he ordered his helpers to hand out crafted weapons, such as swords and spears. "We’re giving you these in hopes you all will make good use of your strength to protect the warehouse and everyone. So, take whatever you believe suits you best.
"But if you already have a preferred weapon, don’t be greedy and leave some for the rest. We’ve already had to take apart the walls for materials."
Nadia already had her Relic, so she didn’t need one. Seraphine had her gun, though it was running low on ammo. As for Callum, he chose a spear.
Roxy chose a buckler shield and a sword, much to Ross’ annoyance at picking more than one, while Beatrice chose none, deciding that Talismans was all she needed. She wasn’t already keen on the idea of wearing something as ugly as the set.
Ross chose a pair of metal gauntlets, and Elias chose a pair of knives.
The moment everyone got what they wanted, they immediately began casting each other odd glances, confusion clear in their eyes.
"What do we need these?"
"Yeah, and what’s this about survival?"
"Shouldn’t we be celebrating? The exam is almost over!"
Ross gave a solemn expression at this. It was clear that they were still unaware of what was to come, even with the hints he had been giving them by having them work on and around the warehouse.
’My fault for not telling them directly, I suppose...’
He then took on a more serious tone in his voice and spoke:
"We will be invaded by Predicaments soon. Be it in a few hours, an hour, or even a few seconds or minutes."
And before waiting for a response, he explained everything.
From the evidence of a Poison Jar’s occurrence. The mysterious lack of Predicaments. And the foul stench of blood that had permeated through the air since this morning — including the streets of blood that Elias found on his way back to the warehouse.
Everyone’s face grew grim and sombre when they listened to this, especially Nadia’s. ’Predicaments... are going to invade us... at night?’
Unlike most of the people here, who had been holed up inside during the past nights, Nadia had a clear understanding of the threat Predicaments posed in these hours.
She had fought one herself, after all! And because of that, she couldn’t help but grit her teeth in dread. ’If every Predicament in this city, strengthened by the night, invaded us right now... there’s only one outcome...’
There was going to be a slaughter tonight! But on their side...
Someone then shouted:
"W-wait! Everyone knows that Predicaments don’t come near the sea! We’re at the sea, aren’t we?!"
Ross let out a deep sigh. "Nothing stops a Predicament from coming near the sea; they just don’t see a reason to... but the only reason why they don’t jump in the water is because of one thing."
He then recalled the information his father gave him.
"The moment they set foot in the sea, Predicaments would instantly drop in strength — all the way down to an estimated strength of the average Vitalist. That’s why they don’t set foot into the sea.
"This applies to rain as well, except they only drop by one whole Classification of strength when in contact with it. That’s why, if everything goes horribly wrong, I want you all to evacuate
everyone into the sea.
"For if the Predicaments choose to follow us in, we can begin picking them off when they become weakened."
After a few more explanations and letting them in on his plans, he sent everyone outside — apart from a select few — to spread the word about a possible invasion, along with several boxes of remaining weapons for them to pick from.
Watching as they left, Nadia couldn’t help but notice the shakes and trembles in how they moved. She even caught glimpses of their worried and fearful looks, and couldn’t help but sympathise with them.
For the possible battle to come could be their last... and that was something Nadia didn’t want to think about. For she wanted everyone to survive.
Nadia clenched her hands tightly as Ben’s tragic state flashed through her mind. And winced. ’Even if it’s a naive desire...’
She was going to do her best to save everyone, or at least most in the process. Because she was strong. And she had a duty to use that strength for others, to save people.
’That’s what knights in fairy tales do, right? Doing whatever it takes to save people...’
She wasn’t going to make the same mistake as last time, and even if she did... at least she’d find solace in knowing that there was nothing more she could’ve done.
With a burning look of resolution in her eyes, Nadia noticed Ross approach her and hand her a handgun — an aged-looking one, but a firearm, nonetheless.
"Here, you might need this."
After he handed it to her, he moved on to the others, giving each of them similar handguns.
Seraphine, having been given a new gun, gleamed at the sight of it, especially when she discovered it to have a full magazine. ’I was getting worried about what I was going to use!’
She didn’t have much ammo left in the gun Hilda gave her.
As she tucked it away...
"Hold on. I have one last thing to give to you."
Ross suddenly came over to her with something else. Something that caused her eyes to widen to the extreme.
The thing he carried had a black body and a long barrel. It had a stand attached to it and what seemed to be a magazine inserted from the top rather than the bottom.
Although it looked to be damaged and showed signs of age, even appearing as if it had been forced back together, it was a firearm, without a doubt. A rifle, to be more specific. And it looked to be a powerful one, at that.
Seraphine’s breathing became sharp at the sight of it. She then turned her head up to look at Ross and watched as he held it out to her.
"The Boys Anti-Tank Rifle. A weapon that we used in the Second World War. When we found it, it was mostly destroyed in pieces. Luckily, we managed to put it back together, but when we tested it in secret, its accuracy had dropped drastically. But..."
He then dropped it into Seraphine’s arms, and she immediately stumbled when she caught it, even requiring Vitality to hold it until Nadia stepped in to help.
"I’ve heard that you’re sharp with the gun from Callum, so I’m willing to bet that you can make good use of it." He then handed her two magazines, each loaded with five 13.9mm rounds.
Roxy, who was standing off to the side, glanced down at the gun given to her and asked, "Couldn’t you have given one to everybody? Why’d only to us?"
Ross snorted. "Why? Because I don’t trust those guys with a firearm. And this was all we had left, anyway. The LRM had found and repossessed all other firearms, but these were from the last batch of examinees."
"Oh? You trust us?" Roxy inspected the handgun before holding it up to Ross’ face, shocking everyone.
Ross narrowed his eyes. "What do you think you’re doing?"
"I’m just giving you an example of how it’s going to look if I see you pulling off anything funny. Like... deserting us, for example."
’Deserting?’ The word flashed through Nadia’s and Callum’s minds, the only two who were unaware of Ross’ true purpose in gathering such a large group of people.
Nadia’s eyes flickered with a suspicious light. ’Would he do that? At a time like this?’
With everyone’s attention now on him, Ross snorted again.
As he was about to respond to Roxy’s words...
BANG...!
A loud sound reverberated from outside the room, echoing into theirs. At that, everyone immediately went tense, even flinching when someone bursted — one of the people who was wearing the set given out.
Ross wanted to ask what happened.
But...
"T-THEY’RE HERE—!"
The person had already spoken.
"—THE PREDICAMENTS ARE HERE!"
It was time for them to fight.