Endless Debt-Chapter 954 - 54: Calamity Orderkeeper

"Fog Abyss Fortress?"

In the swaying carriage, Bologue was recalling the intelligence and muttering to himself.

"Have you ever fought there?"

A voice asked, Kemp sat opposite Bologue. He knew Bologue’s identity as an Undead and the wars he had participated in, but those were only information on paper. Kemp wanted to hear Bologue recount that history personally.

Kemp regarded Bologue as a target to pursue and was extremely curious about everything concerning Bologue.

"More or less," Bologue reminisced, "I didn’t directly participate in the battle for Fog Abyss Fortress. When the army surrounded it, I was still on my way to the battlefield."

In the carriage, everyone involved in the operation was present, all quietly listening to Bologue’s story.

"When I arrived at the battlefield with the troops, it was just in time for the final assault. After a round of cannon fire, we seized that solemn fortress and swarmed in.

I was among the last to enter. By then, Fog Abyss Fortress was completely under our control. We took it as a stronghold, regrouped the troops, and prepared to advance towards the Holy City behind it." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Bologue did not describe that past in detail. It was a terrible past, perhaps becoming thin and unclear in Bologue’s mind.

"What happened afterward, you all know: an unprecedented melee, everyone slaughtering each other as if insane. When the bullets ran out, they fixed bayonets and charged.

The battle erupted everywhere, on the open front lines, in the labyrinthine trenches... the air was filled with the sound of agonizing wails."

Bologue paused, his past memories becoming fuzzy, like a bizarre montage. Bologue was unsure of his own experiences, as if it was an inescapable nightmare.

"In such a battlefield, the sense of time becomes blurred."

Listening to Bologue’s sigh, Kemp cast a puzzled glance at him.

"Every minute and second feels endlessly long. Sometimes I thought I had been fighting for hours, but only a few minutes had passed."

Bologue articulated the distorted sense of that time.

"The blood-red sunset hung in the sky forever. At that moment, I thought unless this mad war ends completely, that blood-red sunset would never fall, and the next day would never come."

As his words fell, the carriage was momentarily silent, then an announcement sounded overhead.

They had reached their station.

After Lebius had set up the operation, the group quickly prepared and began work on the third day.

During this time, Bologue underwent long training sessions to adapt himself to this new Secret Energy. He had intended to see Aimou, but according to those from the Sublimation Furnace Core, she and Belli had thrown themselves into their work, locked themselves in the lab, and hadn’t emerged for days.

They were likely still researching matters related to the Ethereal Realm.

Though unable to meet Aimou, she had sent something to Bologue through another person—arms he had previously entrusted to her.

Bologue’s weapons had suffered various degrees of damage throughout the continuous battles, but with Aimou’s help, some repairs had been made.

"Everyone, are you ready?"

Bologue stood up and scanned the group.

They all silently nodded in response.

Bologue muttered softly, "Am I really a team leader now? It’s really a peculiar feeling."

"Should I call you Leader Bologue?" Palmer joked half-seriously.

Bologue shook his head, "Let’s not, it still feels a bit too unfamiliar to me."

"But it’s the truth," Church remarked. "You are a team leader now, even if it’s temporary."

"Similar troublesome matters will only increase, and temporary action teams will be assembled repeatedly," Hart interjected. "And you... after enough temporary experiences, you’ll get used to it all."

Listening to his "team members," a calm settled over Bologue’s emotions.

The time of bearing the flag came faster than he had imagined. It wasn’t just a joke from the assembly, nor was it a figment of imagination.

After Lebius’ announcement of the action plan, Bologue had been summoned the next day to face the massive assembly and hear of the Decision Room’s plan to form a new action team.

This team, unlike the regular action teams, would only form temporarily when necessary tasks arose, and its members would be drawn temporarily from other action teams.

It combined the specialties from various teams, forming a unit dedicated to special tasks. Bologue, newly promoted to Negative Power User, was appointed as this temporary action team’s leader.

Bologue tried to refuse, but the assembly obviously wouldn’t heed his request.

Given Bologue’s outstanding performance in numerous Extraordinary incidents, his formidable personal abilities, and the power of being a Negative Power User, he was the perfect candidate.

Bologue could only comply.

As if long planned, the assembly had already prepared all the necessary documents for this action team.

"Then, let’s go."

Bologue accepted his fate and raised the flag. He might not be ready, but he knew he would be ready eventually.

That moment would come.

The car doors opened uniformly, and scorching air gusted out through the mechanical gaps.

Bologue donned the Face of Horror and slung the Blade of Pitch Black over his back. Everyone else followed suit: Hart, Kemp, and Shelley from the Sixth Group donned their familiar gray-white masks, and Palmer randomly picked up a pitch-black mask to wear. He had never had a specific mask, and Church was the same, his appearance turned foreign, as if unnecessary, as he too donned a black mask.