The Guardian

Chapter 219: New Generation

A car moved through the streets of Atlantis City, and Leslie watched the city.

Cars were traveling down the streets, people were walking on the sidewalks and tourists were occasionally taking pictures on the buildings of the big companies.

It was the same as before the Abyssal Portal... Everything seemed to remain just as quiet despite what was happening.

“We’ve heard that allied forces have been moving around outside Constance City hunting monsters,” said the host of a channel known for his interviews.

Now he was in that kind of interview with two interviewees representing the two most marked positions today... Being voiced by a young man and a former player who liked to record the life of his ‘character’ in the ‘game’.

“Hunting monsters?” the young man asked curiously.

“Yes, some believe that the allied forces are wary of those charged with the task. Well, they’ve already sent many heroes to guard cities. We’re talking to recognized S-Rank ‘Heroes’, but now that they’re sending in reinforcement allied forces, they make it sound like they distrust the others,” explained the host.

“I’ve heard about that, too. They say monster appearances are more frequent. Some blame demons and some blame the abyssal portal. You even find extremists who say this is the prologue to the end of the world,” analyzed the player and, with a serious tone, he continued. “Regardless of the cause, the extermination should be accelerated. The goblins need to be exterminated before the demons start moving in, or worse, the lunatics.”

His tone was serious, and he sounded completely confident of his idea... No, of the idea of many, many people.

“There is not too much information. If it is as they say and these creatures are refugees escaping from something more dangerous, we should try to seek peace,” interjected the young man, just as earnestly.

That was the central idea of the other party, peace... Idealistic or not, many were looking for peace.

“Peace? There can be no peace. By now, everyone must have heard the rumors that peace failed. It is not known where such a rumor came from and the allied forces have said nothing, but if it is true, then peace is not possible. It is now a total impossibility,” said the player, and with a deep look, he added. “With those creatures, there is no reasoning for peace. There is no negotiating. It is better to murder them all to prevent them from escaping and reproducing.”

Those words caused a silence to spread across the set, making the atmosphere become more serious.

Where did it come from?

They didn’t know, but Leslie had heard the rumors that the peace failed, as had many people.

She had wanted to ask Aurora or Alice but held back, wishing not to press them with questionable matters, and that was why when they talked it was always about nicer topics.

Aurora was very strict and professional when it came to the confidentiality of her mission.

Even so, the allied forces neither denied nor affirmed those rumors, managing to give the feeling that it was indeed just as the rumors had mentioned.

Peace was impossible.

“I don’t know if those rumors are true or not, but I would like to think that at worst peace was impossible because of fear... Fear of the unknown and the superiority of the other side. Us,” said the young man, giving a tragic sigh, but looking at the man, he expounded. “Still, ‘exterminating’ a race shouldn’t happen and shouldn’t even be talked about.”

The more and more people gathered in the two prevailing positions, the more extreme things became... And what the players were talking about was not defeating them, it was extermination.

A systematic extermination of an entire race.

Of course, the ‘peace’ view also had those individuals who took to the streets to protest against the war and demand peace, saying that they should let the goblins go free anywhere.

Some spoke of Africa, others spoke of an uninhabited island, but equally, there were those people who sought to give them complete freedom, unaware of other latent dangers.

“You don’t understand. That’s the problem with young people. They don’t know the cruelty of those creatures. While the birth rate has been reported, you do not understand how dangerous such creatures can become. Towns can be wiped out and they just kill men,” said the player and solemnly, he added. “The women... They suffer a crueler fate than you could ever imagine. They are constantly ‘used’ until they are pregnant and after they have their children, they are ‘used’ again.”

The silence grew even deeper, and the player continued.

“They don’t have the technology and they don’t use magic to see when they are pregnant, either. No, they are ‘used’ until their bellies are swollen and they just stop. They also don’t have one or two children. They are like rabbits. If they are lucky, their consciences last a few days before they ‘break’ like empty dolls. If they are unlucky, then they will make them suffer for days having hope for salvation while they break it. Those who manage to be rescued and have some conscience opt for suicide because of what they suffered and those who can continue. They have nightmares throughout their lives,” narrated the player, and letting out a long sigh, he commented. “Call me heartless or inhuman, but if you were to ask me if I should stain my hands with blood with an entire race to avoid what happens in Terra nova... I’ll do it.”

Cruel and cold.

The narration was direct, holding nothing back, getting their unstable emotions expressed by that narration.

They lived as ‘players’... They believed they were in a game, that all Terranovians were ‘non-playable characters’ -NPCs- dedicated for their enjoyment, to give immersion and realism to the ‘game’.

But no, they were lives... real people whom they treated as ‘NPCs’.

It was a realistic game, not because of the sensations that the supposed ‘machine’ gave, nor was it because they took a physical body, a ‘character’.

The realism came from the cruelty, suffering, and despair that could be found.

It was a world where these creatures roamed like monsters, ravaging defenseless villages and taking women to their caves... Just to make them suffer until the adventurers arrived.

The extermination of the players were talking about was based not on the idea that it could happen here, but on the cruelty of the consequences and the despair that could result.

“That was happening on Terra nova. Here we are on Earth. It’s been twenty years since what you’re talking about happened. That time where many were swallowed by the cruelty and suffering of what they lived through when they realized that this world was real. Realizing that everything they lived through was real,” said the young man and looking at the player seriously, he specified. “My parents were players and if it was one thing they taught me, it was simply that I should do what I thought was necessary... To follow my own values.”

The young man’s expression turned serious without wanting to back down.

“Nowadays they call the ‘new generation’ as weak people, who want peace, who want stability, but we just try to move forward in a way that we won’t regret. My parents taught me to take every moment of my life as if it were extremely important, to make every decision wisely, trying not to regret it. Like them who denied deep in their hearts that ‘Terra nova’ was real for a long time,” said the young man and solemnly, he announced. “That is why I cannot now let a race be exterminated. I can’t let children and women that no one talks about, but exist, be killed. I don’t want to live in regret.”

The ‘New Generation’ was ‘weak’... That was the general belief that was widespread among some of the older generations.

Heroes who liked cameras, who liked to be famous, or ordinary people who sought peace and quiet, above all else.

The weakness came from a lack of strength to get their hands dirty when they had to... That ease the players’ had to do what they thought instantly.

But they weren’t.

They were taught by their parents to enjoy the quiet, to follow their own desires, to act for what they liked.

They were cared for by the older generation, by those people who were players and who tried to see that their children did not suffer... As they did.

The players were more common than people thought and no one talks about it for multiple reasons, but mostly so as not to remember their actions.

To not remember what they did... To not remember that it was easier to believe it was all a game than that it was actually a real world.

The cruelty gave it the realism to say it was all real, but that same cruelty made the players stick to the idea that it was all fake.

Everything would have been better if it were actually fake.

They spoke of extermination out of fear that those atrocities that happened in Terra nova would happen here, but the young people spoke with the idea that they did not wish to regret like their parents.

Although the international media ignored it or tried not to talk about it, the reality was that in Constance City there was not only an army of goblins... There were women and children.

Even the allied forces kept quiet, but in a modernized world like this, it was impossible to silence it forever.

Unknown activist groups on the internet uploaded images of these children with their mothers.

Peace was impossible, and extermination had to be impossible, too.

Leslie closed the video and let out a long sigh.

She could say that the actions seen on Terra nova would not happen here on Earth, but that statement was based on what they knew about the goblins and what had happened since the abyssal portal appeared.

They couldn’t say these creatures were any different because there were no instances of cruel events and that was due, the allied forces prevented any such event from happening with the evacuation.

“What do you think, young lady?” the driver asked earnestly.

Leslie caught the look in the rearview mirror and gave a soft sigh.

“I don’t know. No, I’m lying when I say I don’t know. I’m lost, though, if I agree on anything. I’m of the ‘new generation’,” Leslie replied, trying to shape her emotions.

She had seen the pictures and images spreading through social media about goblins... There was an image of a goblin holding her daughter that shocked her.

The desperate look, numbed by the cruelty of life, got something stirring inside her.

It was clearer to her because she had seen that look in Africa during the ‘Ark’ mission.

She could not accept the extermination of that race... But her non-acceptance changed nothing.

Even if people gathered to protest, the Abyssal Portal was on another continent and those in charge were powerful individuals.

Adding that if the rumors that peace could not be realized were true, then there was only one path left, and trying to change it felt... Like something impossible.

“It sucks to be weak.” She spat as her emotions boiled over.

Her curse caused the driver to look at her in surprise at her words, but Leslie exhaled, trying to calm herself.

During the Assault mission, everyone understood their way.

She also realized that as a ‘master-at-arms’ she was better off being a sniper and it had certainly shown her a result, but she didn’t have a clear target.

She wanted to be strong, but didn’t everyone want the same thing?

However, there was a difference between her peers.

Andrés liked his job and knew that was what he wanted for himself, while Nicole wanted to become strong, but most of all, she wanted to be a person who would charge forward to face her enemies and protect her teammates.

Érica made use of her ability by improving and studying magic... Even now that they were on vacation, she was studying ice magic spells for when she had to go receive her random reward.

Clémentine, on her side, was always someone who seemed to have it all figured out... She knew what she wanted.

But Leslie was different... She was defeated too easily in the Assault mission and even though she learned that her companions were about to die when she woke up; it didn’t have the effect to shake her.

It only made her desire to be strong rise, but that was all.

Maybe that was the reason why she was still a B-Rank, unlike her companions who had already ascended... She was lost.

That was the reason why she was now heading to the place where her ‘random’ reward was located.

To go to get the ‘random reward’ she only had to give her advance notice and then they would schedule it for her, so even though Christmas was a week away, she decided to come.

Nicole, who had already taken that reward, had let her know that she got the chance to train with Emperor Victor.

Other students who also could not resist and went for their reward also found themselves training at the hands of powerful individuals or strict organizations.

Of course, Clémentine, Andrés, and Érica had not yet gone and Leslie was to be the second to take her reward.

Looking out the window as a bridge passed by that connected to a small island in Atlantis City, she was a bit mesmerized by the view.

Not only did Atlantis City have the large metropolis that took up most of the island, but other islands were also slowly rising up to add parks, tourist areas, or this militarized area.

As a city-state, it had a military army and although the city was ‘small’ compared to huge countries, being built by the Cosmos Company, the army was very well equipped.

Warships made it possible to secure the sea and the creatures deep within it... Creatures that could be even more terrifying than the creatures on land.

Of course, while naval battles with such creatures were not common due to the fact that they liked to live deep in the sea, ships were designed to attack such creatures.

It was just like airplanes that were designed to take on flying creatures and patrolled the area, securing airliner routes at times.

Not all cities had Cosmos Portals, so passenger planes, although faster than before, were still in operation.

This small island was a barracks with an airfield and military port, along with a large training area and military dormitories.

There was likely more to know, but that was all that was revealed at a glance.

As the driver passed through the restricted entrance to the area, they came to where the entrance to the military barracks was located.

“Your father warned me to remind you that if you need anything, you can call him and he will come and pick you up personally,” warned the driver in a serious tone.

“I understand,” Leslie muttered, knowing that her father would surely come if she asked him to.

Getting out of the car, she adjusted her slightly formal attire and watched as the driver pulled away, she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

She was nervous... She didn’t know what was waiting for her or why she was coming here.

Moreover, she tried to look for some recognized mechanics related to the military or master-at-arms, but found nothing.

She practically didn’t know what was to come.

Steadying her breathing again and giving a serious look, she took her first step forward and before she could take her second, a man stepped out of the doorway.

“Leslie Haillet, right?” The man asked with a friendly smile and when Leslie nodded, his expression turned solemn and he shouted. “ATTENTION!”

Leslie’s eyes widened in surprise and her ears boomed from the powerful man’s voice, all while her mind couldn’t connect what was going on.

“As of now, you’re in the army! Move-in fifteen minutes, I want you running the whole island with the squad!” the man ordered and with a wicked grin, announced. “This is the sweet reward that was waiting for you.”