The Last Legendary System

"Welcome to the Protectors of the Realms, Benign Cross."

It felt like when he first arrived. Staring at a sea of dead bodies that were actively growing. The portal shimmered to a close behind him.

He didn’t need to turn to know the Lady hadn’t followed. A mine explosion shook the earth. A man disappeared into smoke, only to land several feet away with one leg missing.

The survivors were drenched in sweat while wearing combat gear different from what he’d seen before. Yet the fear on their faces showed they were never prepared for what happened.

His eyes shifted to the small structure that the survivors rushed into. He sprinted down the slope.

"What exactly am I supposed to do here? Save the people from landmines?"

The air choked with smells of smoke, dirt, and burning metal. The screams overlapping made it hard to concentrate on his surroundings.

He still couldn’t understand how the small structure swallowed the people rushing inside of it. The soldier took a deep breath.

"Let’s start somewhere."

His gaze swept across the battlefield. No commander in sight, and oddly enough, no predator attacking the survivors while they ran.

He stopped his thoughts from running along with the surrounding tension. The explosions weren’t random. He bent down and counted.

Left. Six seconds. Three detonations every two seconds. Fixed spacing.

Then at the right. Same time interval and distance with slightly bigger detonations.

Benign advanced toward the front lines. A mine exploded a few steps away from him. He jumped back with his heart slamming in his chest.

His ears buzzed till the only thing he heard were screeches. The people brushed past him, into the structure behind him.

"Okay, okay, breathe..." Benign exhaled, then took many steps backwards to observe again.

The last piece was a mine in the middle, detonating after four seconds. In less than a second delay, the cycle restarts. That was the planned pattern for an ambush, similar to the ones military personnel used.

Which meant it could be avoided with fundamentals.

After climbing onto a collapsed barricade, a gunshot echoed. One-third of the people reacted.

Benign took command within the four seconds before the last piece of mine. "EVERYONE LEFT!"

Bang. He shot at the particular position they should move. Panic drowned out his orders. Only a handful obeyed.

The explosion happened on the right, taking out a young woman instantly. Benign’s grip tightened around the revolver. "STEADY AND RUN!"

Survivors froze at first, but began listening, dragging their injured ones first.

Benign directed the groups and left the individuals to follow their lead. "GO RIGHT! GO RIGHT!"

The crowd repeated his orders further back as their panic turned to trust. With no children, directing became a tad easier.

Anyone able to carry someone did, and they kept moving to the echoes of his gunshot till more people trusted the patterns he read.

A familiar shadow crossed above him, followed by a screech overhead. Benign snapped his head upwards.

"You are here!"

The cheeky Firewing circled above Benign once before landing beside the barricade with a sharp screech, folding its blazing wings against its body.

It nudged Benign’s shoulder with its beak as though asking why he had taken so long. Benign couldn’t stop the small smile that escaped him.

"You reported to duty before me, huh?"

The bird puffed out its chest proudly before hopping onto the table beside him. Another explosion erupted to the right, spraying dirt and limbs into the air.

Benign’s smile vanished as he raised the revolver again. "LEFT!" he roared. The gunshot echoed over the battlefield.

Survivors jerked toward him before rushing where he pointed, some stumbling over broken ground while dragging the wounded beside them.

Three explosions erupted exactly where they would have been seconds earlier.

The Firewing tilted its head. People were scattered about the battlefield, their chests heaving as they coiled on the ground.

Benign pointed toward the battlefield. "Anyone still breathing but fallen, bring them to the shelter. Go!"

The bird let out an excited cry and launched into the sky. Its wings swept low over the field, weaving through smoke before grabbing an unconscious man with its talons. The survivor dangled awkwardly.

The Firewing carried him over the exploding mines before dropping beside the shelter entrance. Two men immediately grabbed the injured man and hurried inside.

Bang! Benign fired another shot. "RIGHT!"

The frightened crowd obeyed faster this time. Panic remained on their faces, but their feet shuffled quickly. Those near the front repeated Benign’s command until it echoed for those behind.

"RIGHT! MOVE!"

The explosions followed exactly where Benign expected. The entire left side disappeared beneath the smoke.

The last mine detonated behind the last group. Benign caught his breath. From the corner of his eye, he searched for anyone else to appear.

No commander challenged his orders. A battlefield that simply accepted the loudest voice. "This place is hopeless."

At that moment, a low whistle drifted across the field.

Benign ignored it. The world finally responded after ignoring him for more than ten minutes. Another whistle came, longer this time.

Heavy footsteps followed behind him, but he never turned as he pointed the revolver toward another safe path. "GO LEFT!"

The survivors moved in a straight line.

Only after the explosions finished did Benign notice the familiar figure standing beside him.

The old man’s long cloak danced with the smoke as he watched another group reach safety without losing a single person.

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully at the battlefield. "You can read the pattern, young man?"

Benign never answered. He watched for the next sequence of explosions while counting how many survivors possibly left. The mines stopped.

"Are they done?" Benign muttered to himself. Another explosion answered.

The old Protector looked from the survivors to the craters left behind. His gaze returned to Benign, lingering on the soldier’s calm expression despite the chaos around them.

A faint smile crossed the old man’s face. "Is that a blessing or honed from experience?"

Benign’s eyes never stopped moving. A new pattern was being born right in front of his eyes, and fewer than ten soldiers were still rallying out survivors.

He jumped down the barricade. He looked the man in the eye. "You will figure it out if you just look, Nouveu Protector."

"I needed five minutes," the man said calmly. "You just got here and already understand it."

Benign shook his head as he walked past him.

The Firewing returned carrying another injured survivor. After releasing the man beside the shelter, it took off without waiting for praise from Benign.

Benign smiled faintly. He pointed after it. "Keep checking, but be careful too. The patterns are changing."

The Firewing chirped once.

Another explosion shook the field when it lowered itself to the ground. Benign watched dozens of people freeze. He had frozen too.

The explosion came behind him. Inside the shelter.