Chapter Eleven: Fallen Before Victory

Chapter Eleven: The Warrior Falls Before the Battle Is Won

When Rose burst out of the tent, the battlefield was already encircled by armed soldiers, who kept the crowd at bay with their guns trained on the tent. Perhaps due to the war, not a sound came from the people; the tension in the air was so thick that it needed only a spark to ignite. Seeing Yunyang lying in a pool of blood, a sharp pain pierced her heart. She didn’t know when he had found a place within her—perhaps when others teased her, perhaps when she moved into his tent… With trembling hands, she checked his breath—cold as ice. Yet, clinging to a shred of hope, she shouted loudly for a medic.

The medics had already rushed over at the first sound of the explosion. With such a loud blast, someone was bound to be hurt. Upon reaching the scene, they gave a brief examination and shook their heads gently at Rose. There was nothing more to be done.

Her last hope shattered. A single crystal tear fell down her cheek. Piece by piece, she summoned her armor from the shadow realm, donning it as she called toward the tent, “Who are you? Come out!”

The moment after she struck, Morgana knew she had made a grave mistake. Though she couldn’t decipher Yunyang’s dark energy, which signaled his immense potential, potential was not power. A lion cub, no matter how promising, might not survive a trampling flock of sheep—let alone another lion.

But as the Demon Queen, she had never once regretted her actions. Her makeup shifted; massive steel wings unfurled, and an aura of chilling menace radiated outward. The crowd outside the tent stepped back instinctively, while the soldiers gripped their rifles tighter, prepared for anything.

“I am Morgana, the Demon Queen, daughter of the angels. I have already told you who I am.” Morgana stepped out of the tent, her steel wings and baleful presence impossible to ignore. “As for the death of this human child, I have nothing to say. Gods owe no explanations.”

“To hell with your gods! You killed my comrade—die!” Wei Qi, upon hearing that this was an alien queen, acted without hesitation. She wasn’t a Gluttonian, but she was still an alien—killing aliens was the right thing to do. He opened fire, seeking vengeance for his fallen brothers and the civilians.

Once someone started, the other soldiers no longer hesitated; rifles erupted in thunderous bursts, bullets raining toward Morgana.

She did not dodge. She simply caught the flying knife Rose hurled at her, waiting until the soldiers had emptied their magazines before she spoke.

“To borrow a line from your Earth’s novels, though the worldview may not fit this universe, there is one phrase that rings true: ‘What does it matter to you if I destroy you?’” With that, a micro-wormhole opened before Morgana. She stepped through, and just before it closed, her voice echoed out, “Go fight—fight for your country, for your people. Prove your faith to me. In the end, you shall become my warriors.”

With Morgana’s departure, the crowd and soldiers quietly began to clear the chaos. Rose, now stripped of her armor, walked to the wrecked car where Yunyang lay, gently brushing his still-surprised face; tears fell, one after another.

No one disturbed her. Everyone, understanding unspoken, kept their distance—for Old Zhang’s big mouth had ensured the whole camp knew about Rose and Yunyang. Now that her “boyfriend” had been slain by the Demon Queen, no one dared intrude.

Farewell, our dear Brother Yun. He now found himself in a world of milky white, hardly able to believe it. “Am I really dead? Weren’t transmigrators supposed to have protagonist halos? Wasn’t I destined for greatness? Weren’t heroes meant to save the world? Does this count as the warrior falling before the battle is won?”

At Yunyang’s question, the system’s voice sounded at just the right moment.

Ignoring his rambling, it replied simply and concisely: “Physically, Host, you are dead. What remains is your consciousness, preserved by the system’s self-protection protocols. But yes, you did indeed fall before your quest began.”

“Can I be revived? System, can you copy me a new body?”

Yunyang asked urgently. Knowing the Lord of Life’s immense lifespan, and seeing his own limitless future, he had no desire to die now.

“No. You are unique, both in mind and body. Otherwise, the Lord God would not have chosen you as His heir,” the system replied, its mechanical voice as stiff as ever.

“So what now? Am I really going to die?” Yunyang felt despair. With the system’s prompt, he understood the extent of his injuries. So much time had passed—even a celestial immortal could not save him now.

“Energy. Due to the uniqueness of your body, energy can revive you.”

“They’re probably already putting my corpse in a bag. Tomorrow I’ll be cremated for sure. There’s no hope,” Yunyang mocked himself.

“The system can interface with system creations and transmit information,” the system reminded him.

“Then what are you waiting for? Send a message to Xiaoyi—she’s with Rose, and she can warn her!”

Suddenly realizing he still had hope, Yunyang almost burst into laughter.

Ding—connection complete. Please enter your message, Host.

After a moment’s thought, Yunyang typed: Energy. The master needs energy—a vast amount of energy.

He couldn’t say much, not wanting to reveal too much, but Rose should understand. For the members of the Super Soldier Legion, energy was no problem. Wasn’t there Emperor Leina, the living battery?

Xiaoyi, busy in virtual space wrestling with a shell, was suddenly interrupted by the message—Yunyang’s message. Realizing her master might be in danger, she didn’t care about the source and immediately sent out a signal.

In her grief, Rose suddenly felt Xiaoyi vibrating frantically in her pocket. She hesitated to take it out, afraid it might be a call from Yunyang’s parents, but then remembered that all global communications had been severed by the demons. It couldn’t possibly be a phone call.

After vibrating for a while with no result, Xiaoyi grew anxious, turned her speaker to full volume, and shouted, “Sister Rose! Sister Rose, are you there? What happened to my master? Sister Rose!”

Realizing the importance of the message, Rose hurriedly took Xiaoyi from her pocket and looked at the screen.

On the display, a little girl’s face appeared, urgently asking, “Sister Rose, what happened to the master? He says he needs energy—a vast amount of energy!”

“What? Yunyang can still be saved? He needs energy? How is that possible?” Rose asked in disbelief.

“Yes, energy. The master says he needs energy.”

“Alright, I understand. I’ll take care of the energy. Don’t worry, I’ll bring your master back,” Rose promised Xiaoyi. The first person she thought of was Leina—for when it comes to energy, who rivals the civilization that studies stellar power?

With that, Rose tried to store Yunyang’s body in a micro-wormhole, but failed—there seemed to be encryption preventing it. With no other option, she asked someone to find a man-sized box, but that wasn’t something that could be found immediately.

She had intended to leave for Leina’s location at once, but without the right tools, she had no choice but to wait until the next day. She carried Yunyang to a new tent. The tent’s original occupant, seeing Rose arrive with a blood-soaked body, wisely vacated—it’s not as though anyone wanted to share their quarters with a corpse.

After settling Yunyang, Rose fetched buckets of hot and cold water, adjusting the temperature. She needed to clean the blood from his body. Tearing away the blood-soaked rags, she saw his unnaturally twisted spine, the exposed white bones of his arms and legs, and felt another wave of sorrow.

She added another mark to her tally of grudges against the demons—her beloved had been slain by the Demon Queen. Judging by the severity of his wounds, it was a killing blow. “Beloved” seemed the right word; after all, Old Zhang and Old Seven had both acknowledged their relationship. The thought brought a blush to her cheeks.

Perhaps it was the relentless pressure of war—her father’s sacrifice, missing teammates, fallen comrades—but she simply couldn’t bring herself to hate this young man who argued with her, yet always brightened her mood.

Her thoughts wandered as her hands moved with military efficiency. Even faced with a naked, broken man, she did what needed to be done without a change in expression. After several changes of water, she finally washed all the blood from Yunyang’s body.

Seeing the bleeding had stopped, and remembering the pool of blood on the ground, Rose wondered if he had any left. Should she send him to the medics for a transfusion? She decided against it—it would just leak out again. Besides, Xiaoyi had said that all he needed was energy, not blood. Better not to trouble the nurses.

After drying his body and resetting his dislocated bones, Yunyang no longer looked quite so ghastly. She laid his naked form on the bed and covered him with a blanket. Watching him for a while, she thought that aside from his pallor, he looked only as if he were sleeping. Her worries eased a little.

Lying down, Rose’s mind wandered to many things: her distant father, her comrades in the Super Soldier Legion—especially Ge Xiaolun, whom she had once kissed, which now stirred a guilty feeling. She thought of Aunt Lianfeng, who had always cared for her, and Sister Yuqin, now all lost or in danger for the sake of Earth.

And where was the Lord of the Galaxy, her father’s favored protégé? Off chasing angels on some distant world. She knew it was by order, but she truly could not understand—what could possibly be more important than Earth’s survival?

That night, Rose thought endlessly, until sleep finally claimed her…