'Oh! Let's run away from the Decimal that has a rune that can make her run faster than you! Surely that's gonna work!'"Come on, Dirt Eater!" I heard the maniac chasing me shout out as my feet carried me even deeper into enemy territory. "Do more of the advanced moves!""Leave me alone!"I carved through a stray Decimal as I rushed through the oncoming tide of enemies; Olivia's swath of destruction serving as a decent guide for me to follow her. It would've been better if she didn't run off into who knows where, but I had to make do somehow. And I'm sure that she knows what she's doing if she had the audacity to charge blade-first into a wall of factual lemmings- Fuck!*CLANG!*"I won't stop until you cease and desist, Dirt Eater!"My momentum was suddenly moved towards my right side as I blocked this insane chick's heavy attack on my left, causing me to swerve haphazardly towards a group of unassuming Decimals that s
"You're an insignificant Dirt Eater. How hard is it to understand?"I felt my brain explode at the incomprehensibility of my current situation. I knew that indoctrination was a thing, but there was still a part of me that somehow believed in common human decency; that as a person, anyone can have the capacity to feel pity and empathize with someone despite having completely different upbringings."As Denominators, you are all expected to perform in service for the Empire," the Decimal soundly declared as she spouted out what sounded like wholehearted propaganda in my ears. "You should be honored that we are even trusting you lot to give us quality gear, not with your lot's reputation of being lazy and careless when it came to your work."I felt my tears become not of emotion, but of one of rage and anger as quickly as I heard this piece of shit reb
It all happened in a flash.In the blink of an eye, the Decimal was suddenly in front of me. Not even giving me the chance to defend myself, she raised her halberd with the clear intention of killing me with it."Die!"Fuck!*CLANG!*I grunted as I caught the halberd mid-swing with my katana, my shoulders buckling as I held the damn thing at an awkward angle. Her speed was a problem that I had to address here and now. But first, I had to disengage!*CLANG!*With a heave, I pushed the halberd off of me before deftly slinking away from the inevitable follow-up-*Crash!*-the halberd crashing onto solid ground while I quickly positioned myself on her backside. My eyes quickly searched for the Momentum Runes, which, as they should be, were still glowing due to their very recent usage."W-What are you doing?!""Gimping you, asshole."Gathering the prop
My feet dug itself deep into what was once the soot-covered ground as I managed to reorient myself back to the trail of death and destruction that Olivia left in her wake. It was honestly a miracle that I managed to do so in the first place. What with my surroundings zipping past my peripherals as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.*CLANG! STAB! STAB!*With an occasional parry and stab, I found myself flying through the enemy territory as my pursuit of my wayward sister continued. I was back to cutting and stabbing through Decimals with ease as opposed to that one fringe incident with that cute Decimal earlier. It was a welcome change, seeing as my body still burned due to the thorough beatdown that I received from her.*CLANG! CLANG!*I didn't even look at these mooks as I guarded against their weak-ass attacks. To be fair though, I think it was due to them rushing towards the front-lines that they didn't bother focusing on the one
Emerald was just a young girl when she had first heard about the Fraction System. The concept of Numerators and Denominators never really stood out for the young girl, the information surrounding the topic whizzing over her head when her parents tried to teach her about it. And while she learned that Numerators were like the best heroes of the Empire, Denominators were apparently the worst people to ever grace the Empire. Some family members talked about rumors regarding the 'Dirt Eaters' as they called it. They were the scum of the earth, they said, and that they were too selfish and lazy that they allowed their previous Emperor and war hero to die due to not making his armor and weapons as strong as they should've been. As a child, she never paid too much attention to these things; content in living a modest life learning how to read and write in preparation for taking over the family business.Unfortunately, on the day of her sixteenth birthday,
It has probably been a week since we escaped from our precarious position. Leaving the bodies of our fallen enemies behind us, we, as a group, pressed forward towards the nearest Decimal station situated near the exit of the Furnace. Miraculously, I was correct in saying that the army we slaughtered was practically the main brunt of the workforce stationed here. So, once we managed to set ourselves up across the rest of the Furnace, we essentially had the whole place to ourselves.The whole industrial might of an Imperial Furnace. Now that was something that was scary to think about if you're trying to put down a rebellion. I knew for a fact that It's been far too long since we commandeered the place. The Empire should be mobilizing right about now, probably just waiting for the go signal before swarming in through those gigantic wooden doors separating us from the outside world. Not that we were complace
"Sis!"Olivia's jarring call for my attention shook me out of my reverie. I didn't remember why, but I feel like I was forgetting something again. it wouldn't be the first-"Crimson!" "Crimson!" "Crimson!"-time...My eyes widened as I realized just what was happening. I was standing in front of over five hundred of my fellow Denominators, all holding their own rifle in their arms as they all laid their eyes on my conscious form. W-what was I doing?*We will make it out of here alive.*That voice... Backus... It sounded... amplified?*Crimson has a plan to get us out of here!*Another one, this time sounding like... Olivia? What was happening?*It won't be the first time
After a few minutes of awkwardly walking like I had a cucumber stuck in between my legs, Olivia and I finally found ourselves in front of one of the two gigantic doors leading outside the Furnace. Behind us, a ragtag group of over five-hundred-strong Denominators assumed their positions and waited for my next orders."Give me a sit-rep.""All five hundred and thirty-six Denominators are ready and awaiting your plans, young Crimson," Backus calmly replied. "The guards weren't able to see beyond these doors, but they said that the noise sounded as if there were a considerable number of enemies present on the other side."Welp... That had bad news written all over the place.I nodded at the relatively old information relayed to me by the elder. Not that I didn't appreciate it, but we already knew what laid behind the other