Once the rescued civilians had been settled, the Holy Knights divided into two teams of five and resumed searching the ruins in shifts.
Yahiko and his two companions watched as the Holy Light Clerics brought back more and more people. Their faces grew increasingly weary, yet their eyes remained bright. None of the three had imagined that so many civilians could still be alive in a city overrun with rats.
"Captain, come quick! Look what I brought back!" the female priest said happily.
The other Holy Light Clerics gathered around. "Ah! A baby! What a lucky little fellow."
"Look at those chubby cheeks. His parents must have protected him well!" Oli smiled, teasing the little fellow's cheek with his rough finger.
"Yes! I found him in a rice jar! He wasn't even crying. But his parents must be gone. We saw two skeletons not far outside the house. They probably lured the rats away to keep him safe," the female priest said sadly.
"Don't worry! The Holy Church will take good care of him!" Oli said earnestly.
Suddenly, the baby, who had been quiet for so long, began wailing. The Holy Light Clerics immediately panicked. "What do we do?"
"He might be hungry!" one of them answered.
"But we didn't bring any formula!"
As the Holy Light Clerics flustered about, a middle-aged woman stepped forward. "Bring him here. I have milk!"
Oli hurriedly handed the baby to her. Watching him gulp down her milk, everyone smiled.
Konan felt that these Holy Light Clerics were especially gentle with children. Puzzled, she asked, "Why are you all so good to children?"
Oli smiled. "It isn't a question of being good to them. They're our future! Faith in the Holy Light must be passed down from generation to generation, and children are the finest seeds. We have to give them a happy future!"
"Captain, bad news!" the armed combatant at the Signal Machine suddenly shouted.
"What happened?" Oli asked urgently.
"According to the Airship's report, another huge swarm of rats is coming! And these are mutated rats. They're enormous!"
"Prepare our defenses. Suspend the rescue searches for now. Concentrate our strength and hold the Barrier!"
"Yes!"
The Holy Light Clerics began setting up defensive lines within the Barrier.
Oli looked at the rats, three times the size of the earlier ones. "Armed combatants, don't attack all at once. Take turns and conserve your holy power! Holy Cantors, keep the swarm's numbers in check. Whenever the rats bunch up, restrain them! Priests, focus on healing and be ready to support us at any moment. Knights, hold the final defensive line at the Barrier with me!"
"Yes!"
Amid flashes of fire, slashing strikes, and occasional Ninjutsu from Yahiko and his companions, another fierce battle began in the ruined city.
"Airship, Airship, we need artillery support! The rats are too densely packed!"
"Airship copies! Preparing artillery support!"
Boom! Boom!
The massive bombardment seemed to enrage the swarm. Rather than thinning out, even more rats poured up from underground.
"Damn it! Where are all these rats coming from? There's no end to them!" Oli said furiously.
"Keep calling for artillery support!"
"Yes, Captain!"
As the bombardment continued, the same report reached each captain: "Captain, we've run out of reserve Holy Light Bullets!" A trace of despair crept into their hearts.
"Contact the main force. Ask how much longer until they arrive!"
"Calling Commander Rich. The battle in the disaster zone is critical. How much longer until the main force arrives?"
Hearing the front line's plea for help, Rich furrowed his brows, his face stern. "Three hours at the earliest!"
"Please hurry. The rat swarms are getting worse, and the Airships have run out of Holy Light Bullets. The ground forces may not hold out much longer!"
"Understood. We'll get there as quickly as possible!"
"May the Holy Light protect us!"
"May the Holy Light protect us!"
"Someone, relay this to the troops. If any city ahead obstructs us again, there will be no negotiations. Tell those nobles to open their gates or die!"
"Yes!"
Oli looked at his companions, who had exhausted their holy power. "Keep requesting potion supplies!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"All ground forces, listen carefully. This is the final supply of holy power potions. The main force still needs three hours to arrive. Everyone... everyone must hold their defensive lines until the main force gets here!" the announcer aboard the Airship said in a trembling voice.
"Looks like it's time to put our lives on the line. Everyone, for the glory of the Holy Light, fight!"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Captain Oli, why don't we retreat?" Nagato approached and said coldly. He did not care much whether these civilians lived or died, as long as Yahiko and Konan were still there. As for everyone else, he would certainly save them if it was within his power, but if it exceeded his abilities, he could only apologize.
Hearing Nagato's words, the civilians panicked, all staring uneasily at Oli.
Oli gave Nagato a solemn look. "Our duty and honor will not allow us to abandon the civilians and retreat. You're Ninja. If you want to leave, we can't stop you. But we won't retreat unless every last one of us is dead."
Nagato wanted to say more, but Yahiko suddenly grabbed him. "Enough, Nagato. Don't say any more! Captain Oli, don't worry! We'll hold out to the end!"
"Thank you!" Oli said nothing more and led his team back into battle.
"Yahiko, if we can't hold out later, we have to retreat. You don't want Konan and me to die here, do you?" Nagato whispered to Yahiko.
Yahiko nodded helplessly. After all, he did not want the two companions he depended on to die here either.
As time passed, the rats' assault finally began to slacken slightly. "Captain, I'm out of holy power. We only have enough holy power potions left for one bottle each!"
Oli let out a long breath and turned to look at the anxious civilians, the baby who had fallen asleep in the woman's arms after feeding, and the young children in the crowd who still knew so little of the world, gazing at him and his companions with admiration.
"Everyone, the time has come to uphold our faith with our lives. It's unfortunate, but we may not even have time to write our last words. All I can say is, we'll meet again in the embrace of the Holy Light!"
"Captain, say no more. We all know what to do. May the Holy Light endure forever!"
"May the Holy Light endure forever!"
"One at a time! The youngest goes last!"
"Why, Captain?" the youngest Holy Light Cleric protested.
"Because you have a chance to become the seed from which our squad grows again. If you survive, go back and tell our families not to grieve too much. We never abandoned the honor in our hearts. We fulfilled our duty! And I hope you won't feel guilty. Live well, and nurture the next generation of our squad for us." Oli's voice grew gentler toward the end.
"Captain, I'm a Holy Light Cleric too! I don't want to abandon the glory of the Holy Light either. I want to fulfill my duty too!" Hexia said stubbornly, tears streaming down his face.
"If you must die, you'll be the last! Now obey your orders, Hexia."
"You little brat! Do you really want our entire squad to die and its name to be struck from the rolls?" The older Holy Light Clerics could no longer hold back and thumped Hexia on the head.
"Exactly. This brat doesn't understand the captain's intentions at all."
Looking at his seniors, who still laughed and scolded him just as they always had, Hexia clenched his teeth, his eyes red from crying. "Captain, don't worry! Our squad will live on!"
"Long live the Holy Light!" With that, Oli swallowed the holy power potion in his hand and charged out of the Barrier, cutting his way toward the densest part of the swarm until countless rats surrounded him.
Boom! A tremendous flash of white light erupted! The surrounding rats were instantly reduced to molecules!
Once the rats gathered again, another Holy Light Cleric charged out. "Long live the Holy Light!"
"Long live the Holy Light!"
Throughout the city, explosions rang out one after another as the Holy Light Clerics fulfilled their promise to the rescued civilians in the most extreme way possible. "Don't worry. Everything is all right now!"
"Can anything defeat warriors like these?" Konan asked in disbelief as she watched the Holy Light Clerics detonate themselves one after another.
"They're all mad!" Nagato said, staring wide-eyed at it all with clenched fists. But he still would not change his decision to retreat.
"Will we have courage like that one day, when we must uphold our own ninja way with our lives?" Yahiko murmured to himself.
Before you continue