Jack couldn't stand the terrible stench of manure.
He continued forward, behind the vanguards of the army, making good tracks through the underside of Equus.
It took quite a while for the thousand men to finally reach a fork in the sewers.
The army split into very specific branches that each took a path forward.
Chase led the middle branch that Jack and Kono had also been assigned to, as they followed their group of fifty.
Their general was also with them, Onyx of House Dragon had been named their commanding officer and would lead this group into the heart of the city while the other groups would begin to bring civilians into the sewers, leading them out of the city.
Jack felt fear, anxiousness, as well as pride for his own city.
The troops were not allowed to speak, as if they did they would disrupt the quiet sounds of footsteps, which for some reason King Chase had found a strange liking within the noises of gushing water and footsteps.
Onyx had whispered to his men that strange information, basically ordering them to remain quiet.
Jack did not know why, but he had heard the stories of how Chase had fought one on one against the man who had single handedly torn through Phoenix Academy's defenses.
He had declared himself The Sun Breaker, and was no doubt strong enough to destroy one.
Jack felt inferior to the boy he had once made fun of for being a Stray...
It was strange, almost like it had all come full circle.
Kono looked at Jack and tilted his head.
"Dude... I should have tried harder at getting a girlfriend..."
He whispered with regret in his voice.
Jack only scowled, stepping forward along the edge of the pavement, where below was a river of shit water.
"I'm serious man..."
Kono whispered, holding his sword flat on his shoulder as he walked.
"So you could leave her and die in battle?"
Jack eventually hissed back at the unserious boy who would soon turn eighteen.
Kono threw his head back, making a scrunching face as he hissed back.
"I don't wanna die a virgin!"
Onyx turned his head back, and made a look of pure hatred at the boy.
"Sorry sir."
Kono muttered quietly as the army continued forward.
Jack couldn't help but feel worse and worse as they went on through the sewers.
As more doorways opened up further ahead, the army continued to branch off, as far behind them, groups of civilians began to rush through the sewers and down the path the army had taken.
'Woah... It's actually working...'
Jack couldn't help but feel amazed at the plans that Chase had made in such a short amount of time.
Then...
They finally reached a very active part of the sewer where corpses had started to pile up as they walked.
Rider had thrown the dead into the sewers like garbage...
Jack felt anger run through his being, but Chase eventually spoke up as they reached a final stairway...
His voice was powerful, much more influential than it had been on the day Phoenix Academy's aetherball team had won the championship game...
"Soldiers! At this moment! You will rise up these stairs! And you will kill all soldiers who rest in the barracks of Equus! Rider's men will live and die by your own blades! So stand tall, stand proud! And do not buckle under the fates that you will meet on this dreadful day!"
He said with a strange amount of charisma, as soldiers began to raise their weapons into the air, chanting the name of their own kingdom.
"SOLIS!"
"SOLIS! SOLIS! SOLIS!"
It continued underneath the barracks until strange clattering could be heard from above, until everyone started to rush up the stairs and through a cramped doorway.
They had truly caught the enemy off guard, as the vanguards sprinted into the barracks, killing anyone that was close to the doors.
Jack and Kono were pulled by the crowd of their comrades, having no choice but to steel themselves in the face of war.
Then it begun...
Killing...
So much killing...
Blood had already started to fill the wooden floor of the first sleeping quarters of the men as horns began to sound, but they were quickly cut off as the men sounding them had their throats slit within seconds of their attempt at alerting the other soldiers.
Jack followed his fellow soldiers, as far in front of the rushing crowd of men, Onyx had taken lead, slashing and tearing at all of the men before him.
The general had turned into a single catalyst of death as his dragonscale blade continued to meet soldier after soldier.
Jack felt hesitation creep into his being as more and more soldiers began to take up arms against them.
Tightening his grip on his sword, he muttered a short prayer.
Then he let out a war cry, charging forward into a singled out soldier.