I always thought dying in war as a soldier was the peak of manhood — the truest way to prove you were a man. How laughable. I always believed I was fighting for my country. But no.
I was fighting for those degenerate, selfish bastards. All for what — power?
******
"Major! Major!"
That voice cut through the roar of explosions around Din, but it was almost drowned by the thunder of war. He stood in the middle of the battlefield, corpses strewn around him.
Some were friends, comrades, brothers in arms.
Some were new recruits — boys who had come with dreams of providing for their families, of protecting them.
Snap.
A twig underfoot snapped and a heavy weight pressed down on his shoulders.
"What… where…" Din's lusterless eyes widened as realization came.
"Major!" a young soldier called as Din turned stiffly. The soldier's childhood features were barely gone; this was his first war. His hands trembled on Din's shoulders, his leg quivered.
"Private," Din answered.
Boom.
A grenade detonated nearby. They were outside the blast radius, but the shockwave still hit them. Din landed hard on the ground, his ears ringing as he clutched his head.
This war was intense. How could they, after all their plans and spies, still have fallen into a trap? Din's mind raced.
He was right. They had walked into an ambush; the enemy surrounded them. By the time they realized, it was too late. The enemy swarmed like ants, tearing through their first line of defense.
Their backs were against the breach. There was no escape except to fight through — but they were outmatched and outnumbered.
It was only a matter of time before Din and his army were wiped out.
"I need to inform the Lieutenant General," Major General Din said. There must be a high-level spy among them who leaked their information. The Lieutenant General had to be told.
Right now Din didn't care about his life or death; he cared about getting the information out. As a soldier, he was ready to lay down his life for his country.
"Private, I need you to—" Din's words trailed off as his body trembled. The kid at his side was dead; his guts had been blasted to pieces.
"Is this it?" Din closed his eyes. This boy was part of the newest batch of privates; Din remembered giving them a speech that morning. He'd joked, saying they had it easy — this would be the easiest war for them. Now they were all dead.
The metallic scent of explosions mixed with blood filled Din's nostrils as he looked around. Corpses enough to form a mountain lay everywhere.
The enemy had suffered minimal damage; his army had been wiped out.
And most importantly, he couldn't get any information out. That meant in future engagements his country might lose more men because of the spy.
The gunfire abruptly stopped. Din knelt on the battlefield. He was probably the only one left alive.
The ground trembled under the enemy boots as they searched the field.
Din looked at his AK. The bullets were finished. His pistol was empty.
It was over for him, but Din had no fear — only regret.
"Wait… a high-ranking officer spotted," a young voice called as marching boots drew nearer.
Din's head hung low in defeat.
For him there was nothing left. He had no regrets. He'd lost his parents two years ago, and at thirty he had accomplished a lot in the military to reach the rank of Major General. It was a befitting life. Din had poured his body and soul into the army. Growing up he had been looked down on, but he loved war and battles and had worked hard to join the military.
He knew he could die anytime, but he loved his country. Their leaders were making it a better place — or so he believed. Dying for his country was the least he could do to ensure a better tomorrow.
"Major General, sir," a voice announced; Din assumed the report was being made to the commander in charge.
"Good,".,.., a voice answered.
Din had no plan to listen. Whether he was killed or taken, whether they gathered information from him or not, he would be dead in the end — whether instantly or after a delay.
But the voice that replied to the report sounded… oddly familiar.
Din lifted his head to look at the advancing soldiers.
"Doesn't that sound like Lieu—" he began, but his words died as unfamiliar faces met his. Cold, bloody, and ready to kill.
Seeing them, Din smiled.
For a second there he had thought it was the Lieutenant General. Din chuckled at the crazy thought, but he didn't have to for long. The first row of soldiers moved to the side as a familiar face came into view.
"Lieutenant General? How come…" Din said, shocked. He looked around — had backup arrived? No messages had gotten out from the battlefield. So how?
"Major General Din, who knew you could survive to the end?" a middle-aged man said as he approached. Tall, stern, and grinning, he made Din's mind reel with confusion.
"What is going on?" Din gasped.
"Ah, glad you asked, Din," the Lieutenant General said. "You did well. Our soldiers fought a great battle; none deserted — they gave their all to the end. You trained them well." His tone was casual, like men in the barracks sharing tea, completely at odds with the carnage around them.
"I commend you. What's happening is… well, let's just say it's for the greater good," the Lieutenant General continued. He smiled as if they weren't standing amidst dead bodies.
Din's shout cut through him. "How dare you! After everything — you were the betrayer! How dare you betray our country!" Din fumed, unable to contain his anger at the treachery and the thought that no one would ever know the truth.
"Hahaha… betrayal? Wait, what do you think this is? Oh." The Lieutenant General laughed before stopping. "I forgot you were informed this was a battle between the two countries, that they wanted to advance and take our territory and kill our people.. oh Please — it wasn't. Our leaders needed some people to die. You see, both our countries discovered a very important and rare material. Of course we both wanted it, but our leaders proposed a plan. Instead of openly fighting, why don't we cooperate a bit? If we staged a small, controlled battle, the other nations wouldn't investigate. They'd think it natural. The news of this material won't get out that way."
Din's eyes widened as the truth sank in.
"You… sacrificed our lives for a rare material?!" Din's voice trembled with fury. "They had families! They thought they were fighting to protect their people — their country! But to you, they're what? Disposable beings? Fighting for a stupid material?!"
His eyes burned red as he shouted. A sharp pain stabbed his side, and he clenched his ribs.
"Shhh… there, there," the Lieutenant General said calmly. "You probably broke a few ribs. Let me correct you — this material is very important. In fact, you should be grateful your lives can even be compared to it. Its worth exceeds that of an entire country." His smile turned into a cruel smirk. "But a dead man doesn't need to know more. Just understand — this runs deeper than you think."
Din's mind went blank. He felt flustered… and foolish. Of course. How could he forget? Soldiers like him were nothing but pawns — always following orders, fighting wars, dying in battles that meant nothing. Over the years, he'd accepted that as a low-ranking soldier. But now—
"I'm a Major General," Din muttered, his voice trembling. "Why me?"
"That's simple, really," the Lieutenant General replied. "We wanted the war to look believable — intense, but not too chaotic. A full General would draw too much attention, a Sergeant would be too low. But you… a Major General? Perfect."
He gestured with a wave. One of the men beside him handed him a pistol. The Lieutenant General took it, weighing it casually in his hand before glancing at Din.
"What? A Major General…" Din laughed bitterly, his voice cracking. "So I never escaped being a pawn. I can still be used — even now? And my men… all of them died for nothing. Why? Why can't I escape this cycle? Why must you kill us for such worthless reasons? Every one of these bodies," he growled, his eyes glowing blood-red, "every single one had a family. People who loved them. People waiting for them to come home. And you… you killed them — for what? To use them as disposable pawns?"
The Lieutenant General chuckled, his expression twisted with amusement. "Aren't you going to say something else? Shout at me? Insult me?"
Din's shoulders slumped. "What's the point? Would it change anything?" His voice cracked, heavy with exhaustion and despair.
"No," the Lieutenant General said, raising the pistol. "But it's entertaining."
He smiled coldly. "Thank you for your service, Major General. You're dismissed."
BANG.
A single, clean shot to the head.
Din's body collapsed to the ground — lifeless.
BOOM.
At that exact moment, deep beneath the earth, a translucent crystal pulsed faintly — flickering in and out of existence — as Din's final breath left his body.