III - Insanity
When they finally came out of the mountains, soaking wet and very cold, they heard the sound of gunfire coming from the grasslands. Balamb put his chocobo into a gallop and quickly came into view of the battle that was taking place. The Wutai had already set forces at the foot of the mountain and were defending the grasslands against the first legion of soldiers.
Balamb yelled at the lieutenant-generals to line the army in an effective battle formation. They quickly rushed to take line while Balamb scanned the slaughter below them. He established a point of attack, where the Wutai general was most likely to be.He turned his chocobo to look at the men he had responsibilty for. The rain continued to fall on the cold armor of the tired soldiers. But there was no choice.
Balamb instructed the generals to send the legion in two waves, one five minutes after the first. "Do you see where the first legion converged?" Balamb shouted. "Right in the center of the battlefield, that's where your target is." Balamb unsheathed his blade and looked at the legion that was his charge.
"In that field below us, that army is trying to take away your lives. They came for your home. They came to claim victory. The Midgar Army has not lost a war in three hundred years. And we won't lose this one tonight."
Balamb yelled to the legion, who yelled back to their leader. The voices echoed off the soakedmountain walls and was heard on the battlefield. The Wutai took notice and theall of the Midgar Armyhadn't been sent in a single wave. The cries of the second legion rang as Balamb put his chocobo into a run into the bloodshed of war, the second legion following suit.
Balamb rushed into the middle of battle where the Wutai and Midgar soldiers were of equal numbers. He leapt off the chocobo and unsheathed the Cannibal, landing into battle swinging. It was the same brutal scene he remembered on the coast, only on a grander scale.
Balamb continued to slash his way into the field of men, heading for the further end of the field where the Wutai general would be. And it soon came to be that the whole of the Shinra Army had charged into battle. The Wutai forces were quickly declining under the force that the Shinra Weapons Company had built.
After countless enemies and kills, Balamb noticed the garb of a Wutai general, so he made his way towards him through the remaining hordes of Wutai soldiers.
The general was a tall, scarred old man who carried a broadsword across his shoulders. He was quick in killing the growing number of Shinra soldiers that gathered around him. Balamb arrived and charged at the general swinging the Cannibal, but the general was able to parry the strike and quickly counterattacked. Balamb managed to roll away from the general before he swung.
The general leapt into the air and brought his broadsword into the ruby-colored ground where Balamb only stood a second before. He leapt back and surveyed his opponent the best he could. The old general was in many ways a worthy enemy for Balamb's skills.
Balamb charged at the Wutai general again, who deflected and counterattacked Balamb, who, in turn, deflected and counterattacked. It was like this for many moments with numerous close kills. The general was growing frustrated and in anger, brought his broadsword down too quickly to stop. The end of the massive blade dug into the earth and the general struggled to free it from it's bond.
Balamb saw a chance to strike the general and he took it, charging forward, Balamb kicked into the general's torso, and quickly swung the Cannibal, thrusting upward and meeting the general's abdomen.
With a grunt of pain, the general grabbed the blade with his left hand and held it in place, while he lifted his right hand and looked at Balamb. A faint red shimmer came from his hand and he closed his eyes. Balamb pulled the Cannibal from the general, who fell to the ground in a warrior's death.
For a moment, the soldiers who had seen the kill stood silent. Balamb glanced around at the Wutai soldiers and knew what had just happened. He knelt over the general and felt around his armor and sword but it was on the general's wrist that Balamb found it. He held the wrist up and stared at the red summon materia that was attached to the general's bracelet.
A rumble came from the ground beneath their feet and the Wutai quickly began to withdraw. Balamb glanced around the land where the rumbling was beginning to grow into quakes. Balamb backed away from the area just as the ground broke through where two large hands protruded and were pulling their being out of the earth. The area cleared as the summoned beast rose out.
It roared as it appeared, clawing its way out of hell. Balamb recognized it as Maraud, grandfather of Ifrit. When Maraud looked down and saw that the summoner had been killed, he grew angry that he had been called for no reason. He roared and charged into the surrounding army. The soldiers scattered as the beast began its attack. Balamb, too, fled from the beast, but only to analyze the monster. The beast charged on all fours, throwing flares into the soldiers and burning them to death. He ran in a spiral pattern forcing any enemies out of that area.
When Balamb memorized the pattern, he ran into Maraud's path and flung the Cannibal through the air and into his hide. Maraud roared a deafening cry of pain as Balamb charged at the beast and forced his blade deeper into Maraud. He nearly fell as the Soldier pulled the Cannibal and began to hack into its body. Adrenaline throbbed in his veins like they were on fire, fueling his assault and breaking his limits to the point where Maraud was knocked back several feet before succumbing to death on the blood soaked earth.
Balamb stared at the monster as it died, burning to death from its own blood. He looked down at the Cannibal, permanently burnt from the encounter. When he stared back into the flame, he saw the figure once more. The pain shot into his mind, that same familiar clawing. He grabbed his head and cried in pain, but he didn't pass out as before. He fell to his knees and the pain just continued. He stared into the flames, and saw the grey-eyed soldier; he suppressed his cries of agony to take a good look at the figure. But it wasn't long before the pain worsened, forcing him to lie on the ground and tremble. It ached harder as he saw an image rising from the shoulder of the silver-eyed man; an image that stretched out over the figure's head and spread over the flames. A single sight that finally snapped Balamb's mind and forced him to cry out in fear.
Ferric pushed his way through the gathering crowd around Balamb, closely followed by three of his generals. When he reached him, Ferric knelt down beside the trembling Balamb and put his hand on his shoulder. Balamb quieted his screams and tried to gasp for help, but he could only whimper.
"Poor, helpless Balamb…" Ferric said quietly, so that no one but Balamb could hear him. "The professor will want to see you right away. He's been waiting for this day for a long time." Ferric stood up and turned to his generals.
"He's been badly poisoned from the monster." He said to them. "Take him to Professor Hojo, he'll be able to treat him."
The generals picked Balamb up by his arms and dragged him across the ground towards a chocobo. He was trembling and grunting, trying to suppress the pain, but it wouldn't escape him. He was forever marred by the sight of the one-winged angel.
End Of Part III