Transmigrated As An Extra In The Apocalypse
Chapter 102 - 101: Painful Truth

Chapter 102: Chapter 101: Painful Truth

A hushed conversation caught my attention.

Somewhere in the darkness of the truck, beyond the faceless figures packed tightly together, a man and a woman whispered urgently.

I couldn’t make out everything, but one word stood out.

"Master Awakened."

My breath hitched slightly.

I glanced at Beth, and from the way her eyes sharpened, I knew she had heard it too.

Master Awakened.

The very name carried weight, both in fear and admiration.

In the battlefield they are like untouchable titans.

If Awakened were already powerful, then Master Awakened were something beyond that, an apex that only a few had ever reached.

They weren’t just strong.

They were monsters.

No one knew exactly what made someone ascend to that level, only that once they did, they became something entirely different.

The strength gap between a normal Awakened and a Master Awakened wasn’t just a gap, it was an abyss.

They were faster, stronger, deadlier.

And worst of all?

They were given access to things the rest of us could only dream of.

Advanced tools.

Weapons, advance suit, relics, equipment so powerful that even a regular Awakened with one of them could shift the tides of battle.

But in the hands of a Master Awakened?

It was devastation.

And now someone in this truck was whispering about them?

Beth shifted beside me, her fingers tapping lightly against the rusted metal wall.

I could tell she was thinking about something.

Master Awakened don’t appear for no reason.

They only appear when the battle is above the whole world.

Which I didn’t quite agree with, they should appear to make the battle more easier rather than waiting for innocent lives to be loss in a battle they can end once.

Whatever they are saying about them, it must be important.

The low murmur of voices continued, just barely audible over the rattling of the truck.

I strained my ears, trying to catch their conversation without drawing attention to myself.

"Throughout the entire fight..." the female voice hesitated, her tone carrying a weight of disbelief. "While the Awakened and soldiers were fighting against the Orc Lord... not a single Master Awakened was there to help or assist."

A pause followed, heavy with unspoken thoughts.

"That doesn’t make sense," the male voice replied, quieter, but firm. "They should have been there. Someone should have stepped in."

Beth stiffened beside me.

My thoughts churned.

He was right.

The Orc Lord wasn’t just some mindless brute.

He was destruction incarnate, something far beyond the capabilities of normal Awakened.

Even high-rank Awakened struggled against him.

But during that entire battle, not a single Master Awakened had intervened.

It was unheard of.

Beth exhaled sharply.

"So they just let that happen?, Pathetic." she muttered under her breath.

I didn’t answer immediately.

I was too busy thinking.

Where were they?

Master Awakened weren’t the type to ignore large-scale battles, especially one involving a being as powerful as the Orc Lord.

They were supposed to be humanity’s strongest line of defense, the ones who could turn the tide of battle effortlessly.

But this time?

Nothing.

They had abandoned us.

Or...

They had a reason for not being there.

A chill ran through me.

What could possibly be more important than stopping an Orc Lord?

What could keep every Master Awakened away from a battle that risked wiping out an entire city?

I didn’t know.

But I had the sinking feeling that whatever the answer was...

It was worse than anything I could imagine.

The truck rattled violently as it hit another bump, but I barely noticed.

My focus was on the voices in the darkness.

"I heard something," the female voice spoke again, softer this time, like she was hesitant to say it out loud. "From someone I trust. They said... the government is the reason the Masters weren’t in the fight."*

My breath caught in my throat.

Beside me, Beth let out a quiet scoff.

"Of course, they were." Her voice was low, dripping with sarcasm, but beneath it was something else.

Something colder.

The male voice responded, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the Masters weren’t missing by accident," the female explained, her words sharper now. "They were kept away."

Beth and I exchanged a glance.

Kept away?

My thoughts raced, piecing together what that could mean.

The government wasn’t stupid.

They knew what the Orc Lord was capable of.

So why, why, would they deliberately stop the only people who had a real chance at winning?

Unless...

"They wanted the city to fall," I whispered, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut.

Beth exhaled slowly, her fingers curling into fists.

"Seems that way, doesn’t it?"

It made sense now.

The way the Masters had simply been absent.

The way we had fought, struggled, died, all without a single one of them coming to help.

The government chose this.

But why?

What could possibly be worth sacrificing an entire city?

My stomach twisted.

The battle with the Orc Lord had been bad enough.

But if there was something worse happening behind the scenes, something dangerous enough for the government to abandon thousands of people, then we were all in far more trouble than we realized.

The truck jolted again, sending a wave of uncomfortable silence through the cramped, dark space.

The voices continued in hushed tones, but I could hear every word.

"How?" the male voice asked, his tone tense with disbelief. "How could the government even make sure all the Masters were gone?"

There was a slight pause before the female answered, her voice carrying the weight of something she had been holding back.

"They separated them."

Beth shifted beside me, straightening slightly as if bracing herself.

I did the same.

"What do you mean?" the male asked, the frustration growing in his voice.

"I mean they were sent away, escorted people out of the city. The rich. The powerful. Those who could afford to leave before the battle even started."

I clenched my jaw, my fingers curling into the fabric of my pants.

So that was it.

The government hadn’t just left us to die, they had ensured that those with power and influence got to safety while the rest of us were left to be slaughtered.

The Masters hadn’t abandoned us.

They had been ordered away.

I swallowed hard, trying to push down the growing rage boiling inside me. It didn’t work.

"They used them," I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper.

Beth let out a bitter chuckle.

"Wouldn’t be the first time, wouldn’t be the last." She exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "They sent the strongest people we had away so a bunch of rich cowards could sleep in comfort while we got butchered."

The female voice continued, her words growing heavier with each sentence.

"I don’t know if the Masters even knew what was happening. They were told it was an emergency, that high-priority figures needed protection. By the time they realized, it was too late."

My stomach lurch, the realization that we had never stood a chance.

The government had chosen to sacrifice us.

And we had never even known.

The truck rattled violently, its rusted frame groaning as it rolled over another uneven patch of road.

The darkness surrounding us felt suffocating, but it was nothing compared to the weight of the conversation unfolding before me.

"You’re telling me... that’s what happened?" the male voice asked, his words slow, like he was struggling to piece everything together.

There was something raw in his tone, shock, disbelief, maybe even a shred of hope that she was wrong.

But the female didn’t hesitate.

"Yeah," she said, her voice flat, as if she’d already come to terms with the ugly truth. "The government even tried to send some of the high-ranked Awakened along with the Masters, to escort the rich out of the city."

A sharp silence followed, heavy and stifling.

I could feel Beth’s body tense beside me.

Her breathing had slowed, controlled, but I knew that they was a storm brewing beneath the surface.

"But they didn’t," the male murmured.

"No," the female confirmed.

"They decided to leave them behind, to fight, to protect the city." There was no sympathy in her voice, just the cold, hard truth. "Some of them probably think they made the right choice. Maybe they even think they were doing the city a favor. But in the end, it didn’t matter."

Beth let out a sharp exhale, her fingers flexing against the metal floor.

"So, let me get this straight," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "They took the most powerful fighters and shipped them off to play bodyguards for the rich, and then, just for fun, they considered sending more Awakened with them, before deciding, nah, let’s keep a few as cannon fodder?"

No one answered, but the silence spoke volumes.

The truck lurched again, and I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.

Even some of the government weren’t in the city anymore.

They had left.

They had all left.

Not just the Masters.

Not just the elite.

Even the people who were supposed to leave us had abandoned ship before the battle had even begun.

I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears, a slow, burning anger bubbling beneath the surface.

"They sacrificed us," I muttered under my breath.

Beth let out a bitter laugh.

"Yeah. And guess what? In the end... We still lost."