A memory.

The monster thought back. To when it was feared.

As one of the strongest on the tower, it lived a carefree life.

That all changed with the presence of invaders. A strange flying wyvern flew in and fought it, managing to get some hits in before both sides retreated. A while later, some hunters showed up, seeming to be similarly strange.

After defeating the Rathalos, they immediately went to attack it. The monster was then introduced to the concept of fear.

They transformed themselves, losing themselves to their power. In that moment, the monster finally felt weak. It was able to flee as they turned on each other, but this only made things worse.

It couldn't stand the feeling of being weak. The idea that something stronger and more fierce than it existed was an insult to its very being.

But, when it tried to take revenge, they were nowhere to be found. Aimlessly, it wandered, destroyed everything in its path, trying to create as much fear towards itself as it felt then.

It was a few years before it found what it was looking for. As it was destroying another village, it saw a small child. He seemed helpless, yet something was off. He had the same smell as the leader of the group the monster had faced before. Yet, he wasn't the same. It would have to wait for him to grow for him to become identical.

So, it let that boy live, knowing that he'd come to take revenge one day.

Years passed. The virus it was suffering from changed, making it stronger.

The confrontation finally arrived. It underestimated its opponent. Once again, a strange power took all its confidence away. Once again, it was forced too flee.

With this defeat, it found resolve. To become stronger, even more demonic, so it couldn't lose. To survive, it started targeting other monsters of the same type, consuming them to attempt to strengthen its own virus.

Eventually, its actions went noticed. It was asked to join an army, so it accepted.

After defeating more humans like its target, it still felt unfulfilled. It wouldn't be satisfied until it had revenge. However, these fights taught it something. These humans get stronger when they lose allies. If you kill one, the rest power up.

So, the answer was simple. Kill that hunter's allies, then crush him when he's at full strength. That would be an undisputable victory, putting it back at the top.

This is what led Virtas face to face with the now enraged Joseph.

Once again, it attempted to blow him up. But, he seemed faster now. Too fast. Despite his injuries, he slipped past the projectiles without any effort.

Confused, it tried to attack with its claws, but the attack was dodged before it even got near him. With the remains of the sword, Joseph stabbed into Virtas.

All the rest could do was watch in confusion as Joseph managed to push Virtas back.

"What is this power? He was nothing like this a few seconds ago. Even if he powered up from losing an ally, there's no way he could get this strong that quick! What the hell is this!?"

Eventually, the Tigrex turned to retreat once more. Joseph chased after it, refusing to let it get away.

At another part of the battlefield, Riko stared blankly.

"It's all because I fell. If I'd just been strong enough to keep standing, then I could've died instead. It's always like this. Because I'm not strong enough to stand on my own, others keep getting hurt. It happened with Kam, and it's happened now. So I can't afford to fall anymore. I have to be invincible."

He stood up again, inexplicably. Gravitas turned back around, confused.

Riko charged at it. It attacked back, yet he didn't even try to dodge. No matter how many times he was hit, he refused to go down. He continued slashing until Gravitas was on the ground, no longer breathing.

The other monsters tried to surround him, but the result was the same. The man could no longer be overcome with force. Even when heavily injured, it was like he hadn't been harmed at all.

Alexandra, Zino, Callum, Sanchez, Ed and Revel finally managed to finish their own fights. They were injured in the process, but managed to get through it somehow. But there was no time for them to rest, since they had to help the others.

By the time they arrived they were already too late. Riko stood there alone, surrounded by defeated monsters.

The hunter and Rathian dropped to the ground, unmoving.

Sean stared down, unable to process this. The flames of revenge came from the one below, stuck on the ground.

"I couldn't control it again. I couldn't control anything. She slipped away because of him, again. Here I am, once more, stuck on the ground as everything flies away. I won't accept it. Not anymore. I can't accept not being able to change anything."

Frugalitas continued to fling rubble around, before being taken by surprise by the rubble hitting it instead. It turned.

Matt was still stood on the ground, staring up at it. Rubble floated around him, being held up by an invisible force.

He fired.

The projectiles bombarded the monster, breaking through its guard. In frustration, it tried to fling the projectiles back, but they were unable to reach him, only being turned against it.

The Kushala realised this wouldn't work and tried to close in, but was still unable to hit him. A few minutes passed. The fight was over.

Matt stared down at the corpse, trying to work out what to take revenge on. This wasn't enough. He had to fight more. Until there was nothing out of his control anymore.

Natalie watched as Ben and Plessy dropped to the ground, drawing their final breaths.

"It happened again. All because I wasn't able to control my emotions, someone died again. If they don't disappear then people will just keep getting hurt. I can't feel anymore. I won't let myself."

Monsters noticed the battle and began to surround them. Natalie still didn't respond.

Natasha tried to reach her in time, refusing to lose two people, but she was once again too late. However, something unexpected happened.

A spike appeared from Natalie's back, impaling the monster closest to her. Confused, the rest tried to attack, but kept getting stopped by the spikes.

Natalie could no longer be reached.

Terrence's arm dropped. He stared down at the body. Nearby, the Seregios began fighting each other again, unconcerned with anything else.

"Aron's gone. Someone has to take his place. Without him here things will go badly. Ah. I have to …All you ever do is shift your problems onto me! It's always like that! But it's fine. Because it's what I was born for, after all. So… I'll just become you."

The Seregios continued fighting, until Severitas had its head suddenly cut off. Clementia saw a boy with a greatsword appear before it, barely holding it up. It tried to attack him, but before it could reach its neck had already been cut through.

Terrence had somehow gotten behind it an instant.

They regenerated and both tried attacking at once, but both were stopped this time. They couldn't understand Terrence's power, yet recognised it as something similar to the one they just defeated.

Lyra's head whirled.

"It's because I was spotted that this happened. That can't be allowed to happen anymore. I don't want to deal with this feeling. It should just disappear. I should just disappear. Everything would be better if I could disappear."

Auctoritas flew around once more, looking for targets. The second he spotted one, he would destroy them. It was that simple.

An attack from somewhere it couldn't see took it off guard. More followed. An invisible force repeatedly attacked. Unable to see his opponent, Auctoritas couldn't work out where he should attack.

Zach, Zappy and Chante watched from the ground, unable to see the attacks coming either.

Lyra had completely disappeared from view.

Joseph pursued Virtas as it ran through the streets. Despite his injuries, he showed no signs of fatigue.

Virtas continued to be chased.

It couldn't understand. Something had been off about him from the start of the fight. It didn't make sense how he could do so many things when most abnormal humans could do one. But it didn't matter too much. Whether Virtas was fighting one human or a handful, it could crush them all the same. But then things changed. It was like trying to fight hundreds at once. A full army was hunting it down.

Joseph continued to run.

He was close. The moment he had spent all these years seeking was here. Ghosts pushed him forwards. The ones who'd had their lives taken by it told him to take revenge. His parents, Daimyo, Terrence, Vert. All of them sent him to fight, backing down would just disappoint them.

He finally caught up.

The anger overwhelmed him. The desire for revenge was the only thing driving him. He slashed through its leg, causing it to collapse.

The leg didn't regenerate. Once again, a sudden burst in power had defeated Virtas.

Frustrated at not being able to win, it roared. It tried attacking, only to be dodged around. Its opponent closed in.

Joseph slashed. And slashed. And slashed. And slashed and slashed and slashed andslashedandslashedandslashedandslashedandslashedandslashedandslashed

There was nothing left to cut.

He stared down at his enemy, his breathing ragged.

It wasn't enough. A death this quick wasn't enough for something like that bastard.

The last of its blastblight took effect, causing the ground to blow up. Joseph tumbled downwards, before catching himself. It was there that he discovered what he was looking for.

Some of the monsters who were trying to escape the battle had hidden down here. They had no more interest in fighting, they just wanted to survive. They regarded Joseph with fear, prepared to attack the moment he threatened them.

Joseph gripped the remains of his sword even tighter.

Results of the operation to wipe out Armageddon:

Death of the leader and generals confirmed. Their forces have been completely annihilated.

Of the eight thousand, four hundred and fifty nine of the guild's forces, there were a two thousand and six hundred killed, as well as three thousand, seven hundred and thirty wounded.

Among those who fell in battle were the guild's leaders, as well as one of the warriors leading the battle outside.

However, this wasn't a complete loss. In the battle, several more warriors awakened, outnumbering the number lost.

The inheritance of humanity's will was also confirmed. The new incarnation was discovered surrounded by the corpses of several of the monsters, gripping a broken sword in his right hand.

TO BE CONTINUED