Pilot: ETA ten minutes!
The pilot's words came through the speakers inside the helicopter breaking the tension that had built up in the aircraft due to the anticipation of a risky operation. For sure it was not the usual operations of escorting VIPs or eliminating isolated camps from the reunion, this time it was diving directly into the middle of the hive. It was time to review the plans and check the weapons once again.
W: Doc we won't be able to take the main streets.
Sebastian: I know, they'll be swarming with soldiers from reunion, so we might as well take the back streets and hit them all at once, discreetly, if we come across any patrols.
W: Snipers?
Sebastian: If we take that route we'll be in the blind spot of the rooftops.
W: Yeah, that could work... And once we get the students back the alleys won't work though.
Sebastian: I'll take it from there.
It was surprising to the other operators that the mercenary and the doctor could communicate so simply when both of them felt a strong resentment towards each other, which was a nice euphemism to say that W wanted to kill him every time she saw him and that Sebastian was ready to break her neck if she showed the slightest sign of turning against Rhodes Island. But the two of them shared the soul of soldiers and could instinctively sense it in each other.
Sebastian: Are you all ready?
he asked, looking to the operators who nodded in agreement.
Pilot: We'll be there in five minutes.
Sebastian's expression suddenly changed and with a sudden gesture he grabbed Shining by her cape and pulled her towards him.
Sebastian: look out!
The window behind where Shining was sitting shattered, sending a gust of air and shards of glass into the aircraft. A crossbow bolt slammed into the other wall of the helicopter, but soon other projectiles hit the hull of the aircraft, raising the stress level up a notch in one fell swoop.
Pilot: We're being shot at!
Shining stood motionless in surprise as she clung to the doctor, pink starting to tint her cheeks. But no sooner had she realized the compromising position they were in than the doctor began to move again, grabbing Shining once more to put her back in her seat, then he grabbed his sniper rifle and opened the side door of the helicopter bringing more and more wind into the helicopter, looking out over the rooftops of Chernobog where various shooters were positioned, the view flashing by as the pilot did his best to try evasive maneuvers. The view of Chernobog was desolate, the buildings were in ruins, the gigantic meteorites of orignium swarmed in the middle of the streets and the snow covered the roofs and roads for several centimeters.
Sebastian: Stay away from the windows! W help me and take down those you can!
W: Aye aye~
The mercenary got up from her seat, seeming to ignore the fact that they were under enemy fire with the Olympian calm that she had and opened the other sliding door of the helicopter to take her favorite grenade launcher and began to fire from the helicopter, annihilating the rooftops and their occupants with a psychotic laugh at her slaughter, terrifying enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine. The doctor on the other hand began to look through his rifle scope and after a second the shots rang out from his rifle, spaced out only by the time it took for a cartridge to be re-chambered so that after a handful of seconds he had already fired ten times, not having to worry about reloading his weapon as each of the bullets he fired hit with terrifying accuracy seeming almost impossible to hit a target between the eyes up to almost two miles away. Eight seconds passed and he stopped firing on his side having eliminated all the snipers in the area on his side, the barrel of his weapon smoking from overheating, before lowering the weapon to get an overview of the city from the sky, and he could indeed see that there was no more danger on his side. He turned to the sarkaz behind him but as soon as he saw her in his field of vision she took a crossbow bolt right in the chest throwing her on her back against the metal of the helicopter, her grenade launcher sliding on the ground. Raising his rifle, Sebastian pointed it at a group of snipers, two shots, three dead. He put his sniper back on the seat and immediately turned to W. She held her hands where her wound was, blood spilling onto her white sweater, her face contorted with pain. Normally they might have been concerned about someone getting shot, but here in the helicopter they had three people capable of using medical arts.
W: Don't look at me like that doc, I'm not good at air support...
Sebastian: I see that...
Nightingale knelt down on the floor next to the red horned sarkaz on the other side of the doctor and nodded to him to remove the arrow and make Nightingale's arts work and seeing this the mercenary's face changed completely.
W: Oh no I know that look...
Sebastian: Don't worry it won't hurt.
His hand tightened around the shaft of the arrow.
Sebastian: I'll go on three...
W: Oh no no no...
Sebastian: One, three!
*Schlack*
W: AAAAAAAHHHHH! WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU LEARN TO COUNT!
He withdrew the projectile with a sharp shot as the young woman bent double from the pain but was quickly soothed by the green glow by which she was enveloped, Nightingale casting her arts as soon as Sebastian had removed the arrow. The wound closed, the blood disappearing as well as any traces of blood or tears in the clothing. More effective than chlorophyte, some medical arts even allowed for the repair of the target's clothing more convenient than really necessary or even explainable, but no one would dare to complain about it.
W: Thanks for the help... Nightingale right?
Nightingale: Y-yes...
W: Don't look at me like that I don't bite...
The mercenary stood up before her eyes turned to the doctor, in a blink of an eye she lunged at him drawing her knife, pressing the blade against the doctor's throat, not really giving him room to move their faces only two inches apart, their gazes colder than ever.
W: Don't ever do that again Doc... Next time I might not take your joke as well as this time...
*click*
As soon as she finished her sentence, she could feel Gravel's dagger on the side of her neck ready to slit her throat, as well as Nearl's mace on the side of her skull ready to attack her. Looking into Sebastian's eyes she could see the two young women in their reflections and she could also see in their faces that they were ready to kill. The doctor himself had his handgun in hand and was pointing it just below W's chin ready to shoot. He used his other hand and took the chin of the young woman with two of his fingers, bringing it a little closer to his face, leaving only an inch between their two faces. There was a smirk on the sarkaz's face and a killing intent on the doctor's.
Sebastian: And you don't ever raise your weapon to me again when I give you a hand.
There was so much venom in his voice that it was almost suffocating
W: Are you going to kiss me by bringing your face so close?
She asked, raising an eyebrow, her demonic smile remaining on her lips as the doctor's irises turned blood red, showing once again his irritation.
Sebastian: Not with you in a billion years.
He pushed her back violently and the young woman fell on the floor of the helicopter laughing out loud before the sarkaz had eventually the dark idea to put her lips on his to piss him off. The doctor was called out at the same time by the pilot's voice through the speakers.
Pilot: We have arrived at the ZA. Impossible landing the roof of the mall it's swarmed with soldiers from the reunion.
The doctor had already positioned himself at the sliding door holding onto one of the handles.
Sebastian: Pilot in five minutes you land, I'll clear the landing zone!
The operators on board the helicopter wondered what the doctor meant, but no sooner had they done so than Sebastian jumped out of the black hawk.
Nearl: I knew it...
Gravel: D-doctor!
The anaty jumped towards the door of the helicopter to see the doctor in free fall.
W: Don't worry rat, he'll be fine.
The kuranta sighed and walked to the door of the helicopter.
Nearl: That man for God's sake...
The doctor felt the wind on his skin and hair, the ground getting closer by the second, feeling for once incredibly calm despite the two hundred meter fall he was making, he took advantage of the little time he had to fall to spot all the enemies on the roof, a little more than three seconds, that's what he needed to reach the ground. Landing with a crash, the shock of his one hundred and fifty kilograms coupled with the height at which he had fallen fractured the concrete over a dozen meters around him, making a thud of explosion. All the soldiers of the reunion on the roof began to run towards him, drawing their weapons ready to attack. The cloud of dust fell around Sebastian leaving his sight to the soldiers , the doctor drew his weapon motionless in the middle of the soldiers who began to surround him but he could see in their eyes that they were terrified.
Soldier 1: Oh fuck it's him!
Soldier 2: The one who beat up Talulah and Faust!
Captain: What the hell are you doing take him down!
at the end of the captain's sentence Nearl landed right next to the doctor causing the same effect as he did when he landed albeit with smaller cracks on the ground.
Sebastian: You didn't think I could handle it alone?
Nearl: If you didn't get hurt so much every time you fought I would have left you alone.
Soldier 1: You bastard killed my brother!
One of the soldiers charged at Sebastian with his machete in hand and the blade already aimed at the doctor. Their fighting senses kicked in and Nearl moved with phenomenal speed blocking the machete blow with her shield, the doctor started to move right away taking his sword with both hands, the blade moving in an arc decapitating the soldier who had just missed. The kuranta took a step back, dropping the body and moving into a fighting stance, raising her shield in front of her and readying her mace as Sebastian at her side raised his sword in an offensive stance. Sebastian threw himself first towards the rest of the soldiers of reunion in front of him, mostly small fry, the three soldiers in front of him were destabilized by his speed, one of the three tried to attack but the giant dodged by taking a step to the side, the machete blade passing at a hair's breadth from his skull without making him blink at all.
Taking advantage of the momentum of his dodge the doctor turned on himself the edge of his blade slashing into the side of his three enemies, the first tried to parry Sebastian's weapon with his machete but to no avail, the hardness and sharpness of the blade added to the doctor's strength sliced through the machete, the flesh, the armor and the bones of the three soldiers in front of him cutting them cleanly in two. When his sword hit the ground he felt a movement in the air behind him, glancing around he saw a logger whose axe was already coming down on him. Too slow. He immediately turned around and blocked the axe blade with his sword. The logger pressed down on Sebastian with all his might, trying to break him down with brute force, but it was a waste of time trying to outmaneuver the giant. The doctor swept kicked the legs of his enemy causing him to fall but as soon as the logger hit the ground Nearl charged the enemy and smashed his skull with her weapon, the ground shattering under the logger's helmet from all the force applied. But just in front of Sebastian, a few meters from the two fighters, a dozen casters were preparing their arts against the two members of Rhodes Island. Nearl saw this at the last moment and raised her shield against the casters, hoping to hold up against so many powerful arts, the projectiles of dark matter went straight towards the kuranta, but the emerald-eyed giant stood before her, his forearms crossed in a defensive manner, the arts hitting the doctor projectile after projectile each time causing the flesh on the doctor's forearms to shatter and projecting sprays of blood along with smoke from the explosions, causing him to recoil each time. The burst of art ended, and the doctor dropped to one knee, his forearms with bones visible, smoking from the heat. The casters felt their hearts stop, as Sebastian rose to his feet, his sword still in hand, seemingly unaffected by the wounds.
Nearl: Flash!
The doctor understanding the young woman's intention so soon closed his eyes, as the kuranta focused her arts into her mass, the light concentrating around her until a pegasus of light formed behind her, dazzling the surroundings and the soldiers who were blinded by so much light, as Sebastian's wounds began to heal and the blood to disappear.
Caster 1: AAAHHHH I CAN'T SEE SHIT!
Caster 2: MY EYES!
*crunch*
He couldn't finish his sentence because he was hit by Nearl's mace right in the skull killing him instantly and breaking his mask. Sebastian turned around after the radiant knight's glancing blow wanting to cover his friend's back, he turned to see two junkmans and three breakers. The breakers, known for their speed, attacked the doctor, who took a defensive posture, but barely had time to raise his blade before the first breaker attacked him with a sword strike to the gut. But when the enemy went to hit the doctor, the latter kicked the breaker's skull, he tried to parry Sebastian's kick with his sword but the weapon broke against the reinforced metal sole of Sebastian's combat shoe, as well as the soldier's skull which also broke. He didn't have time to put his foot on the ground before the doctor took a sword blow on the left side just between the ribs piercing his lung, someone else would have died on the spot but certainly not the giant who grabbed the skull of the breaker who had just stabbed him with a hand pushing a grunt of pain.
He could see the incomprehension in the eyes of the enemy who thought he had given a fatal blow but Sebastian did not do him the courtesy of finding out how because while his skull was in his hand he used all his strength to throw it to his right, where the last of the breakers who had not been fast enough to attack him was. And when the breaker that Sebastian had thrown hit his colleague, well, what happened was that two humans came into contact with each other and the doctor used all his strength.
*SPLATCH*
They exploded in a cloud of droplets and red mist terrorizing all witnesses to the scene and producing an infamous noise for dozens of meters around. Nearl, who was still fighting the casters, turned his head towards him and saw the young woman's facial expression saying "what the hell?!", the doctor returned a sorry expression. But his expression changed when he saw what was behind the young woman, he drew his sidearm and started to shoot at the drones of the reunion that were approaching in a squadron behind the kuranta, and after two or three seconds he had shot all the drones but Nearl's voice called him out.
Nearl: Seb behind you!
He turned his eyes but too late to dodge the junkman's blow which split on him, but Nearl who was still faster than Sebastian unhooked her shield from her arm and threw it with all his strength towards the enemy who was attacking Sebastian, in this way the man took the tip of the shield in his face and was unable to attack Sebastian. The giant taking advantage of his destabilized opponent, kicked his opponent's torso, his shin shattering the rib cage and reducing it to small pieces because of the shock wave. The enemy folded in half and fell to the ground, perhaps not dead or not yet. The other junkman also attacked Sebastian but this time the doctor was ready. Sebastian parried the sword blow, then seeing that his enemy's legs were a little too far apart he kicked, the tip of his foot hitting the junkman's testicles.
*CRAC*
Even the doctor felt pain in his member when he heard the noise that had just resounded in the air.
Sebastian: Sorry...
Then he slit the jukman's throat before turning to Nearl. But when he saw her his heart froze. She had taken care of all the casters but a pack of hounds began to approach her running at full speed. But instead of seeing her ready to fight, he could see her shaking like a leaf, and her eyes...
Yes, the worst thing was the kuranta's eyes.
In her eyes he could see that she was as terrified as he had ever seen her, trembling to her very soul.
She didn't move, paralyzed with fear.
No time to think, he ran towards her at full speed, interposing himself between the radiant knight and the pack of dogs, about ten. All of them arrived right in front of him, he sliced one, two, three, four, five of them, doing his best to keep them at bay, but soon he was overworked, one of the hounds started to bite his left hand, tearing the flesh with all his might. He sliced the hound in half, but no sooner had he finished his move than another hound attacked Sebastian's right arm with its jaw as he held his sword in both hands, it's teeth touching the nerve and he was unable to control his hand any longer, dropping his weapon.
He tried to pull the beast off his arm using his injured hand but was unable to do so because just as soon another beast began to bite Sebastian on the right side of his torso the force of the beast knocked him off balance and he fell on his back against the concrete floor, once he had fallen another beast pounced on him, this time biting him in the throat.
Feeling his throat constrict, and the blood leave his body as well as an unimaginable pain, his skin, flesh and vocal cords being torn apart by the beasts.
Sebastian felt the fear of death as more of the dogs pounced on his legs.
The doctor looked up at Nearl, and she was even more terrified as she dropped her weapon to the ground. She was still unable to act, and he could see it.
He had to make a decision and fast because according to his knowledge in eighteen seconds he would die of blood loss. He used the arm he still had free and pushed Nearl with all his might, throwing her several feet away, the young woman landing on the ground with a crash, then he pulled a fragmentation grenade from his holster, pulled the pin and threw it into the air above him before covering his face with his forearm to protect himself.
The grenade exploded, the sound of the explosive detonating in the air as the flames exploded into a ball high enough not to burn Sebastian, the shockwave fracturing the concrete and the doctor's bones kicking up dust as the shrapnel from the grenade turned the hounds into Swiss cheese and the doctor in the process, the shards of burning metal piercing his skin and flesh with more blood running down his body.
The explosion brought the kuranta out of her trance slightly, and she stood up to run towards the doctor, kneeling just inches away, her instincts taking over as the young woman began to cast her arts into the oripathy of her body, the pain bringing her to tears. The doctor was enveloped in light, his throat completely shredded as well as the other parts of his body began to recover, the blood disappearing the holes in his clothes recovering. But the giant remained motionless.
Nearl: Please, I beg you...
Her voice was filled with uncertainty and fear in its most primal form. But suddenly Sebastian began to gasp for air and looked left and right in complete disorientation. It took him a second to come to his senses and then he looked at Nearl. The young woman looked down at her hands, breathing hard, tears streaming down her cheeks, trying to say something but paralyzed, and her eyes still reflected how much her soul was trembling with fear.
That look, that expression on her face, Sebastian remembered it, having seen it on the faces of his comrades after Chechnya, the ones suffering from post-traumatic stress. He crouched down and put his hands on Nearl's cheeks, trying to calm her down.
Sebastian: Hey! Hey! Margaret look at me, look at me...
Forcing his hands to make the kuranta look him in the eyes, trying to calm himself so that his soft voice soothes her.
Sebastian: Look at me. It's all right now, Margaret...
He could feel her heart calming through the vibrations of the skin on her face, even through his gloves, and he could also see in her eyes that she was coming to her senses. Her look and her eyes soothed the torrent of bad memories.
Nearl: I-I'm so sorry...
She hugged him without thinking, burying her head in his neck, terribly happy that he had survived and terribly sorry for her inaction. She felt the doctor's arms embracing her, trying to comfort the young woman a little more after her stress attack.
Sebastian: Is it the dogs?
Nearl: Y-yes...
As her breathing returned to normal the two comrades-in-arms were cut off by the sound of the helicopter descending to the ground. Sebastian separated from their embrace and reached out to the kuranta. Maybe she was willing to show her true colors in front of him, Shining or Nightingale, but she certainly wouldn't do that in front of Gravel, let alone W, and the doctor knew it.
Nearl put on her flawless facade and began to pick up her weapons as the helicopter landed on the roof of the mall, the three sarkaz and the anaty exiting the aircraft taking care to close the door behind them. Sebastian having an idea in the back of his mind took control of his body to start an advanced production of tears in his eyes as well as increasing the blood flow in his eyes, resulting in red and weeping eyes, pretending to cough heavily as well.
W: Well, that's quite a mess...
Shining: Are you alright Sebastian?
Sebastian: Yeah yeah, I just didn't know that the reunion had tear gas, we got hit by it.
The young women glanced at the kuranta who also had irritated eyes and was crying. Nearl looked at him surprised at first but soon understood the doctor's intention and played along pretending to cough.
W: They must have stolen the equipment from Ursus' army because we didn't have any when I was there.
Sebastian heard a beep in his earpiece, the others heard the same in their radios.
Pilot: I don't have any fuel left to stay in the area I'm going to leave. Good luck down there.
And with that the helicopter gained altitude and began to leave, leaving the Rhodes Island operators alone in the area.
Gravel: Next step, get to the academy.
Sebastian: I'll check the area.
The giant put a knee on the ground and took out a kind of electronic chip with claws from one of his pockets, looked at it with sadness and stuck it against his neck, then with an uncertain voice he said.
Sebastian: PRTS lend me the eyes of the priestess.
PRTS: Right away, Doctor.
The robotic female voice of the artificial intelligence answered the giant's request, the metallic claws lengthened and planted themselves in the back of his neck, causing a trickle of blood to run down his skin. Then his eyes turned completely white, pupils and irises seeming to disappear. But that didn't mean he went blind, far from it. Instead of going blind, he got a bird view of the area, analyzing every neighborhood, every alley and every road.
Sebastian: The alleys are safe, we'll be able to stick to the plan, no one on the rooftops in the area.
Nearl: What about the academy?
Sebastian: Sounds good... Wait.
Using the thought commands he zoomed in on the academy and especially the entrance, intrigued by what was going on there when he saw several people and soldiers from the meeting. Zooming in he could see the scene, young woman, a teenager and a man in his twenties all tied to chairs in front of the academy, surrounded by soldiers of the reunion, and a camera placed in front of the three prisoners. Seeing that the teenager who was not even fifteen years old was crying in despair, he did not need to think.
Sebastian: Disconnect.
The chip on the back of his neck removed its claws and exploded with sparks. Sebastian wiped the blood from the back of his neck and from his nose from the effects the chip had on his internal organs, a side effect of connecting his brain to a super computer.
Sebastian: Reunion is about to execute hostages, take the back alleys you know the way!
So soon he began to run to the edge of the roof, determination shining on his face.
Nightingale: Doctor, where are you going?
Sebastian: I have to go! I can't let them die!
And he jumped off the edge of the roof back onto the streets without a scratch despite the fifteen meter fall, starting to run taking the shortest route he had determined to the academy.
A young girl was crying, her short blonde hair in a mess, her bear ears lying on top of her head, and her orange eyes were drowned in tears as a single thought crossed her mind. She was going to die. That was perhaps the only certainty she had now. Surrounded by the soldiers of Reunion, the executioner stood behind her, his machete already sharpened and in his hand, ready to decapitate the girl in front of the camera. Next to her were two kinds of reporters captured during their investigation, hotheads with two IQ points who had decided to report on what was happening in Chernobog without taking any precautions. This had turned against them, now they were taken hostage, tied up in front of their own camera that forced them to broadcast live on the TV channels of Colombia. Hunger was tugging at her body, and unfortunately that was the reason she was here. She had tried to go out of the academy to look for food to survive, their food supply inside had been gone for more than a week, but she had preferred to look for food rather than eat-
She thought of something else, not wanting to recall one of the most horrible memories of the hell she had suffered in the last two weeks in the academy. Access completely blocked. No more food. Oripathy spreading throughout the academy because of the disaster. Death games organized by sadists of the reunion. Some students kidnapped, tortured, executed or raped for the revenge or murderous impulses of their tormentors. Desperate she looked at her torturers the desperate look and the soul just as broken as the voice began to speak.
?: Please! I just wanted food! We are starving in the academy!
Executioner: Silence!
He struck the girl with the pommel of his machete to the back of her head, not caring that he hit a child hard enough to make the back of her skull start to bleed, the red mixing with the gold of her hair, the pain making her bite her teeth. The leader, a fallen sanktah who was in front of the camera preparing to make his speech for the execution.
Leader: Food?! You think we infected had food when we were rotting in one of your gulags until we died of exhaustion? While you stuffed yourself in the warmth until your filthy ursus belly exploded with food!
She began to cry her eyes out. This time there was no doubt. She was going to die here and her heart sank into despair the rational part of her brain was telling her that she was going to die, but another part of her, maybe her heart was telling her to hold on to hope, to tell herself that maybe someone was going to save her, that her comrades were going to save her. The fight between the two parts of her brain was slowly collapsing her soul, her brain plunging into panic.
A distressing sight for anyone, but even more so for the girl's classmates, who could see the whole scene from one of the windows of the academy. After two weeks in hell with someone else, anyone would feel as if they had known that someone all their life.
Among the hundreds of students in the auditorium, surrounded by makeshift barricades, three figures stood out, all of them female ursus.
One was walking in circles, hiding behind a book, she was not really interested in the content of the said book, this last one being for her only a way to look at something else than the world around her, her brain still thinking about a way out of this situation and this academy.
Another one was waiting, tapping her foot on the ground seemingly on the verge of exploding, thinking only of taking her axe and running towards the twenty or so soldiers to kill every last one of them, already thinking of a battle plan for her and her comrades.
The third stood taller than the other three, with hair as white as snow, and heterochromatic eyes, the left red, the right blue. Although she looked like a mature and calm woman, her mind was quite different, she had been in terror and despair for two weeks, a part of her had to be the leader of her comrades and inspire them in this situation where some of them had already fallen into despair.
Some were crying all the time, others were screaming in their sleep remembering their near death or the death of their comrades. But others had committed suicide because they couldn't stand the pressure and stress of having to kill some of their former friends in one of the games organized by the reunion soldiers or having to kill to defend themselves against other students.
She still remembered the student who had immolated himself in the center of the park in the middle of the night, his screams having woken up all those who had managed to close their eyes burning like a torch in the middle of the night, his body was still out there being devoured by crows, no one had the courage to touch the body.
Or that girl from her class, the one she considered her best friend before all this. Having tried to commit suicide after she was kidnapped by soldiers of reunion for horrible things, the young woman with white hair and her classmates had decided to lock her in an empty closet to calm down.
When they came back to make sure she was okay, she was already dead, having ripped out the veins and skin on her wrists with her teeth before dying of blood loss in silence during the night.
And thinking about this, the other part inside the young woman, the young ursus and not the student council member, the vulnerable part of her soul.
Yes, this part of her soul was only thinking of disappearing from this world, of sinking into the void, of never feeling again. Every bad news made her want to grab the paper cutter she had in her pocket and slit her wrists or throat. The other part inside her regained control, focused on saving their comrade but the other ursus next to her couldn't wait and exploded with rage.
?- What the hell are we doing here, Natalya? We have to go and help her!
She made a step back surprised by the explosion of her comrade. But the ursus who was hiding behind her book started to speak cutting the ardor of the other young woman.
?- Calm down Sonya, even if we could get through the locked gates we need a solid plan to deal with all of his soldiers. Plus their leader is a Laterano weapon user, we should come up with a way to beat him before he can turn us into a sieve.
The voice of the said leader echoed again in the street below, drawing the eyes of the three students into the classroom.
Soldier: We're live on 3B, sir!
exclaimed the soldier positioned behind the camera who was making sure that everything was in order for their international terrorism action. And what's more, on one of the most followed news channels in the world. The leader of the meeting looked at the camera, his mask on his face and his hands behind his back.
Leader: Ladies and gentlemen, to everyone watching this is a message to the uninfected. For too long your oppression of the infected has gone unpunished. The fall of Chernobog was merely a message that your reign of terror over us was finally over. But despite this you tried to send your spies to us...
He said with his hand pointing at the journalists.
Leader: You were too stupid to understand this message, so I guess we will have to speak the only language you can understand. You never wanted peace so we will show you the violence you forced us to choose.
He turned back to the hostages.
Leader: Executioner!
The soldier behind the little ursus raised his machete, as the panic inside the classroom was at its peak.
?: Damn Natalya she's going to get killed! Anna come help me you can use your arts you!
?: S-sorry... I can't do anything...
?: But am I the only one who wants to save her here?! Are you all going to watch her die?!
The most mature ursus of the group leaned her back against the wall, feeling her strength leave her she slid down the wall and sat on the floor before hiding her face in her hands.
?: Please lord get us out of here...
All of them knew that if their comrade was going to be killed, it would be the end of all those who remained, if the only person who gave a little hope in the middle of this hell disappeared, then it wouldn't take long for everyone to sink into despair, and from then on it was either kill, be killed or commit suicide.
The dark part of her took over as one thought ran through her mind. She wanted to disappear, she wanted to stop suffering, even if it meant dying, her hand brushing the cutter in her pocket.
Then a cylindrical object fell in the middle of the road in front of the hostages, causing a slight metallic noise.
Executioner: What the-
Leader: Take cover!
A cloud of smoke suddenly covered the area, stopping the actions of the soldiers who could no longer see even a few inches from them, the executioner letting his arm fall back, preparing for an attack.
Leader: Everyone gather around!
Soldier 1: I can't see! Aghk!
The first cry of pain echoed through the air along with the sound of flesh being sliced, followed by the sound of a body falling in the snow. The noise seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was impossible to see where it was coming from. But there was no doubt that someone was already dead.
Sebastian: What a speech...
Another sound of laceration, another cry of pain, another sound of a corpse hitting the ground. As the giant's heavy voice echoed through the smoke, loud enough for the female students in their classroom to hear.
Sebastian: Pathetic, a child would have done better.
His voice was as cold as the surrounding air, but heavy as the atmosphere that prevailed. A third soldier died, his scream echoing through the smoke.
Sebastian: executing civilians and children...
This time it was not the sound of a sword. It was the sound of flesh and splintering bones.
Soldier 2: There's something in my mouth !
The soldier was silenced as the same sound rose into the air. Giving a gasp to those who could hear this. The students in the classroom mostly looked out the windows trying to make sense of the scene, some even snapping out of their depressive trances to see what was going on.
Sebastian: You guys are pathetic...
*Shink*
Soldier 3: AAAAHHHH! MY LEGS!
Sebastian: You won't need them where you are going.
The soldier's cries of pain stopped. The giant's voice moved with each time, without his footsteps being able to be heard in the snow. The ursus who bore the name of Natalya stood up intrigued by the noise coming out of the panic too.
?: What's going on?
?: I don't know, the soldiers of the reunion are falling like flies!
The one who was about to execute the hostages took a few steps back in terror, looking left and right in vain, hoping to see something through the fog.
Executioner: Where the fuck are you, you bastard?!
Sebastian: Here.
He heard the voice right behind him, feeling the air against his neck.
*crack*
The executioner's head turned 180 degrees while his body stayed still. The smoke began to dissipate slowly, revealing the battlefield, there were still soldiers at the edge of the smoke cloud, but all those inside were now lying on the ground, some in several pieces, their blood dripping onto the snow. In the middle of this carnage in front of the hostages was now a giant armed to the teeth and covered with blood, a sword as gigantic in his hand.
Leader: Give yourself up, you're screwed now!
All the soldiers drew their weapons, loaded their crossbows and prepared their arts. They were all ready to attack him, but were too afraid to do so after seeing the massacre he had committed alone. His eyes darted from right to left.
Sebastian: 'Nine... that'll do.'
He began to raise his hands in the air and dropped his sword, the metal hitting the ground.
Sebastian: I surrender...
Leader: Edward, go put some handcuffs on him.
In his mind he began to smile as the soldiers in the meeting dropped their guard. With a flick of his holster he grabbed his throwing knives, one between each finger of his hand and threw them, fast enough that no one had time to retaliate. Eight of the soldiers perished, the throwing knives piercing through their masks and spilling more and more blood on the ground. The leader of the soldiers in the meeting took a few steps back in terror at losing all his soldiers in a matter of seconds, then drew two guns surprising the doctor to see another Laterano weapon user.
Leader: Fucking uninfected! Do you enjoy slaughtering us when all we want to do is survive?
Sebastian: Knock him out Nearl please...
Hearing the sound of heels behind him he turned around but was hit in the head with a mace, knocking him out instantly. The culprit was of course the famous kuranta accompanied by the other members of Rhodes Island at his side.
Nearl: You want me to tie him up?
Sebastian: Yeah please, I was going to interview him later.
In the classroom the students couldn't believe their eyes, for the first time since the chaos of Chernobog someone had stood up to the reunion soldiers, not only that but it only took one of them to decimate them all.
?: Who the hell are these guys?!
?: I don't know Sonya but they don't look like they're from the reunion.
?: D-do you think they're here to save us...?
?: I don't know but we can't take any chances. We must consider them as hostile.
The giant picked up his sword from the ground and started to turn towards the hostages, looking at them one after the other, then he walked towards them and more particularly towards the little ursus. Seeing the doctor and how frightening he was the girl became scared and began to struggle in her chair, as did the other two hostages who also began to panic.
?: Please don't kill me!
Upon hearing this the doctor froze and widened his eyes, before raising his hands in an apologetic manner with an embarrassed smile on his face.
Sebastian: Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you, let alone hurt you.
The tone of his voice... It was as calm as one of the nights at the academy before the invasion. That voice alone calmed the ursus and the strange aura that surrounded him, his heart rate and breathing slowly returning to normal.
Sebastian: Hold on, kid, I'll untie you.
The giant reached behind the young woman's back and knelt down looking at how she was bound, just chains on her arms, wrists, legs and ankles all connected by a single padlock. He shook his head left and right, deciding to use an easier method than picking the lock. He took it in his hand and crushed the lock in the palm of his hand before dropping the debris to the floor, the steel chains around the ursus falling to the ground. Filled with joy she tried to stand up but fell as soon as she felt her legs and other weak limbs being caught by Sebastian before she could hit the ground.
Sebatian: Wait, don't move too much that's a nasty head wound you have.
?: Hehe... Sorry...
Sebastian: Don't move.
From his holster he took one of Kal'tsit's "borrowed" vials of cholorophyte and removed the cap before pouring the green liquid over the girl's wound, the green glow coating the ursus as the wound closed.
Sebastian: Feeling better?
He asked as the girl began to walk on her own the strength found in her body.
?: Wow thanks I feel like new!
Sebastian: You're welcome. What's your name kid?
?: Lada! Oh no... Sorry I wasn't supposed to tell you my real name... My friends will be angry...
Sebastian: So what should I call you?
?: You can call me Gummy!
He was surprised to see that the girl who looked like a broken soul a few minutes ago was now full of joy for life. But one of the talents he had acquired after his long life was to see through people's masks. He could see through the young woman's mask of good humor to see that her heart of despair was indeed there.
Sebastian: Tell me, are you a student here?
Gummy's expression changed again to sadness.
Gummy: Yes... The Reunion locked us in here...
Feeling all the sadness in the ursus' voice Sebastian decided not to ask more questions.
Sebastian: How many more of you are in there?
The doctor approached the reporter, a vouivre, and her cameraman, a liberi, going behind them to break their chains.
Gummy: About two hundred if I remember correctly...
The doctor froze as he broke the lock of the journalist who hastened to undo her chains herself.
Sebastian: How so much of you missed the evacuation?
He asked while he was already dealing with the cameraman.
Gummy: There was no evacuation...
Sebastian: Sorry?
His voice was icy and so were his eyes, he hoped he had misunderstood what he had just heard.
Gummy: The catastrophe fell and then the meeting surrounded the school and nobody came to get us...
Sebastian: Fucking bastards...
With all his strength he crushed the lock in his hands, he couldn't believe it. This academy was the most famous one in Ursus, more than two thousand students from different social classes. Some of them were children of famous politicians and nobles, and others, although rarer, were children with superior intellectual abilities and enough to get a place here on merit. Kids, coming from all over Ursus, stuck in the middle of a war zone and yet nobody in the whole of the second power of Terra had decided to come and help these kids... A shame in his opinion. It reminded him of the Russian army.
The first time he had disobeyed orders. Canceling a bombing on a school supposed to shelter Chechen republicans when he had seen that there were children left in the school and putting in danger the members of his squad deciding to make a raid in under strength on the school to avoid that the children are wounded. He could have been court-martialed if not for his guardian angel watching over him at the time. May god bless her. The first time he had let his personal convictions come before his faith in his country.
Gummy: Sir, are you okay?
His mind returned to normal as he heard the young woman's voice looking to his left and into his hand, seeing that his hand was bleeding and that what was once a lock was now a small metal ball compressed from all the force Sebastian had exerted on it.
Sebastian: Yes sorry I was thinking about something else.
Gummy: Are you here to help us?
Sebastian: Yes you can rest assured, we got your distress call we came to evacuate the survivors.
Reporter: *mmhhmhh!*
He looked at the reporter who was standing up but saw that her mouth was taped shut, Sebastian stood up and yanked the tape off the mouth of the vouivre, who screamed from the pain.
Reporter: Damn it! Who the hell are you!
Sebastian: The guy who just saved your life, lass. Who are you and what are you doing here?
Reporter: Jill Stingray, reporter for 3B. We heard there was an accident in Chernobog so we came over.
Sebastian: An accident?! This is fucking war here? Do you think it's funny to come here in heels when there are soldiers every hundred meters?
Jill: But she is also in heels.
She said pointing to Nearl who was starting to approach after tying up the leader of the reunion, the kuranta raising her horse ears.
Sebastian: Yes, but she can break through a concrete wall with her fist.
Nearl: But I've never done that...
Sebastian: I can do it, so don't make me think you can't Nearl. What is he doing?
he asked as he looked over at the cameraman who was starting to approach the now gathered group, trying to film them.
Jill: That's Mike my cameraman, don't bother asking him your questions, he's mute.
Sebastian: Turn that off immediately!
He said as he moved his arm towards the camera, the feathers of the liberi rising on his body but he was stopped by the reporter.
Jill: Stop it, people have a right to know what's going on here!
Sebastian: *sigh* You want to know what's going on here? All right. Reunion took the city in the middle of a catastrophe, and now Chernobog is nothing but a war zone.
Jill: What about the army? The city guard?
Sebastian: The army didn't show up and the guard got wiped out.
Jill: But how?!
Sebastian: They underestimated a powerful force and are biting their fingers off six feet under. Well, for those who were buried.
Jill: What about you? Are you survivors here?
Sebastian: No. We came to evacuate survivors.
Jill: But you're not from Ursus?
Sebastian: No. We work for Rhodes Island. Well you're done with your interview because I have to do my job. And my job is to get those students out...
Jill: Mike cut the live feed but keeps on filming.
Sebastian: Wait a minute, we were live? God fucking damn it...
W: Hey doc! We got a problem over here!
He turned to the rest of the Rhodes Island operators all gathered in front of the academy gate and started walking towards them.
Sebastian: What's going on?
W: They have welded the opening of the gate, and because of the thickness there is no way to blow it up.
Sebastian: Gummy, where did you get out?
Gummy: There was a hole in the wall on the other side of the academy. I barely made it through, so I don't think you'll make it.
Sebastian: I see. Clear the opening.
The operators moved away from the gate as Sebastian prepared himself, taking a step back and striking a martial art pose, he emptied the air from his lungs and slammed his fist into the gate with all his might, shattering the concrete under his feet and tearing the gate from the walls. The gate landed a few meters away, the trace of a fist visible in the twisted metal surprising the ursus and the journalist with such a show of strength while the other Rhodes Island operators were used to it.
Sebastian: Are there any dangers inside, kid?
Gummy: No, it should be fine.
Sebastian: Gravel keeps an eye on the exit and the prisoner. Get on the radio just in case.
Gravel: Okay~...
The Rhodes Island agents entered the academy, the air around them was heavy and the atmosphere was depressing. Between the snow, the gray sky, the crows flying like vultures over the academy and the smell of corpses that Sebastian could smell did not exactly set a tone for joy. They passed through the inner courtyard of the academy, seeing in front of one of the fountains whose water was frozen there was a charred corpse kneeling on the ground with its head down. Not even fifteen years old. W passed by and didn't care, while the rest of the operators, hardened fighters, looked at the corpse without flinching, as did Gummy, who only looked at it with a sad look. The journalists were shaken by the sight, the vouivre vomiting on the ground. The doctor pulled the camera down out of respect for the dead man before starting to walk again. A few minutes later, walking through the exterior and the corridors of the academy every ten meters, the hell that had taken place here became clearer. At the end of their journey they came to an auditorium door, the young ursus stopped in front of it followed by Sebastian.
Gummy: This is where they are...
Sebastian: Go ahead.
The young woman raised her hand and started to knock on the door.
Gummy: It's me Gummy, open up! I'm with the help!
They heard movement behind the door, with some panic.
Student 1: Guys, she's back!
Student 2: We got rescue!
?: Stop! Stop removing the barricade!
Student 2: But general why?! Help is finally here!
?: We don't know! They might be threatening her to let them in!
student 2: President say something!
?: I agree with Zima... And use your code names...
Zima: We won't let you in!
?: I am truly sorry Gummy!
The doctor glanced at the young ursus to see her shocked.
Gummy: No no no no no... Please let me in! We can all finally get out of here! Guys, please!
She pounded on the door with all her might, tears welling up in her eyes and her face really desperate. Not being able to stand it Sebastian gestured to Nearl who understood as well. The two stood in front of the double doors, looked each other in the eye and with a shake of their heads kicked the door in perfect sync, shattering the wood and throwing everything behind it further into the auditorium. The students screamed in fear, some taking refuge behind what they could and others falling to the floor in terror. Quickly his eyes darted around the room in search of a potential threat, quickly identifying it and grabbing a black steel axe in flight. Rapidly he could identify the three figures emerging from the group, certainly the leaders. In the middle of just under two hundred students, amassed in this auditorium, some looked ready to fight, the others were broken.
Zima: Damn it!
Sebastian: I'm here to get you out of this rat hole kid so don't break my balls.
He said while sending back her axe to the young woman who hesitated to run on him to attack him again. It was easy to spot in her look, the brutality, the savagery. Things that a good and experienced fighter would know how to hide, but she certainly didn't have the experience yet to hide the brutality that her soul contained.
?: since you haven't already started slaughtering people here, I guess you are indeed here for the rescue...
This young woman seemed completely calm unlike her counterpart. Or at least it was the mask she was wearing that let it show, her soul was fragmented like the rest of the students.
Sebastian: That's right. We received your distress call.
?: Thank God...
Gummy: This is my friends, Zima, Istina and Rosa.
She said pointing first to the brown ursus, then to the white-haired one and finally to the last one of the group. She had beautiful wavy white hair long enough to reach her lower back. And her two eyes were not the same color, the left one being blood red and the other one of an azure blue seemingly natural, the colors matching with those of the rest of her outfit.
A/N: She deserves to be happy.
As tall as Shining, a little over 1m70. She seemed to exude an aura of nobility and calm, seeming far more mature than the others. But the thing that intrigued him was that for her he couldn't see through the mask she wore of calm and regency. He walked among the students, frightening most of them because of his monstrous build and all the weapons he carried, not to mention those who had seen him slaughter the soldiers. The young woman's eyes widened as she saw him approach, perhaps slightly frightened, but she was reassured when he simply raised his hand to her for a handshake.
Sebastian: Madam. Are you the teacher of these students?
His voice, although deep, had something calming about it, after a second of hesitation she shook the giant's hand, looking into the two emeralds that served as her eyes.
Rosa: Oh no, I was a final year student here...
Sebastian: Can I address you as a student representative?
The young woman looked to her right at her two other ursus classmates who nodded at her.
Rosa: Yes.
Sebastian: Good. We are members of Rhodes Island. Our mission here is to evacuate you from Chernobog to our land cruiser.
Istina: If I remember correctly Rhodes Island was a pharmaceutical company.
Sebastian: We also do humanitarian aid.
Rosa: This cruiser is outside the city?
He pulled out the sort of holographic projector he had hooked up with the rest of his combat gear, before pressing a button that projected a map of the area, the bluish hologram surprising most not used to such technology. A red line showing through the streets and desert outside the city.
Sebastian: Yes. This is the route.
Rosa: We have several wounded, I'm not sure they will make it.
Sebastian: Gather them, we have medics capable of medical arts.
Rosa: Everyone who is injured, gather round!
Sebastian: Shining, Nightingale, take care of it.
Nearl: What about me?
Sebastian: Save half your energy just in case. And don't go over your limit!
Nearl: Okay...
Sebastian: There are still originium particles in the air. Do you have any infected here?
The whole atmosphere in the room changed completely, Rosa lowered her head and hesitantly pointed to a separate group in the room. He could see that some of the students had bits of black crystals all over their bodies.
Sebastian: Good.
He began to approach them with a sure step as all the students began to panic about what he was going to do to them. As Zima began to approach him with her axe in hand.
Rosa: Wait!
He froze and looked at her in surprise.
Rosa: They may be infected, but they are still our comrades!
Zima: If you go near them, I'll cut your head off.
Istina: Girls, I think you misunderstand the intentions of our new friend.
The doctor sighed before opening his med bag.
Sebastian: I'm from Rhodes Island not Ursus. I get paid to help the infected.
From his medkit he pulled out a couple of pill of medicine as he continued to walk toward the infected students. Needless to say, the students were more than surprised. They spent their lives in Ursus and Chernobog, where being infected was a fate worse than death, and for once the students began to find some relief. Sebastian knelt down in front of one of the students taking one of his pills in his hand.
Sebastian: Here, take this. It will calm your symptoms.
Infected: Stay away from me! I might give you oripathy!
Sebastian: Even if I touched the crystals on your skin for hours I would get absolutely nothing. So take this medicine.
Hesitantly, the infected student finally took the medicine and swallowed it, and then Sebastian began to distribute medicine to the other infected students. Rosa began to approach him while he was handing out the medicine, with her arms crossed.
Rosa: You can't imagine how much of a relief it is to have help finally arrive...
Sebastian: After being stuck here for two weeks I can imagine. Didn't you get a humanitarian drop from Ursus?
He asked, looking at the young woman.
Rosa: N-no...
Sebastian: But the gate was closed, so how did you get the suppl-
The gears in his head began to turn and he didn't finish his sentence because he was afraid he had guessed correctly as to why they had survived so long without food. He looked at the other students around him in the lecture hall, they had not had an extraction and were stuck but yet there was not even a tenth of them left...
Sebastian: Miss Rosa, are all the last survivors gathered here?
Rosa: Unfortunately yes... The first day a quarter of the students fled into the city and were never seen again. After that, there was only chaos. Some of the soldiers of Reunion massacred us... Those who were not killed by the reunion killed each other, or committed suicide. There were the wounded, the sick, the dead of the oripathy of hunger... And today we are the only ones left. We lost another eighteen yesterday...
Sebastian: I am terribly sorry...
She could see from his face that he was truly sorry.
Nearl: Doc we finished on our side!
Sebastian: Finished too!
Rosa: Doc? As in doctor?
Sebastian: You have your code names, I have mine. So call me doctor.
This was one of the main reasons why most operators called him doctor instead of his name. Doctor was actually his code name in the field and most operators actually preferred to use code names even on the Ark.
Zima: If you are a doctor then I am a general of the Ursus army.
Sebastian: I hope you have earned your medals then General. Come on everybody, let's get out of here!
The students and operators began to exit the auditorium as the students began to feel a sense of relief as they finally got out of that hellhole. The rest of the way out of the academy was uneventful, but just before exiting into one of the corridors, Sebastian froze in front of one of the doors smelling several very unpleasant odors coming from behind the door. The Rhodes Island operators also froze because of the smell.
Carrion.
An all too recognizable smell. Sebastian looked at the door as Rosa beside him began to panic.
Jill: Ew, what the hell is that?
W: Dead bodies...
He raised his hand to the doorknob in puzzlement.
Rosa: No you can't do that!
The kuranta approached the door as well and Sebastian opened the door.
And when the door was open he regretted opening it.
The door led to the kitchens of the academy and a myriad of smells that Sebastian never wanted to know in the first place invaded his nostrils. Rotting human flesh, spices, dried blood, charred meat. But if the smell was like a nail hammered into your skull, the sight was even worse.
Bits of cut-up corpses. Bloody and used utensils. Pots and pans that still contained bits of flesh and guts. At the back of the room there was a student, or rather her body with her throat cut and her eyes still open. Savagely cut pieces all over, disemboweled. Even bite marks here and there on the body.
Seventeen years old maybe.
He took a step back and then two, his eyes completely wide and shocked, he turned away from the door and fell to his knees. Nearl not understanding put her head through the doorway covering her nose because of the smell but when she too saw what was in the kitchen she couldn't take it anymore, she hurried to look away and started to vomit on the floor because of the terror closing the door behind her.
PRTS: Indicator, the doctor's sanity is dropping dangerously. It must not reach zero.
The AI's robotic voice echoed in the operators' headsets. But Nearl or Sebastian didn't listen.
So that's how they survived... By feeding on human flesh... Kids... These students were just kids... Not yet old enough to have responsibilities, girls and boys who wanted a normal life... Find a job, maybe start a family, make friends, find love... A normal and peaceful life. But they were forced to commit the irreparable... And they were forced to do this because of the reunion.
PRTS: Indicator, the doctor's sanity has dropped below ten units. It must not reach zero.
The air around him became almost unbreathable as the temperature began to rise, in stark contrast to the winter chill before. His heart was beating faster and faster, his skin taking on a grayish hue visible even in the dark. Rage was the only thing feeding his mind.
The reunion... Forcing kids to go through such hell... was an unforgivable crime in his eyes. Sacrificing it's own soldiers like pawns. Slaughtering innocent people by the thousands. Torturing children who had not chosen the weapons.
Reunion had now lost all pity on his part.
Rosa moved her hand closer to the doctor, who had remained in the same position for several seconds, not noticing the red sparks that ran through the giant's body, and when the Ursus's hand came within ten centimeters of Sebastian's back, a red flash of lightning struck the young woman's hand, making her jump back in surprise and yelp in pain. She looked at her hand and there was no wound. The others looked at the scene surprised to see such a phenomenon, but hearing the sound of electricity Sebastian reopened his eyes and rose to his full height.
PRTS: Indicator, the doctor's sanity is stabilized at one.
Sebastian: Let's go.
The tone of his voice was not as soothing as before, this time his voice made the souls of those who could hear it tremble. Like soldiers receiving an order from a commander, the students and operators began to follow the doctor. After a few seconds they finally reached the exit. Where Gravel was waiting, playing with one of her daggers in front of the leader who had woken up.
Gummy: Finally all out... Thank you doctor... Doctor?
He wasn't listening anymore, his eyes and thoughts focused on the leader of the meeting, his steps began to accelerate as he separated from the rest of the group of students, more sparks of red electricity running through his body.
Sebastian: Nearl take care of the camera.
The kuranta shared the same rage as Sebastian and understood what he meant and more importantly what he was going to do, so she drew her mace and struck the television camera, breaking it instantly. The giant approached the leader and didn't say a word before punching him in the face. He threw himself at the leader of the meeting like a hooligan in a free-for-all, knocking him to the ground. Then he punched him in the face again and again, shouting with rage and with unprecedented brutality. The cracking of bones, the sound of his fist hitting the face of the man of reunion, his mask long since broken under the doctor's assaults. Everyone but W took a step backwards because of the savagery the doctor was showing, this continued for a few seconds until the skin on the giant's knuckles started to leave because he had hit so hard. Then he grabbed the man he had almost killed with his fist by the collar and started to yell at him.
Sebastian: Who gave you the order to attack the academy!
Leader: I don't know!
He used his free hand to grab his enemy's arm and just with the pressure of his hand broke his forearm, the bone sticking out through the skin and flesh, causing an infamous noise to echo in the air as well as the leader's heartbreaking scream.
Sebastian: Don't lie to me! Who gave you the order!
Leader: It's the captain of the district bastion who gives us the orders! I don't know who ordered him to do that!
Sebastian: Where is this stronghold?!
Leader: Fuck you!
He began to grab the soldier's open wound with his hand making contact with the flesh causing more pain to the soldier in the meeting.
Leader: Three kilometers northwest!
With a sharp tug he pulled on the leader's forearm, ripping it off completely with phenomenal force before getting up to leave. Not caring about the pain cries of the leader of the meeting as he held his bloody stump crying his eyes out.
Sebastian: That was for what you did to them.
Then the doctor began to approach the other Rhodes Island operators.
Jill: You're fucking crazy!
Sebastian: Welcome to my world. You take the route I planned. I'm going to distract them by attacking this stronghold to give you a clear path. Nearl, Will you make it alone?
Nearl: Y-yes...
It was difficult to concentrate on the doctor's words because of his appearance. His skin had turned gray, in stark contrast to the olive skin he had before. His eyes had changed to the blood red that characterized the doctor's rage, as had his teeth, which appeared sharp when he opened his mouth to speak, not to mention the red sparks that ran through his body. These were not his arts. And yet his body had endured many changes. And this was only the beginning.
Sebastian: W! Take care of it like the apple of your eye.
He says while throwing his sniper rifle at the sarkaz, the mercenary catching the weapon in flight.
Sebastian: Do what you want with him, kill him, torture him, I don't care. Good luck.
And he started to leave, the kuranta wanted to raise her hand to him but W stopped her.
W: Leave him, he's in no condition to talk. We'd better leave...
As the doctor walked away into the snowy streets, the students gathered around the leader who began to back away and plead for his life. But his pleas fell on deaf ears. After all the purgatory they had been through, the students wanted revenge on any of the soldiers of reunion who dared to pass them by. Revenge in blood.
A wendigo colossus looked down on his troops. Some of the most experienced soldiers on Terra. Troops that he had fought with for decades, some of them equipped accordingly for elite soldiers. His family, the guerrillas of the northern tundra. They would follow him to the end of the world, as they would follow the reunion. They were in a fortified stronghold, having pacified the northern district of Chernobog with the Yeti squadron. At the moment they were just waiting for Frostnova and her unit to leave for the heart of the city. But Patriot today had a terrible feeling like a premonition.
Guerrilla: Chief! We have an unknown unit approaching! Come and see!
From behind a barricade one of his soldiers shouted for his attention, the other soldiers also hearing this stood guard and prepared their weapons.
The colossal Wendigo rose to his feet and made his way to the entrance of the camp. Dominating all the others by his size and width, his proud shield and halberd in hand. He arrived in front of the entrance, his soldiers moving aside to let him pass.
He looked up at the road in front of the camp.
Then he froze like a statue.
Another giant stood a hundred yards from them, just as imposing as the wendigo, though no animal features were visible on him. Whispers went up among the guerrillas, intrigued by the fact that their commander had frozen at the sight of this stranger.
Sebastian: If you don't tell me who launched the attack on the academy, I'm going to slaughter you all until one of you tells me.
Some of the soldiers laughed. But Patriot, recognizing the soldier in front of him, was not ready to laugh. He had fought alongside him and knew what the fighter was capable of. All the more so when he saw the red flashes of lightning that ran through his sword, his teeth taking the form of sharp points, his gray skin, the sky beginning to be covered with clouds, the air that was beginning to become difficult to breathe, the snow melting around him, but especially the two red eyes. It was these eyes that he recognized. Patriot would never have wanted to be in front of this man at any time in his life. Damn Mephisto... If only he hadn't attacked that school...
The old wendigo knew that, because of Mephisto
Patriot and all his men were going to die today.
To be continued...
