My brows furrowed and I looked at the man's hand for a few seconds before speaking.
"Lucius." I took the man's hand, and for a moment, I felt like I was holding onto a mountain.
Huff!
My frown deepened upon realizing that if this man wanted to kill me, I'd be dead in an instant.
"Firm grip…" Sergeant Skull's words snapped me out of my reverie. "You're definitely stronger than you look."
Before I could respond, I noticed the sergeant's grip tightening, and I tried to resist to the best of my ability. Soon, the earth armor around my arm shattered under his grip, and the crack spread across my body.
On my part, I frowned and focused on my grip. I was shocked that this man was able to crush my earth armor, but I was even more shocked that I could resist his grip.
I thought my hand would have been crushed by now.
[This man is strong… Unusually strong for a soldier,] the voice warned.
I didn't know the limitations of a soldier's capabilities, so I couldn't tell.
"Super strength? No… Lesser, but close… This is a perfect trait that can support your matter absorption ability. You have the potential to become a decent Guardian if groomed well. I guess I hit the jackpot this time." Sergeant Skull evaluated my potential with just one handshake.
"Good… This is not a place for an American. I'll take you to New York, and the government will take good care of you." Sergeant Major Skull said with a polite smile, but I didn't find this comforting in any way.
Doesn't that mean powerless humans like his parents and sister aren't considered citizens? I was disgusted by this Sergeant but maintained a calm demeanor.
[Humans are more vicious than beasts. You'll come to learn that soon,] the voice chuckled.
"Before we go, I have a sister… Can we go get her first?" I asked, and a slight look of discomfort appeared on Sergeant Skull's face, but he did well to hide it just as fast as it came.
He let go of my hand and stood upright while wearing a contemplative look.
"It's not that I don't want to help, but the thing is, the horde that passed through the city slaughtered everything. The entire inhabitants of this part of Ohio have been wiped out." Sergeant Skull didn't attempt to water down his words.
"What?"
For a moment, my vision blurred and I staggered back, almost losing my balance. I was disoriented for a second, breaking my concentration, and this made my earth armor shatter, revealing my fragile body.
"Since the request is coming from a future Guardian, I guess we can go check it out. But don't forget—you owe me one…" Sergeant Skull said as he noticed the distressed look on my face and decided to capitalize on it.
Clearly, having a young Guardian owe him a favor would come in handy sometime in the future.
Not saying anything else, we quickly boarded his camouflage SUV and left with a convoy of two more armored vehicles filled with soldiers under his command.
He watched in silence as I gave the drivers instructions while they navigated through the lonely streets, filled with corpses of humans and beasts alike.
It was crazy to see these vehicles run over corpses, but what could I do?
A thousand corpses was nothing compared to my Lia.
Remembering how peaceful it looked earlier this morning before heading to the facility made me wonder if I was dreaming. Soon, we reached a familiar dilapidated building, and before anyone could say a word, I jumped down and ran into it.
"No, no, no, no…" I muttered under my haggard breath as I ran up the stairs, glancing at the corpses littered everywhere.
It was clear some beasts had made their way into this building.
A minute later, I reached the top floor where we lived.
Walking up the damaged staircase, I could see huge bloody paw prints, which made my intrusive thoughts manifest a lot of bloody scenarios—but none of those images did justice to the horrifying scene I witnessed.
The floor where the corpse lay was stained with blood, with bits of organs and intestines littered around. Lia's eyes reflected the pain she experienced, her face dry and deathly pale.
"Lia!" My voice cracked, and I ran over to her side.
My hands trembled as I reached for her. Her stomach was torn open, and her organs were missing. Whatever killed her must have fed on them.
My hands traced the claw wounds littered all over her body. I clutched my chest, trying desperately to draw breath. It felt like my heart was being pierced, but even with all that pain—I couldn't cry.
It felt like I was forcing the emotion of pain and grief on myself.
This is strange…
This is wrong…
This is Lia…
She's dead, so why am I not crying?
"W-what's going on?" I stuttered. "Why can't I cry for my little sister?" I asked in an unusually calm voice for someone enduring so much pain.
[You are not human anymore… Xenovians grieve, but not in the same way humans do.]
"I don't give a fuck how Xenovians do things, my sister is dead!" I snarled, but that was it.
That was all I could feel. The rage was gone just as fast as it came.
I was about to say something, but I noticed a trail of blood left behind by my sister, leading to another room.
It was the same place we hid the last time the beasts attacked.
My eyes narrowed as I glanced in that direction—only then did I notice a mutated Pitbull my size, glaring at me. It had thick, five-inch bloodied claws, and its lips were stained with blood, but it was drooling like I was another meal.
Its eyes were blood-red, and somehow I felt like it was smiling, as if it was joyful to have found another defenseless prey.
At that moment, something snapped in my head as I remembered the bloodied paws leading up to this room.
Was this how it smiled when it found Lia? I felt the tightening in my chest vanish.
I felt empty. The kind of emptiness that can only be filled with blood and violence.
Sounds of Lia screaming my name for help echoed in my head, driving me down a path of madness.
"It's you…" I said in a voice void of emotions as I slowly rose to my feet.
Grrr!
The Pitbull growled as its instincts detected danger from the little, defenseless boy. Its body tensed, and its muscular frame crouched slightly, preparing to strike at any moment—but I didn't react to its actions.
I just walked towards it with a blank expression while my fingertips brushed against the wall, and vague purple scales spread from my fingertips to the rest of my body.
"Only one of us will walk out of this place alive."