"Help..."
A field man pleaded as he crawled through the damp rice fields, his fingers digging into the mud.
Behind him, a beast stood watching. It was monstrously tall, its body folded into inhuman proportions that defied any natural skeletal structure.
The creature simply watched him, a mockery of a smile etched onto its face. Its head twitched with a sickening snap before it took a single step forward, the echoes of distant gunfire piercing the heavy night sky.
Nearby, another field man caught sight of the lone monster.
"Flame type..." he thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. He gripped his weapon until his knuckles turned white.
"Gift of the hydro, bless me,"
He muttered under his breath, aiming his barrel at the beast now kneeling over his fallen comrade.
"AHHHHHHHHH! DIE!"
The field man screamed, unleashing a volley of fire. Streaks of blue bullets tore through the air, shredding the creature's form.
The rustling of the plants echoed as the beast finally dropped, collapsing into the tall grass.
"I killed it..."
The man whispered to himself, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He stepped forward, drawn by a morbid need to confirm the kill and deliver a final execution.
He stood over the weakened, motionless body and leveled his gun one last time.
But he froze.
The light from the tactical attachment on his weapon illuminated the carnage.
His comrade's head, mangled and detached, lay right beside the beast's flank. The dead man's eye twitched once—a post-mortem reflex—but it was enough to make the field man recoil.
"Shit..."
He squeezed his eyes shut for a split second, trying to steady his hands to finish the job.
But before his finger could find the trigger, a violent streak of orange flare tore through the dark, snatching the field man's body and ripping it into jagged pieces.
The orange flare didn't just strike; it consumed the air in a blinding, silent rush of heat that swallowed the field man whole.
For a split second, the dark rice fields were gone, replaced by a scorched, monochromatic orange that hung suspended in the night.
Then, the brilliance shattered.
The silent roar of the flare collapsed into the sharp, metallic PING of a stray bullet ricocheting inside the helicopter's cockpit.
The blinding orange light vanished, replaced instantly by the dim, pulsing red tactical glow of the transport cabin.
Itoshi flinched, covering his ears as he strapped himself tighter into the helicopter seat. The metal groaned around them, the vibration of the ricochet still humming through the frame.
"GRRR DANG IT!"
Aldrin shouted from the pilot's seat, his hands white-knuckled as he wrestled with the controls. "THESE BITCHES WON'T LEAVE US ALONE HUH?!"
Itoshi gritted his teeth, the thought of Ayro's survival still lingering in the back of his mind like an open wound.
"Ayro.. Dang it.. not again.."
The fear of losing another comrade pulled at him, dragging up memories he tried to keep buried. "Hishiki.."
He thought to himself, the name of his late friend echoing in the silence of his mind.
"Ayro.. You're gonna survive?.. Right?.."
The helicopter rose and fell in the turbulent air, pitching violently to the right and left as Aldrin fought to keep them airborne.
"THIS IS TOO FUCKING DIFFICULT GODDAMMIT!"
Aldrin shouted, casting a frantic glance over his shoulder.
"OI YOU TWO!"
The field man and Itoshi looked back at him, their faces pale in the red tactical light.
Aldrin turned back to the dashboard, his jaw set.
"Fuck no.. That's too risky.."
He muttered to himself, deciding against whatever desperate maneuver he had been considering as he pushed the helicopter forward into the dark.
Then, silence.
The gunfires from the ground faded into nothingness. The scream of the helicopter engine was the only thing left, drowning out the world as they climbed.
"Huh?.. It went quiet.."
Aldrin thought, his eyes scanning the dark horizon for the source of the sudden peace.
As the chopper knocks on heaven's door, it pushed through the heavy night, leaving the chaos of the fields behind.
The forest didn't sound like a battlefield; it sounded like a slaughterhouse during the cleaning hour.
A WESCU field man scrambled backward, his boots sliding on the slick, blood-soaked moss. He fumbled for his radio, his breath hitching in a series of wet, panicked sobs.
"S-Squad Extractor is down! I can't see him! I can't see—"
A wet thud cut him off. He didn't even have time to scream before his head was separated from his shoulders, the green glow of the blade cauterizing the wound with a sickening, sweet smell of burnt iron.
The figure didn't run. It didn't need to. It moved with a terrifying, rhythmic grace, stepping over the piles of tactical gear and severed limbs as if they were nothing more than fallen branches.
One by one, the WESCU men—trained professionals with years of elemental combat experience—died in total silence.
There were no "Flame types" or "Hydro gifts" manifesting to save them. The green light of the sword seemed to eat the very air, dampening the sound of their struggles.
Blood splattered onto the dark grassy blues, the moonlight turning the crimson puddles into a deep, obsidian black.
Eventually, the figure stopped.
It stood in a small clearing where the canopy broke, bathed in a pale lunar light. It was a silhouette of absolute shadow.
Its eyes weren't human; they were two pinpricks of glowing red that didn't blink.
No smile.
No expression.
Just a cold, mechanical void where a soul should have been. It looked down at a pile of discarded WESCU helmets, their visors cracked and lifeless, and simply waited for the next sound of a heartbeat.
~~~Saga~~~
[20:30H]
The trench was a narrow, muddy vein of chaos. Kara's heavy breaths were the only thing she could hear clearly, a ragged, rhythmic sound that competed with the concussive BOOM of shells hitting the earth nearby.
Dirt rained down on her helmet, the dull metallic pings vibrating against her skull.
Everything—the rhythmic cracks of rifles, the desperate cries of the dying—swirled into a deafening echo that made the world feel distant and blurred.
"HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!"
The scream was raw, high-pitched, and close enough to vibrate the air in her lungs.
Kara's head snapped toward the sound. She pressed her back against the wet dirt of the trench wall, her hands trembling so violently she had to clench them into white-knuckled fists.
Her teeth chattered, a rapid, involuntary clicking that she couldn't stop.
She looked up at the lip of the trench. Slowly, she peaked over the top, her helmeted head rising just an inch above the churned earth.
Kara closed her eyes, shutting them hard before she swallowed.
"I-I have to help him..." she muttered to herself. Then, she jumped.
Through the damp, dark field she ran, pushing through the dangers of the open air. But her weak legs could only take her so far.
Midway through her sprint, she tripped, rolling hard into the grass and gaining bruises all over her legs.
She gritted her teeth, slowly rising to reach the man as his voice began to fade, his hope dying with his strength.
Suddenly, something grabbed his arm. The field man's eyes widened as he looked up.
There was a girl in front of him with cyan eyes and long blue hair streaked with orange.
"I'll get you out of here!" she shouted.
Kara crouched, scanning the man's condition. Even through the dark, she noticed—the man was missing his right leg.
"Kev... Jona... Help.."
he muttered, his voice a ghost of itself.
"My friends.. they're all wiped out.."
Kara's eyes scanned the area, landing on the bodies and blood scattered across the green grass.
The man burst into tears, while Kara retched at the absolute sight of the carnage this squad had endured. Her eyes were wide with horror.
She turned back to the man, forcing her focus.
"I'll stop the bleeding! I'll pull you back to the trenches!"
"T-thank you.."
The man answered weakly.
Kara wrapped a gauge around the stump of the man's leg, then gripped him by his underarms to pull him toward safety.
She struggled, her muscles burning under the weight of his heavy combat armor. She looked back, searching for the lip of the trench.
"Almost there!"
Then suddenly, the air got heavy.
She froze. She looked ahead and saw it. There it stood—a single Seele, an Earth type, just the size of a man. Its body twitched, watching Kara as she stood there trembling.
It took a step.
Kara flinched.
"No.."
It took another step.
"D-Don't get any.. c-c-closer.."
She stammered, her voice failing her.
"P-please."
The beast twitched, letting out a series of grunts before it erupted into a full-blown screech.
Kara rushed, pulling the man with all her strength to fall back into the trench, but the beast was closing in too fast.
All Kara could do was close her eyes.
Darkness.
PING!
She opened her eyes again.
Time slowed down until all she could hear was the frantic thumping of her own heartbeat.
There stood Tomori, positioned between the beast and herself. Tomori delivered a brutal blow to the Seele's jaw with her kunai, the impact stunning the creature.
"What are you doing here?! Kara-chan?!"
Tomori asked, her breath coming in quick bursts.
Kara shook, her voice caught in her throat.
"I-I-I-..."
Then Kara noticed—Tomori's clothes were shredded, ripped from her shoulders down to her legs. She froze at the sight of the damage.
Tomori quickly turned her attention back to the Seele, a determined look on her face.
"Trying to save this man, huh?"
She managed a small, sharp smile.
"Ok! I'll take care of this bitch, go save him!"
Kara nodded quickly.
"Mhm!"
Kara finally reached the lip of the trenches, her breath heavy from the pure, bone-deep exhaustion of the haul.
Just in time, Tomori finished the beast, the creature's screech ending in a wet, final silence.
Tomori rushed toward Kara, appearing entirely unbothered by the relentless work she had been putting out in this war.
Kara fumbled, trying to find a way to get the man slowly down into the trench without further injuring him.
Tomori saw the struggle and reached up, removing her mask to reveal her tri-colored hair.
She slid down into the trench, positioning herself to take the weight.
"Put him on my back! You guide us!"
Kara looked her in the eyes and nodded.
"Mhm!"
As the man's body was placed onto Tomori's back, a heavy realization hit the veteran.
"Eh?.. He's already..."
Tomori didn't say it.
They slowly laid him on the trench floor as Kara immediately sprung into action, her panic overriding her fatigue.
"I'll get you healed up quickly!"
She shouted desperately, her voice echoing off the narrow dirt walls.
Tomori just stood behind Kara. Silent.
Kara's hands glowed green, her light flickering as her body screamed with exhaustion.
"You're gonna be alright!"
She insisted, pushing her newly learned magic to its absolute limits.
The strain was too much; her nose began to bleed, and a violent cough racked her chest.
She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, the metallic taste of blood filling her throat as she forced the energy to flow.
Tomori kneeled down to Kara's level, her expression softening with a heavy sadness.
She placed a firm palm on Kara's shoulder, breaking the truth.
"Kara-san.." She hesitated for a second, her voice low. "He's... He's gone.."
Kara flinched, her eyes widening into a vacant stare.
The green light in her palms sputtered and died. She looked down at her hands as her breath began to shake.
Her palms were filled with blood—not her own, but the man's.
"I could not save him.."
She thought to herself, the weight of the failure crushing her more than the physical labor ever could.
In the distance, the roar of a helicopter's rotor broke through the endless symphony of bullets and monster screeches. Itoshi was coming.
~~~To be Continued~~~