《The far cry of an anti-hero》


 Prologue

    Fate brought me here, to this world, this broken and discord world.


    A foreign land;


    In these ruins of a former village;


    It¡¯s where a lone gunman is fighting against twenty bandits.


    We got caught in one of a bandit ambush, Emily with the m14 was able to shoot some of them down until many of them fall back and used eruption potions on us. To save the girls, I jumped out with my mp5 red dot sighted and decided to take them down. Most of them were easily taken down by the continuous burst of 9mm mp5 rounds. Many of them did manage to reach my position and almost cut me. However, when the adrenaline dies down, the pain from their attacks manifested again and now it¡¯s an uneven battle between these bastards and me.


    ¡°HYAA!¡± (Mitsuha)


    I swing my combat knife at one of the attacking assailants coming at me with his sword drawn, parrying his strike and knocking him backwards.


    *CLANG*


    Twenty muscular renegades, fitted with tethered leather armor and steel chest pieces, helmets and armed with various types of weapons from hand-axes to broadswords; Against a Fifteen year old boy dressed in modern ACU Camo, on him was a battle-worn tactical vest fitted with pouches of various types of ammunition and armed with a handgun, a depleted SMG and an [M2 bayonet].


    I breathe roughly, holster the knife back to my belt and grip tightly on my wound. I was careless on my last dodge of their attack.


    Shit, I¡¯m losing too much blood. Khuu!


    ¡°Stand tall men! He¡¯s hurt, we can beat him.¡± (Bandit)


    With that, their attacks become more vicious, more motivated to strike me. I dodge a few of their strikes and also successfully parry a few or their strikes, and take down about ten of them, but as I move more and more, I can feel more and more blood draining out¡­


    My vision is starting to fade, soon I won¡¯t be able to stand my ground anymore.


    With the [FN Five Seven], I carefully pick off the remaining bandits as they charge at me. Following their movement and attack patterns, I take caution in engaging them while dodging their swords and knives.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    *BANG*


    *BANG*


    ¡°HUGH!¡± (bandits)


    ¡°ARGH!¡± (Bandits)


    ¡°Who¡­ wants some more? Ah, ha¡­haa¡­haa¡­AHAHHAHA¡± (Mitsuha)


    Suddenly, I feel wonderful, as if a train full of pleasure stimulants just ran at me at full speed and continuously ram me over and over. This feels great¡­~


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± (bandits)


    ¡°Is he a monster?¡± (Bandits)


    ¡°You Betcha!¡±


    With my vitality back, I run full speed at the remaining ones. Dashing my way at them, avoiding their swords and break through their retreating formation, raising my knife and gun.


    *CRACK!*


    *BANG* BANG*


    *BANG*


    I break the neck of the first guy furthest back and quickly shot down two of his friends idly stood by, dazed from my movement; I then select another target; locking my sight on a fat one, I spring myself at him and jab my bayonet through his skull.


    Four down, two left. The last two bandits barely have any fight left in them; As I slowly closing in on them, they drop their weapons and beg for my mercy.


    ¡°Please¡­hahh¡­please spare us¡­.¡± (Bandits)


    ¡°You¡¯ll never see our faces again¡­.We¡¯ll convert to Emry sect and become monks, we swear¡­ You won¡¯t see us ever again¡­Please.¡± (Bandits)


    ¡°Pitiful¡­¡± (Mitsuha)


    I say, shooting one of them in the head.


    ¡°Ugnh¡± (Bandit)


    ¡°eeeeek!¡± (Bandit)


    ¡°Well, that leaves you¡­ What should I do with you? Well, I¡¯m low on ammo so I won¡¯t shoot you¡­¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°Thank you¡­.Thank you.¡± (Bandit)


    I turn on the safety and holster my gun.


    ¡°thank you¡­thank you¡­hugh!...arck...¡± (Bandit)


    With a quick slash of my bayonet, a spray of blood bursts out of the beaten bandit''s throat and spray directly on my clothing.


    ¡°Shut up¡­You¡¯re annoying.¡± (Mitsuha) The only problem left is how much money I can get for their gears; and can I stay sober enough to drive to the nearest town.


    Ah! I¡¯m so fucking pissed, those bastards screwed up my new pair of combat dress, and to think of it I should have slice somewhere else than his main arteries. Well hopefully their gear sell well so I can at least get some materials for repairing the clothes and make some bullets, I¡¯m running low on 9mm rounds.


    I stagger back to the Humvee, giving out a signal for Emily to come out.


    ¡°Mitsuha-sama. Are you alright?¡± (Emily)


    ¡°Mit-chan you look extremely hurt are you ok?¡± (Lili)


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­I¡¯m fine...Lili can you patch me up? I¡¯ll need to collect the armor those bandits wore so we can sell for money and supplies.¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°No, Mitsuha-sama, you rest, I¡¯ll gather their gears myself, most are only leather chest plates and broadswords¡­¡± (Emily)


    ¡°Fine but hand me your Mosin, I¡¯ll keep watch of others.¡± (Mitsuha)


    I interrupt her and ask her to pass me her Mosin Nagant, of which she happily do so. I took out all of the ones I saw, but this is best as a precaution if any more prone to show up.


    Out of all the people I have met since I came to this world, these two are the most efficient individuals I have ever seen, I¡¯m quite glad that they decided to follow me.


    And so we end on a high note, the bandits dying at the hand of ¡°Hyde¡± and be satisfied with releasing my anger.

 Chapter 0: Lich and the hero

    [Hyde E.]: Rage of Mitsuha. Even though Mitsuha is reborn into a new world, his hate for certain types of people still remain as he encounters them. A psychotic disorder rather than an ability, however, in the Hyde E. state, Mitsuha vitality, adrenaline and blood pressure heighten up to ensure best combat capability; The personality of Hyde E. represents true hatred, sadistic, desensitized of morals and humanity standards.


    I wake up to the stench of methane gas, everything engulfed in the darkness of the night sky while illuminated in the light of a full-moon and surrounded in a thick smog.


    Looking around, I realize that I was in somewhat of a cemetery with all the head stones littered the ground. An odd place to reinstate in unless I was in a doom game, which I¡¯m not since there are no zombies, demons or anything of the sort.


    After a short walk around the area of the cemetery, I encounter a strange looking man, staggering around with a shovel on his back. Thinking that he¡¯s a late night grave digger or a grave robber, I close in and try to ask for assistance.


    ¡°Excuse me sir! Hey Sir! You there! Hello?!¡±


    I shout continuously at the man while sprinting at him, hoping to get his attention. The man does not respond to my cries.


    However, as I close in to this guy, I¡¯m greeted not with man, no. It was a skeleton, covered with a black cloak.


    ¡°He¡­Hey¡­Can you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡±


    The skeleton uncover his hood to reveal his fleshless interior and slowly close in to me.


    I can¡¯t move, come on. Oh no, he¡¯s getting closer. God damn it, I just came back to life and now I¡¯m gonna be killed by a grave digger skeleton?


    I close my eyes, waiting for the worse to come out of this situation. However, what comes next is not what I expected for a little bit.


    its hands reach out for my face, giving me a soft touch and a quick inspection of my face with his boney fingers.


    I become petrified as the thought of it suddenly stab I in the eye with his finders really make it uneasy as he scan my face with them.


    But then nothing happens, the skeleton retract its hand and walk to a coffin shaped tomb and signal me to sit down alongside it.


    Still baffled from the occurrence, I slowly walk over to him while continuously trembles at this sight.


    ¡°Your name¡­is it MItsuha?¡±


    It suddenly talks, or rather she suddenly talks.


    ¡°M¡­me?¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°Who else¡¯s? You¡¯re the only human are here at the moment and not charge at me sword in hand.¡± (Skeleton)


    ¡°Al¡­alright, so what is it? Why do you want me to sit next to you? Do you have something to say? IF not then can I leave, it¡¯s kinda scary here.¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°Well first, I¡¯m sorry for almost scaring you shitless¡­¡±(Skeleton)


    ¡°Yeah, almost¡­¡± (MItsuha)


    ¡°Well your face was so fucking funny when I caressed your face. I do admit, it¡¯s kinda rude to do it, but I really miss having a fleshy face once again¡­Mitsuha¡­¡± (Skeleton)


    ¡°What do you mean by that? (And how the fuck did you know my name?)¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t always a Lich you know, I was once a kid, summoned to this world. Put it in a short term, I was cursed and I have been an undead Lich till now.¡±(Lich)


    ¡°I see¡­¡± (Mitsuha)


    Still putting up my doubtful defense barrier, I maintain my conversation with the soft-voiced Lich.


    ¡°You seem to have been summoned here too, hero type familiar I assume (with the Army uniform and all). However, you seem to be a little bit too young for being a soldier.¡± (Lich)


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t remember anything else prior to waking up in this cemetery. I do remember where I came from though. Japan,¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°I barely remember anything, when I came here.¡± (Lich)


    ¡°So what should I call you? It¡¯s gonna be hard later on if we are to travel with eachother¡±


    ¡°Wh¡­what? You want to travel¡­with¡­ with me.¡±(Lich)This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    She turns away from me, and instinctively cover her face. That gesture somewhat resembles when a heroine in an eroge game blush. Am I in a weird monster dating sim right about now or a really weird light novel of where the hero fuck monsters?


    ¡°Well, yeah, since you are intending to give me a quest am I right? From what you said earlier, I think that you¡¯ll ask me to undo your curse somehow. I just wake up in a weird new world with a Lich who¡¯s not planning to kill me, so my bet is that you¡¯re either giving me a rare item or a shitty item that I¡¯m going to discard later on if I am to get a better item later on, at least that¡¯s what i think from all of my years playing MMORPGs.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Are you an Otaku?¡± (Lich)


    ¡°Yeah, I have quite a big collection of manga and anime in my room. Because of that, I¡¯m kind of a loner in my school years. And because of that I was considered a shame for my family and later on get disowned by my father¡­¡± (Mitsuha)


    Due to a certain problem I had with how father chose to treat my new step mother. I remember getting beaten a lot and almost got my arm severed from a sword fight with him. But mother did manage to save me and we even went into hiding with my two other sisters. Everything else after that is much of a blur.


    ¡°How did it come to that? Did you sell some sort of important family heritage or something?¡± (Lich)


    ¡°Sort of¡­Dad was somewhat pissed about that, and one thing led to another. Next thing I knew, I was in a duel with that bastard...¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°You had a rough time,¡­ hadn¡¯t you?¡±(Lich)


    ¡°Yeah¡­It kinda suck¡­but hey, enough about me. Tell me a little bit about yourself.¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°Well I was sent here like you, but through a summoner. I didn¡¯t know what kind of life I had prior to coming here. Later on that summoner asked me to be her apprentice, which I agreed to as I had nowhere to go and no money for the most part. I guess I lost my memories after being turned into a Lich. Since then I¡¯ve been wandering around and clearing the cemetery off the monsters.¡± (Lich)


    ¡°What do you mean monsters?¡± (mitsuha)


    ¡°Well ever since I got cursed and stayed here, I have been making charms and amulets to stop some of the undead from rising up. It¡¯s hard to mope around if there is always a barrage of moaning disrupting your thoughts now and then. Oh and so to speak, my spells only can work during day time to kill and suppress them, but at night, the zombies tends to be invulnerable to my spells and tends to multiply. Speaking of which, we should get back to my place, I have a hut on that hill over there, it should be safer with the moon have risen up.¡± (Lich)


    ¡°Wait wait wait¡­We barely even met, I mean we did spend a few minutes talking, but don¡¯t think that I trust you for one second.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Why?¡±(Lich)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong¡­But it¡¯s still awfully suspicious of you, a Lich, to come over and just blatantly hold a conversation with me. One, it¡¯s because you¡¯re a Lich. Second, all the things you told me might have been a lie. Third, you¡¯re awfully friendly to a guy you just met.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t get too full of yourself, you moron. First, you woke up in devil¡¯s territory, and not the good types too. Second, I¡¯m not that bad of a person, even after I turned into a Lich. Third, it¡¯s high time that we leave unless you want to be zombie chow. And call me Yuki, my previous master used to address me with that name.¡±(Lich)


    As she finishes her sentence, loud groans of zombies echo through the foggy grave yard. She then guides me through the grave yard, across the sea of rising zombies.


    As I go through the sea of undead, I hear a feint cry for help from a far.


    ¡°IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE? PLEASE! HELP ME!¡±(Unknown person)


    The Lich keeps on going, unfeigned by the echoes that haunts the air even more.


    ¡°Hey, should we help them? I mean, you can¡¯t left them for dead right?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°The person you are speak off is a Holy Knight of Emestria, during the new king¡¯s reign, they have not only wreak havoc around settlements and towns. It¡¯s better off if they die¡­¡±(Yuki/Lich)


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that, they might be innocent passerby or adventurers.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Innocent passerby tends to not care of a demonic cemetery, and adventurers are mostly cowards at this point turning to extort, rape and killing each other¡­¡±(Yuki/Lich)


    Even so, they are still human beings.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, it¡¯s cruel to let them die. And I agree with you, it is cruel but, this is the reality of this world, it¡¯s harsh and unmerciful. It¡¯s better to let a messiah die than to let a scoundrel lives. And besides, since you are a human, your chances of surviving is pretty low. ¡± (Yuki/Lich)


    She then continues toward the hut visible on top of the hill, with me following her steps.


    But it¡¯s kinda fucked up to leave a person crying for help¡­From what I heard from Yuki, it seems that this ain¡¯t gonna be like those Isekai novels that the hero ends up getting several wives and all that, but it¡¯s gonna be kill or be killed.


    ¡­


    A thought suddenly rushes through my mind, and at this moment, I do something very, extremely, utterly stupid.


    ¡°Yuki! I¡¯m saving that person with or without your help.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Huh? Didn¡¯t you just hear what I said, you¡¯ll get killed and you don¡¯t even have a weapon. People are cons these days, they might even try to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Screw that! I am supposed to be the hero right? I mean I was summoned here to be the hero right? Then let me do my fucking job. In any movies or video games, heroes tend to save lives not abandon them, or at least die trying.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Are you an idiot? Look! There are at least two hundred zombies out there. You don¡¯t even have a weapon.¡±(Yuki)


    ¡°It¡¯s alright! I used to take Aikido and Kenjutsu, I won¡¯t fight hem head on. I¡¯ll try to dodge rather than engage them head on.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I say with a confident smile while brushing my hair to the side as a pathetic attempt to flaunt my charms over her.


    ¡°Idiot¡­ Just do what you want, don¡¯t tell me to come and save you when your plans fail. I won¡¯t help! Hmph!¡±(Yuki)


    ¡°Just tsun all you want, but I¡¯ll evoke your dere side sooner or later.*Wink*¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Ew! Gross...¡±(Yuki)


    I then roll up my sleeves, straighten up my collar. As I about to sprint, Yuki suddenly grab my arm and pull me to her side.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this only as a favor, I expect something in return. UNDEAD DISPERSAL!¡±(Yuki)


    She then chants a loud spell, dispersing the crowd of undead in the direction of the cries.


    ¡°I thinned out the herd for you, and also take this¡­¡±


    She then hands me her shovel,


    ¡°It¡¯s risky if you were to get cornered by the zombies so as a precaution, take my shovel. I¡¯ll be wanting it back so you better stay alive and bring it back to me. I¡¯m gonna quite pissed if I have to wander around just to find it shoved in some zombie¡¯s face. I¡¯ll try to hold the dispersing spell, that¡¯ll slow them down. Move!¡± (Yuki)


    After receiving Yuki¡¯s weapon, I charge at the direction of the cries, and engage the crowds of zombies.

 Chapter 1: The Lich and the Holy Knight.

    Chapter 1: The Hero


    Here I am, basically in a more fucked up than ever version of Resident evil, running through a crowd of zombies, trying to save a stranger.


    ¡°Mitsuha, look out!¡±(Yuki)


    Yuki yells out to me as her spells wear out, giving me the cue to start moving faster. I use the shovel, knocking the zombies on the knees and legs, immobilizing them.


    Things went pretty well with this plan until I get grabbed by one of them.


    One of the zombies suddenly grab me by the shoulder and sinks his teeth into my shoulder, making me drop the shovel.


    ¡°ARGH! YOU piece of shit!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I struggle for a moment to get the monster undead monster off, for his teeth have already jabbed quite deep into the flesh of my left shoulder. To no avail, he continues to bite deeper into my shoulder. Running out of option, I choose to use the forward roll from Aikido to release myself; Grabbing the zombie¡¯s head, I then drop forward, knee first then over the shoulder, still gripping the zombie¡¯s head and doing a full roll, using the inertia to get his teeth off my shoulder and leaving him flying forward at his friends, knocking them down and create for me an easier path to follow.


    Grabbing Yuki¡¯s shovel, I continue onward, warding the undead to the sides with it and Use several ¡°Irimi Tenkan¡±, ¡°Hidari Tenkan¡± moves to make the zombies fall over each other and finishing some that are crawling on the ground with the sharp edge.


    After ploughing my way through the herd of undead corpses and suffering a few bites, I finally meet the stranger that was crying out for help. Despite being surrounded by many zombies from all sides including the fact that his armour was too thick, heavy and hard to move around in, he has still managed to stay alive till now.


    ¡°HYAH!¡±(Stranger)


    He yells, thrusting his broadsword towards the undead in front of him, from there, grabbing the throat of one of them, throwing them towards each other and plummeting them on the ground to finish them off with a stomp or a stab of his sword.


    ¡°Hold on, I¡¯m coming!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I yell out, announcing my presence toward the struggling stranger and rushes towards him, with my weapon ready in hand.


    ¡°KYAA!¡± (Mitsuha)


    I charge towards the zombies, using the Kenjutsu techniques I had learnt before as well as Aikido unarmed combat to shove them down and either separate them for an easier takedown or cripple them enough to pass by them.


    After a short amount of time fending them off, I finally get to the guy¡¯s side and assist him.


    ¡°Thank you for your assistance, I thought I was done for.¡±(Yuki)


    Eh? A girl? Getting closer, I finally realize that the stranger is not a man but a woman, her techniques were quite impressive for her to hold out this long. And so as comrades, we fight back to back, covering each other¡¯s sides.


    ¡°Listen, Hah(panting rapidly)¡­my friend is putting on an undead dispersing spell up there, it¡¯s why the undead hasn¡¯t overwhelmed us yet. We¡¯ll need to meet her up on that hill, so run, don¡¯t fight, they¡¯ll chase us as soon as her mana is depleted.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Sounds good nobleman, I¡¯ll follow you.¡±(Stranger)


    ¡°I¡¯ll take point, you cover my back¡­and don¡¯t fight, rush through them.¡±(Mitsuha)


    With that said, I then rush through the zombies, using ¡°Irimi Tenkan¡± and ¡°Hidari Tenkan¡± from Aikido to dodge their grasps and pushing them together. Whenever one of the zombies lunges at me, I dodge to either side using the dominant hand in that side, grabbing the zombie¡¯s wrist and shoulder and either spin him around and let go for the inertia to launch him forward to his friend, or I can use that side¡¯s dominant leg to trip him down. Following my plan of using martial arts and dodging the zombies rather than engaging them, we pass through the vast cemetery with ease with exception of me getting bites on my body from having no armour.


    ¡°Up ahead! Move!¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°I see it!¡±(stranger)


    ¡°Come on run faster!¡± (Yuki)


    We sprint hastily toward an old shack on top of the hill with Yuki standing beside it, waving her hand and rushing us to sprint faster.


    However, just only a klick away from the safe haven, the stranger falls down, injuring her knee.


    ¡°GYA! My knee¡­¡±(Stranger)


    ¡°Hold on I¡¯m coming¡±(Mitsuha)


    The zombies then close in around her, falling on themselves and try to bit through her armoured plates.


    KENG


    KCHINK


    ¡°NO! GET OFF!¡±(Stranger)


    The sound of her pleas combine with the growls and moan of the zombies fills the air, creating a pretty dreary atmosphere resembles to somewhat of a horror survival game.


    So like any game hero character, I run at the piling zombies to rescue her. With the shovel in hand, I then get in the ¡°seigan¡± posture for the ¡°Bo suburi¡±- the basic posture of readying your weapon in Kenjutsu, plus a shovel is too hard to hold properly like a katana- in three counts, I charge at the zombies. Using the shovel, I go for three consecutive strikes on the corpse pile continuously while fending myself from the surrounding ones.


    ¡°Hya! One two three! Geidan¡­Again!¡±(Mitsuha)


    Over time, the number of zombies surrounding the poor helpless girl decreases. After a while, I¡¯m then able to pull her out of the meat pile.


    ¡°Common! We gotta run! Your armour is thick but it won¡¯t hold against these zombies for long! MOVE!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I then wrap her arm over my shoulder and hand in hand ram through the door with her. After getting through the door. When we have safely crossed through the doorway, I violently kick the door back in and lock it tight.


    ¡°Phew¡­that was heart-wrenching. Are you alright?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Well, thanks to you stranger I was able to keep my head¡­¡±(Stranger)


    She then unstraps her helmet to reveal a long luscious vermillion hair tied into a long ponytail, pinned with a golden short kanzashi like the ornament. Her looks are somewhat comprised of both of an Asian beauty in her youth, a European maiden in her prime, and she seems to be around my age. In other words, she looks like a romance heroine flown out from an anime or eroge of some sort.


    ¡°My name is Emily V¡­Vermont, holy knight of Emestria, First class expedition knights corp¡­¡±(Emily)


    What was that stuttering just now? Well, she stuttered from telling me her surname. The sudden change in her tone when pronouncing the letter V, so Vermont isn¡¯t her real name. I¡¯m not gonna bother much about that since we¡¯re still not entirely in the clear as many of the zombies are still gathered around the building.


    ¡°Mitsuha Akizuki, son of Houjou Akizuki, student, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance¡­¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°A student? What is a scholar doing out here in these dangerous ruins? Furthermore, your clothingis strange, could it be that you¡¯re a spy?! You must have followed me on my righteous quest!¡±(Emily)


    With that, she turns her sword on me.


    ¡°Wait wait wait!¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Why should I wait for you evil fiend? Kwangchow spies are basically snaked with twisted tongues, I wait so that you¡¯re able to twist me with your words?¡±(Emily)


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, if I were a spy, why should I save you? Furthermore, would it be easier to just capture your and torture you for Intel?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Intel? Well anyway, I don¡¯t trust you!¡±(Emily)


    She then pushes her sword closer to my face in a hostile way. To which I reply with a Kenjutsu disarm technique. Dashing to one side, I hit one of her arms to sway away from the sword then immediately push her down to her back.


    ¡°HgnH!¡±(Emily)


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m a spy, now I gotta kill you¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    With her sword in my hand, I give out an antagonist smirk and threaten her.


    ¡°IYAAH! NO!! YOU Low down scoundrel, let me go.¡±(Emily)


    After telling the joke, I let the sword go and put my foot on her stomach.


    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m not a spy nor I want to be here anyway. Trust me or not it¡¯s your call. But I¡¯m not going to die in a zombie-infested cemetery.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I then lift my foot from her stomach and as a commanding gesture, I try to give her a hand.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±(Emily)


    And as expected, she shrugs it off and stand up by herself and with a superior stature to add more salt to the wound.


    ¡°Rude!¡±(Emily)


    ¡°You turn your sword on me first.¡±(MItsuha)


    ¡°Hmph, what a brute, I wonder if this is how you usually treat your women."(Emily)


    ¡°Kacrg!¡±(Mitsuha)


    Somehow that comment hurts way more than the bites I received.


    ¡°Anyhow, we should try to find a way out of here. If the undead breaks through, we¡¯re gonna be in huge trouble.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Well you¡¯re the one who led us in here, I figured that you would know the way out.¡±(Emily)


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to look around, just rest, I¡¯m sure that you have been through quite a lot.¡±(Mitsuha)


    First is to find Yuki she couldn¡¯t just disappear into thin air¡­could she? Well, she did mention that she needs to rest from time to time, maybe using all her mana might have sent her into her rest.


    With that in mind, I should leave her to rest to look around the room. From an overall perspective, this seems to resemble a receptionist at a pharmacy or a bank. The benches, the meshed counter surely gives me the idea that this isn¡¯t a part of this world. The room consists of three benches, a counter with a meshed screen. Walking around the counter, I then spot a metal box with English engravings.


    ¡°Emergency security supplies. Do not open unless of emergency¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird. Why is this thing here?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Did you find any loot?¡±(Emily)


    ¡°I found this, the lock looks corroded enough to break with a something blunt.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I then reach for my shovel and with a single knock, I break open the lock, revealing the contents inside.


    ¡°Oooo~ What strange devices.¡±(Emily)


    Inside the box was a few light sticks, a utility knife, a rechargeable pin on flashlight and¡­handgun. It¡¯s not bizarre that weapons sometimes present in emergency boxes, but those that do tends to be in banks, police stations, military offices and private security corporations.


    ¡°What is that device you¡¯re holding in your hand?¡± (Emily)


    ¡°It¡¯s a handgun, an m92f to be exact. Hmm¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°That looks like one of the steam pipes that Soujin soldiers¡¯ use.¡±(Emily)


    So there are guns here as well¡­at least steam guns or flintlock.


    *


    ¡°Are you well rested? We¡¯ll need to get moving if we want to not risk our lives waiting for the horde to clear off.¡±(Mitsuha)Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Well, where should we go?¡± (Emily)


    I load the m9, cock the gun and say.


    ¡°Through there... And take these¡­ These are light sticks, you break them and shake violently to make it lights up.¡±(Mitsuha)


    Her eyes shine brightly as I demonstrate how the light sticks work as if they were magic.


    ¡°Uwa¡­ For the record, I still don¡¯t trust you though.¡±(Emily)


    ¡°Hey just take the stick.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Alright, alright, you don¡¯t have to rush. Geez¡±(Emily)


    I then tell Emily to take point on the left of the door, and with a heavy kick, I swing the door open. On the other side of the door is a long corridor littered with doors. On the wall, several posters and flyers can be seen.


    ¡°Terrorist took over Seoul.¡±


    ¡°We want you to join the UN peacekeeper force.¡±


    ¡°Weapons are not permitted at this point.¡±


    Etc.


    This seems to be a recruitment centre before getting transported here. Seems to be my timeline too, these news articles I¡¯ve read before about on the 20<sup>th</sup> of November I think. Maybe I can find some more information in these rooms.


    Walking a few more steps I then find the Master Sergeant office.


    ¡°Hey, Emily, I need to check something¡­You keep watch.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°But¡­¡± (Emily)


    ¡°Just stand and hold the door open, I won¡¯t be long.¡±(MItsuha)


    I then break two of the light sticks; I throw one into the halls and the other into the room. With haste, I then look in every drawer, ever file cabinets and bags that are in that room.


    Most of them were corroded with yellow moulds as well as losing their ink. After a while, I was able to find a few English documents that were good enough to read. Most of them were mainly enlistment names, serial numbers and dates of enlistment. Huh? My name is in here¡­


    Junior Private Mitsuha Akizuki, 23<sup>rd</sup> Intelligence division. Next to my name is a key with a tag ¡°Computer office.¡± Well, I can try using some of the computers to try and look for more information.


    ¡°Hey, Emily! Let¡¯s go, I got what I needed!¡±(MItsuha)


    I got no response. Feeling suspicious, I call out to her again.


    ¡°EMILY! WHERE ARE YOU?¡±(Mitsuha)


    Once more, I yell out to her. Feeling uneasy, I turn on the flashlight, illuminating the corridors as well as breaking a few more of the light sticks to create a trail to guide me through the darkness. I search each and every single room there is.


    This floor has a total of twelve rooms including the Master sergeant office, about 5 of them had collapsed for quite a long time. So trying to access them was much of a hassle, but my effort wasn¡¯t all for nothing. At the end of my search, I was able to find a few clues that suggest where Emily had gone.


    Trails of her clothing, as well as the echoing clanks of heavy armour I heard from the air vents, suggest that she¡¯s still in the building. Readying my weapons, the m92f, the shovel and the flashlight(it¡¯s also weighted at the back for the extra application of combating attackers), I then make my way down to the sub level b1 floor.


    ***


    ¡°Emily? If you hear me then yell out so I can find you!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I carefully walk down the stairs, yelling for Emily to call for me. Arriving at the entrance of the floor, an ominous feeling courses through my body. My fight or flight instinct goes complete haywire on proceeding or backing up and wait till the sun¡¯s up.


    ¡°Come on, hold it together¡­What¡¯s done has been done, there is nothing you could have done¡­¡±(Strange voice)


    People? Could it be that someone has been taking refuge here for a long time?


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t our fault, we did what we need to do¡­¡±(strange voice)


    I ready the m9, checking once more while waltzing down the dark hallway.


    ¡°LET ME GO!¡±(Yuki)


    Is that Yuki?


    With haste, I then rush to the echoing location.


    ¡°Freeze!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I aim the m92f at the humanoid figures at the end of the hallway.


    ¡°Trespasser!¡±(Humanoid figures)


    ¡°Must exterminate¡­exterminate for the safety of the civilians.¡±(Continuous chants from them)


    Three of them, wearing blue and grey armour with the UN insignia, ¨Cthey seem to be soldiers from the UN peacekeeping force, rush at me, weapon in hand and try to cut me.


    ¡°I say once more! FREEZE OR I¡¯LL SHOOT!¡±(MItsuha)


    As one is able to pin me down and stab me in the shoulder with his knife. As he about to land his finishing blow, I push down the safety and shove the gun on his visor.


    BANG


    I shoot one shot through the head of the soldier. The gunshot echoes loudly through the dark corridor, giving me ringing eardrums for a few minutes.


    The shot goes through the soldier¡¯s head, propelling his helmet backwards, revealing a torn and withered face.


    Ah! It fucking hurts¡­But I should leave the knife in, no use bleeding to death.


    ¡°ARGH!...hughn¡­we¡­will protect the civilians...¡±


    Seeing their brother falling down, the other two lunges themselves at me. With a quick dash, I make it to one of the open room and decide barricade myself in it. After pushing the file cabinet over and stopping the soldiers, let me go and stumble down on the floor¡­ hah¡­hah¡­mgf


    ¡°I¡­damnit¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    And with that, I pass out, soaked in the red blood bleeding from my wound.


    ¡°Well, that was lack lusting¡­¡±(Strange voice)


    I wake up to a brightly lit room.


    ¡°Where is the glasses wearing devil that terrorized Iriyama middle school, suppressing the school¡¯s degenerate delinquents, holders of the highest scores available in the Yamanashi Province and the Devil swordsman that challenged death?¡±(Strange voice)


    ¡°Huh?¡±(Mitsuha)


    I look around the room, trying to find the source of the voice.


    ¡°Excuse me, who are you and where am I?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Who am I? Who am-? That¡¯s a question I¡¯ve been asking myself for quite a long time¡­ Alas, I found my answer when my creations address me. Well, behold, the one and only god, Adam. The one who sent you there.¡±(Adam)


    Appearing behind a curtain of thick smoke was a small little girl, dressed in a what seems to be a bathrobe, decorated with a small lily flower headband, and emitting a godly aura overlaying her tardy looks.


    ¡°God?!¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°YUP!¡±(Adam)


    Upon moving closer, I notice that she was only half my size, in otaku term, a loli¡­


    ¡°Wut? I never thought god to be a girl or even this small¡­Are you really a god?¡±(Mitsuha)


    I raise my eyebrow, questioning the legitimacy of this "loli god".


    Feeling offended, this loli lunges herself at me and continuously hit me with her soft and harmless punches.


    ¡°What?! How dare you! Despite my looks, I¡¯m a bonafide and truthful god you know!¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Alright, alright¡­so may I ask why I¡¯m here?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°You died.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Really?!¡±(mitsuha)


    ¡°Yeah really, you died of blood loss.¡±(Adam)


    She then pulls out a small piece of glass and shows it to me.


    ¡°Here¡­That was a real bummer too. I thought you would be able to fend them off like when you protected your sisters and childhood friend from the rival yakuza.¡±(Adam)


    In the piece of glass lays a small boy, surrounded by a river of blood with a handgun laid beside him. Game over I guess, what¡¯s best right now is to either ascend to heaven or hell, I¡¯m quite ready for any of them, to be honest as for the sins I¡¯ve committed.


    ¡°So where am I going?¡±(mitsuha)


    ¡°You¡¯ll be going through the air vents and will reach an atrium down the elevator shaft of course.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°What do you mean? Isn¡¯t this where I¡¯m being judged whether I¡¯m suitable for hell or heaven?¡±(Mitsuha)


    She lashes out at my question, trying once more to hurt me with her overly adorable punches and kicks


    ¡°NO! What¡¯s up with humans, whenever I send them here to meet me they always think that I¡¯m gonna either send them to heaven or hell¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Then where am I going? Back to my bleeding corpse riddled with bite wounds.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Bingo! For that, I¡¯m giving you a prize.¡±


    Pulling out of her pocket a small wrapped present, she then presents it to me. I open up the present to shining light with a game like a soundtrack of gaining a special item or some sort.


    Angel HUD version 3.0, welcome Mitsuha Akizuki.


    ¡°It¡¯s a map, more so a HUD like in your video games things really. Including with it are some abilities that will help you later but I won¡¯t spend much time in explaining them cuz I¡¯m lazy¡­¡±(Adam)


    ¡°I¡¯m thankful for this but why would a HUD do me any good going back?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°I can contact you with it, and give you guidance.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°I¡¯m thankful for the HUD and everything, but why are you helping me? And furthermore what is the place that I was in?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Oh yeah, I guess your memory hasn¡¯t recovered from the transportation.¡±


    She then creates a table out of thin air, underlined by a tatami mat and instruct me to sit down.


    ¡°You were killed, but seeing that you have the potential of being a hero, I then send you into a soulless teleported body of another version of you into this world.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°I see, may I ask what or who killed me?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°It was your father,¡­¡±(Adam)


    She stutters for a moment and continues.


    ¡°You remember that your stepmother and sisters went into hiding right?¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Yes¡­I just don¡¯t remember who or what.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°It was from your father. Your sister was berated by your family heads and your stepmother was your childhood friend, forced to be the concubine of your father. You cared for both of them so with the help of your elder sister, you four left the Akizuki manor and went into hiding. Your father was furious about this so he sent agents all over Japan to try and find you four. You four were having dinner when his men infiltrated your home and subdued you and the girls. He planned to kill them in front of you, but you requested a duel with the term of sparing your sisters and the friend. He accepted and you two fought, but you lost. The man didn¡¯t keep his promise either so he killed the girls. Feeling pity for you four, I decided to transport you here. Phew¡­ that was a long story, I need some tea.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Wait so my sisters and Yukino are here as well? Where are they?¡±(Mitsuha)


    After finishing her tea, she continues.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±(Adam)


    My eyes in an anime manner turn into two dots, I¡¯m quite speechless from both how she expresses herself saying that as well as how nonchalant she is.


    ¡°It¡¯s true, I don¡¯t know where they are, but I have a hunch that they¡¯re in one of the many kingdoms scattered in Emestria.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Anything else I need to know before getting back in?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Oh and Yuki is betraying you. She has her reasons but still, she is tricking you into a trap.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°So do I follow her voice? Because last time I did, I almost got skinned alive by those UN guards.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Follow your hunch or the thing you call Hyde, it¡¯s something that manifests from your soul. Don¡¯t trust it too much, it¡¯ll try to hurt those around you so beware of that.¡±(mitsuha)


    I have a psychological problem, another personality that I call Hyde. It¡¯s my sadistic side, for many times, Hyde has taken over me and so I had hurt innocent others, those who don¡¯t involve and onlookers.


    ¡°And hey why are you helping me? And furthermore what happened at this UN base?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Well you know, greed, mutiny, insubordination and disputes. And this is a test, I¡¯m giving you power. And you know what those means¡­¡±(Adam)


    ¡°With great power, comes with great possibility?¡±(mitsuha)


    ¡°Bingo, but no prize this time cuz you¡¯re too OP¡­¡±(Adam)


    With another sip of tea, she then says.


    ¡°At the end of the test, you¡¯ll have to make a choice. I won¡¯t help you with it, but I¡¯ll decide if you¡¯re worthy or not.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Worthy of what?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when the time comes¡­¡±(Adam)


    Finishing her sentence, a darkness then surrounds me, following with a brightly lighted room.


    ¡°Hey wake up!¡±(Strange voice)


    Another strange voice? Am I beginning to lose my mind?


    ¡°No you¡¯re not, I¡¯m Hyde, a manifest of your self-conscious.¡±(Hyde)


    It introduces itself and presents itself. In front of me, there is then a chibi-looking character wearing similar clothing as mine but differs in a part of having demon horns, wings and a pointy tail.


    ¡°I¡¯m the thing that has always made the hard choices that you haven¡¯t been able to do.¡±


    Yeah as if, you went berserk last time when I was defending a friend. You ended up breaking two other people jaws.


    ¡°They were¡­collateral¡­¡±(MItsuha)


    You¡¯re the pet guide I get in my HUD right now so¡­


    ¡°WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PET? I¡¯LL KILL YOU!¡±(Hyde)


    Yeesh, I didn¡¯t remember to be this hostile when I was back home.


    Without further ado, I then decide to find an exit out of the room. The front door can¡¯t be used anymore since there are too many UN guards to take care of unless I have an mp5 which I have practised with the police lackeys that were in Akizuki¡¯s Yakuza clan.


    ¡°Hey, building like these are equipped with air vents, we can use them to get out of the room without bothering them.¡±(hyde)


    But go where we don¡¯t have a clue where they lead. Plus the Beretta is low on ammo, we won¡¯t be able to fight them head-on if we need to.


    ¡°Jeez, I wonder who¡¯s the one possessing all the intelligence in you.¡±(hyde)


    It gives out a sarcastic remark.


    ¡°The god or whatever the fuck that was told us to go to the Atrium on the lowest level of this complex didn¡¯t it?¡±(Hyde)


    Yea, so?


    ¡°Each floor of a very important complex tends to have what?¡±(Hyde)


    A security room!


    ¡°Bingo, give this boy a prize come on. Look, the plan is that we use the vents to get to a security room and break open the armoury to get some ammo or some sort of a new weapon.¡±(hyde)


    Thanks for the tip.


    ¡°I wonder who had the smarts that won you the first place in everything.¡±(Hyde)


    You?


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Following his plan, I then use one of the chairs, stacking them near the air conditioner and with the combat knife in hand, I carefully unscrew the screws holding frames.


    WHAM!


    The rusted frames give way, break down as I unscrew the first screw, startling me and making me fall on my ass.


    ¡°You have extremely high reactive perception, but even getting startled by the smallest of things you know that?¡±(Hyde)


    Shut up¡­


    ¡°Whatever, we should get going, the longer we wait, the harder it gonna get to save Emily a Yuki.¡±(Hyde)


    I then squeeze myself through the vents, which are smaller than I thought. I¡¯m pretty petite and small for boys my age, but I still have problems sliding through these.


    ¡°Yeah, my bad for miscalculating the size of the vents.¡±


    Idiot¡­


    ¡°Who are you calling an idiot?! I¡¯LL KILL YOU!!¡±(Hyde)


    Yeah, good luck getting a knife and stabbing yourself.


    I crawl for a few more minutes before an unlucky incident happens. The mesh overlaying the vents give way and so I fall through the ceiling down ass first.


    AHHH!


    *Thump*


    That hurts, but hey at least fell down a hallway with a map. I couldn¡¯t believe my luck as the place I fell down was the receptionist counters of the floor. Let¡¯s see, security room, turn left then go straight.


    ¡°Well, that was easy¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Yeah¡­too easy¡­


    ¡°Please don¡¯t jinx it by saying some clich¨¦ movie lines, we¡¯ll fucking die at this point.¡±(Hyde)


    It is truly fishy don¡¯t you think? We saw a large mob of those undead soldiers crawling the entire corridor, plus I fell down and made quite a lot of noise from the impact.


    Suddenly, a voice calls out to me over the speakers.


    ¡°Hello¡­Hello? Hi there, hello traveler¡­I¡¯m sorry to scare you with my sentries. I¡¯m Collin the undead magician, I¡¯m sorry for taking your friends, they were trespassers; However, you have my word that they¡¯re safe. I¡¯m going to release one and ask her to come to you. Since she¡¯s a Lich, she¡¯ll be able to move easier to you.¡±(Speaker)


    This sounds fishy to a large extent¡­


    ¡°You¡¯re right, it might be a trap. It¡¯s better to stick with the plan. Get to the security Office, get some ammo and a few weapons¡­¡±


    You¡¯re right¡­


    I then set off to the balcony overlooking the atrium, turning tight and go straight once to try and identify the Security Office. And the map was right, I was able to find a room with a security label on it. Though the door was shut quite tightly. Kicking it down would cause a lot of sounds, so I carefully examine the door to find that the hinges are rusty enough to be cracked open with a bit of force.


    HNGH!


    CRANG!


    The door swings open, revealing a ransacked room filled with piles of paper files and untidy packs of security clothing. Grabbing several molle bags, I then fill them up with the packs of clothing, lithered 9mm rounds, fn p90 ammo, three PDW P90s and 2 mp5sfa.


    ¡°You missed something¡­¡±(Hyde)


    What?


    ¡°The two cabinets on your left¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Using the combat knife, I break through the rusted lock and open it up to reveal two pairs of Kevlar armours, protective gears and clip-on flashlights. Moving on to the cabinet adjacent to the armour locker, an h&k m203 is present.


    ¡°Good! This is quite a good haul. The mp5 I think we¡¯ve been able to work within the past and we did get a small course on PDWs during UN support training.¡±(hyde)


    Hoping that I¡¯m not too rusty with the gun.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the son of a yakuza mob boss, you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Yeah, fuck you¡­


    ¡°Oh right, I forgot that we hated father¡­¡±(Hyde)


    I didn¡¯t hate father Hyde, I just didn¡¯t approve of his methods and I respected him still to this day.


    ¡°HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT HATING THAT PIECE OF SHIT?! He took everything away from us¡­he took our love¡­ he took our life and he took their life¡­¡±(Hyde)


    He who does evil hates the light¡­


    ¡°And will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed¡­I don¡¯t see how this relates to the question.¡±(Hyde)


    Whilst I¡¯m about to answer, a familiar echoing voice calls out to me.


    ¡°Mitsuha! Mitsuha! Where are you?!¡±(Yuki)


    As I¡¯m about to answer, Hyde takes control of me and says.


    ¡°LISTEN! DON¡¯T YOU REMEMBER?! Kami-Sama said that she was playing a trick on us or rather she might still be doing that, and that might not even be the real Yuki¡±(Hyde)


    No, I do remember, I¡¯ll just be careful about acknowledging what she has to say. Plus if things go awry, I¡¯ll let you take the wheel.


    ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re doing¡­¡±(Hyde)


    He gives me back control with an uneasy look on his chibi character-which I feel kinda hard to take seriously.


    I then walk outside, strolling around with the bags of ammo, weapons and equipment, I then make my way to the echoing voice. Despite having my doubts and suspicions of being led to a trap, I follow the echoes.

 Chapter 2 (1): The great escape (and rescue).

    With the SMGs and gears sorted out, I walk down the corridors. I then keep following the echoes while trying to not wet my pants.


    ¡°The bible quote I said¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Yeah?¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°Dad was a politician and he had secrets- not so clean secrets- we¡¯re one of his misdeeds. He made a mistake of taking away the family that have been highlighted in the newspaper for so long, people will be suspicious. Over time, they will uncover why his entire family was nowhere to be found.¡±


    ¡°So? At most people might conclude that he has connections to Yakuza and his images will be tarnished¡­¡±(Hyde)


    We have a short conversation before proceeding on.


    ¡°You know¡­now that I have my own personality and stuff, I¡¯ve got quite a large bone to pick with you¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Shoot¡­I¡¯m all ears.


    ¡°You remember that time that father embarrassed us in front of our teachers while receiving the certificate.¡±(Hyde)


    You mean when we got dragged away by our father¡¯s men.


    ¡°Yeah, that time.¡±


    Yeah because of the guns'' imprints showed through the guys¡¯ jacket that made people stop bugging me for that month.


    ¡°Yeah, I thought we told father to not bug us at school.¡±(Hyde)


    He didn¡¯t have a choice, grand-father asked to meet us that day.


    ¡°Yeah, grand-Papi¡­at least he was a likeable douche.¡±(Hyde)


    Yeah, he was quite nice¡­until he passed on.


    ¡°Yeah...¡±(Hyde)


    I keep walking for a few more minutes, following the echoes until one of the floor pieces give way. I fall down the decayed hole to the floor underneath, into a box full of files


    ¡°OW!¡±(Hyde)


    It hurts for me too, so stop whining.


    ¡°FUCK!¡±(Hyde)


    OW!


    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot you know that?¡±(Hyde)


    Screw you¡­the floor gave way, and that wasn¡¯t my fault¡­Ah, that hurts!


    I crack my shoulder once to knock the sore off, then raise my weapons to check around the perimeter. Putting both the MP5¡¯s flashlight and the shoulder flashlight on, I slowly make my way through the large room inhabited by cubicles of personal computers.


    My instincts tell me that I should check for some more info before moving on. This is a UN HQ, they might have some sort of systems that I can use. The guy talking through the speakers doesn¡¯t seem to know much about this building as so as he is from my world. Seems like the generators are still on as he is still being able to use the speaker systems.


    After strolling through a few rows and cubicles of broken computers, I then discover a portable field laptop plugged in with both connected to the HQ¡¯s systems and weapon systems as well as a wireless PDA.


    ¡°This should be useful¡­¡±


    Yeah if we know the codes for each system¡­


    I say, pointing my finger through the lines of requirements needed to launch the systems.


    ¡°Looks like we¡¯d need some ID Codes¡­Where oh where can we find the codes?¡±(Hyde)


    Well, there is a chance that the codes are under the tables like in ¡°Mission Impossible¡±.


    ¡°Whaaaaaaaat? That¡¯s crazy!¡±(Hyde)


    We should give it a try. Who knows maybe we¡¯ll able to find one on the first try¡­


    Following my intuition, I try finding the specialized sectors labelled with ¡°Intel division¡± and ¡°Cyber Defense force¡±. Though Yuki continuously calls out for me, I still take my time trying to find the codes for my chances and advantages over an ambush of any sort.


    After a while, I finally found the codes under one of the desks owned by one of the high ranking officers. After punching in the codes, a loud robotic voice gives out an announcement and a large amount of files loads through the laptop.


    ¡°REINSTATION OF UN HQ! ALL PERSONEL PLEASE ATTEND THE OPENING CEREMONY IN THE ATRIUM.¡±(PSA announcement)


    With my perception, I then catch view of a few interesting files. ¡°Tissue reparation beds¡±; ¡°Advance experimental revive procedures.¡±;¡­As I scan through the files, his voice calls out for me once more over the speakers


    ¡°AHAHAH! I DON¡¯T KNOW HOW YOU DID IT BUT YOU DID IT MY FRIEND! COME DOWN HERE AND LET¡¯S REJOICE IN THE SHINING LIGHT OF THE CHAMPION JA?¡±(Collin the undead magician)


    I push the laptop into my bag, strap on the PDA and ready my weapons. I then make my way out of the Intel bloc and walk to the balcony to see how far I have to go. It would be quite a long walk plus the infrastructure isn¡¯t really in a good so I might die trying to walk down the stairs and hallways.


    However, as I overlook the Atrium, a wonderful piece of equipment catches my eyes.


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s a grappling hook¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Cool!


    I prepare the switches and the ropes and start to descend down the floors. Floors after floors, all I could see were either undead soldiers, debris or blocked off access.


    I do stop on a few floors to gather some extra weapons though. Many of the weapons are left lying around on the floor on several of the floors in sort of a last stand barricade. Did something happen here?


    ¡°They might have been overrun by something. The layout of those tables and chairs as well as the lithered weapons doesn¡¯t seem that they left it on purpose.¡±(Hyde)Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I gather the weapons and ammo, such as three seem to be usable M16A2s-and their 5.16mm rounds, three AK12s-with their 7.62mm rounds, another m92f and a few magazines laid next to the barricades as well as a few smokes, flashbangs and frag grenades.


    What overran the UN soldiers might have been that guy controlling them down in the atrium, judging from how he controls them.


    After a few breaks and continuous grappling down, I come face to face with the Stranger overlooking the speakers.


    He¡¯s an old man dressed in a dark and tethered robe and on his left hand, he wields a large spear that resembles a Naginata. Surrounding him are UN soldiers, in their salute state. Many of them despite losing limbs, eyes, legs but still try their best standing up saluting their leader. This to me is quite a sickening sight...but quite amusing on a certain sadistic aspect. It kinda reminds me of the time when I had to dismember the intruders that infiltrated our mansion late at night.


    ¡°Welcome, stranger, you have acquired such a magnificent feat¡­Please sit down and share your knowledge with me.¡±(Stranger)


    I walk over to him, laying down the duffle molle bags I had on each side and sit down on the bench in front of him.


    Hyde from my perception what can you see?


    ¡°About 50 UN soldiers equipped with Kevlar body armour and AHD helmet. On the right side of the platform is Emily. Next to him the covered figure I suspect to be Yuki.¡±(Hyde)


    Alright, let me hear this guy out, if things go sour, you take control alright?


    ¡°Ok, just be careful." (Hyde)


    ¡°Hello, my name is Mitsuha Akizuki, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°My title is Collin, I¡¯m the one that commands the existence of these extraordinary undead warriors.¡±(Collin the undead magician)


    ¡°Collin-san, I¡¯m going to cut to the chase. I had two companions that accompanied me prior to you capturing them for which I presume for you to either coerce them to betray or oppose me¡­Or you¡¯re planning to use them as leverage to force me into helping you achieve something.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I confidently say, keeping a fearless poker face against the decayed, and wrinkled undead magician.


    ¡°You have a good eye, my boy! I did plan to do that first hand but since you have managed to awaken the god that resides in these walls, which I assume was no accident am I right?¡±(Collin)


    ¡°You¡¯re also quite the intuitive man Collin-san, what I did wasn¡¯t a mere accident. I had the knowledge of how things work in this ¡°temple¡± of yours. So unless you give me what I want, I won¡¯t give you what you want.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°You strike a hard bargain but I will comply, after all, I did promise to return your friends to you if you meet me face to face.¡±(Collin)


    With a flick of a finger, the platform behind us rises up, lying on it is Emily covered with merely a piece of grey cloth laying sleeping on a stone altar.


    Upon seeing that scene, I get flustered and turn at Collin, asking him a question.


    ¡°May¡­may I ask where are her clothes, Collin-san?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Oh her armour was too heavy and bulky so I had to ask my minions to take them off while bringing her here. Plus I was going to use her as a virgin sacrifice so I was going to prepare her to look suitable to the gods.¡±(Collin)


    ¡°Uh huh¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    With an irritated face, I raise an eyebrow while making my way up to the sleeping beauty. Upon reaching the altar, I try to wake her up with a few nudges to her shoulder and shaking her gently.


    This is quite a provocative scene as her breast shakes and collides with each other when I gently shake her body, her luscious lips drooling down the altar.


    ¡°Come on touch her breasts¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Hyde shows up and with a devilish look on his face, trying to persuade me to grope Emily.


    What the fuck are you saying? There are a time and place for things like this¡­


    ¡°You say that but, what is your hand doing?¡±(Hyde)


    What?


    I look down, I see my left hand, slowly groping her left breast. This soft sensation, this smoothness¡­But suddenly¡­


    ¡°Uhwah? Mitsuha-san? Where am I? Where are my clothes?¡±(Emily)


    She wakes up, cluelessly looking around until she suddenly realizes that she wasn¡¯t wearing any clothing and I my left hand was groping her left breast. Her face turns red, she raises her hand, clenches her fist and with a strong punch she yells at me.


    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU LECHEROUS PERVERT?!¡±(Emily)


    I put my arms up to counter her punch. Despite being able to stop her fist from hitting my face, the inertia still pushes me away quite far.


    ¡°I-I-I-I¡¯M SORRY! I''M SORRY!!!!!!!!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I kneel down on the ground in the seiza position and bow down to her feet to apologize to her as well as offering her some clothes.


    ¡°Well¡­Don¡¯t do that again! Next time I will chop off your hand¡­¡±(Emily)


    She receives the shirt, pants and the boots and tries to put them on. This time I turn away of course. After a while, she finishes wearing her new clothes and calls out to me to see if she is wearing them right. I then turn on around to judge her looks. Aside from the large and overgrown pair of pants, she looks quite nice.


    ¡°How¡­How do I look?¡±(Emily)


    She shyly asks me. To which I reply.


    ¡°You¡­you look beautiful¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    I become mesmerized by her ¡°no words could describe¡± beauty.


    ¡°Ahem, now that I kept one of my agreements, I hope you would keep yours.¡±(Collin)


    Collin clears his throat, reminding me of our unfinished business. However, since he still hasn¡¯t shown me Yuki, I disagree with him.


    ¡°Where is the other one? The Lich I mean¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Oh yes, she¡¯s the after payment, you¡¯ll get her after I get what I want.¡±(Collin)


    With another flick of a thumb, the robe falls off the floating entity to reveal a bondaged skeleton in chains.


    ¡°Help¡­.me¡­¡±(Yuki)


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!(Mitsuha)


    I raise my voice at him, implying to him that how furious I am of what he is doing to Yuki.


    ¡°Hoh? It¡¯s the deal of course, I said that I¡¯ll release your friends if you give me what I want. And you better hurry, I¡¯m running out of patience.¡±(Collin)


    He flicks his finger once more. The chains light up, making Yuki yells out in pain.


    ¡°AHHHHHHHH!¡±(Yuki)


    Her screams leave me and Emily breathless¡­


    ¡°You fiend! LET HER GO!¡±(Emily)


    Emily yells out to Collin, readying her battle pose, preparing to strike him with her fist. However, I pull her away and slowly makes my way up to him.


    ¡°Alright alright, you win.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I detach my PDA and gives it to him.


    ¡°No, what are you doing Mitsuha-san¡¯(Emily)


    ¡°Saving my friend, Emily. You might not trust her but she helped me before both in saving you and saving my own skin. Plus I promised to help her with her curse, so I¡¯ll keep my end of the promise.¡±


    After handling the PDA to him, I explain how it works and show him the ¡°Tissue repairing treatment¡±


    ¡°There is a rejuvenating machine under this platform, this is the key.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Excellent!¡±(Collin)


    He flicks his fingers once more, this time the chains squeezes Yuki tighter than before.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡±(Emily)


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry little girl, but this wench has no more use for me. Plus she disobeyed my orders of bringing you two to me. This is a fitting end for a traitor like her.¡±(Collin)


    ¡°STOP!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I jump at him with my knife and shovel, but alas I¡¯m too weak and get flung at the edge of the platform. Emily runs to my side and helps me up over her shoulder.


    ¡°I¡­.am¡­sorry¡­Mitsuha.¡±(Yuki)


    Yuki in tears apologizes to me trying to endure the pain while the chain shines brighter and squeezing her more closely. In the end, her body blows up in a cloud of purple smoke. I fall to my knees, as her skull roles down to me. I feel breathless, gasping wide as the sight of my friend blows up into smoke.


    ¡°HAH! SO WEAK!¡±(Collin)


    He then sends us off the platform. Down to the groups of undead soldiers preparing to attack us with their knives drawn.


    Following her instincts, Emily grabs the baton on my belt and the knife on my hand and get in her defensive position, while I display the thousand-yard stare in disbelief of Yuki¡¯s death.


    ¡°Mitsuha¡­Mitsuha! MITSUHA!¡±(Emily)


    ¡°Partner! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!¡±(Hyde)


    Emily yells out at me as well as Hyde trying to get myself back together.


    ¡°he¡­Yuki¡­dead?¡±(Mitsuha)


    Cold sweat runs down my neck as I stumble after Emily.


    ¡°Come on! We¡¯ve got to run.¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°he¡­Yuki¡­dead¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    In a futile attempt to snap me back to reality, Emily lands a barrage of punches on my face.


    ¡°GET IT TOGETHER!¡±(Emily)


    I stagger around for a moment and fall down face first after just getting back to my feet. Emily defends me as well as pulling us away from the staggering UN zombies.


    ¡°Partner! Snap out of it!¡±(Hyde)


    Hyde taps the screen of my eyes with his chibi fingers, as well as kicking my face¡­But I feel nothing. I feel nothing¡­


    Emily then kicks open a door and pull me inside, she hid me away from the zombies and close it shut. Despite not feeling anything and not being able to respond to nothing, I still see everything with any with my regular eyes, aside from the one that is being poked at and kicked it.

 Chapter 2 (2): Sadist and sudden realization

    *


    A scene courses through my mind, a scene from my past.


    I walked down the stone path of the old Saiga Academy. I was then greeted by a tall man in a black suit and a young woman in shirt and tie. The man gave me a warm smile and the woman presented me with a Melon-pan.


    ¡°Young master, how was school?¡±(K----)


    ¡°It was fun, I wish you were there K----. We had a chance to experience Nagashi Somen¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    We had a chat for a moment not longer than a few minutes then she returned her focus to a black case she was holding over her lap.


    ¡­..


    A violent crash follow up a numbing feeling in my tongue. I wake up to the sound of gunshots and car horns.


    TanTanTan


    TINNNNNNNNNNNN


    PuopPuopPuop


    A sound of car horn echoes through my ear drums.


    ¡­..


    ¡°Young master this way!¡±(O----)


    ¡°But¡­K-----¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    The man pulled me out of the blazing car with a warm but stinging touch on my forehead. I reached out, trying to grab K-----¡®s shirt.


    ¡°Young master! We have to go¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°No¡­.No¡­¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Young master¡­*Pant*¡­You should be¡­*pant*¡­safe here¡­Someone will come¡­but please sir, be a good boy and stay safe¡­¡± (O----)


    *


    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!¡±(Mitsuha)


    An adrenaline fuel rage courses through my body. At that moment, I kick open the door. Pulling down the slide, detaching the magazine, inserting the new one and rack the slide violently.


    ¡°I got your back partner!¡± (Hyde)


    Hyde says highlighting the enemies in my point of view and erupts a compass at the bottom of my field of view.


    ¡°Follow the compass, I¡¯m directing you to the echoes from Emily¡¯s grunting! From the looks of it, she seems to be holding out but not for long.¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°welp¡­Time to run and gun then!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I take charge, run through the crowd of soldiers, dispatching those who attack and immobilize others.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t aim for headshots, aim for their knees, they can¡¯t rush us if they can¡¯t walk.¡±(Hyde)


    Putting the mp5 on full auto, I spray and pray through the corridor, quickly dispatch the assailants with their knives drawn and with their killing intent focus on me.


    At this point, I stopped caring if they are human or not. My only sole objective is the rescue of Emily and¡­THE DEATH OF COLLIN THE MAGICIAN.


    One after another, the soldiers rush at me. No matter though, ¡®cuz you shouldn¡¯t bring a knife to a gun fight¡­


    ¡°Hostile¡­¡±(Soldiers)


    ¡°Keep the civies in check¡­¡±(Soldiers)


    ¡°Auggh¡­need reinforcement.¡±(soldiers)


    One after another, they come spouting their nonsense, past thoughts and objectives¡­


    ¡°Jackson¡­how¡¯s the wife¡­¡±(Soldier)


    ¡°My mother told me¡­¡±(Soldier)


    I shoot them down nevertheless.


    TUNGNGNGNG!!!


    TING TING TING!!!!


    Most don¡¯t have enough reflex to dodge my bullets so most of my shots hit their marks. I score heavy damage on their knees, head and limbs. Either to immobilize them or shoot to kill.


    TUNGTUGNGNGUNG!


    CLINGLANGClANG!!


    KTACH!!


    The bolt spring forward, creating a clean ¡°Tch¡± sound, indicating that the gun was out of ammo. I swiftly repeat the reloading process with haste, will increase my speed.


    ¡°One more turn!¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°Roger!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I dash toward the turn, continue spraying hot lead towards the groups. Emily¡¯s echoes become clearer as I pass through the long dark corridor. Upon reaching somewhat of a large group of enemies, trampling over each other, trying to overrun a certain somebody. Upon seeing my target, I shout out to Emily, vainly holding onto every bit of ground she has left using the baton and knife taken from me.


    ¡°Emily! GET DOWN! ¡±(Mitsuha)This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Upon hearing my call, she jumps down, belly first creating a loud ¡°thump¡± sound, I throw down a flash grenade to temporarily stun the soldiers. I detach the empty magazine and insert in a long 60 round stick mag. Pushing my cheek up to the mp5 side, and tilt the gun to a 90-degree angle, I spray down the Blue helmet-soldiers. Using the "flashlight side aiming" technique, I quickly lay down several precise rays of 9mm Parabellum rounds.


    TNGTUNGUTNGUNUTNGUTNUG!!!


    CLLANGLINGLIGNLANGLING!!!!


    The Rhapsody of gunfire finally stops after a barrage of bodies drop down to the ground.


    ¡°Great job partner¡­¡± (Hyde)


    I wipe the sweat off my brow  and reload the mp5 once more. Putting the gun on semi, I rush over to Emily.


    ¡°Emily, hey¡­you alright?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Was that¡­was that magic? UHGHG!¡±(Emily)


    Emily slowly stands up, coughing out some blood and spit as I slowly hoist her up over my shoulder. It¡¯s quite dark so I plan to only treat her wounds in somewhere more illuminated.


    ¡°Slowly¡­I cleared them out so we don¡¯t need to rush.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I then try carrying Emily as she was quite hurt by the fight with those soldiers.


    I¡¯m quite baffled at these guys, they exhibit quite the CQC combat skills even more than regular army grunts.


    I hoist her up over my shoulder, letting her grab on to my neck, as I say to her.


    ¡°You put up quite a good fight Emily¡­You¡¯re strong like my sister.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°You too¡­*cough*¡­*cough*¡­You¡¯re quite strong too¡­¡± (Emily)


    She coughs out some more blood and spits as I make my way through the corridor


    This is kind of a funny looking sight though, seeing how I can carry a woman doubling me in height and size. I sprint to the elevated platform, quickly check around the perimeter, waving the mp5 one-handedly, scanning the environment around me.


    ¡°Hey¡­I¡¯ll get you outta here so don¡¯t die alright?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Sure¡­*cough**cough*¡­.To think that I almost killed you¡­*cough*¡­¡±(Emily)


    ¡°Well, people make mistakes¡­I made quite a bad one as well¡­things didn¡¯t go well after that¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°What did you do exactly?...*cough*¡­¡±(Emily)


    ¡°¡­I killed my family¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡­


    After a thorough look around the atrium, and ensuring that the grounds are safe enough. I then carry her up the steep stairs of the elevated platform.


    I lay her down slowly on her back and then help her sit up straight. After getting her settled on her but, I throw down some chem lights around as well as attach the mp5 flashlight onto my shoulder cuff. Throwing my gears to the side, I then inspect Emily¡¯s body.


    ¡°Inspect¡± in this meaning is quite the provocative words seeing that I¡¯ll have to cut open her clothes to do some bandaging.


    ¡°Alright! We¡¯ll need. I¡¯m sorry but you¡¯ll have to remove your clothes.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°w-what?! I¡¯m sure that I¡¯m fine, there are just two small cuts on my back¡­see?¡±(Emily)


    She turns around to reveal two deep cuts which are still dripping blood by the litters.


    ¡°No you really don¡¯t, look at that, it¡¯s bleeding a lot¡­*sign*¡­I won¡¯t put any stitches on you. I¡¯ll just put on some temporary bandages¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°¡­fine¡­just don¡¯t look¡­¡±(Emily)


    I won¡¯t¡­damnit!...I¡¯m not into older women¡­


    She obediently unbuttons her security uniform shirt, and immediately cover her breast with her arms. I pull out the bandages and slowly unroll the medical tape. First I wipe off the wound with some moist alcohol wipes¡­


    ¡°Ow! Why is it burning so much?!¡±(Emily)


    ¡°It¡¯s anti-septic, I¡¯m just using it to clean your wounds¡­Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll add some morphine to drown down the pain until we can get to the medical bed. Sorry for bringing you into this mess.¡± (Mitsuha)


    ¡°Don¡¯t fret¡­It¡¯s really bad that we got into this situation, but I¡¯m still grateful for you to still come back for me and even more¡­risking your life to save mine.¡±(Emily)


    At this point, her speech becomes a little bit distorted, with a hint of blushing fluster. Despite the grounds are quite dark, I¡¯m still able to make out how red her face has become, and hinting mostly on her ears, standing out from her short cut vermilion hair.


    ¡°Well¡­do...don''t mention it, I¡¯m just trying to gain power in numbers. We can both go our separate ways after all this ends.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°yeah¡­Thank you.¡±(Emily)


    Emily turns away, her blush mellows down, and she seems to be a little bit disappointed after hearing what I just said.


    I wrap things up and wrap a few rounds of medical tape around her waist and chest, trying my best as to keep my composure, seeing how a slight mishandle round can lead to A: me getting punched for touching her breasts or B: I might die from a cardiac arrest.


    ¡°Listen, I¡¯ll need to wrap these around your body to keep the bandages from being too loose.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Alright¡­¡±(Emily)


    She sits up straight, using her right arm to cover the front of her exposed breasts. Gulping a single spit, I then commence the wrapping.


    ¡°Excuse me, if you don¡¯t mind¡­ I need you to lift up¡­your¡­pfft¡­your b¡­breast¡­.Please!¡±(Mitsuha)


    Fuck that was awkward.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know partner, you might be planning to get cuckhold whenever we get out of here. BUT¡­.I¡¯d really want to tap that.¡±(hyde)


    Hyde smug face combines with his yanki-ass face, kinda makes me want to pull out his tongue and wrap it around a spiked club.


    ¡°Ow, that¡¯s a little too mean ya know?¡±(Hyde)


    Fuck you


    I then ignore him to apply the bandaging tapes.


    ¡°Here I go¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    I sweat nervously at the sight of Emily¡¯s bare back and the silhouette of her round teardrop breasts projecting to the right side from the light source.


    I carefully go under her arms, warp the roll of tape several layers worth around her waist, under her chest area, covering the large dressing bandage I applied on the two wounds from earlier.


    Things go quite quickly and surprisingly without a problem. Emily is quite obedient enough to hold still and the tape doesn¡¯t stick to my hand halfway anyhow. I¡¯m glad that two of the scenarios didn¡¯t happen during the procedure.


    But I celebrated too soon, as my right-hand freezes as soon as the near last piece of tape stop in front of Emily¡¯s left breast.


    Hyde avatar on my HUD gives me a dumb smirk as my hand releases the roll of tape and grab hold of the under part of Emily¡¯s breast.


    ¡°hmmAh~! Wh-what are you doing?!¡±(Emily)


    I try resisting the controls of my body, but things keep escalating to a point of near adultery. Hyde takes control of my entire body, quickly wrapping the remainder of the tape around her wrists, wrap two of my legs around her waist, the right arm, pulling slightly on Emily¡¯s wrist, create a perfect detain grip. I then suddenly say.


    ¡°you are quite well endowed you know¡­¡±(MItsuha)


    What the fuck am I saying?


    ¡°I would really wish for you to accompany me in the sense that you would be my helper¡­my disciple¡­or maybe my lover perhaps¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    WHAT?!


    HYDE FUCKING STOP!


    I yell out in my mind against the smug-faced prick standing in front of me sadistically looking down on me.


    ¡°hmmAhh~ I¡­I¡±(Emily)


    ¡°¡­so what do you say? A great offer no?¡±(Mitsuha)


    Why are you doing this?!


    ¡°Well, just for my own satisfaction¡­ I¡¯m not going to just save a woman just to let her run off to another guy because you¡¯re too weak or dense know the signs. Don¡¯t believe me that she harbours feelings for ya, lookie here!¡±(Hyde)


    he then slams his face onto mine, and for a brief moment, I can see how happy Emily is from being harassed, being touched and being groped all over by me.


    ¡°hmm~...i¡­I will¡­¡±(Emily)


    ¡°heh?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°I WILL! I WILL! DEVOTE TO MITSUHA-SAMA! The one¡­who saved my life¡­¡±(Emily)


    ¡°eh?¡±(Emily)


    Emily then faints, presumably from climaxing due to the groping that I had committed.


    ¡°Congratulation, you just made a girl climaxed¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°go¡­fuck¡­yourself¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    I scroll up in a corner of the platform, thinking how much of a piece of crap I was.


    ¡°Hey, this ain¡¯t the first time you ever did something this lewd. Remember seventh grade?¡¯(Hyde)


    Fuck you


    You crazy bastardy adulterer me.

 Chapter 2 (3): Berserk and sacrifice

    After a long 2 hour reflection on my action, I put on my gears once again, reload the mp5 as well as the aks, ars that were in the molle packs and put them on safe. Jumping down from the elevated plat form, I then scout around the perimeter once more to see if there are any stragglers. Seeing that the perimeter is cleared, I pull out the laptop and try graphing the schematics to the doors that are presented in the atrium. Things doesn¡¯t go as well as I thought since the marks have been too old or faded away to make any resemblances to the schematic numbers but to my luck I manage to find a wheel chair lying next to a large door with a ¡°staff of hermes symbol¡±.


    After finishing my scouting assignment, I come back to the platform and carry ¡°the sleeping beauty¡± down to the wheel chair- after putting some UN battle fatigues on her, can¡¯t leave a maiden sleeping bare bodied, she might get a cold; no matter how embarrassed I was.


    I hoist her up over my shoulder, walk down the stairs and push her to the closed shut door with the insignia. With the laptop on, I initiate the override procedure to open the door. Slowly a loud, clockwork mechanic unveil the layered metal plates that graph together to create a door.


    ¡°Right, hopefully there are no more soldiers to fight¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Stay vigilant partner, you might have some upgrades, but you won¡¯t last 1 minute against twenty of those Un soldiers.¡±(Hyde)


    Heeding to his words, I carefully make my way through the dark ominous corridor. I pass through a few weapon boxes stacked in a barricade manner as well as helmets laying around the vicinity. This sight is quite similar to those of the ones on the balcony before, implying that something or someone is being more of a threat than a few slow moving zombies and Colin the Undead Magician.


    I kneel down grabbing a few grenades and rounds that are laying around the barricade.


    ¡°ohh~ that¡¯s a good find¡±(Hyde)


    A few M67 round frags grenades, two M72 Laws as well as frag rounds reflects the lighting from my flash light. I strap whatever I can to the pouches on the vest, the harness and the molle bags as well as the m72 Laws laying under the wheel chair¡¯s under basket. I then proceed through the corridors.


    The sights laying out on the way aren¡¯t that one would call pleasant or scary. Words to describe them are to be quite sad, quite lonesome and quite painful to see. Abandoned weapons of war, once held by men of different ages to fight, protect, conflicting over antagonizing ideals, now laying rusted broken over time.


    ¡°Looks like these didn¡¯t hold on as good as those Ars and Aks you found.¡±(Hyde)


    I inspect the m2 grease guns and PDWs laying on the floor. Sure they were P90s and MP5s but most of them don¡¯t seem to be function anymore because of the humidity. Most of them already have rust marks on their barrels, muzzle brakes and mag-wells.


    What¡¯s this?


    I proceed further down through the tunnel to see skeletons, wearing torn clothes. Many of them had their suit cases and belonging presented on the scene.


    ¡°So these are the civilians that the soldiers were blabbering about earlier¡­¡±(Hyde)


    But how come they are not in the body counts of reanimated soldiers nor those of the zombies outside. Why are they the only ones lying here?...


    I ask myself the question as we wander through the long corridors littered with trolley beds with molded sheets and deflated pillows, using our rusted wheel chair with squeaky and deformed wheels.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this,...too quiet¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Oh shut up with the jinxing.


    ¡°It¡¯s true though¡­we¡¯ve been walking for thirty minutes through this god forsaken floor with only chem lights and a shitty Picatiny rail flash light¡­no sign of a medical bed nor any communication equipment of any sort. Plus, haven¡¯t you hear anything from the A.I announcer? We turned on the power for this place, then why is it so quiet¡­¡±(Hyde)


    Hyde goes on and on about how dangerous it is to keep pushing up, blabbering on how strategic we should be while exploring this ¡°Dungeon¡± and worrying on the fate of Emily. She was quite reckless on using herself as bait when I wasn¡¯t able to fight.


    I look down, spare ¡°the sleeping beauty¡± a gaze of affection and proud-something that I rarely exhibit in my household.


    ¡­


    ¡°hey look, what are those things¡­.¡±


    A cloud of opaque fog blocks our way, providing cover for something or someone of dread and suffering.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    In front of me stand tall three knights all-decked out in metal armor and handling sharp long board swords, forming a three man wall against a large door with the medical insignia.


    ¡°¡­knights of the Holy Esters¡­Augh¡­Exterminate those who are wicked and evil¡­¡±(Knights)


    In unison, they chant an ominous verse. One by one, they shift from their sentinel stance to their offensive stance with resemblance to the stance of Kenjutsu- Shano-Kamai, Seigan, Gaku-geidan. Seems like i won¡¯t get through without a fight, so i decide to push Emily to the side, grabbing the knife from Emily¡¯s belt and the P90 from the half opened Molle bag.


    Shielded behind their thick armor and protective visor, the knights simultaneously lunges themselves at me. Same formation as before, I can only take out one so far with their increasing speed like this.


    Their distance keep closing in as i try to come up with a solution.


    ¡°LOOK OUT!¡± (Hyde)


    Hyde yells out, partially take over my body for a mere second. In his control, I manage to dodge the attacks of the possessed knights.


    ¡°ouff!¡± (mItsuha)


    By the scalp of my head, I barely made it, barely dodge two of their strikes, but the third one manages to penetrate my armor and grant me a painfully deep gut wound.


    ¡°FUCK! Why aren¡¯t you paying attention you idiot?!¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°Sorry¡­I¡¯m so sorry.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I hold a tight grip over my opened gut wound, and look back at them. The knights doesn¡¯t seem to pay any attention to me anymore, as they slowly approaches Emily, still snoozing away in her wheel chair.


    I try standing up and aiming the P90 at them, but my eyesight becomes blurred, possibly from the excruciating pain and blood lost, not accounting the stamina lost from hunger.


    ¡°No¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    As I fall down to my knees, a jolt jumpstart my stamina. And in that moment, I felt as if I have completely lost control of my body.


    And suddenly he yells outloud


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m still standing. Fuckers. Come and get me!¡±(Hyde)


    I¡¯m not saying that am i? Or is it Hyde?


    ¡°Now, Who want some?! Who want some of hot ¡°demons in glasses?!¡±(Hyde)


    Wracking the p90 slide, he charges at the knights. Knife in left hand and PDW in the other, he pin himself using the knife, stabbing through the chainmail of one of the knights. Gripping tightly on the knife, Hyde then pin the knight over the shoulder, pushing the PDW at the knight¡¯s face and spray hot lead through the forehead of the knight, within lesser than 30 seconds.


    Is this really my body? Is this what I¡¯ve been really given by Adam, if so then why haven¡¯t I...


    ¡°You are too nice that¡¯s why.¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°Eh?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°The power given to you was to purge those who are evil, and kill those who are wicked, but in your mind they are still human...¡±(Hyde)


    Hyde converse with me whilst holding back the attack of the assailants.


    ¡°You are weak, that¡¯s why¡­You couldn¡¯t bear with the look of Emily in pain that you gave up the only leverage we had over that piece of shit¡­¡±(Hyde)


    ¡°I¡¯m only human after all¡­don¡¯t put your blame on me. I could not put up with the screams you know¡­¡±(MItsuha)


    ¡°I know. You usually get over emotional and somehow go overkill on others until that therapy. That led you to being softer than before.¡±(Hyde)


    Hyde maintain the conversation with me whilst fending off the remaining two dead knights with the knife and PDW.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of that therapy, that I was kept behind bars, gagged, tied up, pulsing with anger ready to release¡­SO YOU EITHER GOING TO STEP UP FROM YOUR MORAL BULL-SHIT AND FIGHT FOR THE ONES YOU ARE IN-DEBTED TO, THE ONES YOU LOVE¡­Or I¡¯m going to fuck shit up in and out of your body.¡±(Hyde)


    After his last words, Hyde¡¯s movements become increasingly fast. HE no longer dodges nor avoid the knights¡¯ slashes and cuts, but rather parry them with strong, aggressive knife stroke.


    Clang Clang.


    Several sparks ignites as swords and knife collide with eachother creating a loud ¡°Clang¡± sound each time.


    ¡°ENOUGH OF THIS!¡±(Hyde)


    Yellling out loud, Hyde then savagely, barbarically lunges at one of the two remaining knights. Using my body weight, Hyde manages to pin one of the undead knights down shoot two shots through the visor of the downed knight, leaving him lifeless...at the cost of being impaled once again.


    Seeing an opportunity, the remaining knight lunges at Hyde, broadsword in hand and manages to impale me. Though not able to feel the pain experienced by Hyde, from the sluggish movement afterwards, I can tell that even ¡°berserk mode¡± couldn¡¯t stop the physical pain and trauma that comes along after combat.


    However, the knight doesn¡¯t come out unscathed, since right after the sword penetrates the boy¡¯s first layer of armor, Hyde manages to Instantly aim the P90 at the knight¡¯s head and shoot him dead.


    ¡°*pant*¡­ha¡­ha..heh!...I fucked up¡­MOTHERFUCKR!...*groan*...sorry partner¡­I screwed up¡­*Groan*¡±(Hyde)


    Hyde then push the control of my body back to me. Slowly I then limp over to the lit up area to check the severity of my wound..


    ¡°Well ¡®ow about that¡­Looks like I¡¯m going to be dead once again¡­Thanks for that you reckless asshole¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡­


    But nothing comes after that, no sarcastic replies, no nothing, the HUD in front of me displays nothing but a redish bloom that darkens every second.


    ¡°Shit¡­My guts are dropping out¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    I vainly try to push in the bowel intestines that have been drooping down, whilst pushing Emily¡¯s wheel chair through the metal doors with the cross insignia.


    ¡°All right, We¡¯ll be fine¡­*cough*¡­we¡¯ll be fine, the medic beds are here¡­*groan*¡­We can¡­finally¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    As I reach down to Emily, I realize an agonizing truth, Emily though haven¡¯t been affected by the combat between me and those three undead knights has been bleeding off from the loose bandage that I had applied.


    Though through some miracle, she is still breathing but very weak and unresponsive. I limp my way over the medical bed area. Upon reaching and opening the curtains over covering the beds, faith screw me over once more. Out of the 10 medical beds that are usable, only one is still functional.


    ¡°So¡­It has come to this heh?¡±(Mitsuha)


    Realizing that I don¡¯t have a choice, I then lay Emily into the bed. After turning it on and seeing the machine working, I slowly drop down to my back, letting the darkness kicks in, carry me through the oblivion.

 Chapter 3 (1): Insecurities.

    Warning! The last man standing¡­.


    A familiar phrase catches my attention, follow up with gunshots and another familiar phrase


    Defusing the bio-container now¡­


    I then realize that the sounds came from a rainbow 6 game, one of the many games that I have heard of and read about on a gaming magazine.


    As I painfully groan, trying to sit up straight, I then hear footsteps traversing down to my position. Knowing that I¡¯ve died the second time, I fear for the purgatory that awaits me when I¡¯m confronted by judgment.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to be afraid¡­We won¡¯t send you to Cthulhu or something like that.¡±(Adam)


    A familiar voice calls out to me, reassuring me from my wrongful hypothesis. As I open my eyes, I stumble upon a young girl with a mocha complexion, her face flustered with a reddish hue and her eyes as white as the outer layer of a birch tree, beautiful majestic and breathless to the observer.


    Upon seeing that I¡¯m looking at her, the blushes become even redder, and thus she runs away to hiding under the kotatsu that lays in front of me, creating a loud bam!


    ¡°Hey, stop with the ruckusing, I¡¯m about to win¡­¡±(Adam)


    Adam says as she violently hit on the floor with the controller¡¯s handle.


    After a brief moment of silence and intense button mashing, the silence finally got broken with a disappointing sigh as Adam carefully put down the controller, readjust her robe which keeps falling down either way and make her way to the kotatsu where we reside.


    ¡°Pu-wah! That was a very dumb match¡­who knew that Ash-player was a pro at dropshooting..Kah! I was aso close at defusing the bomb!¡±(Adam)


    Adam says, gargling down a large bottle of Kombucha, raging over a losing video game match.


    ¡°Well, life is like kenjutsu you know? You win some, you lose some¡­¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Yeah but I¡¯m at level 20, and losing to a level 8 is discouraging you know?¡±(Adam)


    ¡­


    And then on, we have a short talk for about 10 minutes till I manage to change the subject. Shifting the subject over to my recent demise, I ask her.


    ¡°So what now?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda funny that you have to come and bug me twice today, my lounging day to be exact.¡±(Adam)


    She lays flat on her back, eyes still looking at me, playfully tease my unfortunate death, whilst the robe slowly unroll off her chest and shoulder.


    I look away for a slight second and address her to fix her clothes back again unless she wants her naked body to be conveyed by me.


    ¡°Hey, mind you sit back carefully again, it¡¯s kinda hard to have a conversation with your clothes seemingly going to slip off and show all of your glory to me¡­¡±(Mitsusha)


    ¡°Hey now¡­Pfft!..Are you getting turned on by lil ol¡¯ me¡­¡±(Adam)


    And as she finishes that sentence, the robe falls off her shoulder and thus leading me to slam my face down to the kotatsu table, which resulted in me biting my tongue and unable to talk.


    ¡°Ah, bit your tongue eh?¡±(Adam)


    I use sign language to raise a ¡°yes¡±. Furthermore, I then ask her to put on some more decent clothes that doesn¡¯t show much skin using a long and complicated sequence of hand gestures and signals.


    ¡°Hey, slow down¡­I¡¯m not that good at sign language anymore. Put¡­some¡­thing¡­more¡­decent¡­on¡­Hey! I have you know this is a robe created by the best priestess of As Gard!¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Furthermore, I can read your mind so stop with the sign language¡­Plus how did you know that I knew sign language?¡±(Adam)


    ¡°You are a god are you not? Gods are described as high and knowledgeable beings, so such simple signs for languages should be viable for them no?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Y¡­Yeah¡­Kinda.¡±(Adam)


    Still keeping my face glued to the table, I telepathically converse with Adam.


    ¡°Well, is this where I¡¯m spending most of my days or am I going back to Purgatory?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°Heh?!Purgatory?! You call my beautiful fantasy a purging hole?! What¡¯s wrong with you?!¡±(Adam)


    She slams the table and lashes out at me in a violent manner, causing me to bump my nose down to the hardened wood surface.


    ¡°Kurgh¡­hah!!¡±(Mitsuha)


    I grab hold of my bruised nose, leaning backwards and let out a creaking groan.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get!¡±(Adam)


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you!?¡± (MItsuha)


    I yell at her, kicking the table left and right and thus accidentally injure the little girl hiding under it.


    ¡°Ouch! Watch it!¡±


    She leaves her enclosure and such revealing her silver hair colour that I wasn¡¯t able to make out earlier and giving me a better look at the young maiden. She seems to be in a young age, starting from the fact that she¡¯s quite small in size, but seems to be larger a wee bit taller than Adam. Though this only adds more to her charms.


    ¡°eep!¡±


    She runs back to cover again, hiding away from me.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve gotta ask. What¡¯s with the girl there, I know you¡¯re a very old loli-baba¡­¡±(MItsuha)


    Adam then lunges at me and violently slap me twice with a shiny light stick.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare finishes that sentence! HMph! I¡¯m not that old¡­and the girl, she¡¯s kinda afraid of how you look like right now.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°hmm?!¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°here¡¯s a mirror, take a look.¡±(Adam)


    I receives the mirror from Adam, upon looking at the reflection, I see a horned demon with blood shot eyes and a wounded left eye.


    ¡°What the?¡±(Mitsuha)


    I raise an eyebrow, questioning the profound portrayal of me in the mirror. I inspect the image, looking up down as it follows my actions. The demon portrayed in the mirror has two spiked horns, a monstrously long tongue, a spiked tail and somewhat have quite an alluring charisma that kinda somehow makes me question my gender preference.


    ¡°Cool right? This mirror reveals the true characteristics of the souls that it reflects. And that¡¯s one of my little sister¡¯s powers as well.¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Little sister?¡±(MItsuha)


    ¡°Yes. Mako, come out!¡±(Adam)


    So her name is Mako,


    ¡°Come on! You¡¯re embarrassing our guest!¡±(Adam)


    ¡°¡­No¡­¡±(Mako)


    The girl responds to her sister with a whisper.


    ¡°Come on! And besides don¡¯t you have something to say to him?¡±(Adam)


    Adam softly kicks the exposed bottom of the girl head stuffed in the Kotatsu.


    ¡°Alright, stop bothering her. If she wishes to not speak with me then you can just read her mind and tell me yourself.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I say, putting down the mirror on the Kotatsu table.


    ¡°She is Mako, the god of deception and lies. She deemed you worthy and thus was going to give you the all Seeing Eye¡­¡±(AdaM)


    ¡°¡­¡±(Mako)


    ¡°Mako also says that you¡¯re a kind and lovely soul who would help anyone in need¡­and¡­pfft! So that¡¯s why she¡¯s so afraid of meeting you! HAhA! Come on! Imouto-san¡­imouto-san you had the gut to played and stand up to even more serious and judgmental people, but you can¡¯t accept the rage of a 15 year old boy?¡±(Adam)


    ¡°Why would I be mad at her?¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°oh yeah, I forgot to tell you¡­¡±(Adam)


    Adam tries to tell me something before Mako throw a barrage of kicks at her sister, knocking Adam down face first to the floor.


    ¡°She¡­ugh¡­¡±(Adam)


    Adam faints right after that, a small hand then reaches out and pull the unconscious body of this so called ¡°god¡± into the Kotatsu. As Adam¡¯s body is no more to be seen, the young girl from before releases herself from the confinement of the Kotatsu, hiding her face with a Kabuki mask and turn my way.


    ¡°Noble swordsman Mitsuha Akatsuki, or also known as Mitsuha Suzuki, you¡¯ve managed to passed through our ¡°trials by fire¡±, as such we hereby grant you the All-seeing Eye of Eldegard.¡±(Mako)


    ¡°What do you mean ¡°trial by fire¡±? I was only given second chance from Adam as a pity.¡±(MItsuha)


    ¡°But in the end, you lose that second chance in life to save a stranger you barely knew, though you didn¡¯t know who she was nor if her body was full of lies or no? Or if she would lead you to your painful demise like Yuki, she could have been a good bait for you to escape the pursuit of the possessed but you risked your life to save her anyway and further more on the fact that you use the medical restoration bed for her and not yourself, seems quite unethical for a person who cares not for anyone but his own ideas.¡±(Mako)


    ¡°It¡¯s true that the ideals I held in my previous life weren¡¯t ethical. However, If I had left that sweet girl to die in a rut like this then there¡¯s no question of me going to hell.¡±(Mitsuha)


    ¡°You are worthy, thus we will send you down once more to punish the devil that plagues the peace and to rid those who are wicked.¡±(Mako)


    As she finishes a loud turbine-like sound accompanied with a brightly shined light illuminate around me.


    ¡°¡­¡±(Mako)


    Mako seems to be saying something, seeing how her lips move as I teleport out of ¡°heaven¡±.


    ¡­


    I open my eyes once more, to see the 100% sign in the medical restoration bed with Emily soundly resides in it. Acknowledging that she¡¯s safe, I stand up and walk around checking the perimeter, seems like this base has been abandoned for quite a long time, evidently from all the broken down or unpowered restoration bed of which a few corpses still reside in them.


    Judging from the cluster of push bed and wheelchairs outside seems like they were in a battle of some sort and this atrium was their final stand, evidently from the crates of weapons laying around. Suspicious enough though is that there are no UN soldiers nor civilians bodies lying around here, except for the ones already enclosed in their metal and glass coffins.


    I pull over the wheelchair, take out a new pair of military fatigues to put on over the ones that have been rinsed with the blood of the knights I killed prior. Looks like my wounds have healed, I thought to myself, looking over the two layers of Kevlar and ACU uniform.


    ¡°At this rate, I won¡¯t have any more clothes to wear, I should be more careful from now on.¡±(Mitsuha)


    I take off the shirt and replace it with a UN woodland camo uniform, still keeping the pants and boots due to them still durable enough to be used, though the Kevlar can¡¯t be used anymore, but hey, it¡¯s molle cover is still usable as a carrier vest, so I don¡¯t plan to discard it.


    After finishing changing my clothes, I walk outside to pay tribute to the knights and the soldiers whom I killed.


    Getting a UN helmet outside, I then lay in on an IV pole and crouch down and pray to it, after a bow, two claps and another bow, I leave to oversee Emily in her recovery.


    I plug the laptop into the medical bed and look through the medical wheel. Morphine administered, plasma administered,¡­etc. Confirming that she¡¯s still breathing and is still being treated, I then divert my attention to the guns and the data on the laptop.


    But as I was preparing to go through the contents of the laptop, a loud bang follow up with a long ¡°ding¡± sound comes to follow through my ears. I turn around to the direction of the loud bang. A dark shadow looking like figure pulls out its m9 and shoots me, in which I retaliate back with a few shots from the PDW strapped on to my hip.


    After exchanging a few shots, as its pistol runs out of ammo, the shadow rushes towards me, knife in hand and with killing intent, pushes me against the floor. After which the assailant tries to shove the 20 centimeter cold steel knife into my chest. I try blocking the push of the knife, and manage to stop it¡¯s for a short while. As I struggle to keep the knife from reaching my chest, the figure suddenly hammers the knife down deeper and deeper and thus lodging the knife deeper into my chest. I try yelling out for help, but I couldn¡¯t speak, I try yelling out loud to at least tone down the pain, but nothing can be heard.


    And as I bleed out from the wound, the shadows overlapping the figure slowly disappears, revealing a mirrored distorted image of myself, smirking as it walks away from my lifeless body.