At the heart of the Rump estate, a newcomer had arrived and stepped into the intense silence between both sides.

Most of the humans were expecting something like a Men of Stone or an Archangel Unit to arrive. But as their gazes locked onto the figure before them, they were confused. He didn’t resemble any Archangel they had seen before.

He was… more human.

The man appeared to be in his forties, dressed in a black-field uniform beneath a long trench coat, and he stood taller and muscular than any ordinary man. His pale skin contrasted sharply with the darkness of his attire, and a military cap rested on top of his head. A distinctive monocle glinted over one of his cyan-blue eyes, giving him an air of cold calculation.

A mercenary broke the silence with a mocking laugh. “Why are you all so tense? That’s just one human! We’re an army! Get him!”

The first wave of mercenaries charged forward and raised their weapons that shimmered with elemental energy, warhammers that cracked with lightning, staves that pulsed with raw magic, and the air ignited with spells, fireballs, ice lances, and arcs of electricity all flying toward him.

The man sighed slowly, unfazed. Then, in a calm, almost amused tone, he spoke.

“Surrounded, am I?” He rolled his shoulders. “All I’m surrounded by… is fear. And dead men.”

Without hesitation, he raised a bolter, and—

Bang!!

Thunder cracked as the first shot echoed across the battlefield, and a mercenary exploded into a mist of blood with metal shards scattering like shrapnel.

He fired again and again. Each round found its mark as the explosive shells punched through enchanted shields, shredding armor, and turning groups of mercenaries into smoldering craters.

A mage at the back of the group shouted, “Focus fire! Take him down!”

A barrage of spells rained down on the man, a hail of fire, ice, and lightning meant to obliterate anything in its path, but his body shockingly appeared to be absorbing the impacts with barely a scratch.

Then, he charged forward, faster than any human should be with a presence of an unstoppable force of destruction.

From his Spatial Ring, a metal sword materialized in his grasp, and as the man reached the first line of mercenaries, he swung down the sword in a wide arc and sliced through enchanted weapons and armor as if they were paper. Limbs and torsos were severed, blood misting the air, and the air was filled with the screams of the dying.

A mercenary tried to strike him from behind with a lightning-charged spear aimed at his spine, but the man spun around with impossible speed for a human, grabbing the spear mid-thrust and snapping it in two, followed by crushing the mercenary’s head with a single punch, and the force splattered his bone and flesh against the ground.

Another wave of mercenaries swarmed him, desperate to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. They surrounded him, stabbing and slashing with enchanted blades, only for their blades to glance off as if striking solid steel.

The man chuckled darkly. “Foolish elves. You are but insects before the might of humanity!”

With a single clap, a shockwave erupted from his hands and sent bodies flying like ragdolls. Those still standing barely had time to react before he was upon them again, stepping over their broken bodies and continuing his slaughter with each swing of his sword cleaving multiple foes in half.

From above, archers rained down volleys of mana-infused arrows. The man didn’t even flinch as he raised his bolter, aimed at the wall supporting their perch, and fired.

Explosive rounds ripped through the stone, and the structure crumbled in an instant. The archers screamed as they fell to their deaths, and their bodies lost in the dust and ruin below.

Just as the last of the mercenaries fell, the ground began to tremble and a guttural roar echoed across the battlefield as a horde of magic beasts emerged from the shadows with predatory hunger.

The first wave consisted of six-legged panthers, their shadowy semi-ethereal forms flickering in and out of existence. Their glowing red eyes locked onto the man as they leapt from the shadows and extended their claws.

The man didn’t hesitate as a flick of his wrist summoned a flamethrower from his Spatial Ring, and in an instant, a jet of superheated plasma roared to life. The panthers howled as the inferno consumed them and incinerated their bodies into ash. But one managed to break through and raked its claws across his chest.

He staggered back, more from surprise than pain, then seized the beast by the throat. The panther hissed, writhing in his grip in fury, but the man crushed its neck with a sickening crunch and tossed its lifeless body aside like a broken toy.

Next came the winged monstrosities, reptilian beasts with scales that shimmered like prismatic rainbows. They spat corrosive acid, which hissed and sizzled as it hit the ground around the man. One dive-bombed him and outstretched its talons.

He raised his bolter and fired a single explosive round into its open maw. The beast’s head erupted in a spray of gore, and its body crashed to the ground.

Two more swooped down, but the human dodged with surprising agility, slicing one’s wings off with his sword and stomping its head into the dirt before it could recover. The second unleashed a stream of acid that hit his shoulder. Smoke rose as the acid ate into the clothing, but the man didn’t mind and fired a burst from his bolter, blowing the creature out of the sky.

The ground shook as the next wave approached, towering ogre-like giants with jagged stone-plated bodies. Their massive rune-covered clubs glowed with malevolent energy, and they swung them with devastating force enough to reduce a man to paste.

One of the giants bellowed and brought its club down with enough force to shatter the ground. The man rolled to the side just as a deep crater formed where he once stood. Before the giant could recover, the man launched himself onto the creature’s shoulder in a single bound.

With a single thrust of his metal sword, he drove the blade into the giant’s neck. The runes on the club flickered and died as the creature fell to its knees with blood gushing from the wound. The man leapt off as the beast collapsed and landed on the ground.

Two more giants charged him with their clubs raised high. The man pulled out a rocket launcher from his Spatial Ring and fired two rockets in quick succession. The missiles screamed through the air before detonating on impact, turning the towering beasts into a rain of stone and flesh.

More beasts poured in as yet more monstrosities charged forward, from serpentine creatures with venomous fangs, packs of mana-infused wolves with eyes like molten gold, and towering arachnids that fired webs of sticky mana threads.

But the man didn’t retreat.

He stood his ground while his weapons roared as he unleashed an unrelenting storm of firepower.

And the horde kept coming.

As the last beast fell, the battlefield was eerily silent. The ground was littered with bodies, mercenaries, beasts, and shattered remains of those who had dared to stand against him.

The man turned to face the stunned members of the Heads of Destruction, with his armor drenched in blood and ichor, while his presence was as imposing as ever.

"Greetings. I am Captain General John Von Stroheim, Captain General of the 1st Archangel Unit. I suggest you all to surrender. My people can be… unforgiving to those who resist. Now drop your weapons and stand down."

He cracked his knuckles, and the sharp sound echoed sharp in the tense air. "But I also suggest you appeal to my better nature. So, what will it be?"

With their weapons and magic radiated raw power, and despite the carnage the Archangel had unleashed on their forces, they showed no fear.

Claudius stepped forward and raised his sickle as the blade pulsed with energy. “You think you’ve won, human? Even if you are as strong as a superior, we are not like the rest of those weaklings.”

Phobio sneered as his hands dripped with blood that formed swirling patterns in the air. "Yeah. Like we will ever surrender to a human."

Fernand, silent and calculating, adjusted his clothing as the faint shimmer of his [Mental Field] spread across the area. His eyes glowed faintly, perceiving every movement and shift in the battlefield.

Stroheim sighed at his response, "Very well then. Don't say I didn't warn you."

For a moment, nothing happened between three Executive members of the Heads of Destruction and one human.

It was until the silence broke when simultaneously, Claudius and Fernand blurred into motion and shot across the space, moving faster than any human should be able to track. Their weapons flashed out at the same moment right as they passed on either side of the man, slicing across the sides of his neck and sending twin arcs of light from the two blades skidding to a halt behind him.

Standing there motionlessly, Stroheim would've been decapitated by the twin blows. But instead, he laughed and straightened up.

"Very good!" he remarked as he turned to face them, clapping slowly. "Impressive speed, and flawless teamwork. Against any other opponent, that would have served you well."

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was upon them. His long military coat swirled out behind him as he moved faster than even their enhanced senses could follow.

Claudius barely had time to react before Stroheim’s hand swatted him like a hammer and sent him flying sideways straight into Fernand. At the same time, his fingers wrapped around Phobio’s throat, lifting him effortlessly off the ground and slamming him into the nearest wall. The impact cracked the stone with dust raining down around them as the man held him up with ease.

"But..." he continued as one of his eyes gleamed with amusement behind his spectacle, "I am not any other opponent. And you'll have to do better than that against me, little fledglings."

Choking and gasping, Phobio's body suddenly liquefied and dissolved into blood, melting out of Stroheim's grip. The crimson stream slipped through Stroheim’s fingers and reformed across the field, coalescing into his humanoid shape once more, this time, noticeably more cautious.

"What are you?" Claudius demanded, his eyes flashing as he massaged his cheek from the strong slap he received. "No human could have done that!"

Stroheim chuckled. His smile widened as his eyes shone with crimson light behind his monocle. These weren't the usual blazing red eyes you see mostly from monsters and magical beings in this world, but rather something else entirely.

Something... synthetic.

"I assure you, ladies, I am no human."

With a growl, Claudius charged again at surprising speed. He swung his sickle downward and sliced through the air with such force that the ground beneath Stroheim cracked and shattered. But the man sidestepped just in time, and the sickle narrowly missed him.

John Stroheim retaliated instantly by firing a burst of explosive bolter rounds at Claudius’s chest. The Beast Tamer summoned a magical shield that absorbs the impact, but the explosives sent him skidding back.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Claudius laughed as he slammed his sickle into the ground and unleashed a wave of mana that forced him to leap aside.

While Claudius kept him occupied, Phobio made his move. The blood swirling around him coalesced into massive tendrils and lashed out like living whips. Stroheim blocked one with his sword, but another slammed into his side, sending him staggering.

“You’re strong,” Phobio admitted with a sinister grin spreading across his face. “But can you fight all of us at once?”

He took a step forward, only to pause when he sensed something wrong.

"Wait… something ain't right," he muttered as he narrowed his eyes. "He's not bleeding… and he's not even wearing armor. Is his clothing enchanted? No, I don’t sense any mana. Is he also some sort of monster?"

Before he could think further, Stroheim brought out a flamethrower from his Spatial Ring and unleashed a jet of plasma. The searing heat vaporized the blood tendrils instantly and forced Phobio to retreat temporarily.

Without warning, Fernand appeared behind John, brandishing his sword and swung it at the back of his head at the speed that could be described as lightning.

But…



To his horror, Stroheim caught the blade… with his teeth.

The steel screeched between his jaws before shattering like brittle glass. Fernand’s eyes widened in horror and disbelief as he instinctively leapt back while gripping the broken hilt.

"That sword was crafted from a metal stronger than adamantite…" he murmured. "And he just BIT through it?!"

Without giving him a chance to react, Stroheim rushed forward with terrifying speed and grabbed Fernand by the back of his head before throwing him straight into Claudius and the two crashed together in a heap.

Deciding to press the advantage, Stroheim leapt high into the air and lobbed a cluster of grenades at the trio.

BOOM!!

The battlefield erupted in fire and smoke, scattering his opponents and buying him a brief reprieve as he landed with a heavy thud and immediately charged at Claudius before the dust had settled.

The Beast Tamer swung his sickle in a wide arc, but Stroheim ducked under it and drove his steel sword deep into Claudius’s side.

Claudius cursed in pain but retaliated with a vicious backhanded blow that sent the man flying backward.

Before he could recover, Phobio sent a wave of blood spikes flying toward him. Stroheim rolled to the side, dodging the deadly projectiles and fired his bolter rapidly.

But Fernand was already on him. Pulling out another sword, he dashed forward and sliced across Stroheim’s shoulder plate. Sparks flew, but the attack barely slowed him down.

“You’re incredibly strong for a human, I’ll give you that,” Fernand said coldly.

Stroheim remained silent for a moment before his eyes glowed ominously and smirked. "I admire your will to fight, truly. But I’m still giving you one last chance to stand down."

Ignoring his suggestion, Claudius lunged forward and swung his sickle at Stroheim with all his might. But the Captain General didn’t even flinch as he simply raised his hand and caught the blade… between his index and middle finger.

"Nice gardening tool."

Claudius barely had time to react before Stroheim snapped the sickle in two with a flick of his wrist. Realizing he was now left with only his warhammer, Claudius instinctively leaped back. But before he could regain his footing, Stroheim closed the distance and launched a brutal uppercut. However, Claudius barely managed to retreat in time and smirked as the blow missed, only for Stroheim to strike again.

This time, the punch landed squarely on his face.

Claudius was sent flying backward and crashed into Fernand and Phobio.

"Nice demonstration, Claudius," Phobio remarked in a deadpan tone.

"Oh, shut up!" Claudius snapped as he sprang to his feet. In frustration, he threw his warhammer at Stroheim, who casually swatted it aside without even looking.

Furious, Claudius let out a snort before launching himself at Stroheim.

"Wait!" Fernand called out. But his warning fell on deaf ears.

Claudius closed the distance in an instant and rained fist against Stroheim’s chest. Blow after blow, his fists hammered against the Captain General’s torso with enough force to shatter stones.

But Stroheim didn’t move. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink. He merely remained where he was, taking all the hits without moving.

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"

With a final roar, Claudius reeled back and delivered his strongest punch, one powerful enough to demolish a boulder.

“GO TO HELL!!”

BOOOM!!

He leapt backward, breathing heavily, and expected to see some sign of damage.

Instead, Stroheim simply brushed the dust from his uniform, straightened his monocle, and smirked, as if he was mocking his effort.

Claudius’s hands trembled and his knuckles burned from the repeated blows he administered. The humiliation, the sheer INSULT of it all, made his blood boil with rage.

"YOU ARE A HUMAN!! WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!!?"

Then, without warning, Stroheim reached up and tore away his own uniform.

The fabric shredded apart, revealing his muscular body covered in scars and countless marks of battles past, from shallow cuts to deep gashes that told stories of survival. But that wasn’t what stunned them.

Beneath the torn flesh, his chest and arms gleamed with something unnatural.

Steel.

Not just armor. Not just implants. His entire torso, from his shoulders down to his abdomen, was a fusion of flesh and intricate cybernetics, seamlessly integrated into his pale body. Gleaming metal replaced muscle, reinforced plating covered his core, and mechanical components whirred beneath the surface.

Fernand's eyes widened in shock. He took an involuntary step back, and caught his breath in his throat.

"An… Automaton?!"

"Adamantium steel, son. Unlike that fragile adamantite, adamantium shields me from physical trauma and can withstand even hypersonic missiles without a scratch."

To emphasize his point, he clenched his fist and delivered a forceful punch into the concrete beneath him. The floor cracked apart, and a small crater formed where his fist had struck.

He smirked. "Even with all your fancy bullshit magic powers, you can't lay a scratch on me."

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, Fernand appeared in front of him and aimed his neck with his sword in an attempt to decapitate him in a fast calculated blow.

CLANG!

The moment the blade made contact, it bent into a perfect "U" shape.

"..."

Stroheim tilted his head slightly. "What did I just say?"

Without another word, he delivered a devastating uppercut to Fernand’s jaw and sent him flying into the air before he crashed back down near Phobio.

Stroheim’s cybernetic eyes flickered to his side in a fraction of a second, tracking Claudius who lunged forward and aimed a right hook at his face, but Stroheim caught his fist effortlessly.

Claudius’ eyes widened as he felt something activate. A hum of energy surged through Stroheim’s palm. Instinctively, he tried to retreat, but the grip was like an unbreakable vise.

"You’re not going anywhere," Stroheim said as his grin widened.

Lightning erupted from his cybernetic arm. Thousands upon thousands of volts surged through Claudius' body, and his muscles convulsed violently. Before he could even scream, Stroheim reeled back his other arm and violently slammed his fist into Claudius’ face. The impact sent him flying, and his body tumbled before skidding to a halt next to Fernand.

With two of his opponents down, Stroheim shifted his gaze toward Phobio.

The blood manipulator stood frozen in place as his eyes moved between his fallen comrades and the man approaching him, who was cracking his knuckles with a predatory grin.

"You're next."

But before Stroheim could take another step—

“[Magic Ray]!” “[Poison]!” “[Shockwave]!” “[Fire Rain]!” “[Confusion]!” “[Charge of Stalagmite]!” “[Open Wounds]!” “[Fireball]!” “[Word of Curse]!” “[Blindness]!”

A series of magic spells erupted behind his back and hammering into his body. Explosions of fire, bursts of lightning, and waves of dark energy crashed against his frame. The ground trembled under the force of the combined magic.

And yet—

Stroheim didn’t even flinch.

The spells faded, and their effects dissipated uselessly against his adamantium body. Slowly, he turned around.

A dozen remaining mercenaries stood in formation with their weapons drawn and eyes filled with grim determination. Some had their hands raised and prepared to unleash another wave of magic.

Stroheim simply raised his own hand, and the air crackled with unnatural energy.

An instant later, an invisible current of electricity burst outward. The moment it made contact, every single mercenary convulsed violently, and their bodies writhed as they screamed in agony. One by one, they collapsed with smoke rising from their twitching forms.

With a satisfied hum, Stroheim lowered his hand. Then, he turned back to Phobio.

"Now, where were we?"

Realizing that brute force alone wouldn’t bring the human down, Claudius, Phobio, and Fernand decided to unleash their trump cards.

Claudius raised his arms and a massive magic circle materialized in the air above him, pulsating with raw energy.

"KRIIIIIIIAAAAAKKKK!!"

A powerful screech shattered the sky as a monstrous presence emerged from within the summoning circle.

“Oh?” Stroheim’s eyes widened as he turned to witness the magnificent creature.

Standing at nearly six meters tall, it spread its winged arms high up, casting an ominous shadow over the ruined ground. A long sinuous neck stretched toward the heavens as its piercing gaze locked onto its prey. The powerful tail of the beast flapped within the circle, and its gray scales glittered within the bright confines of its position.

Anyone who laid eyes on such a magnificent entity would recognize its majesty the instant they saw it.

A Wyvern, the closest relative to a Dragon.

But this wasn’t just any Wyvern. Dark energy crackled along its shadowy form, along with arcs of electricity that danced over its scales. Its glowing eyes burned with fury, locked onto Stroheim with primal malice.

[Magicule Level: 60,000]

This was a Thunder Wyvern.

Claudius grinned triumphantly. “This is the strongest Familiar I’ve ever summoned!” He turned to his mighty Familiar, and raised his hand in command. “Shuri, I command you to annihilate that monster! Absolutely destroy him and leave nothing behind!”

The magic circle vanished in an instant, and the Thunder Wyvern reared back before unleashing its powerful jaws snapped open.

A surge of energy built within its throat and coalesced into a blinding yellowish light.

It was [Lightning Breath].

BOOOOOOM!

A colossal beam of lightning erupted from its maw, tearing through the battlefield in an instant. The searing blast engulfed the approaching human and instantly consumed him in a tidal wave of raw destruction. The sheer force of the attack obliterated entire city blocks and reduced the ground to scorched rubble.

The ground shattered into pieces, and the charred remains of earth were barely intact by the time the eruption was complete.

SHUUUUU—

The battlefield fell silent.

As the smoke and dust began to clear, Claudius squinted his eyes toward the impact zone while his breath hitched.

Then, he saw it.

Kneeling in the middle of the charred wasteland, there was a lone figure who fell to his knees.

A stunned silence filled the air before one of them broke it with a grin of victory spread across his face.

“He’s down… HE’S DOWN!!”

Seeing this, Phobio grinned wickedly as the blood from thousands of dead soldiers gathered into a massive sphere. The crimson mass twisted and morphed, taking the shape of a 10-meter-tall avatar, the [Crimson Valkyrie].

The construct was a terrifying vision of elegance. Its feminine form gleamed with liquid blood, its glowing red eyes seething with malice, and its razor-sharp lance ready for destruction. Phobio sat within its chest and controlled it like a puppeteer commanding a monstrous marionette.

At the same time, Fernand’s body pulsed with energy as he activated [Thought Acceleration] and [Mental Field]. His mind rising beyond normal perception allowed him to process the battlefield with unimaginable level. His blade glowed with raw power as he prepared his deadliest technique, [Disastrous Flash], a strike capable of cutting down anything within his domain, not even a tiny ant or a small grain of wheat could escape.

Meanwhile, Stroheim stood unshaken. Though the Thunder Wyvern’s electrical surge momentarily disrupted his systems, it left no lasting damage.

But seeing his foes unleash their strongest abilities, he decided it was time to end this battle by activating his tactical systems and preparing his final gambit.

“Guess you people won’t learn at all.”

His metallic chest split open, revealing a thermobaric bomb, and a moment later, he launched it into the sky.

BOOM!!

The explosion was cataclysmic as a monstrous wave of fire erupted across the battlefield, only to be followed by something far worse, a devastating vacuum effect that sucked the oxygen from the air and crushed everything in its radius.

At first, Claudius laughed as the flames cleared by his Thunder Wyvern as it stood unharmed.

“Is that all? You can’t kill us with fire!”

But then, their laughter turned to gasps as the vacuum field took effect. Their lungs burned. Their bodies convulsed as the lack of oxygen began to affect even the strongest among them. Even the mighty Thunder Wyvern wheezed and heaved its massive chest as it struggled to breathe.

Phobio’s [Crimson Valkyrie] was also affected, the blood construct flickered as she gasped for air inside along with her master as he choked within its core as the blood construct wavered from his failing concentration.

Fernand dropped to one knee and his [Thought Acceleration] faltered as suffocation clouded his mind.

“I—I… can’t… breathe…”

This was the moment the Captain of the Archangel Unit had been waiting for.

His targeting systems locked onto the Thunder Wyvern. A pulse of energy built up within his shoulder cannon, then a concentrated plasma beam tore through the beast’s chest.

The wyvern roared one last time before crashing to the ground, dead.

Next, he turned to the [Crimson Valkyrie].

With inhuman speed, he sprinted forward and dodged between its sluggish failing strikes. Soon, his adamantium sword plunged into its chest and ripped it apart, leaving Phobio exposed.

Before he could even react, a bolter round tore through his skull, ending him.

Finally, Fernand gritted his teeth as he attempted to rise with his blade trembling in his hand. However, the Archangel was on him in an instant, and his adamantium sword already sliced through Fernand’s weapon and chest.

“Th-This… is… not possible-...”

Thud!

The old elf fell silently and hit the ground with his wide eyes frozen in disbelief.

A breath later, his life was snuffed out.

The battlefield fell silent, save for the crackling of flames and the distant groans of the dying. The Archangel Captain stood in the middle of the destruction with his armor scorched but unbroken. The remaining soldiers and elven guards stared in awe and disbelief.

Barron leaned heavily against the broken barricade with his wide eyes locked on the battlefield. The sight before him was almost impossible to comprehend.

Yuri, panting heavily from her earlier rampage, held her daggers tightly. Her [Berserk Mode] had finally worn off, leaving her body trembling with exhaustion. But even in her fatigue, her sharp eyes followed the human-machine as he continued his slaughter, cutting down the last remaining mercenaries and magic beasts with terrifying speed.

"Is he… even human?" she whispered as her long ears twitched in disbelief. "That… that’s not possible. A mere human shouldn’t be able to do all of this."

Around them, the elven guards whispered amongst themselves as their usually calm expressions were replaced by shock.

A young elven archer hesitated before stepping forward. “What is he?” he asked with unease. “No human could fight like that.”

A heavy silence followed before Grease finally spoke. “He’s no ordinary man,” he said as his gaze was still fixed on the battlefield. “He’s a member of the Archangel Unit.”

Yuri snapped her head toward him. “Archangel? He doesn’t look like the ones from the legends, or the paintings in the churches I had visited…”

Grease sighed slowly and gathered his thoughts. “Not those angels.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “They were named after them. The Archangel Unit… they’re humanity’s greatest warriors. Cybernetically enhanced. Trained beyond human limits. Armed with the most advanced weapons our world has ever built.”

He turned to Barron and Yuri and continued. “They’re more than soldiers. They’re walking weapons of war. Engineered to survive the impossible. Created to destroy anything in their path.”

Barron frowned. “But… I’ve never heard of them anywhere.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Grease muttered as he shook his head. “They were created in secret, engineered for literally decades, originally meant to fight humanity’s greatest enemies, like the North American Empire and others. But now? Now they’re used against even more terrifying foes like the Transcendents.”

His gaze darkened. “From where we came from, they were designed to not come to fight battles, they come to end wars.”

Yuri turned back to the battlefield, watching as the Archangel Captain raised his flamethrower, and a torrent of fire erupted, engulfing the remaining magic beasts. Their ethereal forms screamed as they disintegrated in the inferno.

She swallowed hard. “A human… that could end wars?”

————————————————————————

"Go!"

A captain of the second rescue team urgently ordered his men to leap across the ruined street. He frowned as the sounds of gunfire had died off and he urged his men to move faster.

"Faster! We’re nearly there!"

They pushed forward and entered the debris littered fountain square only to be greeted by a grisly sight.

Bodies. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.

Even the fountain was clogged with corpses, squirting crimson liquid out from the decorative water feature, turning the square into something out of a nightmare.

Scattered around the wreckage of the downed helicopter were magic beasts feasted on the dead bodies. The creatures gnawed and tore at the lifeless remains, oblivious to the approaching soldiers.

"All stations, we’ve reached the crash site. Over."

[Command, roger.]

The captain raised his hand and chopped it down sharply, and the team fired their suppressed weapons, taking down the unsuspecting beasts that were still standing. One by one, the creatures dropped and twitched, then stilled.

He pointed two fingers to the right. Another set to the left and the squads silently split off on each side.

They swept through the square with their boots crunching over broken stone and discarded weaponry. Only the dead remained. Any stragglers, those unlucky enough to still be breathing, were quickly taken out silently, either being shot in the head or stabbed with a bayonet.

Then—

"Sarge!"

A soldier called out as he kneed over something. His gloved hands lifted up a bloodied MK-I helmet

"Found one of ours... or what was left of him..."

The captain came up and saw an unrecognized body, the enemy appeared to have ripped his flesh and skin away, even his genitals were mutilated and cut off, and shoved into the toothless mouth of the soldier.

A slow breath escaped from the captain's mouth as he went down on one knee, ignoring the stench of death. He removed his helmet and pulled the dog tags from the gore-caked remains.

[Barnes, Dallas Buchanan DOB: 10/03/67 HT: 6’1”]

[Title: 2nd Lieutenant 1st Battalion Bronco Company 402-12-9363 Manila, Quezon City]

His jaw clenched. "May God watch over your soul at the Gates of Heaven… for a great soldier has fallen."

Then, he stood and masked his grief with duty.

"Let's go," he ordered as he gestured toward the wreckage. "We’ll bury him later if we get the chance."

The team nodded solemnly and their boots carried them forward, deeper into the wreck.

Inside the twisted hull, they found the dead gunners crushed under the rubble and the co-pilot similarly died as he slumped over the controls with blood painted the interior in streaks and splatters.

Another magic beast was seen eating one of the bodies inside the wrecked hull, tearing into the flesh.

With disgust, the soldiers opened fire and the creature barely had time to turn before it was riddled with bullets and collapsed in a heap.

Pushing through, they found an opening that led into a half-destroyed building.

Inside, they found another soldier spread his arms wide with his body nailed against a wooden column, similarly mutilated and castrated.

A grotesque display of cruelty.

The captain's voice dropped to a sharp whisper.

"Get him down." He hissed as his hands clenched into fists. "The rest of you, sweep the building!"

"Sarge, found another of ours..." another soldier called out as he carefully picked up a round charred shape from the bloodied mess in the room. His hands trembled slightly.

"It's Gadiel..."

The captain's eyes darkened as he turned to see the soldier holding up a burnt severed head of the soldier, his eyes were gouged out and his skull deformed from the blows to his head.

A slow exhale exhaled his lips, "Find his dog tags..." the captain ordered evenly.

Before the soldier could respond, another called out.

"Sarge, we’ve got a live one!"

The team whipped around as a soldier rushed forward while holding a pilot's helmet and a shotgun.

"We found the pilot. He’s alive."

Moving fast, the rescue team headed to the area where they found the unconscious body of a lone soldier.

The team medic immediately dropped to a kneeling stance and checked his vitals, while another soldier ran up behind him and pulled a foldable stretcher from his back and snapped it open.

A quick assessment. Still breathing. Barely.

The medic didn’t hesitate as he slammed a vial of tranq shot into the pilot's thigh before, with his teammate’s help, hoisting him onto the stretcher and securing the straps.

The captain swept his gaze over the body-filled room.

"Search around these… bodies here..."

The men nodded and did the grim job of searching the dead, rifling through pockets, collecting dog tags, and salvaging what little remained.

Meanwhile, the captain activated his radio. "Command, this is the Rescue Team. Crash site secured. We found only one survivor. Over."

[Command, confirm casualties.]

"Fifteen KIA, one survivor. Over."

[Roger. Fifteen KIA, one survivor.]

One by one, the bodies were laid out in the square, except for the co-pilot and two gunners still trapped beneath the rubble.

The captain stared at the pile of bloody dog tags in his hand. A silent tribute to the fallen.

Then, his jaw set. "Grab anything useful and burn everything else."

Soon billows of black smoke erupted from the wreckage as the soldiers set off thermite grenades to melt the fuselage and other sensitive portions of the crashed helo as well as burning the bodies of their own. The heat distorted the air, turning steel into slag and reducing flesh to ashes.

The men gave a solemn salute at the makeshift funeral.

No words. Only the crackling flames and the weight of duty.

As the inferno raged behind them, the captain turned.

"Let's go, we will meet up with the rest!”

He took one last look at the burning pyre, then stepped forward.

They left the square of the dead behind.

————————————————————————

Meanwhile, the streets of the Free Trade City of Aquarius were completely ablaze with chaos. Gunfire echoed through the narrow alleys as Austronesian Liberation soldiers stormed forward with their rifles spitting fire and steel. Any elf unfortunate enough to stand in their way was gunned down without mercy.

But not all fell so easily as bullets ricocheted off magical barriers as elite elven city guards countered against the human invaders. Elegant yet ruthless, they moved like shadows through the maze of cobblestone streets. Alongside them, adventurers in mismatched armor wielded enchanted blades and crackling staves with their magic colliding against human gunfire in bursts of light and heat.

“Push forward” a human officer barked as he waved his men ahead. “Take the square at all costs”

The gunmen pressed onward, dodging between overturned carts and shattered stone pillars, but the elves’ attacks were effectively lethal against them.

Three elven guards leaped from a rooftop with their spears glowing with magic as they descended upon a group of humans.

With a single thrust, each of their weapons impaled one soldier which pierced through their armor like paper. The rest of the soldiers reacted instantly and opened fire, unleashing a hail of bullets and gunned down two of them before they could react but the third elf danced through the bullets with impossible speed and retaliated with quick strikes.

Before the humans could adjust, he weaved through them in a blur and his spear painted the cobblestones red.

Further down the street, a mage adventurer chanted rapidly as swirling fire erupted from her palms. With a final word, she unleashed a searing inferno that swept through an entire squad of human soldiers. The survivors screamed as they rolled on the ground with their uniforms ablaze.

“We need reinforcements” a panicked soldier shouted into his comms.

The battle raged on with a symphony of gunfire, steel, and magic. But just as the humans and elves seemed locked in an endless struggle, a deep guttural horn echoed across the bay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whxcq4I0kAo

The battlefield fell silent for a brief moment.

“The hell was that?” a human soldier muttered as his rifle trembled in his grip.

Then, out on the ocean, they appeared.

Crude but massive wooden warships appeared into view with their hulls reinforced with jagged iron plating. Tattered sails bore primitive yet ominous symbols of war, and from their decks came thunderous bloodthirsty roars of battle-ready Orcs.

“GUESS WHO'S BACK, BABIES!!”

“ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!! ORKS!!”

“TIME TO GET KRUMPIN, SOFT SKINS!!”

“ORKS IZ MADE A ROKKIN!!” An orc screamed out as he played a “homemade” Rock N Roll guitar.

“““““WAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!”””””

And not only that, their numbers were staggering, reaching over hundreds of thousands!

“By the Gods… the Orcs are here!” an elven guard shouted in fear.

“What the hell!?” a human soldier blurted in surprise and confusion. “Why didn’t Command warn us the Greenskins will arrive here soon!?”

Soon enough, the ships crashed into the docks with terrifying force. But the orcs did not wait for land as they leaped from their ships.

Many of them didn’t even bother using the docks, instead they ran across the water.

Not wading. Not swimming. Running. As if some invisible platform carried them across the waves.

Their guttural war cries filled the air as they stormed the eastern section of the city.

“What the fuck!? That is impossible…” a human soldier muttered as he watched an orc barreling toward him across the waves.

Just as everyone had said about the Orcs, these Greenskins were a force of nature. Massive, muscular, and clad in jagged iron armor, they charged headlong into the humans and elves alike with their giant axes, clubs, and crude Sluggas, large unwieldy things that fired high-caliber rounds that punched through bodies and shattered walls with terrifying ease.

One Orc with a spiked helmet drenched in blood fired his massive weapon into a group of elven guards. The enchanted armor they relied on offered no protection as the heavy rounds ripped through their bodies like they were nothing. He roared in triumph before swinging the butt of his weapon into a human soldier’s chest, sending the man sprawling across the cobblestones.

Nearby, a squad of humans desperately tried to regroup and formed a defensive line in the marketplace, but it was futile as the orcs swarmed them. One soldier barely had time to scream before an Orc grabbed him by the skull and ripped his head clean off, while his comrades fought back, but they were outnumbered, outmatched, and barely holding the line.

“Fall back to the second line!” an elven captain shouted to his men.

“We can’t hold them!” a human officer yelled to his own men, just as an orc wielding dual axes lunged forward and cleaved through three soldiers with one sweep.

The battle spread through the eastern section of Aquarius like wildfire. Buildings collapsed as stray spells, cannonfire, and gunshots tore through them. The humans and elves tried to mount a defense, but the sheer number of orcs began to overwhelm them.

Just as the situation seemed hopeless, the ground beneath the city shook violently. A deep rumbling echoed across the streets, followed by the sound of massive drills tearing through stone.

“What now?” a bloodied adventurer growled as he glanced toward the source of the noise.

The ground split apart as massive cylindrical drilling machines burst through the surface. Their metallic hulls were engraved with intricate dwarven runes, and from their hatches poured thousands of dwarven soldiers in heavy armor and wielding magic-enhanced muskets.

“For the Iron Kingdom! For the Grandlord! FOR ROCK AND STONE!!” one of the dwarves cried out and fired his musket. A bolt of mana shot out, piercing an orc’s skull and dropping it instantly.

The dwarves unleashed hell upon all three factions. Explosives rained from the drilling machines and sent humans, elves, and orcs alike flying. The streets became a smoking ruin with bodies piling on top of one another as the dwarves fired indiscriminately into the fray.

Above the city, the sound of whirring engines filled the sky as dozens of dwarven mech suits descended from the sky with their bulky frames bristling with weapons. Each stood three meters tall, with their metallic arms equipped with massive rotary cannons that spewed mana-charged rounds and ripped through orcish flesh like paper.

One mech landed in the middle of a street with its cannon spinning to life. In seconds, it mowed down a line of orcs and shredded their bodies by the hail of bullets. Another mech stomped into the fray and swung a massive hammer that crushed an elven guard and a human soldier with one blow.

"Are they insane?!"a human soldier shouted as he ducked behind the rubble as bullets and spells flew overhead. "They’re fighting everyone!"

"Typical dwarves," an elven scout spat as he threw a dagger that embedded itself into an orc’s throat. "They don’t care who’s in their way."

A dwarven commander barked orders from on top of one of the drilling machines. “No quarter! Show these fools the might of dwarven ingenuity! ROCK AND STONE, BROTHERS AND SISTERS! FOR THE GRANDLORD!! FOR THE IRON KINGDOM”

The eastern section of Aquarius was now a four-way war zone. Humans, elves, orcs, and dwarves clashed in a brutal melee as the streets were painted red with blood, littered every corner, and the deafening sounds of war drowned out all reason.

Out on the water, the Austronesian Liberation Navy traded cannonfire with the orc warships with the thunder of their guns rocking the coastline. From beneath the waves, dwarven submersibles surfaced and launched magic missiles into both factions, adding yet another layer of destruction.

A nearby elven archer, his face smeared with dirt and blood, pulled back his bowstring and loosed an arrow that pierced a dwarf’s shoulder.

"This city is going to tear itself apart," he muttered darkly.

A human soldier, his hands shaking, gritted his teeth and fired wildly into anything that wasn't human.

“No shit, Sherlock! This city already has!”