1 Prelude
'How could this happen?' the man thought to himself as he dragged his tired body through the wet mud.
The man's army fatigues as well as his entire body were completely covered in unpleasant sludge. Even the symbol of his country's military was hidden behind the layer of brown dirt. He has been slowly crawling through the ooze for hours. Slowly and methodically moving to reduce fatigue and lower the chance of detection.
The downpour continues, the wind howls, and the moon was completely covered by the thunder clouds. The only flashes of light are lightning which flickers, revealing the story of this battlefield. The soldier paid the surroundings no heed. Just calling this a place of battle was a disgrace to all of those who have fallen.
He just had to ignore the background and keep calm.
Ignore the remains of the tanks, that lost any resemblance to the war machines they were meant to be. Turrets that were dislodged from their chassis and armor that was ripped apart. Few of these machines remain untouched, but only due to the crews trying to escape. Attempting to avoid meeting the same fate as the tanks, but even that was in vain. Now they were monuments to a one-sided battle, against something beyond comprehension.
The soldiers who have fallen barely resembled corpses. Some were mangled but resembling the forms of a human. Some were missing limbs. Some were ripped into many pieces. Some were pulverized beyond any logical reason, and now barely any traces of flesh remain.
Only an elite company of superhumans could destroy an entire military division to this extent. But a superhuman is still a human, they did not shred tanks with their bare hands, they use weapons. They do not rip people into pieces but leave bodies filled with bullet holes and missing body parts. Even if their abilities are much more beyond a normal human being - they still can bleed and die.
There is logic to actions and violence of superhumans. They can still be taken down by lesser people. Yes, their flesh would withstand a rain of bullets but without taking proper actions they would die. Yes, they could easily crush human bone and organs, but not turn them into small pieces of flesh.
This sort of annihilation which happened here was beyond that.
A sudden thunder strike stops the soldier's movements.
An outline of a human figure catches his attention for a moment as the night reminds of itself.
A fragile silhouette was visible a distance away. That was all the soldier could gather. Except for one other detail. The figure carried something. It seemed that the object was long. Maybe even longer than the figure itself. A weapon was most likely. The silhouette was without a doubt closing in. Even if unseen in the darkness of the night it was drawing closer.
Either instinct or logic, one thing was obvious to the soldier. He realized that this figure is what caused all the carnage here. If he does not avoid or escape it, death was certain. But at the same time, the soldier knew that it was not wandering aimlessly. It is coming after him specifically. The soldier quickly stood up to his feet and ran. Ran away from whatever was approaching him. Hoping that the night will be his shield and protect him from the pursuer's sight. The heavy rain still did not let up. The soldier could hear how his boots collided with the mud. Other than that heavy rain and thunder were making their presence known, the soldier continued to run.
After running for a couple of minutes he just stopped. He wanted to run but he just could not move. Because he had a feeling. A feeling he wanted to ignore but just could not.
'You had a good run, but there's no point in struggling against the inevitable.' He looked back over his shoulder. Praying for his own escape and hoping that his intuition was based on nothing.
But as if to confirm the soldier's worst suspicion someone stood behind him.
He could see an outline of a girl, small in stature compared to the soldier.
This girl did not belong here, he thought. She seemed thin and delicate. Her appearance not indicating anything resembling a threat. The girl was short barely reaching 160 centimeters. Not even reach the soldier's shoulders. But in her hand, she was holding a spear-like object that was towering over her.
And even the weapon she was holding seemed to be out of place. Two meters, maybe a bit longer. It was pyramidal in design, with what seemed to be a long and sharp shank attached to the shaft that was almost three-fourths of the weapon's length. An antique that did not belong on a modern battlefield.
A realization pierced his mind. They were destroyed by this girl. Not by a force comparable to them in size. The weapon in her hand is all she needed to cause such chaos. There was no artillery, no tanks, and nothing like any standard weaponry used by a modern army. Just the girl and this spear-like object.
'What empty eyes she has.'
It was something he could see even through the darkness.
All he could do was accept that this was a nonsensical conclusion as thunder rumbled for the last time.
And now the soldier becomes just another monument to what has transpired in the area. To a naked human eye. He just exploded into gore.
The girl continued to move, not showing any interest in her surroundings. The deed was done. Two opposing forces were about to break the peace established by the League of Nations. They had to be reminded of their position. Breaking the conditions put forward by the League will not be tolerated any longer. Endangering the world peace and the people will not be overlooked. That is what the girl was told.
She, of course, had no interest in that. She had no interest in peace. She had no interest in war. She had no interest in people. Who wins or who loses? Who needs to be removed?
She did not even know who she was fighting in the first place.
The girl just did as she was told.
She pressed a finger against the earpiece in her right ear.
"Reporting." A flat tone completely escaped her lips and in response met with another one.
"Harumi-chan! Thank you for your hard work!" the cheery voice was so full of life that it would completely shatter the eerie atmosphere for any would-be onlooker.
It was without a doubt a woman's voice. Seemingly overjoyed with the girl's safety. A voice of someone who had experienced many things and unlike the girl could tell the right from wrong. So, to any observer, her happy-go-lucky tone would seem even more inappropriate.
Harumi was a name given to the girl to make her blend in with society. She needed that name for a mission. But a difference in its execution. To not arouse any suspicion until her mission was complete, she needed a name.
That was what the girl was told. She accepted it without inquiring more.
"Well, how did it go Harumi-chan?" the question was just a formality, there could be only one answer since they are having this conversation in the first place.
"Enemy annihilated. Armored components destroyed. All stragglers neutralized." the answer was a formality as well.
"So, mission complete then, good girl. Elize-chan is going to pick you up, so sit tight and wait for her, okay?"
"Acknowledged." The usual reply she was used to giving.
But long sigh reverberates from the older woman.
"C'mon Harumi-chan, don't talk like that. You won't make any friends that way. Coming off as a weirdo at school won't make you popular."
It seems that the way the girl answered dissatisfied the woman.
"That would contradict my purpose. I just need to eliminate the target not to blend in."
"No, you just need to be a good girl and do as your told. We might spend more time in Nagasaki than expected. So just enjoy yourself while you can. We've lost contact with Unit Four, so we need to look into what happened with her as well." The woman sounded exasperated and at the same time annoyed.
"Understood." The girl changed neither expression nor tone of voice. She took in the information but did not understand it. Neither did she want to understand it.
"Alrighty then, just stay put and you'll find out personally what school is like. So look forward to that." With that, the connection was cut. The girl still stood in the rain, surrounded by mud, human remains, and machinery. Waiting for exfil.
That woman was a bit different from the other people she met. For some reason, the way the woman acted was unlike the other three. And this was only the second time the girl spoke with the unsettlingly cheery woman. Her words and actions contradicted each other. She did not even know the woman's name. And the woman obviously did not care for the girl. A walking red flag for a person with any cognitive ability.
But to Harumi that did not matter. All she needed is to do as she was told.
