The Cold Ashen Morning

As Nikolai fell upon them, the zombies excitedly clawed at him, biting their teeth, puncturing his skin, ripping off his limbs. He couldn't resist as there was no point to, everything was decided, and his death was not as glorious as he thought will be.

Edward never moved his eyes from the butchering under his feet. He witnessed the glory of a famous villain that he knew, being ripped apart into nothingness, as it was swallowed by the mouth of the living dead. However, he couldn't erase it. He couldn't erase the smug face of Nikolai, who kept smiling even after Death fetched him. The last line he said was also bugging his heart, but he put it away as there was nothing he could do about it.

A buzzing sound broke his train of thought, it was from the walkie-talkie that he used to contact Nick Fury earlier.

"Killswitch here," said Edward, picking up the device.

"Yo, K, everything's done over there?" asked Nick.

"Yeah, everything's..." Edward paused and looked around. He saw only darkness and destruction around him. Although most of the undead and the mutated monster were taken care of, there was still a lot of them wandering here and there, looking for any sign of fresh meat to satiate their endless hunger. He continued, "everything's over."

Nick didn't respond immediately, he knew that Edward was having turbulence of emotion at this time. He understood those feeling, as he once felt the same experience as him, but the only saving grace of it was that he was much older when he experienced it, and his mentality was much firmer than the kid that was standing behind this thin line.

"How does it feel?" asked Nick.

Edward then replied, "It's not as exhilarating as I thought it would be. It made me keep asking myself, 'That's it? What's next?'."

"Hey Ed," called Nick. "You've done a good job."

Hearing the consoling word from Nick somehow eased the burden in his heart. He replied, "Thank you, Nick."

"You're welcome, now move that lazy ass and get away from here. The thermobaric missile already flew through Earth's atmosphere, it will arrive in a few minutes," ordered Nick.

The government was already hellbent on sterilizing the city, wiping it out of the map. Edward and the others get on the Helicopter, while Nick and his team already flew high in their choppers.

Barry, who was silent since the moment they escape together, spoke, "Edward..."

"Enough, Barry," replied Edward. He knew that this man would start apologizing for everything he did. No matter what is the reason for him to do it, the fact that he constantly put everyone in danger couldn't simply be forgotten. "I can't forgive you, not yet. So just please, leave me alone for now."

The helicopter he was on was piloted by John. Slowly, it started floating in the air, moving high in the sky. Edward sat at the corner of the seat, looking down at the night city from above.

He glanced at the green bar in the corner of his vision. The same number, 90%, was still written without any sign of it increasing anymore. That means either there were around 10.000 people still struggling for their lives somewhere in this city or there were 10.000 citizens saved and were currently outside of the city. In the end, there's nothing he could do. Just like what Chris said, there's nothing left in this city to be saved.

The helicopter flew at a low altitude. He could see the school where he met his friend. He wondered how his two other classmates, Hannah, and Will, coped with this disaster. Were they even still alive at this point? No one knew. Another chopper passed next to theirs, it was The Hand's chopper, but now it was taken by the Continental's Mercenary. Edward could see Sammy waving her hand excitedly while Dean tried to hold her so that she didn't fell.

The sky was still dark. Although, in an hour, the sun would rise from the east. Edward acknowledged that the time before the sun starts rising was the darkest time of the day. Every building they passed, every street he saw, was familiar to him. He recalled every person he met and every person that he bid a farewell. In a matter of a moment, everything will be gone, grounded into dust. His empty eye moved at one corner of the helicopter, at the empty seat that no one took. He didn't move his eyes, as if he was facing someone or maybe something, sitting on it.

Suddenly, John saw a single bright star in the night sky. Although it looked slow, in actuality, it was moving so fast that it almost break sound barriers. It was the thermobaric missile that Nikolai and Nick mentioned. It would use oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, enough to obliterate the city off the map.

"I can see it. Everyone, brace for impact," warned John. Everyone started holding everything that could that they could hold.

But then, Edward started speaking, "John, can you flew it close enough for me to reach it?"

Everyone who heard him was startled, what the hell is he thinking. Wade was the first one to express his disapproval, "Bro, are you crazy? Did you know what that thing is? I don't have super regenerative power that would keep me alive even when my head was cut-off, and you proposed to get closer to the missile's path. This is not a night bar, you can't just hitting on a missile."

"Are you sure?" asked John, ignoring Wade who was still speaking. Edward just nodded to his question. He wasn't that sure too. The thing he was about to do had a 50-50 chance, either it works or not, just that.

"Then, if you say so." John started turning the helicopter sideways. Wade was still protesting, asking if he lost his mind after what happened in these past few weeks.

The closer the thermobaric missile got, the clearer they could see how huge the missile actually was. Emma Farlene, while drinking the whiskey on her glass, watched as the missile kept getting closer, and closer. Those who were still alive and struggling inside the city, witnessed as their fate was slowly coming toward its end.

They all prayed to God who might be watching them. They all prayed for those that already left their sides, asking forgiveness for the foolish decision they made to survive. They embraced their partners, they bid farewell to their friends, they kissed their sleeping children's forehead, they pitied themselves for their tragic fate. In the end, they were left abandoned.

"You're ready?" asked John. The helicopter already stopped moving, stood still on the missile's path. Edward moved, standing at the rear of the helicopter with only one arm gripping at the sides. He's waiting.

"Countdown! 10..."

Wade gulped as he closed he covered his eyes with his hands, but still peeking through the gap on his fingers.

"9..."

Jill believed in the person before him. He was the one that wrote miracles everywhere he walked. She believed in him, just like how he trusts her life on him whenever they were put in a pinch.

"8..."

Barry felt ashamed for himself. He should have resisted, protecting his family instead of following the words of the devil. The fact that his family was put in danger already proved how weak and stupid he is. But he couldn't roll back the time, it's already too late.

"7... 6... 5..."

Carlos recalled the moment he met Edward the first time. It was in Paris, two months ago. Back then, he didn't know who the small figure in front of him was. All he could see was the small and fragile back. But now, that he knew about him, that same back looked wide and firm like steel.

"4... 3... 2..."

As the missile gets closer, the citizens of Raccoon City could see it clearly. The missile left a trail of light, like a rainbow after a rain. It was the first time they felt that Death could be beautiful. Emma closed her eyes, as he embraced her ends on top of the pedestal she built with her sweat and blood.

"1..."

"Edward," murmured, the sleeping Sherry. Beside her was Claire, who was wiping the sweat on Sherry's forehead. Hearing her nephew's name, she realized how bad she missed him already.

"When will you return, Edward?" muttered Claire.

===

"Now!" yelled John.

Edward immediately activated his ability, "Flow Motion."

Everything stopped moving. The missile, the helicopter's rotor, everything. Edward stood still as he looked at the huge missile in its full glory. It was huge, bigger, and taller than an adult. No wonder it could decimate Raccoon City in the game.

Edward held it with his hand. In this almost stopped time, only he could move normally. Even then, he must have proper stats if he wants to move faster. When he touched the hard metal, it was actually warm. Death was this warm.

10 Seconds later, everything started moving properly. The abilities time was over and now was put in an hour cooldown. However, nobody moved from their seats. No, they were stunned as they saw the missile that was supposed to fly beside them suddenly vanish into thin air. No shockwave, no explosion, just vanish in a single frame. What was left was the glowing trail of light, which also dissipate in a second.

They only blinked, looking at each other, asking if the others also witness the same thing. Emma Farlene, who was bracing for impact inside her office, gasped for air after holding her breath for a full one minute. She imagined a huge explosion with everything drowned in fire, but nothing actually happened. She looked around, wondering if she was already dead, and was now in heaven, but it seemed nothing really happened.

"Uuh, that's kinda anti-climax..." she muttered, realizing that she was still alive and thrive.

Back into the helicopter, all of them saw that Edward was busy swiping his finger in the air. It might have something to do with him. When John wanted to ask, Edward spoke first.

"I'm going back."

John and the others were perplexed by his statement. Going back to where? Raccoon City?

"What are you going to do?" asked John.

"I'm going to do some cleanup, I'll contact Nick later, so you don't need to worry. You can just leave with the others," replied Edward.

John couldn't ask anything anymore as Edward dropped on his back from the helicopters, straight to the top of the city.

Edward was still looking at the bunch of notifications in front of him.

<Congratulations on completing the Survival Quest - Raccoon City's Demise!>

<Congratulations on completing all of the Optional Quest!>

<You have received a new Special Ability from the Main Quest, Radar Sense - S.>

<You have received new Equipment from the Main Quest, Railgun Sniper Rifle - A. Please check your mailbox.>

<You have received new Equipment and a Special Item from Optional Quest 1, Infant Ifrit's Ring - B and ???'s Egg.>

<You have received a new Item from Optional Quest 2, Scribbled Paleville Map.>

<Level Up!>

<Level Up!>

<Level Up!>

<A new slot for Permanent Reinforcement has been Unlocked>

That was the series of notifications that Edward got before. He opened his Character Status, checking how far he already got.

<Edward Kavka>

<Level 42 - Mercenary>

<Mental Power (MP) - 235/510

<Experience Points (EXP) - 803.600/7.550.000>

<Strength (STR) - 51>

<Dexterity (DEX) - 51>

<Constitution (CON) - 51>

<Intelligent (INT) - 51>

<Unused stat points - 15>

<Main Power: Reinforcement - Unranked>

<Special Ability:

Unranked: Reinforced Body, Permanent Reinforcement, Personal Assistant.

S-Ranked: Stealth, Radar Sense.

A-Ranked: Eagle Eye, Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Regeneration, FlowMotion, Toxin and Disease Immunity, Durability Negation, Photographic Reflexes. Physical & Matter Movement Prediction.>

<Knowledge Mastery:

Intermediate: English Linguistic, Firearms Mastery, Systema Mastery, Vale Tudo Mastery, Breathing Mastery, Movement Mastery, Self-Defense Mastery, Battle Tactics Mastery, Thievery Mastery, Disguise Mastery.

Basic: Japanese Linguistic, French Linguistic, Sign Language.>

He looked over the explanation for his new Special Ability, Radar Sense. He had the general idea about it from its name alone, but a guess would be just a guess if it was left unanswered.

<Radar Sense, S-Rank>

<Active - No mana cost.>

<By deactivating your Sight Sense, boost the user's Hearing Sense to allow the user to detect everything around him/her in a 360° manner, by processing the soundwaves or brainwaves that travel through every object.>

The moment Edward closed his eyes, he didn't expect that it was not the darkness that he met, but rather, a new world that only depicts a vague outline around him. There's no darkness, only lines over lines, drawing the world one kilometer around him. At first, this new version of the world make him felt a slight headache, but soon he got used to it.

"So, it was more like Matt Murdock's Radar Sense, not the Haki from One Piece," muttered Edward. He basically could see all of them, zombies on the ground, in the dark alleys. His breathing and heartbeat.

It was only been 5 seconds since he started falling, it's time to take some action. And from this height, he could do everything he wanted. So he chose to test his new weapon and the ring.

The Railgun Sniper Rifle was much smaller than the Railgun Cannon inside the NEST 2 that he used earlier. However, there was some resemblance to it, especially the long barrel that looked like two sets of metal bars joined as one. It was too futuristic in design as well.

(Pict in the comment section)

<X45 - Railgun Sniper Rifle - A Class>

<A futuristic long-ranged Railgun, specially built for effective assassination plus destruction. With a magazine that had 5 bullet capacity, it capable of shooting up to 2.5 Km away without any negative effect. It could pierce through any kind of object, depending on the power input.>

<MP Cost: 20/clip.>

The long-ranged weapon didn't have a scope, however, when Edward started aiming, three rotating circles that looked like gears stacked on top of each other appeared on his right eye, helping him to aim the railgun.

"Reinforce."

<Grants Low improvement in effective range, damage, bullet travel time, and reload speed.>

<Grants Equipment Abilities: Electric Shock (passive).>

<Electric Shock - form an Electric DPS dome on any impact point areas that last for 10 seconds.>

The railgun started charging for power. On every shot, there was a 1-second delay when after the trigger was pulled. Lights and electrical sparks gathered in front of the railgun's barrel. And one second later, a white and bluish line with the thickness of an arm, stretched from the sky and pierced the earth. On the impact point, a circular electrical dome with a diameter of 5 meters square, engulfed the zombies around Edward's target.

He didn't stop shooting, forming lines after lines, like a light show in a festival. Anyone who saw it was stunned by this event. They all thought that they saw an Angel, delivering salvation for them and destroying their enemies.

Edward didn't stop shooting even after he already landed on a nearby building. Instead, he changed his weapon to a regular one, however, each one of them was buffed with Edward's Moderate Reinforcement. And now, he activated the ring on his left arm.

<Ifrit's Infant Ring - B Class>

<•Increase user's resistance to every type of Fire Element by 20%.

•Improved any Regeneration Type ability effect by 20%>

<Item Abilities: Firaga.>

<Firaga: Instantly cast 3 Fireballs that could be controlled by the User. Damage inflicted would depend on the User's INT stats. Mana Cost: 50/cast.>

"Reinforce," muttered Edward. The item's description started changing.

<Grants Low improvement on the ring's effect and ability.

•Increase user's resistance to every type of Fire Element by 40%.

•Improved any Regeneration Type ability effect by 40%>

<Firaga: Instantly cast 5 Fireballs that could be controlled by the User. Damage inflicted would depend on the User's INT stats.>

Edward held his hand up in the air, "Firaga."

Five fireballs, the size of a baseball, floated in the air, circling around his hand. Using his mind, he directed all of them in five different directions, blowing and incinerating everything around him. Too bad, because the quest was cleared already, Edward couldn't farm for EXP anymore.

With the help of Radar Sense, Edward searched every nook and cranny of Raccoon City. Although it could give him a 360 vision around him, there was still a limit to this ability. First, he was pretty sensitive to loud noises, so it would take time until he could use the ability while shooting his guns. Second, it couldn't scan the underground. He had to move to the sewer system if he wants to clean it as well.

However, the synergy of his ability was so good that he could observe every detail that was left unnoticed when using normal vision. It even allowed him to surpass Daredevil's innate ability, leaving it in the dust.

An hour passed just like that, the sun rose, painting the dark sky with all kinds of bright colors. Edward stood, watching, as it rose to wake up the sleeping city. Under his feet, piles of zombies and mutated monsters formed a small mountain in the middle of the city. These were the last of them all.

Those who were lucky to survive up until now, walked out of their hideout, tearing the wall they made, to greet their savior. Tears glistened their weary face as they found solace and comfort before him after the relentless days that tortured them both physically and mentally. The only one who stood upon their enemies, Killswitch, the Angel With Guns.