Survival

As they were walking down the forest path, Cedric looked at his father while the latter was recounting his experience. He never thought the devourers were capable of instilling such fear, even in the hardiest of men, which to him, meant his father.

"As I was saying-"

"Hey Dad. If the devourers are as scary as you say they are. Why is it that we haven't yet been destroyed by them all?"

Sighing, Rodrick placed his palm upon his son's head. It felt so small, so fragile. He still wonders how he could ever send his son to such dangers, even allow him to serve in the military, after all that he's seen. He had lost too many friends, among others who depended on him.

The world seemed unfair at times, yet somehow everything always remained in balance. Rodrick still wondered, how in eight thousand years of constant fighting with the abyssal invaders, no progress was made on either side.

Sure, the devourers had gained sapience and a semblance of intellect at the lower ranks, but the higher rank creatures never struck down at lower ranked enemies, nor did they ever appear on any battlefront. High rank devourers seemed to be perfectly content staying on their hollowed-out, strange planets.

Which sounds like a contradiction in and of itself, for the devourers, beings who always had to consume life in order to sustain their existence, were starving themselves on purpose. Some speculate that as they gain improved sapience and intellect, they seem to be able to contain their intense desires. Yet to this day. It still remains just that, speculation.

There were sightings of seventh-rank or, as they are named on the federation ranking system: palladium-ranked beings on some of the hollowed out planets captured by the federation.

Rodrick could only hope that his son would find an easier time in the military than he had, although at the moment, it only appears as wishful thinking.

Rodrick continued: "So, as I was saying..."

As the iron-rank devourers ran inside the ruined village occupied by the three squads' prepared ambush, Captain "Two-faced" gave the signal to strike at the devourers' exposed weak points, their necks and armpits. The squads swiftly moved in to execute the plan.

Outnumbering the devourers two to one, some squad members found purchase, and succeeded in their planned attack.

Rodrick and Jacob had been inseparable since their early days in the military, bonding over their shared experiences and common goals. As they moved in to strike at the devourers' weak points, they moved seamlessly in perfectly rehearsed movements, their trust in each other forged through years of training and toiling side by side.

The devourer they were aiming for was already aware of their plan, having shared thoughts amongst other devourers through their hive-mind like brain, grabbed jacobs blade aiming for his shoulder, at the same time, evading Rodricks' blade slashing down at his exposed neck.

With jacob's blade stuck firmly inside the devourers' iron grip, Jacob let go of his sword previously held in his right hand, at the same time using his left hand to cast an ice blast aiming at the devourer's left eye, moving to grab his iron-rank short sword sheathed the left side of his belt.

Rodrick, already knowing what his teammate would do, as the army's teachings were ingrained in their minds time and time again, predicted this scenario. It happened way too often among lower-ranked soldiers and was one of the leading causes of their deaths.

Upon losing their weapons in the past, the freshly deployed recruits were quick to fluster, and lose their composure, unable to think of other alternatives, were crushed into paste by the devourers' superior strength.

The Federation's army aimed to rectify this mistake by equipping their low-rank recruits with skills that had almost instant cast time, such as ice blast, minor explosion, and water spray. These skills showed superior results in close quarters encounters, blinding the opponent for a few moments and allowing the soldier to either close in and attack or retreat.

As Rodrick was recovering from his failed strike, as he suspected, the devourer was blinded momentarily, Yet, Rodrick was quickly reminded of the fact that devourers always learned from their past mistakes, able to constantly evolve through shared knowledge gained in combat, in exchange for significantly impacted learning ability.

The devourer, its eyes still recovering from the shards of ice embedded in them, opens its maw and issues a loud roar, interrupting Jacob's thoughts. The devourer manages to recover on time and, letting go of the now dull blade in its grip, moves to grab Jacob by the arm while he is still in the air, frozen mid-swing, which was targeted towards the devourer's neck.

Rodrick, witnessing this. Quickly recovered from his stupor. Unwilling to let his friend come to harm, He activated his skills, 'Sharpen edge' followed by a 'Piercing blow'. He moved to impale the devourer in his chest, where the devourers' core is known to inhabit.

Roaring, Rodrick managed to pierce the beasts scaled chest, his skill however, fading right before he managed to deal lethal damage onto the imposing devourers' core. He heard a crack, looking over to the source of the sound, he saw the devourer's extended claws, chopping his squadmate from the shoulder down to the abdominal region, heading his way.

Letting go of his blade, Rodrick drops to the ground feeling a great headache coming his way for overusing his mana so quickly. Cursing his lack of maximum amount of mana being so low in his core, Rodrick strains to look up at his foe. The devourer, its long claws now sheathed back inside its fingers, reaches for the sword embedded in its chest. Pulling it out, gripping the blade, and breaking it.

Rodrick, barely holding on to his fading consciousness as a result of mana exhaustion, scans the area for Jacob.

There. Right beside the devourer's foot, lay his closest friend's body, in a pool of blood, missing the signs of life that were so evident right before they entered this mission.

Remembering their final interaction before getting dropped off the carrier onto this blasted planet.

"Hey Roddie, once we're back from this hellhole, ill introduce you to Sheira, I left her with my mom, no thanks my good for nothing wife, disappearing god knows where. You'll fall in love with her in a heartbeat."

"Jake, even if we do come back from this mission, I believe I have better things to do than stare at your three year old daughter. Did you see that chick in the medbay? Now. That. Is one of those things."

Rodrick, now manages to recall what his partner said back when they were hiding, waiting to ambush the devourers.

"Let's kill these fucks, and come home to our families. Archons be with me."

Roaring in defiance, Rodrick forces himself to stand up to the looming devourer, busy eating his friend. He raises his hand, overloading his mana circuits and casting 'Sharpen edge' on his hand contorted in a way that aligns the fingers and thumb in a straight line, forming a rigid, blade-like shape.

As the devourer turned towards the source of the commotion, it noticed that the second fly had not yet perished. The creature, which had appeared so fragile and wretched just moments ago, seemed beneath the devourer on the food chain. But as the devourer attempted to rise and punish the insect, its mind went blank in a single moment.

Rodrick, having pushed his own body to the limit, mana infused in his right arm and legs, proceeds to move in front the devourer, still mid-crouch. Rodrick shoves his infused hand right into the wound previously made by his now broken blade.

His entire arm, going cleanly through the wound of the gigantic beast, finding its target, the core, and smashing it to pieces.

Forcing his body to the extremes, he lifts the giant body. With a triumphant roar, Rodrick falls to the ground. His consciousness vanished, blood leaking from his facial apertures.