A monster Unleashed (1)

Koul began the attack with the usual smoke screen strategy. It was better to have your enemies think they were being surrounded. Surprise and attack. They threw some smoke bombs, smoking the entire area four.

The whole atmosphere had nothing but white gas blocking everyone's vision.

Koul turned around, wearing his mask to be disrupted further, "Didn't you hear what the leader said?" he told his teammates. "A plaguebeast is on the way. We have a deadline of fifteen minutes. Go!"

The others did as told by Taryn when explaining the plan.

They would break into each house and fire a signal if they found their target!

They proceeded to attack anyone who came in their path.

"And don't waste time. Anyone who gets in the way, kill them without hesitation." Koul said, "I don't want to hear excuses."

They were confident in their attack being successful but not in being fast enough. A monster waiting outside gave them a deadline.

A man came outside his quarters to check what was going on, but he was immediately shot dead by one of the wanderers. They were killing off people who came their way, except for the ones that were safer inside their home.

Despite their efforts, they were unable to break in with usual means. They didn't have access. They at least needed a badge of a captain to open one of the quarters. It was strongly made by titanium alloy which, even with their awakened physique, was hard to penetrate, much less break.

But nothing was impossible.

With their powers, they were sure to break in and get those hiding pests out.

When every civilian who was foolish enough to stay outside got killed, it was time to smoke out those inside.

Surely Crimson, with his explosive abilities, could destroy these walls like a cake, and Koul, with his swords, could cut through any metal on earth?

And when Koul was about to draw his sword once more, he heard a noise that made him stop. His ears perked up.

Thud! Thud!

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching his position. It was as if a sensation he had when an army was approaching.

That's impossible! Koul was sure he killed any soldier who came his way while invading. But the base is big, maybe some soldiers stayed back from the fight?

Regardless, Koul did not fear them. He wasn't afraid of the army when he busted his way through. Not when he has the power to decimate them by himself.

"Hmm!" he scoffed as he placed himself on the broken vault half-destroyed by Crimson's flames. The way he came in. "You guys continue without me." He said, unsheathing both of his swords from his back. "I'll take care of this."

The others did as asked.

In his team, they possessed classes [tank], [barbarian], [swordsman], and [ice magus] respectively. They had enough power to tear through metal if they combined their strength. Koul had nothing to worry about.

They would fire the signal when they found Zeff.

With that in mind, Koul took his stance and smiled. Just the thought of slaying the weak was a tingling sensation to him. He enjoyed destroying the underpowered and those arrogant enough to fight him. Not a problem since Koul enjoyed toying with his prey.

This time, however, his opponent was Bucky Sarge, the lieutenant of the base. His soldiers were not weak. Not like the rabbits he cut in Area Two.

They were here for revenge. To protect. And they would do anything to meet their quota.

All of them came in with a busting atmosphere with the heavy sound of their boots, clanking guns in their right hand, each one protected by the shield on the left.

The metal shields were in case they had to deal with awakened. Since one of them was reported to have fire conjuring abilities and others with swords and hammers. They needed something to resist those powers.

"Tch." Koul clicked his tongue, "Do they think they can stop me with those puny shields? I'll show them!"

Meanwhile, taking his position in the middle of the offensive force taking the front to attack, Bucky ordered his troop, with both his arms carrying heavier and bigger shields than his soldiers.

"Men, prepare to fire!"

The soldiers in the middle and the rear loaded their guns and prepared themselves for the offensive. "It's time!" Bucky said, "For what we are waiting for!"

The soldiers moved and executed his orders to perfection. Like mechanical order. Indeed, none of them forgot their vigorous training in camp. What they dedicated their life to.

Everyone's life depended on this.

And from then on, it would change them forever.

The men in arms pushed the barrels of their machine guns through the gaps of the shield and prepared their attack.

Koul prepared himself to intersect them with his own attack. The smokescreen gave him enough field to work on. He rushed forward with two swords.

"Fire!!"

Bucky saw this and ordered to fire. Everything moved like a flash in time. The soldiers fired and Koul dodged, coming closer to the front row of soldiers.

However, just when both of them were about to intersect, a fireball interrupted them from both sides. Exploding in the middle, causing Koul to take a step back, the bullets changing their direction and losing energy due to the sudden intervention.

"I didn't need your help. I could've taken care of this myself." He exclaimed.

"Shut up." Crimson said. Landing between him and the fire. "I don't have time for this… the army couldn't have attacked us at a worse time," he thought.

An all-out fight right now is a bad choice where God-knows-what will trigger those bombs at any moment.

"We need to get out of here."

***

As soon as Robert stepped out of the cave into the base, he could sense someone following him. It's not a sensor on his suit per se, more like the gut feeling he always trusted.

'He's following us,' he thought.

Robert's plan was working. Or at least it was appearing to be. Making contact with his superiors and finding the situation of the base had always been secondary to him. He had no family left alive. No one in this base felt like family to him, yet he stayed because of his grudge for the monsters who took everything from him.

Everything he ever loved.

Now there's a criminal inside the base. Taking away the only friends he made in this forsaken world. The ones he was finally feeling at home with, the camaraderie of brothers in arms. They're dead. How can he have no regret than having his enemy let go?

Would he be able to fight monsters if he can't take care of a human like him?

'No. No way I'm gonna let him get away this time.'

Zeff, meanwhile, was following the group of armed soldiers as far away as he could, so he would not draw attention.

He didn't care what led the remaining of Area Six to launch an expedition. But he figured it must be because they lost contact with their superiors. He needed to exploit this situation, which is all he cared about.

Kai was silent in his mind.

His mind was oddly quiet, which made it creepy.

He was not used to this. Usually, they were bickering all the time. Zeff complaining about Kai's method of dealing with things, which he only described as goody-two-shoes, and Kai about his brutal tactics.

'Why?'

Kai did not even so much as interfere in Zeff's thoughts. In fact, Kai was quiet even when Zeff took out the Annihilator and rained it down on the soldiers in his path. Although, at the time he had two other options to get out from the armory, he still chose the most brutal one.

That was just him naturally choosing the action with the most probability of success.

Yet, Kai didn't surface himself. Kai did not stop Zeff from killing others.

'Odd. Is he planning something? Or is he just relaxed because we got Zenith's eye?'

Either way, Zeff brushed off those thoughts in his mind. It was good that the human was staying quiet while he took care of things.

Then it happened.

The soldiers, clad in black suits he was following, stopped at the next corner of the tunnel. Sooner they took out their arms, coming together in a formation, like they suddenly sensed enemies in the vicinity. Their alert eyes through the metallic masks searching for him.

It wasn't a coincidence. They really were searching for him.

"Come out, you bastard! I know you're here." Robert called out the criminal while his men made way for him. "We will settle this right now for how the people you killed."

His determined eyes scanned through the dark tunnel with his vision on the mask showing him the nearby heat signature.

At that moment, it didn't take long for Zeff to realize that this man was talking about him. They were baiting him.

'Is he for real?' Zeff thought. 'I killed anyone I came across in Area Six. They should know how dangerous I am. Yet they allowed him to come attack me?'

It was either brave of him or utterly stupid.

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