War (6)

The Elu mage spread out its psychic shield over a wide area. The radius of the area was about 30 meters. All around the shield were the piles of useless and broken modern weapons. All different sorts of minions circled the outside of the psychic shield. The soldier who was in charge of observing let out a bitter chuckle.

"It's a basilisk. I never knew I would be seeing it again in my life."

A basilisk loomed in between the hoard of minions. These were minions categorized as monsters. They will not budge against simple attacks. The minions categorized as monsters cannot be taken down by regular infantry soldiers or by normal means. 

"Kuurrrk." 

The basilisk's face looked like a mix between an alligator and a rhinoceros, while its skin was as hard as a rock. Many large thorns were adorned down his spine. They didn't have petrification skills like in the fantasy books, however, their jaws could easily tear through steel. A simple flick of their tail will send all the inner organs spewing out. The basilisk was the emperor of land-walking monsters which made even trains look like plastic toys.

-Understood. We will send one psychoframe pilot to assist.

Black Crow communicated. The current squads would not be able to take down the basilisk. So, the squads called for a psychoframe. Currently, there were 5 psychoframe pilots flying upon the Black Crow. Out of the 7, one was deployed to help a squad so that they could retreat, and another was called by the Allied Forces.

"Easy Squad will support Fox Squad. Fox Squad will be the ones to take down the Elu mage. Our role is to take down the foes who obstruct Fox Squad." 

Han commanded his squad members. He tightly secured the end of his battle helmet. Anxiety flowed amongst all the soldiers.

-3, 2, 1, 0.

Something fell from the sky. An assault pod with a psychoframe that dropped from the Black Crow. The assault pod broke in mid air. A psychoframe which let off a blue light appeared from within.

Booom!

The psychoframe pilot landed with a slightly bent knee. The ground cracked in two from the impact which caused the minions in the area to trip and falter on top of one another. The reinforcement troop's size didn't lose against the 2 meter tall werewolves. The psychoframe's exoskeleton is made of dragon material and the high degree of durability and flexibility could not be explained through science. They were the black box weapon of choice for psychic soldiers to fight against the odds.

The reinforcement psyker swung their arms amongst the hoard of minions. They wielded a giant sword about the size of a person, so only the slightest effort was needed to chop the minions into two. They could easily jump up ten meters in the air with a short leap.

-Go, Fox Team! 

As soon as the reinforcement psyker took on the basilisk, the remaining squads moved out. Shouts of all languages could be heard from every direction.

"Tail after Fox." Han commanded.

Easy Squad followed running behind Fox Squad. Easy Squad took care of the grunts who came attacking.

Fox Squad roughly ran through the battle ground. Fox Squad's specialty was reinforcing their muscles with psychic power, they buffed themselves to run inhumanly fast. They ran 100 meters within 4 seconds, and pushed the minions away with their shoulders. They used their dragon bone weapons to shred the psychic shield and infiltrate inside. 

-Support Fox-3 

The minions increased in the surrounding area to stop Fox Squad. The nimble Elu hunters began to shoot their arrows. Fox Squad dodged and reduced their running speed.

Han scanned the area making sure to not miss the smallest detail.

"Silence, on top of the hatch."

Han pushed Silence's back. Pa-aah!Silence used his blink to arrive at the Elu hunter's location. He wielded his twin blades like he was dancing. The Elu hunter's head tumbled down and rolled on the ground.

"End it, Fox."

Fox Squad was free of the Elu hunter's attacks and was just ahead of the Elu mage's location. The Elu mage glared and flared his psychic energy. Fox Squad tumbled backwards from the sudden impact, but they held their ground and stood up again.

A squad member of fox team took position and aimed. He used the chance when the Elu mage didn't use a psychic shield to shoot his gun.

Bang!

The Elu mage's head shook. The bullet just barely scratched his head. A portion of its hair and scalp where the bullet grazed was dug out. The Elu mage pressed on its head injury. Blood seeped and dripped out from the wound.

"KAK!"

The Elu mage cast a psychic shield around its body. Fox Squad took out their dragon bone weapons. They simultaneously attacked the Elu mage. Elu mages fared the worst in close combat. 

"Decapitate it!"

A faint light of psychic energy flowed from the Elu mage's eyes. Fox Squad stomped on the mage's body and swung their weapons a second time to completely put it out of its misery. 

Paah!

Upon the Elu mage's death, the psychic energy surrounding the altar dissipated. The blinding light from the dimensional crack also dimmed a great deal.

"OOOOOUUU!"

The Elus looked to be in shock. The minions fell into chaos upon the death of the commanding Elu, and the foe's movements were disorderly and messy. 

'Is it the end?'

Han swung the blood on his spear off and looked across the area. The landscape suddenly sunk and tilted to one side.

BOOM—!

The dimensional crack which sunk suddenly jolted. There was a single shake. A hand appeared from the opening of the dimensional crack. The altar set up by the Elu mage was weighed down and crushed. A black reptilian like skinned foot appeared. 

GGUUUUOOO–!!

A strong current of psychic energy flew in the air. Nobody could properly keep their eyes open.

"No."

Somebody said. They only saw a sharp claw from a foot. A foot which belonged to a black-colored reptile. That was enough to understand. Everyone in this place immediately knew what it was.

"WAJARU! DRAGU!"

The grunts shouted and kowtowed their heads onto the ground. They turned their backs to the soldiers of ark. They bowed to the dimensional crack, perfectly fine that they could be shot dead by the soldiers at any time. They looked almost pious. They appeared like they didn't mind death if it was for the sake of their master…..

"Kaarururu…."

A low growl flowed from the dimensional crack. None of the soldiers of Ark could move a muscle. Their hands and legs were stiff in fear. A portion of them lost all strength and fell to the floor. Even Silence couldn't endure and lost the grip on his swords and fell on his butt.

Dragon Fear, the dragon's breath and odor carries psychic energies. Every aspect of dragons overflowed with psychic energy! Just its presence was enough to freeze humans in fear. Humans will be unable to move at all, as if they were facing off against a natural enemy. Faint hearted humans might even die just being in the presence of dragons.

"Kaa—oooooo–uuuu—!"

The dragon stuck its neck out of the dimensional crack and roared. It managed to take a single step out and poke out its head.

"Wh, what is that?"

One of the third years mumbled. They managed to just barely utter out.

The thing which appeared from the dimensional crack was a black dragon. However, it appeared to look different than everything they learned.

The dragons which appeared all this time were forty to fifty meters tall and weighed more than 150 tons.

'Its head alone is over 10 meters.'

The black dragon in a single glance could be easily measured to be twice the size of a normal dragon. It used its yellow eyes to scan its surroundings. It looked to be looking for food and stared across to the humans.

"Drago! Drago!"

The minions worshipped the dragon. They believed it would save them all. The black dragon opened its jaws and chomped down on all the minions it could reach.

Crunch! Crunch!

It was a shocking scene. The dragon chowed down on the minions. Blood dripped from between its teeth. The dragon laughed as if satisfied. The dragon sent a bloody glare to the humans. Its yellow eyes suddenly turned red. Madness and psychic energy spilled out from the dragon. Even when the comrades of the minions died, they all continued to worship the dragon.

Tremble, tremble.

Han's legs shook. The sheer terror which attacked the mind wasn't something which could be easily shaken off with normal means. This was a physiological phenomenon. They were just a push away from sanity. The psykers could feel the dragons sinister energies. No, even normal humans would be able to clearly feel the dark energies.

'It despises us.'

They were the worst enemy of humans. They wish to push the existence of humans to extinction. No epidemic, disease or wars, had killed off more humans than what the dragons have done all this time.

Dragons held pure malice and hostility against humans. There was no reason behind their malice against humans. They just simply hated and detested humans. 

'A creature of pure evil against humanity.'

Han didn't need any further explanation why dragons and humans could not coexist. Coexistence was impossible. There would be no form of peace as long as the other existed. There was no need for cause of belief. They simply fought against one another to continue existing in this world. 

Han just barely managed to get a hold of himself. Even the first generation psykers who had fought against dragons before could only manage to utter simple words. Normal soldiers couldn't fight off the dragon fear which completely immobilized them.

'Its stuck. It forced the gate open and squeezed itself through the small opening.'

The black dragon couldn't squeeze itself out of the dimensional crack. It was trying to forcefully push itself out. Han stared into the black dragon's eyes. He felt like he would go crazy from a simple glance. His mind felt empty.

'Endure it, such a thing like fear.'

Only Han looked square in the eyes against the dragon. The dragon was looking at the sky. It looked to the psychoframes flying it the sky as if already very familiar with them… The Black Crow flew in the stratosphere where it could avoid the psychic waves.

The soldiers were frozen in fear waiting for backup reinforcements of the psychoframe pilots. The psychoframe on the ground had already depleted their psychic energy and stood in place exhausted.

'I can't just stupidly sit here and wait.'

Why isn't the black dragon immediately attacking the soldiers? Does it enjoy watching humans feel fear…? Han felt doubtful that would be the case. He felt a bad premonition. There was a minute left before the assault pod would drop down to the ground.

JUUK!

The black dragon opened its mouth while looking at the sky. It seemed like the psychic energy in the air was gathering inside its maws.

"I need to go."

Han took a single step forward. The second generation psykers adjusted to the dragon fear much faster than the first generation psykers. Amongst the second years, Han was the fastest. Even Silence who was dubbed to be the strongest was on the ground, frozen.

Han thought carefully. He could never just wait for others to help him. After the orphanage fell to ruin, he led the children out. He didn't try to rationalize that eventually, someone would save the children of the orphanage. If someone must do it….

'If I don't do something, everyone will die.'

Tah.

Han's eyes grew wide. The Elu hunter's body in the mound of corpses moved. The bloody Elu hunter slowly drew its arrow. The psychic arrow was so faint that it looked like it would disappear at any moment.

'Can I avoid it?'

His body felt heavy. He couldn't feel his legs. He could just barely manage to run forward. The Elu hunter's psychic arrow looked gigantic.

'Just avoid a headshot and block it with my body, then continue forward.'

Han thought it would be impossible to avoid the arrow.

PAH!

The psychic arrow flew. Han grit his teeth shut. He crossed his arms into an X and covered his face.

Puk!

He heard the psychic arrow hit something. Han didn't feel any pain.

'A grunt?'

A grunt corpse far away blocked the psychic arrow.

"RUN!"

Simon shouted from behind Han's back. Simon overcame dragon fear and used telekinesis. He moved the grunt's corpse to protect Han. He spread the palm of his hand, and controlled the grunt corpse as if he was moving a puppet.

'That bastard is moving, there's no reason I can't.'

Simon was the one to teach how to manifest psychic energy to Han. He looked down on Han back then. He thought the poor asian fool would quickly drop out. He had taught Han for just a few snacks.

'The brat who used to be like that is moving faster than everyone.'

It was as if Simon's pride was stomped upon and he felt stupid, he couldn't allow this to continue. Simon snapped back to his senses due to the problem of his own pride.

Weeeng-!

The psychic energy started taking form inside the dragon's maw. Blue energy lights swirled and glowed.

"Ah, AAAAAH-!!"

Han shouted and grasped his spear. His hands trembled. The closer he drew in, the more his body stiffened. 

'I will…'

Han grasped his spear higher up. He stomped on the ground and ran. The dragon's head was just inches away.

'…will kill you."

All the senses of his body were numb, as he could only feel the sensation which gripped his hand. He pierced through the mushy shell of the eyes and stabbed harder.

Puuk!

The spear stuck into the dragon's eyes. The dragon roared as it wildly shook its head. Han's eardrums exploded and blood burst out from his ears.

Pe-eew!

The psychic energy spewed out from the dragon's jaws. The psychic beam of light shot high up into the sky and dissipated to nothing. The energy shot far past out into the stratosphere. It exploded out in the air and caused a storm-like wave to spread all around.

KWAANG!

Han got caught up in a gust of wind and went tumbling. He fell down onto a boulder and he could hear the sound of his bones breaking. At the same time, blood spewed from his mouth.

The psychic beam shot out for more than three seconds. It destroyed everything it touched. The black dragon was stronger than any dragon that had appeared in the history of Earth. Its size and strength was on another level.

"The Black Crow…!"

The Black Crow was shot down. The remnant wreckage shined in the sky. How far had the assault pod flown? Were the backup reinforcements caught up in the explosion? If the psychoframe reinforcements were caught in the explosion, their situation was hopeless.

Kgrr."

The Black Dragon used its claws to scratch out its ruined eyes. It glared at Han with its only eye. The dragon put Han into its mind as a special human. He was the enemy that left a deep scar on its body.

'I shall tear you to pieces with all the hatred in my bones-! The Black Dragon pointed its claw. The sharp claw was just moments away from tearing Han's body to pieces.

Piiing-!

A tiny dot shot down from the sky at a high speed. It wasn't an assault pod, but a psychoframe. The psychoframe's shell was glowing red from overheat. It was caught up in the explosion, but somehow managed to escape.

'I was the only one to survive.'

The reinforcement mumbled and looked down. He will soon hit the ground. He used his unique skill. No matter how strong the psychoframe, without an assault pod's assistance, the pilot would die due to the impact.

'However, if it's me….'

The reinforcement psyker used his unique skill. He spread psychic energy to buff his entire body to the max.

BBOOOM!

The psychoframe reinforcement landed on the ground. The ground sunk from the impact. A portion of the outer shell fell off, leaving only the skeleton of the psychoframe.

'My toes are broken. My ankles are also broken, and the bone at my buttocks cracked.'

However, he needed to keep moving. The reinforcements of Black crow were administered battle stimulant. The drug worked to dull the pain. He looked at the Black Dragon. It was much bigger than the dragons which appeared 10 years ago.

'It doesn't have an eye. Who did it?'

The reinforcement saw Han fainted just near the dragon's location.

'Could it be Chan?'

There was only one person who called Han, Chan. Johnny Schwartz. Three reinforcements oxidized into nothing along with Black Crow. The only survivor was Schwartz who gave up the assault pod.

"MOVE YOUR FEET!" 

Schwartz ran to the dragon. All the battle gear broke off when he reinforced his own body earlier. He only had his bare hands now. He gave up his chance to live and burned even his life as he poured all the psychic energy to his fist. 

KWAJIK!

Schwartz uppercut the dragon's lower jaw. It was a tiny fist compared to the dragon, but the strength was enough to shake the dragon. The fist reinforced with psychic energy was effective against the dragon.

Schwartz was an annoying existence to the Black dragon. It wished to attack the fainted Han rather than bother with this person. Han didn't die because Schwartz had interrupted it.

"Gkrr."

The Black Dragon glared at Schwartz. Schwartz flinched from dragon fear, but quickly moved again. He was able to quickly fend off the dragon fear with his psychoframe and battle stimulant. 

Badudududk

The dimensional gate did not fully open. It was too small for the dragon to move through. The crack began to narrow and choke the dragon. It had forced itself through the dimensional crack and used most of its strength trying to force the gate open wider to move through, so its strength was not at its original level. The Black dragon decided it was time to return. However, it wished to kill Han who injured its eye before it left.

'It's aiming for Chan.'

The Black Dragon's body sunk deeper into the dimensional crack. Schwartz ran to Han's direction. Han managed to barely open his eyes and look at Schwartz.

"It will hurt but endure it!"

Schwartz grabbed the back of Han's neck and threw him. Han's senses snapped awake from the other's voice.

"Schwartz?"

There was no answer. Han dropped down to an area far away from the dragon. The broken bones in his body stabbed him in every way possible.

"KUUOOO!"

The dragon roared. Han was out of reach. Schwartz had ruffled the dragon the wrong way for awhile now. The accumulated punches started to twang with pain.

[Instead of him, it will be you.]

Schwartz's eyes widened in shock. A voice filled his mind as if a claw scratched down a steel plate. This was the dragon's voice.

'This dragon is different from the other dragons!'

Schwartz attempted to retreat. He realized the Black Dragon was sinking back into the dimensional crack. 

KWAK!

The dragon grasped onto Schwartz with its claw as it sunk in deeper. Schwartz had already depleted his psychic energy. He could only manage to move his psychoframe at this point. He didn't have the strength to fend off the dragon.

GUUOOO!

The dragon and Schwartz sank into the dimensional crack together. The dimensional crack closed shut.

[Next will be you.]

Han heard the voice clearly. The dragon's voice pierced through his mind. Han's neck felt constrained and couldn't speak. The dimensional crack was shut, but the dragon fear still hung in the air.

Schwartz had disappeared together with the dragon. Nobody knows where they went. Han moved the end of his finger. He looked across with chilling eyes. Schwartz had been dragged in to be killed in Han's place. Han knew.

Han gritted his teeth. Blood surged from his mouth. His body belatedly started to hurt. If he didn't have an artificially strengthened body, he would have died more than ten times by now.  Rather than groaning in pain, he slowly uttered several words.

"Yes … let us meet again. I will be sure to end your life."

The eighth dragon which appeared in the Tirana dimensional crack was bigger and stronger than any of its predecessors. Ark attached the code name, Bahamut, to the dragon.

Johnny Schwartz was dubbed missing instead of dead.