Snaping his head to the voice that came to his right, Mike blinked several times as he recognized the person next to him. It was the same man that led the opposing group of soldiers, why he and him were here alone, puzzled him.
Looking down at the ground Mike's face contorted in confusion as he ran his hand against the tall strands of wheat that he was now standing in. Gone were the desolate streets of the town he had been in just a blink ago, now he stood in a seemingly endless set of fields covered in green-brown grass and golden wheat that had yet to be harvested.
"I've visited the others except the woman, but you out of all of them interest me the most." The man calmly said as he swallowed the invisible hesitation that settled his mind. "You have a past, one that I did not think of, that alone truly has my attention."
Not knowing what to say, Mike stayed quiet.
"Ah, forgive me for being vague…" The man said. "I tend to bore people with my random bursts of speech. I just wanted to speak to you before we began."
The sergeant tensed as the man materialized the same rifle, he had equipped not moments ago in the abandoned city. "I would like to ask how you fell deeply for this world, more specifically the enchanting light we Nullification magicians give off. Each spell we cast could be classified as its own melody, yet humanity has deemed such an art so disastrous that even the art of darkness was seen to be humane."
The man withdrew a small stripper clip. He loaded the seven rounds contained within the metal strip into the internal magazine of his polished white rifle. Pushing the bolt forward the weapon let out a satisfying click as the first bullet was loaded into the chamber.
"Ah! I'm rambling again." The man chuckled. "I'm sure you are confused so let me paint the scene; using a single bullet from our primary weapons, we will do an old fashion duel. Twenty paces, fire from the hip. I am only doing this due to your inability to fight properly, and must I say, I am surely surprised that you have stayed in a movable condition even with your broken ribs and God knows what else is wrong with your body."
The man eyed the carbine strapped across Mike's bare chest. "Must I say, that, is a true tool." He slyly commented as he turned away from him shifting the wheat strands.
An unnerving calm wave swept across the sergeant as he too turned his back from the man. Once his feet were in place, the man began to count as they both walked twenty paces from each other, each step staying in line with their respective heartbeats.
Silence was maintained the entire time one both had stopped moving. Mike had just now started to wonder why he had gone with this… He could've ended the threat right there. He should've followed his instincts, yet here he was waiting for the command to turn around and fire a bullet to possibly nowhere.
"Turn!" The man shouted.
Snapping his weapon to his shoulder and slamming his finger on the trigger, it only took a second for the Ranger to align the red-dot-sight on the man's chest. He felt the recoil of the bullet, yet he saw no sign of the bullet exiting the barrel.
In fact, he wasn't even looking at the man, he was looking at Lecca.
"Now!"
A gust of wind blew away loose strands of wheat as Lecca bolted forward using her magic to increase her speed. In a matter of seconds, she closed a fifteen-meter gap as she slashed down with a materialized short-sword at the man Mike had just shot at not a second earlier. Their blades let out a resounding screech as the force the two pieces of metal clashed at caused sparks to jump from the point of contact.
Steadying her posture, Lecca pressed the attack as she slid her blade against her opponent's. Covering his ears due to the harsh screeching of metal being rubbed against each other at high speeds, Mike watched as the two fighters were caught in a deadlock. Taking advantage of their locked eyes, the man used his leg and kicked the princess directly in her abdomen making her hunch over as she stumbled back, the man rushed forward with the point of his blade aimed at her heart.
"Lecca!" Mike cried as he broke into a sprint.
Snapping her eyes wide open, Lecca's body let out a gust of wind. Her now blue-glowing sword scraped against the man's blade as she parried his attack. Mike was thrown to the ground and blood came out of his mouth. The impact of the pulse had hit him directly in the chest where his broken ribs laid waiting to be healed.
"Stay back!" The princess called out as the sergeant stumbled to his feet in a hunched over position.
Focusing on her target, she rushed forward with a sudden burst of speed overtaking her entire body. She closed the gap slashed at a flat angle allowing the tip of her blade to collide directly into the man's own blade now that he had recovered. The recoil of such an attack shook both fighters, so they each took a step back and lunged at each other.
The blue and red blades collided. Mana poured from each strip of metal creating chain reactions that almost produced the same light as a flashbang, yet neither backed down. Lecca pressed the attack as she slashed away at the man, he on the other hand stayed defensive looking for a proper opening with every move he parried. Each clash of metal produced a bright light blinding the sergeant at certain intervals.
Finding his opening the man parried the princess's attack leaving her chest wide open. He cut horizontally, yet he was to late as the princess fell to the ground purposely now only loosing a small amount her silver hair. Sliding her boots along the ground, Lecca swept the legs of her attack making him loose balance, she pressed one final time as she cut downwards at an angle, yet this to was deflected, and now both fighters stood open, ready to be killed.
Pacing her left foot on the ground, the silver-haired woman sprung forward as she drew her blade directly to right side of the man's chest.
Her eyes widened as she fell onto her knees. She collapsed onto the ground, the momentum she built up making her eat dirt. Raising herself onto her knees, a pool of red liquid had gathered below her, a large pain came from her right shoulder as Sergeant Randall rushed to her side looking every-which-way to see if any of his teammates were nearby.
"Rupture!"
Before he could render aid, the two on the ground looked towards the attacker. He had long sunk his blade directly into the ground, nearly half of it had disappeared with the area around him being devoid of all life. A swell of energy suddenly erupted deep underground, the ground shook violently and within five seconds of launching the shockwave, a loud explosion erupted right where he was standing.
The two watches in awe as this continued and snapping into action, Lecca withdrew the handgun that she had inherited from PFC Green. She aimed the blocky sights at the now revealed-disheveled man who was creating a large crater by the second, using himself as the origin point for all the energy being released, a large red magical circle with interconnected spells within held the circumference of twenty feet.
Between the violent quaking of the ground and her bleeding right arm, the blocky white sights swayed left and right as she fought with all her might to calm herself and stabilize her aim. Lecca felt her magical ability seemingly disappear as the field the man was creating was flooding with pure Psion waves cancelling any and all spells she could ever wish to cast.
It was suffocating.
"We'll have to fire it together!"
Suddenly feeling her hands being cusped by Mike's, Lecca narrowed her eyes as the blocky sights slowly moved over her opponent's chest. Her finger snaked around the trigger, her breath slowed, and she exhaled. The trigger began to decompress, her hands becoming warm from Mike's own hands.
In the blink of an eye the .45 caliber projectile flew out of the barrel with a flood of gas following it out of the muzzle. The slide locked back and rechambered another round. The bullet fired spiraled towards its target carving its own path through the differing pressure changes at supersonic speeds. The resounding roar of the gun had finally reached her ears by the time the bullet had crossed into the magical circle, moments later the man dropped to the floor clutching his wound.
With he sudden stop of the spell a bright flashing light emerged from where the man fallen. First the cloud of dust rushed their positions, then the sudden heat from the shockwave pressed forward. The pistol in Lecca's hand suddenly fell and her hands remained rasped in Mike's as they both closed their eyes welcoming the darkness.
--
Opening his eyes, Mike took a deep breath. A cold sweat ran down the side of his face, everything he just went through almost felt like one of the many nightmares he had in his past. He was dazed, such a nightmare drained him of all emotion, of all feeling. The blast should've been more than enough to kill him and Lecca, yet here he was, laying in a field of wheat, each strand he wasn't covering stretched high into the azure sky.
A repeated tapping noise brough him from his thoughts. His vision slowly faded in and out, as the sun breamed its golden rays unto the ground, covering the world in a golden light. The tapping wasn't following any tempo nor was it an irregular rhythm, it faded in and out as he tried to figure out where the hell he was.
Placing his ungloved hand on the ground, Mike turned on to his left side as he pushed himself off the ground. His fatigued breaths from the sudden "firefight" he had just been through had taken its toll.
Firefight…
Snapping into action, Mike stood up and nearly stumbled over as he looked around him frantically. The sun shimmered on the endless golden-green fields, the wind was calm, and in the distance a large deep blue lake shimmered under the Godly rays.
"Get suppressive fire on those vics!"
"Who the fuck are these guys?!"
The repeating cracks of nearby rifles was muffled and correctly adjusted through the ear pros that Mike had on. The smell of iron and death suddenly reached his nostrils making it hard to breathe. Tapping his chest, the sergeant felt his rifle strapped across his bare chest, the memory that his plate carrier had been effectively ruined for any use made him cringe. The gunfire intensified, so he lowered his head as he moved to the two voices, he heard not a second ago.
Before he could call to the men, that he suspected to be his allies, several loud explosions came from above making him look up. Large clouds of grey gas descended onto the battlefield; Mike's eyes grew wide as he realized what was about to happen. He reached for the gasmask on his back, yet it wasn't there making him panic.
He had placed it into his pack a day earlier.
As the gas set upon him his eyes, and skin began to burn, while his mouth watered, and his nostrils spewed snot. He began to choke, and his chest heaved in pain as he collapsed onto the ground, the racket of gunfire began to dwindle as those around him were in a similar state, yet he could never see their faces.
Looking up with teared filled eyes, Mike watched as a masked men from the sky descended upon him.
He closed his eyes as his consciousness faded away.
--
Publicly Available Information: Humanity's Origins:
Though since the start of recorded history, there have been no dates or locations that allow historians and scholars to trace back where humanity originated in this magical world. Many suspect that ancient humans fled to these lands to escape the wrath of the demon lord, but gathered evidence suggest that humanity may have nomadic tribes that once scoured the great mountains far to the east of the Demon Lord's held territory.
Over two hundred nations have gathered to work towards the ultimate goal of discovering our origins. Expeditions to discover such a truth have been unsuccessful, yet there is a growing hope that we will one day truly understand our ancestors and the world they lived in.
Until then, humanity will live in the unknown, wondering, waiting for our ancestors' successors to reveal themselves.
--
END OF VOLUME.