Ten hours ago, before the sudden appearance of monsters,
At the military camp of Arin:
"How's the revised training program working for the new cadets?" A hoarse familiar voice came from behind Sergeant William, who had the responsibilities of camp's needs.
Sergeant William noticed a man nearly two meters long, with a large build in his mid-thirties. Short brown hair, a broad nose, a wide mouth, and narrow eyes fit perfectly with the thick mustache on his squared face.
Watching this elegant and muscular figure, sergeant William blurted, "Ah! Captain Sam."
"They still need time to adjust to life in the camp, but every cadet has potential," Sergeant William replied to the man before him.
"Well, we selected them for the new unit, especially since they would go to war; they should at least have some potential," Captain Sam snorted while frisking his mustache.
"How about checking yourself once?" As Sergeant William suggested, after a moment's reverie, Captain Sam stared at him and replied, "Hmm, today I have some free time in my schedule."
"But sir, why are you focusing on teaching them hand-to-hand combat and fighting with basic weaponry? Shouldn't we train them with only the latest arms that our country prepared for us?" Sergeant William inquired about his intentions.
"Arms can be equipped at any time and help a lot. I agree with this thinking, but we should always stay prepared for any scenario.
Do you remember my training days when I had to fight a bear that unfortunately entered our training mountain?
I survived that fight because of my hand-to-hand and knife combat skills," Captain Sam replied, with a frown on his brow, as he reflected on the past.
Sergeant William chuckles, reminiscing the event, "Sir, you not only survived but also killed that 7 ft. Bear with only your knife.
And everyone believes you are the most skilled at bare-handed, hand-to-hand combat techniques; and no one can defeat you, and I don't think anyone will be able to soon. "
Captain Sam sighed and then answered, "It's not like I was never defeated. You just don't know how talented people are in this world, and many are eager to start a war to enjoy the destruction that this peaceful world has forgotten. "
He sighed again, "Therefore, every country is strengthening its forces to fight those who want to return to the era of war."
William had a cold sweat running down his spine, and his eyes were wide open.
Are there other monsters like you hidden in the world?|
After swallowing down his fear, he moves toward their destination.
--
Their arrival at the training grounds for new cadets was accompanied by views of drills and training. Suddenly, a murmur starts rising in the field, and each cadet whispers to another.
"Hey, who do you think he is?"
"Yes, I know! He is Captain Sam."
"He resolved many war situations by just attending negotiation tables."
"I have heard that diplomats even piss themselves when they stand before him."
"Look at his build. He even crushed a 9-foot bear. "
"Eh! I heard the bear was 11 ft. "
"The hell! We can't say who is a beast anymore among them."
The surrounding area was suddenly hushed when a harsh voice echoed in the air; "Attention!" The atmosphere made everyone's breathing sounds audible, trembling their bodies and vibrating to their cores.
In response to Captain Sam's loud command, the cadets stomped their feet, shaking the ground.
Sergeant William, who has some experience working with the captain, was also shaken watching this scene.
Captain Sam grinned, satisfied with their valor, and said, "You all are the future of this nation's military."
As he encouraged the cadets, he advised them to "be ready for any situation and become soldiers of the highest caliber in this world."
"Yes, sir!" the cadets shouted in response. Contented, Captain Sam commands the cadets to be at ease after watching their determined response.
It filled each cadet with vigor and strength after meeting their nation's hero and the commander of this base.
--
After meeting the cadets, the captain moved to check the defense and armory of the base.
"Sir, why do you check everything daily? It will be the same as yesterday." Sergeant William asked due to his inability to discern the captain's thinking.
Captain Sam replied with frowning eyebrows and smirked, "Sergeant, This type of thinking is dangerous for a soldier. It will get you killed someday.
We don't know when our enemies are planning to strike, and they always strike when we show them our weakness. We need to be prepared and make sure to be ready for defense and attack at all times."
"Yes, sir!" Sgt. William shouts while reflecting on himself.
"Now, let's check the guard unit," Captain Sam grinned, turning around and walking towards the guard areas.
Both took rounds around the base and checked if each guard was in their assigned position and working properly.
Just as they reached the entrance guard cabin to check the guards, a huge explosion erupted with a bang inside the base.
Aghast and dismayed, their eyes bulged, and a shiver passed down their spine from the loud noise that had just echoed in their ears.
Suddenly, the noise in the base starts rising from multiple corners. Many thoughts crossed Captain Sam's mind within microseconds.
Captain Sam, who confirms the base defense, missed the bomb! How?|
What just happened and how?|
He could not comprehend how this was possible. Both of them ran towards the base headquarters, and suddenly, Sgt. William yells aloud, pointing towards the entrance, "Sir, w-what is that?"
His voice trembled as he raised his finger toward the entrance. Captain Sam turned his back as his brow began to wet with cold sweat.
Both baffled and confused, they could not speculate on the view before them while their minds were a mess.
They could notice a transparent wall that was bright enough to tell it apart from the surroundings. They stepped closer to the wall and sensed its resistance when they touched it, implying its motive was to block their escape.
Captain Sam sweated buckets, confused since he had never heard from their intelligence agency about some countries having developed technology to this extent.
Is this an invasion by another nation? Shit! They hit us hard this time!|
--
They ran inside the base to observe what was happening and what caused the explosion. There was no one in sight as far as eyes could reach.
Both entered an alley that connects cadet quarters to the training field, the shortest route to the armory.
After a few steps, their bodies trembled with the menacing scene of blood and gore before them.
Although Sergeant William was a veteran of many wars, even he could not watch the scene and puked while shivering. Similarly, Captain Sam, referred to as a war hero, was terrified.
Various human body parts lie scattered before them, and a small stream of blood flows to Captain Sam's feet as if welcoming him to hell.
Observing the corpses, he noticed their heads were missing as if someone had taken them as a sign of victory. Even the stench of blood brought back memories of the war.
As both moved ahead, they witnessed the same scene carved with even more brutality. Noticing the nearest alley corner, they turned around, and a green, frightening humanoid beast about 3 ft. tall was waiting for them.
Taken aback, they gulped down the saliva as fear took over their bodies.
Standing with a mace, the monster was wearing the heads of humans as a necklace around its neck. Its unsightly face, with a wide open mouth and protruding nostrils, was ominous at first glance.
The Captain and Sergeant were both trembling at the sight of this otherworldly monster. They could not believe what was happening to them anymore.
Suddenly, Captain Sam heard a piercing voice, and William let out a screech.
He glanced towards the sergeant, noticed blood gushing from William's mouth, and a halberd pierced his gut from behind.
Horrified, Captain Sam looked behind, and there were other similar monsters with a halberd in their grip, wearing a necklace of human heads.
It lifted the sergeant's body in the air with his halberd and split his body in half in those few seconds, scattering his innards all over.
The trembling captain was stuck between two giant monsters with no weapon in his hands to even defend against them.
Since Captain Sam was a war veteran, he composed himself within moments and understood his situation immediately while finding an opening in this mess.
With his renowned agility, he swiftly crossed between their legs and sprinted his way out of their grasp. He began drifting towards the armory to find some weapons that could deal with these monsters.
With bloodshot eyes, Captain Sam became red with overwhelming rage. The only thing he could remember was Sergeant William when his body was torn asunder.
A great deal of rage flowed through his nerves and into his head.
He panted, covering the distance between the armory and his home, but the closer he got, the more he could hear firing.
From a corner, he saw soldiers with or without weapons defending themselves against the same giant monsters.
They were driven by their fear and instinct to survive, engaging with the monsters with zero coordination, resulting in the slaughter of soldiers at a rate that no one could imagine.
Blood and flesh were in the air as if it was a monster's convivial festival. Monsters laughed mockingly, and some were even feasting on human corpses.
Sam contemplates what he could do to change the situation, for the first time in his life, he feared, that if he interfered with no plan, he will die gruesomely.
While the captain was thinking through the situation, all of a sudden, a clamor of heavy gunfire advanced towards them from afar.
He looked around, astounded, and the view restored hope that he had almost lost. The new cadets were firing on the monsters as the captain trained them.
With impeccable coordination for a new unit, they roared at the monsters and rushed to rescue their comrades.
Captain Sam could notice them suppressing their extreme fear beneath those roars of valor. He felt ashamed and lost while the new cadets were putting their lives on the line for each other.
"So the hero was only worth this much?" the captain mumbled to himself. He sighed and took a deep breath, composing himself. His eyes shone with determination.
He made a war cry, stunning every living creature present at that scene. Their attention shifted to the fierce figure of the captain, standing a bit away, and rage filled in his eyes.
Tears rolled down their cheeks with a bright smile as the cadets noticed their hero had come to their timely rescue.
He's here! Now we'll show these bastards who the real beast is here!|
With only the captain's presence, every soldier in attendance brimmed with the tenacity, courage, and grit usually displayed by soldiers under the world's greatest commanders.
"CHARGE!"
Captain Sam looked into the eyes of his soldiers and cried. His cry was loud enough to be heard by anyone around the base.
His eyes were speaking, yelling for soldiers to show their mettle and prove who the true beast was in this military base.
Now the scenario shifts, their situation reverts, and the soldiers counter.
Each of the soldiers present there was now a veteran. The courage, morale, and poise of a soldier who risks his life for the country seeped into their hearts, transforming them into veterans on the spot.
The feeling of fighting with comrades and being under a competent commander was breathtaking for them.
The expression of despair on their faces changed to hope and tenacity; they were proudly mocking monsters, and their hearts were ablaze with flames, challenging to extinguish even in the face of overwhelming strength.
The fire that Captain Sam ignited in the hearts of the soldiers on the military base transformed them into monsters who could even rival Heaven's legendary army, as referred to in the holy scriptures.
They charged into monsters, considering anything a weapon in their grasp. Those with no weapons turned their hands, nails, teeth, and even bones into weapons.
Those who lost their limbs stood and used the remaining body parts of their bodies to capture monsters in their clutches. They were ready to die for providing others with even a bit of possibility of being able to massacre a single beast.
Now it was difficult to narrate who attacked whose base.
Captain Sam, within this mob, took his knife, slashing many monsters in his way. His movements were so fast, giving the monsters no chance to even react, severing their necks without them noticing.
They cleared every monster but could sense some more around the base through rumblings in large numbers.
For now, they were delighted to live, but no one advertised their excitement since their death count was higher than the monsters.
At Crestfallen, Captain Sam commands, "Let's find barracks to defend ourselves from their next attack."
Burdened with grief and agony, the soldiers shook their heads in affirmation.
They took everything that could be useful on their way toward the barracks. While moving, they saw their comrades piled up in the blood, and each cadet swore to himself that today, "They will paint this area with these monsters' blood."
According to instructions from the captain, they moved to the barracks and took positions to defend.
Nobody even asked how monsters exist in this world. Where did they come from? Their minds were blank.
However, they only had one goal in mind: to kill each one of them as brutally as they could.
Kill, Kill and Kill!|...