Dawn Chester, capital of Feoris, 7 years before...
With a tired, agonised look, looking into the light ;
- He says: 'Grandmother, Risca, have you forgiven me?'
- Doctor: Keep giving him enough oxygen, his lung is getting weaker and weaker.
- Nicha: He's losing too much blood. Stay with us.
- Doctor: Stop his bleeding.
- Colonel: Hey, kid, don't give up, keep fighting, you'll be fine. IZUMO, I forbid you to die.
-Arima: Buddy, if you die, I'll kill you, you have no right to leave me alone, I don't want to win this rivalry this way, we were supposed to eat our favourite food afterwards, remember?
- Doctor: You must not follow us, Colonel. Leave us alone.
-Colonel: Do everything in your power to save this man, I've lost enough children today.
-Doctor: Sir, you're in the way. We'll do everything we can to keep him alive.
His infection is spreading, take the syringe away, I want you to be able to put him into a coma.
- I'm cold, I can't see or hear anything. What were the Colonel and Arima telling me? Forgive me, I didn't win that fight.
His lung stopped.
- Nurse: We're trying to resuscitate him.
- Nisha: I can't feel his heart, it's stopped beating. ***
10:30 am, FEORIS border, 3 hours before.
Lost in thought, smoking a cigarette,
-Sniff
- Still thinking too much and smoking on our world, Colonel?
- Give me a break, IZUMO. First of all, weren't you supposed to be preparing for your intake? Instead of wasting your time criticising an old smoker like me?
- Colonel Tamayo, don't worry about me, everything's under control, I'll do it once we're back from patrol.
- In any case, I'm not worried about you, it's that other arrogant face I'm worried about; in fact, where is he?
- Aaah, if it's about him, I see him as the future of the coalition army. He's out scouting on his own, and when he came back he promised to give me a plate of food if he killed more than two draugr today.
- What's that all about? He's not afraid of anything, that one. If he dies, at least it will show the others never to rush into things and always to work as a team.
- You say that, but you're just as proud of his prowess as a mentor, eh?
- Ah... Let's not talk about it any more, otherwise he'll make me look old and grumpy; otherwise, there are some good recruits in this decade that I can't remember the names of.
Colonel Tamayo stood up and looked across the wall at the border:
- Hey you, what's your name again?
- Erm... with a tired look on his face, he replied: 'My name is NIKAN, Colonel.
- NIKAN? Have you come to the wrong place? What's a privileged Inun doing in a rotten place and especially in this military section, which is reputed to be dangerous and less safe for a nobleman like you?
ZARUBA NIKAN said to the colonel:
- By the way, for my presence here and speaking of my blood...
- It's all right. Don't tell me about your life. It's still noon and it's going to rain in a couple of hours. Go and put on your wet suit, we're leaving in 20 minutes.
- Erm...
- Hey, soldiers, make sure you're all kitted out with your ANIMA and get the horses ready; we're off!!!
Galloping along, Izumo approached his colonel:
- Excuse me, Colonel?
- What, Izumo?
- What, Izumo? Just a detail about Zaruba Nikan. I've been following his case with Nozel; it turns out he belongs to the royal family. And he seems to behave quite calmly when the other racist soldiers attack his skin colour and the marks on his body. Speaking of which, I'd certainly say that his family placed him in this army coalition to spare him from the wars of succession, because in the kingdom of Inun, the infection has not gone unchecked. Over 30 per cent of their kingdoms have taken refuge in the capital of Inun, and I wouldn't put much stock in their country over the next 10 years.
- Hmmm, if he's here, he must have his reasons, and I admire his attitude, because we've also been fighting the infection for decades, and the more the years go by, the more this whole thing becomes nonsense; the kingdoms continue to selfishly spy on each other while, in 10 years' time, the infection will have got the better of us all.
As he approached the vanguard, he noticed one of the new recruits, 400 metres from his squad, fighting the draugr. When he arrived, Tamayo feared for his recruit and shouted out:
- Watch out !!!! You poor fool! You don't have the capacity to fight two draugrs. Unconsciousness has its limits. At the same time, he noticed his superhuman movements, his offensive awareness, his reflexes and his brute strength. He jumped on one of the draugrs and, with a simple sword, sprinted while spinning like a whirlwind, slicing the head off one of the draugrs. Then he wrapped his point in arcane energy produced by his own body. He was so fast that he disappeared behind the last remaining draugr and pulverised it with one punch.
The whole squad was speechless at the young recruit's display of prowess. The colonel approached him and the recruit, proud of what she had just achieved in the eyes of her superiors, expected to be arrogantly cheered. However, Tamayo slapped her across the face and began to scold her:
'Imbecile! Since when have you dared to disobey a superior and go off on your own more than 1 hour from our old landmark? What's more, you didn't even bring your STEN KLINGE! And look at how you've misused your Anima! You're still just a beginner. If you've come to commit suicide in this army, you're well on your way, because with your looks, in a few months you're going to look like an old man if you don't save yourself.
Embarrassed, he looked down and apologised:
- Sorry boss, I felt their presence and I didn't want them to be able to escape us. I sensed that they weren't as weak as I was. So I didn't see any risk.
Nozel and LIDE : Hey boss, you'll have to forgive the new kid, they're all trying to get noticed, thinking they'll be promoted soon enough and then they can take it easy. And let's face it, he's saved us a lot of fatigue, boss.
- OK, shut up.
Talking to himself, he says: 'He's strong! Two draugr??? But that could have caused trouble even for a sergeant. He got out of it quickly. Well, he apologised, so I can let it go. With such strength, it's sad to know that he's doing all this just to end up highly ranked or in the capital? Just to take it easy? And not to be on the battlefield? Maybe I'd better ask him.'
- Hey kid, why did you join the military?
The proud recruit replied:
- Well, I just want to impose on these plants that no one, neither plants nor men, are above me and that everyone should be in the battlefields so they don't have to cry in shame.
- That's a lie. It's all about taking it easy in the kingdom, enjoying your high salary and women, while being safe from death. This is the goal of many recruits and many end up infected and turned to bark by this cowardly desire.
- You haven't understood me. I'm here to become the balance and the reference for the world of Men and Gods.
Tamayo said drunkenly:
- I'd still rather hear from the greedy and the ass-kissers; your goal is to wipe your ass with your ass.'
'He's nuts, but I sense sincerity in him and a little bird tells me he's a cool guy and different from the midget who came to register with me in a bar. I just accepted because he'd paid my deposit. After I'd lost a bet in a board game against Kamisuki. As they say, when the gods close the door on you, they open a window. What's more, the sky is starting to close in more and more and with the death of these two draugr, their toxin will dissipate even faster with this rain. 'Staying here would not be wise.'
He turned back to his soldiers and said:
- Hey, soldiers! We'd better retreat and get back to camp. This rain will make our advance more and more difficult. LIDE, take this kid on, he's used up his Anima's arcane magic with his mismanagement.
- OK, boss.
- And as for you, a heavy penalty awaits you on your return. That'll teach you to be clever and disobey your superiors.
OK, Colonel. Sergeant LIDE, please help me up.
- OK kid, take my hand.
Just as the colonel turned to get on his mount, he was pushed by Sergeant Izumo, realising at the same time that he had just saved his life by narrowly avoiding a laser beam.
- What the hell was that?
- Are you all right, Colonel? asked Sergeant Izumo.
Escaping the laser beam, Colonel Tamayo was on the ground and realised that it was Izumo who had saved his life, but he had not escaped the laser beam that had pierced his mouth on the side of his left cheek and destroyed his jaw. Immediately, Izumo fell to his knees on the ground, frightened by what had just happened to him.
Tamayo, his eyes full of anger, shouted in rage and searched for the culprit. Deep in the bush, he spotted a DRAUG in the distance, the person who had done it.
'It can't be! Since when does a draugr shoot with a laser?
Was it the young recruit who alerted them with his previous fight? No, I don't think so. A draugr would never have been unpredictable; and even if this one was a jengu, it was obvious that he'd been there for a long time and was watching us. Until I let my guard down. His shot was aimed at me because he realised that I was the leader of the gang. I'd have liked to capture him alive, but it won't be easy, judging by his laser cannon. It's more powerful than an admiral's, and as good as a colonel's.
- You've dared to attack one of my protégés,' says the colonel. You'll pay for this, you draugr,' said the colonel, drawing his high-frequency blade from its scabbard.
By reflex, the recruit jumped up and grabbed Izumo and his STEN KLINGE, which he placed under cover, then entered the fight against the draugr. With piercing speed, Tamayo sprinted at the draugr to destroy its core, but it stopped his STEN KLINGE with its hard skin. Astonished, at the same time, the new recruit charged at the draugr and hit him with three punches charged with arcane magic. He withstood the first two, but the third sent him reeling back ten metres.
- No time to think too much, Colonel. You don't just have to be an alchemist to realise that this beast is unique. It's impossible to escape, it's called out to its fellows. This draugr must be diamond-cut. We can expect anything from him.
He's right,' said the colonel, 'he may be an idiot, but this boy has a sense of combat and when it comes to that, he's another man.
- Colonel, ARIMA, step aside, I intend to immobilise and blind him,' shouted LIDE; drawing his sword with his elemental-type arcane, LIDE used the rain to freeze the draugr's legs and head, blinding him. Following his coordination, Nozel continued the attack by slicing into him from the left side of his body to reach his core, but as his skin was hard, the blade got stuck at his neck. Just as quickly, the draugr gained the upper hand and broke through LIDE's ice, punched Nozel in the stomach, suspending him a metre off the ground, then quickly picked up the sword, ripped it from his neck and sliced with it. He then struck him three times in the chest and pierced his stomach. But Nozel himself had rushed to deflect his body before hitting the ground so as not to be hit in the vital organs. Another draugr landed, this time detonating a screen of toxin smoke on the soldiers. Arima, who wanted to attack the intelligent draugr, stepped back and pushed IZUMO away, unable to move.
Tamayo touched the ground directly with his STEN KLINGE to connect his arcane magic to the earth. Being his arcane element, he managed to repel the smoke. In his subconscious, Izumo was listening to voices. He thought he was hallucinating again and wanted to know where the voices were coming from. Turning his head, he heard:
- ********* Eight of them, he swallowed them all and from then on he decided to take his revenge on the human race for what you have done over the centuries, for the imbalance you have created. Your future is doomed, you are no longer superior, you never were, your world and all your kind...
- Fuck, was that the draugr who just spoke to me? Izumo wondered, no, I must be hallucinating with this toxin poison he's injected me with and I'm starting to have facial problems.
Following the colonel's attack, the draugr swelled his fibres like an altherophyle human weighing 250 kg and measuring 3 metres, and channelled all the arcane energy into himself. Colonel Tamayo, out of pure instinct, ordered his soldiers to get out of the way and flee as far as possible, because he knew that such a concentration of arcane energy was and must surely be followed by a great explosion. He concentrated all his energy in his Anima and touched the ground, creating a great rampart of earth. He knew it wouldn't be enough, but fortunately LIDE rushed forward bravely and with his last bit of strength built up a giant wall of ice to counter the draugr's explosion.
The soldiers all shouted in unison: 'Hurrah! The Colonel and LIDE saved us, they're too strong, glory to them! After this slight rescue, the Colonel caught his breath and thanked LIDE for his intervention.
- Thank you very much, LIDE. Even if it was unwise of you to waste all your remaining energy at once, even damaging your Anima.
- I wasn't going to let you die and let that monster spread so much poison. And I didn't want the new Arima to be able to steal all the limelight from me, otherwise I wouldn't know...
Barely resting and catching their breath, the monster fired two second lasers into LIDE's chest and faith; this time, it was the end for the colonel's right-hand man. With a look of despair in his eyes, Tamayo watched helplessly as his second-in-command died before his very eyes.
- This can't be true', he said to himself, 'when did all this start to go wrong? My two young soldiers have just risked their lives and I don't know how much more magic this creature has, so there's nothing we can do? Is this my sad end?
The monster tried to attack the other soldiers with another cannon, but just as he was recharging his energy to launch his laser, he was stopped by metal spikes concentrated in his 03 hearts; and the attack came from Izumo, who had taken advantage of the distraction of the explosion to shoot the draugr. A tremor shook the earth and roots grew into a giant 18-metre tree. The other draugr next to it were stunned and died, because the magic of their arcane stones, which circulated within them, had been absorbed by the tree, which sucked the draugr's energy as it grew.
20 minutes later, Arima advised them to collect the wounded and leave the area.
- Colonel, we must leave before something else happens,' said Arima.
- He had a fiancée, who had just told him she was pregnant. He wanted to celebrate with his two families, but I told him to come. - This is no time to be depressed, boss.
- This is no time to be depressed, boss. Let's get out of here.
Just as everyone had mounted their horses, a light shone from deep within the trunk of the tree. Wounded and lying on the ground, Izumo insisted on seeing what was inside. Nozel listened to him and reassured all the soldiers to listen to his best friend.
- Colonel, I think we should take a closer look at what's going on too.
- No, we're not wasting another second in this bloody place.
- Please, sir.
Arima sliced the visible part where the light was coming from.
A great deal of smoke came out and the soldiers thought it was the toxin again. But Izumo stayed in front, unperturbed, and waited to see what would happen inside. Suddenly...
- Tell me I'm dreaming. How can that be?' asked Arima.
- Hoah, what are we seeing here?' cried Nozel and the others.
- Finally, this day was written,' said the colonel.
- Is this some new phenomenon we're witnessing?' wondered Izumo.
Blinding smoke and, before everyone's surprised gaze, a young dark-skinned boy emerged from the tree trunk. He seemed to have lost consciousness and then opened his eyes.
The soldiers noticed that his arms were holding a book. They asked him his name and he replied:
'I can't remember. Maybe it's Hiruko; the last time I saw him was when he called me Hiruko.
Then the child fainted and at the same time Izumo fell to the ground.
- IZUMO,' shouted the Captain. Take them to emergency and let's take this kid with us. We'll have more questions for him when we get to the capital.