The city was in ruins.
Tall towers, once proud and strong, stood broken, their tops missing, jagged edges pointing toward the sky. Some had crumbled entirely, leaving behind mountains of rubble and twisted metal. Cracks ran through the streets, deep and uneven, with smoke rising from the gaps.
Fires burned in the distance, their orange glow mixing with the blood-red sky. Ash floated in the air like dying embers, carried by the wind that howled through empty buildings. Shattered glass covered the ground, reflecting the fiery sky like a sea of broken stars.
Amidst the broken wreckage, the figure of a humanoid being hastily moved toward the clearing, where a single beast stood—moving toward the only building that hadn't received a single damage until now.
The church.
The soldier was no believer, however, his orders clearly stated to protect the church.
And those orders were absolute. No room for mistakes.
His sharp grey eyes focused on the enemy before a small screen appeared in the corner of his vision, showing the name, rank, origin, and weak points of the monster.
[Warning!]
[Steam level low!]
[Warning!]
Ignoring the red exclamation mark appearing on his other eye, the soldier launched toward the beast—only to come to a skidding halt when suddenly the feral beast twisted on its feet and switched its direction.
It was a blur, but thanks to his modified eyes the soldiers saw it coming.
He barely had the time to dodge, as he brought his arms to cross it before his face.
**BOOOOM**
The tiger claw collided against the soldier's steel arms, before sending him hurtling back like a ragdoll
*HISSSSS*
The thrusters in the soldier's calves pushed him forward to bring him to a pause, but due to lack of Steam, the thrusters weren't working properly.
*SHLINK*
The soldier lowered himself and stabbed the ground with his mechanical sword, to bring himself into a pause.
"*Grrr*" The beast growled before launching forward on all its four.
The soldier knew he wouldn't be able to win head on, so he folded his arm and launched a thick bullet from his elbow, which instantly spread into a net.
The beast growled before jumping towards the left—only to pause, as another bullet was shot in its direction.
"*GRRRR*" Intending to jump over the net—which has yet to erupt—the beast lunged up, however, the moment, the beast and the bullet were aligned, the soldier clenched his fist, and—
**BOOOOOOM**
The bullet exploded, sending the beast flying.
The soldier didn't waste a second.
He rushed forward, steam hissing from his joints as he pulled his blade free from the ground. The beast crashed into the rubble, dazed but still alive.
It roared, shaking its head, claws scraping against the broken pavement. But the soldier was already there.
SHINK!
His mechanical sword pierced through its chest.
The beast howled, thrashing violently, but he pushed deeper, twisting the blade. Blood sprayed, dark and thick.
The creature's struggles slowed. Its glowing eyes flickered—then dimmed.
The soldier pulled his sword free with a sharp yank. The beast collapsed.
Dead.
His breathing was steady. The red sky burned above. The city groaned in the wind.
The soldiers heaved a sigh and were about to report the completion of the mission, when suddenly,
"....!"
An artillery appeared above the church, which rotated and found the nearest living creature.
The soldiers had a fragment of seconds to react, as he tried to remove himself from the trajectory, but,
**QUINK**
The laser-guided ultra-sonic waves assaulted him and sent his lower body flying away from the rest of him.
The alarms in his head became unbearable, as the soldiers fell on the ground. His vision began to turn dark, and in his final moments, before losing consciousness, he found a certain familiar man stepping towards him.
°°°°°°
"Ah!" With a jolt, the soldier came back to his senses.
He couldn't feel any pain in his body, which was expected, and looking at his surroundings, he realized that he actually didn't die on the battlefield.
"You are awake." A familiar voice resonated as the soldier turned to look at him.
Walking inside the lab was a white-haired man with a monocle on his left eye and chewing on blueberry candies, "How are you feeling, Commander Ed?"
The soldier, who was called Ed, heaved a weary sigh, "Being detached from my body, how do you think I might be feeling right now, Doctor J."
The doctor laughed, "Well, not like it's your actual body. It's all your mind now that matters." He said as he sat on the chair beside the long cylinder inside which Ed's head and body were resting—separately.
Being a mech-human designed to protect and invade, this wasn't the first time he had suffered such severe damage. However, not even once did it feel good to take such a heavy blast.
"Why did the church attack me?" Ed asked with a frown. He was there to protect the church after the whole battalion was wiped out while protecting the town.
As the Commander of the battalion, he had to stay behind until the very last, and when he believed that the church could receive damage, his NeuroCore sent him the warning and Ed took instant action.
However, just when he dealt with the danger, the artillery was fired in his direction.
And that was far from pleasant.
"Well, the security system was bugged and responded late." The older one said, however,
"I believe they were trying to take me out." Ed suddenly spoke, not a speck of any emotion in his voice.
His whole team was wiped out in the last mission, even though those many monsters were clearly not something a single battalion could have handled.
And then, when Ed dealt with seven beasts before taking down the final one, the Church showed clear hostility against him.
Maybe...they were trying to finish off what the monster began.
.
The doctor suddenly got up from the chair, and said, "Forget about that, here have this." He suddenly took a chip and inserted it into Ed's recovery cylinder
"What is this?"
The doctor grinned, "The second last volume of the novel I have been writing."
Ed rolled his eyes, "Not again...I am tired of your creation."
The older one chuckled, "But people love it, you know. In this chaotic world, they are getting so much fluff and love through my novel."
Ed grumbled, "Romance isn't the problem for me, and the battle scenes are fleshed out as well. My problem is the Protagonist. How can someone be that forgiving?"
Doctor J raised his brows, "Didn't you see his backstory?"
Ed nodded, "Well, I did but still, it's foolish to let go of your opponent when you know they would later come to bite you."
The older one chuckled, "Not every character can be as cold and calculating as you, Commander Ed. Well, this is the second last volume, so just bear with it and let me know your views later, okay?"
Despite Ed's resistance, the Doctor inserted the chip into Ed's recovery tank, and the chip dissolved in the liquid.
Ed closed his eyes. Well, he had nothing better to do, so why not?
*******
A/N:- Please save the book in your library.