Bullets whizzed from his rifle as the demon lord took down the last husk near him. The undead body dropped, a big hole in its head. That was his rifle's final bullet, used up in the fierce battle against the undead. Now, he stood alone in a wide, snowy field, the grass around him frozen and still.
At this point, Bell questioned what he was doing in the middle of the northern field. Maybe it was to escape the undead summoned by those summoned heroes from the human kingdom in the south? Or maybe because he acted as a decoy to let the chancellor and her staff escape the onslaught of the human kingdom? He forgot which was the right one.
Hungry and angry, those two words described what he felt perfectly. It had been days since he ate, and the chancellor might be dead, all thanks to those human coalitions in the north. He had no idea what was on their mind, but it was clear, they would exterminate the demons for good, by any means necessary, including borrowing the power of the undead.
He clenched his fists, the anger within him simmering like a dormant volcano. The humans, with their unquenchable thirst for dominance, had turned their continent into a battlefield, a place where the demons were now hunted like animals. It was a systematic, brutal effort to eradicate an entire race, driven by nothing but fear and hatred. The memories of his kind being rounded up, of families torn apart, and of the demon children crying out in fear and confusion, haunted Bell.
Bell was alone, nobody was with him anymore, and everyone was gone. This was the only safe place, mainly due to its temperature. It just happened that right now, the temperature was too cold for anything to live, but some husks still managed to get to this place somehow. When the ice melts, there would be no doubt that the southern coalition would come here with their husks.
Husks. These were not mythical monsters but real, unnerving threats. Husks were once-dead people, brought back to a twisted form of life by a powerful spell that covered the entire continent. Every buried person, from recent ancestors to ancient family members, was affected by this spell.
Graveyards and tombs, once places of rest, turned into sources of horror. These Husks, former grandfathers and distant relatives lost all their human traits and memories. They wandered the land, a growing undead army, controlled by the necromancers of the southern coalitions with only one purpose, to kill the demons.
Nobody, absolutely nobody, could live in the northern continent, with most of the demons now either on the run to the ice sheet in the north or dead in the hands of the southern coalition. The undead controlled most of the major city, with his army being overran by the sheer number of it alone, alongside a mysterious outbreak that only made things even worse. It also happened that a multitude of dangerous monsters suddenly appeared out of nowhere without any explainable reason.
Bell only wanted a rest, truly.
[Trial #1: Beat The Snow Juggernaut]
[Reward: Activation of Military System]
The text floated right in front of his eyes, with Bell not knowing what it meant in the first place. As the cryptic text dissipated, Bell's gaze shifted to the towering figure that emerged from the swirling snow ahead. The Juggernaut, was an imposing colossus of muscle and fury, not to mention the large axe on its hands. Its breaths were visible in the frosty air, each exhaled a cloud of icy particles, and its eyes, a piercing blue, fixed on Bell.
The challenge was simple yet daunting: defeat the Snow Juggernaut to unlock the Military System. What this Military System entailed, Bell could only guess, but that thing would surely kill him easily if he didn't react quickly. His hand gripped the empty rifle, a useless piece of metal now, and he discarded it, his eyes never leaving the massive figure before him.
He knew how to use magic, at the very least, the most basic one. However, magic and armor didn't go hand-in-hand for the most part, so he pulled another weapon from his pocket. He pulled out the pistol from his holster, a semi-automatic pistol crafted by a certain religious person close to him.
As Bell sized up the Snow Juggernaut, the juggernaut threw the giant axe in his direction. The axe rotated straight in his direction, Bell dived down towards the snow while a magical formation began to form on his left hand. Circles of red appeared in front of her hands, and a bunch of fireballs flew out of that circle. The ball flew towards the juggernaut's direction, seemingly guided straight at his face.
The balls hit the juggernaut right on his face, burning its large beard. The juggernaut screamed in pain as Bell aimed his pistol right at its head. The juggernaut, noticing that Bell was aiming his pistol at him, kicked the snow on the ground to create a small mist to obstruct Bell's vision.
The snow obstructed his view and Bell quickly stood up and ran to get a better angle from the juggernaut, but as Bell stood up, the more than ten-foot creature was already in front of him. With all of its power, the creature kicked Bell's body like a ball, sending him flying across the snow.
Bell felt the breeze of air hitting his face before the snow slammed right into his head as he landed towards the ground with the pistol no longer in his hand. His eyes wandered as he regained his footing to search for the pistol. He prepared another magical spell while the juggernaut charged in his direction. This time, a large red circle formed right in front of his body.
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"Crimson Blizzard!"
A storm of crimson-red fire appeared from the magical circle, spewing out fire so hot that the snow around the magical circle began to melt from the heat alone. The firestorm attacked the juggernaut with the hot fire, the juggernaut stopped its attack and began to scream in pain as the fire continued burning its body. However, Bell noticed it barely made any damage to the juggernaut itself, indicating that it was really armored.
Bell dived down towards his pistol and aimed it at the juggernaut's head. He let go six bullets from the end of his gun barrel, all of the .45 bullets hit the juggernaut's head, immediately killing him on the spot. The juggernaut fell down to the ground with a loud thump.
Bell, not wasting anymore time, fired another barrage of crimson flame towards the juggernaut to make sure that it stayed dead. The black fire began burning the dead body as the magical energy from the juggernaut began to dissipate due to the loss of life. Bell took a deep breath, and he felt a crushing pain on his left lung.
He could only wonder where the promised reward was. Then, suddenly, a notification appeared in his vision.
[Trial #1 Complete]
[Initializing System…]
[Please Wait…]
[This Will Take A While…]
Bell didn't appreciate the joke, but he felt accomplished in achieving the objective, that seemed to come from the middle of nowhere. Juggernauts weren't common creatures, they were D-rank creatures at the very least, in the Book of creatures. However, he had another matter to attend to, he saw a bruise on his chest from the previous battle. Was there any village with healers in this region? He wasn't sure, the map of the northern plain was never updated, nor the tribes here settled in one place, they were nomadic.
[Initiating Personal Diagnostic]
[Diagnostic Menu] [Level: 1] [No Demonic Points Available]
Name: Bellial Radcliffe
EXP: 0/1,000
General Health Status: Bruised Chest
Skills and Perks:
• Marksmanship: Lv.2 (Increased Accuracy & Range of any small arms)
Bell blinked his eyes, not believing what he saw, some kind of oddball interface. He wasn't sure how he would react to that, but he definitely needed an introductory course first. Then, another pop-up appeared in front of his eyes, making the situation even weirder for him.
[Congratulations! You've just gained your starter kit]
• 4x Tier-1 Personnel
• 50,000 Exchange Points
• H&K 416 + Eotech HHS V + Laser Sight
• FAST Helmet + Peltor Comtac
• 5x 30-round Magpul 5.56 Magazines
• 180x M855A1 5.56x45
• Military Cold-Weather Gear Set
• PBI Armor System
[Equip Now?]
He felt alienated by those words alone, and he wouldn't lie about it. Those things weren't things that he had ever heard on his entire life, but he was willing to learn if this would help her to find the chancellor. He then pressed the equip button, and suddenly, a blue light began enveloping his body.
As Bell pressed the 'Equip' button, a surreal yet tangible transformation unfolded around him. The air shimmered with a radiant blue light, casting an otherworldly glow on the snow-covered landscape. He felt an odd sensation, as if the very fabric of reality was bending, reshaping itself to accommodate this new, unexplained phenomenon.
The cold, biting air seemed to still for a moment, and the silence of the frozen field was profound, almost expectant. The light enveloped Bell entirely, its luminescence so intense that for a fleeting second, it was all he could see. He felt a tingling sensation, starting from his toes and rising like a wave, a feeling akin to countless tiny needles dancing on his skin.
As quickly as it had engulfed him, the light receded, retracting like a tide pulling away from the shore. Bell stood there, momentarily disoriented, feeling the weight and texture of new gear on his body. He was now clad in a Military Cold-Weather Gear Set, complete with the PBI Armor System that hugged his form securely, a sensation both foreign and strangely comforting.
He instinctively reached for the H&K 416 rifle now slung across his shoulder. It felt right in his hands, familiar yet novel. The Eotech HHS V sight and laser sight attached to it promised precision and reliability. He felt the weight of the magazines and the M855A1 rounds; each piece of equipment seemed to silently affirm their alien nature to Bell who merely seen basic firearms on his lifetime.
As he adjusted the FAST Helmet, now snugly fitted on his head with comms set in place, a sense of readiness filled him. He wasn't familiar with the equipment, but it seemed that this equipment came from those who were very far in the future. Then, suddenly, a book appeared in the air. Bell picked up the book from the snowy ground.
[Basic System Manual: Please Read]
Bell picked up the book, there was a strange food inside of a strange packaging. Bell wasn't sure what it was, but it might be filling. Another task then appeared on his peripheral vision.
[New Task: Call For Your Back-Up]
Tips: Read The Book
[Reward: Full Interface]
Knowing that there was no tree in this field, nor he felt any cold thanks to the new clothing, Bell opened the book while standing up, reading the alien book page-by-page. This manual seemed to be written by the military, and Bell needed some rest after being thrown by the juggernaut, and so he read.
Spending several hours reading the basic command from the book while eating what was called calorie bar, at least, he knew how to call for the backup, or how to use all of the equipment given by the system itself, despite the fact he didn't know where all of it originated from.
Bell pressed a button near his radio, then he spoke towards the radio, "Spear 0-2, Spear 0-7, requesting immediate maneuver to my pos. Break. Grid November Echo One Seven Five Niner Four Two. Authenticate: Bravo-India-Golf-Delta-India-Charlie-Kilo, how copy, over?"
"Spear 0-7, this is Spear 0-2, solid copy on all. Passphrase accepted. Oscar Mike in three to grid November Echo One Seven Five Niner Four Two, out," a woman voice on the radio replied.
Amidst the thin snow, Bell could make up four figures approaching his position. Their shapes were humanoids, but whether they were demons or not remained to be seen. They got closer and closer, and Bell could make their shape, two smaller figures accompanied by two taller ones. As they got closer, Bell then noticed their clothing, which was pretty similar to his. One of the shorter figures came closer, she then gave him a salute.
"Reporting for duty, sir."