The corpses of monsters were piled like hills, their blood turned the earth into a nauseating sea of mud. Andre had relieved this memory countless times before and every time it hurt all the same. He knew it was just a dream, a twisted recreation of his memory. He floated in the sky as a passive observer of what was already set in stone.
'I look so young.' He thought to himself as he observed himself leading the charge against the monster horde. Tearing through any beast brave enough to block his way. The army behind him surged onward emboldened by misplaced confidence in their leader.
A rolling barrage of artillery decimated the monster horde followed by tanks and infantry gunning down anything that survived. They looked invincible, sending waves of death as the line crept forward getting closer to the fortifications that they were forced to abandon during the horde's initial assault.
Andre wanted to shake his head as he stared at his past self striding forward, his head held high. He looked like he was going on a business trip rather than a battlefield with his perfectly groomed appearance he did not wear the helmet of his battlesuit wanting his face to be seared into the memory of all present. The moment he found a target his body blurred as he sprinted at speeds that nothing on land should be capable of. He left behind a sonic boom as he surpassed the sound barrier within moments of a standing start.
His target in the form of a black serpent the size of a train did not even see him coming. Too busy spewing corrosive bile at an unfortunate tank as the retaliatory fire from the surrounding forces bounced off its scales barely leaving a dent. The serpent hissed as the blunt force from the shells bruised the muscles underneath its thick scales. It moved to retreat from the battle seeing no use in standing its ground. But it was already too late Andre appeared atop its head and with a single punch he buried the serpent's head into the ground, its body curled into itself as its death came in an instant.
Andre looked at his past self with scorn, seeing him tear the serpent's head from its body and toss it to the side with extreme theatrics gloating as some of the surrounding soldiers cheered. A smug smile on his face as he stood with his hands on his hips pretending to look for his next target as he basked in his megalomania. His figure blurred no doubt racing to show off to another audience completely forgetting to help the soldiers trapped within the melting tank as their friends struggled to get them out.
Nearly the exact same scene played countless times, his head so far up his ass that he did not even realize the army behind him dwindled as the day wore on. Those that had managed to keep up looked exhausted, they were normal humans unlike him they could not march and fight for days on end. The rest of the army had long since reached their limits opting to rest than serve themselves on a silver platter. Andre walked on oblivious to the state of his forces any attempt at informing him was futile as he charged up and down the line faster than any messenger could hope to catch. His helmet abandoned in his office buzzed with attempts to get a hold of him.
Andre knew what was coming next; he wanted to wake from this nightmare to turn his eyes away in shame. His heart twisted with endless regret, but the nightmare would not let him escape. He would not allow himself to escape. His unbearable guilt made him look on. This was his punishment to look away to forget even a single detail was unthinkable. He did not deserve forgiveness. He did not deserve peace.
The ground erupted as the exhausted army stumbled through a piece of pockmarked land that looked like any other as the horde sprung its trap. Thousands of monsters hiding underground in burrows and mud-covered trenches leaped out of hiding. There was no way such an ambush would have been possible earlier in the day as specialized reconnaissance vehicles would have detected the underground burrows from kilometers away. But such vehicles had long since peeled away from the advance; their sensitive equipment could not possibly travel so far in rough terrain without maintenance.
The monsters tore through the exhausted troops as the line collapsed into chaos. The march had stretched them so thin they were not even a shadow of the well-oiled machine that fought the earlier battles. Bullets flew everywhere as individuals tried their best to fend off the attacking monsters doing more damage to their comrades than enemies. The relatively small ambush that would have been struck down with ease by the army that left the fortifications earlier in the day became its doom.
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Andre watched as his past self sprinted around the battlefield trying to kill as many monsters as possible. The cocky grin that was so permanent on his face was nowhere to be seen as the reality of the situation finally dawned on him. He had yet to even begin to understand the extent of his failure, still thinking to himself that all he needed to do was to slay all the monsters and then order a retreat. There was no doubt within him that he could salvage this situation. He would be reprimanded for sure for the high casualties, but he could brush it under the rug by pointing at what they had managed to accomplish.
But all fantasies must come to an end and his ends with a blur moving just as fast as himself. The creature blocked his way. It had the shape of a headless orangutan standing two meters tall with the arms of a mantis. Its color was so dark it looked like a silhouette only interrupted by the chalk-white spikes it had for teeth lining a vertical maw that stretched its entire torso.
Andre charged at the creature as he gathered power into his fist in an attempt to crush it just like all the others. But the creature dodged with ease matching his speed and contorting its body into unusual shapes to avoid his glowing fist. Its mantis arms deformed as it snapped forward like a whip catching him off guard the blade twisting around him aiming for his right shoulder. Andre ignored the coming blow confident in the strength of his battlesuit and the toughness of his own body. He was rewarded with searing pain as the blade sliced through his armor like it was nothing and cut halfway into his shoulder.
His right arm went limp at his side as muscle and bones were cut. In a rage, he grabbed the creature's arm while it was stuck to his shoulder dragging the creature towards himself. It responded by trying to slice his throat with its other arm, but he wouldn't make the same mistake twice he grabbed its arm mid-swing the mantis blade whipped around his arm but with its momentum interrupted it was unable to slice deep. He squeezed the creature's arm; its bones gave a satisfying crunch as he pulverized it in his grip. It gave a pained scream before lunging at him in an attempted bite yet he was prepared he kicked down at the creature’s right thigh shattering it. The creature fell down with its right side disabled and its left arm still embedded in his shoulder. It was defenseless as he pounded its body with his fist.
Its sharp teeth and purple blood flew with every punch he sent. The creature suddenly gave a deafening shriek as it struggled at death's door. Andre lifted his fist gathering energy to give the final blow. But another blurry figure raced towards him called by its kin's cry. If Andre had worn his helmet the omni-sight with its 360-degree view would have allowed him to see it coming but that was just another of his failures.
His right leg flew as the creature sliced through his knee, its momentum allowing it to do so with ease. He wobbled as he tried to balance on one foot. As if waiting for this moment the one he was pinning down had a second wind whipping its left arm that was stuck to his shoulder with just enough force to finish the job. His entire right arm fell to the ground with a shower of blood as he was brought to his knee.
The pair of creatures as if finishing their mission lost all interest in him, the new arrival quickly picking up its mangled partner and sprinting away from the battlefield. It let out a howl as it ran away and as if receiving the signal all the monsters that remained started retreating from the area with all haste. Andre and the surviving soldiers stared confused by the sudden retreat.
They did not have to wait long for the answer. The earth shook as a massive beast rose up from the ground finally being given its turn. Its form was shrouded by a curtain of molten ash that seemed to cascade endlessly from its skin. It towered hundreds of meters over them blocking the setting sun. Its open maw glowed outlined by rivers of magma that flowed within. It stood there relishing the moment it had spent years slowly crawling underground for.
The surviving human force opened fire with all they had yet the creatures glowing maw only opened wider in a cursed smile. Andre himself gathered what remained of his energy, sending a wave of compressed air toward the beast. His efforts only parted the curtain of ash for a moment. Crippled and spent he could no longer project his strength.
If he was at his full power such a massive beast would have been nothing but a punching bag too big to defend itself and if the pair of monsters that sliced his limbs had fought him to the death their victory in melee would not be guaranteed. Andre had an empty stare as he comprehended his stupidity he was played like a fiddle by beasts.
The volcanic behemoth finally had its fill. It opened its maw as wide as it could and with a roar of an exploding volcano it buried the world in ash.