+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++
Nomosian Countryside
“What the hell is that?!”
“A damned demon, that’s who,” Hans replied to Adelyn, as the trio retreated out of the woods. Engaging his [UPG: TRACE THE DOTS] upgrade, Hans loaded in an ADAP, MG24 belt on his mech’s double coaxials. He watched as the Viceroy jumped and hopped backward rapidly almost defying gravity.
And when the creature fired two beams at her—she merely aimed her wand at the creature’s direction and blocked the monster’s attack.
“Damned—!” the Viceroy cursed, as she blocked a second attack. “That was powerful!”
“Pull back!” Hans ordered as the inferno in the forest intensified. The Viceroy nodded and pulled herself out. Hans on the other hand began raining down his heavy anti-demon armor-piercing rounds downrange. The demon felt his bullets sinking deep into its skin, causing crimson-red wounds to appear.
But it disappeared just as quickly.
It charged in Hans’ direction, lowering itself and weaving through the woods at speeds that terrorized him. Hans naturally steeled himself and continued pressing on the reverse gear. Dodging the trees and boulders around the tight area seemed almost impossible.
But he tried his best. He tried his best to keep spraying the creature with his machine guns, and he noticed that Adelyn was doing the same. A sudden ADI MPAT round streaked through the forest. Hans’ vision was blocked by the bluish inferno that Adelyn’s shot created.
Where the hell is it?!
But suddenly, in his vision, were four of the same damned creature. All charging straight at him! Hans panicked for a split second, aiming his main gun at the creature on the left. He let loose a normal MPAT round but when it directly struck the creature’s body, it dissipated.
Huh?!
Hans barely had the time to dodge when two red beams nearly sliced him. The beams burned the trees it touched, and bits of his turret’s left armor plates turned slightly molten. Once again…Hans realized something. He was walking on the thinnest string between life and death.
“It has diversions!” he heard the Viceroy shout, her voice amplified by her magic. She jumped back and landed on what appeared to be a tall boulder. Aiming her wand downrange, a purple magical circle appeared. And out of it came a barrage of eight light flashes. It slammed into many of the copies, causing them to dissipate.
One of them nearly nailed the monster, but it did something astounding. It caught the pulse of magical energy on its paws—and tossed it back to the Viceroy. She barely had the time to widen her eyes in shock when she had to suddenly block her attack. Suddenly, two red beams once again nailed her.
It forced her to retreat from the boulder after she blocked it, relinquishing her high ground. And with it, Hans watched as the Viceroy retreated with Adelyn. More diversions appeared, and it managed to distract the two’s attention.
Which meant that the real demon was now charging straight at him, isolated in the chaotic melee. Hans naturally felt the fear of god slap on his spine. He pressed hard on the reverse gear as if his life was dependent on it. And he almost wanted to shout at his autoloader to reload faster.
“It’s on me! On me!” Hans shouted, hoping to gain his allies’ attention. But there were already three damned creatures chasing him. Due to the speed and chaotic movement, he missed where the real creature even was. His mech’s legs were being slowed down and entangled by thick bushes, soft soil, and constant tight turns to avoid trees and other objects.
“Hold on! We’re coming for you—” the creature then fired a sudden beam at Adelyn’s mech. Her turret armor was slammed by it, turning her armor red hot. “Damn it! My weapons overheated!”
“I’m going to try to do my thing,” the Viceroy stated, as she dashed with superhuman speeds in the forest. Hans meanwhile tried to hold the creature off as it chased him. He fired his guns left and right. Target after targets appeared to be mere copies. His machine gun rounds would hit them—and they would disappear.
Hans kept trying. Trying to discern where the damned demon was. One of them even managed to reach him, slicing him with his paws before disappearing. But it caused the desired effect. Hans messed up, and his mech’s rear slammed hard on a massive tree. He nearly bashed his head on the displays in front of him as a result.
He watched as one of the creatures finally charged at him. The creature’s two jaws opened up, and Hans nearly braced himself for certain death. But a sudden flash of light struck it. A blue light specifically. The pulse caused water to spray everywhere. The burning trees suddenly caught water, but it evaporated almost immediately due to the heat. The creature disappeared from Hans’ sight.
“Damn it what?! Crap, I mistakenly loaded an ADW MPAT. Sorry, I screwed up.”
Hans ignored Adelyn’s panicked reaction. Though he was certainly thankful about it. After all, it still managed to divert the attention of the demon away from him. Hans immediately took that as his chance to get his mech out of its stuck position. He drove away while scanning the area ahead of him. Beams after beams were fired everywhere, causing more of the woods to go aflame.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
It blinded Hans. The sheer heat from the hundreds of trees and bushes on fire made his thermals ineffective. And so, he switched to his daylight cameras. Immediately, he found himself hard-pressed for any good visibility. The smoke from the fire had thickened up considerably. And he was now increasingly becoming isolated.
In fact…
“Where the hell are you, Lieutenant?!”
He realized something. Over all those panicked maneuvers, at some point, he must have deviated too much. He had been retreating in the wrong direction. He was now possibly deeper in the burning forest.
+++
Hans had been trying to dodge and move through the battlefield without dying for a while now. But it was getting too long. He had wasted too much ammunition trying to find which damned creature chasing him was real. But it seemed that the bastard could produce dozens of copies of itself.
At this point, it was a blur to Hans. Even the sporadic support that he was receiving from the Viceroy and Adelyn was turning close to useless. He was forced to retreat further and further into the forest as he was surrounded by the monster’s copies that were chasing him.
He felt surrounded.
He felt overwhelmed.
But most of all, he was simply disappointed.
He already knew what would happen soon enough. They were getting close to him. An entire army of beast demons, yet only one of them was real. That was the worst part about it. A single demon managed to trick him into firing nearly all of his available machine gun stockpiles.
He even started to doubt if he was even being chased by the creature.
“Damn it! That almost nailed me again!”
So it’s trying to delay them while isolating me.
Hans was astounded by it. This demon sure had some tactical acumen. Well, he tried to deny it early on by retreating. But now, how would he do that? He made one mistake while he was trying to flee a life-or-death situation. And that one mistake possibly doomed him right now.
No, Hans changed his mindset as he kept his feet on the reverse pedal.
Doesn’t matter then.
Hans felt himself grin. At once, his mind stopped panicking about the possibility of eventual death. He felt…a strange sense of control. His grasp on his control sticks became more precise and better coordinated. He was moving his mech more methodically.
Moreover, he began firing his machine guns in short bursts. Each of the “copies” only began receiving a single burst of his gunfire. And they disappeared one by one. Hans now felt in control. He wasn’t afraid of dying. In fact, who cared about dying? He could only come back.
Perhaps he was defeated now. Perhaps he had been outmatched tactically. Perhaps he was inferior to this creature. But he could simply find out what it could do and what its weaknesses were. He was…
No, it was a lie. He felt his hand twitch at the wrong moment after one of the creatures nearly sliced him, before disappearing.
Damn it!
He was still nervous.
Thinking that one of the creatures was the real one, and because it was getting way too close, he opened fire with his main gun. The MPAT round that he loaded and fired immediately flew, and passed through the creature harmlessly as it disappeared. Hans then saw something for a split second.
It was heading to the Viceroy herself.
She was wide-eyed at the sudden strike, and only by her quick reflex was she able to stop and place a last-minute barrier spell in front of her. The MPAT round detonated violently, and Hans saw that the Viceroy had disappeared after the smoke cleared.
“I-I’m fine, I think!” her magically amplified voice shouted. “Ow, maybe a broken rib or two!”
How is she even able to announce that at this point?!
Hans pulled back again as he realized that finally, the real creature had lunged at him. Its massive triple digits sliced the tree in front of him. Then, as he opened fire with his machine guns, one of its heads fired a beam straight at him. It struck his mech’s left legs, two of them in fact.
And he felt his mech go sideways. Fortunately, his remaining legs pulled his mech through the dirt as the monster advanced at him. His autoloader slammed another MPAT round straight into his gun chamber. And Hans fired it straight at one of the heads of the monster. It immediately caused an explosion.
Hans pulled back further, but he was already badly slowed down by the damage his mech sustained. And by the time the smoke dissipated from his previous shot, his hopes were in tatters. The creature, while badly damaged, like all demons—was regenerating fast.
“It’s on me!” Hans shouted on his comms. “It’s on me!”
But none could find him. The inferno that had engulfed the forest, alongside the copies of the creature distracting his two allies left him with nothing.
“Hans?! Hans?!” Adelyn’s voice on the comms was now of utter panic. “I’ll find you. Damn it! I’ll find you!”
“I’m—!”
Hans desperately tried to back out as a slash came from the demon. He opened fire with his machine guns. Unlike his normal rounds, it was causing severe damage to the demon. But suddenly, his anti-demon belt ran dry. All that he could hear from his guns was that click of emptiness.
Reload! Reload! Damn it!
But before he could place another round on his main gun, the second head of the creature fired another beam at his turret. It sliced through brutally, due to how little armor was on his mech. Then, as it lunged at him, Hans watched as its digits sliced on his armor as if it were wet paper.
Hans tried pulling and driving his mech away. But suddenly, its massive sharp fangs tore his crew compartment open. Sparks flew everywhere before Hans felt himself sliced bloodily by its fangs. He screamed in pain as he was pulled out of his mech and sent flying.
Then, as his vision died out—he dropped straight into its wide, welcoming mouth. The last thing he felt was the painful crunch of being devoured half-alive.