Pieces of body parts lay scattered around the dining room. Alphonse sat at the table with plates full of meat. Or… empty plates, to be exact.

[ Chef’s Kiss activated ]

Recipe: Sauteed Oni Steak

Sauteed Oni Steak: Meat sauteed with butter and hints of garlic and thyme. You are getting better at cooking, somehow.

Rating B-

Stat boost 20% from set bonus.

| 43.1 -> 51.7 Dexterity added

| 21.5 -> 25.8 Intelligence added

| 16.3 -> 19.5 Strength added

Food buff: Your blade is 50% sharper for 10 hours.

Hunger is satisfied

Skill extracting…

Epic skill extraction successful.

Skill - Brutal Sword Slash stage 2 - Projectile Slash: Send your sword strike in a line in front of you. This is the 2nd ability in the Brutal Sword Slash path.

Excellent. Well, I better start exploring. No doubt monsters are flooding into this world now, or should I call it Earth? Whatever… Alphonse walked into the barren streets, dark scarlet spots were splashed onto the concrete from the rampaging samurai. Feels weird being on a mission in a populated world. I’m used to them almost being extinct. Where to go? Guess I’ll just walk until monsters show up. Sounds like my only plan.

Alphonse was going to continue walking, when one of the enormous screens stuck to the side of a tall skyscraper grabbed his attention. It looked like a news channel was playing. A smile covered his face as a familiar face appeared. Markus… He was currently fighting a horde of four-legged monsters covered in fur, his giant tower shield smashing the beasts into the ground. Spikes grew from it, impaling the rampaging monsters. France? Is that close? Where the hell am I? The news people looked shocked at the strength Markus was displaying. They looked at him as if he was a hero. His enormous body stood in front of a crowd of people, not letting a single monster passed his shield. He’s always had a good heart, huh? I wonder how the others are doing?

Shaking his head, he followed the streets and, with ground perception, he could see survivors within the buildings. The scenes of Markus protecting the people with his life on the line flashed within his mind. Should I give this hero thing a try? Sounds like fun... With a sigh, Alphonse reverted into his human form as he walked into the building. A group of survivors were trembling behind a locked door. It looked like a mixture of old and young. Grabbing hold of the door’s handle, he yanked it, his strength disintegrated the handle and lock as the door was swung wide open. He was met with screams, but they quickly turned into breaths of relief as they saw Alphonse.

“The coast is clear for now. If you want to live, then follow me until we get to safety… Or not, I don’t really care either way. I’d appreciate it if you did as I asked, though. My friends wouldn’t like it if I left you here.” Alphonse rambled. He looked at the dipped eyebrows of the people. Do they think I’m crazy or something? Do I not look like a hero?

A teenage girl was the first to stand up. “Thank you. Are you sure it's safe out there? Th-the monsters, they killed...” The girl couldn't finish her words. She lowered her head.

"They're gone." Alphonse continued. "For now, anyway."

Nodding, the survivors stood up. They walked onto the street. Alphonse looked at the girls, who were wearing strange outfits. Black cardigans over white shirts and black short skirts over tights. Finished with a red tie. “What’s with the weird get-up?”

“What? It’s our school uniform.” The girl's head moved on a swivel, peering at any dark corner. “What’s your name?”

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“Alphonse.” Alphonse looked at her for a second before his head gazed at the surrounding sights.

“It’s nice to meet you Alphonse, I’m Chloe. These are my friends, Lisa and Eren.” Rose-tinted spots surged onto their cheeks as they looked at Alphonse.

“Alright.” Alphonse said, then his eyes squinted. A hulking wolf meandered into the street from the alleyway. He had heard it… and smelt it. But with experience of dealing with other monsters and beasts. He knew this one didn’t stand a chance, it was just another portable meal.

The survivors screamed, some bolted away. While others, too scared to move. The shrill screeches of the girls penetrated his ears. He quickly titled his head and sent a glare to them. His hand shot forward, clasping around one of the girl's mouths. “What’s with the noise?”

The wolf, noticing the people in the middle of the street, started forward with a leap. Its speed increased drastically.

Alphonse, with his cleaver in hand, activated his new ability. He slashed to the side with his weapon as a matte-white streak cut forward. The projectile blade of the cleaver surged into the beast's chest, completely halving the wolf in two.

The survivors that stayed looked in absolute awe at the hulking best laying in a pool of its own blood. An acrid smell made Alphonse turn up his nose. He turned his head as a gentleman was quivering in his fancy shoes. A large dark patch covered his trousers, then the dark turned into a yellow as it seeped out onto the concrete below.

Alphonse shook his head. “C’mon little ducklings, follow me.”

Ignoring the body, he continued. Now and then he would stop at a building, gathering the survivors. The scene repeated itself as people started pissing themselves watching Alphonse split monsters in half. Sometimes he would use his cleaver, other times he would rely on his explosive magic.

One thing was clear: they viewed him as a conquering hero. The looks they shot him made Alphonse’s skin crawl. He was used to people looking at him like he was a monster… that was far more comfortable than being viewed as a superhero.

After walking for a good number of miles, he could hear loud cracking noises. They reverberated around the buildings, making it hard for a normal person to locate. Alphonse was no normal person… Ground perception activated and way before they even arrived at the noise source, an image of a battle took place in his mind. Hundreds of monsters were gnawing at a barricade. What appeared to be soldiers were fighting back against them. Holding guns. The image wasn’t too clear, so he simply walked around as the scene greeted him in full.

Soldiers were shooting at the monsters, the bullets were effective. They seemed well trained, some shots missed, but the majority landed. Hitting the squishy parts of the monster, sending scarlet liquid spraying into the air.

Alphonse stepped forward with a grin. I can finally offload these fucking piss covered wailing banshees.

With the feeling of becoming free, his cleaver sent many spectral blades forward like a storm. Blood cascaded like a fountain as body parts dropped to the ground like fleshy-hail.

Quickly the monsters were dispatched by Alphonse and the military soldiers, from the shots in front and Alphonse's spectral blades from behind. Dark-red liquid seeped forward, covering the soles of Alphonse's boots. He walked forward with wet steps, blood splashed up his leg.

"Halt!" one soldier screamed.

"I have survivors here. Some need medical treatment." Alphonse said. He motioned towards the people behind him. "While others need a wash."

"Alright... Give me a minute. It's not my decision to make." The soldier said as he took out a handheld radio. A minute later, he nodded.

"Okay, private Bradley will take you all to the camp."

Alphonse nodded and took a step forward.

"Not you." The soldier frowned.

"Why not?" Alphonse said.

"You're... magic. It's not allowed here. I have strict commands not to let anyone like you in."

Thank god, I couldn't stand being around these people much longer.

Alphonse shrugged. "Well, little chickens, this is where we part ways." At the words, most of them scrambled towards the bus.

"Ungrateful bastards.” Alphonse mumbled. Chloe hesitated.

"Go on, this is as far as I'm taking you. I ain't protecting you anymore than I already have."

She bit her lip and nodded. "Thank you for everything. I hope you find what you're looking for."

At their departing backs, Alphonse thought to himself. How did she know I'm looking for the mission objective? Frowning, he wondered if she was an apostle? Nah, impossible.

Alphonse meandered through the streets. Stopping only to give the soldiers a middle finger.