Prologue
Where is Hope?
An electronic female voice sounded inside my head. It was a voice I have always heard since long ago. It was a voice without tone, without emotion. The voice had always been like that for as long as I can remember. But today, I think I heard some joy in that voice.
She, the voice, was Hope. An artificial intelligence developed using a part of my own brain. She was the other me, a part of me.
"Captain, it's a job well done." One of my subordinates tapped my shoulder. I looked back to see four people wearing black skin-tight suits under heavy metal armor components. Most of the armor parts were broken, a testament to the arduous battle we had.
"Yes, it is." My voice echoed in the cavern, mixing with the humming sound coming from the platform in the middle. The platform was made out of the same material as the cavern with weird inscriptions covering its surface, and a distorted space hovered above it.
It was the Hellgate, a rip in the dimensional walls allowing creatures from an unknown demonic realm to cross over to our world.
We are the Special Soldier Squad, the product of human genetic modification research almost two decades ago, right after the appearance of the Hellgate. Our mission was simple: to infiltrate the deepest part of the Lair and destroy the Hellgate. It was a success.
Hearing Hope, I commanded my squad to leave immediately. We hurried back to the surface as fast as we could, encountering some stragglers along the way. We were almost there when a scream pierced the air.
It was one of my squad members. The relief from reaching the exit probably lowered his guard. A straggler caught him by surprise and chopped of his leg.
"Axord!" I warned the other members. "Go on ahead! I'll handle it."
The Axord is a spawn from the Hellgate with the appearance of a mutated humanoid creature. It's a bipedal with blades for arms. The blades resemble that of a mix between an axe and a sword, thus called Axord.
[Hope, prioritize speed.]
Giving a mental instruction to Hope, she activated all the speed boosting elements of my armored suit. Compressing air and releasing them behind me in a fraction of a second, I suddenly appeared in front of the Axord. I kicked its chest, knocking it back before it could strike down my comrade.
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"Captain!"
"What's your status?"
"I lost a leg, mobility down below 20%"
I had no time to think about Hope's warning. The Axord had already recovered and was rushing towards me. Those blades were sharp enough to cut through the hardest alloys, and I had no weapons to defend myself with. The weapons were all used up in the last battle in the Hellgate cavern.
I picked up my squad member and with the thought [Physical Strength Boost for an instant.], I threw him as hard as I could to the exit. I barely dodged the Axords swings, grazing and destroying the auxiliary armor components on both my shoulders.
[Purge.]
I felt some of the weight on me disappear. I dodged the Axord's persistent onslaught, looking for a chance to retaliate.
That's when it all went wrong.
I lost my footing, and I thought that it was the end of my life. Strangely, the Axord in front of me had disappeared. As I looked at the exit, the bizarre sight almost caused my heart to stop.
Everything was distorted. It looked similar to the Hellgate.
As Hope's voice faded, I felt a sudden pulling force on me. Everything around me looked like a piece of cloth being pulled into a small hole. The colors mixed and objects lost their distinct shapes. The world in my view turned black.
Hope's voice woke me up. I could feel strong winds blowing against me. Slowly, I opened my eyes, and my breath got stuck in my lungs. It was not because of the height I was falling down from.
The view in front of me caused a single word to appear in my thoughts.
[Hell]