At the heart of the city, dozens of people stood alert. Unlike what people were expecting, these men weren't from the military. No, during the chaos that engulfed the world, the militaries of their government were the first to go.
Not because they were scared, but rather because they were brave enough to go to the front lines and sacrifice themselves. They hoped to give humanity more time to learn something, to find a solution.
Alas, that solution never showed itself, and the Colony Type Anomalies were too powerful and grew too quickly for even missiles to slow their growth. Strangely, no nuclear weapons were ever used.
The sun stood at its highest, sitting in the middle of the sky. No one would see it though, and no one even cared as it was covered by thick, grayish clouds. No thunder or lightning could be heard or seen in the clouds, but thunders from their hearts echoed in these mens’ ears.
Alex stood tall, his back proudly facing the Moon Agents who believed in him.
With a couple of minutes and nothing happening, a Moon Agent couldn't help speaking up.
“Chief, is the Swarm really going to…” As though responding to his doubts, an apocalyptic scene played before them.
On the horizon, a black curtain was slowly covering the sky, ushering the world in a false night. With their enhanced bodies and vision, Alex and the Moon Agents could clearly see the suspects of this show.
“The Swarm has arrived,” Alex simply said and watched the Swarm getting closer, seemingly endless in numbers.
BUZZZZ!
The skies turned dark, covered by insect bodies. Glowing Spawns and burning Lava Ants loomed over everyone, casting nothing but gloom.
“Swiftly evacuate as many people as possible,” Alex turned back, conveying the command to all the Moonlight Agents. In this battle, only Moon Agents will not be a burden.
At the same time, Alex had the ordinary agents hide in an underground facility, forbidding them from going outside unless given orders to do so. If they die uselessly in battle, the Swarm will only grow stronger and Alex refuses to make that happen.
Mistakes are made to learn from, not to repeat.
As he was watching the advancing Swarm, Alex felt a hand on his shoulder. “Alex,” the Moon Agent called to him.
Peeling his gaze off the Swarm, Alex turned to look at Jason, the Moon Agent who was bold enough to even call Alex by name.
Jason had graduated from “Moonlight” to “Moon” in a short amount of time, making Alex feel both proud and conflicted.
Of course, none of this broke his iceberg facade.
“Are you worried?” Jason asked, a grin on his face. Alex's eyes narrowed slightly, but he otherwise said nothing.
“I know I am. My friend Jarred is just an ordinary man,” Jason looked at the Swarm. “He was a hopeless guy who relied on his family’s money. He played video games and watched anime all day.”
Jason paused, before a chuckle escaped his lips. His throat felt dry and his eyes felt prickly, but he continued his speech through gritted teeth.
“Now, he might die.”
Jason's eyes instantly lost their luster, the grin wiped out from his face. Alex felt strange seeing his student pale with a blank look, it was his first time seeing this expression from Jason.
‘And here I thought he was a clown who loved smiling all day long,’ Alex let out a melancholic sigh in his head.
“I don't have a family, and frankly, Jarred’s the only person I ever called a friend, and the only person who cared about me,” Jason sighed, a smile slowly reaching his face. He looked down, looking at the spear in his hand.
Jason turned to look at his master, only to feel a hand covering his mouth and forcing the fake smile to fade away.
“You're a bold person, Jason. To dare say that in front of your master,” Alex shook his head. Today, he learned that his disciple had a talent in controlling his expressions. Sadly, he wouldn't learn anymore about his student after today.
“What's your point?” Alex asked, his usual cold tone being familiar to Jason. This time, Jasm didn't smile. He only kept a poker face.
“I looked into the library,” Jason already had a frown just from saying that. “The information there is not a secret among the agents. You encouraged us to read the books there, remember?” Jason’s gaze turned sharp.
“The organization was founded by the former Chief. He collected anomalies and kept them in captivity,” Jason said, blades lacing his tongue.
“When he died, the anomalies escaped. hundreds, maybe THOUSANDS of anomalies,” Jason emphasized.
“And?” Alex raised an eyebrow, his tone cold but his words feigning ignorance. His gaze never left Jason's eyes, daring the other to keep talking.
Jason met Alex's challenge with burning frustration.
“Don't play dumb. Where did the rest of the Anomalies go? If all the anomalies escaped to random places, we should've received reports on strange objects or animals,” Jason explained, gripping his spear tightly as his gaze turned into a glare.
“Instead, all we're seeing are the Colony Type Anomalies,” Jason crossed his arms. “Are you behind this? With the help of those Anomalies, humanity wouldn't have been so passive!”
“The anomalies are being kept in a vessel,” Aled gave a half-hearted reply, turning to look back at the Swarm. The Swarm was now about to reach the city.
“A vessel? Are we fusing humans with anomalies now?” Jason sneered, debating if he should clean his ears.
“Watch your words, Jason,” Alex said in a calm voice, yet Jason felt his throat going dry, shivering in newfound fear.
“Tsk. What do you intend to do? Even with you and I, defeating both the Lava Ants and the Swarm at the same time is impossible. We also received a notice saying that the Mad Intrusion joined the Swarm and the Lava Ants recently,” Jason said, his tone full of doubt.
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“You're underestimating me, and worse yet, you're underestimating yourself,” Alex chuckled, patting Jason's head. Jason's height was above average, but Alex towered over him.
Taking out the Promised Pen and Book, Alex wrote down a sentence.
[I'll keep the promise, give me strength.]
With those words written, Alex felt his heart lighten, and his mind became clear too. The book disappeared, an ethereal sword being placed on his hand. Alex swung it a few times before nodding in satisfaction.
The sword felt like a third arm to him.
“Jason,” Alex called out. “You're not ready yet, but I have to tell you now. You're an anomaly too.”
Jason paused, his eyes narrowing with a displeased scowl painted on his face. “Quit joking, what nonsense…”
“I have a device that lets me know where to find anomalies. And you,” Alex pointed at his disciple. “You are an anomaly.”
“... I'm normal. I was born as a normal child, although orphaned,” Jason glared at Alex.
Jason hated anomalies.
Because of the outbreak of anomalies, his peaceful life was broken and he was forced to pick up a spear to save his friend.
“Who knows if that is true?” Alex shrugged, and before Jason could rebut, Alex talked first.
“No one knows for certain if you appeared out of nowhere or if you were given birth to. All I know is that you are the first human anomaly. And by the end of this war, you will become a hero, Jason.”
Despite his heart raging at Alex's hateful words, Jason endured it and forced himself to calm down. He can think about Alex's theory after the war.
“A hero, how fucking awful,” Jason scowled.
“It is. A hero cannot make mistakes, or he becomes a fraud,” Alex smiled. Seeing the Swarm reaching the city at last, he crouched, glancing at Jason one final time.
Jason had seen Alex charge headfirst into the Swarm multiple times. It was practically the man's signature, and Jason was copying it himself. However, Jason felt uneasy at Alex's solemn eyes.
“Wait, master—!”
“Goodluck, Jason,” Alex jumped off, his body gliding through the air to meet the incoming Swarm.
‘Ah, I never thought freedom can only be achieved through surrendering,’ Alex smiled, a genuine smile. His death was certain, he knew it. Even if he didn't die to the Swarm, he will die on his own in a few years, or perhaps only months..
‘I made a mistake during my training and accidentally took too much energy from my surroundings, burdening my soul,’ Alex sighed.
‘I envy those geniuses who lived to elderly while engaging in their deranged experiments,’ Alex chuckled, finally reaching the first wave of Spawns and Lava Ants.
He lowered his sword, before swinging it upward to cut a thick chunk of the Swarm. His sword didn't just cut what was on its path, it also sliced whatever was around it as though its blade was much bigger than its physical form.
‘These fantasy-like abilities will make a child squeal in excitement,’ Alex chuckled in his mind before he stifled it.
‘I shouldn't be distracted, but I can't help it. The world is too slow,’ Alex sighed. Despite all the thinking he made, the thousands of Spawns and Lava Ants he killed had yet to even fall to ground, and his body seemed to stay afloat while he thought.
‘Sadly, I don't possess superhuman speed. I can perceive the world in slow motion, but my body is still bound by mortal chains,’ Alex resigned to his faith and tried to calm himself.
The world sped up a little bit, and Alex finally felt like he was out of the quicksand of time.
Alex twisted his body, avoiding the corrosive blood of the Lava Ants while also brandishing his sword another time. He killed another few thousands of the Swarm, when he noticed rain droplets falling from above.
He looked up, before hurriedly moving aside. Unfortunately, the droplets of venom managed to land on his arm, breaking the thin barrier around him into pieces.
The fabric of his suit burned before the venom ran dry. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw more venom dropping toward him whilst blocking his escape path.
‘They’re luring me in,’ Alex concluded. ‘I shouldn't be rude, they invited me to their side, after all,’ Alex chuckled and charged toward the Swarm. More burning venom landed on his clothes, ruining the once perfect red suit.
HISSS!
Feeling a sharp pain on his arm, Alex glanced down to see that a Lava Ant's corpse managed to land on his skin. Its flesh had turned slimy and gooey, and it was burning through his skin.
“That's new,” Alex frowned, his brows knitting. With a swipe of his hand, he brushed away the dead ant and madly swung his sword. His gloves were now torn and showed his bare skin, exposing more vulnerable spots but Alex could hardly care.
In less than a minute, more than a million Spawns and Lava Ants were killed by Alex.
With the constant swarm of Spawns and Lava Ants harassing him, Alex could only think for himself. His focus was to evade death as long as possible while killing as many Spawns and Lava Ants as he could.
While in a trance, Alex swung his sword aimlessly, yet perfectly hitting his targets. At the same time, he backflipped, swinging his sword twice to defend himself from the onslaught of bugs.
“Hmm?” Caught by surprise, Alex looked around, only to see the Swarm still trying to kill him. He smirked, “Helzar?”
“You coward, come here and face me,” Alex taunted, charging at the Swarm and unleashed a barrage of attacks. He was far from tired, his muscles were full of energy, but that energy was rapidly decreasing as he healed his own wounds.
“What is?” Alex asked, putting nearly zero attention to Helzar, only replying absentmindedly. The Lava Ant’s venom started to prove troublesome as his long sleeves burned, falling off from his suit.
With his arm fully exposed, more venom scathed his skin, forcing him to rapidly heal the spots. Otherwise, his arms would weaken and his already faltering defense would falter even more.
“Meh,” Alex crouched, swinging his sword five times in one fluid motion. The technique killed most of the Spawns and Lava Ants near him, but his arms and hands were covered in venomous blood as a result.
SZZZ…
While the skin healed, Alex focused on drawing in more energy from his surroundings and tried to make it his own. Multitasking in the battlefield results in an early death, but Alex has no choice but to do so, or he'll face an even earlier death.
“That's one thing I'd despise to become,” Alex gave a breathless laugh. The Swarm had slowed down their attacks, but the Lava Ants remained relentless.
“Are you toying with me?” Alex smiled, finding the idea ridiculous.
“Then let's find out how good my stamina is,” Alex said, breathing out and bracing himself. His expression instantly turned ice cold, and his sword strikes were so fast they turned into a mirage.
“I don't want to hear it,” Alex shook his head ever so slightly, his voice deep and monotone.
“...what are you, a demon? I won't sell my soul,” Alex scoffed. He walked forward, swinging his sword at the wall of Spawns and making them scatter like a pile of dust.
He failed to kill a single one of them, however.
“Hmm,” Alex nodded, sharpening his gaze as the Spawns looked at him hungrily. “Well, it was nice while it lasted,” Alex sighed.
The Swarm dove toward Alex. After pulling their attacks back for a few moments while Helzar spoke with Alex, they had accumulated millions of Spawns to swarm Alex.
Alex noticed the problem too and madly swung his sword, each strike meant to kill without caring for self-preservation.
SHING!
With one last swing of his sword, the swarm of Spawns and Lava Ants surrounding Alex were all dead.
Looking at his arms, his skin was already mostly peeled off and he could see his own bones. Even staying still hurts, but Alex’s face betrayed none of the pain he felt.
“So this is what normal people experienced. How dreadful,” Alex mumbled. Strength from his arms was rapidly leaving him, but he didn't want to go down yet. He forced most of his energy into fixing his arm, managing to stop the bleeding in an instant. A thin layer of skin covered his skinless arm, but it didn't grow thicker.
‘I’m on my last reserves of energy,’ Alex felt both relieved and apprehensive. Death was behind him, and he didn't plan on running away. Yet, the fear of death still lingered in his mind, despite having discarded it long ago.
‘It’s time,’ Alex thought and closed his eyes. After being freed momentarily from the Swarm, he earned himself a few seconds worth of time.
‘I can't change the weapon's form. However, its power explodes with the user's will,’ Alex thought to himself. He found this hidden ability of the Promised Pen and Book a few days ago, and using it would mean he was ready to die.
“Helzar, you may conquer the land, but you'll never conquer its people,” Alex said. His body glowed a faint red, and he felt stronger than ever, despite being at his weakest. Seeing the incoming Swarm, Alex didn't wait and charged toward the invading Swarm and Lava Ants.
Soon, with a swing of his sword, energy slashes poured out from his sword, easily killing the Spawns and Lava Ants who were at the distance.
“Hiss…” Alex felt his head reeling, but he didn't pay it heed. Instead, he focused on where to swing his sword next. Each attack was to be used as efficiently as possible, or else his life will be in vain like the one he succeeded.
‘This pain… is inhuman,’ Alex felt his head melting after the tenth strike. Blood poured out from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes, but alas, the Swarm and the Lava Ants were no longer as numerous as before. It would take a few minutes at minimum for the Swarm and the Lava Ants to send their next wave of insects.
“Rest… No, I cannot rest,” Alex smiled, using his sword as a cane as he stood upright. He looked around, watching the Moon Agents giving him looks of admiration and worry.
“I'm already dead,” Alex mumbled to himself when he heard buzzing in his ears. Looking ahead, he saw cockroaches rapidly closing in on them.
“The Mad Intrusion… so they don't want me to rest too,” Alex laughed, standing up properly and charged toward the Mad Intrusion.
“Chief!” The Moon Agents called out, quickly wielding their weapons to deal with the Swarm and Lava Ants around them. They were about to support Alex, when they heard their leader screaming.
“Silence, halt!” Alex yelled, surprising the Moon Agents including Jason. “Just watch. Watch and burn my image into your minds. This is what sacrifice should look like,” Alex smiled peacefully, mowing through the millions of cockroaches like they were made of dandelions.
He danced in the battlefield and like the eye of a storm, the cockroaches circled around him to keep him moving.
A couple of minutes passed by and a thick layer of cockroaches carpeted the ground, burying Alex's feet and ankles, as well as half of his leg. With the Mad Intrusion repelled, he once more stood straight with the help of his sword.
His back was straight, his eyes were steady, and his smile was present. Seeing him, the Moon Agents felt as though they hadn't done anything to help their Chief. Sure, they collectively killed millions of Spawns and Lava Ants, but Alex killed more on his own.
“Jason,” Alex called out, and Jason had no choice but to get near. The Spawns and Lava Ants had retreated to the distance for now.
The Mad Intrusion was as good as gone after Alex's final waltz.
“I'm fulfilling the promise. In due time, you will too,” Alex said, closing his eyes.
CRACK—CRACK…
Shaaa…
The ethereal sword that Alex was using as a cane slowly turned into dust, before a pen and a small book appeared in Jason's hand. Alex fell, landing on his knees before falling to the ground. Jason tried catching him, but he was too late.
He couldn't even see Alex's body as it sank below the flood of cockroaches.
“Alex?” Still in a trance, Jason knelt down, about to search for Alex's body when he heard the buzzing of Spawns and Lava Ants.
“They're here again,” Jason frowned.
The second wave of the Swarm had arrived, and the agents couldn't help but notice that there were more of them this time.