Chapter 2 Burning Hatred
Thud...Thud…
Rex can hear that the creature is walking behind him, he wanted to run outside but suddenly the monster leaped to the door blocking his way.
It did it with ease and very fast too that even Rex didn't see its movement.
Upon seeing the bulky creature blocking the door, Rex falls to the floor but immediately gets up and runs in the opposite direction with tears in his eyes.
He found a cabinet in the living room and hid there,
Rex closes the cabinet and also his eyes, he then grasps his head with his hands.
'Happy Thoughts'
'It will go away'
He kept repeating the same words that his father told him over and over again inside his head, trying desperately to grasp his head on the situation he's in that still feels unreal.
Thud...Thud…Thud…
Rex can hear the monster's step getting closer and closer to him,
Thud!
The creature's step stops right in front of the cabinet as it can be seen through the shadow from the crack of the cabinet, Rex held his breath while covering his mouth with his shaking hand.
'Mom...Dad... I'm scared', Rex thought inside his head sobbing.
The monster's claw taps on the cabinet door creating a tapping sound, the cabinet door started to open slowly as if the creature purposely did this to enhance Rex's fear.
But then suddenly, "AAAAHHHH!!"
~
Just a moment ago,
Ms. Greene saw Rex gets inside the house before she looks around with a frown.
The neighborhood is eerily quiet which makes her feel something is off, she then strolls around the street passing the neighboring houses.
But her movements stopped when she heard a crashing sound,
"What's that sound?", Ms. Greene mumbles as she glances at the house on her left.
The crashing sound came from the house on her left,
Lights can be seen through the windows of the house as Ms. Greene approaches slowly, she knits her eyebrows together while looking at the windows.
Ms. Greene heard another loud crashing sound coming from the house,
"Should I go check what's happening?", Ms. Greene mutters, she then looks around and finds that nobody is coming out of their houses although the crashing sound was loud.
Just when she was about to head to the door,
Shatter!
The window on the second floor of the house broke as a person got flung outside, the person landed right beside Ms. Greene with his body covered with gaping claw wounds.
Upon seeing this, Ms. Greene gasps in shock as she falls to the ground.
She widens her eyes in shock realizing that the person that falls beside her is dead!
Growl!
Ms. Greene snapped her head back to the window as she heard a rough growling sound, without even wasting any more time she immediately ran to her motorcycle.
But just when she's nearing her motorcycle,
At the far end of the street, Ms. Greene saw military vehicles heading their way.
She was about to start her motorcycle and ride away, but she then suddenly heard another sound but this one is a scream and it comes from Rex's house.
This makes her body stop as she looks at Rex's house in worry,
Knowing that Rex is in there when there's obviously something going on in this neighborhood, Ms. Greene gets off her motorcycle and hurriedly went barges inside the house.
~
Back to the present,
"AAAAHHHH!!"
A high-pitched scream was heard, its voice is familiar to Rex but his head can't think in this state.
The monster glanced calmly towards the source of the scream, it smacked its lips in delight looking at another meal that comes knocking on its door.
It was Ms. Greene who just barged inside the house,
Ms. Greene slid to the ground in shock, 'What is this?! What is that thing?!' she screamed inside her head, shocked by the sudden appearance of the furred creature.
The appearance of the furred creatures shocks her so much that she's frozen in place.
Upon seeing her appearance, the creature then changed its target to Ms. Greene who looks meatier than Rex's small body that hardly fits its appetite.
But when the monster wanted to strike, a loud howl that sent a shiver on Rex's spine was heard.
AOUUUUUU!!
The creature stopped abruptly, anger mixed with fear can be seen in his expression.
It glances in the direction of the howl before the creature angrily grabs a couch on its side and throws it powerfully, the couch flew past Ms. Greene who ducked to the ground.
Crash!
The couch was thrown outside of the house,
After doing that, the creature then tore through the wall by jumping through it.
It also didn't forget to cast one last look towards Ms. Greene who is still frozen in fear totally disregarding Rex who is inside the cabinet.
The creature came and go like a shadow in the night,
Rex walks out of the cabinet and looks in the direction where the creature has left, bloody path was made everywhere the monster goes.
Some surviving families unluckily meet its path and are butchered instantly.
Rex looks at the bloodied path with a hint of hatred that he doesn't even understand before turning to Ms. Greene.
'Countries all over the world have experienced a large scale attack'
'Unknown creature came out of nowhere and started attacking every people they can get their hands on, an international crisis has been declared by all countries'
'The attack comes in minutes, but as record, millions have already been killed'
'It is advised to stay at home, the military will be deployed in every part of the country so please stay at home and do not do anything that will attract any attention'
The sound of the tv on the side can be heard showing the latest breaking news,
But Ms. Greene didn't pay any attention as her eyes were fixated on Rex who stood in front of her, she was taken aback after looking at Rex's expression.
'That is not the expression a kid should have!'
-----
CLANG!
Rex wakes up from his dream sweating, the sound of an RV military car stopping wakes him up from his sleep as the memories from years ago still haunt him until now.
Pure hatred can be seen on his face, but it returns to normal in a blink of an eye.
''Just you wait you, filthy creatures! Today is my first step toward massacring supernaturals and finally you!', Rex thought of the furred monster that killed his parents with fierce determination flashing through his eyes.
The seed of eternal hatred emerges when the supernatural decided to kill his mother and father without a reason which still haunts Rex in his dream endlessly.
It's the feeling of helplessness that he felt in front of that creature,
Watching that creature kill his parents just to satisfy its hunger, Rex remembered every detail of that creature even though its already years away from now.
Rex rubs his eyelids after waking up from his sleep,
On the side, he sees two more people strap on military gear just like Rex himself and they both are looking at Rex weirdly.
The war between Humans and Supernaturals started fifteen years ago,
It happened in an instant and without any warning.
Out of nowhere, the supernaturals announce themselves and conquered half of the world for themselves killing every human they met.
They consist of many types of races,
All of these races that are not humans are classified as Supernatural, they work together to attack the defenseless human that has no idea of their emergence.
They are ruthless and spare no human whatsoever, not even babies.
In response to the international sudden threat,
Human countries from all around the world join forces to wipe them out which results in this war.
But even with humanity's advanced weaponry, they are no match for the Supernatural.
The Supernatural is better in every aspect than humans, they have super-strength, super-speed, and heightened senses that move, react, and kill in the blink of an eye.
Some even have out-worldly abilities which put even the elite forces of humans to shame.
Because of their superior absolute raw power, the supernatural is winning the war against humans but things started to balance out when the human started gaining power.
A power that brings the light of hope to the helpless humanity.
We call these humans the Awakened, they are humans that are gifted with magic after undergoing a natural process called awakening.
These Awakened can match the absolute power of the Supernatural,
With the help of the Awakened, the tide of the war started to look better for humanity but nevertheless, the war is still far from over.
Because of desperation, humanity is forced to bring teens into the war.
Rex is one of them, he is only twenty-two years old with no parents.
He joins the military when he was twelve years old and has undergone training ever since, he is in the Special Reconnaissance Unit, an expert in scouting and stealth.
Before joining the military,
Ms.Greene felt pity for Rex that had to see his parents die in front of his eyes, she then finally decided to adopt Rex and becomes his guardian.
Today Rex is going on his first mission with two of his team members.
During training in the military, Rex's talent in learning and adapting to situations even though he's still a kid was caught by the military.
Because of that, the unit puts him in the Special Reconnaissance Unit.
Just now even though Rex already begged a couple of times to be sent on a mission, the unit he's in just finally gives him his first mission with two other teens.
"Yo, you alright? You seem to have a nightmare just now", asked the guy next to him, Edward.
Hearing this, Rex then replied with a disturbing smile etched on his face, "I'm alright, I just can't wait to see those bastards got bombarded to the ground"
Edward replies with a dry laugh before turning his eyes away.
But then suddenly, Kyle the other teen in the RV vehicle with them added, "I can't believe we are given the worst kind of job", he laughs, ridiculing himself.
There is a hint of nervousness in his eyes but only Rex caught this,
"I know but it is the most sensitive operation, and unluckily we are the ones chosen for it", Edward replied with a hopeless expression.
Kyle then said angrily, "But it just has to be us, there are others aside from us"
"I've heard from the sergeant major that although we're dealing with ghouls, other Supernaturals are there, and sending higher ranked Awakened will just like sending a torch into the darkness"
"They will be caught easily, that is why it has to be us", Edward explains with a sigh.
Just as they are talking about the mission,
A fierce-looking man with a scar on his face walks out from the front seat and stops in front of Rex and his team, there are eight lines on his shoulder signing him as a Sergeant Major of the operation.
"Stand up Soldier!"
Without a second of hesitation, Rex and the others stand up straight in order.
After giving a confirmation nod, the Sergeant Major continues, "Today you are tasked to scout the den of ghouls, the objective is to report to the air force the location of the den so the air force can bombard them"
"This operation is very important, the three of you are specially trained and within the limit of what the Supernaturals can sense. If you succeed the fiercest war in Dwight City will be our victory, you'll save far more precious lives than each of you will amount to be"
Even with the sharp words from the Sergeant Major, Rex and the others kept silent.
He then continues, "The ghoul is giving trouble with its endless horde, so you must succeed in this operation no matter the cost. You know how it is, so don't hesitate even if it cost your lives, get that soldier?!", the Sergeant Major looks at each of Rex, Edward, and Kyle right on the eyes.
There is a hint of warning in his tone as he presses on the importance of the mission.
"Sir yes sir!", replied Rex's team in a union.
After hearing that, the Sergeant Major then looks at Edward and Kyle, "Both of you are a rank two Awakened, so failure is not an option alright?!
"Sir yes sir!", both of them replied.
The Sergeant Major then glance at Rex before he added, "Although you are not an Awakened, you have been training and waiting for this moment. Guide the both of them, use your hatred towards the Supernatural to see that this operation is a success"
"Sir yes sir!", Rex, in turn, replied with determination.
After reminding them of the importance of their operation the Sergeant Major left the three of them, not long after the lights on the RV door glow yellow.
Rex, Edward, and Kyle get up from their seat and started to gear up.
They put on an all-black uniform, black boots, black vests, black headgear, and a black night goggle all geared on their body to tackle this operation.
It's necessary equipment for the dark woods they soon will dwell in.
Kyle brought a black saber on his back that is incredibly sharp judging by the looks of it, Edward brought two daggers that exert a slight amount of red aura.
While Rex brought many backpacks that are strapped all over his body and also a long sword on his back.
It didn't take long before the lights turn from yellow to green,
The RV vehicle's back door started to open slowly, and when it was opened completely the three of them rush off to the woods as the RV vehicle left them without making any noise.
Just after Rex's team jumped out of the car,
Instantly the ground beneath them sucks their boots, the smell of rotten walking corpses makes the air feel stuffy and the woods are dark this night hindering their vision.
Rex and the others immediately use their night vision goggles like they were trained.
After using the night vision goggles, they started to dwell deep into the dark and rotting woods in search of the ghoul den as their goal of the operation.
Their boots are made of a material that makes little to no sound, their gears are all black.
Just like three ghosts in the night, they keep searching for their objective until they met a landslide that's a perfect place for their hideout.
Using a hand sign,
Rex tells Edward to take out the bait and put it in the open while Kyle keeps a lookout for any sudden threats to the operation, they're inside the Supernatural territory.
So they need to be absolutely on their guard,
Edward takes a big chunk of human meat from his bag, rotting smells immediately enter everyone's nose but the three of them seem to be unfazed as if they are used to it.
He then throws the meat to an open field,
They then quickly hide on the landslide after strapping themselves with a black rope to keep them from sliding off, they did it with little to no sound.
After doing that, the next step is a waiting game for the ghouls to take the bait.
But it is easier said than done,
The three of them lie flat on the ground without even moving an inch, the ghouls like to eat fresh meat but their sense of smell is dull so it can take a while.
Five Days pass and the bait is still not working.
Rex and Kyle have some doubts about the bait, but the military already confirmed the bait based on what Edward said so they can't do anything but wait.
At first, they started to feel itchy and tired from staying in their spots for so long.
But the longer they wait for the ghouls, the itchiness becomes stronger as spent days staying on their spots without taking a bath and only eating ration.
The bulging backpack that Rex brought started to get thinner,
While waiting for the ghouls, the three of them started to think of a way to find more food.
The forest is very humid,
It is theoretically impossible to make fire, and also, they cannot attract attention by using mana which might bring the operation to a failure if they were caught.
During these five days,
They can hear the sound of other Supernaturals such as banshees, nymphs, and dark pixies but all of them are quickly dealt with by Kyle's and Edward using only their weapons.
Although, yesterday night the area's temperature is a little colder than usual.
Kyle is on a night watch when suddenly he sees a floating hooded figure with blue skin, its eyes glow red and the temperature continues to drop the closer that thing got.
Looking at the creature, Kyle's eyes widened in fear.
Not one military man will not recognize this floating hooded figure just from a glance.
Rex and Edward notice the changes and proceed to wake up, during this operation they are very alert so they wake up rather quickly.
Before they can even adjust to their surrounding,
Kyle already takes out a big pouch of water from his bag before he pours it towards the three of them, he then signals to both of them to lay low and be quiet.
Rex and Edward are confused upon waking up,
But seeing Kyle pours water on them, it's obvious what he's trying to avoid.
A mage that belongs to the Undead Race that brings the coldness of death wherever it goes, this Supernatural is none other than a Lich.
The three of them saw the Lich from afar leading a horde of ghouls,
Lich is a middle-rank supernatural that the three of them can't hope to compete with, they are blind but is very sensitive to the changes of heat and mana in the surroundings.
Before humanity gain powers, it took a barrage of bazookas to kill one lich.
Need to bear in mind that the lich that was killed by a barrage of bazookas is the weakest kind of lich, a high-rank Lich will simply block the bazookas with their spells.
Thankfully, the lich is too far away for it to notice them.
Another week passed, and the sun is already starting to be engulfed by the vast sky.
Nothing happened during the week except for low-level supernatural visiting them here and there, the three of them are starving and they can't hold on much longer.
"I can't hold on much longer, We need to find food,", Edward said weakly.
Hearing this, Kyle nodded his head, "I agree, let's devised a plan", he replied with a helpless expression showing that he too is hungry.
At this moment in time,
The supply inside Rex's bag has already run out for six days, they didn't expect to be this long in the mission and the three of them can no longer contain their hunger.
After making a strategy to find food, Kyle volunteer to be the one to hunt.
Rex and Edward will stay here and keep their eyes on the bait, there's no telling when the ghouls will come so a couple of pairs of eyes are needed.
'The bait shouldn't be this ineffective, the den must be far from here', Rex thought.
He really has the intention to just find the ghoul's den and just ransack the den but his logic doesn't allow him to, he knows his limitation.
The ghoul is on the low rank of supernatural,
Although Rex can easily kill a low low-level ghoul, he will instantly die when he found the den and meet a higher-rank ghoul.
A moment later, Kyle comes back with a dead deer.
The three of them look at each other before looking back at the deer carcass, after nodding in agreement they started eating the raw deer.
At first, they really wanted to vomit but if they do then they will be left with no energy left.
The taste of raw deer meat is not something normal people can eat, the three of them driven by their hunger and duty were able to forcefully eat this raw deer meat to replenish their energy.
Edward looks at Kyle and Rex can't help to sigh, "If they don't give us a fuckin medal, I'm changing sides", he joked to lighten up the mood.
Hearing this, Rex and Kyle chuckle lightly before they both gag and cough.
When they were eating the raw deer, the three of them stopped when they heard the sound of footsteps coming from their right.
Kyle with his fast reflex lift the deer easily and tossed it away,
This is done fearing that the ghoul will smell the deer's carcass instead of their bait.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Not long after,
The sound of many ghouls approaching was heard, four-stranded ghouls approach the meat with all four before they started to eat the bait.
Upon eating, a fight amongst themselves is inevitable.
While watching the ghouls from the side silently, the three of them covers their nose with their hands smelling the unbelievable stench coming from the ghouls.
Even with their training, the smell of a ghoul makes the three of them want to puke.
It takes a huge amount of determination for the three of them to withstand the stench from the ghoul, it is absolutely a disgusting smell.
The ghouls are humanoid and walk on four,
They have hunchbacks with spines sticking out from their back, bloodied claws that sent a shiver to an untrained soldier's eyes, with dark black eyes as dark as the abyss.
Dangling guts are the source of the stench, their rotten scent can reach a mile away.
Looking at the eating ghouls,
Rex's hand started to tremble as this is the moment he's been waiting for, and his eyes turn red in anger as he struggles to keep his cool in front of a Supernatural.
Kyle notices Rex's expression,
He immediately put his hand on Rex's shoulder before he whispers, "No direct contact with the Ghouls, our objective is to report and leaves"
This makes Rex clench his jaw suppressing his hatred and anger,
Rex gripped the dirt beside him knowing that he shouldn't do anything, but then,
Snap!
A snapping sound can be heard as he accidentally broke a twig that is buried in the dirt, this makes one of the ghouls look in their direction.
The three of them held their breath trying to lie as still as possible,
They loosen the rope to slide back slowly for a bit to avoid exposing themselves, it will ruin their entire operation if the Ghouls notice them and report their position back to the others.
Ghouls have a vision the same as a dog, it's not that good but they can still notice them.
Rex and the others held their breaths as the ghoul looks in their direction, but it finally gets back to eating when one of the ghouls collides with it because of the fight.
After Rex peeks and saw the ghouls are back to eating, he sighs in relief.
Thankfully the three of them are unnoticed by the ghouls, but Kyle and Edward look at Rex with warning looks before they started following the ghouls.
It finished the human meat in just a moment since it's not that much,
The ghouls can be considered as low intelligent Supernatural, so after they ate the human meat, they will go straight back to where they belong without questioning why a slice of human meat is there for them to eat.
Rex's team then started to follow the ghouls while trying to keep a good fifteen meters distance from the Ghouls, it's a perfect distance to follow the Ghouls without being noticed.
After following the Ghouls for fifteen minutes or so they arrive at an abandoned cemetery.
Just from a glance, they saw a couple of Ghouls wandering the area.
Some of them enter some kind of tomb in the center of the cemetery, this place is certainly the Ghoul's Den that they need to mark and report to the air force.
Before they can even formulate a plan to throw the red flare signal for the air force,
A wandering ghoul noticed them from their right,
This ghoul looks more menacing than the others, its muscle is bulging out of its body, it has fangs coming out of its mouth, and its body is covered with bones that act as armor.
After noticing Rex's team, the Ghoul started to walk toward them slowly.
It seems the Ghoul is still unsure if what it is seeing is right.
Edward and Kyle are formulating a plan before Rex noticed the approaching ghoul, but just when he is about to warn Edward and Kyle, the ghoul leaped to them.
ROAR!
Edward and Kyle noticed the ominous feeling behind them, they started to emit a red aura.
Before they can even turn around to look at the leaping Ghoul, Kyle's head even though covered with a red aura is slashed by the Ghoul's claw.
The red aura proves to be useless in front of the menacing ghoul!
Rank 2 awakened can channel their element affinity to cover their whole body to make some kind of aura that enhances their physical strength, but the menacing ghoul treats it as a mere joke.
"KYLE!" Edward shouted in surprise.
Kyle recovers from the slash and takes out his saber, the menacing ghoul looks at Kyle and throws out another slash aiming for his neck.
In the nick of time,
Rex pulls Kyle avoiding the fatal blow, but the slash slice a huge chunk of Rex's shoulder.
"Arghh", Rex grunts in pain after getting slashed.
Although he got a chunk of his shoulder slashed off, his eyes still show signs of survival as he glances at Kyle whose body is already glowing with a red aura.
The red aura becomes even more intense as he kicked the Ghoul back before helping Rex run.
Just from this exchange alone, the three of them are no match for the menacing ghoul.
As the three of them are running, Kyle said with bloodshot eyes, "Go to the cemetery without me! I'll play with this big bastard"
Edward and Rex saw the resolution in Kyle's eyes,
'He's going to die...', Rex thought as he look at Kyle for one last time.
Rex noticed that Kyle was nervous when he was in the RV vehicle before, but who would've known that he will be the first one to volunteer in buying time using his life.
After seeing the resolution, they nod their heads and head toward the cemetery.
Kyle stops abruptly after getting the nod before he shouted, "You grotesque bastard! Come and get me, you disgusting low-life Supernatural!"
Right after he shouted that Kyle gritted his teeth and run in the opposite direction.
The taunt seems to be working as the menacing Ghoul stops and looks in Kyle's direction, "HUMANS!", it roared with its gruff voice before going after Kyle.
Kyle manages to lure the menacing Ghouls away from Rex and Edward.
Rex looks to his back to only find Kyle running while being chased by the menacing ghoul and other ghouls that are near, from the looks of it, Kyle will certainly die.
"You nervous bastard, I know that is just a facade", Rex mutters shaking his head.
But he then clenched his jaw as the last nervous look on Kyle's face in the RV vehicle flashed past his mind, "I will remember this and make sure they heard it"
Almost all of the ghouls are lured away by Kyle,
The remaining one is dealt with by the combined attack of Rex and Edward, they all made their way through the cemetery.
GRAAH!
Grrr!
Roarr!!
Edward releases his red aura violently, his aura becomes even stronger by the second.
With a flick of his hands, a fire explodes on the ground beneath each approaching ghoul sending them all flying before Rex jumped and slices them all with his long sword.
SHRING!!
The Ghouls are all sliced on their necks making them fall lifelessly to the ground.
Although Rex is not an Awakened, his physical and hand-to-hand combat is the best of the best in his unit, he can even beat the veterans easily.
Even though their necks are sliced, the ghouls are not dead.
The only thing that can kill them is to sever their head but Rex doesn't have the luxury to sever all of their heads with many more approaching.
Just as Rex is landing, a Ghoul raises its sharp claws and slashes them toward Rex.
Rex was caught off guard, so he raises his sword to block but the power from that claws is too much for him and he get sent flying away.
Edward reacts and helps Rex by gripping the ghoul's face and slamming it to the ground,
The ghoul's head was instantly crushed by Edward's sheer force, "Rex, are you okay?", he asks hurriedly after watching Rex get launched by the ghoul's attack.
Rex struggles to stand up,
"I'm okay, let's go to the cemetery", he replied although his shoulder is bloodied all over.
But the pain didn't hinder Rex as he thought with gleaming determination, 'This is nothing compared to the pain I felt when I lost my parents'
He is determined to make this operation a success just like what the Sergeant Major asks of him.
"We need to blow up the entrance so they can't escape the bombardment", Rex said while taking explosives from his backpack, he will use them to blow up the entrance of the tomb.
Just when Edward wanted to reply, he saw many ghouls start to come out of the tomb.
Without wasting a second, the both of them pick up their pace and rampage through the horde of Ghouls that comes out of the tomb.
Rex hacked his sword at every ghoul he sees, he stabs right on their head, eyes, and neck.
Edward on the other hand massacres the ghouls way faster and smoother compared to Rex with his enhanced physique, his daggers are moving at a blurry pace.
But in the midst of the fight, Rex then shouted, "Edward!"
"This cannot continue! Set this explosive on the entrance!", he added before he tossed the explosives towards Edward.
Edward caught the explosives before setting his eyes on the tomb,
Boom!
Concentrating his red aura on his feet, Edward creates a small explosion beneath his feet to launch himself towards the entrance.
While Rex slowly hacks through the horde of ghouls.
Rex is surprised that Edward can be that fast, 'He's probably nearing rank three', he thought after seeing that Edward manage to use somekind of a spell.
His body now is soaked with ghoul's blood,
The stench he exerts will make normal people vomit thousand times over, but just as Rex was fighting the horde of Ghouls he heard a scream from the tomb entrance.
"ARGGHH!!"
Rex glances in the direction of the tomb,
He saw Edward spurting out blood after taking a hit from another bulky ghoul, the aura the bulky ghoul releases is more terrifying than the big ghoul before.
'King of Ghouls', Rex thought helplessly after he realizes the Supernatural they are dealing with.
But after crashing for about ten meters,
Edward although bloodied raises up his hands showing Rex that he manage to plant the explosive, he then shouted, "BLOW IT!"
Hearing it, Rex immediately presses the detonator decisively.
BOOM!!!
A big explosion destroyed the entrance of the tomb, the rubble blocks the entrance completely stopping the horde of Ghouls that wanted to come out.
The King of Ghouls was also sent flying away from the explosion,
Just from the look of it, the King of Ghouls definitely got hurt thanks to the explosion.
When Rex was about to contact the air support after blocking the entrance of the tomb, he saw the King of Ghouls run towards Edward that is still coughing blood.
"Edward!!"
Rex immediately runs in Edward's direction trying to intercept the King of Ghouls,
Edward snapped out of his daze and looks at his surroundings, but to his surprise, The King of Ghouls is already nearing him with immense killing intent.
The King of Ghouls leaps and slashes its claw downwards,
Its claw glows red adding its power as the King of Ghouls intends to finish Edward off but suddenly, Rex reaches the King of Ghouls first.
"I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU DO THAT!"
Rex manages to intercept the King of Ghouls before wrapping his hand around its neck,
Putting all of the fiber of his being into the strangle, Rex squeezed the King of Ghoul's neck with his arms trying to choke the King of Ghouls.
Both of the got flung sideways but Rex's arms still desperately clung to its neck.
"RARGHH!!", Rex shouted angrily as the wound on his shoulder started to tear wider and bleed, it drenched Rex's side of his outfit with blood.
Although the ghoul is strong, its neck is its weak spot.
With the explosion before, the King of Ghoul is also hurt making it weaker than before.
Rex with his extremely built body can definitely become a threat to the weakened King of Ghouls, but the King of Ghouls was not going to let Rex choke it to death easily.
Boom!
Bam!
The King of Ghoul struggles to free from Rex's grip, it started to crash its body around hitting everything just to make Rex let go.
"Huakhh!", Rex spat a mouthful of blood as he kept clinging to its neck.
Rex's body crashed on a rock and the ground a couple of times, his backpack was tossed away because of the berserk King of Ghouls trying to make him let go.
"Edward! Light the flare-up and contact the air force!", Rex shouted.
Hearing this, Edward raises his gaze before he looks at Rex with a troubled look, "But you-"
"LIVE!", Rex intervenes before Edward can finish speaking.
Edward was speechless while holding his ribs that are broken, he can feel Rex's burning determination as he holds onto the King of Ghoul's neck.
No matter what the King of Ghouls does, Rex won't let go.
Rex then continues while still on the King of Ghouls' neck, "You are an awakened, you can kill more supernatural than I do for the rest of my life so you have to live"
"It's okay, this much is a great feat for a normal human like myself", he added.
Edward looks at Rex as his body got rooted on the spot, a sad tear flow down his cheek as he looks at Rex in sadness.
The time they spent together in the military is not brief,
Although they're not that close with each other, they're still in the same unit for years.
"Private Rex, No...Rex Silverstar! I will tell the others the brave actions you did today, I swear! You and Kyle will be remembered by many!"
"Heroes of Dwight City! I'll make sure of it!"
Edward swears not only with his words but also inside his heart that even if the public won't remember them, he will remember this moment for the rest of his life.
It will not be forgotten completely as long as he lives,
Hearing this, Rex smiled weakly as he was starting to lose strength, "Private Rex signing out!"
While Rex is saying this, almost all of his bones are broken at this point but Rex still held on giving all his life for one final decisive moment.
Edward left after taking Rex's backpack, he opened it and contact the air force.
"Hawk 89, this is USR 08, the flare has been deployed over" *Beep*
*Beep* "Copy that USR 08, I see the flare. But, what about the people around it sir?"
"Hawk 89, Proceed with the call, Danger Close. I repeat Danger Close" *Beep*
*Beep* "Copy that USR 08, Danger Close. Good Luck Sir!"
Meanwhile, the King of Ghouls slammed its body onto another boulder completely breaking the bones in Rex's body as his body finally let go.
CRACK!
Rex falls to the ground with a broken body,
All of his strength is gone at this point but there's a smile on his face after he looks at the sky, the missiles from the air force are heading towards him.
"HAHAHAHAHA"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA", Rex laughed maniacally.
The King of Ghouls looks at Rex with immense killing Intent, It walks towards Rex slowly intending to rip Rex's head with its claw but then,
"REX SILVERSTAR!"
"REMEMBER THE HUMAN THAT DRAGS YOU ALL TO HELL!"
Rex roared with all of his remaining strength, the portrait of a broken human can be seen clearly by looking at the bloodied gear and unyielding eyes that Rex has even in his last moment.
It was the portrait of a hero! A hero of Dwight City!
A soldier that gives up their lives for humanity without a bat of his eyes, a hero that shelters humanity from the damned cruelty of the Supernatural.
After roaring with all his might,
Rex closes his eyes while holding the necklace that he wears, he then mutters, "Mom, Dad, I'll be joining you soon. It's too soon but I'll come with a story, My story"
ZOONG!!
The Roaring sound of jets was heard coming from the sky, the King of Ghouls look up and started to run the other way while Rex laughs maniacally.
"IT'S TOO LATE! YOU WILL ALL DIE!"
BOOOOOM!!
A huge explosion was created after the missiles landed on the tomb directly, the entire cemetery was blown into pieces leaving nothing but debris.
The force of the explosion sent Rex flying away and his skin got scorched black.
Rex's body crashes into the woods before stopping when he hit the ground, just by looking at it, no human can possibly survive that crash.
At the other end of the forest,
Edward can feel the ground tremble when the air force struck, he looks back towards the woods that got lit up by the fire from the missiles.
*Beep* "USR 08, Target has been destroyed, Over"
"Copy that Hawk 89" *Beep*
Edward inhales a mouthful of air that smells burnt, he takes out the communication device, "Sergeant Major, Objective Completed, Two Casualties over" *Beep*
Although it was over, Edward still feel the pain in his chest.
*Beep* "Report back to the pick-up point, an RV is waiting for you. The retrieve team will find the other's corpse", replied the Sergeant Major.
"Roger That" *Beep*
The words that came out of Edward's mouth is heavy,
He then puts down the communication device before he takes one last look towards the woods before with a gloomy look, the woods that took two of his friends' lives.
After sighing sadly, he turns around and heads to the pick-up point.
Unknown to him or even the others, this event will be remembered for as long as humanity exists as the start of the Legendary Saga of Rex Silverstar.