Chapter 05 - Meeting Under the Moon

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"Gah...."

The lone boy spat out a mouthful of blood. His appearance pitiful. His clothes tattered. His trusted gun was snapped in half. A large hole had appeared just beside his heart, missing it by millimetres puncturing his right lung and his back. His left eye was also lost while blood covered over half of his face, flowing like a stream from his head. His left hand was bent in a weird direction, while his left leg had a deep gash in the thigh nearly separating his leg into two. He had lost most of his blood, which made a red puddle around him.

"Damn it.... I should have known....this wouldn't work..... This is.....the worst way..... to die......And...I...I haven't....done anything...worty doing...yet....."

The boy spoke, his quivering voice showed the pain that he felt, yet in his eyes no fear could be seen, only a bone chilling coldness, as he gazed at the sky. His laboured breaths turned misty suggesting the coldness of the night. Backed up against a huge tree his fading vision, fell onto the beautiful blue moon, much larger than his home world's. As his vision grew darker and darker, he kept gazing onto the blue moon, as if enchanted by it. For in this instant, he felt no emotion, he felt no pain. The forest around the boy was quite, as if offering a silent farewell to him.

That's when. For an instant, Add felt like he heard a bell-like sound. With his fading vision, he looked towards the sound source through the gap between his closing eyelids.And be saw something unbelievable.

"——Wha..."

Standing before him, was a girl who looked really out of place. Her appearance looked like an illusion , Add couldn't help but to doubt his own sight. Long Obsidian hair, blacker than the night sky, a pitch black one-piece gothic dress as well as eyes of jet black color, her skin paler than white paper. Her face beautiful like a dream, as if an angel had descended from the heavens. Her figure petite, but with perfect proportions, which made any being, male or female entranced.

"...why in such a place?!"

And of all things, while surrounded by the silent forest, where danger lurked in every nook and cranny, the girl stared at Add.The mysterious girl's line of sight had met Add's. Along with an illusion as if the world had stopped, Add's thinking also stopped. Muscles moving his body stopped and losing support, he fell forward.

"Gah——dammit!"

Unable to even take a proper posture Add barely supported himself back onto the tree. His strength had long left him, only his will remained.

"A human..... in this world...No....what are you......... doing.... in such a place?!"

"............"

From before him, the girl just looked up at him with an innocent look in her eyes and didn't say anything. Maybe because she was scared of strangers, but not to show any sign of fear in a place like this, she must have had nerves of steel. Add could barely breathe now. His body was cold as ice. Not concerned with the fact Add had a hard time, remaining expressionless, the girl stared passionately at him. In front of this wordless girl, Add was at his wit's end. Were he alone he'd have no problem to die, but how could he let a child alone in this forest ? As Add pondered about it trying to stay awake, suddenly, his face felt a cold touch. When he looked up, he saw the girl look at him while caressing his face. Her touch made him forget all his pain. As he wondered what this was about, the girl slowly opened her pale pink lips. He could feel a faint breath leak out from these lips with an intoxicating fragrance, and she let out her speech. Wrapped by a mysterious atmosphere, finally he heard the girl's voice for the first time.

"Panpakapaaan."

........................Hearing the incomprehensible sound, Add was stunned. Certainly the tone of the girl's voice made it seem like a fanfare, hearing that Add felt exhaustion assault him. Despite her mature appearance, it was a very innocent voice. She mimicked a fanfare with such a voice and even clapped as a bonus.

"...what...are you doing?"

Add came up with a question.While he remained stunned, the girl continued as if nothing happened.

"——Congratulations. I-401-Add-san, you have been chosen as the second contractor. I will now ask you the questions so that we can form our contract, please answer the questions....."

The girl said that without intonation and with a mechanical tone of voice. The wording was similar to the scam sites advertisement that was going rampant on the net.

"...eh? Eh?"

"Question one. Do you have an intention of becoming a Hero?"

"No............heck, you, w-what happened? What are you saying?"

"Question two. Do you have an intention of exterminating Demons?"

"............"

As expected, his head started to hurt. Add put a hand on his forehead. Without a doubt, she's gone insane out of fear. It was no wonder, even though she was this small she saw his mutilated appearance. It must have been terrifying and hard for her. As he thought so, tears appeared in his eyes, for the first time in ages. He needed to escort this child to a safe place somehow, even if it was the last thing he did. Moved to tears, he looked into the girl's eyes and was going to muster his last strength to get up when,

"Question three. Will you discard yourself for the sake of your goal?"

Add unconsciously stopped, speechless. For some reason, this time he was unable to ignore this cryptic question that had come from her mouth. In the distance, sounds of gunfire, and explosions did not calm down. Feeling the noise very distant, Add was unable to take off his gaze from the girl's pupils.The black, deep, very deep pupils. Unknown to him, he felt a strong connection to this girl before him, when suddenly

"Badump" "Badump"

His heart beat wildly once, and went still.

"...run....save your....self..."

He muttered in a fading voice as his world went dark. He felt nothing. All around him only nothingness prevailed. The very sense of existence was lost in this space. In front of him, the girl appeared once again. Her existence ethereal.

—— Question two. Do you have an intention of exterminating Demons? ——

He heard a voice, the contracting began in the abyss. Add couldn't resist the questions. He was already deprived of that freedom. That's why he answered. He only could answer.

—— I promise. I will exterminate all evil demons——

--Question three. Will you discard yourself for the sake of your goal? ————

---Yeah, if it's worth it, I will discard myself.——

-----Question four. Will you discard what you hold dear for the sake of your goal? ———

--— Don't screw around.——

Then, the last question. Will you,............—— For the sake of defeating the enemy, will you discard your humanity? ——

------....................................yeah, I'll discard it.—

-------The contract has thus been completed.—— Host, Please pull the trigger. The girl gently held his hands and a gun appeared in his hands. Just as he has been told, Add subconsciously pulled the trigger. Before he even realized it, he clenched thesword's trigger.

《"——Authorisation acquired from host Add.

——Starting operative procedure.

------Executing program. Commencing Integration

——Repairing damaged parts, time required to complete process : 0.5 seconds.

——Repair, compatibility, no problems.

-----Precision : 100%

——Transformation to 'Demon-Hunter Form' complete."》

Along with the voice lacking intonation, a bass sound of something starting up had echoed. Add felt his body move in the darkness and raised his eyelids.

《"My Host, please wake up————it's time for the Demon-hunt."》

The monotone voice had announced that in a manner similar to an alarm clock.

------Shut upp.....I.....don't need you tell me, I'm getting up now......------

Feeling an outrageous discomfort, disgruntled, Add raised his body.

- - - - -

One day earlier.

It was dusk on this unchartered planet. After the bloodbath, which had resulted in over 300 of the savage creatures being dead, the unit under Major Irisdina was currently very busy.

"Miharu align the bolt properly.....ok! Sagari nut it now....Good. Chiaki bring the next block...."

Under her orders the group of seven girls was working very hard. Currently in pale green overalls, these beautiful ladies were working like labourers. They were busy building an FOB (Forward Operating Base) on the glade they just cleared. Fortunately they didn't have to work as masons with brick, rebar and concrete. Instead, the base was being made with standard 'Modules'. Simply put, these were large cuboids of metal, each 10 metres long and wide and four metres high. The corners and edges had connection points to attach similar modules. During the war, this was a easy method to build a base in hours. Each module had its pre-decided spot and was already fitted with essential equipment on the interior like, electric lines, electrical equipment like lighting, Air conditioners fans etc, computers, and other important devices, while each module had its inbuilt aeration system, ventilators etc... And heavily armoured on the outside. There were hatches to connect one module to another to provide passage of people. Few modules had generators too for power. A special type of dropship, a variant of the HK-500, designed to carry cargo only. It had no fuselage only a frame which had clamps and cables to strap on cargo. Using this, Add personally flew in 20 such modules and dropped them in place using the guidance of the girls who were on the ground.

Attaching shovel like extension before the LAV* they made an improvised bulldozer (Ellin's idea). Using it they moved apart the dead bodies and then collecting them into heaps burned them down, under the Captain's orders. Then they leveled the entire glade and turned it into a plain field. Next using a special vehicle made to drill holes they made many deep holes into the ground. In these holes long bolts were hammered over which large heavy metal plates were fixed. Tens of such plates were fixed which covered around 500 square metres of area. Then on these plates they slowly one by one placed the modules. A total of ten such modules were brought down and arranged into a single two storeyed base, by joining with large bolts and clamps. Within a day the base took its shape. It had a control room, a kitchen+cafeteria, living quarters, bath house & Restrooms , Armoury, and a medical bay. Another module was solely for for the generators while the other two were store rooms for supplies. There was also a hydro-pump installed in the bath & restroom module which sucked up water from the underground waterline. Along with all that, there were three heavy machine gun posts on the roof.

Along with these modules two trucks fitted with radar equipment and satellite communication systems were also brought down. Next two T-787 tanks, and a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle ( HMMWV), commonly known as the Humvee, a four- wheel drive military light truck. This old lady was used till a few decades ago, even in the final days of the war. Ever since its emergence, though the materials, armour, engine etc had been repeatedly upgraded, but the basic structure of this girl was almost unchanged. The trucks, Humvee and LAV, were parked just beside the base. It took them a whole day to complete the base's construction, which was still very fast, when compared to the size of the building.

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Currently it was the evening of the second day since the group had landed on this planet. After two day's of hard work, the girls now joined by Ellin who had come down to help in the base building, were taking rest in the living quarters. Serena had stayed behind on the Himmelreich analysing the data the few satellites were sending back. She was probably a Hikkikomori researcher.

"Aaa....my body hurts like i was beaten by a bear...." Groaned Chiaki

"Me too, i thought my arms are going to fall off...sigh..." Miharu added

"Uh uh...why don't you apply this medicine it will help....." Page passed them a medicinal spray. Even Neo humans had limits. While the girls soothed their paining muscles, Major Irisdina was in deep thought.

(Captain Add, his background must be different than what we think. His demeanour, his tactics, his flexibility in battle, all were not something seen even in regular troopers let alone a non combat personnel like him. But he clearly outweighs us by a larg margin. He subdued Sagari back then so easily as well. I doubt that if....even if we all were to attack him, we would probably be defeated....No! We will be defeated.....that tone he talked to us in...that fluency with which he gave orders and handled the situation.....it was as if.....he is a...as if he is a....)

Miharu had just exited the bath, while wiping her hair with a towel she walked towards her friends. She was dressed in a loose shirt and short pants that greatly boosted her inborn sexiness. Her two huge mounds almost bursting out from her shirt. The top buttons were not buttoned hence giving a clear view of that deep forbidden valley. He hips as well were so curvy it would make any man drool and that thin waist that could be embraced by just one hand. With her long black hair wet and sparkling, she looked like absolutely enchanting. Sadly, there were no *cough* girls *cough* of 'that' type *cough* here so she was safe. As her gaze wondered across the room watching her friends lazily rolling around she smiled. Then her eyes landed on the Major. She appeared to be troubled. As Miharu walked towards her, she could see that the Major was mumbling something...

"Ne~ Iris...." (Miharu)

Iris, that is Major Irisdina didn't respond as she didn't hear Miharu.

"...A general...." (Iris)

"Huh? What general ?" Miharu raised a brow. Iris suddenly realizing that Miharu was beside her coughed and dismissed it as nothing. Miharu didn't think too deeply and started talking of the dangerous situation again, the others also joined in. But Iris kept thinking....

(...in the end....i guess there is no way other than asking the very person himself huh....)

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"Just how long do we need to do this ?...." Grumbled Sagari as she stood watch holding her weapon. She was currently standing at the edge of the glade, fully armed for combat. The reason was...

"Hold your whining Lieutenant, a few more minutes, once i start this fence, you will be free to go..." Add casually said while he continued with his work.

Before they started to build the FOB, the group had placed over a hundred pillars on the boundary of the glade. These pillars were a part of a fence which would keep any uninvited visitors off. The pillars were each five metres tall with four lines of thick wires running between them, completing the fence. These wires had high voltage current coursing through them, powered by their own mini-archon generator. Currently add was making the final adjustments to this security system. Beyond this fence, was a minefield of sonic mines and claymores. He had personally laid three lines of mines till twenty metres from the fence. Any poor thing that stepped onto this area would be turned to pieces in a flash. Unfortunately for Sagari she was posted to act as his guard in the case that he was attacked in the process. Finally after setting up some sensors which monitored movements on the perimeter, Add was done. He activated the fence and thousands of volts of current crackled through the lines. With all set and done he finally took a breath of relief.

"Lapis report..." He contacted Lapis through a earpiece.

(Yes Host. Perimeter systems : 100%

Infrared Sensors : Online

Laser Sensors : Online

Problems : None)

"What about the base. Any abnormalities...?"

(Negative host, no problems detected. All systems functioning properly.)

"Haa....good then..." Turning to the Depressed Lieutenant, "Alright Lieutenant you are free to go. Now take some rest."

Just as Sagari was about to jump her way towards the base...

*ROAAAAAARRRRR*

A tremendous roar echoed all over the area. The Lieutenant fell down due to the sudden shock. Add narrowed his eyes.

"Lapis what was that....."

(Host....sensors detect a singular signature. A large life form is fast approaching the area. Current distance two kilometers from perimeter and closing....Suggest extreme caution....)

Add's brows furrowed. This thing, whatever it was, must be very dangerous. His intuition was screaming "DANGER" over and over. But he couldn't afford to be afraid. The creature was a threat to this base. He couldn't let it get here.

"Lieutenant! Get everyone into mobile armour. Whatever made that roar is fast approaching us. Keep two people here and the rest are to follow me into battle. We are going to engage that thing whatever may it be. Take the tank and meet me! Im going on ahead...."

The girl was still dazed. Add grabbed her hand and yanked her up.

"Lieutenant! Trooper!"

"Ye-yes!" At his yell Sagari came back to her senses.

"You have your orders now go! Hurry up!"

"Y-yes sir!"

She reflexively saluted and ran back into the base. Add was wearing his casual clothes a white shirt and black trousers. He wanted to get into his Mobile armour but it was inside the base. It would be too late if he went to wear it now. So gritting his teeth he picked up his sniper from the LAV and ran towards where Lapis was constantly updating him of the creature's location. Add swiftly moved through the forest. His movements small yet sleek. Like a shadow he floated across the terrain. When he was a little over a kilometre away from the base he finally saw the creature...

"What the....." (Add)

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