Chapter - 06 : The Demon Hunter Awakens

- - - - -

"Is that thing even living?"

That was the first though which crossed add's mind as he looked at the creature that had sent the alarms off. It looked like a human, a giant human. Standing at around three metres tall it was covered in what appeared to be some type of primitive armour. The armour was rusted and covered in dirt and grime. Although it was very old but it was intact as a whole. The armour covered the giants body completely, while a helmet covered his head. Only a 'T' shaped opening was present on the helmet giving way to the eyes, nose and mouth. In its hand a huge rusted weapon could be seen. This weapon had a long handle, while it had a heavy conical front as long as the handle. It was a heavy lance. The giant moved very fast for its size, covering over 5 metres in a single step.

Add, who was looking from a distance using his scope focused on its face. But as soon as he did, his eyes met that of the giants, only, there were no eyes. Two bloody red dots which seemed to be glowing, met his gaze. In that instant Add felt a bone chilling coldness as his spine froze. It was fear. Pure, untainted fear. He had been through a lot, but never had he been this afraid. Moreover, there was nothing else on its face. Even with night-vision enabled on the scope, all Add could see were those two red dots. Other than that inside the helmet was only pitch black darkness. Just by gazing once at that giant he felt that he was a step apart from death. Sadly for him, he wasn't the only one watching. The armoured giant stopped in its tracks as soon as Add had looked into its eyes, and turned its gaze towards him. In the dim darkness of the night the giant looked at exactly at the tree, at the branch on which Add was crouching.

(Not Good)

Add immediately gave up thinking what the thing was. He was sure that whatever it was, it knew Add was here. Turning the safety off, he took aim.

*Click-clack*

Add stayed on the ready for any sudden movements, but what happened next shocked. The giant lept, yes lept. Its speed increased several fold as it dashed towards Add. How it was able to run so fast despite its bulk, was a mystery.

*Bang*

Add fired once, the 70 cal bullet, hit right in the spot between the giants eyes, passing through the gap of the helmet. It was a sure kill shot. The giant's head arched a bit backwards, as it came to a stop. But next moment, its eyes glowed an even fiercer red. It let out a dull growl and charged even faster. Black smoke like substance started coming out from the joints of its armour, giving it a deathly appearance. Although his shot had no effect, he kept on shooting, this time at the armour.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The rounds hit the armour but couldn't penetrate it. In fact they barely scratched it. This was a grave situation. If even a 70 cal bullet was unable to pierce it, then it was a very tough opponent. But Add didn't despair. Instead his eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath. Next he jumped down from the tree and dashed in a direction, perpendicular to the giants path. The giant too instantly changed its path, following Add in pursuit. The distance between them barely 500 metres and that too was decreasing. Meanwhile Add was running in a zig-zag manner taking ng advantage of the dense growth of trees. The armoured giant rammed into the trees and broke them apart but this slowed it down quite a bit.

(Too hard your armour isn't it. But.....if it can be scratched, then.......it can be pierced....)

After running over five kilometres, thanks to his physique as a Neo-human, Add reached a slightly open space. He climbed up the tallest tree he could see and took up a position there. Near him the heavy steps and grunts of the armoured giant could be heard.

(Lapis, relay my coordinates to the troopers. We will engage this thing right here.)

(Yes host)

(Now then......i hope...they make it in time....)

Add steadied his breath. He readied his gun and waited for the target to arrive.

- - - - -

Some time earlier, back at the FOB.

"We have trouble !!!!"

Lieutenant Sagari barged into the living quarters. Her expression grim. The other girls who were idly chatting or resting had aslo heard that roar. Though what they had heard was nowhere as loud since, the walls were insulated preventing much noise to enter or exit the FOB. Hearing her agitated voice, they immediately got up and looked at her.

"Whats the matter Sagari ?" Iris asked approaching her.

"We...the base is at risk of an attack. The scanners picked up a signal of a large creature fast approaching our direction. Captain Add went to intercept it, He probably found it already..."

"Affirmative Troopers. The Captain has indeed located the creature. Currently 5433 metres south-east from base. I am relaying his coordinates to your Mobile armors. I suggest you hurry. The enemy is not something he can handle himself...." (Lapis)

Lapis' words confirmed Sagari's words. The troopers wasted no time and within minutes got into their mobile armors. With metallic clanking, the seven girls were all in their mobile armour, their weapons ready. They were similarly armed as they had been at the time of the first drop.

As Add had said before leaving, The girls left Page and Chiaki back at the base to act as guards while Ellin being a non-combat personnel also stayed. The rest that is, Iris, Sagari, Miharu, Lily and Leya moved on. Leya and Lily jumped into the T-787 tank. While the others took the LAV, with Iris operating the Heavy machine gun turret, and Sagari driving.The two vehicles immediately charged towards Add's location, guided by Lapis.

(A/N : LAV stands for Light Armoured Vehicle. Its a class of military vehicles generally six to eight wheeled that are used for transporting personnel across regions with heavy cross firing. These vehicles provide good protection along with fast speed. Additionally they are often equiped with a manual turret and heavy machine gun. For more info please ask Google sensei 😅)

- - - - -

*BOOM*

A large tree fell down. Add hurriedly dodged, the falling timber and rolled into the undergrowth. Right now he regretted, making haste and not wearing his mobile armour. But he knew that even if he did wear it, he wouldn't fare any better. The reason was simple. The armoured giant was too over whelming. A few minutes earlier, when it had just arrived at Add's position, he had opened fire on it, tens of rounds hit its armour and ricocheted. Not one was able to penetrate it. The giant having sensed Add's location charged at the tree. He had just jumped down in time to escape. As he was scurrying around in the undergrowth, the giant was madly bashing trees with its lance trying to find Add.

"Damn...i can't engage it like this......Lapis whats the status of the troopers?"

(Host they are 5 minutes away from your location. Please hold on.)

"Tell them to hurry----"

Before he could complete his sentence, he felt a chill run down his spine, he immediately rolled to the right and the next moment the tip of the lance pierced the ground where he was lying just a moment ago, sending clumps of soil flying like a small explosion. One could guess how much force had been applied in that one thrust. Had he been a second late, he too would have been pierced. But Add didn't escape unscathed. His left thigh was grazed by the lance, and a deep wound tearing his skin and muscle was formed. Blood oozed out of his leg like a small stream. Probably the Femoral artery had been hit. Add gritted his teeth, enduring the pain he dashed towards the dense trees, hoping that they would buy him enough time for the heavy weapons to arrive....

*Puchi*

"Aaaaaaaaaa........*

He had barely run ten metres when his intuition warned him. Instantly he turned around only to see the tip of a lance closing in on him. Add had nowhere to run, so he tried to defend himself by putting his gun before the incoming weapon. The lance tip hit the gun, broke it in two and reached Add. Suddenly a mind churning pain assaulted him, making him scream. He felt something cold inside his body. As he looked down, he saw the tip of the giant's lance going into his chest and it went out through the back. It had pierced the right portion of his chest. A sweet tasting liquid filled his mouth. He couldn't believe it. In an instant, all his calculations had gone haywire.

The giant that had impaled him swung the lance, sending add flying, while spilling a trail of blood, his body hit a tree and ominous sounds of bones breaking could be heard. The broken body of the captain slid down the tree, and didn't move. The giant gazed at Add for sometime and then as if hearing something turned and went in another direction. Add could only watch as the giant walked away. He wanted to warn the girls of the danger. He knew that even their weapons would barely put a scratch on it. But the ear piece, his sole communication equipment had fallen off somewhere. Add could only lament. He had pulled in those girls to their deaths....

It was then that he heard a bell like sound.

- - - - -

"Lapis how much time till target ?"

"ETA 1 minute major Irisdina."

Major Irisdina looked around her and frowned. Currently she was before the turret control of the LAV. The turret being automated, allowed her to control it with a joystick, much like those classic old age games. There were four cameras on the turret, which gave her a 360° view of her surroundings in HD.

"This damn forest. Its just trees and trees and trees....ugggghhh"

Sagari grunted in dissatisfaction. Driving a vehicle through a forest in the night was not very easy job. Especially when the said forest is like a dense package of trees. She had to take a turn every now and then to avoid collision. Thankfully, the tank which was preceding them was making way by ramming down trees and grinding over them. Still the ride over the fallen trunks was very bumpy and disturbing.

"Eyes on the road Sagari. Don't lose your temper." Iris softly reminded her. "...Lily do you read me.....whats the status on Visual?"

She contacted Lily who was in the tank before them, the T-787, much like its other sisters and cousins had a automated turret. Only two people were needed to operate it, the driver and the gunner. Leya as usual was pretty fired up driving the 70 ton beast. She had driven a lot of different vehicles in simulation and training, but the thrill of real battle was totally different. The T-787 was mounted with a 180 mm rifled Gun along with a 50 cal heavy machine gun. It had 80 rounds in its storage and equipped with an autoloader it was a very trigger friendly tank.

"Negative Iris....i don't see a thing...its just trees trees and trees out here...." (Lily)

Iris felt something was amiss. She didn't know what, but something definitely was wrong.

(Major Irisdina, we are fast approaching the target, according to sensory feed, i assume, it knows we are coming, please take caution.)

"Major Irisdina, it seems the captain is engaged in battle with the target. He needs immediate assistance..."

"Understood.....Leya, Sagari step on the accelerators, Captain Add is in trouble we need to get there fast !"

The two drivers heard it and drove as fast as possible. The smaller trees were rammed down and tread over without care, while the larger ones were avoided. The two vehicles almost made a small road in the dense forest.

"Lapis......any word from the captain ?"

"No, I have lost contact with the Captain entirely. But his last location was around where the target is now. We will reach there within a minute..."

Iris took a deep breath. She was a bit worried for the Captain who had gone silent on the radio sometime ago. Steeling her mind for the worst case scenario, Iris took to the radio once again.

"Alright, All of you listen up! Lapis says we will make contact in one minute. So keep your eyes clear and weapons ready." (Lily)

"""""Roger !"""""

Moments later the two vehicles finally burst into the small opening where the giant had attacked Add. The entire area was deadly silent. Not even an insect's sound could be heard.

"Lapis where is the target ?" Iris quietly asked the AI

"Four hundred metres 3-O-clock and closing...." (Lapis)

"You heard her. Leya take us beside the tank. Target is deemed hostile. Hit it hard and bring it down. Lily train the turret to 3-1-0 and standby...." (Irisdina)

"Roger !" (Leya)

"Yes ma'am!" (Lily)

*Zuuuuuu*

The tank's turret turned with a buzz facing a dense line of trees. The auto-loader loaded the round and a 20 kilo round was ready to fly. The LAV Arrived beside the tank and its turret harbouring the 70-calibre bushmaster chain-gun too turned to face the same direction. The tree line was little over two hundred metres from them. In moments the sensors located the creature. The girls held their breaths. 350, 340, 330,........ The target was closing in. The trees began to rustle and shake. Dull thuds could be heard as the trees began shaking. And soon a large shadow appeared from within the treeline.

"FIRE!!!!" (Iris)

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

The main gun of the tank fired sending heavy recoil which shook the whole tank. The 50-cal and the bush master also relentlessly fired at the target. It hadn't been able to exit the tree line before it was met with heavy resistance.

"Keep firing! Watch your sensors don't let it escape!" (Iris)

Under Iris's orders the two vehicles kept firing. Explosions brightened the dark forest. Small creatures which strolled fearfully in the night were scared beyond wits and hurriedly cooped into any hole and crack they could find. The firing caused a fire in the trees and shrubs and dense smoke blotted the sky stopping the light of the blue moon. After two minutes of continuous firing they finally stopped.

"Reload Reload!" (Iris)

Iris once again used her cameras to take a look.

".......impossible....."

Lily too, looked using the tank's camera's and froze. For in front of them, through that fire, was walking a giant. Over three metres high its proportions looked like a overgrown human . Its body covered in some mettalic armour. In its hand, a long lance. Everything was silent. Only the sounds of its heavy footsteps echoed along the crackling of burning wood. Not a single speck of damage could be seen on its body. Iris was the first to break out of her trance.

"Lily! Load armour piercing rounds! That thing, what ever it is, has some armour! Quickly! Load the armour piercing and fire !"

Lily followed orders and quickly an armour piercing round was fired at the giant. It hit its chest with a loud bang, but......it only caused a slight dent and nothing else.

"....Are you kidding me....."

Major Irisdina was stunned. But the armour clad giant wasn't. Its eyes flashed a red shine as it dashed towards the tank. Lily panicked watching it approach and repeatedly fired, missing most of the shots, the few shots that landed, however only pushed the giant back and were unable to do any damage. Major Iris also fired while ordering the two drivers to retreat. Leya put the tank in reverse and began retreating while Sagari took a U-turn and stepped on the accelerator. But, the giant was faster. It threw down its lance and soon reached the tank and jumped over it. Grabbing the turret it pulled. Iris watched in horror and the giant pulled and tore out the 20 - ton turret and threw it back. The turret which contained lots of explosive rounds exploded causing a large boom.The giant then jumped before the tank. Leya snorted and rammed right into it but to her dismay the giant stopped the tank's charge and stopped after being pushed back a few metres it then used its arms and overturned the fifty-ton vehicle.

"Kyaaaaa"

"Aaaaaa"

Lily and Leya who were still inside tumbled and were hanging upside down from their seats. The seatbelts keeping them in place. Their suits kept them safe from injury but they both were throughly shocked and and dismayed. Major Irisdina who was watching all this had her spine frozen. All this had happened in moments. But it was far from over. The giant then turned towards the LAV. Its eyes locked on the vehicle. Irisdina couldn't even shout a warning as the giant rammed into the vehicle, despite the shooting from the bushmaster. It hit with such force, that the LAV armour was dented and it rolled into the side. The girls inside were disoriented. The giant kicked the LAV once more and then began walking to where it had thrown its lance.

"Ugghhh....is everyone alright....?"

Miharu asked trying to make heads and tails of the situation. The other girls were groaning. Though they had not suffered any serious injuries because of the suits, they were hurt at some places due to the violent tumbling caused by the giants. Miharu opened the rear hatch of the LAV and all of them staggeringly got out. Unfortunately Leya and Lily, were stuck. Since the tank was overturn, the exit hatch could not be opened. Iris, followed by Miharu, and Sagari hurriedly went beside the over turned tank.

"Damn it! The hatch is jammed they can't get out!" (Sagari)

"Leya, Lily can you hear us !?" Miharu tried to contact them via radio

"....ugh...this is Leya....I...I am fine, Lily too....were just a bit light headed....and stuck...." (Leya)

"....thats a relief...don't worry we will get you out of there......Sagari, Iris ! Lets dig up the soil around the hatch, if we make a hole large enough, they can open it from inside !" (Miharu)

"....How long would that take....?" (Sagari)

"I don't know....maybe fifteen minutes, why ?" (Miharu)

" Because i seriously doubt that we have fifteen minutes...." (Sagari)

Miharu didn't understand but as soon as she looked to where Sagari and Iris were looking her fac paled. The giant was slowly walking towards them, in its hand the large lance gave an ominous vibe. From its helmet, black smoke was oozing and through that smoke two bloody red eyes gazed at them.

"Fire! Fire at will!" (Iris)

Iris's shout broke the other two from their trance. Sagari and Miharu fired their rockets in vain. The giant slowly walked towards them, without caring for the measly bullets being fired at it, as if mocking them. It came closer and closer. Watching this the girls understood, they had no chance of defeating it. Escape ? The thing caught up to motorised vehicles. Even if they used their retros, they won't be able to out run it.

"Are we going to die Major....?"

Sagari asked meekly. Miharu too had lost all hope. They had stopped shooting. Iris was quite. She had nothing to say.

"Lapis.....sent a message to the base. Tell them to return to the ship. We are done for....atleast they will survive...."

Iris sighed and told Lapis.

"As you wish Major Irisdina. I will---- Alert! Unknown bogey detected. Bogey is Fast approaching this area from the west......."

"Now what !?" Sagari shouted out. At the same time the giant stopped and turned to look at the direction from where the bogey was approaching when..."

*BOOM*

A thin beam of light instantly hit the giant and its large frame was blown away. The girls looked with widened eyes at the spectacle. Soon another figure appeared before them. It looked like a human and was clad in pitch black armour from head to toe. The armour was sleek and from the outside it looked like it wasn't very tough. But what surprised the girls was that in its hands it was holding a sniper rifle. Yes! It was a sniper rifle. Although the rifle it was holding was longer and larger than standard military rifles, still it was undoubtedly a sniper rifle. On the other hand the giant had gotten up after crashing into some trees. Its blood red eyes gazing at the new arrival.

As Iris and the two other girls looked at the scene which was unfolding, the black armoured figure raised its hand, pointing the gun towards the skies. And what happened next, nearly made the girls' eyes pop out. The gun glowed and changed into particles of light. These particles condensed and turned into what looked like a sword. And a very special type of sword. A Katana. The next moment it dashed towards the giant. The figure of the black armoured man blurred. And then it appeared just before the giant. The giant tried to stab using its lance but it dodged by a hair breadth, and swung the sword. All this was happening too fast, even for the eyes of Neo humans. All the girls saw was some blurs.

- - - - -

"I....am I... not dead.....What...what happened to me....?"

Add had just woken up, and found himself standing before the tree he was slammed into. The blood he shed was still there, only he felt no pain, in fact he felt himself full of an unknown but warm power. For a moment he thought that he was dead, but then quickly dismissed it since his heart was beating and he was still breathing.

"Huh...? What is this....?"

He looked at his arms and then touched his whole body. To his surprise he found that he was covered by a metallic armour from head to toe. Even his eyes were covered completely. But he could see and breathe normally. He was stunned. The armour suddenly lit up and before him a familiar display like the ones used in the Mobile armour appeared. In his hands a rifle similar to the one he used was present. Only this one was quiet larger. All this made him shocked.

(Panpakapan.....Congratulations Host Add. The contract has been completed successful.)

He heard the voice of that girl again.

"What !?...who...where are you...!?"

(Its not the time for idling my host. The enemy is nearby, please fight.....)

Add wanted to retort so many things but then he heard the sounds of explosions and guns being fired. He understood that the girls must have been engaging the armoured giant. Instantly, he felt a torrent of information flow into his head. Subconsciously he dashed in the direction the sounds were coming from. Soon he was able to see the giant, his hands fluidly adjusted the gun, aiming at the giant and fired. A stream of light erupted from the nozzel and a heavy recoil numbed his arms, yet Add moved forward till he was clear of the trees. The shot had blown the giant over twenty metres away sending it crashing into trees, breaking them. The giant got up, its eyes glowing an even murderous red. But this time, there was a hole in the giant's chest region. Black smoke was oozing from that hole. The giant readied its Lance and began walking towards Add.

Again a stream of information flowed into Add'w brain. He raised the gun and it transformed into a sword. Add had never learnt the way of the sword but now as he was holding it, he felt as if he had practiced it for ages. He held it like a master. He knew what he had to do. Not giving the giant time to react he lunged towards it. The name of a technique, came into his mind. The world turned into a shade of grey and slowed down. Add made the move. He didn't have to think. He knew it. As if he had long since known it.

"Lets end this. Forbidden blade arts, Seventh Form : Sword of the Eight Headed Dragon !"

Eight strikes were made in less than a second. Add appeared behind the giant. The world once again got its colour. The giant stood motion less. Its had that had been extended to pierce Add was also frozen in mid air. Slowly, line appeared on its body. And from those lines its body began sliding. The giant had been sliced into pieces.

"Begone, Demon spawn...." Add heard the girl's voice again.

*ROAAAAAAAARRRR*

It gave a malicious roar as its head began to slid down its neck and then its body went up in purplish flames. Not even ash remained.

Add turned to look at the scene and before he knew it his vision turned black and he fainted.

* * * * *