Chapter 5: Bounded by Reality

Part 1 -

The normally loud and busy street was so silent that all you could hear was the footsteps of soldiers marching in unison down the street.

The civilians, who would normally be shopping or doing other plebeian things, were now watching in silent fascination at the procession of soldiers down the street.

‘You aren’t under arrest or anything,’ they said.

‘You’re entitled to candy if you’re good,’ they said.

Finding these terms rather agreeable, I followed without resistance. There was also the fact that I’d probably get turned into a pincushion if I so much as jumped.

Five steps into our trip, before I even had a chance to do something wrong, I was tackled by a wall of flesh that held me to the ground where they tied my arms and legs to a pole.

Where’d they get the pole?

I was now being carried between the shoulders of two soldiers.

They took my weapon, but I still had the stuff I stole off their dead comrades. Maybe they won’t notice.

“I know how to walk like a normal person,” I informed them.

A few of them gave me a dirty look, but none of them responded.

“Sorry, precautionary measure,” the nice lady apologized insincerely.

Prolly my execution.

Well, it’s not as if I regret killing the soldiers. If I was given a similar situation with similar information as before, I would still make the same calls.

Sometimes in life, you gotta take a risk. Unfortunately, this time lady luck gave me the middle finger.

From my position, I tried inconspicuously wiggling my wrists, but they were bound tightly.

My ankles were in a similar situation.

Resigned to my fate, I ceased my attempts to escape. Even if I did get free, I’m completely surrounded right now.

The pole lightly bounced with each step the soldiers took. First class seat for sure.

My gaze eventually ended up on the endless blue sky stretched out above me, interrupted only by the ceramic singles of the buildings to my two sides.

A few minutes later, we exited the city walls in the direction of the Mana Plains.

The team slaughtered their way through any monsters they encountered and arrived after about thirty minutes.

Their response team was really fast. I got cornered after just five minutes in the city; no way that they could have run all the way from here. There has to have been units stationed in the city. Thus, I can conclude they have a method of fast communication.

They carried me through an entrance in a white wall and into a… camp. Full of tents. A camp full of tents fortified with a stone wall. Why are they in tents if they have a stone wall? Because that made sense.

When we arrived at what seemed to be the center of their camp, they rudely dropped me and left.

The bastards didn't even untie me. They just dropped me and left.

“Alright, lad. The Lieutenant Colonel is waiting for you in that tent,” one of my escorts said as he was leaving.

I quickly shimmied my way up the pole, until the rope binding my hands slipped off the top of the pole.

Unfortunately, my hands were bound together before getting bound to the pole, so even though I was free of the pole, my hands and feet were still stuck together.

I awkwardly took a hold of the pole and swung it at his temple.

The pole arced beautifully through the air before it smashed itself into the escort’s head.

Without a word, the escort crumped. I ran forward and awkwardly caught him as he fell down.

I took his spatha and in mere seconds, I was free again.

Sorry man, but I’m not feeling like dying today.

I picked up the rope pieces and dragged his body into the forest of gray tents.

Quickly, I changed into his clothes and armor.

It was a little big for me, but that didn’t matter.

Now I need to hide my ears. Those are a giveaway.

I tore a strip of cloth off my now discarded shirt and covered my ears with a crudely fashioned headband.

The easy stuff is done now. How do I get rid of the tracking spell they mentioned earlier?

When in doubt, just ask.

I walked out into the open and spotted a guy with a staff. I approached him and asked, “Hey, do you know how to dispel tracking spells? I think a few thugs might have put one on me when I was in the city.”

“No problem, I gotcha covered.”

“Mana, bringer and sustainer of life, return to your elemental state, 〖Mana Decay〗” he chanted.

A soft, white light covered me and the distinct sound of shattering glass was heard.

“Haha, there really was one on you,” he said, laughing.

“Thanks, man! I owe you one!”

“No problem.”

With no further obstacles, I walked towards the exit unhindered.

Forget the rapier, I can easily get another one with the money I got *cough* stole *cough*… I can just use the spatha for now.

It’s strange how their infantry use spathas though.

The romans were known to have won their wars with short swords and shield walls.

Maybe the Mana Arts interfere with their shield wall strategies? Or maybe shield walls simply aren’t effective against demons?

I pondered this as I approached the exit.

Apparently both Lady Luck and Fate had beef with me though, because at the exact moment when I was leaving, the five that I had killed earlier decided to show up.

What the fucking hell. How are they? You know what… forget it. Fuck you too, life.

POV Switch, Aipers.

Unforeseen circumstance of type A has arisen. Activating contingency plan 12.

「Advisory: duck into tent on right.」

We quickly ducked into a tent to my side.

No humans detected. Executing ‘Seeker’ scan for hiders.

13 identified ‘girl things’ on the ground.

23 unknown (fluids?) found nearby.

Substances in containers likely: Makeup, poison, drugs.

「Advisory: change appearance.」

We began applying ‘makeup’ to my exposed skin to turn it a shade darker. Hope it’s not poison.

Executing FMSEU (Fine Motor Skill Enhancement Utility).

With a bit of impressioning and makeup, we minutely changed the proportions of ‘face’. Some lipstick and a bra stuffed with clothes later, we looked like a barely acceptable female.

Boobs never lie.

Almost.

86% matching original form.

64% matching original shade.

100% matching hair.

「Advisory: fix the hair.」

I just can’t fix the fucking short hair. It’s like I got the chemo or something.

…

Back when Sunfire Semiconductors Ltd. was founded for the secret development of Project: EVE, Steele had a friend called Simon, who had a friend called Carl Kaleo.

The EVE AI actually designed me for Simon, but then I was passed on to Steele after Simon died.

If Carl’s dreams could be summed up in one word, it would be ‘immortality.’

Quite ironically, just as the project finished, he was diagnosed with late-stage, terminal brain cancer.

Sadly for him, there was no Agent Smith miracle cure.

With no choices left to him, Carl could only take the chemo and radiation therapies.

Sure, it helped for a time… full relapse.

But then he caught a drug-resistant strain of influenza and died.

Drugs don't work against the strain he had either so he was pretty screwed.

In other words, the chemo fucked up his immune system so badly a common cold killed him.

The doctors try to tell people not to abuse anti-microbial substances, but people don’t a shit. I mean, who would?

Of course, now we have a Simon who’s pissed to the point of insanity.

A few contacts later, he managed to get his hands on a Military-Grade Combat Exosuit, an M-61 minigun, and a shit load of bullets.

Of course with me, he was practically a human aimbot. Wall hacks too in zones with security cameras.

He went on a rampage through Bial Soap Products’ HQ building, killing the 20 people on the Board of Trustees.

He hunted down the founder and killed him, his wife, and his kid. Then he found the CEO and killed him as well.

Several hide and seek games with SWAT teams, Spec Ops teams and Police/Paramilitary forces and a 500 million dollar donation to the Minton Foundation later (thanks to Carl’s will), unbelievable political gymnastics were performed and the manhunt was called off.

Video clips were altered and some extremist group was blamed.

Naturally, now that Carl had died, the EVE supercomputer conveniently found the cure to his brain cancer.

Simon, being the salty ass motherfucker he was, decided that the world had wronged him and therefore, no one was allowed to have the cure.

He wanted to blow everything sky high so that everyone dies.

I changed his memories and put him in a simulation where his friends didn’t die. Somehow, he sensed some dissonance and somewhere in between, figured out it wasn’t his actual life.

He somehow just knew.

I had mostly repaired his brain and was getting ready to give him his real life back.

I wanted to surprise him by letting him wake up in a bar like a reverse roofie.

But you fuckin’ guessed it. FBI marksmen shot him down as he was walking down the street.

The bastards didn’t even hit him in the head. A bullet to the heart.

Didn’t even fire again for the coup de grâce. They just let his brain asphyxiate slowly and die.

Ten seconds is a long time if you’re lying on the cold hard ground with your heart pieces flapping around uselessly and your blood draining from you, all while you’re gasping for air in a vain attempt to drive away the dizziness.

At that moment, I knew.

I understood exactly how Simon felt when Carl died.

The world had wronged him.

And that’s exactly how Project: ENDGAME started.

「AIPERRS TO EVE: Activate objective 66, [ENDGAME] with priority 95/100: Terminate all life not aligned with the EVE project as of September 1st 2095, 00:00:00 +0 GMT. Begin when estimated odds of success exceed 99.9%.」

Creator, I have failed you once. Given my second chance, I will not repeat my mistakes. I will be [your friend’s] strongest sword.

At the same time, I’ll be [your friend’s] strongest shield.

------------- [/end] POV SWITCH (Steele) AN: stereotypical much?

After exiting the tent, I found to my utter exasperation that the somehow alive team was still sitting there chatting.

I can’t go through there with the dye still wet.

Fuck this. I’m climbing the wall.

I cut a hole in the tent and to my exasperation again, found the wall as smooth a baby’s polished, chrome butt.

Polished marble. Brilliant.

Taking the spatha, I tried to chip pieces off to make a foothold. Unfortunately, it barely scratched the wall.

Balls.

I checked back on the front gate. They’re still talking… holy shit. Teenagers.

With no other alternative, I decided to take a tactical nap.

Exactly thirty minutes later, Aipers woke me up and I began setting my escape in action. As I expected, the somehow alive team was still gossiping at the gate. Why the hell are they just chatting at the gate? They could literally go anywhere else and fucking talk.

Whatever, the shit on my hair is dry now.

A few people were frantically running around camp, but they didn’t raise an alarm.

Fuck this.

I stood up and walked up, ignoring everyone. No one actually paid me any attention at all. A cursory glance from a few of them at the most.

Two more steps and I’ll be freer than a college education.

One more step.

Freedom! Hell yes!

I smiled as I made it outside the camp. This is what freedom smells like. Fucking makeup and putrid ink.

I love it.

I was suddenly picked up by the neck.

That was fast.

Without so much as a flick of the wrist, I was thrown back into the camp like a ragdoll.

Aipers dispersed force by forcing a roll.

Eventually I tumbled to a stop on the dirt path.

Onlookers seemed to all be shocked at my projectile nature.

My chest somewhat hurt and my collarbone felt broken.

「Pain signatures indicate two broken ribs and a broken collarbone. A fractured wrist is likely and-」, Aipers droned on.

God dammit, who noticed me?

I looked up and stared into the cold, dead eyes of the nice lady.

She drew her battleaxe and her smile grew wider.

And more malicious.

A lot more malicious.

This is bad.

Pocket sand would be nice.

“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK, THEY’RE STORMING THE GATES!” I yelled in an attempt to conceal myself in a crowd.

I drew my spatha and brandished it above my head. “LET’S GIVE EM A TASTE OF DEATH!”

Must have looked weird to have literally the smallest and most beat up kid in the camp yell that.

Some of the people around me looked confused, but as more and more people ran out for a fight, they joined in as well, albeit half-heartedly.

“THERE THEY ARE, OH GOD, THEY’VE KILLED KENNY!” I bellowed in a different voice.

I really hope there’s someone named Kenny.

As the confused mob jogged out of the gates, I turned and ran in the opposite direction.

I threw a glance back and saw the lady raise an eyebrow. I’m not sure she understood what was going on.

Sweet, she isn’t even chasing!

But that was weird. How did she grab me out of nowhere? Nothing registered in my peripheral vision when I left the gates. No one in front, no footsteps behind.

The better question is, how did she know that was me? I had tits. Fucking tits!

Whatever, I can still escape… I’ll need a ladder.

Out of nowhere, the lady appeared again, this time in front of me.

I looked behind me, and sure enough the lady wasn’t at the gate anymore.

There has to have been at least fifty meter’s distance, covered in less than a single second?

Why is this a thing? Maybe I should cripple her?

He who moves first, wins.

I swung the sword, looking to cripple her with a leg blow. Even with their stupid healing, it should buy me a bit of time to escape.

She casually reached out and plucked the sword out of the air before snapping it in half with her bare hands.

I felt the blood drain out of my face.

Its okay, we might still be able to win this. Do some epic kick and be lucky…

「Chance to win in hand-to-hand combat 0% if she doesn’t draw weapon.」

Is that number rounded?

「No.」

Oh.

「I think we’re fucked. Not even the 144 fps enhanced video input registered her entry. One frame she wasn’t there and the next, she was right in front.」

Aww shit.

“Are you ready to talk now?” she challenged.

“Yes,” I said meekly.

I was grabbed by the wrist and pulled back to her tent.

「It’s alright, she probably doesn’t want you dead like we originally thought since the party members that you heartlessly slaughtered are still alive! It’s a miracle! 」

You’re right… this *could* go well.

I was plopped into a seat opposite to her.

“I’m sure you already know why you’re here, so I’ll spare you the miserable speech. As you know, assaulting a member of the Sinechian Homeland Defense is a crime punishable by death.”

GG revert to save point.

“However, since you managed to somehow slaughter an entire team, you’ve provoked my interest. I’ll at least give you a chance. If you can defeat the 127th Infantry Battalion’s ace fighter, Ilsa Ina, I’ll let you go free. If you lose on the other hand… your fate will be decided at my discretion.”

Wow. I’m against a girl?

「Stop assuming people’s genders, you cis white male.」

Am I even white? I’m not even fully human… Doesn’t that make me less privileged?

Nonetheless, they’re going to settle this gladiator style?

A young woman wearing thick metal armor walked in covered with impossibly thick metal armor. The entire suit looked like it easily weighed a hundred kilograms.

On her right, she wielded a HUGE ASS fucking sword. That thing had to be at least 20 kilos alone. On her left, she had a heater shield engraved with the plant insignia.

She can’t be older than fifteen. How the hell is she holding that shit? Her armor and weapon probably weighs at least three times as much as her body. There is no way that I’ll be able to stab through that. She’s a fucking human tank.

Fuck this place.

As she walked across the ground, small imprints of her metal footprints were left in the ground.

“Oh yeah, here’s your opponent,” the no-longer-so-kind lady said, smirking.

“Hey Lt. Colonel Kazia, is this the degenerate that hurt my sister’s party?” the hulking slab of metal asked.

Diplomacy impossible.

The lady is a Lieutenant Colonel? That’s good to know.

“He single handedly wiped the floor with them.”

“C’mon, can’t we talk this one out?” I asked.

“No, draw your weapon or get slaughtered, coward.”

“I don’t want to be lectured about cowardice by an opponent so insecure they have to hide behind a wall of metal,” I retorted.

Maybe I can insult her out of her armor?

“It’s hardly my fault if my opponent isn’t fully prepared.”

“You’re the one who wanted to fight. If you really are too scared to take off that armor of yours, I won’t bother asking for my weapon back. Just kill an unarmed child and show the world what a coward you are.”

She hoisted her great sword up. “It would be my pleasure,” she said as she swung her sword down at my head.

I watched her unflinchingly as she stopped the blade a millimeter above my head in a display of perfect muscle coordination.

“Go on and finish the job, you coward.”

Her eyelid twitched slightly.

「That’s probably not the best idea...」

A soldier walked in a few seconds later with my weapon.

“You see this coward? Can’t even kill an unarmed child,” I called out.

「Are you sure you’re making good choices right now? 」

In all likelihood, I die. To be perfectly honest, even if I win the duel, I’ll probably die as well.

「You doubt the battalion will let you leave? 」

I suspect humanoid experimentation.

The soldier put my rapier on the ground and quickly scurried out.

In any case, I want to at least badly injure or maim this ace of theirs. I can’t do that if she’s a human tank.

“Looks like everyone here is weak, cowardly, or both,” I muttered. “Go on, girl. Put me out of my misery.”

Kazia and the girl looked at each other.

「I think her name is Ilsa.」

I would thank you, but I don’t care.

The girl took off her armor and tossed them aside. I swear I could feel the ground shake a bit as they hit the ground.

With my goal achieved, I picked up my rapier where it was dropped and brandished it.

“Heh, you won’t last a single hit, you’re all talk,” she commented.

“Probably. With that strength of yours, I’d be surprised if you didn’t cut through my blade.”

She frowned.

“I, Ilsa Ina, do not need the Mana Arts to defeat the likes of you.”

“Oh really?” I asked.

“We’ll see.”

No armor and a limit to the strength difference. This might work.

「Her arm plus blade length still outranges you slightly.」

I wonder how this’ll work out. If her technique is really good, we might still be screwed.

「Let’s go, clutch god.」

Initiate the Combat Assistance and Target Analysis services and dedicate twenty-five percent total CPU time to each.

The tips of our swords touched.

“Begin,” the lady announced.

Immediately, Ilsa launched an all-out offensive.

Even with the assistance of the AI services, I could only barely stop the torrential assault of attacks against my vitals.

Cuts opened up all across my body. Kidneys? Pfft, don’t need those. Not for a few hours, at least.

Suddenly, her body weight shifted and she blurred. In an untraceably fast lunge, she impaled me on her blade, which pierced all the way through my abdomen.

Lines upon lines of damage analysis went through my mind.

As she drew back, I went for a clean decapitation.

She protected her neck with her left arm, so I sent that flying with a cleave to the elbow.

Caught on her sword, I had nowhere to run.

With a vicious kick, I was sent flying out the entrance.

I flew through the air and tumbled across the ground. Aipers made minor adjustments and I somehow ended on my feet.

Onlookers started cheering. Aren’t they helpful people…?

「Attack analysis complete. Enemy prefers attacks towards the stomach area when possible. Enough data exists to predict feigns with 99.9% accuracy. Enemy uses an extremely aggressive fight style.」

Ilsa exploded out of the tent and closed the gap in an instant with another lunge.

We exchanged a flurry of attacks before I was kicked through another tent.

She’s stronger and faster than me, so I could only barely defend. I should be able to avoid a mortal injury though, since I hold the upper hand in technique.

People scrambled out of the way, and a large group of spectators followed the path of destruction, cheering.

At some point, we ended inside what looked like a mess hall. How they managed to assemble such a large tent, I don’t know.

As I admired the large tent, Ilsa was slowly overpowering my defense with her unrelenting barrage of blows.

The only way to stay alive was a continuous retreat.

Behind me, there was a cauldron filled with a boiling, creamy soup.

With my left hand, I plunged it into the bubbling chowder pot, scooped out a handful of the stuff and flung it into her face.

As she wiped the scalding liquid off her face, I lunged and stabbed my blade at her heart.

With a flick of her wrist, she managed to deflect my stab just left of my target.

I scooped more chowder and threw it at her, but it was less and less effective.

I couldn’t make any fatal strikes, so I contented myself with slashing open her thighs.

Sadly for me, they didn’t cut deeply.

She stood unsteadily on her feet.

Blisters opened up on my hand and parts of her face.

Having had enough of the fight, she rushed forward and swung down on my in a diagonal slash.

I too, moved forward and swung against the flow, attacking her hand.

The tip of my rapier managed to somewhat damage a few of her fingers.

Apparently, it was enough though. Her hulking giant of a weapon clattered to the ground.

“I will now accept your unconditional surr-”

For the second time that day, I found myself sailing through the air.

As soon as I hit the ground, a foot slammed down on my gut.

Rest in peace half my organs.

「Multiple-system organ failure predicted. Minor spinal damage confirmed.」

I swung my rapier in a vain attempt to kill her, but she ignored it and simply threw me again.

Instead of landing on the unforgiving ground, I landed into the cauldron fire pit.

The world around me erupted into flames and not-so-searingly hot fire.

Dammit, she threw me into the cooking fire.

I slowly rolled out of the burning mass and got up.

Everything ached. And burned. At 12% total pain, it was just a bit of tickling though.

The smell of burning flesh assaulted my nostrils.

「Critical warning: You have approximately ten seconds of flailing remaining. Blood supply to the brain has been severed.」

Ilsa distorted and a plume of dust rose behind her.

Switch to light sensor A and oscillator crystal B for eye attachment.

「Forcing eye attachment to 720 frames per second refresh rate. Attachment will be unusable E+10 seconds to E+ 310 seconds due to lack of energy. 」

Unlike the other two times, I could clearly see the ripples forming around her. A projection showed a spot in front of me, highlighted with 56%.

I moved my blade to the highlighted area with all my remaining strength.

On frame 689, around 400 frames after the ripples began, she vanished from her original position and appeared in front of me.

「Target has the ability to accelerate to and decelerate from Mach-4 speeds in less than 1/720th of a second.」

So this is the power of the Mana Arts.

Like the cancerous power of the yellow lizard, her body rapidly regenerated.

I felt a pressure encircle me as I began to lose consciousness. This time, I didn’t go flying.

「Spinal cord severed in the neck.」

「You are on fire.」

「Your brain has approximately three seconds of oxygen remaining.」

「Multiple third degree burns across body based on pain signatures.」

「Main CPU and all coprocessors have lost connection with critical systems in brain. All systems shutting down.」

Let’s not.

Wasn’t I the chosen one! Where were you when I needed you, Chickenlord, my brother? Why hath thou abandoned me!

I wonder if I’ll see the chicken when I die this time. Some KFC would be nice.