Under the darkness of the night, on a steep slope in one corner of Avrika Continent, Hide leaned on a rock while looking at Carlson who desperately tried to stop the bleeding in his left stomach.

But Hide realized that gunshot wound in his stomach could not be healed. No medical procedure could save a victim of a hollow point bullet.

"Carl, don't waste your time. I can only last twenty minutes at most. Go, I will hold them off."

Carlson looked at Hide with a deep sigh. A colleague who was certified as an assistant surgeon, and he never gave up on an injury of any kind.

Twice, Carlson nearly died from gunshot wounds and already became half a corpse, but Hide managed to save him when other paramedics surrendered. It would be also too difficult to count the number of people that Hide had saved using his medical skills.

"Any last messages?"

"No, I no longer have any family in this world."

Hide lit a cigarette before inhaling deeply, and he immediately felt an intense pain from the wound in his left stomach.

"Help me set the remaining Claymores, then get out of here asap."

Without a word, Carlson complied with Hide's request. There were only two remaining Claymores, but to reach Hide's position there was only a steep path. So, two claymores were more than enough to make their pursuer bleed.

When Carlson finished setting up the Claymores, Hide had also finished setting up a demo-bag with RDX on his lap, and he enjoyed a cigarette while staring into the distance.

As he put the detonator into Hide's grasp, Carlson said, "Either in hell or in the next life, I will look for you and we can be partners again."

"Wilco Brother."

Hide slightly smiled while looking deeply at Carlson. However, after Carlson was out of sight he looked back into the distance and remorse reflected deep in his eyes. Regret that haunted his life for a dozen years and made him repeatedly accept high-risk assignments in the hope that it would end his life in honor.

Five years as a member of the 1st Airborne Ranger Brigade, eight years as a support element at the 1st SFG with six qualifications apart from sniper and CQB, six years as a mercenary until finally he ended up in a corner of Avrika Continent, sitting alone and drowning in regret, while waiting for the end of his life.

"Aizawa... I really miss you."

Tears streamed down Hide's cheeks while his mind was filled with memories of his half-sister.

His mother died giving birth to him, so Hide grew up never knowing the woman who gave birth to him. A decade after his mother died his father remarried a Brittis woman named Emily Rhoe.

Emily was a piano player in a high-class pub, specializing in jazz songs. Initially, his father just fell in love with Emily's music, but slowly and surely the relationship between the two became deeply serious. Not long after their marriage, Emily gave birth to a very sweet baby girl named Aizawa Rhoe.

Emily was a soft-hearted woman and an almost perfect mother. Therefore Aizawa could live her days full of joy. But life always went in unexpected directions. By the time Aizawa was four years old, Emily died in a traffic accident.

After she lost her mother, Aizawa then made Hide as her support, her half brother who didn't care about her at all. It was natural because her father, who was too carried away in sadness, no longer cared about his children.

Even though Hide treated her poorly, Aizawa continued to follow him because she had no other choice. At home she had no parental figures, while at school other kids stayed away from her and some of them even bullied her.

According to psychology, a three-year-old child was already able to read the emotions projected on them. So Aizawa easily realized the negative feelings that Hide projected onto her. However, Aizawa tirelessly tried to be an obedient child and never fussed with the hope that one day Hide would accept her.

But hope was only hope, when Aizawa was seven years old her father was killed in a robbery, at the same time Hide chose to leave her.

Hide, who panicked when he received the news that his father had died, chose to leave home before joining the military. Luckily, officials from the social service gave a helping hand to take care of his father's funeral, then put Aizawa into an orphanage.

It was only when Aizawa was 16 years old that Hide dared to meet her. Hide, who at that time finally felt that he was worthy to rely on, invited Aizawa to return to live as a family. Of course, Aizawa answered his invitation with overwhelming hatred.

Hide fully understood Aizawa's hatred for him, but he couldn't let her live with a drug and alcohol addicts. Moreover, this scumbag treated Aizawa harshly and often beat her.

Hide decided to intervene and managed to separate Aizawa from the addicts. However, Aizawa responded by establishing a relationship with a more bastard man. This cycle was repeated several times until finally, Aizawa's life was at a point where it could no longer be tolerated.

Ironically, by the time Hide finally knew what to do and how he had to do it, Aizawa had already committed suicide by overdose, and the last message he left was 'Hide, I hate you.'

Since then, regret has followed Hide wherever he went and crushed his heart day after day. In short, this world became his living hell.

"In the next life, let me endure all your suffering so that you can live without a single regret."

Hide muttered as the faint sound of footsteps could be heard from the bottom of the slope. Hide immediately opened the detonator's safety, then calmly waited.

By relying on his hearing, Hide could tell that a dozen targets had just entered Claymore's range. He then pressed gently on the detonator and the two claymores instantly spewed out hundreds of steel balls.

Not long after that, moans and groans filled the night air, but Hide didn't have much time to listen, because his pursuers fired RPGs sporadically and one of them hit his position.

Along with a loud and dazzling explosion, Uesugi Hidetada left this world carrying the greatest regret in his life.

*****