I remember, as a child, taking a trip to the wilderness. A thunderstorm had suddenly appeared that evening, blocking the hundreds of lights in the night sky— and from those clouds came the loudest sound I’d ever heard. Thunder. Strong enough to literally shake the earth beneath my feet, loud enough deafen me, and frightening enough that, even as an adult, its effect was ingrained into my memory. Until coming to this world, I thought nothing could come close to the sound of a blackened sky.

I suppose it’s no coincidence, then, that this world only has such a sky.

*PAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGH*

Artillery with shells the size of doors, a firing rate comparable to automatic weapons— at least in experiencing Hanna’s attack on the Swarmers I immediately went blind and deaf, even after being tens of miles away.

*PAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGHPAPAGH*

But I was right in the middle of this artillery fire, with the curse of having every one of my senses constantly bombarded. And no such mercy like Hanna’s nuke allowed me to escape it.

“Aahahaha! This is what happens when you underestimate the power of engineering!”

I felt a voice echo in my ear.

“Annika I can’t get a lock on them, there’s too much dust!”

“No problem at all~! Outsider signals have gone off radar, there’s only one left!”

“The Omega, but…”

“Chelsea, you gonna be alright?”

“………………”

“Ah, right, you’re busy, sorry about that~.”

“Infector reinforcements on Wendell and Yukiko’s group— they need help! Anon, Chelsea, I’ll give you firing support as soon as I can!”

Lia’s signal quickly cut off. I don’t know at what point I stopped being able to feel what they were saying and actually listen, but the clearing dust was a welcome sight. In the distance, I saw Chelsea’s blade carve new wounds into the abomination of a creature, but the lack of bleeding let me know the injuries were shallow at best. Still, for the moment she was okay, giving me time to stand and take in the oddly serene sight before me.

Amethyst colored blood coated the porous cliffs in batches, smoke rising from both the turrets and ground where it layed. Chunks of purple strone, likely the Outsiders’ limbs, were strewn every which way, glinting in the sun and making the cliffs appear like some sort of treasury.

But none of that compared to the crater.

As the sounds of reloading machinery stirred behind me, I walked towards the area where stone met sand and there— in the middle of it all— was a colossal, gaping cavity. Standing at its edge, I could see the artillery actually destroyed the stone; sand continuously fell into the basin, trying to fill a now empty space blasted open beneath the ground.

And yet, something still felt off. It was surreal to see almost nothing left of the Outsiders; when Hanna, Lia, and I fought the Rogue…was there really so little blood? The Swarmer Chelsea cut open practically burst with it, and this Behemoth…its muscles are so strained it perpetually bleeds.

But the Crysfiends are just…stones. Given life.

If something like these creatures could be called life in the first place.

“They don’t even share a biology…”

*RRROORRRRROOOOOOOOAAA*

I saw Chelsea digging her sword out of the Omega’s ankle. I hadn’t noticed from being so far away, but standing upright, she only reached the bottom half of its snout. A terrifying thought of it standing upright came to mind, but I quickly shook it off as I ran towards the beast.

“Annika, thanks for the assist.”

“Anytime~! Sorry about putting you in the furnace there, it’s the first time my own designs have been used. Outsiders have never come this close to the Redoubt before.”

“Then that said, Chelsea and I will take the Behemoth— can you monitor the other areas with Lia and provide support?”

“Sure can, but…”

“Not to worry Annika.” Mimicking her tone, I grabbed the hilt protruding from the ashen sand. It must’ve fallen when I disengaged the flight system. “Chelsea is our second most senior Resonator, meaning I’ll be just fine.”

“I……Senpai should’ve killed that Outsider by now so maybe you’re right but…ah, speak of the devil— incoming alert from the others! The turrets should finish reloading soon and Lelv—Lia will give you firing support as soon as Weapon and Yin’s groups have retreated!”

The signal abruptly cut off, leaving me as I advanced towards the guttural roars of the monster. Roars that, with every swing of Chelsea’s blade, became wilder, more animalistic— feral. Now closer to the fight, I could see the monster was taller than her by at least ten feet, easily five times as wide, and its mass…

Chelsea dodged beneath a wide swing of its stocky hoof, fighting against the wind and dust brought behind the weight of the swing. It chafed her armor, sending bits of scarlet metal flying alongside shimmering particles of gold and gray.

But she was right where she wanted to be. Brilliant crimson light illuminated her blade before, with a thrust of her arms backed by the roaring flare of her flight system—

“Vile beast.”

—the glowing blade plunged itself halfway into the Omega’s underbelly, strewing blood over Chelsea and across the desert floor.

*GHGRROOOOOOOOOOOOGHHRRRR*

The creature howled, whirling in a circle in a vain attempt to stomp on the one who injured it. But already having freed the sword from its body, Chelsea leapt backwards, distancing herself from the varmint whose skin and muscle already began showing signs of repair.

“Chelsea!” I said, taking a place by her side, “are you alright?”

“I told you, your worries are wasted on me.”

Wiping the blood off her visor, I could see her focusing on the light amounts of steam emanating from the gash in its underside— bleeding, but at a clearly slower rate. A wound like that should be fatal, IS fatal— but the Behemoth treated it like a human would a particularly bothersome bug bite.

“That thing’s regeneration is something else entirely.”

“Behemoth’s are a straightforward opponent. Even taking into account their speed and ability to heal, brute force is all that they possess; an Omega may amplify an Outsider’s strengths, but it cannot eliminate weaknesses.” she lectured, recomposing her stance. “In the end, killing one is no different then how one would kill any one of its kind.”

“Then how should a Slayer kill a Behemoth?”

Our conversation was cut short as the mammal-like beast charged at us. Blood melted off its body like rain, swept away by the speed of the wind rushing past it. Had Chelsea’s instincts not commanded me to move, or rather, had I not read them in the first place—

“Every vermin is fought head-on!”

—I would’ve been crushed under hundreds of tons of muscle.

While I only inelegantly tossed myself to the side, Chelsea side-stepped its charge completely; using the wind created by its attack alongside her own thrusters to gain momentum, spinning behind it, and slicing away a massive chunk of its calf muscle.

And yet, it still stood.

“Child, you are not yet prepared for this!” she yelled over the sound of its rage, “if the Crysfiends are dealt with, retreat to the Redoubt!”

“I can’t leave you to deal with this alone!” I retaliated. The eldritch monster seemed completely uninterested in me, focusing all its energy on trying to stomp the woman beneath it as it lashed out wildly. I didn’t understand; its lower body was essentially that of an elephant excluding a massive size difference and a short, thick tail— yet it moved fast enough to clearly make Chelsea break a sweat.

I came up behind it, slicing away at its legs in between the breaks in its bucking, but it was like trying to cut through metal with a knife. The heavy winds created by its body forced me away after Chelsea jumped, cutting a small wound over its mouth and kicking herself off its head.

“Know your limits, Child,” she chided. “You are not equipped for this.”

“Tch—! Then tell me what it is I can do!” I said, backing away after uselessly attacking the monster’s hide. I don’t know why, but in that moment over the radio, I felt Chelsea hold her tongue. If she truly wanted it, I know she could contact the ESDF, Annika, someone to force me to back away. She could probably even do it herself— clearly being skilled enough to decommission my Slayer just enough so I’d be out of the fight.

But she didn’t.

“It’s eyes and mouth.” she said, surprising me by giving a straight answer. “Stay a distance behind me and distract it with your weaponry.”

Without pause I sped myself up, giving the creature a wide berth as I reached for the gun standard for all Slayers, until—

“—what..?”

“Even, ahh, Anon— great timing!” cried Annika, responding to the emergency distress signal I sent. I finally managed to circle around the clashing duo, some four hundred feet behind Chelsea. “It’s bad over to the south! Outsider reinforcements are coming in waves, but the more important issue is that towards you guys, Senpai is tailing a Wo—”

“Where is Even’s ranged weaponry?!”

I could feel the shock from Chelsea even at this distance, though it thankfully wasn't enough interrupt her combat.

“I thought ranged weapons were standard for Slayers— likewise for our melee weapons!”

“Even doesn’t…oh…I thought you already knew,” she said, taking on a sympathetic yet still urgent tone. “All Slayers are unique, Anon…standard doesn't necessarily mean there won’t be outliers.”

“What are you saying?” I spat, adrenaline sinking into me as I watched Chelsea make split second dodges.

“Even doesn't have any ranged weapons. There were never any designs for them when you created your Slayer.”

“How is that—”

Wrong. It sank into me— something was very wrong.

Chelsea, what is it you’re seeing?

I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t see the danger she could. All I knew is that it was a matter of life or death.

Trapped. Like an animal.

I watched her from a distance, her movements shifted, she was trying…to jump. An escape?

Yes. But her movements were blocked by the sheer size of the Outsider; whatever it was she saw made her adjust her body— no longer did she try to counterattack. Her movements were filled with survival. Coming from her, I felt the base, instinctual alarm innate in every human being.

The alarm that preludes survival.

Something was going to go terribly wrong.

“Chelsea, Anon— it’s headed towards you……!”

The sound of Annika’s voice was drowned out by the earth shifting beneath our feet. The gray desert moved in its entirely; waves of sand rose and fell as in the far, far distance, a giant worm was born from the earth, being followed closely by a white Slayer.

To think that such a being’s effects…were felt a horizon away.

I turned towards Chelsea— she already tried to escape but the creature blocked her path upwards and to her sides. In a breath, the shifting earth caused her footing to become loose, and her armored legs sank into the loosened sand. The Behemoth, however, didn’t need balance.

The world moved slowly as I saw the eldritch monster throw its entire body forwards, intent on burying the crimson Slayer beneath the sand. She couldn’t jump away, the force created by Ghost Step and a non-Flight engine wouldn’t be fast enough to pull her out of the sand and out of striking distance. Moreover, she had no defense that could withstand such a direct, massive amount of force.

But I had yet to sink. Even with a broken flight unit, I still could move. I could still make it.

I felt her voice in my body— maybe she spoke, maybe she didn’t. All I could truly focus on was putting everything I had into gliding atop the ever loosening sand. And whether by blessing or dumb luck, rising out of the sand came a single, solid patch of stone.

I demanded everything from the strange power that got me here in the first place, stomping onto the earth and leaping upward with my blade just as the monster came tumbling down.

“Child—STOP!”

“hhhaaAAGGHHHH!!”

Using my broken flight system, I shot myself into the Behemoth’s jaw, swinging the blade with every ounce of might my new body could muster. My direct blow had just enough force to knock the monster away— in much the same way a human can ram himself against a tree and shift the branches ever so slightly. The world sped up again as I noticed the last waves of sand become still, and Chelsea quickly freed herself.

The mixture of relief I felt was odd, given I could still feel her vexation. Anxiety? Inevitability.

“Hah,” I said, realizing I wouldn't have the time to discern, “but I finally managed to do something.”

That was my thought as my blade shattered like ice against the Behemoth’s tusks and muscle. I saw its giant eye glare at me with hate as it used its built-up momentum to shift atop the solidified sand, swinging its upper body and hitting me with every pound of force its tree-like leg had behind it. My armor splintered like plastic as I was shot towards the cliffs at murderous speed.

Overwhelming force covered my body but…alongside it and the air pressure was…

“M-M-Mama…i-it hurts……”

“A child.” I thought as my limbs tangled together via the thrashing against the earth. “The first time she took care of an injury, that same worry.”

“Fools, do not underestimate any Outsider! Especially considering your—”

“Relax Chels, it’s no problem! These things, what aahh—Scavengers? There’s no problem!”

“This is basic ‘PVP,’ if we can’t handle this we can’t—”

Inevitability. But I couldn't tell where these feelings were from. Or better put, I couldn’t tell why I saw them through Chelsea at a time like this.

At a time where I couldn't feel my own body.

I felt Even, myself, skid across the sand as particles entered the joints in my shoulders, elbows, and knees. I was like a stone skipped across a pond, the break-neck collision with the sand effortlessly destroying what little armor was left after the Behemoth's attack.

There was nothing left to protect Even's now exposed machinery.

Red filled my vision as voices rang inside my head— I couldn't tell if they were from the radio or from Empathetic Connect. Maybe both? I was ripped away from the glowing white spheres as I came to a battering halt against something tough. I could already feel the migraine seeping into me— making me dizzier as the voices didn’t stop. Even then, however, I could manage a weak smile.

I was alive. More than alive, I was even conscious.

Hah, what a horrible experience. What a horrible miracle. What was I even thinking?

I hate doing this. I hate being in pain. I hate being selfless.

But………I couldn’t lie to myself.

It felt pretty nice to have maybe saved a life.

Even if it cost me my—

The earth shifted before me, and for a swift moment my brain ignored every ache and pain, firmly remembering where I was. The giant pitfall— the one all the turrets created— exploded with a brilliant flash, sending sand in every direction as a crystalline monster, missing an arm and with a hole in its side, leapt from the vortex of sand.

The Crysfiend…it’s alive—?! That shouldn’t be possible! How is it possible!?

As if answering my question, glimmering pink shimmers disappeared from in front of the creature as it landed near the still-reloading turrets. Though it had a different form and color, I recognized it in an instant.

“AN AEGIS!?”

Using the rocky terrain, it stabbed the earth with its remaining arm, scattering car sized boulders in every direction as it destroyed the machinery laying in the burrows and in the earth. Avalanches of stone fell around me and across the terrain, destroying any turret that survived its initial attack; I activated my own shield, using the cliff against my back to prop myself up as boulders struck at the energy, causing distortion with every blow.

But the real danger, I realized, was that it was now centered dead on me.

“Tch—give me a break!”

Levitating over the earth, dust and pebbles rose in its wake as it rushed towards me, arm held forward like a lance. It was too sharp, my Aegis wouldn't be able to handle a piercing strike, especially without any armor!

In a desperate move I concentrated the energy into the middle of my Slayer, protecting the vitals and myself, who was located near Even’s 'heart'.

But I miscalculated.

“GhA! GHAAAAAAA!!!”

It pierced through my Aegis like paper, burrowing itself into my left shoulder— right where the joint met the arm. I could feel small crystals grow from the impact, perforating through the machinery, tearing through anything that was keeping it attached.

I tried reaching around my shield to grab at its body with my free arm, but it was so lithe that, without its extra arm, I couldn't grab onto anything. I felt the crystals multiply, growing in on themselves until finally—

“agHGhAAAAGHHHH!!!”

—the arm fell onto the ground with a heavy, metallic *thud*.

Sweat poured down my face in showers, my head felt like it was being sawed in half. The sensation of being without an arm was alien and frightening— I looked to my left, pink fractals grew from the cliff itself, having contributed to my dismemberment.

I was panting like an injured dog— I didn’t see how I was going to make it out of here alive.

No. I was sure I wouldn’t.

Not until I saw the consequences of its actions.

Before my eyes, the monster made of crystal was desperately trying to pull its arm out of my shield. Its initial piercing attack made it through, but its arm was now covered with intricate patterns of crystals like snowflakes— sprouting from the arm itself.

A single idea immediately came to my mind; the only thing I was ever good at when it came to playing games, or competing with others.

“Hah…ahahaha……!”

The monster yanked at me, flailing wildly. It tried kicking, but the delicate nature of the crystal meant swinging it like a bat would only injure itself more than me. Its attacks, its body, was made for piercing.

Hardening the shield, I forced myself to take a step forward as the Crysfiend’s body kicked in every direction, eventually swinging too close to my right arm. Running on instinct, I gripped with all my might as I slowly turned us around, the sound of the machinery protected by the initial barrage surprising me with Annika’s voice that the reloading and maintenance was complete— “May your massacre and mayhem continue!”

Right. Thinking about it, a single turret buried deep within the burrow would've been protected by my body and shield. Both from my crash, and this thing's avalanche of boulders.

I would need to thank Annika after this.

“I don’t know how you survived…but you should’ve kept to hurling rocks.”

“Warning: Slayer and Outsider detected—automated precision targeting system engaged.”

We were now turned a hundred and eighty degrees, the Crysfiend flailing where I had been mere minutes ago.

“Or didn’t you know?—”

“Outsider locked on—commencing precision slaughter in three…two…”

“—I’m incapable of fighting from a distance.”

“Precision slaughter mode: engaged.”

Blazing lights like a rave illuminated the creature in front of me; slamming its body into my Aegis over and over and over from the sheer amount of bullets being pumped through its body, tearing holes the size of windows everywhere from its head to its legs. I felt the strain against my shield, but grit my teeth and found myself praying that I could hold on for just one second longer.

But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the slaughter had ended almost as soon as it started.

The shield released in an inelegant wisp as I collapsed, panting over the purple-stained stone. There was nothing left of the eldritch monster but gemstones I recognized as gore. But I couldn’t rest…not yet. I could feel her heart, still fighting from far behind me.

But as I am now, I……

………………

………………………………

……its body………is made for piercing.

I turned to my left, the arm lodged behind my shield had regressed into its state of a simple, needle-thin lance.

Still panting, I grabbed the pink and purple colored arm, standing up with the support of the cliff once more. My breathing became heavier— this was reckless. Beyond reckless. It ventured into the territory of outright suicide.

I looked to the distance. Chelsea was still fighting, and the monster was still regenerating. If it was a battle of attrition, I don’t know how long she would manage to keep up. And beyond them...the Worm of the Earth.

I panted, looking at the arm in my grip— it was starting to dissolve. If I was going to do it, it had to be now.

Heavy breathing escaped my lips, my head felt split open with pain and nausea. But I was still standing.

“..close quarters it is then.”

With my breath held tight, I plunged the Crysfiend’s arm into Even's empty socket as every one of my nerves became incinerated by fire.