Kiochi couldn’t feel it. That fear. That crippling fear he experienced on that night was nowhere to be found. The first shots had already been fired by the diversion force to the south and yet Kiochi didn’t feel the slightest bit of fear. He took a deep breath of the fresh air the forest offered.

This wasn’t his first time there. He had once walked those very grounds as a husk, a shell that was filled with nothing but rage and despair. But much had changed since his last visit. Kiochi decided at this moment that he would no longer be a tool for others to use. He would strive to be one who fought on the side of humanity and justice.

No one in the dark of the night noticed that Kiochi was smirking as he received a report from the division force.

“Ok men, it has begun. I’d like to remind you that we have three objectives: blow open Vestibule Charlie’s door, eliminate all resistance and capture Natasha Lebedev. Failure to complete these objectives will mean that all of this and the lives that will be lost would have been for nothing. So go out there and raise hell!” Kiochi said.

“ “ Yes sir! “ “ His men answered in unison.

‘Good.’ Kiochi thought to himself as he and his men paved their way through the dense forest. They eventually found themselves near a small shed which was surrounded by Kynigoi. Kiochi raised his right hand and signaled that his men attack. The mercenaries gleefully accepted these orders and opened fire on the their targets.

A Kynigoi’s body was heavily reinforced but nothing could save them from a bullet to the head. Sparks flew, bodies fell in an instance and much to Kiochi’s pleasure, non of his men died.

“Move in!” He barked and everyone surrounded the small shed. The shed itself wasn’t very conspicuous. However, Kiochi knew that beneath the simple wooden shed was a super bunker.

The sheds door looked like it was made of wood, but Kiochi knew that it was definitely reinforced.

“Blow it open!” Kiochi ordered and one of the mercenaries walked foward. He was a short but bulky man and he possessed a pair of sharp eyes.

The man placed several explosive devices onto the door and everyone stepped away from the shed until they reached a safe distance. The man pressed a button on his handheld device and then-

Tic!

Boom!

The door blew inwards allowing Kiochi and his men to stormed inside. Other than the elevator in the center, the shed was completely empty. It looked completely different on the inside but Kiochi didn’t have time to gawk at the futuristic layout of the shed because the elevator was moving. The dial above the door showed that it was coming up. All of Kiochi’s men raised their weapons and pointed them straight at the door and Kiochi did the same. They all had some of the worlds most powerful rifles in their hands, with Kiochi holding an AKR-M7 (Anti Kynigoi Rifle Mark 7) which Yamamoto personally designed to be able to deal with Kynigoi and their augments.

The elevator stopped and everyone in the shed stood completely still as the doors slowly slid open, revealing nothing but a tall black man with dreadlocks. He wore full combat gear under a thick black trench coat. Kiochi knew who it was the instant he spoke.

“It’s just me Kiochi.” Trevor Wilkins said.

Kiochi wasn’t sure but he could have sworn that Trevor hissed when he said his name.

“If you want to get into the Vestibule, then by all means do so. I just have one condition… care to hear me out?” Trevor asked politely.

Kiochi gestured that his men lower their weapons and slowly walked towards Trevor.

“Ok, what is the condition?” Kiochi asked.

Trevor’s face broke into a wide grin as he casually opened his arms.

“One on one combat between you and me.” Trevor said.

Kiochi could clearly see the bloodlust in Trevor’s eyes. He was actually surprised that Trevor wasn’t screaming at the top of his lungs about the death of his brother.

“I see… so if I win, you let us pass, but what happens if you win?” Kiochi asked as he took a step towards Trevor.

“Then I kill all of you.” Trevor said with a bright smile.

‘Eve, send power to my arms, now!’ Kiochi urged.

He and Eve had absorbed their fill of ethereal energy before the mission began, so Kiochi had energy to spare.

[Copy!]

Eve confirmed and in an instant, Kiochi drew his Nodachi and swung it towards Trevor’s neck. Then the most absurd thing happened. Trevor dodged the attack. Kiochi’s eyes widened as Trevor increased the distance between them in an instant. His movements were extremely strange. Trevor was using his arms to propel himself across the floor. Sparks flew across the room as he hopped across the floor with precise movements as his arms scraped the concrete.

After getting quite far from Kiochi Trevor took off his trench coat, revealing two silvery metal arms. They were sleek and looked like they were extremely durable.

“That was scary, but I’m not going to let you kill me that easily.” Trevor said with a cocky smile.

Kiochi’s short subordinate from before walked up to him and asked.

“Sir, shouldn’t we just shoot him?”

Kiochi sighed deeply, then took out his handgun from its thigh holster and fired a bullet at Trevor. In a flash, Trevor caught the bullet with two fingers and dropped it almost mockingly.

“See? Even if you were all to shoot him, most of you would die before you actually killed him. Leave him to me. Instead, go get the bomb and bring it here.” Kiochi ordered and his men did as they were told.

A few of them went outside to retrieve UY-SCUTI, while the rest stayed and watched. Kiochi raised his Nodachi and lowered his stance. Trevor replied in kind and assumed his battle stance.

Kiochi dashed towards Trevor but then he got the strangest sensation of heat and danger in his gut.

[Watch out!]

Eve shouted just as Trevor’s fist whizzed past Kiochi’s face. Kiochi had managed to use the force he gained while running to rotate his body and dodge Trevor’s punch.

Kiochi steadied himself and swung his Nodachi diagonally towards Trevor’s legs. Trevor’s hands moved at impossible speeds as he reached for the ground and threw himself backwards. He landed gracefully and stood upright.

Kiochi was confused.

What the hell are those arms made of? He wondered.

“You like my new arms. They’re called [SAMSON OVERDRIVE] and with these, I have the strength to avenge my brother. You did me wrong that day Kiochi. Aaron was supposed to live, not me!” Trevor yelled before regaining his composure.

“Anyway, let’s get serious.” Trevor said and the heat in the shed increased again.

‘What’s going on?’ Kiochi asked Eve.

[Those arms must be powered by have a high energy source that’s allowing him to exert such high amounts of energy short burst. Be careful.]

She cautioned.

‘Ok. If he’s going to go for brawn, I’m going for speed. Eve, activate Kamaitachi first form!’ Kiochi said and instantly his skin began to darken. His subordinates could only stare in surprise as millions of tiny spikes covered his skin and a membrane form over his head. Kiochi was now this dark, bald thing that was clad in combat gear.

Kiochi sheathed his Nodachi.

[Name: Kiochi Suzuki

HP: 750/750

STR:100/100

END: 80/80

EP:100/150

CG: 5% Boost

DMG multiplier: 1x

SPD multiplier: 2x

Passive skills:

Phalanx mode

Active skills:

Kamaitachi First Form

This skill alters your PHALANX MODE armor, giving you sharp blades instead of fingers and optional teeth.

Pro: It increases your speed multiplier to 1 to 2x

Con: It sheds 30% of your armor, making you more susceptible to damage.

EP cost: 50]

Trevor’s eye’s widened.

“What the hell? You looked different on that night! Don’t tell me you have another ability! That’s not fair!” Trevor whined slightly before he regained his composure again.

“No, I guess it’s fine. I got an upgrade as well. Behold the true power of [SAMSON OVERDRIVE]!” Trevor said as he dashed towards the dark being that was his opponent. Kiochi didn’t even bother to dodge using excessive movements. He simply rotated his body according to the punches Trevor threw. One could almost see the air expanding due to the sheer force of Trevor’s attacks and his arms we ejecting large amounts of steam from their seams, causing the shed to become a sauna.

“I forgot to ask this earlier, but how do we determine the winner?” Kiochi asked casually.

Thinking about victory already, huh? You cocky little… Trevor cursed internally.

“The one who is unable to move first loses.” Trevor said as he threw another punch that hit nothing but air.

“Ok.” Kiochi said.

He realize that he couldn’t enjoy toying with Trevor for long because he had a mission to complete and so, using his newly gained speed, he launched a punch at Trevor that struck him face with tremendous force.

Trevor spun, but Kiochi wasn’t done. He punched Trevor several more times in the gut, basically pulverizing his internal organs. Trevor flew backwards and rolled to a stop near the elevator.

Kiochi unsheathed his Nodachi to deal the final strike.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!!!” Trevor screamed as he released a shockwave of heat and energy.

Whatever was powering his arms was generating a lot of heat. Trevor’s body became coated in blood and sweat and Kiochi could even see waves of heat rising from Trevor’s body as breathed.

“I wanted to blow your ugly face off! I really did. The boss lady said that I should return your body in near perfect condition. Well fuck that!” Trevor yelled.

“I’m going to kill you! I’m going to rip you to shreds! Just like what you did to my brother! [THUNDERCLAP]!” Trevor threw a punch at Kiochi’s and the next thing Kiochi saw was a blinding white light, followed by pain.

Lots of it.

[WARNING!]

..

[HP: 630/750]

..

[Avoid getting hit by that move again!]

Eve warned.

That guy’s really trying to blow my head off! Kiochi panicked internally.

Fine! I’m going to cut of your head as well. Kiochi decided.

Trevor’s arms continued releasing absurd amounts of heat as he continuously threw punches at Kiochi.

“This is for my brother! [THUNDERCLAP]!” Trevor yelled.

His eye’s were dyed red with rage and his fists rained on Kiochi’s body, but thanks to his speed, hemanaged to dodge all of them successfully.

Trevor threw another punch and making full use of the opening, Kiochi swung his Nodachi diagonally. His target was Trevor’s shoulder. Kiochi assumed that the point where Trevor’s bionic arm met his body was a weak spot.

Trevor used his arms to launch himself backwards with various acrobatic movements but Kiochi had seen him do it before, so he dashed forward and unleashed a torrent of slash attacks aimed at Trevor’s arms and just as Kiochi expected, the metallic arms were tough, but Trevor was still mostly human. Cuts and gashes started appearing on Trevor’s body as Kiochi relentlessly swung his sword.

“Bastard! Why don’t you just roll over and die! Now I’m going to completely crush you!” Trevor said and even more heat started coming from his arms.

“Behold the full power of my arms, [BRAZEN BULL BARRAGE]!” Trevor said and his arms started letting out even more plumes of steam. Several gaps appeared on the metal plating of his arms, revealing what looked like batteries. The battery like things were red hot devices embedded at various points within Trevor’s arms.

Kiochi braced himself and just as he did, several flashes came from where Trevor was standing.

Flash!

“Well? Did you see that? That is the speed at which I’m currently moving. Try to keep up!” Trevor said as another flash went off. All of Kiochi’s instincts told him to duck and just as he did, Trevor threw a devastating punch to where Kiochi’s head was. His arms ejected even more steam as he readied himself for another one.

Dammit! Kiochi cursed.

The shed was already in shambles. Most of the walls had been torn apart and the elevator had dents from when Trevor did his weird maneuvers. Any more fighting of this level would blow the whole shed apart, not to mention Kiochi’s men. Who coward like frightened animals outside the shed, only peeking their heads to view the fight.

Kiochi squeezed his Nodachi's hilt in frustration. He had realized that received his Aethonic abilities had made him complacent and he needed to correct that.

‘Eve, second form!’ Kiochi requested and instant the spikes on his skin sank and added to the ever growing layer of carbon that coated his skin.Various spots had extra thick layers of carbon which added more protection to certain areas of his body.

[ Kamaitachi Second Form

This skills alters your PHALANX MODE armor, by increasing the overall thickness of the layer of carbon around your body.

Pro: you take 20% less damage and it increases your DMG multiplier to 2x.

Con: Your speed multiplier is reduced to 0.5x]

..

[EP: 50/150]

“What? Are you kidding me? What the hell is it this time?” Trevor screamed.

Kiochi could see it. Trevor’s fatigue. Those arms weren’t designed to endure long battles.

Kiochi also understood that they were a relatively new product and so the chances that they weren’t fully operational existed.

Kiochi sheathed his Nodachi and raised both his fists.

Trevor tilted his head in confusion.

“You want a fist fight? Ok, bring it on!” Trevor said as he dashed towards Kiochi.

“Take this, [BRAZEN BULL BARRAGE]!” screamed as he sent a punch to Kiochi’s face.

Flash!

Another flash of white went off, but this time when the light disappeared, Kiochi wasn’t in any pain.

Trevor soon realized that something was wrong and he quickly tried to get away, but something was stopping him from doing so. His arm had been caught by something. Trevor looked back and saw that Kiochi had his right arm in a vice grip.

“Let me go!” Trevor said as he struggled desperately to get free. He tried punching Kiochi, but Kiochi’s new form was just too sturdy. Kiochi grabbed Trevor’s left arm.

“No! No, no, no! Let go!” Trevor screamed, but his words didn’t reach Kiochi. They simply bounced of the faceless bald head that was Kiochi’s. Trevor trembled. He knew that Kiochi was strong. He always knew it, but never wanted to admit it.

But isn’t this good? Trevor wondered. If he kills me, I can be with my brother again. He reasoned. Sure, this bastard will still be alive, but I don’t want him to follow us into the afterlife, Thought Trevor.

“Fine! Kill me! Take me to my brother! I’m sick of your ugly faceless face anyway!” Trevor screamed as the membrane on Kiochi’s face sunk into his skin, revealing his jet black eye’s. He stared at Trevor, who looked like he had come to terms with everything and was ready to let go, but that bugged Kiochi. Warriors don’t just give up! Kiochi thought. You keep fighting to the bitter end, even when all seems lost. Kiochi wasn’t satisfied with this victory and so started spreading his arms.

“Arrg!” Trevor screamed in pain as his metal arms were being pulled from their surgically placed sockets. Kiochi didn’t want to kill Trevor and the fact that Trevor gave up so easily soured the taste of his victory. So Kiochi settled for the next best thing. He was going to take away his arms, again.

Trevor screamed and screamed loudly into the night as Kiochi’s muscles expanded. Eve was still pumping ethereal energy into them, so Kiochi had more than enough strength to sip Trevor’s arms off. Kiochi’s men all watched in horror as Trevor was disarmed.

“Heee! Graaa! STOP IT! Kiochi stop! Just kill me! KILL ME!!!” Trevor’s cries tore the skies open but eventually stopped when he lost consciousness, probably due to all the pain he had just endured. Kiochi placed Trevor and his arms onto the ground.

“Someone patch him up! The rest of you, prepare the bomb.” Kiochi barked as he walked out of the shed. His body reverted back to it’s normal self, although he was covered in blood and his face was coated in a mix of various body fluids. He was tired. Mentally. What was wrong with Trevor back there? Why did he want to die so badly? Kiochi wondered. Doesn’t matter. We’re not done yet. He thought. He walked over to a nearby log and sat himself down. After wiping most of the blood from his face, he let out a deep sigh.

[What’s wrong?]

Eve asked.

‘I don’t… I… don’t know.’ Kiochi answered slowly. His mind was in a haze. He knew that he should have been focused on the objective but something kept bugging him. He couldn’t figure out what.

“Captain Kiochi, we’ve found something, or some people.” One of the mercenaries said as he stood at attention. Kiochi stood up and followed the man a bit further away from the shed. There he saw a group of people surrounded by his men at gun point. All it took was one glance for Kiochi to recognize what they were. They were a Kynigoi. Well… Kynigoi in training.

“Do you have any idea who you’re pointing those guns at?” A stuck up looking man asked. The man was Japanese and so were most of his student’s. Kiochi saw two other adults in the group. He walked up to the uptight looking man and took out his sidearm.

“Listen here, my name is Kiochi Suzuki. Me and my men have been sent here to destroy Vestibule Charlie. You have two choices, die here or walk away. There is no third option.” Kiochi declared. He knew that I’d be easier to gun them all down but he didn’t want to kill the children for no reason. Speaking of children. Kiochi understood that the council was using them as mere tools, so he felt like killing them in cold blood would be a sad ending to their already sad lives.

“What did he just say?”

“Kiochi Suzuki?”

“Isn’t he A ranked?”

“What is the legendary blood steel doing here?”

“What’s Vestibule Charlie?”

The students murmured amongst themselves.

“Enough of this ludacris! Let us go or prepare to face the full might of the coun-"

Kiochi shot the man in the forehead. All the students gasped and some even started crying as fear engulfed them.

‘Oh! That’s it! I remember why I was I was feeling so weird…’ Kiochi gasped internally.

[Well… what was it?]

Eve asked hesitantly.

‘This is where I lost my mother.’ Kiochi said.

Eve remained silent as one of the other Kynigoi adult’s walked up towards Kiochi.

“Ok. We understand. We’ll go. Just don’t kill any of the children.” The reasonable sounding woman said. She was also Japanese.

“Ok, good. You’ll follow us as we make our retreat then we’ll go our separate-"

“No!” The last adult of the group interrupted. Kiochi looked at him.

His face was burning with anger. Training instructors were forbidden from carrying guns so he withdrew his combat knife.

“Come on Nami, we can’t just roll over because this guy says so. I don’t care if he is A ranked or whatever!” The man yelled. By this time all of Kiochi’s men had their guns pointed at his head, but the man still rebelled.

“Calm down Genji! Stop it now or you’re going to die.” The woman known as Nami pleaded but unfortunately Kiochi’s men had already squeezed their triggers and sent a volley of bullets into the man’s body. Nami trembled at the sight and walked over to the twelve or so children and began comforting them.

“Sir, the bomb is ready and your opponent from earlier is in a stable condition.” One of Kiochi’s men reported.

“Good. Get ready for a full retreat. Ma’am, if you want to stay alive, follow me.” Kiochi said as he walked into the forest. The woman gathered her children and followed him.

‘Is that really Captain Kiochi Suzuki? Blood steel? He’s younger than I imagined he’d be, or am I the old one?’ Nami thought as she and her students followed closely behind Kiochi.

Kiochi and company made their way back to the shed. UY-SCUTI was primed and ready to explode. All Kiochi needed was the go ahead from Yamamoto. Why didn’t they take the elevator? Because Vestibule Charlie was several hundreds of meters deep and if taking the elevator would leave them at the mercy of Natasha Lebedev’s fury. She could disable the elevator mid transit, leaving Kiochi and his men stranded, or she could let them enter the Vestibule, but have a hundred or so Kynigoi wait for Kiochi and his men at the bottom. So in order to avoid these outcomes, Yamamoto decided that it would be best to just blow the top open with a super bomb.

“Alright, grab Trevor and let’s go!” Kiochi barked and two of his men put Trevor on a stretcher and lifted him up. Kiochi and company ran through the dense forest as fast as possible. They needed to get as far away as possible from the explosion, otherwise they’d all be killed alongside their enemies. The plan was for them to retreat along with the diversion force to about ten kilometers away from the Vestibule.

[Kiochi! Kiochi are you there?]

A said a voice from Kiochi’s earpiece.

“Yes, Yamamoto. I’m here.” Kiochi responded.

[Good, is the bomb ready?]

Yamamoto asked, his voice had a hint of worry.

“Yes." Kiochi replied.

[Good. But there’s a problem. The diversion team has encountered a problem. A super powerful Kynigoi has appeared and is preventing the diversion force from retreating. I need you to go out there and take care of him, got it?]

Yamamoto ordered.

“Roger.” Kiochi answered. He understood that it didnt matter if the entire diversion force died as long as the Vestibule was destroyed, but Kiochi didn't want to see it that way. Yes, they were hired guns, but Kiochi understood that each and every one of them was a person with Hope'and dreams.

“Ok, men! I’ve just received orders to go assist the diversion force further south. But your orders haven’t changed. Get to safety as quickly as possible. Also, unless they become hostile, don’t kill any of these kids or their teachers.” Kiochi said and his men all gave Kiochi a respectful salute. Kiochi wandered where all this respect was coming from, but shrugged it off because Yamamoto had given him a leadership role in all of this. So it made sense that they’d want to cooperate to the best of their abilities.

Kiochi walked off into the forest on his own, leaving his team in the dark of the forest night.

.

..

Kiochi had been walking for several minutes and the sounds of battle got louder and louder the further he walked. Gun shots tore open the night sky and the screams of men and women filled the air. Kiochi started running. Then ended up sprinting as the hellish sounds grew louder. He dashed past several trees and a few bushes before entering what looked like a clearing in the woods.

What was supposedly a beautiful field of grass and flowers was now covered in the blood and guts of hundreds of men and women. Kiochi surveyed the battle from after. Fortunately, it looked like his side was faring quite well against the Kynigoi. Although the Kynigoi are elite super soldier’s, they’re still no match for a barrage of high powered rifle fire. The two side’s were separated by a small patch of grass and there was very little cover.Kiochi’s side had armored vehicles and so their men had plenty of places to hide. The Kynigoi on the other hand weren’t as lucky as they only had the trees and a few boulders to hide behind.

Kiochi focused on a certain spot on the battlefield. He saw that a large number of his men were getting killed. This would have been worrisome enough, but Kiochi noticed that there was only knee Kynigoi in that area. That one Kynigoi was responsible for killing at least a hundred of Kiochi’s men. This didn’t sit well with Kiochi and so he walked out into the clearing and made his way towards the Kynigoi who was slaughtering his men.

‘Eve! First form!’ Kiochi requested.

[Roger!]

Eve complied and Kiochi’s body began morphing. His body became slimmer and more streamlined. His fingers became four inch blades and his skin was covered in millions of spikes.

Boom!

Kiochi broke the sound barrier as he charged toward his opponent. He beheaded several Kynigoi on his way as well, by cleanly severing their heads off with his new claws. The mercenaries who hadn’t seen him in this form all prayed that he was on their side, while the Kynigoi dreaded ever stepping foot on the same battlefield as him. Kiochi approached his opponent at an incredibly high speed, but just as he reached out his black claws to behead the Kynigoi, the Kynigoi grabbed Kiochi’s wrist.

The impact from their collision shook the ground around them. Kiochi’s membrane covered eye’s shot open in surprise.

‘What the…’ Kiochi thought.

The Kynigoi looked up to face him and revealed his face in the moonlight.

“Hello, Kiochi.” The Kynigoi said with a smirk.

“Izanagi? How are you still alive?" Kiochi gasped.