Update.

From 4.000 words to 6.800.

Hopefully better style, more information, less mistakes.

Just did it in less than 2 days.

UMA: United Military Assistance

GMW: geneticly modified weapon

GMP: geneticly modified person

And for thos of you who wonder how the Squadnumbers come into existence:

0044 is the number you dial if you want to make a call to England from another country

the next 2-3 letters indicate the place: HQ=Headquartes-> London

P for Platoon

SQ for Squad and after that the number which ranges in most cases from 1-4

if there is no P after the first 2-3 letters it indicates these are still students and not fully trained yet.

----------------------------------------------

“Even though we do still have officially a democracy, things don’t tend to be what they seem.

Just because there is an election and we call ourselves democrats, doesn’t mean we are democrats.

In reality we are a totalitarian technocratic regime and the real rulers are the Generals and the Scientists. It is true, we no longer have any control over our troops and the police is under the direct control of the military. In fact the Ministry of Interior, as well as all our secret services are now officially part of the Ministry of Defence.

Sometimes the parliament tried to get access to the secret services and get the police and the Ministry of Interior away from them, but we failed. The generals threatened us with a coup, so we stopped. Since then nobody ever tried it again. At the same time nobody in parliament has any idea what they are really doing right now.

Regarding the Scientists they basically took over the Ministry of education and every school and teaching faculties, including universities. The once famous university such as Cambridge and Oxford are now the grounds where the education of our future generations is decided. They even took over the military research faculties.

Both of these groups work now in a close partnership.

There was a saying once: England doesn’t have a standing army, but a standing parliament.

That is no longer true.

The only thing we politicians are still allowed to change is the rest of society. And only if both groups nod their heads. So we are really just here to keep the economy running, uphold the false image of a democracy that no longer exists, create-“

British Prime Minister Alex Green-Smith, Labour Party, 2045 in his inauguration speech in a live broadcast. The Broadcast couldn’t continue due to technical failures. Two days later he died of a heart attack.

-Full Collection of Public Speeches by Politicians and Public Servants 2045, Vol. 4, Ministry of Interior

(Author note: with democrats I do not! mean any political party, but simply the meaning.)

---Time: 2053.12.18, 17:47 CET---

---Location: Asia, Peoples Republic of China, Shanghai---

---Population estimated: 21 Million---

---Gathering of the Board of UMA---

“So, do I understand you correctly? The Broken you have so far taken a special interest in suddenly has a fast decline in health? How come you didn’t report the sudden decrease already 6 months ago?”

A Russian Scientist asks.

“Well, so far we thought it might just stabilize at a certain point, but that doesn’t seem to happen.

Please don’t forget, so far he is the youngest Broken, so we are obviously interested in how he would develop if he has no Controller during his training.

It seems the last bit of power from the Controller would just slowly fade away over the years and he would simply die afterwards. Now we have a new unprecedented situation: all his vitals are showing fast signs of decrease, while the Hellsteel levels in his blood have reached a point we believed to be impossible to survive, they actually spike the same amount as the vitals decrease.”

The unrest among the members of the UMA is more than obvious to the two Scientists.

“Then we should just kill him. You said he will die anyway, right? Before something terrible happens or he is taken over by his bloodlust we should kill him.”

The American General looks pleased at his suggestion.

“Are you an idiot? We should continue to use him until he dies! It is not like every citizen can become a Armour or Controller. They are expensive military assets for keeping these demon incursions in check. He should fight as long as he can, to pay off the investment we made. I’m sure my British college thinks the same, especially since this Broken is stationed in his territory.”

The German General looks to the British General for confirmation; his college simply nods.

“Please calm down gentleman. I’m sure Doctor Stein and Doctor Orahara have a idea they want to propose and a request for us, otherwise they would not be here. If they would just deem the situation unchangeable they would just kill the Broken at the right time, using him to the last moment, am I right?”

The Chinese head of research looks at both of the scientist.

“Yes”

“So, what is your proposition? Do you have an idea what is actually happening?”

“We have a new theory, but nothing to really prove it. And we would like to make the following request to the UMA: we want the strongest Controller of the world, which is not yet linked to a Armour. We want to link them.”

As Dr. Stein finished his sentence turmoil broke out.

The attempt to link a Broken with a new partner was not new.

In fact there was plenty of research regarding the matter.

Over the years there were many different approaches.

Link a Broken Armour with a Controller and the other way around.

Link two Broken. Pick the partner in regard to the personality.

Try to link two Broken who are at the same age, whose partner died the same amount of time ago.

There was even a try to link more than one person.

The attempts always failed.

So the turmoil was to expected, it was like asking for diamond to throw it away.

Nobody would do it.

The Chinese, Russian, Indian and German representative remained silent.

After a while the turmoil subsided.

“So, would you enlighten us as to why we should link the world strongest Controller to an already dying Broken?”

“If our guess is correct and everything works out, he will no longer die from this level of Hellsteelmetal and they might be on par with one of the four Overlords of Hell, maybe even above them.”

“What? The 4 Overlords of Hell? Are you serious! We need an at least five SSS ranked Completes to keep one in check.”

The Indian head of research ignored the American General and asked further.

“How come they would be so powerful?”

“You all know that a GMW can gain a part of the power a Demon possesses by absorbing its Hellsteelblade. It is prohibited due to the huge risk of a GMW going berserk and that is already for just one Hellsteelblade. This Broken has no other way of healing himself apart from this method, so it was approved for him by us.

Over the years he absorbed thousands of Hellsteelblades.

Due to the fading power of his last Controller and the huge amount of wounds he receives he puts all the power he absorbed in keeping his body up and running. The mental strain on not going insane is also quite heavy. If we can successfully link him with a new Controller he would be able to use all this power to fight. The power of the Controller would slowly heal his physical wounds, probably even his mental ones. And the mental strain would at least lessen.

And before any of you still objects to the linking, let me tell you why we think it will be successful.

Every Broken we have worked with so far lost his partners years after a successful linking, most of them roughly ten years or more.

The Broken with the least amount of time bound to a partner still had five years. For a relationship, especially one with your most beloved person this is too much to just forget and actually just form a new one on a whim from us scientists.

Don’t forget that they experience a relationship of such a deep level that a normal human can never comprehend it. There is no lie, deceit, distrust, misunderstanding or secrets. Their Souls are bound together.

But his case is a bit different. He is the only Broken who only had a successful link less than thirty minutes. Afterwards his partner died. There is still some energy and a part of the soul of his Controller left. It is slowly fading away and before the new linking we need to cleanse it.

I will not bore you with further details.”

Silence followed. Then the Chinese Head of research asks again.

“How high is the chance of a successful linking?”

“55.4%”

“What happens if this linking process is not successful?”

“Well, we are not entirely sure. Usually it is either a success or death.

We guess that the last option has a chance of 70% to occur.”

“What about the other 30%?”

This time the Dr.Stein and Orahara were moving uncomfortable.

“Well, that is just speculation, but if we take the spike in Hellsteelmetal level in his blood as basis he would probably turn into a medium to high class Demon Lord. But we really are just guessing. We might be able to give an answer to that if the UMA finally catches a Demon Lord alive again.”

---Time: 2054.01.13, 10:38 CET---

---Location: Europe, England, London, HQ, ADCF, lecture hall 666---

---Population estimated: DCF: 45.900---

---Course: Demonology 5---

“…nar! Ragnar!”

I open my eyes and look to my left. One of my squadmates, James, is shaking me.

I look at him tired and confused.

“Yeeeah? Why are you shaking me?”

“Man, you fell asleep in class and the teacher asked you a question just now.”

Hm, not good, I fell asleep again in the middle of the day.

That just started a few weeks back. I have no idea why.

I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sit up.

I would just suddenly start to doze off in class, mostly just for 10 minutes or so.

“So, now that you finally honour us with your presence Mr. Ragnar Rok I’m sure you will easily answer my question. What formation should a squad assume to kill a low class Demon Lord?”

Silence.

“What strength does the squad have?”-Ragnar

“E”-teacher

“Three hold of the surrounding demons. The other two engage the Demon Lord. If possible the one with the best fighter should directly engage him in a fight, while the second should mostly support him with telekinesis, slowing down the Demon Lord, intercept his swings, interrupt his concentration or create an opening.”-Ragnar

“Hm, your answer is correct. So how did your squad engage the Demon Lord?”

“Four of my squadmates held the Demons in check while I simply chopped of its head.”

“So you just decided that orders from above can be ignored?”

“I just simply used the most efficient tactic without risking any loss. If we just simply always follow orders or use the same patterns we will be unable to react properly to unforeseen circumstances.”

“Quite interesting choice of words there Ragnar. I will be sure to inform the discipline squad about that.”

I start to laugh so loud everybody in the lecture hall turns around to look at me.

To everybody the words “Discipline Squad” was a threat, that is everybody but me. No matter what they do, they can’t actually scare me. I have nothing to lose and that is exactly the reason why I laugh.

The discipline squad keeps track of pupil and Completes who openly disagree with the form of government we have or the way the system works. They look for people whose political viewpoint goes beyond what is considered reasonable.

They are the thought-police, the political officers, the polit office.

Discipline Squad is just a way to make it sound less harmless.

Many who openly disagreed with our system just suddenly vanished.

There are rumours they are taken away for experiments, used for suicide missions, imprisoned, tortured, used for hard labour or just simply killed.

The biggest visible form of people getting into problems for their political opinion is the so called Fortress Company. Just a nice word for saying they are getting thrown into the most vicious of battles and are not allowed to retreat. Victory or death are the only options.

In the beginning of the Demon Invasion and the forming of the UMA there was still quite a bit of political freedom.

But a few years after the big attack on London in 2026 the political landscape began to change and the democracy of the UK turned into a mix of a technocratic-military totalitarian regime which didn’t tolerate much political disagreement. Discipline Squads were found and the coming three years an intense political cleansing happened. The manpower of Completes was reduced by roughly 30% due to this action.

So every Complete knows that to speak up against this kind of system can mean death to you and especially your partner. And close to nobody was willing to risk losing their partner.

The Discipline Squad was apparently even used to scare little children when they disagreed with their parents.

So basically everybody is afraid of them and I can understand why.

Today this Discipline Squad just hunts shadows.

“Well if it is that funny Ragnar I guess I have some other questions for you.”

The teacher continued to tease me with questions regarding all kind of situations to combat Demons.

I answered all of them correctly and I guess that didn’t lift his mood.

Demonology is the only thing I’m still interested. Well, apart from my physical training.

The more I know about my enemies the easier it is to kill them.

After the class finished, me and my squad left for the canteen.

“Seriously, do you have to aggravate him every time?”-Sarah

“That wasn’t my intention, but he seriously just teaches us shit.”-Ragnar

“Is that why you slept in class?”-Sarah

I just shrug my shoulders and shovel another spoon with food into my mouth.

“Hey Ragnar, you eat that shit-looking stuff since one month. Does it taste that good?”

That was James, the Armour of Sarah. Sarah was something like the actual squad leader and very talkative. The first time I actually met them in their first year, the so called first-year of middleschool, James was very quiet and a introvert. Sarah was very talkative and always liked to play pranks on other people, which always lightened the mood.

It was right after the insertion process and nobody had any idea what really awaits them.

After the first year the so called linking process is done.

To determine the right partner a so called soul-evaluation is done. I don’t know who came up with it, but it is actually quite complex, but works almost always.

So Sarah and James were linked and the quiet boy slowly began to open up more, while the loud and rowdy Sarah tuned down a bit.

The thing I’m still most surprised about is that they give the partners directly after the linking process their own living quarters. Most of them are twelve years old. Lots of hormones rushing through their bodies. You can’t even have a quiet moment for yourself for some “private time”, your partner will know what is going on, there is no shutting down or blocking a soul link.

All my Squadmates look with disgust at my plate. I take another look at my lunch.

I have no idea what I’m eating, it looks like the cook put all kind of stuff in a mixer.

Actually it looks more like somebody vomited on my plate.

I shrug my shoulder as I answer, I just take it because there are no people lining up for this food.

“No people lining up for it.”

“Seriously? That’s why you eat it? I heard somebody of the D-Class lost a beat and had to eat it. After the first five spoons he got sick and couldn’t hold it down. They say there wasn’t a difference between what he had eaten and what was still on his plate.”-Johanna

“Thanks Johanna for this wonderful story about my lunch. You want some?”

Johanna makes a sick face and turns away.

“Don’t tease her Ragnar, that’s my job!”-Josh

Josh grins at me. I hold up my arms in a defensive gesture and smirk back.

Johanna starts to blush and slaps Josh on the back of the head.

Everybody from my squad, apart from the blushing Johanna, start to laugh.

Sometimes it is worth to pretend to actually care.

“So, how does it actually taste?”-April

“Ehm, no idea…”-Ragnar

“What do you mean ‘No idea’?”-Jason

I just shrug my shoulders and keep silent.

“We are waiiiitinnng…..Ragnaaar?”-Sarah

She drums with her fingers on the table and stares at me intensely.

Seriously, sometimes you guys annoy the hell out of me.

Like right now.

“I lost my taste around 2 months ago.”-Ragnar

My Squad looks at me surprised, while I continue to eat.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”-Sarah

“Why should I? It’s not like that would change anything.”-Ragnar

“We are your Squadmates! We care about each other. You should tell us if something like that happens!”-Sarah

“Exactly! Tell us!”-James

“What did Doctor Stein and Orahara say?”-April

“They didn’t say anything.”-Ragnar

“So you didn’t tell them anything. You sure are stubborn.”-April

“You know that is nothing small, like one of your wounds. You lost one of your senses!”-Sarah

“It’s noth-“-Ragnaer

A sudden headache and a loud peeping noise interrupt me in my sentence.

I close my eyes and put my right hand to my forehead.

The pain is gradually getting worse. I get up and leave the canteen. My squad mates ask me something, but apart from the peeping I can’t hear anything else.

I walk towards one of the gardens. It takes me only two minutes to arrive at my favourite spot.

You get a good view over the whole area, but are not visible to every body.

I slide down the concrete wall and gasp and pant for the fresh and cold air.

Still panting I break out in cold sweat. Suddenly Sarah and James appear out of nowhere and say something. I blink at them trying to make any sense out of it.

Then me vision turns dark and I can’t see a thing.

Actually I can’t sense anything around me anymore.

No sound, no feeling, no sight, no taste, nothing.

Just utter darkness.

Suprisingly it is a nice feeling. It is secure and comfortable.

After what felt like eternity the pain slowly fades away, and my senses come back.

I realize somebody is shaking me.

“…ay? Ragnar, are you okay?”

I open my eyes. The first thing that I see is black, white and every shade of grey.

I slowly sit up and take a look around.

No colours anywhere. The entire park is just a mix of grey.

Well, almost. I can still see red. What a cruel joke.

Red, the colour of blood, rage, fire, love and warmth.

My mouth turns into a sarcastic grin as I realize the joke.

“I’m okay now.”

“What was that?”-Sarah

I’m not sure how to answer this question.

I had these kinds of…seizures from time to time, but normally it was when I was alone, so nobody ever saw it. But it never was that bad before. And it never before had any after effects.

I just stay silent.

“Ragnar?”-Sarah

Silence.

“Well, I guess I need to tell your Doctors about it.”-Sarah

I didn’t know she could be this mean.

“Eh, a …seizure.”-Ragnar

“Does it happen often?”-Sarah

“None of your business.”-Ragnar

“It is. What happens if you get one while we are on a mission?”-James

“I die and you keep fighting. Simple, isn’t it?”

I get a punch to my face. The skull of a normal human surely would have broken under the power.

Never underestimate the boost of the physical power one gets, even if the person just has angelic genes. Sarah makes a sudden jump at me and starts punching and screaming at me.

“You think we can just sit around quietly and watch you die? What the hell is wrong with you?

We are in the same squad! Don’t you think it will affect us?”-Sarah

At first I grin and then I start laughing like a mad man.

Sarah stops in her tracks and looks at me, even angrier and a bit confused.

She broke my nose and I’m bleeding quite a bit, but I’m still laughing.

James probably thinks I’m about to snap and go berserk. I can see how he is getting into a fighting stance.

“Hahaha you haha seriously hahaha think hahaha you can hahaha save me? Hahaha

I’M ALREADY DEAD! Hahahaha, I already died the moment I lost my Controller!

And you think you can achieve something the scientist can’t? HAHAHAHA!”-Ragnar

She looks clearly surprised at my answer and not able to respond to that.

I push her off me and slowly get up.

“Sorry for the bother and everything else. But I’m a walking dead, just like anybody in the Retaliation Platoon or the Fortress Company. I accepted it long ago and so should you.

I will see you later.”-Ragnar

I should visit her. I didn’t visit her yesterday.

“Where are you going?” -James

“Section C4, level 38.”

They knew I meant the graveyard, although there was also another giant garden in this area.

I sit at the cold, snow covered ground, my arms around my knees, looking up at the pale sun.

To my right is a white gravestone.

Alice Rodgers

born 2037.05.23

died 2045.10.31

Controller

died performing her duty it said.

Performing her duty my ass!

Normally one would be recruited at the age of 11 and join the DCF, be trained until they are 18 years old and would then join a Platoon.

There was a new secret project going on, so we were recruited at the age of 6.

We were the most successful of all the candidates of this secret project.

For 2 years everything went more or less according to plan, at least for us.

Most of the others had already died by this time, leaving only 10 pairs out of over 100.

Then at the linking ceremony something went wrong, none of the Scientist has come up with a proper explanation yet.

I will always remember her last words before her mind fell asleep.

Live! Live on, don’t give up and protect the weak.

I know what she meant.

She didn’t immediately die, her entire soul was still in my soul.

But she was sound asleep and would never wake up, her soul slowly fading away to nothingness.

I could still feel her, but she was fading away faster these last few months.

The reason for her death is probably me, I just have this gut feeling.

“Hey, how are you doing up there?”

No response.

“I hope you are doing fine.

You know, I always knew I would die the day you fade away completely, but you are surely fastening it now. You must be lonely quite a bit, eh?”

Silence.

“Hey, there is something funny I need to tell you: I lost the ability to see colour today. Every colour apart from red! Isn’t that funny? The Colour of love, blood and hell! Ha!”

Silence.

“I still miss you after all these years. I know we were children back then, but we both know it would have worked out this way, right? For close to all Completes it works out this way.”

A reassurance came from the other soul inside me, at least I think so.

“Why? Damn these Scientists and their new project! Just why? What did I do wrong?”

I felt something at my cheek. I put my hand up to my face and realized what it is.

Tears. I hadn’t cried the last 2 years over her loss.

My heart is aching in an unbearable pain.

I close my eyes and more tears start rolling down.

“Not long now. Just wait a bit longer and we are together again.”

A smile appears on my face, eyes still closed.

Probably a rare sight since I always try to keep a pokerface.

---Time: 2054.01.14, 18:06 CET---

---Location: Europe, England, exact location unknown, heading towards Christchurch---

---Population estimated: 63.500---

---Estimated Threat: medium sized Demon Incursion, low class Demons, Demon Riders, low class Demon Lords and medium class Demon Lord---

---Military Units in engagement: S-0044HQP9, 0044HQP88SQ1, 0044HQP88SQ2, 0044HQP88SQ3, 0044HQ034

---Military Combat power: B---

The chopper was moving forward at high speed.

Red lights lit the interior of the machine, doors open, the area outside rushing past them.

The vibrations of the rotors could be felt by everybody, the sound was deafening.

“Squad 1 will advance from point alpha and Squad 2 will advance from point gamma. Squad 034 and 3 will advance from point theta towards the enemy. Our Squad will advance from point delta. We will crush the enemy quickly. Any questions.”-S-Rank Squadleader

I look at the holomap of the city and can’t believe what I just heard.

It is a tactical sound solution, if you ignore the civilians and are prepared to sacrifice them.

“Sir, with this formation we will ignore a large part of the demon forces and proceed without exterminating them. The loses of the civilian population will be tremendous! I propose that my Squad intercepts the enemy at point epsilon.”-Ragnar

“Can’t be helped. If we try to terminate every demon before we reach the Demon Lords our forces will suffer high loses and tire out. We won’t have enough power left to defeat them and the whole population of this place will be wiped, bunker or not. So your request is denied.”-S-Rank Squadleader

I can understand his logic, sacrifice the many for the few or lose everything, but I can’t live with this decision. There are still children on the run to the bunker, the holomap shows a big group of them.

“Sir, I respect your decision, but I can’t accept it. I will personally enter at point epsilon and buy the civilians as much time as possible. My Squad will still engage the enemy as planned.”-Ragnar

“You will not! A Squadleader will not abandon his team! And you will enter with your Squad at point theta. We need your battle capabilities to deal with the low class Demon Lords until we arrive. Do you understand?”-S-Rank Squadleader

“I do understand, but I’m still going to disobey this order. I will put the civilians at top priority. With the battle power of your Squad there should be no problem in handling these Demon Lords.”-Ragnar

“Soldier, you are going to ignore an Order given from your superior commander! Are you aware of the implications of your actions?” -S-Rank Squadleader

“I’m fully aware, but that will not change my action”-Ragnar

“Squadleader we will put you in front a military court and you will receive the death penalty!”-S-Rank Squadleader

Silence, then I start laughing so loud, I’m sure everybody flinched at my sudden outburst.

“Bwahahahahahaha! Do that! Hahahahaha!”-Ragnar

I cut my connection with them and look outside, point epsilon is roughly 100m away.

Time to get ready for the jump

I take a look at my Squad and see their shocked faces. I have never shown such defiance against a superior, but until now I never had a reason to.

“You will be fine on your own. You have Sarah, she is more than clever enough to actually lead you properly.”-Ragnar

75m.

“But how are we supposed to kill the Demon Lords? We never even got close to him.”-Sarah

50m.

“You aren’t. You are just the anvil to occupy the Demon Lords before the hammer comes crushing down on them. Just hold out and don’t die and you won. And don’t forget: you have a fully trained Squad right beside you.”-Ragnar

25m.

“Hey, Ragnar.”

“Yeah?”

I turn around and look at them. The moment I do I get a punch to my face.

But I’m already in my Armour-form so there is only a loud *glonk* as metal hits metal.

I look at Sarah and James.

“Don’t die!”-James

“Yeah, you too. See you later.”-Ragnar

I jump the 15m from the helicopter in one of my light Armour versions, hoping to decrease the impact on my body.

Luckily for me one of the Demon Riders on his mount, jumps forward to attack. I land directly on him, my claymore piercing through him and his animal-thing.

The mount is a combination of metal and flesh. There is no way of telling where the flesh ends and the metal begins it just seems to melt into each other. It looks somehow related to a rhinoceros, but it’s flesh has a deep red colour and only muscles are visible. The thick metal plates are made out of black Hellsteel and engraved with fiery red runes.

The fall is shorten by at least by 5 meters.

When I touch the ground the Demon Rider and his mount are already death.

I take a quick glance around. A girl, maybe 5 years old, is pulled along by her older sister, maybe 10 years old, they are at the back of the fleeing mob of children. A demon is about to swing down his Hellsteelblade. In a flash I pass the children and shred the snarling demon into pieces.

I realize that the children need more time.

I’m on a main street and certain to be able to stop the advance here for some time.

But I have no hope off actually blocking the alleyways or any street that runs parallel to the main street. I can’t split myself up, even though that would be quite nice right now.

I start to massacre the demons following them, only slowly falling back, on step at a time.

I hope this way I’m still able avoid most of the demons using the alleyways. Giving these things the hope I just barely hold out against them and they are able to push me back.

But my claymore tells the truth cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. I fell close to no resistance with every swing I make.

Demonic entrails and their stench fills the air and the surrounding area. The demons are shouting at me in anger and hate. At least I think so, but at the same time who would be shouting out in enjoy at seeing his brethren be slaughtered like that?

I smile at the beautiful slaughter right in front of me.

I feel my bloodlust slowly rising. But I can’t let myself succumb to it yet.

I still need to ensure the safety of these children.

After another minute or so I run into the directions the children left.

In a few seconds I have already caught up with them, the pair of sister an estimated 50 meters behind the rest. I put my claymore at my back and grab them, carrying them under my arms.

At first they let lose a terrified and surprised scream, probably thinking the demons got their hands on them. After they get a look at me though they stop and settle down.

They know that the appearance of an Armour means salvation.

It is kind of weird they seem so relaxed, because I’m drenched in demon blood.

The bunker is close, just another 150m away.

For me this distance is closed in an instance, but for children this is like an eternity.

It will take them like forever to get there.

Around the bunker is a barricade made out of police cars and sand bags.

Police officers with M16 assault rifles shoot at any demon that tries to get close.

The automated defence system pumps bullets non-stop, hoping to slow them down.

Lead can’t really do a thing to these demons. They have an incredible healing rate, as fast as they are wounded this way the just heal.

Everybody who is a GMP has a way to really kill them, but no normal humans.

Gatling guns are spitting bullets into the herd of incoming enemies. Grenade launchers are pumping their load into the ranks of the demons. Sure they are slowed down, but not much.

I run past the children to reach the bunker and put the sister down.

“Are the two of you alright?”-Ragnar

“Y-yes. Thank you sir.”-Older girl

The smaller girl hides behind the bigger one, only her head is looking in my direction. Under her left arm she holds a teddy bear. She is obviously scared by me.

“Sir! Finally reinforcements have arrived. We can’t keep them in check for much longer. What should we do?” A Police officer storms in my direction as soon as he sees me.

After the begin of the Demon Invasion, the Police Force all around the country was quickly equipped with assault rifles, and other heavy military weapons, under the Demon Defence Act. The once peaceful UK, where the normal cop didn’t carry a gun, was soon gone.

It was replaced by a paramilitary police, which slowly mingled with the military.

The officer was in his forties and still a relict of the peaceful days and his body showed it.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you officer, but I’m not here to-“

A gigantic roar interrupted me. My blood froze at this sound. I slowly turned around, hoping the sound came just from my imagination, hoping to not see the source of this unearthly scream.

I was disappointed. In the not too far distance I could see it.

A medium class Demon Lord.

He was 4m tall, compared to the 2m low class Demon Lord, had black leathery wings and bronze armour.

A giant black Hellsteel Axe was in his hand, glimmering with runes.

“As soon as every civilian is inside the bunker seal it.”

“But, but we might not be able to rescue them in time and they will suffocate to-“

“I know! Just do it! Or there won’t be any survivors at all! We need time and that will give us time!”

The cop looked at me shocked. I turned my helmet in his directions.

“I can just buy you a few minutes against this guy. Just hope that the other squads will arrive in time.

Make a small corridor for me to pass through. I will contact the other squads.”

I open the channel to my superior who I laughed at earlier. Hopefully I’m not going to be ignored.

“ –cate it! We need to find him, before he ambushes us!”

“Sir, this is squad 2, we last saw him move towards point epsilon.”

“Sir, this is squadleader 034, medium class Demon Lord is located a mere 50m away from the bunker. I will engage him to buy time. I doubt we will see each other at the court.”

“Repeat th-“

I cut the channel again, that just interrupts my concentration. I can already barely contain my bloodlust. I take my claymore from my back, hold it above my head and slowly point it towards the demons.

My vision starts to get clouded by a red mist.

I let blood craving roar lose, rivalling the Demon Lords.

All humans still outside freeze in fear and take a look at me, clearly showing fear.

That sound wasn’t human, but neither was I anymore. This sound promised death to every being close to me. I slowly walk in front of the barricade.

The Demon Lord looks around and fixes his eyes on me.

He then heaves his axe towards the sky, challenging me and a grin appears on his face.

My heart starts pumping faster, partly in anticipation of this new challenge, partly in excitement and partly in fear. I grip my claymore with both hands and hold it at my right side.

I take a few seconds to build up my rage and hate and then let it explode out of my body.

I’m covered in the same red aura as always. I turn my music on and let the chain in my mind snap.

No longer able to contain my bloodlust I rush right into the demon forces and butcher those in my path, all the while laughing like a maniac.

Head, hands, legs and entrails fly around. Blood splatters everywhere.

I cut a demon cleanly in half from head to toe, his Hellblade not breaking, but pushed down by pure brute force. Another one’s head is chopped of, the next loses his legs.

I kick the next and send him flying in his brethren.

I laugh, enjoying the last moments before my death.

In what a maniac I turned!

Before I can cut my entire way through to the Demon Lord the demons part and make a passage for me. I ran past them and attack in a flash, putting everything in speed, hoping to be faster than him.

My claymore is already turned back into the sword and dagger combo.

All my speed is nothing to him. He simply sidesteps my attack.

I let lose a barrage of lightning fast attacks, but he parries them all with ease.

After a few seconds he obviously gets bored and snarls at me in a provoking tone.

I lose myself even more to my rage. My vision distorts and instead of different shades of grey with red I just see everything in different red shades.

The Demon Lord starts to attack and swings his huge axe.

I try to block, not being able to parry, but I’m simply sent flying.

I crash in the horde of demons around me and feel some of my bones breaking. They snarl and hiss at me, but I already speed past them, killing the few who are in my way.

I jump at him trying to cleave him in half, my sword turned back into the claymore.

I swing my blade down with all my might, but he simply blocks it, showing an amused smile to this ant trying to kill him.

I land on the ground and as soon as I touch it I make a dash for his legs, trying to land an attack. The Demon Lord simply kicks me and I crash into a house nearby.

But this time he follows up with an attack, swings down his gigantic axe.

I'm barely able to get out of the rubble before his axe comes crushing down, but he takes a huge chunk of my shoulder guard out.

I roar in defiance and pain, but he simply keeps swinging his axe at me.

I nearly get hit another time.

He is faster than any of the low class Demon Lords I so far fought on.

No wonder people normally fight in a squad to take one down.

His attacks continue to rain down on me until he hits me.

His axe comes crashing down and sinks from my left shoulder down to where my stomach would be.

The Demon Lord takes his axe with a tud out and shoulders it, looking interested at his still living pray.

Blood is flowing out of the huge wound I just received.

Spraying out would be a more accurate statement.

I fall on my knees, than on my face, all strength I have slowly leaving me.

I’m feeling cold, my vision starts to gets dark.

Alice…I will be there shortly…just wait a minute longer…finally…

My bloodlust is long gone.

As I slowly breath out my last breath a sudden flashback hits me.

Live! Live on, don’t give up and protect the weak!

The Bunker! They are not save yet!

I yank my eyes open and something burst out of me.

A shockwave erupts from me and I feel my Armour deforming in a way which I can’t describe.

It feels like horns grow out of my head, and runes appear, the wound closes in a somewhat sloppy manner. I feel like I got more powerful.

I slowly push myself up and I can see the air around me vibrating and the ground shaking.

I dash forward.

He looks surprised at his prey, who was just lying on the ground and breathing his last breaths seconds ago. The Demon Lord looks more than surprised.

Did I just see a glimmer of fear appear on his face?

Before he can recover from the surprise I slash quickly at his right leg, leaving a superficial wound.

Another few wounds appear in quick succession, than he jumps out of my reach and brings his axe down.

This time I have the power to block him.

We both are surprised.

Our fight continues for another 30 seconds, my new found power slowly disappearing, but I’m not able to put another wound on him.

After that my strength leaves me completely and I fall back to the ground, not even able to twitch a muscle.

The Demon Lord, not taking another chance like before, raises his axe to kill me for sure this time.

Before he is able to his head is sent flying.

I see 10 Armours appearing, chopping and hacking the medium class Demon Lord to pieces.

Everything turns dark and I lose my conscience.