"Commander, I am not going to give up!"
"My duty as the knight battalion is to fight until my heart no longer beats, and if death is my purpose, I'll die with pride."
"You shouldn't say such things, James. You're not dying before I do. You're my son, and I will protect you no matter what," Victor said lightly, patting his son on the head.
"I am proud of your will, and that's what will make you survive this ruined world."
"Yes, Dad, I will make you proud."
---
On the battlefield, Victor descended with sheer might, shattering the earth.
His eyes were bloodshot red, rage pulsating from his soul. Blood rushed to his head, clouding all thoughts that ran through his mind.
The scene before him burned itself onto his retina.
Because in front of him was his precious son, his priceless jewel, impaled with a spike and lying lifeless in his own pool of blood.
"Ahhhh!!!!"
Victor screamed in utter fury, erupting with crimson energy as he phased from his position, appearing behind the lethal creature. In the next moment, it split apart.
The cut was so clean and precise that the two halves took a second to crash to the ground.
Black blood sprayed out, painting him with dark goo.
He let his heavy katana fall with a resounding thud. As he dropped to his knees, filled with regret and a petrified expression, he called out softly.
"James... please stand up for Daddy... You can't die on me like this! ...JAMES!!"
He shook his son slightly, his mindset breaking down, only a void dwelling within his heart.
"James, no... no... no, you can't leave me like this. You're the only one left..."
Some of the soldiers who fought saw their commander broken in the middle of the battlefield. The proud and glorious leader they knew was nowhere to be found.
"Look out, Commander!!"
Unbeknownst to Victor, one of those creatures—the main foe that threatened human existence—stood behind the broken soldier.
A massive energy attack gathered behind him. His lieutenant rushed forward, yelling for the commander, yet it was futile, as it was already too late.
The blast from the creature, which incinerated everything within its wake, took the commander, his son's body, and half of the battlefield with it.
Victor saw nothing but plain white afterward before he found himself inside the void.
---
Back to the present...
His expression turned gloomy. He had lost the final remnant of his family.
Growing up had not been easy for him. As a sixteen-year-old kid, he had dreamt of becoming a doctor to find a cure for his sick father's cancer.
After his mother died from an unfortunate accident, he only had his father. He wished to protect him, to grow up and become someone his father was proud of.
Alas, fate had other plans. His father eventually succumbed to his illness two years later due to a lack of financial support.
He was in despair when, at that exact moment, Earth was invaded by horrific creatures called Draks, shaking the planet to its core.
Countries came under attack from calculated strategies, cities lay in ruins.
Humanity was shaken to its core as the world became a place of survival, engulfed in absolute chaos.
Military forces were overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Draks. There was no knowledge of where they came from or what their purpose was.
They were physically and technologically advanced. Technologies never seen before were used to claim multitudes of lives as if it were nothing.
It was a form of nanotech that surpassed human understanding. It served as both their defense and offensive weapon.
Not only did they possess advanced technology, but their appearance alone was something one would never expect to have such intelligence.
They were eight-foot-tall giants with the body structure of a human, an exoskeleton armour made from thick bones and muscle heft.
Scaly skin and whip-like tails gave them the appearance of reptilians.
Fast and agile, just one of them could exterminate an entire village.
They were really unimaginable monsters.
Victor volunteered to join the military and somehow fell in love with a gorgeous woman who eventually became his wife.
He built a family of his own, but thanks to his unfortunate fate, his wife and son were killed, leaving him to face the world alone once again.
"What have I done to deserve all this?" Victor thought as foreign images invaded his head.
Memories of events and people he wasn't accustomed to—yet strangely, he felt a sense of familiarity with them.
From the memories, he realized that the owner of this frail body lacked nourishment. His rough skin was abnormally pale from excessive blood loss.
"How am I still alive in this state?" he wondered. "Right now, I look like a walking corpse."
What worried him the most was his facial appearance.
The clear steel of the katana, shimmering under the sun's touch, caught his attention.
He quickly moved closer to see his face. The moment he saw it, his gaze became intense.
Initially, he had hoped that, since his body structure was that of a malnourished man, at least his facial appearance would be decent.
Unfortunately, it seemed the one who owned this body had been dead for a while. His cheekbones forced themselves outward, his eyeballs sank deep into their sockets with dark circles surrounding them.
His skull could clearly be seen despite the layer of skin covering it, and even his ribcage protruded through his torn shirt.
Now he understood why he couldn't lift the katana, much less stand on his own two feet—it was like a skeleton trying to lift a heavy object.
Thoughts ran through his head, wondering whether to kill himself and put both him and the body's original owner at peace.
"Who would want this weak body?"
While he squabbled with his chaotic mind, trying to figure out what to do next, a bush shook rapidly, drawing his attention.
"Somethings coming. Fuck!!"
Victor shamelessly dragged the katana with all his strength. Even though he used both hands, it still felt like pulling an object half his weight.
Eventually, he managed to get behind a large tree capable of hiding both him and the weapon.
Quickly, he went back to erase the line the katana had drawn along with his tracks—an instinct for his safety.
Fortunately, he had just enough time to hide before a shadow crept in, which he cautiously glared at from the side of the tree.
Creeeeeek!!..
Deep clicks filled the expanse.
Fear gripped him immediately, his eyes widened as beads of sweat ran down his face.
He was sure of it—from the unnaturally shaped shadow of a creature walking on all fours...
"Damn my fate. I just came back to life, and I already encountered a Drak."
----
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