17 years Ago
The year 2360, Vildralir
Sector 0: Underground Laboratory
"Finally! Finally!! Hehe...haha...HAHAHA! I MADE IT!!" maddening laughter echoed throughout the whole Laboratory.
The whole building is a mess, paper upon paper scattered everywhere, the smell of alcohol and antibiotics with some ammoniac mix in it, filled the entire room.
with a haggard appearance, Samuel walks closer to the tube in the middle of the room, while checking its data with a tablet in his hand to make sure there is no fault left untouched.
"Oh look at you... Look at you... So gorgeous...-"
"My greatest creation, you are the best humanity has to offer!" Said Samuel, His hand stroking the glasses tube, looking at the humanoid child with a smile that reached his eyes.
"So this is the perfect being that you envisioned to make professor?" Ask Vice Lieutenant Dutch, looking at subject number zero with eyes narrow, hand clenched, his voice seems forced
"Absolutely, hahaha. Can't you hear it Dutch? The Prometheus beating loudly in his heart. Hahaha" respond Samuel with one ear touching the glass tube.
"The Prometheus?" General Antonio asked while picking up some random paper on the floor, that read; 'how to cheat fate = EE.H.' upon reading the first sentence he throw it away, and didn't bother with how messy the laboratory had become.
"The eternal fire of Prometheus; I compressed a thousand Ether reactors and merge them with the Gaia embryo. Miraculously, it succeeds." answer the professor as he began to tinker with the main computer to show it to his two guests.
"W-what?" Dutch was bewildered by the answer as even with just one Eather reactor, it's enough to support a whole building for a week. on other hand, Antonio only stares at the professor with wide eyes, while glancing at the walking nuke in the body of a child.
Ignoring their reaction, the professor continues,
"Here, I mix his bone with Etherium, so he can lift hundreds of tons or more when he reaches his maturity, or so I hope."
walking toward a computer that monitors the subject 24/7, he began to show the subject statistics to two of them.
"As you can see, with a compressed Etherium muscle, it's achievable. Even when something happens and makes a fracture in his bone or a tear in his muscles; he can heal over time, as I already put billion of Nanomite inside his body-"
"In here, I combine all proteins, minerals, and vitamins that his body needs. I combine all of that with billion of Etherium elements, then compressed them together using his blood cell as its carrier. So by eating, he can replenish it albeit a little slower-"
"And finally, this is the result; I name it Ambrosia," said Samuel while he step away aside a little from the monitor, catching his breath.
Antonio and Dutch start walking toward the professor while their eyes are wide open, still paying close attention to the monitors in front of them.
"with Ambrosia as his blood, theoretically he can be healed in almost any situation. I even mix his white cell with Soma; a complex antibody. He will be immune to all diseases and poison known to men." finished Profesor with a nod and a broad smile on his face as he looked at his own creation, no. his own child.
the other two dumbly stare at the miracle child in front of them. yes, a miracle. because they both knew its ridiculously absurd to create something like that. even more so to merge it with literally a planet's core.
'it's mine!' clenching his fist, Dutch helplessly swallow the bad taste in his mouth while he looked at the child in front of him.
"So, what left is to clone him? And besides you, no one knows how to make him? Am I right professor?" Antonio asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, that's the gist of-!" Samuel came to a sudden halt as he heard a clicking sound. a cold sensation of metal touches his neck.
"I'm sorry professor, but this can't leak to the enemy's hands. I'm sure you understand that right?" Dutch keeps the gun steady, while Antonio continues talking with Professor. arms crossed behind his back, walking slowly with each step echoed inside the room.
"Professor, you are indeed the greatest scientist I have ever known, but-"
"-Didn't you know professor? We as humans hate many things. we hate betrayal, liars, and discomfort, they are so many to count. we even hate other people, ourselves, and even love.-"
"For me? I hate it if I didn't know about something I want, it's killing me inside out." he keeps walking toward a painting in the back of the room.
"Creazione di Adamo, by Michelangelo.. A great painting, isn't it right, professor?" said General Antonio as he glanced back at the professor for a brief moment.
pressing the hidden button, a click can be heard as a hidden safe opens behind the painting. Revealing a cube; with golden markings everywhere on it.
"Care to elaborate Professor?" Seeing there is no other way, Samuel sighed.
"Einherjar, its name is Einherjar. I found it inside the Ark of The Covenant. While I was searching for a way to create zero I stumbled upon it, inside a tomb." said Samuel while glancing at zero with a resolute expression, only Antonio notice it. looking back at Antonio, he continues.
"It was placed in front of the commandments. Until now I still don't understand its full capacity. What I do know; is searching for someone worthy."
"Hmm... someone worthy you say?" nodding at Dutch, loud gunfire echoed throughout the room.
"Arghh!" with a thud, Samuel fell to his knees, his chest twitching, left hand clenching in front of his chest, gaping for a breath of air.
"Relocate all of his research, and start the cloning phase," said Antonio to Dutch while he picked up the cube, and leave the laboratory. leaving the dying Professor with his greatest creation, as his final honor for him.
What the two of them failed to notice is that; the mark on the cube start to dissolve and a transparent golden glow appear around zero. Seeing this the professor smiled while lying down on the floor.
"Ha..ha..haha! Fly my son! Show this cursed world despair... My job... it's done... It's... up.. to you now..." with that; the professor closed his eyes. Never open again.
______________________________
Present time
Sector 7: 01.36 am.
10 minutes before the Oath
Footsteps can be heard in an entire hangar inside sector 7. So many soldiers move in a hurry; to prepare for an attack at any given moment. Even the scientist is busy with the task of searching for potential countermeasures against subject zero.
Soldiers upon soldiers take a line in the center of the hangar while waiting for General Dutch to show up to start the briefing. So many of them had severed expressions; napes wet with sweat, and gulping sounds can be heard here and there.
Taking a closer look; you can see their chest moving up and down, hands clenched, eyes looking up straight toward the podium in front of them.
The smell of iron, sweat, and anxiety mix as it enters their nostrils. Waiting and waiting. honestly, some of them didn't even know why the higher-ups gather them here. but one thing is certain, there is a possibility they will not come out alive from this mission. because they knew this mission is so big that need an entire organization to focus solely on sector 7.
"ATTENTION!!" a loud shout could be heard across the hangar, followed by heavy, deep footsteps. Soon enough, General Dutch emerges with a severe expression.
"SOLDIERS!!" He shouted accompanied by a loud thud; a very loud answer can be heard from thousands of them.
"SIR, YES SIR!!" every single one of them salutes without exception.
Between thousands of them, there is a special group of soldiers that consists of 500 people. This soldier has a unique uniform, unlike the others, upon closer look, there is no emotion in their eyes, like a puppet. This is the ex-subject from project zero. Out of 1.477 subjects only 500 remainings.
"We have an urgent situation, as you knew, there is a soldier that is on the run, he-no, that thing! leaves a bloodbath wherever it goes," said General Dutch with a grave tone.
"And right now that thing is on its way here."
"That's why I want; every. single. one of you to prepare!"
"Stand on your own feet! Because today, humanity is being tested!"
"We. Will not fall!!"
"ARE YOU WITH ME?!!" shout Dutch with a solid back like a mountain.
"SIR, YES SIR!!" reply the soldiers
"Pathetic, ARE YOU WITH ME SOLDIERS!!!"
"SIR YES SIR!!!!"
"Good. Dismiss!" said Dutch before he leave, as Dutch went from the podium, every soldier start to move and regroup with their captain.
"Tell every Vice lieutenant to meet me in the meeting room," said Dutch to his secretary.
"Yes sir!" with a nod, she leaves him alone.
'You fucking dead, you artificial lowlife!' swore Dutch as he made his way to the meeting room. Upon reaching there he didn't need to wait long for others to show up.
***
"We are here General!" salute the lieutenants,
"at ease," respond Dutch while he goes through file upon file with a title; project zero: artificial Archangel.
"As you know by now, subject zero will be our main target," said General Dutch, with a lighter on; lit up his cigar.
"Fuuh... Here, in that file, you can see what are we dealing with. subject zero has many advantages over us including; an absurd nerve reaction speed, dexterity, movement speed, and strength"
"subject zero upon its creation; 17 years ago, manage to stabilize with the only Gaia embryo that we procure from a venus core." said the marshal with hate when he mentions the last sentence while continuing to skim through the file pages.
The General continues, "unfortunately we can't procure Gaia embryo anymore. So that's the only embryo we have, but that's not the only problem-"
"Fuuh...-scientists at that time are too greedy for my taste; because he sees the subject can miraculously stabilize with the embryo, even if it needs one year for the subject to show a sign of life. he starts to fuse another thing as well, to make a perfect being. Or so he says." explained Dutch with a deep tone, clenching his fist.
"Unfortunately, he succeeded." shaking his head.
"A brain with capacity, capability, and entire knowledge humanity has to offer, Prometheus as its heart, Ambrosia as his blood, Soma too was added into his white cell. Not to mention his eleven years of experience in combat"
"How about cloning him? Like every other soldier, we have done so far?" asked one of the lieutenants.
"That's the problem, so far we still can't decode zero genetic makeup. the Gaia embryo messed up his genetic makeup so badly, that make us can't decode it."
"Then how can we kill him, General?" asked one of the lieutenants.
"Fuuh... He's alone. We can kill him, he's not a god, and even God can bleed. With an Ethersteel bullet or plasma ray, we can gravely injure him; nanoparticles in his skin can't save him. It will take too long to heal up. Besides, he is already fighting for a week nonstop." reply Dutch
"Then with our troops right now we will not have a problem killing him." nods the lieutenant as they feel more confident.
"I'll be not this serious if it ends there; the main problem is this thing" retorted Dutch as he pushes forward another file with 'Project Einherjar' written on it.
The other lieutenant starts looking at the file; confused as to what the project is about. Yet when they start reading its content-
"what the hell is this General?! How can this-"
"-being or thing exists? I know. I do still trying to believe that." said General Dutch. The others start to feel dread about what is to come.
"Einherjar is a warrior who died in battle, a one-man army that fight the Ragnarök. Yet that thing in zero hands is different. It's a vessel that contains an entity, it can communicate with us and call itself Einherjar."
"So far it refuses to cooperate with us. With an excuse that we are not worthy. nevertheless, it's harmless, that is until it lands on zero hands." said Marshal while hitting the table to let out his frustration.
"What happens? What makes it special if it lands in ze-" the lieutenant's question came to an absurd stop; suddenly an ethereal voice could be heard in every corner of the room, the truth is, every person in sector 7 could hear it.
["All Einherjar shall swear oaths to the chosen one"]
the wall started shaking, the alarm on the entire sector start to go haywire; all people in sector 7 could feel their entire being screaming to kneel as if their very souls knew the meaning of that sentence. fortunately, it didn't last long. but it's enough to make all the people in sector 7 feel the real fear of death for the very first time in their life.
Inside the meeting room, all the lieutenants including Dutch, stood still, gulping as they tried their hardest to stop the tremble all over their bodies. all of their hair stood at no end, hands were drenched in sweat.
"T-that... what is that?!"
"Crazy..."
"Just what are we dealing with here...?"
exclaimed the lieutenants one after another, their confusion and question will be left unanswered as the Alarm start to beep crazily, waking them up from their stupor.
[ ALERT! A#%RT! ]
"Start to mobilize the army to the main gate! Bring all Ethersteel and plasma cannon! We will hit him hard in one spot! Come on! move!" shout General Dutch
"Yes sir!!" respond all the lieutenants with a salute
When everyone already left running out of the room. Dutch starts talking to seemingly no one in particular.
"Seven, do what you must!"
"Consider it done." an answer came to Dutch ears.
***
The main road in sector 7 pact with many soldiers. A clinking sound, heavy footsteps, and engine roaring could be heard here and there. every soldier holding a plasma rifle; a sniper with Ethersteel bullets in every corner of the buildings, and even a tank with a special railgun mounted on it; everyone is aiming at the gate, ready to fire at any moment.
At the top of the building, not far from the sector 7 main gate, the general with the additional lieutenants already prepared, with many high-end technologies; to give an order in any circumstance.
"Report soldier!" General Dutch ordered
"Yes sir! Right now the target is on its way to the front gate sir!"
"How about the preparation?"
"On standby sir! Ready to fire at your signal."
"Good," with a nod he grabs the communication device so everyone in sector 7 can hear him.
"SOLDIERS!! TAKE AIM!!" shout Dutch, the vein can be seen on his neck.
Every single soldier starts to steady their aim, even though the wall shakes more and more in every passing second, while an emotion starts to build up in their heart.
The whole area became dangerously silent, even a gulp can be heard, but they still stay strong, their morale is at its peak, as they believe in their General. But all of that Weaver when they hear that ethereal voice again.
["Army of one, Master to none"]
'What the hell-how?!' Dutch flabbergasted, seeing many crystal figures that he knew very well who are they, start to appear one after another.
"Wha-what is that?!" exclaimed one of the soldiers on top of the wall, soon the other followed.
"I-i-its just me or its Athena that standing there?"
"ha ha ha... I thought it was only a Legend..."
"How can gods in children's books become real? ha ha ha am I crazy?"
"Even the demon in a bedtime story is real... just what the hell am I signing up to"
Upon seeing that unbelievable sight many of the soldiers immediately lose their composure, without waiting for the General order, the soldier outside the wall starts to attack blindly one after another.
***
Explosion after explosion comes and goes all over the battlefield, in one peculiar section one can see bloody red soil expand like a lake, corpse after corpse mutilated cleanly by a blade. in the center of that bloody field, soldiers screaming, begging, and even crying echoed every second.
•Step•
"huff... huff... I never knew I will die in her hand..." said a soldier, one hand was already gone, blood still pouring out from it. in front of him, a female figure with two blades on both of her hands, fresh blood dripping from it rhythmically, can be seen walking slowly in their direction, a white cloak stained with blood donning her body, a crown-like horn decorated her head, with a mouthless face; facing directly at them.
•Step•
"haha... me too.. who knew Asthoreth really did exist...-"
•Step•
"-if only I say sorry to my daughter this morning..."
•Step•
"Fuck it!! I don't care if you are indeed The demon Asthoreth or even a god itself!! I will come back home and see my daughter again!" cried one of the soldiers,
Immediately it ignites all the remaining soldier's spirits, as they start to charge madly at her; who in response just suddenly stops walking and tilts her head to the right. if the female demon has a mouth, all of them will see a smile that reaches highly into her eyes.
on the opposite of the bloody 'lake' battlefield, it's an entirely different sight. there is no blood, organ, or even a corpse. only ashes, blackening land, and ice upon ice of human sculptures that erect in random places.
looking high up into the sky, a sole male figure, with long gray hair company with two sharp horns pointing straight upward, and a metallic arm holding a long black staff tightly can be seen floating leisurely.
rising his staff; the air and the molecule in that area start to condense, taking shape of a colossal palm that faces down the earth, while occasionally some electricity can be seen running up and down from it.
•Clank• •Clank•
•Thud• •Thud•
"we are doomed..." whispered some soldiers on the ground, kneeling, their faces contorted with tears, blood, and sweat mixed with their open wounds,
"what can humans do in front of absolute power? ha ha ha-" dry laugh escaped from some soldiers mouth, guns lying on the ground, they didn't even have the will to lift it.
"-This is ridiculous..." cried another soldier, already giving up, who didn't even dare to look up.
With one swift motion, the colossal hand starts to crashing down, breaking the very earth beneath their feet.
***
Silence
on top of the wall, only one word filled the air, as all the soldiers already questioning their own sanity. who can blame them. their friends, comrades, and brother die like an insect right in front of their very eyes.
not because of some psychopath killer, or died defending their homeland from their lifelong enemy; Alexandria Kingdom.
no. they died at the hands of the gods and demons that they only knew from children's books and bedtime stories.
When Dutch sees many of his soldiers space out and lose the will to fight, he quickly grabs the communicator beside him.
"MEN!! STEEL YOURSELF!!" with a shout, all soldiers regained their composure again, albeit slowly, but that didn't last very long.
["I waked the Einherjar, Ragnarök will begun"]
"How can we win again this?" said one of the soldiers trying to believe what he sees.
"look at the earth below, it's splitting..."
"we will die getting crushed by the gap..."
"...ha..ha...ha... I don't know, but I will ask her out if I survive this." reply someone besides the soldier. A soldier with a weak mind starts to shout and run, scattering everywhere.
"SOLDIERS!!" General Dutch starts to rally them again.
"DON'T WEAVER!!"
"WE ARE HUMANITY DEFENSE LINE!!"
"IF YOU FALL, WE ALL FALL!!"
"FOCUS!!" luckily it indeed calms some of the soldier's nerves. They continue to aim for the main gate that seems can't hold much longer.
["Shall the seal undone, no one can run"]
Seeing all the Crystal figures suddenly dissolve into particles, and moved toward his target, he knew its time to attack him.
"SOLDIERS!! TAKE AIM!!" yell General Dutch, immediately all soldiers; be it tanks, choppers, or the castle cannon at the back row of the line began to move, aiming at the half-destroyed gate in front of them.
"HOLD!!"
"STEADY!!"
"F- "
When he tries to give the signal to start, he absurdly stops when he sees a gorgeous figure appear in front of zero.
'Wha-is that her?!' his question was answered by a blinding light, but everyone has another thing in mind at that time.
'Is that an angel?!' but they wake up from their stupor almost a second later.
["As I alone am the honored one"]
"FIRE!!!"
_______________________________
As zero opens his eyes, time seems to slow down considerably. The rain of bullets, missiles, and plasma rays is all he could see. Yet he still has Serene and a calm face.
Choose to ignore it, for now, he starts looking at his right hand, he closes and uncloses his hand to try to feel the power that rushes through his vein. 'This power..'
looking back to the front, many attacks coming right at him. 'Let's try that.' with undivided attention and focus he moves his left hand straight, Eyes close for a split second, taking a deep breath.
And right before the rain of projectiles strike zero...
"Sri.. vatsa-!"
Its true name shakes the very air as it is spoken.
In a millisecond, Eight golden-black inverted triangle manifests in the air, right in front of him, a flower pattern in the middle start to roar alive, enlarging; protecting him from all side.
•BOOM•
A deafening explosion can be seen, the area under his legs to one kilometer behind him instantly cracking, the shock wave devastated the land, and a storm of heat swiped the entire area. as smoke starts to engulf him.
"YEEAH!!" soldiers scream with glee, seeing their attack hit the target perfectly.
"NOT YET!! RELOAD!! FIRE AT MY COMMAND!!" shout Dutch at top of his lung.
"N-no w-way?! Did he s-survive that?!" hearing their General shout, they can't swallow the truth,
"Ha ha ha, you are fucking kidding r-right?!" said a soldier with one hand on his forehead trying to remind himself; this is not a dream.
While still inside the protective layers of Srivatsa, Zero stretches his right hand horizontally to the right. With a grasping motion, a light crystalizes particle starts to appear, taking the shape of a long katana.
Grabbing it, the light particles disperse, leaving an actual long ebony katana with lustrous Hamon.
•SWISH•
With a swing of his hand, the smoke dispersed instantly.
"whistle~ damn, this sure one hell of a party, am I late?" said Zero with a smile as he scouted his surrounding.
in the middle of scorching earth, zero can be seen standing alone with a katana in his hand, golden bone-white armor donning his body from neck to toe, and a thin silk warp around his waist to ankle
"tch, TAKE AIM!!" seeing his target still standing, General Dutch yell again,
"N-no w-way! He did survive.." said soldiers in disbelief, cold sweat rolling down their spine while trying to steady their aim.
"C'mon get it together!! If we fall, humanity will fall!!" a shout suddenly echoes making every soldier grip their weapon tightly with a resolute expression.
"Right... For humanity.." with a tighter grip, one by one, they start to aim.
"For humanity!" a clicking steel sound echoed through the area.
Taking a stance, stood still, with his katana behind him in Reverse grip; straight upward. zero smirk seeing thousands upon thousands of people aim at him.
"FOR HUMANITY!!!" a war cry echoed
"FIRE!!!"
"UO-AAAA!!!"
•TRATATATA•
Every soldier yells at the top of their lungs, a raging shout echoed throughout the battlefield, veins bulging out under their neck as they scream. a tiny bridge of salvia connected their lips as they open their mouth. with bloodshot eyes, they fire with everything they have.
Zero smiled seeing all of this.
"Alright, Let's dance then," whispered him
With a swift, he disappeared; and all hell broke loose.
_______________________________
With a monstrous speed zero dashes forward, leaving nothing but dust. As the rain of bullets is about to hit him, he poses his katana in front of him horizontally, with a twist he rotates the katana with such absurd speed.
•TING• •TING•
•TRTITITING!•
the sound of steel clashing echoes through the battlefield. Each bullet is deflected by his sword, even if some bullets pass through, it's still missed by the hair. Only scratching his armor ever so slightly.
"Sing for me." swinging his hand elegantly, a one hundred-meter long, transparent, dark golden sword slash, burst out forward deflecting all the bullets.
"W-what the-!" said the soldiers on the ground below, baffled by the sight.
"Goddammit don't space out!!" yelled one of the soldiers, in truth is; he yell for himself.
As the sword slash hit the ground, with a Swish; hundred upon hundred smaller sword slashes erupted cutting everything in its path, leaving behind a choir of screams as it trails.
While still airborne, zero starts positioning the tip of the blade downwards.
"Let's begin." said zero while observing them from above.
'Hell's Gate' he starts diving from the sky, impaling the very mother of the earth herself.
•BOOM•
A one-kilometer crack starts to spread in a round shape, with him as its center. Dust can be seen floating around everywhere.
"Aargh!! Damnit! Move it!!" yelled a soldier with a broken leg.
"You need more than a leg to stop us!!"
•TRATATA•
The others soldiers keep shooting even with a leg that bends to a horrifying degree.
"UO-AAAA DIEE!!" cry out a soldier that's still within arm's reach from zero, even with his half legs gone, he still lunges forward; as far as his body ever could, trying to hit zero within point-blank range.
"well well, take it slow will ya'," muttered zero
In an instant; he starts to take a stance, bends his right hand with his long katana to the left shoulder, and swings it in a circular motion.
'Eclipso'
•SWISH•
Silent but a deadly sword cut split everything in its path. Many soldiers succumbed while their eyes still showed so much hatred.
"Your will is commendable, but not enough." muttering zero
Taking a quick second to observe his surroundings, he dashes forward again, straight to the center of the enemy. swinging his katana like a composer.
"SOLDIERS!! FIRE AT WILL!!!" command the General from the central tower
"FOR HUMANITY!!" shout of war cry echoes again, even if it is less than before.
"FOR HUMANITY!!"
"HAAAAA!!"
Soldiers upon soldiers rush vigorously, they don't care if their bodies are cut or lose a limb, as long as they can hurt the devil in front of them, it's enough.
Zero keeps attacking them, and with a dynamic pace, he attacks one area after another. sound of steel clashing, series of gunfire, shrieking pain, desperate shouts, and curses were heard everywhere he goes.
While this going on, from afar plasma blasters start charging up with the target already in sight.
As the charge reaches the maximum amount it can contain, the soldier starts to aim at the target. but the scenery behind zero makes the soldier take a sharp breath.
"T-This... Is this what hell looks like..?" gulped, his hand shaking.
The land was scattered, and puddles of blood and body parts can be seen everywhere, like pebbles. Soldiers crawling here and there, It's simply carnage.
And in the middle of it, he can see his target standing tall with his bone-white gold armor dripping with blood, his hand still stretching forward holding a soldier by the air, using a very long katana in his hand that still pierces the soldier's chest.
***
"Did I frighten you?" said zero
"Blurgh-Argghh!! Die you demon!!" Yell the soldier as he still struggles to pull out the blade inside his chest. With a clinking sound, the soldier chooses to blow himself up with the demon.
Seeing the soldier's action zero twists the blade and swings it upwards making the grenade explode in the sky.
"A pity-!"
At the same time when the grenade blows up, a plasma blast strikes zero perfectly on his chest.
"Argh!" grunting, zero tried to guard himself. Unfortunately, he was a second late.
•BOOOOM•
A scattering explosion engulfed him as well as the entire area.
"D-did we get him..?" asked the vice lieutenant in the control tower unsure of his own question.
"Even if it didn't, it will greatly injure him. And I still have another plan waiting for him." muttering Dutch
_________________________________