章 2: World's 1st Jaeger

A cockroach monster was coming his way. Liu quickly slashed it's head off with his spear and threw it to another bee coming his way. He ran and grabbed the spear. He was panting.

His face and clothes were covered in blood and goo. The dog said, "Liu, your spirit energy's almost depleted. You need to retreat, now." Liu slashed another ant and said, "But...….. what about the people."

"Look around you. We're the only ones in this whole area. Let's retreat."

Liu ran towards a car and broke it's windows. He then turned back and killed a few more bugs before getting in the car and hot-wiring it. He drove away, leaving behind thousands of bugs and many dead bodies.

He drove for many hours, but all he found around him was death and destruction. He saw signs of life as he reached the Hotan prefecture. There were refugees all over the town. The locals were trying to help them. He stopped the car in front of an ATM booth and took out some money.

He drove to a hotel. He got out of the car and went inside. The dog reversed and followed him. Liu booked a room and headed straight there as he noticed everyone looking at him because of all the blood and goo on his body.

He took a shower and ordered dinner via room service. He saw the dog sitting on a couch and sat in front of him. Liu said, "So, Mr. Dog, care to explain what's happening here? What are these bugs? Who are you? And most importantly, do you know how to stop them?"

The dog spoke, "That's a lot of questions to answer at once. Let me go one by one. Long ago, in another universe, there was a species of different types of bugs. They looked like various insects and animals but were giant. They would hunt every living being for their spirit energy. Not even the plants would be spared from their hunger. These bugs were called Entomorphs. These bugs ate away most of that universe's spirit energy, massacring all the living beings. Humanity was in peril. But then, to save the humans from these Entomorphs, spawned different spirits. These spirits would normally look like different animals, sometimes even humans. They would contract humans to lend them powers or turn themselves into weapons or armour to defeat the Entomorphs. The humans who were able to forge a contract with the spirits were called Jaegers. But the spirits were too late. The remaining humans and spirits were not enough to take down all the Entomorphs. As the humanity in that world perished, the queen of the spirits opened a gate to another universe and escaped with the remaining humans and spirits. But once a gate is opened, you can't close it anymore. The queen's bearer then used all of his spirit powers to seal the gate."

"What happened to that man and the queen?"

"The man depleted of his spirit energy died and before he did he inserted the queen into the gate's altar as a catalyst of the seal. That happened almost a million years ago. Once the gate was sealed, humanity decided to leave in peace, forgetting the nightmare of their home world. The Jaegers who were able to alter people's minds then sealed away all of the human memories of their home world. They also freed the spirits from the contracts. The spirits remained among the humans in case something happened again."

"Wait. That's a lot to take in together. So, you're saying many of the humans living with us aren't even from this world? And they talk about spirits and gates etc."

"You got a literal dog sitting in front of you and talking to you in human language which transformed into a literal spear half a day ago, and you still have trouble believing what I'm saying. Not to mention the onslaught of bugs your world is facing right now."

At that moment, someone knocked at the door. Liu said, "Come in."

A waiter came in with a tray full of food. Liu told him to put the food down on the table before him. He gave him a tip, and the waiter left. After the waiter closed the door, Liu asked the dog, "So, are you one of these spirits?"

The dog nodded. He said, "I was one of the leading spirits in the last war. I was called Spearfang."

Liu laughed, "Spearfang? Really? Who the hell named you?"

The dog remained calm and said, "Spearfang isn't my name. It's the title given to me by the queen. Our names change with our contractors. A name is the proof that we're contracted spirits. Our contract too will be complete when you give me a name."

Liu thought and said, "Rex. I name you Rex."

"Then I shall be called Rex from now on."

"So, if the queen had sealed the door, then why are these Entomorphs here?"

"Somehow, the seal must've been broken. The primes must have done it."

"Wait wait wait. The Primes? Who are the Primes?"

"They are the leaders of these Entomorphs. They possess intelligence and the power to control the Entomorphs. We don't have much time. We need to get ready before the primes come over to this side. Heck, who knows they might already be here. But I don't know what to do. I don't even know how many of you have enough spirit energy to be a Jaeger."

Liu was silently listening to Rex and eating.

He gulped down a glass of water and said, "Oh, you've found the right person to make a contract with. I've got one heck of a plan. We aren't going down like those weaklings from the other world."