บท 1: Chapter 1: You Can Not Advance
April 15th, 2055
Among my bland, vacant memory, my only sense of familiarity was the burning smog around me. I don't remember when it happened, or why it started, but the calamity around me was real.
I was in hell.
The bodies of innocent people in the city were devoured in a ray of light emanating from the ground, transforming their human figure into that of monsters.
I was in hell.
The school in which I attended, the home in which I sought refuge. They were all crumbled into dust by powers I could never understand. The names of those I loved, of those I hated, they were all gone, as though they never existed in the first place.
I was in hell.
I held a gun in my hands, a familiar one with a classic design from the early 21st century. What was it's name again? I don't know...
"...!"
Huh? What was that?
"...Noah..."
Someone was calling me. My throat clenched up tightly, the words being snuffed out as I tried to speak.
"Noah!"
"!!"
My senses felt heightened, as though I'd come out of a trance. My previously dirty hands were replaced with the thin black material of the Black Suit, my empty palm clenching a gun.
"C'mon. You've been having those strange lapses in consciousness the entire mission. Pull it together or you'll end up being dead weight." The aggressive Pam Fuller was quick to criticize my behavior. She was always quite the hothead...
The soil of the environment was comprised of metal and decay, the large dilapidated buildings of the previous generation being reduced to rubble. Bullets with imprints of a mysterious foreign language littered the field as the alien flowers bloomed.
The sky was blue, then pink, then yellow, and a mix of red. The clouds shifted back in forth in irregular patterns, and the land was bathed in a sea of blood. Statues of human figures prostating were strewn about the horizon, almost giving the distant land a sense of divinity.
This was the nature of the Wandering Sea, the corruption that has claims over 60% of all life in the Great Calamity 95 years ago.
A couple of squad members sat on the corpses of executed magic beasts. Combat was a daily occurence within the wandering sea, as the monsters lurked within the depths.
"Huff...and that's...the last!" Harper Sow, the confident, slit mouth man stabbed a Magic Beast with a combat knife, watching as it squired and died powerlessly. He opened the pod on the carrier unit and unveiled an extraction device, the "containment pillar".
I, along with the 5 other members of Squad 12, arduously pushed the containment pillar upright and held the device in place. The self locking mechanism tightened the pillar to the ground and the internal drill dug its way through the ground.
[100% purification rate]
[Purification complete]
Harper Sow, the wided eyed, thin smirking Novice took off his filtration mask. His deep breath being a sweeping sign of relief. "Quiet day isn't it? No more monsters to fight today." He had to yell over the loud grinding and digging noises of the purification device.
"Yes...I feels natural."
"I'm glad we manage to complete an assignment in merely 13 days! We've really outdone ourselves everyone!" There he goes again, his endless positivity and optimism. It was enough to keep our spirits high for the moment, hoping that one day this hell would be over. However...we all knew the truth deep down. Dogs could only earn their freedom in death.
Pam Fuller smiled a subtle, yet deeply soothing smile, her 2 sets of piercing eyes thinning ever so slightly. "Well, if it means we may live to survive another day, then this job isn't so bad after all."
Stepping away from the group, Malery, a young woman around 20 years old with flowing black hair and a stern look, trudged through the debris and tapped various parts of her arm.
A flash of light beamed out of her wrist, the black combat suit with white straps at the hips and shoulders contained a small device that enabled two-way communication.
"Novice Malery speaking. Team 12 has completed operation 5. The city lying on the border of the Former Lucidi Empire, Frey Illustria, has now been purified. Transferring Magic Beast data immediately."
Her tone was far more cold and mechanical than anything a typical human was capable of expressing. They were devoid of the love and dedication one would normally carry on such a dangerous job. However, those words akin to grinding metal gave me comfort. It would ensure that today was a truly meaningful day.
Although it wasn't much, it was authentic work.
Roughly 15 minutes later, the rescue team and research recovery team arrived on the scene to safely take up back to base. The research recovery team was responsible for extracting any potential research material that was captured by squad 12. We contained the corpses of magic beasts in order to avoid their decay via purification.
Our role was comparably minimal compared to the research recovery team. They were the real saviors of whatever is left of humanity, we were just the disposable suicide squad meant to gather more data.
________
-The Capital City of the Allied Powers, Baroque City-
Squad 12 arrived at Baroque City with bright eyes and even emptier stomachs. Surviving for 13 days off of flavorless, air-dropped meal packs was nearly impossible for the ordinary person simply based on the lack of flavor or variety. However, with the world in it's current state, there was no use for complaining. It wasn't like there was much viable farm land to begin with.
My favorite part of the ride home was never actually the city. It was a picturesque sight of peace for sure, but that wasn't nearly as important as the journey back itself. As I got closer to the city, I could see government equipment being moved into the purified territory, the once empty and destitute land now slowly regaining it's verdant beauty. It was something tangible, something I could grasp with my own two hands.
Although it was small, I was making a difference. I was helping other people. Perhaps my life could mean something more, that I could die for something far more than myself.
"Welcome back, Black Dogs Squad 12." Doctor Ramses greeted us like usual at the front desk of the director, his gentle smile was something even a devil could never corrupt. He was a high-ranking official of "Progression Phase". It was the organization that we of the "Black Dogs" project directly work under. As such, he would often run diagnostics on our conditions throughout the contract phase.
The man sitting at the front desk, however, imposed an intimidating aura that ordinary monsters couldn't compare to. His hair was well kept, yet had a few stray hairs that gave him a bit of a messy appearance. He wore a completely black suit to contrast his snow white hair. "You've all been putting in such fine work recently. You've all clearly grown beyond the scope of mere Novices."
We awkwardly said in unison, "T-thank you, sir!"
"Geez, can you guys talk one at a time or something? It's hard to keep track of all of you." He picked up his antique coffee cup and swirled around the contents with a small circular motion. "Anyways, I've called you all here for a discussion of your promotion as a squad. It's clear that scouting is too little a challenge for you. Maybe even High Novice is too little..."
Cassia and Mason's faces lit up like a christmas tree at the thought of a promotion.
"P-promotion? Thank you so much sir...I-I'll try to live up to your expectations!" Mason awkwardly stammered through his response like usual.
Cassia was far more confident and energetic. "I told you you could count on us director! Just what type of missions will we be operating next time?!"
"Aha! I love that enthusiam young lady. Well, as I will be promoting each of you to Officer status, you'll all be initiated into search and destory missions, as well as capture missions and Large-scale extermination missions."
Perhaps out of instinct, I couldn't help but voice my confusion. "Large-scale extermination...? What type of scenarios would dictate such a mission?"
"That is a good question. Doctor Ramses, would you mind showing them the concerning snit-bits for the next mission."
Doctor Ramses politely bowed his head. He pointed towards large projector on the side of the wall and began explaining the necessary details.
"Up until now, you have all faced relatively unintelligent magic beasts. They have little to no ego and operate solely on their instinctual desire for destruction. However...there have been some recent developments that might disprove that theory."
The screen changed to a collage of images displaying a troop of large magic beasts that were physically similar to monkeys. They huddled around a large mountain, praying to something in the vague darkness.
"These pictures were taken on Feburary 25th, 2055, a mere 2 months ago. As you can see, the magic beasts seem to be gaining a degree of intelligence, perhaps even similar to a human. They organize in groups and attack strategically. This is the first ever recorded instance of this behavior occuring."
A thin glaze of sweat wrapped around my fingers. "So you're telling me...these things can actually evolve?"
"That's right. If we continue to delay any further, this may present serious disaster for the human race. The colony in the Canbrian Mountain range aren't the only concern. They've also popped up in the Capital of the former Lucidi Empire, the Eastern Territories, and Sanctuary."
"I know this is far too much of me to ask, but..." The director stood with a firm posture and attitude.
"Would you all be willing to offer your lives to me for the sake of the world?"
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