Heroes on Time

The Northern District. The thriving venue of something much more straightforward purpose, into more structural analogies between actions and reactions as part of always-changing societies. It was more than a biological adaptation, but rather an inner experience that they underwent over the centuries. Peaceful and secure feeling from a thriving city confined inside the protective wall since they sucked the very first air into their tiny twin lungs - the uncontaminated air where their sense of smell unable to taste the taste of steel met with blood, and ear which unable to hear the despairing screech that creeping along with the red breeze. Not because they were ignorant, but more compatible to their inability and the innocent perspective they brought along side with their first whine.

Being born inside the barricade full of thick concretes, towering over the far horizon, was both blessing and curse... creating this thriving number of population as an absolute answer for their safety. By virtue of such conditions, thus, the current human population invented a defensive mechanic which typically retained by the living creatures to pass their knowledge and long lasting legacy to the loved ones - shaped from their own flesh and bones. This fertile land showed the outsider's eyes the blessing hope as the land became more crowded. Therefore, its amenities instead... the one which needed to adapt with the blooming inhabitant. And the antithesis of this prosperity, it required more than mere luck to be born inside the wall.

The bigger the population, the greater the tendencies to interest the unwelcome threats, and the likelihood to develop more casualties - both recoverable and irrecoverable.

Such as today for an instance,

"Run! Run if you still care your life!"

The ear-splitting scream of many souls, suffocating the daylight's air which intended as the summoner of the sweeping breeze - an early hour lullaby guiding hundreds of families in the section of thriving civilization, into a reverie journey as the sun had leaned toward the western horizon... warming the surrounding air just like the everyday repetitive activity which sometimes did brought boredom to some who craved for something different. Not everyone however, who was ready for a leap of faith after being given the answer for their prayer... an answer that would likely cost one's life.

"This way, folks!"

"Do not panic! Make sure all of your family members come with you!"

Several heavy ironclads and steel-armed guards were conducting their noble duty as the peacekeeper of panicking people along with their diversity... mostly children and women. Some children were seen clenching their mothers hands and some were being lifted on the fathers arms for safekeeping, making sure no gap between the loved ones as the parents legs working furiously to carry all of them towards the safest zone where those three cold-blooded beasts - monstrous in size and intimidating in appearance - couldn't touch, let alone do any harm.

The reptilian species whose skin was blanketed with scaly exoskeleton-like epidermis of many small pointed sharp edges, black greenish in color applying as its special mechanism to camouflage with the surrounding nature. Given the physical size which bloated in size compare to the normal one, surely such mechanism wasn't use as a defensive approach. However. when those four-legged creatures, crawling and hissing above the exposed ecosystem without the presence of green nature in general, but a full-fledged man-made habitation full of solid greyish concrete and stones... lurking openly became inevitable.

Despite losing the element of surprise they proud of, because the unfavorable hunting ground... the hunt instead gave them the confidence needed to move their razor-sharp claws after the tiny warm-blooded preys. While only one of them already provided the preys with uneasy feeling, three of them would surely enough to make the preys fleeing with many little gaps taken by the preys little feet compared to those scaly claws which only took a few step but with much wider gap... resulting in inescapable situation for the preys and an easy feast for the three monstrous lizards.

Seemingly knew exactly where their preys were running, as if there was a slight cognitive thought within the small brain of theirs beneath the thick skin... the creeping lizards were deserting the nearby buildings and instead storming straight towards the lumps of living-human's meat.

"They're getting closer. Quickly! Why don't you move?!"

"What's going on?!"

The left behind group, the back row group of refugees. The hysteria became unbearable when the situation turned into something more hostile affairs for the human side, especially for those who were unlucky enough to be in the last line in the escape route.

"It's over... they already close the gate."

The amplifier of commotion seemed to come from the humans themselves, when the wicket gates between that connected between districts had been pulled down, detaching the districts which seemingly once were a whole. It was all the necessary prevention, just like the disease so that it wouldn't go wander and infect the rest healthy region. The system ran automatically, this city too when detecting the threat in a specific region... in order to minimize the casualty - human life and infrastructure were alike.

And now, it was all left for the unfortunate souls. Their contribution for the city as a glamorous lure, playing the role as the distraction for the monstrous-looking reptiles so that it wouldn't make an attempt to charge towards others directions, for the targets were already before the large crimson eyes... unable to move from where they stood, let alone escape nor fight back. It seemed that the lizards had successfully herded their fast meals.

Lucky for the desperate humans, their impotent role wasn't alone in this matter... because there was one group whose role as their protector, for It was their duty to keep fight, protect and dare their own life in the process.

The shield-wielding guards, unsheathing their steel swords through the tremble hands, regardless of the rigid heavy armor from heads to toes they wore - had been dispatched from nearby post into the conflict zone. Intended as the first-aid when the emergency announcement already on its way, waiting for the main force solely to resolve this level of threat.

The war cry of many militants abruptly broke the air as they had outnumbered the current threats by ten. Those who served as the front line, putting together the glimpse of courage which stored within their flesh - cold flesh from a cold sweat.

"The enemies are right before our eyelids! Unhesitatingly harassing the peace we struggle to protect... trampling on our glamorous city with its barbarian claws! Are ya willing to let this plague abuses this holy land?!"

A deep female voice, contralto in nature with its light, agile pitch which jumped between range of melodies. Pure rage along with the determination to carry out such a commendable task, was seemed working well one another to determine what kind of emotion she expressed... moreover the captain role she must bear... raising her subordinates morale was no less commendable than the main priority. Hence the war cry, standing at the very front, even by the common front line standard.

"No, Sir!"

Listening to the loud, seemingly authoritative voice of a blonde figure wearing a light yet compact armor with a fluttering cape and a symbol on - a symbol of a country, of a star... shining brightly even on a bright day when the sun reigned over the sky... the crimson star... the morning star still emitted its unyielding heat and light. It was a success attempt. The boost-morale conducted by the blonde captain eventually showed the late result. The presence of such a charismatic leader bearing the city symbol that fluttered as the wind blew... inspiring and encouraging the scaredy-cat guards before the hideous creatures. No one blame them for their reprehensible behavior, for it wasn't something that city guards can sort out merely using brute force and strength of an arm... at least not by humans standard... because the threat was already on a Giant level with Monster physical appearance which able to ravage an urban settlement - notably with ease if given the chance.

The generic bodybuilder training without question, wasn't enough to keep up with such a threat. To put it simply, the arcane art must involved... hence only a few individuals who already proved their capability to overcome such situations.

"Charge!"

The captain conducted the initial attack, charging right towards the monsters openly in one single line in order to attract the reptilian creatures attention to herself so that the rest of her subordinates were able to launch a further strike.

The blonde captain, surprisingly capable to run faster than the average humans despite the heavy protection she wore all over her slender body. Running so fast that her silhouette seemingly blended with the breeze around her, as the symbol of the city was fluttered even more.

The plan was a success. The two-storey-height reptiles were onto her as the creatures stopped their movement and focused on the blonde captain when she was about to enter the dangerous zone where she could've been crushed utterly by the huge claws if only she wasn't agile enough to dodge and then followed by a high jump towards the sky to overcome the deviation of body size which became her disadvantageous features.

The three reptilian creatures lifted their diapsid skulls as the target successfully putting herself on a higher place than their height. The reptilian creatures were then opening their jaws, showing the oral cavity full of yet another razor-sharp teeth... a row of giant and long conical needle-like teeth. Such a intimidating reaction as if warned the blonde captain not to proceed anything prior to this, so that she wouldn't end up inside the palate where the poisonous saliva was produced.

However, no matter how dangerous or big they are... animals are still animals... a slave to their own instinct, making them easy to predict.

"Now!"

The blonde captain shouted, instructing her subordinates who were waiting for the verbal signal to launch the strike they've been talked about beforehand... to attack the soft tissue beneath the lizards bodies - the abdomen part which unprotected by the thick, rough surface skin - when their captain already provided them with a wide gap from the initial attack as for now the three reptiles were willingly showed its weakest part. And soon enough, several shield-wielding guards already swarmed the said area within range of their steel swords - swing and thrust which harmed the creatures.

The green blood, typically possessed by the reptiles species or alike. Caused by high concentrations of monocytes, which also found flowing inside the human blood, but what set those two technically-identical-cells apart was the mutation those creatures blessed from. Mutated to such an extent, resulting the greenish-colored blood... flooding the blades as the guards ripped the soft muscle tissue in the abdomen.

Despite the cold-blooded flesh had been shred into pieces, the mutation took control and showed its outstanding capability in order to protect its master from death by impossibly faster regeneration - at molecular level, thus allowing the wounds to close and heal in a mere second. The pain still played its role perfectly albeit the special ability the reptilian creatures had. Every direct swing and thrust of the blades were counted as the reptiles state turned into a frenzy status.

"No way this thing regenerate faster than I thought!"

"Quit whining! Just keep swinging till your arms broke!"

Some of guards were awestruck by this well-known oddity. Surely they anticipated it, surely they knew if all of this struggle wouldn't be paid off... no matter the countless drops of green blood they had scored. As the human beings... it wasn't worth a single sweat, but as the devoted soldiers, as the kingdom militan and as the faithful subordinate... the task they carried together on each shoulder, they simply couldn't stand still... living up the fear when their captain fought honorably for the sake of Morning Star and its inhabitants.

The situation seemed went under control and everything went according to the plan... at least for a brief moment.

The reptilian creatures, in particular was an expert when it came to adaptation, both defensive and offensive purpose. Simultaneously took a few steps backward, restoring the previous position where they humans couldn't harm the weak spot through the body slam... taking the advantage of their large bodies and the potential energy its stored to throw those annoying humans. The sheer force of body weight resulted in tectonic vibrations that spread quickly across the battlefield as it, too, obliterated the hard concrete roads and ruptured the nearby structure - houses of local residents.

Another scream was then heard, not only came from the far corner of the city, but from the crowd full of ironclad. The brave soldiers who had tried their best... to best the hard-to-kill reptilian creatures. But, in the end, humans did have limits.

"That's enough! Leave the rest to me!"

The blonde captain who was still in the air, shouted her lungs out when noticing the change in behavioral pattern which turned into more violent approach. Starting from that body slam that destroyed everything beneath those huge body and resulted in a loss of balance for the guards on the ground as the tectonic vibrations spreading too fast to be avoided, let alone to be handled. It was a miracle nonetheless, that none of the guards being squeezed or stomped. Despite losing a balance for a moment, they were recovered quickly to rush out from the dangerous zone... barely those gigantic claws ripped their armor and shred their flesh into pieces.

And now, the only thing those guards could do was trusted the rest of chore to their captain, since she was the one who planned all of this. One very risky plan - either for her subordinates and herself - which so far went smoothly.

The so-called Two Side Strike... invented by the captain herself to counter the massive-sized creatures using the sheer force of numbers that capable to launch both air and ground attack without relying on long-range unit. The only problem in this current situation however, was that her method only applied on one single giant entity and the soldiers who took the roles must ten times as much as current numbers. She undeniably noticed the flaws in this plan, but since the current objective wasn't to terminate but to give so much time for them to appear and to prevent humans casualties in the process.

'It took longer than I thought.'

The blonde captain whispered to herself, wondering something that could possibly distract her from the ongoing threat. After dumping the unnecessary thought and restoring the eye focus on the reptilian creatures beneath her, she was about to perform the downward strike from a high altitude... targeting their crimson eyes when something unexpected - but a welcomed one - happened abruptly before her eyes.

A bulky-looking man, all of a sudden came out seemingly from nowhere but the sky, seeing how he was smacked down onto one of the gigantic reptile by making use the gravity to his favor... he easily overcame one of the reptilian creatures merely with his brute force, cracking even its thick exoskeleton-like skin.

Writhing in pain the creature was then. Different from the previous attempts to shred the soft tissue, this punch was causing so much trauma that it eventually gave up twitching.

"Looks like we arrive on time."

From a distance, a broad smile was then seen across the square-shaped face of that bulky man... voicing his a deep, hoarse voice yet seemed friendly. He pulled out his big fist that pierced through the reptile skin, then staring at the surprised blonde captain while greeting her with his hand covered in green blood.

"You may rest now, Captain Rondine. From now on, leave the rest to us. Thank you for your hard work."