Ch. 6 "THE REALITY"

"Why are there so many of them? just how did these things manage to be this many?"

Claire said as she continued to fight the black figures they called Demon, an hour has passed from the moment she began fighting when her body began to feel weak. 

"Agh! this isn't good! if I keep fighting my body would probably collapse!"

She had already killed about forty demons, yet the horde still outnumbered her and as she kept on fighting her limit kept getting closer. She was about to call the Professor but was interrupted when a two-headed spear came out of nowhere piercing three demons at once and killing them.

"My, my, Giving up already Claire? is it me or are you becoming much weaker?"

A guy wearing a white jacket with red trimming and red cuffs suddenly appeared floating down from the sky.

"What are you doing here Kurt?!"

"What a very stupid question to ask, would there be any reason for us to come here?"

"Us?" 

A woman came crashing from above wielding a huge two-sided hammer which had spikey edges also wearing the same attire as the man earlier, Claire felt relieved after seeing the two people.

"How troublesome, this is the last place I'd like to fight these demons"

"Cecilia! I'm glad to see you!"

"Yo! long time no see Claire!"

"Aw, how sweet, a happy reunion that might kill the two of them, HAHAHAHA," Kurt said as he stood on top of his spear.

Cecilia smirked at Kurt before continuously smashing the demons that she saw and Kurt did the same, as Claire saw how well her comrades fought she walked back to where Ken and Rei were peacefully sleeping not even realizing that there in the middle of a disaster.

As she walked closer she saw a person standing in front of the siblings, he was wearing a long white jacket but with black trimming and black cuffs, his pants are a matching white with two black stripes at the side and are tucked into knee-high white boots. She quickly ran to the person and stood in front of him.

"C-commander?" 

Claire uttered as she knew the person who was standing before her, she bowed her head to show a sign of respect.

"Is that him?"

the commander asked but Claire was hesitant to answer, it was as if she didn't want to tell him.

"So it's them"

The commander walked closer but stopped when Claire suddenly raised her arms to shoulder level while her face was still looking at the ground defending the two siblings who were behind her.

"Do you mind explaining this action, Claire?"

Claire raised her head and fiercely stared at the commander.

"Please don't! I want these two to live a normal life, I don't want any of these two to see the reality that was hidden from everyone"

Claire begged with all her heart but the commander stared back at her with cold eyes.

"Claire, I know you care about these two, but what they've seen is either they join us or have their memory erased and you know how that happens right?"

The commander explained still staring back at her. Claire looked behind her and saw Rei looking at the two of them while smiling.

"Rei? why are you awake?" 

Claire said uncertainly on how Rei was already awake while Ken was still deeply asleep. Rei took a while before answering, he opened his mouth and was about to say something when Kurt spoke out of nowhere, interrupting Rei.

"Yo! Captain did she also send you here?"

"Yes, but I guess the two of you had the situation controlled in this area, I already sent about 50 soldiers to the other areas so the three of you can relax for a while"

With that said Kurt laid down on the ground and took a nap, at that time Cecilia also came to their location after finishing off the leftover demons. Her eyes suddenly sparkled as she saw their commander who stood tall in front of Claire.

"Captain Rylee!!" 

Cecilia screamed in joy while running towards the commander she clung tightly to him not allowing him to move.

"Please let go, Cecilia! why do you always do this?"

"Eh? why? isn't it obvious!? it's because I-LOVE-YOU" 

She said before getting flicked at the forehead by the commander.

"You do know that we are in the middle of a great war that could erase humanity's existence, right? and yet you dare to flirt?" 

The commander said not even looking at the woman who tightly clung to him.

"How rude captain!" 

Cecilia pouted as she released him from her grasp and walked in front of Claire.

"Uhm... Claire? what are you doing?"

"Huh? I uhh.." 

Claire's action was done unconsciously as she wanted to protect the two siblings from being sent to a war that they do not know was happening.

"Claire, would you mind explaining why you stopped me from walking closer to them?"

"Because, because I don't want them to be sent to a war without even knowing why the war even started"

"I see, so in other words you want the three of you to learn the truth? because when you were recruited no one gave you a direct answer?"

"Yes!"

It was a moment of silence for all of them, but the silence was broken when they heard a chain like sound being pulled, and from a distance, they saw a girl slowly walking towards them, she faces the ground while her left leg seemed to be broken.

"Cecilia, do you mind taking that girl here"

The commander said ordering Cecilia to bring that girl to where they were, as Cecilia got her there she suddenly collapsed on the floor unconscious, her right handheld on a gun like a weapon which was known as Zosma. Zosma is a gun-like weapon which fires light rays that can pierce through the body of demons.

"Should we also recruit this woman commander?"

Kurt said who just woke up because of the sound of the Zosma being pulled on the ground.

"Yes! I see strength in this girl, she seems to have gone through a lot of hardship to be able to even hold a Zosma which was created for military use only"

The commander said as she looked at the woman from head to toe.

"But who is she?" 

Cecilia asked none of them knew who the woman was when Rei finally had the opening to talk.

"Oh! that's Ashley! she's still alive? haven't seen her in a while"

Rei walked towards Ashley and kneeled in front of her looking at her clothes that were somehow drenched in blood. Rei then took notice of her broken foot, without hesitation rei snapped it back to its original place, Ashley didn't wake up but her face showed relief as her pain had been eased.

"So who are you?"

The commander asked Rei to stand up and took the Zosma and lifted it on his left hand with ease, pointed it at the commander. Claire, Cecilia, and Kurt move quickly to stand in front of their commander with their weapons protecting him.

"Rei, what are you doing?" 

Claire asked but Rei paid no attention to her and stood there pointing at them, it was an intense staredown with the five of them when Rei suddenly pulled the trigger barely missing the commander's left ear.

"You piece of shit!" 

Kurt screamed as he immediately charged towards Rei, he swung his two-sided spear with all his force but Rei easily dodged them, the force of Kurt's attacks cracked the ground they stood on. Kurt was about to deliver a final blow when Rei's right eye suddenly turned white a black color began to appear around it. It was all too fast to see with normal human eyes, but the commander was able to sense a destructive power from Rei, he ran to Kurt while screaming stop but it was too late Kurt's spear was about to hit Rei. 

As the spear hit the ground it made a crater the size of a car, Kurt was shocked to see Rei still standing there unharmed, even though he took a direct hit from the spear.

"You! who are you?"

The commander asked, Rei stood there staring at the spear which caught his interest but eventually answered the commander.

"My name is Rei, and over there is my twin sibling Kenzou"

Rei said as he walked past all of them and straight to a demon that had been paralyzed and was simply standing behind Claire and Cecilia for quite a while, it had both its hand in the air indicating that it wanted to smash them.

Rylee's widened as he saw the demon who was about the smash the area he was standing in earlier, the three other was shocked to it paralyzed without breaking it. 

"How did you do that?"

The commander asked.

"Nothing much I just waited for it to stand at the right spot and shot it in the heart like how I did it in the video games I played, but I wonder what this is do you guys know?"

Claire looked back and was shocked to see it, along with the others it was their first time seeing a demon paralyzed while still being whole. Claire suddenly received a call coming from the doctor.

"Claire, Cecilia, Kurt, and Commander Rylee, please return to the Headquarters immediately"

A chopper then appeared to pick them all up, but before they could leave Kurt took the chance and pierced the demon's core which Rei had no idea about as he thought that it simply had a heart.

All of them rode the chopper as it ascended towards the broken part of the sky revealing a truly horrifying sight, they were inside a dome and surrounded by forty meter high walls. Beyond those walls were dried land with hellish flames and demons scattered everywhere, but the wall and the dome had a distance of one hundred kilometers from each other and in the middle stands a large military base and a laboratory beside it.

The chopper was filled with silence as no one dared to speak on what they had seen, as they arrived at the military base they were greeted by the Head Professor of the laboratory.

"Welcome back Squadron III"

"Professor Misty, it's rare to see you outside" 

Commander Rylee greeted a woman whose height was only around his chest. The Professor pointed at the two unconscious people at the chopper to her guards and were immediately sent to the lab, and at then she saw Rei who looked unsurprised to see what is surrounding him as if he already knew what was the world outside.

All of them went to the laboratory led by Professor Misty and Commander Rylee.

"Are those the ones you want to add to your squadron?"

"Yes, but you should let them know what is happing as requested by Claire"

"Claire? made a request that's new"

"She said no one told her our purpose so, I think she should know"

"I see, well it's not that easy to explain but I'll do my best"

Their conversation ended as they arrived in a very large room with ten hospital beds and at the end of the room was a long sofa and a large window that allowed them to see the military training ground.

"Why don't all of you rest for a while, I know that your bodies must be tired from that fighting, food and beverages would be delivered here shortly so you can rest"

The professor said before leaving the room with the commander, the ones left inside the room was a still sleeping Kenzou, an unconscious Ashley, Kurt, Cecilia, Claire, and Rei who laid down and easily fell asleep.

The two who left the room had entered a monitoring room which had coverage on the room where the others had stayed.

"Professor, everyone inside the dome is registered on our database right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Can you find me someone with the name Rei?"

"Rei? I think there is one"

The professor began her search and was able to find one person with the same name, as they tried to find out who he was they were suddenly blocked and was not allowed to go any further. The professor stared at the lock which resembled the same lock her former Professor had used.

"Huh? isn't this?..."

With a pause she recognized it, it was the same lock her former professor used to hide his data. Inside the dome, everyone from the day they were born will automatically have their data sent to the lab where multiple people monitor their lives and allow peace to run inside the dome but some events are somewhat overseen by the one in the labs which allows some people inside the dome to do horrible things but is not allowed to kill.

"Professor? can you not open it?"

"That lock is sealed tighter than the walls that protect us unless the person who placed it there opens it nothing will happen to it"

"Who would do something like that?"

"The former head professor of this laboratory"

"Professor Charles Fritz huh?"

"Yes, after his disappearance twelve years ago his data has been sealed, no one knows what happened to him, but before he disappeared he live a normal life with his wife and two children" 

"Do you think this Rei is the son of Professor Charles?"

"I don't think so, its because his children were only 2 years of age when he disappeared, and his wife also disappeared on the children's fifth birthday"

"I see, but there's one thing I want to know"

"What is it?"

"Is there a chance to survive a slash with full force from Vega?"

"Ah the STAR: Vega, it would be impossible for anyone to survive that, its full force can easily split a B CLASS DEMON clean with its core. Why did you ask?"

"You monitored us when we were inside right?"

"I did, I captured everything that  happened there the moment you arrived because I had a drone follow you"

"I see, have you watched it yet?"

"Not yet why?"

"Let's watch it right now, there's something I want you to see"

The Professor then immediately prepared the footage from the drone and watched it together with the commander, they skipped most of the part and was now at the moment where Kurt was fighting Rei.

"Isn't that the kid you brought here?"

"It is but they're something I want you to see so pay attention"

The footage continued and when Kurt was about to use the full force of the Vega the footage suddenly had a glitch that interrupted the footage not allowing anyone to see how Rei survived that deadly slash.

"Huh, I saw that type of glitch before"

"It's like it doesn't want anyone to see what happened"

The two were confused on why the drone glitch and how did Rei survive a slash that strong, it wasn't a few moments when the Professor realized something.

"Ah wait, if I hack to a device that was near you and had a view maybe we can see what happened"

The professor was positive that she could see how it happened but Rylee was losing his hope, he felt something was off because the whole footage was captured in high quality that even the moment the Demon was shot by Rei was still clear to see. 

"This is Hopeless Professor Misty, I think we should let it slide for now. But I want to be able to track that kid everywhere he goes, something tells me that kid is a monster"

[Chapter End]