Anzel stood frozen, staring up at the towering creature in front of him, its eyes blazing with a feral hunger, a mocking smile plastered against its face. The stench of blood and decay filled the air. He felt his mind beginning to unravel, the fear taking hold of him like a vice grip. But then he did something that not even he himself would have expected.
Something inside him snapped as a hysterical laugh escaped his lips. It bubbled up from deep within him, a release of fear and adrenaline that threatened to consume him entirely.
His eyes were wide, and his grin was maniacal as if he had just witnessed the most beautiful thing in the world. It was then that he realized that his laughter had not been the product of humor or amusement but of pure insanity. His mind had simply snapped under the weight of the terror he was facing.
Anzel's vision blurred, and he swayed on his feet, barely able to keep himself upright. He couldn't help it, the situation was just too absurd. Here he was, facing off against a monster straight out of his nightmares, and all he could do was laugh.
If only he had shoved the boy aside and thrown him in a tenement. My fault. It's my fault again. The laughter rose higher, louder, until it echoed through the alleyway and the creature turned its attention towards him, its massive form casting a large shadow across the ground. Even though standing a few feet away, he could have sworn he felt the hot breath of the creature press against his face.
As the laughter subsided, Anzel's mind snapped back to reality and his expression twisted into a furious scowl, his eyes blazing with rage. He was now filled with a seething anger. Anzel was furious at how easily the boy had just let himself die.
Furious at how he was thrown into this situation. Furious at the world. Furious at himself. Every time he did anything in his life it ended up with someone getting hurt and so he constantly pretended like he didn't care, almost like he was the only person in the world, distancing himself from others. That was all a lie. Deep down he was broken, teetering on the edge of insanity.
He felt no real connection to the boy but seeing him die like that, so easily, as if his life had meant nothing, filled him with a primal fear. A fear that reached far beyond this situation. A fear that gripped his consciousness and made him question if life really had any meaning, that if people were to die so easily, what even was the point to it all? It was a fear that, by nature, had turned into a simmering anger.
He raised his knife, a determination settling in his gut. How dare this creature stand before him, proud and smug in its twisted victory? The anger then began to boil within his entire body, coursing through his veins like a raging inferno directed solely at the monster in front of him.
With a sudden burst of energy, Anzel launched himself at the creature, his Axis gear whirring to life as he shifted his gravity to land a powerful blow with his bare bloody fist. The creature staggered back, surprised by the sudden attack before roaring in laughter and lashing out with its massive claws. Anzel twisted away, barely avoiding the deadly strikes.
He felt adrenaline pumping through his veins, his body moving almost on instinct alone. Anzel continued his assault, his movements fueled by a mixture of rage and madness. His anger became a weapon in and of itself, and he fought with all his might, striking the creature with every ounce of strength he had left.
Even when slashes came pouring in from right and left, tearing through his gear and forming deep gashes in his flesh, he did not slow. His body and mind were ablaze. Anzel no longer cared whether he lived or died. His entire life within that very moment became the embodiment of rage.
This is my chance. He thought to himself before leaping backward in a wide soaring arc and landing a few feet away from the creature. They eyed each other with intensity. Anzel then quickly belted his knife and traded it for his gun. The creature seemed to be amused that Anzel had chosen this weapon as it saw the thing as useless against its power.
The creature then began to charge. Anzel only had one slim shot at this but he would make it work no matter what. He gripped the gun in his right hand before suddenly shifting his gravity in front of him.
The creature was now below him and he was flying feet first straight toward it at an increasingly fast pace. He let his left hand brush the pavement as he flew down alongside the street. It all happened in a flash as the two came just inches apart from each other. Anzel lifted the gun straight to the havok's face just as he was about to enter below the beast. The creature anticipated this action but did not work against it as it thought itself invincible to the attack, just as Anzel had hoped.
A brief flash of confusion played out on the creature's face as Anzel brought his left arm out in front of him as well, positioning the back of his hand right in front of the gun's barrel. The last thing the creature saw was Anzel's sinister smile before its vision went red. Anzel had shot the back of his hand to spray blood across the creature's face, effectively blinding it.
The blinded creature sliced at the ground below itself where it thought he was, but it was too late as Anzel was already far beyond that point.
In mere seconds, he tossed aside the gun and brought out his combat knife in a reverse grip. Still moving, he gouged the creature's stomach below at a terrifying speed and cut across its body in an arc. Blood and guts spilled out from beneath in a wet slosh, showering Anzel as he slid out from the back of the havok and came skidding to a stop on the charred pavement. Both he and the creature collapsed to the floor.
Anzel felt the slick blood of the havok ooze down his jet-black hair and into his eyes. In those eyes all that remained was a cold, calculating rage that left him feeling empty and hollow inside. He could no longer move. No longer feel. Too much blood had been lost and he needed to move quickly. However, the energy simply did not reach him.
For a moment, he thought of just slipping away, leaving all of this behind him but instead, he brought out every ounce of power in his body to stand, not in victory but rather in defiance. Without saying a word, he dragged his body away from the scene. I killed it. There's no way I killed it. His vision was going blurry. The blood oozing from his right arm felt like his very soul was draining out from him and onto the pavement. I'm going to die, aren't I?
It was then that he heard the distant sounds of a helicopter which seemed to be miles away, the sound of an angel that had come to rescue him. Anzel raised his hands to touch his face. I-I'm smiling? Was he really that happy to be alive, and for what? None of that mattered now as he neared the edge of the city district.
In front of him lay a gaping chasm about fourteen-thousand feet wide. Through the smog, he saw it moving through the haze. Anzel closed his eyes and let himself relax, feeling every individual drop of rain hit his face.
Is life really that precious to me? Is life precious to anybody anymore? Why do I keep doing this to myself? Why do I keep living despite having a negative effect on others around me? Damn it, I could have saved that kid if I just let him stay with his mother. I could have saved my squad if I hadn't ruined my reputation. I could have saved Tajin. Why, why am I the one who's always alive in the end? Just to live as another number in the coalition army? Why should I care about this nation when I don't even care about my own life? In that moment a lifetime of regrets collectively pound him to his knees.
He thought about his sister, Hope, he thought about Hazil and the promise he made to Tajin. I know I can change. I know I can, right? That's why I want to live right? A sick and twisted smile came to his face as he cried out his heart in two conflicting emotions.
He yelled with his very guts, "I-I want to li—"
Anzel's declaration of life was cut short by a pain unlike anything he had ever experienced. His face contorted and his eyes struggled to look down at the now gaping hole in his stomach. Twisting his neck in horror he saw the creature he thought was dead, pressed against his body in a mangled posture of pain. Its dagger-like limb tore from Anzel's body, its voice a combination of broken whimpers much like that of a child. Anzel's smile only widened. Serves me right. Haha, life really is one cruel joke. With that, he fell into the darkness of the chasm below.