Germany, Capital City Berlin ]
In an abandoned building, a man wearing a German Army uniform sat down. The man also carried a rapier sword at his waist, and he appeared to be bandaging a wound on his right arm.
"It seems like today will be a bit longer and more tiring."
While relaxing and bandaging his wound, he suddenly became alert and gripped the rapier sword at his hip.
"Tek, Tek," an odd sound of footsteps could be heard just outside the abandoned building.
"Cranggg," an object pierced the glass, shattering it into pieces, and the man immediately drew his sword and prepared to defend himself.
It was an odd-looking creature with roots and thorns growing from its back. He ran toward the man, the roots and thorns on his back shifting to the front
and immediately extending to attack the man.
The man swiftly slashed in a circular motion at the roots and thorns attacking him simultaneously. However, even after being cut, the roots and thorns continued to regrow and keep attacking him.
The man immediately ran toward the strange creature while slashing and parrying all the attacks he received.
"You all just keep coming, and it never stops!"
The soldier moved quickly, slicing through the eyes of the creature named Merger. This left it unable to see. After sustaining fatal injuries, it attacked wildly and randomly around it.
The soldier quickly dodged the brutal attack, but he was still hit on the right side of his abdomen and his left leg. After dodging for a while, he charged at the strange creature through the gaps it could not block.
With a single swing of his sword, he cleanly severed the creature's head, halting the brutal attack instantly, and it also signalled that the creature was dead.
"Huff... huff... huff... I must leave immediately; it's no longer safe here."
He said this while kneeling, exhausted.
After taking a few breaths, he cleaned the wounded parts of his body with a handkerchief, then hurriedly left the area. After stepping outside, it was evident that the entire building there was already dilapidated.
Then the man quickly climbed the building, and this time it became clear. It wasn't just one complex of buildings that looked dilapidated, but the entire city of Berlin. Everything looked like it had been through an apocalypse, with many buildings overgrown with moss.
"Every time I come here on duty, I want to see what Berlin was like before it became what it is today,"
said the man with a sigh.
Then the sound of a helicopter and the wind from its blades could be heard, and the helicopter approached the soldier. He turned his head towards the helicopter.
"Where have you been? And why do you always go off on your own when doing tasks like this?"
With a small smile, the man walked over and boarded the helicopter.
"Enough, just mark me absent there. Don't always ask me why. The point is, if I don't come back, it means I'm dead."
The man replied to his military friend.
And there he marked himself absent once the male soldier had completed his mission as a Merger Scout.
There, the name Lucas Auslein was also visible.
"Are we heading straight back to Munich?"
The voice came from the helicopter's control room; it was the pilot's voice.
"No, we're going to Leipzig first."
The pilot listened, then immediately steered the helicopter toward Leipzig.
An hour passed, and they were now on the outskirts of Leipzig. Several camps and personnel could be seen moving around busily with their respective tasks.
The helicopter carrying Lucas and Miller landed safely in the designated helicopter area. They both said, "Thank you," and quickly left the area.
Lucas and Miller walked into one of the larger tents, where they were greeted by several other soldiers.
"Sir, the reconnaissance mission in Hamburg failed completely. One of our battalions, consisting of 40 men, returned a few hours ago with only 10 men remaining."
"Sorry to interrupt, but the same situation occurred in Dresden. Two battalions vanished instantly."
Hearing this, Lucas clenched his fists tightly and looked at Miller.
"Withdraw all troops back to Leipzig; I sense something is wrong."
"Lucas, if we withdraw personnel from all the reconnaissance posts, that will also result in a bad outcome. But it's better than a worse outcome."
Miller patted Lucas on the shoulder and ran out of the tent, informing every commander to withdraw their members and hold their ground in Leipzig.
"Haha... He seems more suited to be a commander than I am," Lucas said with a small laugh.
"Sir, a special report from the city of Jena just arrived a few seconds ago. The Battalion Commander said they couldn't return, but before he finished speaking through the Enigma Code, his connection suddenly cut off."
"I'll go there immediately with Miller. Prepare 10 fit personnel for the helicopter field and give them parachutes, because we'll be performing a HALO jump."
"Yes, Commander!"
Lucas exited the tent and hurried to his own tent, took a syringe, and poured the liquid into it. He then injected it into his own body.
"I'm already quite tired, but I want to know what's happening there. This injection will only keep me fit for the next hour."
He put away the syringe, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and wet it with water. Then he cleaned his rapier sword. After that, he placed the handkerchief beside the bed.
Lucas exited the tent and immediately headed to the helicopter landing pad.
"We've been waiting for you." It turned out to be Miller, accompanied by ten other personnel who were already fully dressed.
However, as usual before departure, Lucas delivered a message that could boost the morale of the troops.
"We are the soldiers of a generation that may never be recognised or even remembered in the future. Because we have essentially discarded the very notion of what a soldier is, we use our own bodies as weapons and hone them to be more formidable than any machine! Therefore, for the umpteenth time, let us carry out and conquer what should rightfully be ours!"
Lucas drew his rapier sword and raised it into the air, followed by 10 personnel and Miller, all shouting with enthusiasm.
"Let's do this, HALO jump."
They all boarded a special helicopter for the parachute mission. This helicopter was also faster than the usual ones. It could fly up to 55,000 feet above ground level, whereas the most advanced helicopters of the time could only reach a maximum of 42,500 feet.
After 20 minutes of flying high, they arrived above the ruined and dilapidated city of Jena, much like other cities. The rear door of the helicopter opened wide, and 12 soldiers stood in line to jump quickly one after another.
"The mission begins!"
Lucas was the first to jump, followed by Miller and the other 10 soldiers. They performed a HALO jump, a technique typically used for infiltration without being detected by the enemy.
A few minutes later, they deployed their parachutes at the predetermined low altitude. After successfully landing, Lucas signalled with his hand code and ordered all personnel to release their rapier swords.
Lucas, Miller, and the 10 personnel moved silently and stealthily, their footsteps barely audible. They moved swiftly, like ninjas.
Suddenly, they heard a deafening explosion, shaking the ground beneath them and causing the crumbling stones of the old building to fall.
Lucas signalled for them to stay calm and move a little faster. After walking silently for several hundred metres, they were all shocked by what they saw.
The Merger Scout Troops in Jena City had formed a circle and were maintaining their formation, completely surrounded by the strange creatures known as Mergers.
Lucas realised something: the Merger they were fighting was unlike the usual Merger, as their bodies were truly like Pure Monsters. In the distance, Lucas saw a person sitting atop a pile of wrecked cars towering high. Lucas seemed to know that this was the one controlling the Merger they were facing.
And with that, he realised that what he was facing was a Ranked Merger. Lucas didn't know much about Ranked Mergers, but the point was that they still had human consciousness and were smarter, more cunning, and had their own unique abilities.
Lucas summoned the Floating Light Beam to Miller. This beam was like a flashbang but had a greater effect on the Mergers since it was specifically designed for them. Humans hit by it could still see clearly even though the area was brightly lit.
Lucas threw it directly above the battle, and it exploded, producing a dense light.
"Charge!"
Lucas, Miller, and their 10 soldiers charge forward to assist the Merger Scouts who are under siege. The battle erupts in the city of Jena.
Lucas breaks through the group of Artificial Mergers one by one and heads straight for the Ranked Merger who is watching.
"Miller! I'm handing over command to you! We're definitely winning, but keep the formation intact! I'll be back soon!"
"Alright, don't die!"
Lucas ran swiftly, grabbing another Floating Light Flare, but this time a larger one. The Ranked Merger stood up from its seat and prepared to duel with Lucas.
Lucas threw the flare, and bam, it exploded with blinding brightness. Its light even covered an area within a 250-metre radius. The Ranked Merger was also affected. Lucas jumped from one pile of cars to another and swiftly slashed the Merger's head. The slash felt light, as if nothing had been cut.
After the light slowly faded, Lucas realised there was no body of the Ranked Merger in front of him. He turned around. The Ranked Merger had moved from the top of the towering pile of cars to its base.
"You're fast and strong, unlike the usual prey. It seems you'll be the reason I'm full today."
"Why is a Ranked Merger like you here, when Germany should no longer be attractive to you Ranked Mergers?"
"Ranked Merger? Is that your name? Forget it, don't bring honor into this with me. Just call me Alfred; I've long since discarded my real name. He was a fairly strong person, so I just use his name."
"Alfred... Could he be Mr. Alfred Northweitch, the Battalion Commander at the German-Belgian border?" "Impossible... He's a pretty strong guy and might be one of the strongest in the entire army." Lucas thought to himself.
"And I'm also pretty full because I just finished them all off in two different cities a while ago."
"So that was your doing..."
Lucas tensed his leg muscles and prepared to charge at Alfred with his speed. But just as he was about to charge, the pile of cars Lucas was standing on suddenly flew high into the air, followed by Lucas.
The towering pile of cars was flung by a hand shaped like the asphalt roads of Jena City, along with several damaged cars already embedded within it.
"—What is that?!"
Alfred clapped his hands, and the hand embedded with the pile of cars immediately grabbed and held Lucas inside it, leaving only his upper body exposed.
That's when Lucas realised that Alfred could create anything he wanted and mutate it into any form he desired.
"You've lost. I thought you were strong enough... but only up to this point."
With no other choice, Lucas took the Emergency Impact Signal from his pocket and threw it at the base of the pile of cars.
"—Hufft?" Alfred was slightly startled by the object Lucas had just thrown.
"BAMM!" The powerful blast shattered Alfred's mutation, freeing Lucas to float in the air. He immediately landed on the rapidly floating pile of cars and charged at Alfred with lightning speed.
A buzzing sound was heard as Alfred's iron sword collided with his mutated stone hand.
"I've changed my mind again. You're strong enough this time."
Alfred sharpened the texture of the stone in his hand and clashed with Lucas. They slashed at each other evenly until Lucas finally lost his balance slightly. Alfred mutated the asphalt road into a long, sharp stone spike.
This forced Lucas to step back away from Alfred while avoiding his recent attack. After moving far enough away from Alfred and intending to charge again, Alfred immediately snapped his fingers, and instantly, a shape resembling a scarf-like fabric extending from the asphalt road would ambush Lucas.
Lucas swiftly cut through the mutations one by one while running toward Alfred. When they were close, Alfred snapped his fingers again. This time, the shape resembled a prison net rising from the asphalt road, ready to ambush Lucas.
Lucas slashed horizontally forward and leaped over the net. Alfred was impressed by his strength and speed. Alfred swung his stone-bladed hand toward Lucas as he advanced, but Lucas dodged it.
Lucas slashed and cut the stone hand, then kicked Alfred late in the stomach, sending him flying forcefully toward the pile of scattered cars.
Dust billowed from the violent collision, revealing Alfred sitting atop the warped layer of wrecked cars from the previous impact.
"Even that old man couldn't fully block my mutation and barely managed to strike me directly, but you're different. He may have a stunning attack impact, but you're far faster than him." He stood up and slowly walked toward Lucas.
Lucas readied his stance— "Iron Sword Technique—."
"He's gone, where— behind me?!"
With his astonishing speed, even Alfred was startled as Lucas unleashed his Sword Technique, moving swiftly toward the back of Alfred's body.
"Steel Lacing!"
With just a slight touch of the rapier's tip on his back, it immediately unleashed an extremely powerful force. Even Alfred's back was pierced and penetrated his chest due to the impact.
After striking Alfred directly, Lucas kicked sideways again, sending Alfred flying forward with great force. This time, he collided with the wall, penetrating the third layer of its depth.
"You have no right to judge his abilities or mention his name after claiming it as your own. You are merely a lowly creature consumed by despair!"
"Ah... So that's how it is. What if I show you something extraordinary?"
"Wait... this voice... it's Lord Alfred's voice... it can't be!"
From the thick cloud of dust, a shadow approached Lucas. The shadow and its voice seemed familiar to Lucas himself.
After emerging from the thick cloud of dust, Lucas saw a figure he recognised, wearing a General's uniform and carrying a large Zweihander sword strapped to his back.
"Sir... Alfred?"
"It took a lot of effort to take this form, but in return, I will become extremely powerful. This old man's body is nearly perfect; he has honed it well despite being close to retirement age."
"Damn it, you have no right to imitate Mr. Alfred!"
Lucas charged blindly and attacked Alfred without preparing himself first, moving quickly to get in front of Alfred.
However, Alfred just smiled and immediately hit him with an uppercut and a hard punch to the chest. This sent Lucas flying hard, causing the pile of cars there to be thrown around.
The impact was so loud that Miller and the other soldiers were momentarily startled.
"Lucas?"
The battle was nearly over, but Miller chose to approach the source of the recent sound.
Lucas was badly injured, coughing up blood from his mouth. He staggered to his feet and reached for his rapier, which lay beside him.
"See, this old man is impressive, isn't he?"
Their gazes met, indicating that the one-sided battle would continue.