While they are getting escorted by the military to Lightless Mash, the place is barren with nothing more than rocks and cracked lands.
There are a couple of huge rocks that stand like mountains and also abandoned buildings amidst the nothingness of the barren land.
Rex looks to his surrounding before he sighs,
The barren land was once a metropolitan city that filled with people,
All of them are minding their own lives as they struggle in society, the mental health of these people is rock bottom but turns out they should be grateful for their condition.
The first time when the Supernatural emerges, this barren land was where the nightmare start.
Supernatural that measure from all sizes emerge from the ground, sea, and even some fall from the sky like a meteor.
At first, the Supernatural was shocked when they saw so many humans around them.
Some even started to run away from the places when they saw humans,
But then one Supernatural unconsciously smack a human and killed that human instantly, and right after that the Supernatural turns into fierce animals.
They instantly turns the city into a brutal brawl, chaos engulfed the city.
Citizens from young to old can be seen running around the places, they are running for their lives as the Supernatural went berserk.
The Supernatural pent-up anger that is held within them burst upon seeing humans.
Nothing was left, not even a single soul was left after the military takes back the city after a grand fight against these Supernatural.
And from there, all went downhill.
‘I can’t believe the war still hangs around for years’, Rex thought with a sigh.
Although he’s not from this particular city, it is the first news that got broadcasted on live television that sent the world into chaos.
Until finally, half of the world got taken from humanity.
The journey to the Lightless Mash is a long one, and it will take another day time to arrive at the place if there are no mishaps.
They already went past the border and embark inside the Supernatural Territory.
Rex and Liliya become alert right after they enter the territory.
This place is not a safe zone anymore but rather an enemy zone, so they need to keep their guards up because anything can attack them now.
The military vehicle went past the right side of a scouting post slowly,
Some Supernatural can be seen from afar, but the vehicle thankfully is designed to make as little noise as possible.
Two military men are inside the vehicle with Rex and Liliya.
It is another day in the war for them, and the invisible scar they got from the fighting against Supernatural can be seen through their eyes.
“Thank you”, Rex said shocking the military man beside him.
The military man looks at Rex before he asks, “I’m sorry?”
“Thank you for fighting against Supernatural for us”, Rex replied clearly.
From the look of the military man in front of Rex, he’s probably around 28 or early 30s.
But even though he looks hardened from the outside because of the war, Rex can feel the overwhelming frustration inside him that wanting to burst.
Just after hearing what Rex said, the military man unconsciously shed a tear.
It comes out as a surprise because it’s not under his control, but rather his body unable to hold onto the tear that he save for so long.
Realizing that he’s crying, he turns his head away and wipes his tear.
Liliya from the side also shows a sympathetic look because she knows that the military man in front of Rex doesn’t have a choice, he might even be forced to join the military during the desperate times.
The drive went silent again as the driver look at Rex from the rearview mirror.
He knit his eyes before he asks, “Are you also from the military?”
“Yes, my name is Rex Silverstar from the Ghoul Den mission in Dwight City”, Rex answered calmly, his past is not something that he would keep a secret.
Hearing this, the driver widened his eyes in surprise.
“I’m…I’m from the 6th Infantry Battalion under General Shin that was sent to reinforce the Great War of Dwight City”, he said with a shocked look.
He then suddenly shouted, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE SIR!!”, he slightly bows his head.
“No need to thank me, I’m just doing my duty”, Rex said with a smile.
The driver turns out to be one of the infantry in Dwight City,
Rex’s last mission during his time in the military is to destroy a Ghoul Den that contributes greatly to the Dwight City war, and he manages to blow them to pieces.
This was the Medal of Honor he got came from,
His and his comrade’s deeds greatly reduce the casualties in the war where normal humans dominate humanity’s forces, and the driver is one of the people Rex saved.
“No sir! On behalf of the 6th Infantry Battalion, I want to say thank you. My comrades will definitely do the same upon meeting you”, he said with a determined expression.
The reason he’s still breathing today and escorting Scavengers is because of Rex.
In his heart, Rex will forever be someone he would look up to.
Rex smiles genuinely and accepts the thanks from the driver, there’s no reason for him to decline such a genuine thanks from someone he saved.
But then,
“WATCH OUT!!”, Rex shouted.
SCREECH!
The military vehicle’s tire makes a screeching sound before it flipped to the side.
BOOM!!
Rex suddenly saw a big hulking figure charging at them from the side, he can’t see the creature clearly but it is certainly big.
The creature hit the vehicle directly and flip it to the side.
“Arghh! Are you okay?”, Rex asks the driver and the military man in front of him.
Although the hit was hard, an Awakened like him and a gifted like Liliya will certainly survive the crash but not the two normal military men.
*COUGH* *COUGH*
The driver coughed out blood as his ribs are broken,
He got hit by the metallic door that caved in after getting hit by the creature, his stomach is stabbed by a sharp metal created from the collision.
The military man on the other hand is okay, he only hit his head because of the impact.
CLANG!!
Rex punched the door of the military vehicle, it flung away easily because of his punch before he, Liliya, and the military man got out.
After getting out, “Check on the driver! Keep him alive!”, Rex said.
Hearing this, the military man nodded his head but got stunned when he saw the creature in front of him that is hulking.
Rex and Liliya look to the side and find a Minotaur standing in front of them,
“Humans! Do you think you can pass to our territory that easily?, the Minotaur said harshly, its bulging muscle and fierce eyes sent shivers to the military man.
But that doesn’t apply to Rex at all,
Rex already scans the Minotaur as his face darkened, “Liliya can I ask you to protect both of them?”, Rex said slowly.
Hearing this, Liliya nodded her head.
She never see Rex’s expression this mad before, she even felt threatened by Rex’s aura, ‘Isn’t he just a rank four before? How can I feel threatened?’, she thought.
Blitz…
Black Lightning started to appear sizzling on Rex’s body,
“An Awakened huh? Do you think you scare me with that little lightning of yours?!”, the Minotaur mock, he doesn’t felt concerned at all.
BOOM!
Rex’s Black Lightning suddenly turns fierce, the ground cracked under the black lightning’s pressure.
The little spark of Black Lightning turns into a fierce Black Lightning that emits horrifyingly dense mana, the rune on Rex’s shoulder glow in a dark light.
The sudden change caught the Minotaur off guard, “Wait!”, he shouted in shock.
“Flash”
BLITZ!
In the blink of an eye, Rex disappeared and appeared in front of the Minotaur’s face.
The Minotaur widened his eyes in surprise, his body can’t react to how fast Rex’s movement that even his eyes can’t see.
Rex’s hand already grab the Minotaur’s head, he then whispers, “You should be”
BOOM!!
The ground cracked creating a web-like crack as Rex slam the Minotaur on the ground, it was a powerful slam that even the internal organs of the Minotaur shook heavily.
“HUAKH!!”, the Minotaur spat a mouthful of blood.
Its skull already got cracked by Rex’s might, and its head got planted on the ground roughly.
Rex mount on top of the Minotaur with a fierce gaze, he positioned himself before he started pounding the Minotaur crazily.
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
The Minotaur can’t do anything under Rex’s pounding, he’s clearly outmatched with Rex.
Every punch Rex landed on the Minotaur’s face is like a mountain hitting at the Minotaur repeatedly, the sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated to the surrounding.
Under such pounding, it didn’t take long before the system notification rings.
<Killed a Peak Rank Four Minotaur, Obtained 100,000 Exp>
After killing the Minotaur, Rex retracts his bloodied hand from the Minotaur’s face that is already hard to look at by now.
Not a glimpse of the Minotaur’s normal look can be seen.
Blood decorates him, Bone can be seen through his ripped flesh, and even his teeth and horns broke with little to nothing left.
Anger can be seen through Rex’s eyes, even Rex didn’t know why he’s this angry.
He then walks towards the military vehicle and finds that the military man already standing beside the vehicle door,
The military man then shakes his head towards Rex making Rex’s expression grim.
Rex approached the military vehicle and peek into the driver’s seat, there he found the driver is clinging to the rope of life because of the sharp metallic object that pierced through him.
His face is pale and his pain can be seen through his face.
The driver looked at Rex who is looking at him with immense guilt,
If Rex hadn’t been caught off guard stay alert, the driver may just be still fine because he can sense the Minotaur coming towards them.
But the conversation they had before distract him,
“It’s okay, no need to blame yourself for this”, the driver said weakly.
Rex can only hear his last words as he stood by the car window, if he opens the car door the sharp metallic object will be pulled out of the driver’s body and will instantly kill him.
The driver then look up to the sky with a smile,
He remembers the days he spent in the war and saw many of his comrades die before him, and he always curse himself for that.
Many good people died in vain while he was still alive until now, it’s just not fair.
“The day I survived the Dwight City war, I always thanked you in my heart and also grateful that I’m still alive”, the driver said with a slight chuckle.
He then continues, “Although I survived, many of my comrades don’t. From then on, I always thought the life I have left since the Dwight City war is just a bonus”
“I bid my family goodbye one last time and dedicated myself to the military, dreaming that one day humanity will return to what it used to be. Peaceful, Beautiful, and… *Cough* *Cough*, the driver coughed painfully.
Rex already bought an elixir from the shop wanting to help but the driver raised his hand and declines,
The driver can feel his time is near, “Do you think…my dream will come true?”
“Yes, I’m certain it will come true!”, Rex said while holding the driver’s hand, he felt a connection with the driver but his time is already up just after Rex met him.
And to his surprise, the driver had already breathed his last breath.
Rex shook his hand a couple of times before his eyes burn with determination, “I know your dream will come true, no, it has to”
After ten minutes or so,
They resume their journey leaving the grave of the driver there, Rex and the others personally dig his grave to at least put his corpse in peace.
Beside the grave, there’s a spear planted on the ground with the Minotaur’s head on the tip.
It is a foolish move by Rex to leave behind a corpse of a Supernatural that will expose him later, but he wanted the Supernatural to come for him.
He wants them to know, Destruction of the Supernatural is here.