A NEW SAVIOUR

The room was dark, completely devoid of light. The air was humid and moist as damp clothes littered the floor. It was tiny space, practically on the verge of collapse by the smallest force. Its leaky roof creaking repeatedly as it struggles against the elements. Then a bright flash of lightning followed by a thunderous boom illuminated the space. A small bed lay on the floor and on it a woman covered in an old blanket. She was wide awake unable to sleep due to the aggravation of the already foul stench by the rain.

"Fxck, how did I end up like this?"

Years before the second great war there was a rising star who swept through the ranks of Olympic runners. Barely 19yrs of age, a young Sasha Myers was to talk of the athletic world; with her superior physique and limitless determination she would have eventually become the worlds' fastest runner.

But as society collapsed so did any interest in the world of sports as a whole. While that may not have been a permanent change, the event still devastated her career in one way or the other. She was unlucky enough to encounter a demonic beast.

Short and hunched over, its body was covered in a pitch black, armor like shell. Its head a cross between a bat and a baboon, and its wings folded up behind it. It was feeding on the flesh of a mother and her child, smearing their blood all over its face when she encountered it.

Upon noticing a new presence it stood up, looking for the source of this disturbance in the streets filled with human carcasses. Sasha was only a few meters away, her hand on her face trying to stop herself from hyperventilating as she stood by a wall in an alley. Her blood pumped and adrenaline overtook her as the creature got too close, its snout following her scent.

She ran, she ran beyond her limits and beyond her abilities. The beast noticed this immediately, and followed suite, catching up to her with ease. Her heart beat faster and faster as time went on, her muscles tensed and strained as she struggled to breathe. The skies above were filled with horrors and beast beyond her imagination, and she knew that stopping was not an option.

Unbeknown to her however, the demon was much faster than she could fathom, only lacking behind her so it can have a fun chase. For hours she ran, her body legitimately overheating due to how much she is exerting herself.

Her body was at its limits, struggling to keep out of the grasp of the demon for miles on end. Then the beast halted its movement, as an angel fell from above, crashing into one of the buildings nearby.

Its primary mission was to slaughter their kind, but it didn't want to leave its plaything. Thus, it ignored the angel, knowing that Diablo won't care about what he does.

An arrow flew at lightning fast speeds, piercing the demon right in its arm. There stood the angel, one of his wings completely torn off, while the other was barely hanging. Cracks visible all throughout his body as he breathed heavily. He didn't hesitate to reload his bow, drawing the attention of the demon away from Sasha.

Sasha though, didn't know what was happening behind her, only hearing a distant scream to keep running, and so she did. A divine glow then enveloped he being, giving her the strength to continue on. She ran until her tendons cut, and her muscles tore beyond feasible repair, but she didn't stop.

After a day her body was fatigued beyond its limits, but she wouldn't stop until she was out of the warzone. Eventually the divine energy ran out, having carried her to the edge of the continent, before she finally encountered survivors.

The attacks were not confined to one location, it was a worldwide catastrophe with up to a billion casualties in total. The invasion wasn't a single day either, it dragged on for many days without rest, however the events seemed sped up from the perspective of the higher beings.

She was able to climb aboard the last ship heading for Europe, and from there on her life spiraled downwards into hell. She was homeless for a long time, barely managing to feed herself as the value of money was nonexistent during that period. She had to empty her accounts of all she was worth, just to afford this rundown shithole; only for the value of money to stabilize a few months later.

Deciding that I've wallowed in enough self-pity, I decided to go freshen up in the bathroom. With a groan, I held a metal pole laying by the side of the bed, using it I was able to get up from my spot. My legs shook ferociously as they had never truly healed since that day, impeding my ability to even walk properly.

On my way there I heard knocking on the door, and I knew all too well who it was. Then it was opened violently as two burly men charged in.

One was muscular and hairy with multiple tattoos on his dark skin. His teeth were incomplete, with metal replacements filling the gaps and his beard was long and unruly. Despite all this beastly body hair, his dome was as smooth as a baby's bottom. He wore a black jacket which was unbuttoned, and grey jeans.

The other was short, fat and white skinned with thick red hair, and a short red goatee. Wearing the same clothes as his partner, he bore a scowl, probably angry that he has to come here in the midst of this storm.

The two of them were drenched, already putting them in a bad mood.

"Oi, cripple!" The taller one yelled.

"Time to pay up your debt." The other added.

I knew it was a bad idea to get a loan from the local loan shark but what other choice did I have in this condition.

I then looked at them with displeasure, not knowing what to do.

"Look, just, just come back later okay. Its storming right now, and I'm sure you two don't want to be here anymore."

They looked blankly at me, as if unsurprised by my request.

"We've been letting you off the hook for the last few months, cause our boss is a sympathetic man. But he's had enough." The shorter man said as he got closer.

"We lent you fifty grand last year, because you came crawling at our doorstep."

"I didn't-" She was cut off.

"Now you need to pay up with interest, a whole seventy grand." Then a sly smirk emerged on their faces.

"Or would you like to pay in other ways?" They said with a chortle.

Hearing this I instinctively tightened my grip around my walking pole, and covered my slightly loose clothes.

"Bastards!" I shouted furiously.

Then without hesitation I lifted the pole, using it to swing at the red head, but my legs faltered, disrupting my balance. This caused me to miss, leaving myself completely exposed.

Then the taller retaliated with a strike right to my gut that left me winded, knocking me unconscious as my eyes went blank. A loud thud sounded as the body fell to the floor.

Following that the two decided to leave, intending to come the next day.

"Either you have our money tomorrow, or we drag you away, and put you up for sale in the market." The taller one said.

"Yeah, blonde chicks sell particularly well in Mason City." The other said

They both left afterwards.

However harsh the truth is, that doesn't make it any less true. The United Pantheon Coalition, one of the worlds leading empires, which is lead by the capital city Korea is also the most crime ridden portion of the globe. Particularly the City of Mason, which is in the pocket of a notorious crime syndicate, excelled in trade of illicit substances, banned technologies and even modern slaves. The only reason that this persisted despite the efforts of security agencies is due to the influence of those in power, simply put.

The sky thundered violently as the storm neared its end. And just before the skies cleared a strange distortion of space occurred in the heavens above. A golden gateway manifested above, just large enough for one being to pass through.

This puts into question the limitations of Heavens key. Whether or not it works via random transportation is still unknown.

*Sigh*

"I'm still wondering whether it was a good idea to send Zephyr to a random location. But Uriel said staying around his family will hinder his progress, and make him conceited in his current power."

The angel was in deep thought, but figured that the boy will be fine, so long as he didn't end up in the center of a blackhole.

He descended towards the Earth, masking as much divine energy as possible so as not to attract the attention of certain individuals. He landed before an old decrepit shelter. Whilst this area wasn't particularly lavish this specific home was certainly the worst of it.

He folded up his wings, cleared his throat and changed his voice to suite the scenario. In an instant he appeared within the building, noticing the sorry state of the girl before him.

"Huh, poor thing, your life has truly been an unfortunate existence." He said with a benevolent voice.

Divine energy seeped into his hair and skin, bringing forth his true youth which was sapped away by hard work. The sudden influx of power awoke her, and to a marvelous sight did she arise.

A celestial figure stood before her, his hair short and golden, with youth brimming from his essence. His divine wings in full display as a heavenly warmth emanates from his presence.

"What's happening?"

For a moment she couldn't believe what she was seeing, could this be real? Or is it just a figment of her imagination? She couldn't tell, however what she knew was real was the warmth ever present around her.

"Sasha Myers." He announced.

"I have been sent here on a mission from above; a mission which involves the creation of a new Saintess."

For a moment she was stunned, unable to convey her thoughts.

"I will restore you to your complete state, but I will also give you a great responsibility." He continued.

"You can heal me?" That prompted a response from her.

"I can, but I will give you the choice between the two options."

She could either remain as she is or undertake the mission administered by the angel. In the end she decided she had nothing to live for at this point, no friends, family or purpose. Something like this would finally give her existence meaning.

"I don't care how hard it is, please FIX me." She emphasized strongly on the fix.

With a wave of his arm divine energy travelled within her body, activating her cells and giving them the energy to heal quickly.

"I can move my legs; I CAN MOVE MY LEGS!!!" She proclaimed

She stood up from the floor, performing all sorts of stretches and kicks. Quickly reacquiring the ability to walk effortlessly, after all, walking isn't something humans can just forget.

"I see that you're enjoying them." Circuitel said, interrupting her celebration.

Realizing what came next, I prepared myself for whatever mission I had to complete in exchange.

The angel extended his left arm, and in it appeared a metallic item shaped like a heart. It was painted brown and had several circular openings which would serve as passageways in the machine.

"Ugh, what's that?"

The woman could only guess from its appearance, but could never be entirely sure.

"It's your new heart."

"...WHAT!" She yelled at the top of her voice, attracting the attention of passersby momentarily.

"This is my latest creation, The DeC." He said with a feeling of pride.

"That doesn't make things any easier to understand."

At that moment he sensed that the portal wasn't going to last much longer, he needed to head back now due to the heavy power consumption of dimensional travel. Otherwise, he'd be stuck here, looking for a way to recharge the key.

"I don't have time to explain, just take it, the system will explain itself."

With haste he tapped it and white streaks of energy passed through the intricate carvings present on the device. It then floated over to Sasha, passing through her body like it was thin air. It placed itself in the location of her heart before activating.

"Right, I forgot to mention that this will be incredibly painful." He said before leaving the room, unveiling his wings and flying off towards the heavens.

By this time the skies have long been cleared, and he needed to be quick with his movements so as not to be seen. News of an angel on Earth will draw unwanted attention to this area.

Sasha then got a sudden feeling of dread as if her body predicted the agony, it was about to experience.

"Right, I almost forgot to activate it. Start." The angel said as he vanished from the realm.

The machine solidified in place, ripping right through her beating heart.

She stopped moving for a moment as the sudden shock was too much to handle, passing out on the spot. Her body fell to the floor limp. Blood oozed everywhere, drenching her organs as all circulatory processes ceased. But as quickly as the process started did it end.

Out of the machine protruded hollow metallic tubes, connecting and reorganizing her arteries and veins in order, attaching them to itself. As soon as that was done her original heart was incinerated by the device, being used as the starting fuel fore the process to begin. A golden light shone within the machine as blood was being pumped through it.

{Initializing setup}

{Complete}

{Reconditioning and toning of body structure}

{1%}

{5%}

{10%}

{25%}

{40%}

{55%}

{75%}

{90%}

{100%}

{Complete}

An electric shock was sent throughout her nervous system, waking her up immediately.

*Huff*

*Huff*

*Huff*

She breathed heavily, panting for air as her body got accustomed to this sudden change. But for some reason she felt no pain after waking up.

{The Divine Energy Core System; DeCS welcomes the host}

A yellow screen popped up before her eyes, reading out a message. Slightly frightened she leaned towards it, finding that she was able to interact with the screen, her slightest touch producing ripples across the interface.

"What are you?" She asked, curious.

{Think of me as an A.I which will assist you in getting stronger, or in this case faster}

"What do you mean by faster?"

{I believe it would be better to just show you. It'd save quite a bit of time}

{Opening Character Profile}

{Name: Sasha Myers

Age: 35

Level: 0

Exp: 0/100

Rank: E-class

Speed Tier- Subsonic

Stats: 

Speed-1

Health-1

Dexterity-1

Intelligence-1

SP: 20

QI: 100

HP: 100%

Skills: None

Inventory/Items: None

Mission: None}

Taken aback by all the information on the screen I could hardly process the events unfolding.

{Would you like all important information to be transferred to your brain directly?}

"Ugh, yes?" She said, still unsure of what to do.

Information overflowed into her mind at an alarming rate, adding to her already stressed mind. Before anything else could be done she fell asleep on the spot.

{I suppose you can rest for now, Saintess of Earth}