Overtime

At this point most of the battles are over, those who escaped, watched from the relief, waiting for the final result...

Those who gathered after fighting, simply watched as their countenance darkened. They said nothing, but their thoughts are obvious.

From the crowd, two children formed a rather special sense of hope.

And sipping a cup of tea, Alice smiled. Putting the cup down on the table, she turned her gaze to the crumbling field "Finishing off flies is a normal thing. Now, let's check if you are worthy to inherit the arts of my clan...".

As steadily as possible, the giant observed still and silently.

This left Jack uncomfortable, he doesn't seem to be eager to attack. Still, his fixation is quite clear.

It seems that the first to move will have a disadvantage.... Or at least he would think so under another situation.

｢On paper, there's no way to get through all his armor to the core without Brendan's help｣.

He sighed before lunging at the giant, sword in his left hand and pistol in his right.

Before he even got there, he had emptied the entire charger into different points of the giant.

However, it would not be so easy, the bullets could do little. Immediately, the holes generated by the bullets, were filled with the various debris around them.

In response to the initial aggression, the giant directed his fist towards where Jack is supposed to pass, to get to him.

With Jack's perception, it was not even complicated to conclude what would be the precise moment to jump, creating a bridge to the giant's head.

He reached the giant's shoulder in an instant, leaning on it, he swung his photon sword. A temperature-based cut contains no force behind it, so he simply lowered the width of the sword.

To send the head flying, he kicked the peculiar figure with all his might.

The giant was not able to retrieve its head in time. Which resulted in this one trying to rebuild it.

From that, Jack concluded the location of the core in the chest.

Cut after cut, he advanced in the direction of the center of the chest, however. Coupled with the clear turbulence caused by the protesting movements, there was the anticipated problem of being unable to get through the internal materials.

A losing battle from the start, the inner layers simply did not yield, while the outer layers gave the worst of the opposition, tangling again after cutting them apart.

Even the tiniest drop of concentration became helpful, retaining a disadvantageous position through relentless siege.

So absorbed did he find himself that Brendan's very presence represented no change in his alignment.

It was the rumble of the gun that drove him out of his lucid dream and he sought to shout to Brendan "Shoot! Aim for the core!".

Brendan's face showed clear hesitation, the continued clearing of the outer layers implying his presence. So he would clearly be affected.

No matter how super one proclaims, one is not infinite, Jack's pace began to wane as his stamina crumbles and in the face of this, the opposing force increases.

Faced with a weakened enemy, the prudent thing to do is to proceed with everything you can muster.

And so, closing his eyes, practically praying for a good ending, Brendan pulled the trigger.

The next thing was an impact, the explosion completely vaporizing the inner layers, fragmenting the core.

For his part Jack clutched at the head that again wanted to return to his body.

He was clearly shaken and propelled in the opposite direction of the explosion. Having the head as his shield.

As soon as the core departed this world, the giant's body crumbled into rubble, no exception for the head, which resulted in scrap metal on Jack's body.

Jack's only response was a heavy sigh.

Unable to remove the debris, he rested while waiting for help.

Kelly assisted Zeke as they both approached Jack.

Jack looked at Zeke's leg "..... Best not to waste any time, rebuilding it with this city's technology.... It'll probably take a day."

"It was to be expected" He replied after a dry laugh.

Kelly removed the rubble from on top of jack.

Jack stood up weakly, shook the dirt on his clothes, before tossing the trench coat to the ground "It's really no good for combat.... Guess I'll stick with the classic look" he motioned to Brendan and Ledia before starting to move forward.

Amidst the glare of battle, they ignored what was now the dominant sight.

Death, despair and fear.

Corpses of allies and enemies macabrely decorate the vermilion-colored ground, victims weep for the lost and troubled souls tremble, unable to reach out, praying to be invisible to enemy eyes.

Despite the crowd, no one celebrated this victory.

"... It's been a long time since I was on the front lines, I had forgotten the hopelessness that clouds those who fled death. Regardless of the outcome" Jack commented as he surveyed the state of the streets.

"For now" Zeke sighed "It's a temporary state, eventually they'll be grateful to still be alive."

The pair of twins who held out hope from the beginning found themselves facing a corpse.

The brother watched upright, not saying a word. Absence was reflected in his eyes.

The sister sobbed over the corpse.

Jack hardly paid any attention to them, they were but a detail in the picture.

Until, the older brother reached over and tugged Jack's shirt weakly.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, without turning around.

"...".

At the silence, Jack started forward.

The boy's hand clung to Jack's shirt, as he moves his mouth, unable to form any words.

"Listen kid, I-" Then he heard that faint voice echo in his ears.

"I... I want to join the children's reserve" Said the boy hesitantly. Practically inaudible but that, Jack heard clearly.

Jack paused again and after a few seconds asked "Do you know what that means?".

"Yes..."

Jack finally turned around to look at the boy, he sighed to himself "If you understand the consequences.... Why do you want to do it?" he narrowed his eyes.

"For the same reason everyone else does...The one you watched is our father, our mother died years ago.... You should know what happens in colonies like these to homeless orphans."

Jack motioned to the group for no one to interfere.

"You sound too calm about it, especially for your age."

"... You think so? I... I don't feel good at all."

"You know what I mean."

The boy wiped his eyes with his wrists ".... Yeah... If I were immersed in the same state as her, do you think we'd be talking? Would we have any future?".

Jack patted the boy on the head "You're right. Go get your sister."

As he broke away from the group, Jack reflexively watched he appeal to his sister.

｢This would be the right time for me to slowly walk away.... However｣He closed his eyes, remembering what he endured in his early enlisted years.

On the other side, went deeper, to memories of the distant past. On a forgotten and dry planet every resource is important, the useless simply rot in disgrace. Even he came to see normal children feeding on crumbs on the ground....

He gnashed his teeth at the thought of the culprit of such a decline.... In just a few years paradise turned into hell.

With that in mind, he waited patiently.

Reluctant to give him that fate, having seen firsthand what would await him, he simply resigned himself.

When they both arrived, the sister only showed herself to be beside him.

The rest of the trip was uncomfortable, to say the least.

Sweeping silence, the dull tone of their eyes and heavy footsteps were the mood of the rear.

Jack sighed inwardly again. Even after so many years, he found it hard to see the face of a child who had lost all hope.

Again, they were greeted with no enthusiasm, not surprising, though disappointing.

As they opened the lonely door, the contrast was terrible.

Inside, a countless number of people spread out in plain sight.

Inside the free space, the group is transported to the care station where they observe Alice attending a girl.

The girl is dismissed from the station before Alice spoke to them.

"In such a short time you had offspring? And who is the lucky one? Or maybe unlucky...".

"Still in a good mood after all this, I see," Jack motioned with his face to the space outside the station as he spoke.

Alice twisted her lips slightly "No need to be so cold. If you wanted to get to the point, you could have simply given me the report."

Jack sighed before pulling an envelope from inside the pocket on his shirt.

Alice received the envelope, immediately opening it.

She frowned before lifting her face up to look directly at Jack "How did you even have time to write this?".

"One has it's ways."

"..." Alice averted her gaze to Kelly "Take your friend to the medical wing" She then looked at Brendan and Ledia "Take the kids to the recreation center."

With some discomfort, Brendan and Ledia headed for the door after Kelly had left the station.

Jack stopped them at the last moment "Wait.... Give me the disintegrator."

Brendan raised an eyebrow in confusion but, relinquished the weapon to Jack "Good luck" He said before walking away.

The sound of the door closing was all they left behind.

Now that the inside was sealed and invisible to the outside, Jack raised his voice.

"And now?"

Alice sighed before plopping down in the seat "We underestimated the enemy thinking their only forces were terrestrial."

"Ah, overtime. And of the worst kind" Jack said rubbing his forehead.

"I'd prefer you go as fast as possible. They're sweeping north."

"Then I'm leaving" Jack left the station and not long after the mayor's office.

The truth was that from this distance he could see the panorama extremely well.....

Enormous birds press down on the earth from the heights. Like bullets they pierce the sky.... And the houses.

Jack froze in that very spot. His hands moved restlessly but his body did not respond.

The figure of those birds is identical to that of crows.

However, their behavior is absolutely different, they are simply killing machines.

Jack tried to calm himself by controlling his breathing. Although his soul was shaking in dread, the resistance he showed made him regain his composure.

And then, he resumed the path to the next stage.