CHAPTER 46: ERRATIC EVOLUTION

["On March Fifteenth, 2030, at roughly 10:47 P.M, the soldier known as "Seven" died."]

The chest of the lifeless soldier pumped, lifting as if the heart within it was trying to escape to the stars. Within the finest details of the very strands of creation that made up the human anatomy, the ever-adapting Origin desperately searched, studying each cell.

Across seas and jungles, from sharks to lions, gorillas to bears, every witnessed species by the compromised human was taken into account. Anything and everything, the Origin sought an answer, any adaptations that could save its host, that could save him–

[...Primate...] [...Carnivora...] [...Proboscidea...]

[...Chrondrichthyes...] [...Holometobela...]

A desperate unison, scrambled together in a panic—an emergence. From the convulsing body, a black substance secreted from the young man’s pores, expelling as it completely enveloped him.

["On March Fifteenth, 2030, at roughly 10:48 P.M, the soldier known as "Seven"[——]."]

An eruption of flesh, molded into a hardened, black shell; there was no resemblance left of the young man. What stood there was a goliath, shaped like a gorilla, faceless with a horned skull of a rhino.

A chaotic evolution with the sole purpose of survival; an imperfect unison of Earth’s species. With thick legs like tree trunks with padded feet to support the colossal build, the amalgamation of species looked towards the cube.

In the distance, a lonesome soldier tucked himself near a crumbled, brick building.

"Seven, is that you...?" Shin mumbled to himself, watching from a safe point.

Any observation was interrupted as in the sky above, the night was pierced. All at once, multiple objects descended, arriving around the enigmatic cube.

Three figures stood in craters of their own making, outfitted in thick, black steel. Each of the otherworldly guests resembled humanoid submarines within their specialized gear, equipped with a breathing apparatus that connected to their dome-like helmets through a tube.

In the view of the transformed man, information was fed to the sparse consciousness he was left with—

The leftmost figure spoke in a gruff voice, carrying a massive, bronze axe over his shoulder, "Contact made with Akashic Cube."

[Fulminare registered.]

[Classification: Supreme Superhuman, Stage Three | Threat Level: Disaster Magnitude 8.0]

[Fulminare registered.]

[Classification: Extreme Superhuman, Stage One | Threat Level: Disaster Magnitude 8.2]

On the right, the other of the heavily-armored aliens added, "Levels of Hollow Radiation are spiked in the area. Looks like it already took out Levios. A damn shame."

[Fulminare registered.]

[Classification: Godlike Superhuman, Stage Two | Threat Level: Disaster Magnitude 8.5]

The centermost Fulminare stood between the cube and the savage remnants of "Seven."

"This one isn’t a registered species of the Legion. It must be mutated from the Egg," the Fulminare spoke with a calm, soft tone from within the thick armor. "Proceed with eradication."

As the leftmost of the fully-clad guests from afar moved his axe, the amalgamation was already on the move.

"Hroo?--" The axe-wielding Fulminare released in surprise.

The gargantuan fist slammed against the much smaller alien’s body, blowing the figure back with force that rippled through the soot-caked stretch. It was nothing but bestial instinct; the unholy creation moved as if on a constant rampage, beating the ground with its fists, chasing after the first Fulminare it made contact with.

The titan born of unstable evolution slammed its sable fists down as if beating a drum, slamming the axe-wielding Fulminare against the ground, bouncing the figure up-and-down like a ball.

"A little–help here!" The otherworldly figure gasped for breath in between each slam.

From behind the evolved goliath, one of the armored strangers slammed their gauntlet into the monstrosity’s back. The impact was born through a crackle of lightning, sending the amalgamation forward.

Enough force was in the blow to ripple through the erratic evolution’s body, though the black flesh fixed itself swiftly. It contorted its body, catching itself as all of the kinetic energy pumped through its flesh like a battery.

Against the three armored members of the species that stood at the apex of the cosmos, the evolved goliath dug its clubbed feet into the ground, beating its fists into the gravel. Each impact shook the land as if taken hold by earthquakes, terraforming it all as chunks of the surface rose and split. The Fulminare rushed him down with speed unbecoming of their heavily-equipped forms, yet the bestial remnants of Seven did not rely on sight–

In the view of the thoughtless savage, vibrations were all it sensed, like chimes in the darkest of nights. Within each fist, crushed chunks of asphalt and soil were crushed, used as projectiles by the goliath.

Each of the cannonballs of debris shot across the isolated sector, bringing the agile Fulminare to evade. Through skyscrapers, the giant balls pierced, collapsing the towers of the lost city.

"Ahhh-ha-ha!" The axe-wielding alien exhaled joyful laughter while leaping through the air.

With a single swing of the hulking weapon, the wind was compressed into a sharp gale, bisecting the row of buildings neighboring the mutated giant.

Amidst the chaos unfolding within the distorted zone, Shin ran as the ground quaked and split, ducking his head as stray debris came flying by. Even remaining camouflaged, it felt like fate had it out for him with the crossfire.

’I don’t know what the hell is going on, but if that’s really Seven–I don’t know if our odds just got better or worse,’ Shin thought, looking to the right in the near distance, watching the inhuman clash.

As he slid himself behind a risen chunk of asphalt for some semblance of protection, Shin caught his breath, gathering his thoughts even for a moment. Sweat dribbled at the scruff of his chin, quickly wiping it away. At the forefront of his mind, the young soldier recalled the appearance of the imposing armor worn by the unearthly strangers.

’For sure, those guys were in those files that Seven brought back...Yeah, no doubt,’ Shin remembered.

["Godknights: the elite of the Fulminare, each born from a culling of a hundred of their kin, being the sole survivors to give way only to the best of the best. Trained from birth, the Godknights operate only on the most vital missions, sent to planets when a threat becomes intergalactic."]

As the world around him rumbled, Shin breathed, feeling the pebbles beneath his hands vibrating with each tremor. It was moments like these he was thankful for his training, able to simply exhale and slow down the drumming of his anxious heart, to a calm lull.

"Keep it steady, Shin. Think and move, move and think," he told himself.

All the while, the zone quaked, being torn by the seams as debris flew in all directions as if being trampled by natural disasters.

–

Within a vague center where memories and dreams collided, the young man drifted aimlessly. He could tell he wasn’t quite conscious, though at the same time, he didn’t fight it.

["I’m...alive? I guess that’s the only explanation."]

Seven tiredly ran the thoughts through his mind, seated at an old, marble table while rubbing his head. Everything besides the table was quite obscured, only like scribbling in a children’s book. Across the table, an old man sat–faceless, but vaguely familiar.

"You look like you just woke up, Seven. You’ve got a bad habit of staying up through the night, yeah?" The aged figure asked casually, picking at a plate with a scribbled fork.

He scrunched his nose in an attempt to search his brain for any recollection of the previous night, but failed.

"What’s wrong, kid? It looks like you’ve got a headache. Water will help with that, and some sleep."

"I don’t want to sleep," he rejected.

"Sure about that, kid? ’Cause right now, you’re looking awfully sleepy to me."

He shook his head, "What’re you talking about?—"

Just as he responded, he got a clear look at the old man at the table, though in the very same moment, his eyes shot open.

"—"

The wind howled by his ears, sitting in the middle of a hollow valley of the ruined city. Buildings were left collapsed, either laid in split pieces or fallen to dust.

His ears rang, finding himself fighting for each breath as if having just run a marathon atop Mount Everest. It felt like his entire body was on fire, each muscle completely fatigued and worn out.

A glance down brought the sight of the small robot on his lap, only then did its screen flicker on as he nudged his finger against it. He was sat in a puddle of a black, tar-like substance, absorbing no recollection from any thoughts.

"Hey, Izo...What happened? Are you good?" Seven asked hoarsely.

"Un-unable...to r-read data...Repair n-needed..." The little bot stuttered, issuing a few beeps as the screen was nothing more than static.

The confused man picked himself up, sliding the malfunctioning assistant onto his shoulder as he looked around. What he remembered most of all was the colossal cube–no, it simply couldn’t leave his mind, like an image burned into a monitor, imprinted on his mind.

He looked around the irreparable zone, finding nothing but craters and debris, but no such sight of the ominous object.

’It’s gone,’ he realized.