15 - Determination

[2023]

“Sir Otto, are you sure?”

“I am positive.” Otto replied to Klaus’ question. “Take me to him. I need to take a look at him myself.”

“It has showcased rabid behavior in the post.” Hermann said. “Please don’t forget the environment it was raised in.”

“It’s not an ‘it’, it is a ‘he’, Hermann.” Otto corrected him. The three of them descended the old flight of stairs, ending up on the lower basement of the barracks. They opened the doors, and there he was. A boy with blondish hair and pretty blue eyes.

He looked alien, he looked as if someone tried to craft a human with perfect knowledge about their appearance but no idea of their inner worlds. He stared at the three men.

“His body was here for the longest time. He suffered a pretty bad amnesia-like episode, and was asleep for God knows how long.” Klaus explained. “He was part of an experimental unit before this.”

“Tell me more about it.” Otto said, slowly approaching the child.

“It was a special initiative.” Klaus continued. “They’d take in abandoned children at a very young age and raise them to be perfect soldiers. They’d end up as weapons devoid of any emotion, and with only one simple instruction - follow orders.”

“Then why isn’t he there with the other soldiers?” Hermann asked.

“From what I’ve been told, he disobeyed orders. He killed a few of his comrades and was thrown here to rot.” Klaus said. “He reawakened once the Global Soul Event took place, and somehow his body returned to perfect condition.”

“What is your name?” Otto asked the boy. The boy looked at him, confused.

“I...don’t know.”

“How are you alive?”

“I don’t know.”

Otto sighed. He reached into his uniform’s pocket and grabbed a small piece of chocolate, handing it to the boy. The boy inspected it, before eventually taking a bite. And he took another one. And one more after that. He munched the snack down as if his life depended on it.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“I don’t remember.” The boy replied. “Hey, do you have more?”

“Sir Otto, please be careful.” Klaus said. “Keep in mind that this boy likely has a soul expression that we are not aware of.”

“Even if he does, he does not look at us with intent to harm us.” Otto said. He grabbed another piece of chocolate, watching the boy eat it almost instantly.

“Even then, he hasn’t eaten for who knows how long. Somehow, he survived on his own.” Hermann said. “How is that even possible?!”

“Perhaps his power has passively kept him alive.” Klaus noted. “I can only think of one power.”

“Soul determination.” Otto said, handing the kid another piece. “The phenomena which allows souls and their vessels to persist for longer in times of peril.”

“Sir Otto, soul determination cannot perform a miracle like this. It has a limit.” Klaus mentioned.

Otto gently grabbed the boy’s hand and took out a small pocket knife from his uniform. He lightly scratched his palm, and while the boy recoiled in pain, Klaus and Hermann were both struck by shock. The wound was patched up almost instantly, and it seemed that skin became a little tougher too.

“It appears we have our answer.” Otto said. “This boy has no upper limit to his soul determination. That is likely what his soul expression is. That is what has kept him alive for so long despite his body literally dying from malnutrition.”

“That means...Sir Otto, you must replicate that power instantly.” Hermann said. “It is the type of power that can elevate-”

“Look at me, Hermann. Do I look like I hold hatred towards this boy?” Otto said. He had a faint smile on his face, feeding the boy chocolate as if he was feeding a pet. “I shall give him a name instead.”

“Your name will be Erwin.” Otto said, patting the boy on his head. The boy felt confused at the sign of affection, he quietly nodded and watched in amazement. “I am sure you will aid me when the time comes.”

...

“Erwin, did you understand everything that I told you?” Otto asked. The two were in Otto’s office, Erwin had a proper uniform on.

“Yes, Sir Otto.” Erwin replied. “Can I get more ice cream? Or any sweets?”

“I will get you some once we are finished with this.” Otto said.

“For some reason...”

“I’ve taken a liking to the boy.”

“I felt the need to protect and raise him as if he were my own son.”

“Erwin, you still haven’t told me one thing.” Otto said. “Why were you thrown out of the military program?”

“I don’t know.” Erwin shrugged.

“Please tell me the truth.” Otto said. “It could stay between us. And no one from the military operation would know about it and nothing will happen.”

“Really?” Erwin said, amazed. He acted simple and childish, despite being in his late teens.

“Yes.”

“Well, this one time, when we were training, I saw a butterfly.” Erwin started telling. “It looked so pretty. I ran off and chased it, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t catch it. It was so pretty...so colorful. And it was fast too. And later, a group of soldiers found me, and they killed the butterfly to mock me. So I killed them.”

“Is that so?” Otto felt a little concerned.

“His amnesia has hit him pretty hard...if it even is possible to call it that.”

“He was raised and treated like a weapon.”

“Because the butterfly was my friend.” Erwin said. “I didn’t know what a friend was, I only heard about it a while before everything happened. So I thought the butterfly was my friend, and it wanted to play with me.”

“In that case, why didn’t you tell me about that initially?” Otto asked.

“Because bad weapons get discarded.” Erwin said. Those words made Otto a little nauseous.

“You’re not a weapon, Erwin.” Otto said, slowly approaching and embracing the boy. The boy was confused, he tried to awkwardly embrace Otto back.

“Despite him being a deployable calamity, I chose to reject that nature of his.”

“But that’s what everyone told me.” Erwin said.

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“Those are bad people. You are not a weapon.” Otto comforted him. “You are a person, you have a name, a story, things you like and don’t like. Weapons don’t have that.”

“So you won’t discard me?” Erwin asked, his eyes sparkling a little.

“No, I will not.”

“For some reason, we had formed this bond. I wanted to take care of him.”

“Ever since that moment he had become my right hand. His loyalty never wavered, and his combat proficiency was a great asset too.”

“He really liked sweets. He liked watching horror movies. He liked hugs and ice cream. He didn’t like pickled vegetables. He liked catching butterflies and releasing them back into the wild.”

“I gave him my last name, and he was like a son to me.”

...

“But I knew about his power.”

“He didn’t really imagine its scope, but I knew about it.”

“I knew that the reason I picked him up initially was because he was a weapon. Not just a weapon, but a superweapon, a weapon of mass destruction. A potentially unstoppable disaster if released into a warzone.”

“I denied this possibility. I never wanted things to come to this. I knew that what would happen to him could be irreversible. He didn’t know about it, and even if he did, he’d charge into battle regardless.”

“He told me that I was the one who taught him what life is. He was happy.”

Otto was still in the conference room. He hadn’t slept at all, monitoring the war all the time. All of his allies had fallen, and his last ally, the boy closest to his heart, was now a monster.

“He is the last sacrifice.”

He cried. He held his sword, preparing to leave, and he cried.

“Erwin...”

“My boy...”

Sakuto’s head was empty while traversing the area with Oskar. They were with Rin, and were in the process of being ambushed by a group of heavily-armed soldiers. But he didn’t do much at all.

His fingers kept twitching, as if replicating the motion Ryan did before taking his own life.

“I can’t have that happen to me again.”

“I can’t...let anyone get close to me. I can’t be close to anyone.”

“I-”

“What the hell was that?!” Sakuto exclaimed. A moment later, Oskar and Rin felt it too.

“Ichigo used his divine acclamation, but this...” Oskar said. “This has to be something else... holy shit, it felt like a nuclear bomb just went off...”

“Lieutenant Jian Fang is calling.” Rin said, holding onto one of her injuries. “She’s requesting immediate reinforcements. We’re far away though.”

“Not too far.” Oskar said. “Sakuto, take care of the units together with Rin. I’ll investigate.”

“Got it...” Sakuto quietly replied. The person he was the most scared of seeing was Ichika.

“I can’t. If I stay with him, I’ll ruin him, won’t I?”

“I’m content with just...staying as is...and rotting away alone just like I deserve to.”

“Did you feel that?” Ichika exclaimed, reacting to both the earthquake and the presence.

“Yeah. I heard the request too.” Ausra said. “Come on, let’s go, fast.”

Another message played in their earpieces.

“Looks like we’re getting some heavy support too!” Ausra said, a bit excited.

“Sorry, Jian.” Zawadski said, laying Yuuka and Zervos down. He tried to keep his equipment steady amidst the light earthquake. “I have an exhausted soulful and a possible corpse on my hands. I can’t leave them alone.”

“Good luck.”

The massive release of soul prowess, surprisingly enough, didn’t pulverize the surroundings. Erwin, now completely a monster, had to catch its breath.

Jian climbed out of the rubble. She noticed that the beast was still standing, and that her comrade was nowhere to be found. She was in disbelief, and she slapped herself. It was one of those rare critical moments where she broke her cold composure.

“Why did I not shoot him away from the impact...”

She slapped herself again, and again.

“How...did I make such a mistake?!”

The beast noticed her, and she took aim in response. Enraged and gritting her teeth, she took aim in response.

“To hell with it!”

A powerful shot completely destroyed its head. The monster wobbled in place a bit, and the same process of regeneration and gigantification took place. Before she was about to aim a second shot, she felt a presence spark up again behind her.

“My wings saved me...” Ichigo said. “I should’ve been a goner...”

“Ichigo!” Jian exclaimed, shocked at her comrade's survival. The release of energy was almost as strong as some nuclear bombs, after all. “I’ve called for backup. Leave immediately.”

“Nah, I have a plan. This time, it’ll work.” Ichigo said. Despite his wounds, he was determined to move forwards.

The beast tried to crush the two, but they dodged to the side. Ichigo rose to the skies again.

“We destroyed its head, and it didn’t work. We destroyed its soul, it didn’t work.” Ichigo said. “We gotta destroy both at the same time.”

“And why do you think that’ll work?!” Jian questioned him.

“I don’t know. It’s our only possible option left.” Ichigo said. “Besides...if the soul can regenerate the head, and the head can regenerate the soul...if both are destroyed, he will not recognize the damage at all and he won’t regenerate it.”

“It’s not like we have any better options regardless...” Jian said. “We can try it. I apologize for not being able to react in time...”

“It’s fine.” Ichigo said. “Prepare for my signal, and destroy its head in one shot. We can do this.”

“Roger.”

“It’s...fine? Really?”

“I’m sorry...”

“I know I shouldn’t make mistakes, but...making one and being forgiven...”

Ichigo flew around the beast, as it mercilessly swung its arms around. It looked like an excited kid trying to catch a butterfly. It turned its monstrous gaze at Ichigo and clapped his hands, sending a powerful shockwave across the battlefield.

“Focus.”

“ ✦ Divine Ring of Exorcism! ✦ ”

The markings appeared once again, and Ichigo charged at the monster’s chest. He tried to make his way to his soul, but the regeneration was much faster than the burning effect of the light beam.

“Shit...I can’t get through!”

“Lieutenant-Commander will require some time in order to charge up a shot strong enough to destroy its major body parts...and she’s already focused on its head!”

“Agh, to hell with it!”

Ichigo threw himself into the monster’s mouth.

“Ichigo?!” Jian called out.

“Please wait...for my...signal!” Ichigo replied. The quality of the comms degraded a little. He tore, slashed and burned through the beast’s throat and organs. They regenerated and at times almost suffocated and straight up killed Ichigo, but he kept moving forwards. He was getting closer and closer to his chest.

“I feel like I’m barely conscious...”

“Is this what soul determination can do? I should be dead or clinging onto life right now. I’m so fucking exhausted.”

“Whatever.”

“All I need to do is to just keep going.”

“That’s my way of repaying people’s kindness.”

At last, he plunged himself into a sea-like area made up entirely of raw soul prowess. In the depths, he could see that spark he sought to destroy, the same spark that once acted as the soul to the boy who was learning how to live. He dove in, his breathing was already out of rhythm and he couldn’t keep swimming for long.

And eventually, he reached it.

“NOW!!!”

Jian, with one clean shot, destroyed the monster’s head. The light outside shone down onto Ichigo. With a swing filled with all of his determination, he destroyed the soul.

And his gamble worked out. The shards, instead of reuniting, simply faded away. The remnants of the monster fizzled away, turning to nothing but dust, carried away by the gentle wind.

Ichigo descended, and Jian rushed to capture him. His acclamation had worn off. She quickly escaped the area, holding onto her comrade.

“It worked, Ichigo.” Jian said, sprinting as fast as she could to Zawadski’s location. This was her own soul determination, managing to keep her running while her body was bruised and battered.

Escape was the best option. In one hour, Otto himself would enter the decisive battlefield of Washington, D.C., and his presence was at an all-time high.