My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy-Chapter 58: Blood Shattered

He turned his head, and there she was. His daughter. She stood barefoot on the bloodstained floor, her favorite doll clutched in her hands. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"Why didn’t you save me, Dad?" she whispered.

The room melted away. He was back in their house—the smell of smoke thick in the air, the walls blackened and crumbling. His daughter’s body lay limp in his arms, her tiny frame charred and unrecognizable.

"Daddy..." Her voice pulled him back, cutting through the memory like a knife.

He blinked. The squad wasn’t there anymore. They were monsters—horrid, shapeless creatures dripping with blood. His rifle felt heavy in his hands, but his grip tightened instinctively.

"Stay back!" he roared, raising the weapon.

The first shot shattered the silence.

The soldier closest to him barely had time to react as the round tore through his chest, blasting him backward in a spray of blood and shattered bone.

"Shit! He’s gone rogue!" one of the squad members shouted, but it was too late.

The Platoon Leader moved like a predator, his movements unnaturally fast. His knife flashed as he lunged at another soldier, driving the blade into the man’s throat and twisting it with brutal efficiency. Blood poured from the wound as the soldier collapsed, his gurgling cries cut short.

The second mad soldier joined the carnage, his fingers digging into another squadmate’s face. With a sickening crunch, he crushed the man’s skull, his body crumpling to the ground like a ragdoll.

The room descended into chaos as the remaining soldiers fired wildly, their shots ricocheting off metal surfaces in a desperate attempt to bring the mad soldiers down. But the madness had already taken root. The two compromised soldiers moved with unnatural precision, dodging gunfire as if their bodies no longer obeyed normal physics.

A soldier screamed as he was yanked off his feet, his body launched across the room. The impact with the far wall sent a sharp crack through the air as his spine snapped on impact. Another soldier attempted to escape, scrambling toward the exit, but the mad Platoon Leader caught him by the leg. Before the man could even react, the blade plunged into his chest, over and over, each strike bringing another wet, gurgling sound as blood sprayed across the floor in jagged streaks.

The remaining soldiers backed up instinctively, their formation breaking down as fear set in.

Captain Jiece’s voice cut through the chaos over comms.

"Juliet and Romeo, move in! Subdue the mad soldiers before they do any more damage!"

The moment the order was given, the two platoons surged into the room. Their leaders wasted no time barking orders as their soldiers moved in with brutal efficiency, grabbing hold of the remaining three uncontaminated squad members and pulling them back to safety.

The two mad soldiers barely had time to react before they were cut down. A controlled, pinpoint burst of plasma rounds slammed into them from multiple angles, their bodies convulsing violently before dropping limp onto the blood-soaked ground.

A few seconds of silence followed.

Then, a single black orb peeled itself from the chest of the fallen Platoon Leader.

Kikaru, Colby, and Paul continued to watch through their eye pieces, their feeds capturing every detail of the unfolding nightmare.

Kikaru muttered under her breath, "Just one orb this time."

The soldiers instinctively took a step back, weapons still raised as the orb hung in midair, its pulsing, shifting form vibrating with an unnatural hum. Then—it shot forward.

Captain Jiece’s voice crackled in every earpiece. "Nobody let that thing touch you!"

The soldiers braced themselves, ready to fire, but before the orb could reach its target, it suddenly disintegrated—collapsing into fine dust and scattering into the air like ashes.

Jiece frowned, biting his thumb as he muttered, "They must be toying with us... Trying to wear us down mentally."

He exhaled sharply before addressing the lead officer. "Platoon Juliet, check the status on Dr. Anders’ detector."

A brief pause followed before the platoon leader responded. "Sir, the detector confirms he should be in the room just ahead."

Jiece nodded, his jaw tightening. "Then let’s move—"

Before he could finish, a figure stepped into view.

At the far end of the room, where the corpses of both soldiers and civilian-like bodies lay piled in ruin, a lone man strode forward. His white lab coat trailed behind him, the hood of his uniform pulled low over his head, partially obscuring his face.

"My, my," the man mused, his voice eerily calm as he surveyed the destruction. "What a bloodied mess we have here."

Every soldier in the room snapped their rifles toward him.

The Platoon Leader of Platoon Romeo stepped forward, his weapon trained squarely on the man’s chest. His voice was sharp, filled with authority.

"Who the hell are you? Where is Warden Commander Anders? You have five seconds to comply!"

The hooded man chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"Oh, but we have plenty of time, actually," he said, his tone dripping with amusement. "You see, I’ve been having the most fun... extracting every little secret from Dr. Anders. And just when I thought I had learned everything, I realized—"

He lifted his hand, tilting his head slightly.

"There’s still just one more thing I need."

The Platoon Leader didn’t hesitate.

A single plasma round blasted forward, slamming into the man’s chest.

His body snapped backward, the sheer force sending him sprawling to the ground.

For a moment, the room was still.

The Platoon Leader didn’t lower his weapon as he pressed his earpiece. "Sorry, Captain Jiece. Leaving him alive might have caused more issues."

Captain Jiece responded immediately, his voice steady. "You were right. Push forward and secure Dr. Anders."

With that, the two platoons moved as one, stepping over the bodies as they made their way toward the final chamber.

Still watching through their eye pieces, Kikaru, Colby, and Paul remained quiet, absorbing everything they had just witnessed.

Then Kikaru broke the silence.

"Hey, Captain Jiece. Can you hear me?"

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