An enormous red hammer with sharp spikes as its base cracked the Vasquez's armor from its side. Due to that, his movement became sluggish as he struggled to stand firm.

That hammer was connected to my back. With it, I raised that huge weapon overhead.

"Y-You've got to be kidding m-me?! She's just a kid! T-To be able to use the Aegis almost on par with the other Users is unfathomable!" said the Vasquez

He took a few large steps away from me.

I took a quick scan of my surroundings and noticed that quite a few people were hiding in the buildings and alleys.

Campbell, on the other hand, was looking at me with cold eyes.

The other Vasquez approached the hiding civilians in the buildings. Another one was blocking the path of those who attempted to escape.

'I have to save them,' I thought.

More soldiers approached from my left and right sides, bringing a military jeep with them as reinforcements. The general was running away apparently.

"No, you don't," said Beatrice.

She appeared in front of the general and roundhouse-kicked him. The man stumbled and she then aimed her pistol at him.

"Die," she muttered.

Campbell came in time and punched at her, but she managed to avoid it.

She kicked his arm up in the air and spun around to kick him in the stomach.

"Your arms are broken. You would have got me just now if it's not battered," said Beatrice.

Campbell tried to turn invisible by pressing a b.u.t.ton at the left of his chest, but it did not work.

"Don't get c.o.c.ky, Miss," said Campbell.

In just a second, Beatrice was kicked hard at the side of her head and stumbled to her knee.

"You still got a long way ahead of you."

Beatrice put her hat back and glared at Campbell.

"I don't think you understand what's going on right now, do you?" said Beatrice.

The few soldiers that came as reinforcements started to shoot at their other comrades.

Campbell was bewildered. "What in the world? They're shooting at-"

Beatrice and Jeremy both punched him in the face, and he fell unconscious. I did not even realize Jeremy was just beside Campbell at that moment.

He moved way too fast.

I realized the protection mask that Campbell was wearing had shattered, exposing his face.

"Don't you know as a soldier, you have to keep your eyes on the enemy? Shame," said Beatrice.

Jeremy was caressing his back and grimaced.

Beatrice looked concerned. "You should have Jessica check on you. She's inside that truck." She pointed at a red truck at her right.

"I have a few body enhancements. It's fine," said Jeremy.

"Ugh, you yourself should know how much your body can handle."

"The general. Get him."

Indeed, the general was on his feet running.

"The Sergeant is not that weak!" said a Vasquez

He proceeded to stomp Beatrice, but I saved her by sending my spikes at him. He lost his balance and dropped to one knee.

Jeremy looked at me while dodging a kick from another Vasquez. Those two rebels were occupied with each Vasquez units.

The first Vasquez that I had fought launched a beam at one of the alleys, and I heard screams.

"No! Stop!" I exclaimed.

I directed a corded crescent blade from my back at him, cutting his right arm off. His beam a.s.sault stopped.

"You little-"

I cut his other arm before he could finish his sentence. He tried to maintain his balance but I cut his body in half.

"M-Monster!" The civilians were looking at me, backing away and eventually ran. I turned my head over towards Beatrice.

It appeared that the other rebels were fighting against the incoming reinforcements in vain. They kept popping out from everywhere, military jeeps and soldiers alike.

Beatrice was holding up against a Vasquez quite well but it didn't seem she would last long. Fortunately for Jeremy, he'd managed to disable the one that he was fighting.

I caught sight of Campbell as he stood up slowly. His arms flailed around, clearly broken and misshapen.

"Don't mess with a soldier, you rebel. This custom Teria suit is better than you think," he said.

Two small turrets popped out from his shoulders, aiming at Jeremy. Narrow beams were fired from it but Jeremy evaded it. However, one of the beams grazed his left hand, and he was forced to retreat inside a building. Campbell followed him quickly.

I wanted to help Jeremy but I stopped when deafening screams pulled my attention towards it.

Civilians were being murdered, and a few Freya members were also getting killed. Inghild and grandfather were holding up well on the other hand.

"I have to save them! Stop!" I said.

The traitorous soldiers were overwhelmed.

From where I stood, the Freya members didn't have the strength to take care of the remaining soldiers. Two tanks grinding against the road aimed their main guns at me.

A red s.h.i.+eld from my back protected me from its projectiles just in time.

"That's too loud," I muttered as my hands clasped both of my ears. The tanks kept firing at the red s.h.i.+eld, rendering my hearing almost useless in that situation.

Soldiers in black were pouring out of military jeeps and started to shoot at nearby civilians. Even those who ran away were chased by them using a truck and got killed mercilessly.

"Stop!" I yelled.

I watched as the people were mercilessly killed, and my tears fell.

"No.... Stop."

I tried and tried to move a step but the tanks fired their machine guns relentlessly at my s.h.i.+eld.

"No, don't do this. . . they're-"

One by one, the civilians' bodies dropped, and their blood splattered everywhere on the road.

'Why are they doing this? They're killing innocent people. Why . . .'

Those thoughts filled my head as time slowly pa.s.sed by.

I did not know what to do.

If I attempted to form a weapon, my s.h.i.+eld would dissolve and there would be nothing to protect me. If I was shot, it would take some time for my body to regenerate. More people would be killed if I let that happened.

My vision blurred as a wrenching headache struck me.

Salty tears poured of my eyes, preventing my mind from wrapping up the situation clearly.

"Stop."

"Stop."

"Don't kill them. . . "

I caught a slight glimpse of my s.h.i.+eld changing its color. It had turned crimson. To me, it didn't matter at that time.

Innocent people needed my help. I was there, capable of reaching and protecting them. I needed to.

"Stop. . . STOP!"

A painful phantom sensation of my heart being pulled out of my chest overwhelmed me.

I felt my eyes bleeding, and my s.h.i.+eld changing its shape. My left eye was blind after that.

Without me doing anything, the s.h.i.+eld reshaped itself into a large, deformed crimson scythe. Layered crimson crystals broke out from every inch of my arms and neck. Quickly, fragments of it sprang into action like snakes to protect me from the tanks' machine guns like mini-s.h.i.+elds.

The scythe I'd somehow formed was as large as a regular truck. It was connected to my back. Slowly, it raised itself up high and plummeted fast onto one of those two tanks.

Its hull ruptured from the impact and exploded after a few moments.

That same scythe raised itself up again and did the same thing to the other tank, completely destroying it.

Everyone there had their eyes on that irregular object.

I grimaced when crimson crystals started to form on top of my skin, covering the left side of my body in whole.

The formation of the scythe caused a sharp pain to stab at my back, as the fragments of crimson crystals obscuring my vision.

It appeared to me that they were attracted to the bullets, eventually deflecting it away from my body.

I found myself gasping for air. The continuous, sharp pain was clawing at me, inside out. Tears of blood stained my pink dress. I looked at one of the fragments to see my reflection and saw what my face looked like. My heart wrenched from the revelation.

Crimson crystals had covered half of my face, specifically my left side.

It was no wonder that my left eye was blind. However. what stood out to me more than that was the color of it.

The whites were no longer white. It was as black as the darkest night.

My brown irises were gone. I could only see the color of red that mimicked any purest crystal imaginable. It was too red that it radiated soft, red lights.

'What am I?' I thought at that moment.

It was obvious from that point onward.

I was a monster, physically and mentally.