CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37 – ONE MAN ARMY

Chapter 37 – One Man Army

Not far from the scene of chaos, two silhouettes emerged from the darkness. Jack and Evelyn climbed quietly out of the manhole, careful not to make the slightest sound that might draw a monster’s attention.

But the moment their boots hit the ground, the air was shattered by the sound of distant explosions. The heavy thud of artillery, the rapid bursts of gunfire, and the nightmarish roars of beasts filled the air. The smell of smoke, death, and blood was so thick it seemed to cling to their lungs.

Peering around the corner, Jack caught sight of the battlefield. Flames licked at the darkness, casting jagged shadows across the ruined streets. In the flicker of firelight, he saw them—creatures soaring through the night sky and others tearing down the streets on all fours, moving like rabid dogs.

Screams of agony blended with the crack of rifles and the mechanical roar of machine guns.

"..." Jack pressed his lips together, his eyes narrowing. His prediction had been dead-on. ’If anything... I might have underestimated it.’

Bodies littered the streets, some half-eaten, others burned or torn apart. Mangled tanks and shredded military barricades lay scattered, silent evidence that the army’s resistance was crumbling. The monsters had pushed far closer to the bunkers than he’d expected. The soldiers never stood a chance.

Beside him, Evelyn’s face darkened. "The monsters are going to reach the bunkers soon."

"I know."

"We need to help, Jack."

"..."

He didn’t answer immediately. Part of him wanted—needed—to push deeper into the city to find his parents. But he knew the truth. If the bunkers fell tonight, there would be nowhere left to bring them.

’The bunker’s my safe point... and maybe theirs too. I can’t let it fall.’

His fists clenched slightly. No matter what he chose, it wouldn’t be easy.

"We’ll help," Jack said at last. "But we’ll do it from a distance—ease the pressure on the army without completely taking their aggro from the army. Stay to the backlines."

"Got it."

"Don’t overextend. Some of those things could kill you. Stick to targets you can take down."

"I know. I’m not looking to push my luck."

Jack gave a single, sharp nod. "Let’s move."

They broke from the alley at a run, heading straight toward the chaos. It didn’t take long before they encountered monsters prowling the outskirts—scavengers feeding on the fallen.

Jack and Evelyn struck without hesitation. In the space of a heartbeat, steel flashed, and the feeding monsters fell lifeless to the pavement. Heads rolled, bodies crumpled.

These stragglers were weak—mostly Chrono Origins, with the occasional low-level Chrono Born among them. They barely slowed the two down. Even Evelyn dispatched her targets with ease.

’She’s strong,’ Jack noted as he watched her move. ’Far from weak, and skilled enough to kill in one strike. She’s a Chrono Born too...’

Within minutes, they drew closer to the heart of the battle. Smoke thickened, the air heavy with the acrid taste of gunpowder. The fire ahead lit the swarms in grotesque silhouette.

Monsters surged in every direction, tearing through lines of soldiers.

"AAAAGH!! SAVE ME!!"

"GET BACK, YOU BASTARDS!"

The scene was carnage—so brutal Jack almost didn’t know where to begin. Limbs lay scattered on the ground, bodies broken and twisted, blood pooling in the streets. It was less a battlefield and more a slaughterhouse.

"What a mess," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"ROAR!!"

A monster lunged. Jack met it head-on, driving his blade into its heart, twisting, and slicing its throat before flinging it aside.

"Split up. Take the other road—it joins up ahead at the bunker. The flow of monsters won’t stop," Jack ordered, already moving.

"Roger that," Evelyn called back, sprinting toward another cluster of enemies.

***

Inside the command post, chaos reigned.

"SIR! WE’RE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED! WE CAN’T HOLD THEM BACK ANY LONGER!" The voice on Herman’s radio was ragged, panicked.

"Don’t stop fighting! Reinforcements are on the way!" Herman barked. "Get every soldier inside the bunker out here—we need every warm body on the line!"

"But sir, the sec—"

"Forget security! We won’t last a minute if those things reach the bunker!"

He knew the truth, though. Only a handful of squads remained inside, and they weren’t nearly enough to turn the tide. This was desperation, pure and simple. He was throwing his last cards on the table, hoping for a miracle.

’We’re finished...’ Herman’s chest rose and fell with a long, steadying breath. ’We’ve failed our country. Failed our world.’

Whether it was this city or every other city in the world, most have already fallen if not completely crumbled. The normal humans have no real chance against these Essence-enhanced monstrosities. That is simply not possible. The feeling of bitterness that came with that realization made Herman even more upset.

"What did we do to deserve this?" he muttered, watching the situation unravel by the second.

His radio crackled again—hardly unusual at this point—but the tone was different. Urgent, yes, but... not hopeless. At least, not as hopeless as the rest of these God-Awful comms he has been receiving for the past hour or so.

"Sir! The northern road’s swarm isn’t pressing as hard anymore! Our soldiers are able to retreat!"

Herman’s eyes snapped open. "What do you mean?"

"We’re not taking as much fire—they’re not pushing like before!"

"Are you pushing them back?"

"... No, sir! We can’t kill them! It’s like... they’re distracted! Focused on something else!"

"What?" Herman’s brow furrowed. "What are they focused on?"

The reply came after a brief burst of static. "It’s... it’s someone, sir! Someone’s attacking them from the other side!"

"...What in The Clock’s name..." Herman breathed.

"ROAR!"

SLASH!

Jack’s sword swept in a clean, merciless arc, cleaving through flesh and bone. His movements were fluid, almost effortless—yet each strike carried lethal precision.

His strength had grown noticeably, not just in raw power but in the way he fought. Jack’s greatest weapon wasn’t his blade or his body—it was his mind. Every clash, every swing, every kill was logged instantly, broken down and analyzed, his techniques refined on the fly.

Footwork adjusted, angles shifted, speed and force recalibrated—every single motion optimized in real time. He was far from perfect or good when it came to fighting monsters, but his growth was exponential and rapid, monstrous even.

’Two behind him. One ahead. One on the right. Three further to the left.’

His eyes tracked them all. His body responded before conscious thought caught up.

One monster fell, then another. Within minutes, twenty bodies lay at his feet. Weak ones, yes—but numbers meant nothing if they never landed a hit.

The stronger ones are deeper in the swarm, he thought grimly, slicing another attacker in half. But they’ll get here soon.

"He’s... getting stronger," Lune’s voice whispered somewhere in the chaos, almost disbelieving. "So fast..."

It had barely been a few hours since the nightmare began, and yet Jack was already climbing toward the next rank. It was absurd. Even the most gifted Chronists took days to advance like this.

The slaughter couldn’t go unnoticed. Slowly, the swarm shifted its focus. Weaker prey forgotten, their attention locked on one target.

Jack.

From the rooftops, the snipers tracking the battlefield caught sight of him.

"What the hell is going on down there?" one muttered.

"Wait... is that a kid?"