Every inch of my body screamed in agony. It wasn't just pain—it was wrong. Like my insides were being ripped apart, as if my own flesh had turned on me, tearing itself open in rebellion. The heat of it spread through my veins, an inferno burning without cause or reason.

I couldn't make sense of it.

Machines churned and roared around me, their gears grinding against my very soul, tearing through muscle and bone with cold, mechanical precision. I tried to scream, but my throat was filled with nothing but a silence louder than any noise. The scream never left my skull.

I couldn't lose consciousness. Not even that mercy.

This body... this nightmare...

Why? Why was it all so unbearable? Why everything? I didn't ask for this. I didn't deserve this.

The sound of the machines blurred, fading into the depths of my mind, but the sickening crack of my bones splitting open, of metal puncturing me, echoed like a death toll.

Then, a voice—cold, robotic, clinical—snapped through the haze:

—Exoskeleton complete.

The sedative came again, like a drowning wave, and I slipped into darkness.

—Are you awake?

The voice was drenched in twisted amusement, dripping with something darker.

—Do you like your new enhancement? I bet you can't appreciate it right now, but don't worry, I worked so hard for this. Heh...*

I tried to move, but my body betrayed me, stiff, numb, as though it had been stolen from me entirely.

—I've replaced your bones with something... better suited for you. Now, even if you fall from several meters, you won't break so easily. Isn't that amazing?

The words barely reached me before another voice interrupted, sharp and urgent.

—Sorry to interrupt, sir, but Central's giving orders. They want the experiment sent to the northern front. If we don't, they'll pull the funding.

There was a thick silence, suffocating the air.

Then the first voice came back, now tinged with irritation.

—Tell Central the experiment will be ready soon. A few more modifications, then we'll send it out.

—Yes, sir! I'll go.

The machines resumed their unholy work, turning my body into a grotesque mockery of what it once was. I couldn't see them, but I felt every metallic twist, every jolt. I could only hear the scream of metal tearing through me, stitching me into something else.

My mind collapsed into a void, dark and viscous. Something crawled into my skull, invasive and cold.

A blade, thin as death, pressed against my skin.

The pain... it exploded inside me.

And then, nothing.

Where was I? What was happening? My body—this suit—what the hell was I now?

Gunfire raked through the air, explosions shaking the ground beneath me.

The voice of a machine cut through the static:

—T34 ready for deployment.

And then, the fall.

Like a comet. A mistake in the sky, falling, crashing toward the earth with no remorse.

The wind whipped around me as the weight of the armor dragged me into the dirt with brutal speed. I didn't understand any of it. The ground was coming at me too fast.

When I hit, the impact shook the world.

And then… silence.

The dust settled. Voices filled the air around me. People shouting. People praying.

—Reinforcements have arrived!

—We're saved!

My body twitched. The armor moved for me, unbidden. Something sharp stabbed into my skull, and the world spun out of control.

Through the visor, I could barely see the battlefield—a blur of death, fire, and blood.

The targeting system locked onto figures. Red warning lights flashed.

"Enemy detected."

"Eliminate."

Eliminate? What the hell did that mean? What was I even supposed to be?

I screamed inside my mind, but the sound was lost in the mechanical cage around me.

My arms moved without permission. I felt the crack—something breaking. Something alive.

When I regained control, I looked at what I'd done. What I had become. The mangled, twisted body of a thing, metal crushed against bone, a mass of destroyed circuitry spilling a strange, black liquid onto the ground.

For a moment, I almost believed it was all a nightmare.

But then—a flash—a memory broke through.

—Mom, I dreamed I was a knight. A knight fighting demons, protecting people. I used my sword to destroy the bad guys.

—That's my son. The strong must fight to protect the helpless.

In that moment, even trapped inside the suffocating armor, I managed a twisted smile. My mind shattered under the weight of it all, but a part of me clung to that childhood dream.

—Mom... I'll protect them.

Blood poured from my eyes, but I never saw it.

The armor moved on. The battlefield became a blur of destruction.

Cutting. Piercing. Ripping apart everything in its path.

The smoke of war choked the air, and the stench of blood and oil clung to my every breath.

In the end, the empire had won.

When the armor ceased its killing, I stood among the bodies, my flesh mangled and torn, my voice gone from screaming. I had nothing left but the hollow ache in my chest.

Then a shadow loomed over me.

—We found him.

I didn't think it would be like this. I didn't think I would become this.

I woke up again in the same sterile laboratory.

—Oh, you're awake? Welcome back! The voice was mockingly cheerful. "You looked so tired... Did you enjoy your first battle?"

—Thanks to my incredible work, I can keep experimenting on you.

Pain returned. Cold, sickening. A needle plunged deep into my organs.

Days blurred into weeks. Time became irrelevant.

—Kekeke... I didn't expect this to work, but you... you surprise me. Your regeneration ability is... fascinating.

Her voice oozed with delight.

—I worked so hard for this. It's a gift for me. Now, your organs are superhuman. You will fight. Never stop. You will defend this empire. For the rest of your life.

—Like the machine you are.

Her words cut deeper than any blade.

Defend.

Yes. Like Mom said. I will defend.

A twisted smile pulled at my lips.

Time passed, each day a grind of endless battles. The scars accumulated. My body was nothing more than a battlefield, bruised, broken, rebuilt.

They called me "the immortal knight."

I was sent to the south. To the north. To the west. To the southeast.

Twenty battles. And counting.

I became used to the pain, to the killing, to the endless return to this cycle.

A machine. Nothing more.

The empire grew. Territories were conquered, all thanks to my... "work."

—Sir, the general commander of the empire is here. He wants to speak with the Immortal Knight.

—Let him in.

The footsteps were heavy. Measured. The air was thick with authority.

—It's a pleasure to meet you, Immortal Knight.

The words were formal, too clean. Too far from the blood-soaked hell I'd been made to endure.

—The empire is preparing for its greatest war. The conquest of Soldam, the capital of the demons. You, and the first batch of immortal knights, will lead the charge.

He stepped closer.

The weight of something pressed down on my chest. A medal. Heavy. But nothing compared to the weight of what I'd become.

—We award you the Hero Medal.

—You are the pride of the empire. Do not disappoint us.

No.

I won't.