The sight of Errata immediately sent waves of panic to the remaining soldiers in the battlefield.

Out of instinct, their hands flew to their black chokers around their necks which flared into bright blue UV flashlights, afterwards they all organized into circular formations focusing only on the nearly birthed abominations as if I wasn't anywhere near them.

At this point, it was easy for me to easily strike them down and crush them, but that would defeat the purpose of our ambush. I was quite unsure at first of the effectiveness of using humanity's curse but my worries were almost instantly plundered.

In the few minutes it took the soldiers to get into formation their enemy had already been multiplying, those who were shell shocked or trapped beneath collapsed debris fell victim instantly to their rampage.

Before they could even react, the creatures began to rip and tear through their limbs like children fighting over toys. A few of them were snatched from the ground and dragged through the forest by their black hands.

As they mangled the soldier's bodies, a thick black tar spilled from their chests, seeping over the victims' flesh. Wherever it touched, the skin dissolved and warped, slowly twisting the fallen into more inhuman abominations.

The creatures became rampant as their numbers grew, they began coordinated attacks through the forest like a hivemind, working together to restrict and consume any vulnerable human they saw.

Despite all these odds, the remaining soldiers still managed to deter their attacks with ultraviolet beams which sizzled and blistered their skin making them recoil from the light with inhuman shrieks.

While the creatures were weakened, the remaining soldiers wasted no time in unloading their magazines. Under the relentless barrage, their bullets tore ragged holes through their viscous bodies until their forms collapsed and disintegrated into drifting ash.

As I spectated the soldiers' last stand, I eventually spotted Myers through its chaos and immediately approached him.

He was down on one knee and I could hear his hollow breathing raggedly from within his armor. Other than that, one of his blades shattered from the final strike. I searched for damage across his frame but nothing appeared immediately fatal.

"Bad news, Grim," Myers said, his voice calmer than it had any right to be. "I think my rappel system's busted."

"Is your pod intact?" I was worried about leakage.

"Somehow, but I really need to head back to the den after this."

"Copy that, run ahead into the forest and rendezvous with the others. I'll stay and send the distress signal."

"Affirmative"

Myers's M.T. struggled to rise. He had to brace himself with his last blade and just as he stood upright—

A blast of light had instantly decapitated his M.T. making its body fall limp to the ground.

"Make one more foolish move and your Hollow will meet the same fate. Drop your weapon. Exit your M.T." A stern, unfamiliar voice of a woman cut into my comms.

I tried to turn to locate her position but before I could, another thunderous crack split the sky.

The shot almost blew me away from my seat, my pod had been hit, this was bad. If the neural link was damaged, I could—

Something warm slid down my left arm.

I looked down just as black, oil-thick blood seeped from the torn metal and ruptured flesh of my Hollow.

My arm was gone.

"FUCK! ARGHH!"

Faust's sudden roar crippled all my senses and choked out all my thoughts.

The pain came in a heartbeat later. It crashed over my senses like a storm, everything was a mess. I couldn't even properly describe what it felt like but I remember the scalding heat and the agony of a thousand needles driving through my shoulder and into my spine.

I remember screaming as I grabbed my arm, desperately clutching it just to reassure myself that it was still there, that I hadn't lost it.

My own body was untouched but the cerebral link didn't care.

Through it, Faust's agony poured straight into my skull. Every sensation he felt <burned> through my mind as if it were my own.

His dread.His fear.His pain.

All of it became mine.

"Last warning" The woman's blurring voice sounded even more commanding this time. I wanted to tell her to shut up but it felt like my chest was being drowned in salt water.

"A Class Three… no—Class Two Caller," I whispered, barely aware of my own voice. My hands trembled as my mind scrambled for tactics, for angles, for anything that could <save us>.

"Grim, you have to <save us>" From the depths of my thoughts, I suddenly remembered a distant angelic voice.

O-of course. I recognized it instantly. Jane.Jane. That's right, Jane.

...yes of course I'll <save us>

>>I'll tear that bitch to pieces and <<RUIN>> her ///.>>I'll make her feel (PAIN)>>Even if it <destroyed> me

h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓ k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗ k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗

k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗ <<restarting diagnostic>> k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅.̵̥̓.̶͚͗

k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗ k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗ k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ ̷͚͂?̶̻̾?̷̤̃?̵͖͒.̴̰͋.̷͖̀.̵͚͐.̸̨̐.̵͇̿.̸̟̈.̵̥̓.̶͚͗k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓ !!! >̶͍̿>̴̝̈́>̴̪̅ k̶̟̃i̵̹̕l̴̢̆l̶̥̅ ̴̧̿h̴̠̎ë̵̦́ŗ̸̓

<ERROR: ERORR 3RO3! SYSTEM MALFUCNITON!?>

<NEURAL STABILIZATION CHAMBER DAMAGED>

<ADVISORY: EXIT M.T UNIT>

"What are you doing?!"

Faust's voice felt like a dissonant scream, sawing straight through my skull.

The pain snapped me back to my senses,but it cost me to lose control. My fingers loosened, and my Weave blade slipped free from my grasp, striking the ground with a dull thud.

The damage to my pod did something to my control system. I can't fight effectively like this. With no other choice left, I slowly raised my remaining arm into the air.

The battlefield fell into a strange, unnatural quiet as the caller saw me abandon my weapon. The screams faded into the distance as flames crackled more softly, as if it began to hold its breath for me.

"That's… odd," the woman said at last. The iron tone in her voice somewhat softened, tinged with slight curiosity. "Normally, you wolves would rather die than stop fighting."

D̸͝ͅö̵̻́n̵͇̿'̶͓̅ẗ̴̨́ ̷̙͛f̶͇̒o̴̺͒r̴͈͘g̸͙̒ȩ̶͝t̷̹͝ ̶͍͊ÿ̷̠́o̷͇͠ú̴ͅr̷̼͝ ̶͇̇m̴͕͠ì̸̦s̴̠̉s̵͍̄i̶͚̿o̸̥͊n̷̞̑ ̷̤́

Her words dug deep because she was right. What I was doing…SURRENDERING WAS WRONG! Abnormal even, if I pushed the thought of it any further, the rune bomb buried in my brain would notice.

It always did for everyone else. One command and all of my organs would shut down together in an instant, clean and efficient at killing...just like us. < I AGREE>

I almost laughed at the thought.Well, I suppose I could only hope now that death will be kinder than my superiors ever were.

"Step out of your pod," she ordered, her voice snapping back reality into place. "You have 30 seconds." <DEFEAT> <def3at>?

"Do what she says!" Faust urged as panic welled within his voice.

"Are you insane?" I hissed back, my teeth grinding. "She'll kill me—she'll kill me and then—ARGH"

F̶̛̱O̵̖̔L̷̥̔L̵͇̓Ō̶̠W̸̫̆ ̵̹̇Ŷ̸͜O̸̞͘Ṵ̴̈́R̴͉͠ ̶̖̎Ṁ̷̼I̴̦̒S̵̩̿S̶̙͆I̸̩̚Ö̵͍́N̸̙͊

A burst of pain erupted from my head, the lights felt heavy to look at as everything began to stir and spin, and dissolve and renew and follow the mission. And- what?

Damn, I really am going crazy

<DISTORTED THOUGTS1!>

<QUERY: UNRESOLVED>

<CRITICAL SYSTEM ERROR: SHUTTING DOWN ALL SYSTEMS>

"DO WHAT SHE SAYS!"

Faust's blaring screams and the system's notifications echoed through my blurred vision. My hands fumbled behind me, until I found the neural port.

With a sharp pull, I silenced all the voices in my head all at once as I severed my connection to the M.T. The red lights inside the pod dimmed like dying eyes as the liquid inside my pod began to drain down into various vents.

"Grim? What's going on?" Pilsen's voice crackled through the comms through my ear. "I haven't seen your distress signal yet, and patrols are already moving to your position."

She sounded shaken. I mean, she had every reason to be.

I pressed a finger to my ear. "Bad news. Myers is down. We ran into a Caller—he—"My breath hitched as phantom pain tore through me, it was as if my arm was being ripped away all over again. I clenched at my left arm, gripping it tightly until the surge dulled enough for me to speak again.

"A Caller got to us," I forced out. "Forget us and regroup at the nearest outpost. Find another way to recover the black box."

"gRim I—"

Static swallowed her voice, afterwards a calm woman's voice slid into the channel. "Signal lost." That damn witch's weave must be interfering with the radio signals

"Dammit!" I screamed out as I threw my earpiece into the crevices of my pod, completely out of my reach.

Shit.

There was no time to dwell over this, if I don't get outside now, I'll die, if that happens the mission will be a failure.

With a steel resolve, I began to pull the exit hatch behind me, however as I was almost out, my hands froze.

For the first time, doubt took hold of itself within me. I wondered if this was how it ended, not in the glory of battle, but here alone, cornered, in a dark forest where I would be forgotten forever.

"Maybe this is what humans felt before they died."

Such pointless thoughts! It didn't matter if I died. I was already a walking, talking corpse. If this was the end, so be it, at least it would be on mission. At least I could tell myself I'd done my duty.

I knew that the reassurance I built up was fragile but it was all I had at this point.

As the pod opened, I lifted my gaze and saw a figure suspended in the sky above me.

A red glow emanated from within her long, elegant black dress with royal patterns embroidered upon it. Her face was hidden with an iron plated mask with an emotionless woman's visage, reflecting the fires below without reaction.

But despite her threatening appearance, what was behind her concerned me more. Three anti-tank rifles floated in silent formation with their barrels already angled towards me.

Her striking appearance made her unmistakable, I remember reading her file before this mission started. It stated that engaging with a Caller like her was not a battle, it was a mistake.

She was Anya Petrenovsky, The Iron Witch.