Godfire: The Split Soul-Chapter 168: Remember This Face

Boots clicking sounds echoed as the soldiers entered, the tips of their rifles swinging around. Dust exploded at every place their boots kissed, whirling around in the dim light that spread through the cracked windows.

At every second MJ's boots slammed a door open, the wood splintered inward, revealing the room beyond it with a quick sweep of his barrel.

"Clear!"

MJ moved, Kai and the other soldiers fanning out behind them. At every angle Kai turned to, he inhaled air that was mixed with the air from broken glass.

'This place doesn't seem dangerous after all,' Kai thought, whirling around as he scanned the room they had stopped in.

After glancing at the faint glows and listening to the vibrations of the soldiers, Kai swallowed hard when his gaze shifted and locked onto a closed black door ahead of them.

Dark glow seeped out through the wood and pulsed with a vibration Kai hadn't felt before.

"This building is secured. Let's leave to the next." MJ stated, lowering his rifle, then gave all the soldiers a soft glance.

"What are you waiting for, Kai?"

Kai blinked, shifted his focus to the moving soldier, then forced his legs to move.

As soon as they exited, a loud screeching sound ripped through the silence they left in the room, erupting from the door with the dark glow.

Then, with a loud bang, the building shook violently, causing debris to rain from the ceiling and the roof.

Outside, the ground quaked beneath their boots.

"WATCH OUT!"

A soldier standing beside MJ lunged forward and shoved the corporal. MJ stumbled to the left, frowning.

His eyes widened as he caught a spinning chunk of stone crashing onto the soldier in the air. The soldier remained buried under the huge stone as the dust settled.

"WTF! James!" another soldier screamed, rushing toward the stone. He tried using his strength to push the stone off but stopped when he saw blood streaking toward his legs.

Only James's boots were visible for them to see.

MJ stared at the boots for a second, then exhaled sharply, closing his eyes. 'Thanks for saving me,' he whispered in his head, then cracked his eyes open.

"He's dead. Let's get going." His voice waved through the ears of the soldiers like a taunt.

Beside MJ, Kai stood there, trying to process what he'd just witnessed. 'Isn't that one of the men I heard speaking this dawn? The one they called James?'

Before Kai could finalize his thoughts, a roar exploded from inside the building they'd just exited. Following the sound were fast-moving claws scraping against the concrete.

"ON GUARD!"

MJ screamed, raised his rifle, then placed his fingers on the trigger. The other soldiers snapped into the same posture, forming a circle around him and the boy.

Glass blasted outward from the building's front windows, followed by dark-shaped creatures that launched themselves through the shattered frames.

Dog-like creatures with six gleaming eyes and elongated skulls landed on the ground, their tails whipping the air as they snarled.

"FIRE AT WILL!"

The tip of MJ's rifle reddened as bullets streamed from it, streaking toward the creatures. Sparks flashed in the air every time the bullets hit the walls or the creatures' skin.

Despite the countless bullets, the creatures kept pushing forward as if the metal rounds were nothing more than pebbles.

The soldiers ran in circles, exchanging bullets as they fired. With every round that got fired, they retreated backward.

After ten minutes, one of the creatures fell. And in the next hours, the creatures turned into a sea of dead bodies, piling around the sweating soldiers.

"No retreat no matter what. Let's continue." MJ moved forward, swung his arm across his face, then wiped the blood from his forehead. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

From one building to another, MJ led without waiting for acknowledgement from his colleagues.

For two hours, nothing crossed them. The streets remained empty, only the dust and loose leaves spiraling around and ahead of them.

But as the sun began to lose its glow, painting the ruined city in shades of orange and red, the ground cracked open.

Concrete and dirt exploded upward as the Titanaboa surged from beneath ten miles ahead of them, its massive body rising like a mountain coming to life.

"FIRE!"

MJ dashed to the left, his arms moving toward his lowered rifle. The other soldiers followed, their rifles chattering, muzzles flashing, and bullets streaming toward the creature.

For the first time, Kai saw chips of scales fly around, dark blood weeping out from the creature's fresh wounds.

Just as Kai thought the bullets were working, the creature's tail whipped through the air.

It moved so fast that it swept through the soldiers like a scythe through wheat. The impact sent MJ flying sideways. His body rolled through the air before crashing into the collapsed walls.

Dust burst into the air when three other soldiers crashed beside him, their rifles leaping from their loosened grips.

"MJ!" Kai's boots hammered against the ground, saliva snaking down his throat. Blood seeped out from MJ's mouth, his chest rising with uneven breaths.

"Do all you can to flee." MJ's voice came in like mountain breeze filled with blood.

"No, I can't leave like this." Kai shook his head, watching the man's glow orbit, flickering like a candle in the wind.

"Everyone will die, kid." MJ forced himself to lean against the wall, then brushed his trembling left arm across his face, smearing the blood off.

"Help me up."

Kai placed his arms under the corporal's, then helped him up.

MJ grabbed two rifles from the dead soldiers, tucked them under each arm, then turned toward the Titanaboa.

"Maybe your time isn't now, so don't force yourself to die." MJ shifted his gaze from the creature, then smiled, his bloodied teeth turning into a grim grin.

As soon as Kai blinked, he saw the man run toward the creature, staggering on one leg.

"YOU'RE COMING WITH ME, MONSTER!"

MJ fired as he closed the gap between him and the creature. Both rifle tips blazed as bullets hammered from them and into the creature's face.

After five minutes, the Titanaboa's head swung toward the man, then snarled.

MJ glanced back, then shifted his gaze to Kai. "Remember this face, kid."

Before MJ's vision could swim to the creature, the Titanaboa's massive jaws closed around him and lifted him from the ground.

MJ's legs paddled, his boots kicking the creature's jaw as he fought for release, but stopped when the creature slammed both its head and the man against the edge of a collapsed wall.

Blood sprayed across the walls and the street. And when the dust settled from the creature, half of MJ's body slid into the creature's throat, while the remaining half slammed onto the ground.

The waist to the legs rolled on the ground and stopped at Kai's feet.

"NO." Kai's eyes widened, his eyes shaking in their sockets, unable to close them. "NO! NO!! NO!!!"

His heart hammered against his ribs as his hand moved swiftly toward the sword at his back. Kai pulled the sword so swiftly the casing splattered, then tightened his arms around the handle.

Just as he was able to blink, his mother's smile, Lieutenant Gray's calm blue eyes, and the corporal's face flashed in his thoughts.

As soon as Kai's eyes cracked open, he ran toward the creature with godlike speed. Even as he closed in on the creature, his eyes still open, the images flashed by, following the movement of the creature's tail.

Every sound, every breath, and vibration dulled around him. Even the roaring sound escaping from the creature faded to a distant hum in Kai's ears.

Kai launched himself onto the creature as soon as the tail whipped through the air and reached his left cheek. "No!"

He swung the sword again and again, each strike biting deep into the creature's skin. Dark blood sprayed across Kai's face, his chest, and arms, but he didn't pause to wipe them.

More debris crashed onto the ground as the creature's tail missed the boy and crashed into the building on the left.

When the tail swung back, Kai jumped onto it and ran a marathon on it until reaching the neck of the creature.

Though the creature shook its body, slammed its head into buildings, the boy's boots remained planted against the skin.

"WHOSE KID IS THAT?!"

Soldiers struggling to keep themselves safe as blood gushed out from them turned shocked glances at each other, their faces pale.

On the Titanaboa, the sword swung to the left, creating a line in the creature's neck, then got stuck when it struck the right.

As soon as Kai pulled the sword out, he moved three steps forward, then buried the blade deep into the smooth section of the creature's neck.

With two strikes, the Titanaboa's head separated in a clean cut, causing its body to turn limp. Kai, panting heavily at the creature's back and drenched in dark blood, slammed the ground with it.

But Kai jumped and rolled, leaping at the last second and landing in a crouch on the debris.

His head remained lowered as the breeze exited from his mouth and nose, while the dark blood dripped from him like sweat.