Solar Ascension-Chapter 2: Prologue []: A Tier 2 Eclipsed

"I’m going to die here, aren’t I?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

That much was obvious as he could see no way out of this situation.

His legs were currently pinned beneath the rubble of a fallen bridge. Every attempt he made to set himself free just sent a shiver of pain down his spine.

That, and he wasn’t strong enough to lift the rubble off his legs. Even if he was, his legs were a mangled mess of blood and broken bone.

Even if by some miracle he managed to crawl out of this, he doubted he’d ever walk again.

He was sure they wouldn’t allow him to crawl too far before that thing caught up to him.

Speaking of which, he could still hear distant screams which meant it was still out there.

Turning his head to scan his environment, he was once again met with one that looked like a graveyard, but that much was to be expected from a Tier 2 Eclipsed.

The creature had made sure that no building was left standing... Not like there was much to begin with, after all, this was the slums.

On every rubble that lay around was at least the body of a human... Dissected beyond belief, yes, but still undeniably the bodies of humans.

Everywhere he looked, there was death.

"Y-yeah," he muttered to himself again, "I really will die here."

He slowly let the thought sink in as he accepted that fact. Even if a Solar knight arrived and ended up saving him, he might as well be as good as dead.

He didn’t have a single credit to his name, much less enough to fix his legs that were completely busted at this point.

And without his legs, his Helion tech scavenging trips would end which would mean no credits for food, which meant he’d just end up dying of starvation anyway, so why not let it just end here, right now.

No one in these slums was generous to share whatever little they had, even less so were the nobles, who would rather watch them rot than spare a coin.

It was funny really, for as long as he could remember, he had always been scared of dying but now that he was at death’s door, he felt none of that fear.

He only felt a bit of regret at the fact that his dream of entering the academy would never come true.

"Meh—" he let out, followed by a mouthful of blood that he coughed out, "it’s not like a junkyard rat like me would’ve ever make the cut anyway.... So I guess this saved me from embarrassing myself."

Every excuse seemed valid at this point, but the truth was, deep down, he didn’t want to die.

He also wanted a chance at living a life like all other teenagers did, he wanted to eat something that wasn’t stale or expired for once.

Something warm, like the food the Academy kids probably threw away without a second thought.

He wanted to sleep without worrying if his roof would collapse, or if the next Eclipsed wave would reach Zone 9 again.

He wanted to see what the artificial sun actually looked like, unobstructed by the haze of smoke and pollution that permanently blanketed the slums.

He wanted more.

He was soon snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of hurried steps, causing him to turn his head towards the side.

There he saw a man, one that looked middle aged, running towards him, the man’s expression desperate as he ran without stopping or looking back a single time.

It was obvious enough what the man was running from but he didn’t even bother calling out to the man for help.....

Why?

Well...

As the man continued forward something suddenly went past him so fast that the man couldn’t even register until it was too late.

The next instant, the man’s head was gone.

It didn’t explode or fly off dramatically. It simply vanished, sliced clean from his shoulders, leaving a crimson mist hanging in the air.

The body, still driven by pure panic and momentum, kept running for a few more steps before it stumbled and collapsed beside him with a dull, wet thud.

For a moment, everything went silent again, except for the faint metallic clink as blood dripped through the cracks of the concrete unto the metal.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Blood from the man’s neck pooled on the cracked concrete, mixing with the dirt and soot until it became a dark, sticky mess.

He stared blankly at the corpse beside him, his breath hitching.

He wanted to scream, curse, or even cry, but all that came out was a hollow laugh.

"Guess... you got out of here first, huh?" he muttered to the dead man, voice trembling. "Lucky you."

Raising his head, he was faced with the culprit of the man’s death and the cause of the death and destruction around him right now.

The creature’s shape was vaguely lupine—four legs, a hunched back, and a long, tail that dragged along the ground—but that was where any similarity to a wolf ended.

The creature seems to blend perfectly with darkness, no....rather, it was darkness itself as whatever light seemed to pierce through the pollution filled clouds refused to reach the creature.

It’s maw was widely open as he could see drool mixed with blood dropping from it to the ground and it’s red eyes shone within its own darkness, completing its already terrifying look with an even more terrifying finish.

This was a [Tier 2 Eclipsed] known as an Abyssal Hound. A monster capable of leveling entire cities and definitely one that wasn’t supposed to be around these parts, and yet it was.

As he spotted the creature, so did it.

As if aware that it’s prey was trapped, the Abyssal Hound slowly moved towards him, almost in a mocking manner.

It could’ve moved with speeds that his eyes would barely be able to track and end him, but the creature decided to have some fun.

The twin burning crimson orbs locked onto him with something that almost looked like amusement.

It was toying with him.

When it got close enough, it stopped for a while, it’s maws still open wide and suddenly, without any warning, it lunged towards him.

His hand frantically brushed against the ground in search of something to save him... Anything. It suddenly landing on a warm metal.

His eyes darted to it: a broken Helion capacitor, small and unstable, though it was still glowing faintly with Solar Energy.

He’d scavenged it earlier that day, thinking he could sell it for a few credits as a way to survive a few more days in this shit hole.

But now, guess he’d just have to use it for for survival in a different way.

"If I’m going to die... I’m taking you with me."

He tore the pin from the capacitor and, with every ounce of strength left in his body, hurled it into the creature’s mouth while it was still midair.

Before the creature could even register what had happened —

BOOM!