This Is Not the Life That I Imagined

John sprinted along the wall, releasing explosive arrows one after another at the base where the monsters gathered. He suddenly dove into a roll, narrowly avoiding an incoming ice blast. Glancing back, he saw a two-headed hydra—one head spewing fire, the other ice.

His eyes narrowed, focusing as he quickly switched to normal arrows. With swift precision, he loosed a barrage, each arrow slicing through the air and striking the hydra's heads in rapid succession.

"Help!" a desperate scream made John's heart race. Turning, he spotted an agent whose legs had been paralyzed by venom, his movements sluggish from the pain.

"Hold on!" John shouted, just as he was about to shoot the monsters overwhelming the agent. From the corner of his eye, he saw the hydra hurling a fireball and an ice blast simultaneously in his direction.

"Oh sh—!"

John quickly shifted his attribute to agility, pushing his speed to the limit. He sprinted and leaped just before the projectiles collided.

BOOM!

The explosion sent a wave of mist and heat radiating through the surroundings. Feeling the scorching heat against his back, John grimaced and switched to armor-piercing arrows. Drawing the string tight, his bow forming a sharp crescent, he waited for the smoke to clear before releasing the arrow.

It sliced through the air with a hiss, piercing the hydra's ice head before it could react. Another arrow followed, impaling the fire-breathing head.

Though the hydra still wasn't dead, it was no longer a threat for now.

Sliding his bow onto his back, John unsheathed his sword just as a gut-wrenching scream tore through the chaos.

Without wasting a moment, John dashed toward the agent. The scene was grim—the agent was bleeding heavily, one of his arms missing, while his legs, stripped to the bone, left him unable to move. It was a miracle he was still standing, fighting for his life with his remaining arm.

John stormed the monsters attacking the agent, each of his strikes fatal. Bodies dropped left and right until he reached the agent, yanking him out of harm's way. John sprinted back, leaping from the high wall to a nearby house, then jumping across rooftops before finally landing near the supply track on the ground.

"This is the supply track. I'm sorry, but you'll have to treat yourself—I need to get back," John said urgently.

Gritting his teeth from the pain, the agent gave a weak nod. "I understand... thank you."

John, with a heavy heart, replenished his arrows before racing back toward the battle.

"The walls are overturning with monsters. We need help!" Calls of help were transmitting through the comms. John looked and saw the place where he saved the agent, now brimming with monsters running along the walls and others who crossed the wall.

He dashed and took out any monster that jumped down before scaling the wall once more and moving as he killed any beast in his way.

John's boots struck the crumbling stone of the wall as he sprinted back toward the heart of the fight. The wall itself was trembling under the weight of the monsters, each creature that climbed over adding to the chaos. Explosions, cries, and growls melded into a storm of chaos, reverberating through the battlefield.

The military was told to make a lockdown around the town after the police with the townspeople were gone. The soldiers found it strange. Them, the police and the town's people were told that a natural disaster was coming and that's why they're evacuating. But now they were commanded to lockdown the area, which doesn't make sense to them.

Some soldiers shifted uneasily, gripping their weapons a little tighter each time an explosion or inhuman howl echoed through the air. They exchanged nervous glances, as if looking for answers among each other. A few even glanced back at their commander, hoping for reassurance or explanation.

"This can't just be a natural disaster, can it?" One soldier muttered under his breath, eyes wide, as another tremor shook the ground.

"Quiet," his companion replied, though his voice was shaky. "Orders are orders."

But even as they stood their ground, the strange noises seemed to inch closer. The fear in their faces was undeniable—a creeping dread that told them they were unprepared for whatever was unfolding beyond the barricade.

With each explosion and every howl that soared to the sky, their hairs stood on end. They felt the wrongness of it all, but only the commander, with a grim expression, truly knew the extent of the threat as he stared toward the town.

Throughout his years in the military, he had often seen orders come down to lock down areas without explanation. Despite not knowing why, he followed those orders without question. However, with each promotion, he was fed fragmented pieces of the truth until he became a Colonel, commanding a brigade of five thousand soldiers.

He was then introduced to the true nature of this world, and while he was initially skeptical, over time and with more information, he came to realize that people who defied the norm existed and were the key to the nation's peace.

As someone who entered the military to protect his country, he had the utmost respect for the BMI agents fighting out there. He'd been briefed by BMI officials before coming to this town, a quick exchange that left him cold. He knew more than his soldiers—enough to understand that this "containment" wasn't something ordinary forces could handle.

His jaw clenched, and he muttered a silent curse, doubting whether the few BMI agents could handle the crisis. If things went south, these men and women he led would face horrors far beyond their training.

He could only pray that whatever was happening inside remained contained... Or that BMI had the strength to vanquish those nightmarish creatures before his troops glimpsed at the true terror hidden from view.

John wiped a line of blood from his forehead, his vision blurred by sweat and grime. The chaotic sounds of battle were not getting any weaker, screams and cries of injured agents piercing the air. He saw an agent struggling to stand, his weapon falling from his hands as a monster lunged at him. John instinctively raised his bow, but his arm trembled—he was out of arrows.

An explosion echoed through the air, and amid the smoke, John saw an agent lying on the ground, gripping a mangled leg. He took a step forward to help, but a monstrous, sharp-clawed creature leaped into his path, forcing him to focus on his own survival.

John slashed at the creature with his sword, holding it at bay, but the continuous fighting made his body scream in protest with every move.

"Focus, John," he told himself, though his mind was beginning to feel as battered as his body. He could sense his strength waning; every step felt heavier, and every breath labored.

Another call came through the comms, desperate and panicked: "We need backup! They're breaking through!"

John scanned the chaos, seeing comrades he'd fought beside now struggling to survive. Some battled on with broken limbs while others dragged themselves away from the encroaching monsters. His heart pounded with each breath, but he knew he had almost nothing left to give. All he could do was stand there helplessly, watching their despair, powerless to help.

Through the haze, he heard Liam's voice crackling over the comms, more urgent than ever. "BMI HQ, this is Captain Liam, requesting immediate reinforcements. Repeat, we're outnumbered and losing agents. We need reinforcements now!"

The line was silent for a moment. Then, a cold voice finally came through. "All available units are currently deployed on other missions. Reinforcements are unavailable at this time."