Lord of Annihilation

'Shit! They found me. I'm finished!'

Having realized that his position had been exposed, Mark immediately moved. Standing up from his position, he quickly turned around and started to run in the direction of the backlines.

'Staying here is plain suicide! There is no way to win against such a monster!' thinking so, he ran.

The tree-like monsters in the background suddenly let out a loud collective roar, which shook the entire forest. With heavy steps, they started to run towards Mark's previous location.

If Lucius had been here, he would have immediately recognized these tree monsters.

They were called 'Treants', a wood-type life-from native to planets predominant in plant life. A naturally formed organism that had evolved just like mankind.

An adult treant could grow up to a height of 15m and would weigh up to 10 tons. Their massive bodies could move unhindered in jungles and their intelligence equaled that of humans. Adult treants had the ability to manipulate the surrounding forests and were considered to be unbeatable within a forest terrain.

Seeing the sizes of the ones chasing Mark, it was clear that these treants were still in their growth phase and hadn't attained adulthood yet. As such, they do not have the ability to control the forests and were only dependent on strength of their massive bodies.

Taking large steps, one of the treants arrived at the bottom of the sky-bridge. With a wide slash, it directly used its claw-shaped hands and tore through the camouflage and optical illusion screens, revealing the metal shaped bridge inside.

ROAR!

With an inhuman roar, the other treants joined with the first treant in its assault. The metallic structures which previously seemed infallible were torn apart like paper under their hands.

In just a few seconds, they had broken through and had started to chase behind Mark.

"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" Mark cursed with all his might.

He could feel the intense vibration on the metal bridge underneath him and knew that those tree-monsters were getting closer.

'Why me?! Couldn't you have arrived sometime earlier?!' he blamed his bad luck.

Well, blaming and cursing wasn't going to change the situation. Right now, escaping from the frontlines and retreating to the back was the only way to ensure his survival.

Knowing this, Mark ran. He never stopped for a second. Never turned back to look. Never entertained the thought of fighting to his death.

His duty was to inform the backlines and he had done so. Not a shred of guilt was present within his heart, for abandoning his soldierly responsibilities.

In record time, Mark made it all the way to the place where he had received the order from his Captain about his placement. The soldiers present in this section had already readied their rifles and stared ahead with a nervous gaze.

Seeing movement in the front, they raised their rifles and were prepared to shoot.

"WAIT! WAIT! Don't shoot!!" Mark hurriedly raised his hands and waved them.

After confirming that it was a friendly soldier, they lowered the guns.

"Mark! What the hell is happening back there?! What are those roars and this shaking?!" the Captain hurriedly asked.

Making it near the captain, Mark almost collapsed onto the ground. The constant loss of his vitality had weakened his physique by a great amount.

"*Huff*, *Huff*, Ca-captain.....there....tree monsters...chasing...run!" Mark mumbled while inhaling a large amount of air.

The Captain quickly held his stumbling body and spoke.

"Calm down for a second and speak properly!" he bellowed.

Gathering his breath Mark screamed.

"Dozens of tree-like monsters are chasing behind me! Run!" 

Having understood his words, the Captain stood blankly. He immediately recovered from his stupor and spoke with a bitter smile.

"Run? Where do we run to? This is the last base that we have on this cursed planet. If I and my men retreat, hundreds of people in the backlines will die."

Determination flashed across his eyes as the Captian spoke.

"I'm tired of retreating. Listen up, men! We shall make a last stand here! The lives of our comrades and friends lays behind us! Let's fight to the death!" he roared.

"YES CAPTAIN!" the dozens of soldiers replied in unison.

"Then take your positions! Let's show those monsters what we got!" he ordered.

The soldiers quickly readied themselves and took their respective positions. The determination to sacrifice their lives to save the people behind them shone within their eyes.

Looking at this scene, Mark's face paled.

"You idiot! You don't understand! It's impossible to win against those monsters! You have to retreat!" he roared.

Although the Captain heard himself addressed as an 'idiot' by a mere Private, he did not get angry. With a low and serious voice, he spoke.

"Mark. I understand that. In fact, everyone present here understands this fact. We never stood a chance against those weak-bodied plant monsters, nevermind the new one that you just described. There is no possible path to victory."

"Then why.." Mark tried to speak up but was interrupted by the Captain.

"Let me finish! Even if there is no chance at victory, I...no we have to try! We have to try for that infinitesimal chance of a miracle happening. We owe it to the lives of our fellow soldiers, the lives of the people behind us, and to those who have sacrificed themselves since the beginning of this nightmare."

He turned around and looked deeply into Mark's eyes.

"You are relieved of your duty, Private. Retreat and inform the people in the back to prepare themselves."

Mark stood stunned at this order. He wanted to retort but was interrupted by the Captain.

"I said LEAVE!" the Captain bellowed.

Swallowing his question, Mark turned around and started to run. His legs felt heavy as if they were filled with lead. His mind felt dizzy and his ears buzzed.

BANG! BANG! CRASH!

The sounds of trees falling, metallic structures being twisted. The blasts of the gunfire and the cries of the dying men. The roars of the treants. All sorts of noises were heard behind him and stabbed into his heart.

'Stupid guy! Why doesn't he understand?! He's ordering those men to their deaths!' Mark bemoaned. Tears flowed from his eyes and wet the ground beneath him.

'Those men are my friends! If you wanted to die, you should have done it alone, old man!' although his words were filled with hate, Mark did not mean any of it.

In fact, sadness and loss welled up within his heart as he thought about the Captain and the other soldiers. These were the people he had spent 6 years of his life with. These were the people he had fought side-by-side against those plant monsters for 2 months.

Right now, he wanted to say and continue fighting with them. To face those tree monsters until his last breath.

Alas, he couldn't. Fear had taken root in his heart and robbed him of his will to fight.

'I'm a goddamned coward.' Mark thought to himself in shame.

Still, no matter how shameful he felt, he never stopped running. He wanted to live. Even if it was for only a second longer, Mark wanted to live.

'I must make it to the backline! I must warn them!' he thought to himself.

Dashing with his weary body, Mark eventually made it to the back. At this moment, not a single ounce of energy was present in his body, with his body feeling as heavy as a boulder.

Seeing the disorganized groups of people running in front of him, Mark opened his mouth to shout the words of warning.

"Everyone--" 

It was at this moment, that Mark felt an enormous amount of force slam into his defenseless back. The soldier's uniform immediately tore and a grievous wound, so deep that his bones could be seen, appeared.

Mark spat a mouthful of blood and was sent flying through the air. With a dull thud, his body hit one of the metal pillars and fell onto the ground. Multiple bones were broken from the impact and he was unable to move his body. 

Mark felt his life slowly slipping away from him.

Cries of the weak civilians as their bodies were ripped apart and consumed by the treants were heard by him. The treants were faced with no resistance and the metal structures and bunkers were unable to withstand their might. In but a few seconds, almost a hundred humans died. 

It wasn't a battle. For a battle, there was resistance between two equally-strong forces.

This was a slaughter.

'Haha. We are doomed.' Mark soundlessly laughed as his thoughts flowed for the final time.

His head slumped and his breathing stopped.

Mark had died.

------------------

In the middle of a completely burnt forest, atop a pile of charred trees and burnt corpses of the treants, stood a youth.

His entire body was covered with reddish-yellow flames that burned with incomparable might. His red hair and crimson eyes burned with flames of anger, as he continued to beat the burnt corpses of the dead treants.

Letting out his anger and frustration, the youth finally stopped his actions. Gazing at the bodies of the dead treants he found his heart to be empty.

With a grim-looking face, Alex hoarsely spoke.

"I've arrived too late."