Szeth threw himself at the advancing horde of Termites.
Like before, he was quickly put at disadvantage. Though the builder xenos were fragile, their sharp bites and their sheer numbers made them a terrible adversary.
However, the Szeth currently couldn't feel their attacks.
It wasn't merely that he was ignoring the pain. Szeth had been doing so since had had exploded in rage in the warehouse and lost his left arm from the shoulder down. But now, his body would literally refuse to register the wounds. No matter how much he bled, he wouldn't slow down. No matter how much he was bitten, he wouldn't feel exhaustion. He was a simple-minded machine, hellbent on obliterating the Blight in front of him.
Of course, that was an impossible task. At this point, this sector of the city would be overflowing with xenos. Even if he somehow managed to kill every single Termite with his fists, there was still that Soldier to take care of, and then the rest of the xenos horde.
The situation hadn't changed. Newly anointed Watcher or not, Szeth would be dying here.
But he felt a lot better doing so.
That said… My body might have been tricked by the System to believe itself immortal, but I'm still just a single one-armed boy. There's a limit to what I can do.
His body was on the verge of falling apart already, bone showing on several places. It was a literal miracle he hadn't fallen down in convulsions, either due to septic shock or simple Blight infection.
— Watcher, your body is resistant to all manners of infections, Blight contamination included. This appears to stem from an early encounter with the Blight, which forced your immune system to adapt to extremely aggressive invaside foreign bodies.
Huh.
So turning into a living corpse actually helped me with not completely dying until now.
Ironic.
Though, resistant as he might be against viruses and parasites, it wouldn't do much to help him against macroscopic-sized threats.
Alright, now I only have to worry about getting ripped apart by Termites. This is gonna be fun…!
In reality, Szeth wasn't too far gone to look forward to an unsavory death. He was just trying to psyche himself up. And if he was killed before the hypnotic boost wore off, he might not even feel it.
He felt like someone who is falling to a volcano and randomly thinking "hey, I wonder if there will be a point where my flesh will be perfectly cooked before I burn to ashes."
The thought was unsettling.
— Watcher, your current fighting method is inefficient.
Well, duh! I only have two legs and one arm, and they're about to fall off any second!
— Following this reasoning, it is advised you change weapons immediately.
"Oh yeah, and how the fuck am I supposed to do that? Do I just summon one from thin air?" Szeth managed to howl even as he squashed and punched Termites.
— The technology of materializing weaponry from the air is currently unattainable by Watchers.
"Then what the—?!"
— The System can only provide the Watcher with a catalogue of weapons and teleport one to their current location on purchase.
Absolute silence reigned on the inner sanctum of Szeth's mind for a moment.
Then, with a soul-piercing scream, he said "WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?!?!?!"
— In accordance to the Covenant, all humans are obligated to receive education about the general duties and abilities of a Watcher.
"YEAH, WELL GUESS WHAT?! I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL!!!"
— The Watcher is effectively admitting they possess zero knowledge about the basics of the Watcher System.
Fuck right!
Since you're so smart, can you find something to get me out of this mess?!
It has to be strong as hell, so it won't break down in the middle of the fight like that metal tube! Also, it has to be able to cut that Soldier's shell! Since I'll be fighting it sooner or later, and my guess is sooner rather than later!
— Acknowledged.
— Entering Assisted Selection Mode.
— Searching for weapons within the Watcher's current budget. Filters: high durability, sharp edge…
— Match found.
Szeth retreated momentarily from the horde of xenos, gasping for breath as the System went through his options for a weapon.
Immediately after, the feeling of something pressing against his brain grew uncomfortably strong.
What the fuck is that?
In his mind, perfectly depicted as if he had suddenly grown a third... rather, second eye only to look at is, was the image of a sword.
It was a two-meter tall greatsword, with a handle as long as Szeth's forearm and a blade as wide as his head was tall.
— Close-Combat Light Greatsword "Courage"
Are you for real?! That thing's supposed to be light?
How am I supposed to wield it? I have only one hand!!
— Apart from "Courage", all other weapons that meet your filters fall under the Light Greatsword category.
Impossible! Szeth screamed, jumping back again just as a Termite was about to bit his head off. It's too unwieldy! Give me something smaller! I don't care if it can't cut a Soldier in half, just something that can cut through its joints is good enough!! I need to prioritize speed, or I won't be coming out of this one alive!
Somewhat overwhelmed by the weird situation of mentally yelling at something that heard and spoke directly into his head, Szeth was starting to sweat. He didn't know how long the "Mocha" or whatever would work, but now that he had been presented with an actual way to cheat Death again, the anxiety of failing at the most important time was starting to mix with his fury.
It wasn't that he was scared of dying, or that he wanted to stop fighting and run away. It was merely that if he could survive the fight without kicking the bucket, that would be wonderful.
— Acknowledged. Calibrating filters. Recommencing Search…
— Match found.
This time, Szeth's eye opened wide, not in shock or anger, but out of pure glee, as he witnessed the weapon's shape and imagined its feeling on his hands.
"Yeah! That's it! Give it to me!" he yelled to the System even as he jumped at the mob of xenos once more.
This time, though, his hand wasn't drawn back in a fist.
It was stretched forward, waiting for a gift from Heavens.
— Acknowledged
Time dilated. Seconds became minutes, then hours, without the time between them ever transpiring.
Then, the beautiful blade manifested in the air, is if being built on the spot from glowing white dust.
Szeth's outstretched fingers grasped the handle of downward-facing sword, ripping it from the sky and twirling it on his hand as he landed.
The Termites, being the simple-minded xenos they were, didn't even slow down as they met the worn-out boy's head on attack.
What followed was a one-sided carnage.
Tracing light-cyan as if to counter the Blight's dull turquoise, the beautiful single-edged blade shredded the very air, letting out a high-pitched whine as it cut xenos after xenos.
Glossy dark shells were sliced in half.
Chitinous scuttling legs were cut away.
Disgustingly sharp maws were cleaved, their teeth unable to leave even a nick in the edge of the destroyer's steel.
Szeth turned and sliced the air time and time again. He did it without any subtleties, but rather with the awkward strokes of one who wields a weapon for the first time. But even in his inexperienced hands, the blade carved death unto its foes.
A Termite jumped at Szeth's face. In a single motion, he flicked the blade upwards, tip pointing at the sky, back bared at the horde.
The Blight creature split in two in midair, both halves falling to Szeth's sides.
— Transaction complete.
— Close-Combat Light Katana "Mujun - Antinomy" successfully deployed
— Due to emergency, both casing and sheath have been excluded from the deployment. They may be requested at any time.
— 2000 Points have been deducted from your account.
The blade, named Antinomy, was a slightly curved single-edge blade with a circular guard and exquisite craftsmanship. Made of pitch black material, a cyan-blue glow came from the handle and guard, and the blade itself glimmered like skyshards when moving at high speed.
In other words: a high-tech katana
It was extremely light, extremely fast and extremely durable, just as Szeth had requested.
And to him, it was beautiful.
With this weapon on his hands, the scales tipped to Szeth's favor.
What had first seemed a deathmach between the ragged boy and the horde of xenos had now turned into a bucthery.
Three more Termites jumped at Szeth, while another two aimed at his feet. He jumped right into one of the two coming from below, avoiding the other as he sliced two more with a swipe of Antinomy. The remaining two came down to the ground, where Szeth stepped one and skewered down the other with his blade the next moment.
Then the xenos' behavior finally showed signs of change.
"They're running away?"
The Termites had started retreating. It appeared that Szeth's onslaught had killed enough of them to force them into the realization that he wasn't a moving snack, but a threat to the nest.
On one hand, that was good for Szeth, because it meant he wouldn't be turning into minced meat anytime soon.
On the other, it meant that the hunter-types had acknowledged him as an enemy.
The Soldier that just been circling the mold-carpeted area until then launched itself at Szeth.
It's fast!
It was to the point that he could barely react. He threw himself to a side, avoiding the Soldier's deadly scythe-claws by the nick of time. Before he had a moment to recover, its twin came from a side in a relentless follow-up.
Szeth was forced to parry the hit with Antinomy. But precisely because the sword was so light he could perfectly wield its full length with one hand, it wasn't enough to completely deflect the blow. Szeth's gut was grazed by the Soldier's pincer.
Fuck! It's different from the Termites. I won't be able to kill it with a fancy blade alone!
— It is advised that the Watcher gets accustomed to his weapon as soon as possible.
"Yeah, that's easy to say!" Szeth yelled as he deflected a third strike, strong enough to send vibrations coursing through the length of the blade and into his hands. "Isn't there something you can do about it?"
— It is possible to download entire fighting data compilations directly into the Watcher's brain.
— However, the Watcher does not possess the necessary points to pay for this procedure. Furthermore, the scale of the data being downloaded would temporarily impede the Watcher from performing any other attention-consuming activities, resulting in near-instant death.
— The alternative is to download only a small part of the data to the Watcher's brain.
Is there something in there within my budget?
Something that allows me to kill this bastard with Antinomy?
Szeth was growing tired. He needed something to end the battle fast, so that he could get some rest and maybe ask the System for another fix. If he couldn't do that, the future was looking grim.
— Acknowledged.
— Searching for techniques compatible with the Watcher's weapon of choice and budget…
— Several Matches found.
Give me the one that'll allow me to end this battle the fastest! he yelled in his mind, desperate to get the Soldier's deadly scissors out of his guts and thorax.
— Match Found.
— Extermination Art: "Instant Slash."
— An extremely fast attack that can slip through the hardest defenses. By focusing completely on a single point, the Watcher is able to instantly close the distance between the blade and its destiny.
"Give it to me!"
— Acknowledged.
Szeth waited until right after deflecting one of the Soldier's pincer attacks with Antinomy before asking for the System's help.
His brain slightly lagged, suddenly receiving and being forced to process an unexpected amount of information.
This only lasted for a moment, but it was enough for the Soldier that had been eluded yet again to attempt to kill him with his deadly grip.
However, by that time, Szeth's brain had already digested the information, and so he was able to respond just in time.
He swung Antinomy in an overhead slash with all his might, deflecting the trajectory of the incoming attack.
But he didn't leave it at that.
The singing blade that had been forced slightly aside by the Soldier's hard shell traced a glowing arc backwards, falling by Szeth's side.
A moment later, he fell into a low stance.
The memories that he hadn't formed, but now belonged to him, were guiding him, showing him how to end the battle.
His muscles tensed so much that even more blood welled up from the holes on his body, but he paid it no mind.
Szeth's only dark eye zeroed on the seams between the upper and lower shells of the Soldier, from where the limb that brandished its pincer was born.
It was the widest weak spot in the xenos' body.
Szeth focused entirely on that spot.
He gazed at it so intently that the sight was burned into his eyes.
He channeled his remaining energies, as well as all the hatred that still bubbled within him, and poured them into Antinomy's edge.
And then...
The world came to a stop. The colors drained from it, leaving a world of white where thin black lines were all that denoted the existence of the ruined city around him, as if it were no more than a fleeting illusion.
Everything was blank, except for a single spot.
It was glowing crimson red.
Szeth moved. He kicked off from the ground with unbelievable speed, unbefitting for his malnourished and abused body.
He moved without a sound, launching himself at that crimson dot like an arrow, fueled by the emotions he had suppressed until that moment, now raging on his blade.
Then, as came within slashing range from his target—
A single swipe.
"Instant Slash!"
It all happened in less than a second.
Antinomy was stained in dull turquoise as the world of white exploded back with colors. The Soldier's lifeblood spurted from within the deep gash that ran from the base of its pincer all the way through its side, soaking the black Blight carpet in blue liquid.
Szeth wiped the droplets of infection from his blade, guided by a muscle memory that had never been created.
A moment later, he collapsed.
All of his mental energy expended in that last attack, the effects of the "Mocha" had finally expired, plunging Szeth into a world of pain.
"Fuuuuuuuuck…!!!"
It felt worse than when he had fallen down for the first time. Several times worse.
On the other hand, the fact that he could feel pain actually meant he had made it out alive.
So he didn't feel like complaining.
— Congratulations on successfully completing your first skirmish, Watcher.
— It is strongly advised to spend a fraction of the points you gained in recovery items, given the critical condition of your body.
Ptfff… Yeah, no kidding. I feel like someone twisted me inside out, once and then again.
— Finally, having survived your first contact with the Blight, it is safe to assume that storing your information will not be a waste of space.
Oi. That's a twisted logic.
— In accordance with the Contract, all Watchers are required to have an unique identifyier to separate them from the others. This identifier is also the name by which they will be known to the System.
— Though it is not prohibited to delay the choice of an identifier, it is highly recommended to do so as soon as possible. In accordance with the Contract, a Watcher will remain with the first identifier they are called by, whether by themselves, a civilian, or another Watcher. This may lead to extremely uncomfortable situations.
So, a Watcher name, huh?
Szeth thought idly about the System's words. He was aware, vaguely, that all Watchers had their own name, like the declaration of their will.
It was also rumored that Watchers had another, secret motto. "Pick your name before you rise to fame." A Watcher's name was just as important for their image as their looks, and succeeding in securing a good name early in the game was common sense.
Well, since I'm already doing this and everything, Szeth thought. We might as well go all the way through.
He closed his eye, thinking about a suitable name for himself, but he kept getting distracted by his own sorry state.
Man, I feel awful. I'm more than only a foot deep in the other side. Heh, just like people always tell me…
At that moment, a figurative lightbulb turned on over his head.
"Hey, System."
— The Watcher calls.
"I made up my mind about my watcher name."
He had been branded a living dead by the people around him.
Then, he had undergone a near literal process of death and resurrection.
Thinking about it, there really was no other choice.
"Specter. That's my Watcher name."
He opened his only eye, staring right at the Dead Moon with an unreadable expression.
"It's about time I show you all just what this walking corpse is capable of."