Rain still fell.
But softer now.
The fires were dying, and smoke drifted into the shattered sky in lazy spirals. The ruins had quieted to silence, no gunfire, no footsteps, no screams. Only the sound of a child's sobs and the low, irregular breathing of a broken soldier.
"Wake up."
Her small hands pressed against the chest of his armor.
"Come on. Please. Wake up."
The goblin girl trembled, kneeling beside him in the mud, her dress soaked, her eyes wild with panic.
"Don't die! You said no one would hurt me…"
Axel's eyes fluttered beneath a cracked lens. A spark of green flickered inside the ruined HUD of his broken open helmet. His voice rasped out like sandpaper.
"...left side...top pouch…"
Her ears perked. "What?"
"Nano-regen… shot…" he whispered.
She fumbled across his suit, fingers slipping over dented plates until she found a triangular case latched into the armor's upper webbing. It glowed faintly blue.
She popped it open with shaking hands and found a silver injector, marked with glowing red cautions.
"Stick… base of neck… hurry…"
She hesitated, then nodded. "Okay."
The girl jammed the needle where synthetic skin met cracked metal.
It hissed.
Axel screamed.
His whole body arched as heat ripped through him. Steam burst from every seam in his armor. Scars stitched themselves closed across his abdomen, tendons mended beneath the skin, bone cracked and reformed, fusing clean and sharp. Burnt blood boiled away.
He collapsed again, panting, his face ghost-pale and shining with sweat.
"It's supposed to block the pain…" he growled.
"Doesn't look like it worked," she said, wide-eyed.
"Still hurts like hell."
She stared at him.
"You're alive…"
Axel let his head roll sideways to look at her, the golden glimmer of her eyes cutting through the mist. "Yeah… thanks to you."
She tilted her head. "I didn't think humans could bleed that much."
"I didn't think goblins could talk."
She blinked. "What? Why?"
"Because I've never heard one say a word before."
She sat up straighter, proudly placing a muddy hand on her chest. "That's because they don't talk to demons."
Axel's brow twitched. "Demons?"
"Yeah. That's what the other races think you are. So they keep quiet when you come. No one wants to talk to death."
Axel frowned.
"I've… heard that before. When I was walking through a forest once. I heard someone whisper 'demon.'" His voice dropped. "Didn't think much of it then."
She squinted at him, like inspecting a puzzle. "You don't feel like a demon."
"I don't know what I feel like anymore."
She smiled. "I feel hungry. And what's your name?"
That made him laugh, and wince.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"I asked first!" she stuck her tongue out. "How old are you, demon-man?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Axel. Twenty-six."
She gasped dramatically. "TWENTY-SIX?! That's ancient!"
"I'm not that old!" Axel snapped.
"You're older than dirt!"
He groaned and rolled onto his side. "I take it back. I should've let Vera slice me."
She giggled and leaned closer. "My name's Kyra. And I'm six. Which is the best number. So I win."
Axel blinked, her innocence cutting through the pain sharper than any blade. "Nice to meet you, Kyra."
She poked his shoulder. "Is your suit gonna be okay? It's all broken and smoky."
Axel lifted his hand with effort and tapped the small glowing panel on his vambrace.
"It'll recover. It's lined with nano-weave, self-repairing tech. Pretty advanced stuff."
She gave him a blank look. "That's a lot of big words."
He smiled faintly. "Watch this."
He placed a hand over his chest and gave the order.
"Black Wolf. Initiate recovery mode."
The suit let out a low growl of system confirmation.
Panels began shifting, reshaping, as microfilaments repaired torn cables. Metal plates realigned. Black armor knit back together like skin re-sealing a wound. The nanobots buzzed to life in glowing veins along his arms.
Kyra's jaw dropped. "Wooow…"
His helmet retracted into his backplate with a hiss.
Axel looked down at her and gave her a tired smile. "I'm not a demon."
"You're a human," she said, smiling back.
For the first time in a long while… it felt like that was true.
Meanwhile... in the Citadel of Bastion.
A vast war hall gleamed with light from suspended crystal engines. High white pillars framed a chamber lined with silver banners and command screens.
Vera knelt at the center, armor scuffed but polished, the symbol of Black Halo still glowing on her chestplate.
Before her stood General Solas Vire, Warlord of the Exterminator Forces.
His armor was regal, black and crimson, trimmed in gold leaf, covered in ceremonial etchings of fallen beasts. A jagged scar crossed his chin. His one remaining eye burned like a furnace. The other, a mechanical socket that tracked movement with eerie calm.
"You lost him?" Solas said slowly, voice like crushed stone.
"No, sir," Vera replied firmly. "We engaged him. Full force. He resisted. Fought hard."
Solas narrowed his eye.
She continued. "In the chaos, he… fell. Into the Chasm River. Suit compromised. Bleeding badly. Odds of survival… low."
Solas turned away, lips curling in disdain. "You allowed a defector to escape."
"We did not confirm his survival, General," Vera said. "And he fought to protect a non-human. He has broken code. He is not the Axel we knew."
"Do you feel guilt, Vera One?" Solas asked without turning.
She paused.
"No."
"Good. Because if he's alive… you'll be the one to finish what you started."
Solas turned to his officers.
"Double the surveillance along the border colonies. If Axel 26 draws breath, I want him hunted. We do not tolerate broken weapons."
He looked back at Vera.
"No traitor walks away from Bastion."