Chapter 1:
The Hero Reincarnated
…And then he woke up.
Flesh tones swam before his eyes, the body of a woman he’d never seen before. The front of her shirt was undone, and she cradled him in her arms, smiling down at him. He felt so warm.
For some reason, he was certain she was his mother.
Was his life flashing before his eyes? Was he dredging up memories from when he’d been a baby? Maybe the Gate had sent his mind alone back into the past and he was hungry hungry hungry.
Hmm.
It was hard to think straight.
“Oh!” the woman said, overjoyed. She glanced at the man next to her. “Takkun, Kuon just looked at me! Heheheh.”
“No way, Yuki-chan. Oh, he did! Never seen a baby focus like this. He must be a genius.”
A placid wife and a childish husband; they seemed like a nice young couple. Wait, who was Kuon? Also, he was hungry. So hungry.
“Okay, Kuon. Time to eat!”
Yay!
The wife, Yuki-chan, pulled him to her breast. Food! Food!
“Drink up, Kuon! It’s all for you!” the husband said.
“You’re not the one making it.”
“Good point! Ahaha!”
They both laughed. How sweet.
Who was Kuon?
…
No, he got it. He’d figured it out by now. He just…didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. It was awfully hard to believe. Had he… Had he really been reborn as a baby?
Why? How? What for?
He didn’t know. He didn’t know. He didn’t know.
And not knowing was uncomfortable and frustrating.
Before he knew it, he had begun crying, the ultimate battle technique only babies could use.
Surprised by the sudden change in their son (probably a son), his mother and father set to work trying to soothe him.
He couldn’t control his body or his thoughts.
No good. This was too hard to think about. His brain was too new for it. He had to focus on what he could do right now.
And that…
Was drinking a lot of milk until his tummy was full, then he fell asleep.
He felt more peaceful now than he’d ever felt in his entire life.
Then again, his life had only just begun.
✦ ✦ ✦
One day, massive holes in space opened around the world. Later known as “Gates,” these are portals linking our world with the one the Jave come from. In the decades since these Gates opened, the Jave have continuously poured through them.
Possessing conical bodies primarily colored a dark purple, these hideous creatures have countless mouths and tentacles. Each Jave boasts a total length of several meters, and their tentacles grab humans, whom they then consume whole. They make nests near the Gates and lay eggs, increasing their numbers on our side.
One day, a Gate appeared above Tokyo, the imperial capital.
There were no warnings, no time to prepare.
Before the imperial government and armies could do anything, the heart of the Japanese Empire had been conquered. Aircraft were quickly reserviced to evacuate key government personnel and military leaders, taking off as soon as they were loaded.
The majority were shot down by the Jave.
The Imperial Air Force sent its Maneuver Cavalleria to the scene, Suzuka Hachishiki among them. Even when all his companions had fallen to the invaders, he fought on alone, until…
—Excerpt from Portrait of the Hero.