The silence in the war room was broken only by the echoing words of a man defeated by his own legacy.
Pentagon stood frozen, eyes locked on Dr.FeralBullet, who had just confessed the final pieces of a truth too heavy for one mind to carry.
And in that moment, the agent's voice cut through the air like steel.
Pentagon: "Code Red."
Lights flickered red across the base. Sirens screamed like the wailing ghosts of the past. He turned sharply to the nearest console.
Pentagon: "Xavier. Darling. Secure Feral. Ready the jet for Shanghai."
Down in the hangar, the thunder of boots echoed as agents loaded the jet with high-grade weapons. Metallic crates were being sealed, labeled, and pushed in—each holding an answer to a problem humanity could barely define.
In the shadows of the chaos, two familiar silhouettes crept silently between the cargo.
Rouxie whispered: "We don't let them face this alone."
Vargara: "Let's do something stupid then."
The two slipped inside a weapons crate just as the cargo door slammed shut. The engines roared. The jet accelerated across the runway...
A golden portal sliced open in the sky ahead like a divine scar. With a jolt, the jet vanished into the sky above Shanghai.
Elsewhere... a void trembled.
Hitlas stood alone on a steel platform as reality twisted around him. His eyes flickered with a strange, ancient energy. He crouched like a predator.
Then he leapt.
Crashing through the atmosphere, he smashed into a clothes store in the heart of Shanghai. Shards of glass and mannequins scattered as he walked out—now dressed in a sleek black suit.
Police: "Put your hands—"
Before the officer could finish, Hitlas accelerated. Cars shredded in his path. Concrete buckled. Screams erupted as the force of a man sliced the city like it was made of butter.
Xavier's voice crackled on the police radio: "All units—withdraw. Now. This is beyond us."
Above the chaos, the jet approached.
Hitlas looked up. His pupils narrowed.
He jumped.
Vertical ascent. Straight through the left engine.
BOOM.
Metal tore. Flames burst. The aircraft spiraled. Inside—
Pentagon: "Feral, stay down!"
Darling and Xavier swung open the nearest crates, ready for weapons—but instead—
Rouxie: "Surprise."
Vargara: "We're not guns, but we bite."
Xavier: "You two—?! Dammit!"
They had no time to argue. The floor split beneath them as the aircraft lost altitude. All five of them jumped, crashing through rooftops, steel, and glass... before smashing into the ground.
Smoke. Rubble. Screaming. In the middle of it all stood a single figure.
Hitlas.
A modern god facing relics of a dying age.
Pentagon narrowed his eyes... too late.
Hitlas: "You're first."
One kick. Pentagon flew like a ragdoll, smashing through five buildings before vanishing into smoke.
Dr. FeralBullet stepped forward, trembling: "Stop, Hitlas. Let the weakling go. Son, we can start a ne—"
But as soon as the Feral lowered his guard...
Hitlas: "Wrong move."
—his hand pierced straight through Feral's stomach.
Blood. Gasp. Silence.
Hitlas began to laugh.
It wasn't human.
Dr. Feral: "Y-You're... not him..."
Hitlas (smiling): "He's gone. I am what's left."
Feral: "He's not Hitlas. HE'S THE MONSTER!"
Xavier froze. His mind shattered.
Flashbacks. The lab. The cropses. The skinwalker. The voice.
He dropped to his knees.
Pentagon, limping back through the dust, raised a brow.
Pentagon: "Did I miss something...?"
Xavier whispered, broken: "The apex lifeform... it's still alive."
Pentagon's casual face dissolved. His mouth fell open, and fear took its place.
Then—
Darling pulled her pistol and fired three rounds.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
The bullets didn't even scratch him.
Hitlas turned. A blur.
Rouxie: "Darling, move!"
Vargara shoved her aside just in time. Hitlas grabbed Vargara by the neck and dragged her like a trophy, tearing through the streets, sparks and blood trailing behind.
Rouxie screamed: "VARGARA!"
All of them ran, leaving behind smoke, fire, and the silence of the broken.
On the shattered ground, Feral bled out. Xavier knelt, barely conscious, whispering things only he could understand.
The streets blurred as Hitlas dragged Vargara, her head scraping across the road with terrifying speed. . Blood poured.
Her screams were silent now—her voice gone. But her soul hadn't given up.
Then something inside her snapped. Not in pain, but in power.
Vargara's body lit with a pale green glow—unnatural and fierce. With a final surge, she twisted in his grip, opened her cracked jaw—*
—and bit down on Hitlas's wrist with monstrous force.
CRUNCH.
The hand ripped clean off.
Hitlas howled, stumbling.
But the momentum launched Vargara like a ragdoll into the air. Her back slammed into a giant roadside boulder with a sickening thud. She collapsed, twitching, her face bruised and blood-drenched, barely conscious.
Then—flames.
Not of fire. Of rage.
Pentagon arrived through a golden portal, eyes wide as he saw her—his precise girl—bleeding and broken through the head, her blood running into the earth like spilled ink on a sacred book.*
The man who wore cool like a second skin—vanished.
He ignited.
Pentagon: "YOU—!"
He blurred through the air, grabbed Hitlas by the collar—and launched straight up. The sky cracked. The air twisted.
Then—
BOOOOOM!
A sonic inferno ruptured the heavens as Pentagon exploded in the stratosphere with the monster still in his grip. A pillar of orange light pierced the clouds like judgment itself.
He landed like a comet, rolling through debris. But he didn't stop. He ran to Vargara, dropped to his knees.
Pentagon: "Vargara! Vargara—stay with me!"
Her eyes fluttered open. Her lips moved.
Vargara: "You... idiot. You always come late."
He smiled, eyes damp, placing his hand gently on her cracked forehead. His palm glowed faintly, a heat meant to keep her conscious just a bit longer.
Behind them, a portal shimmered open.
Darling: "Pentagon, we need to go—NOW!"
Rouxie knelt beside her, still clutching Vargara's bruised hand.
Pentagon: "Take them. I'll get Xavier and Feral."
Darling: "You'll die alone out here."
Pentagon: "I've done worse things alone."
With one last look, they vanished through the portal, sealing shut with a hum.
Then came the rain.
But not water.
Blood.
Drop by drop, it fell from the skies—thick, warm, unnatural. Crimson mist blanketed the broken city.
And within it...
Laughter.
Not from Human.
From something older. Something deeper.
Pentagon stood perfectly still, trembling—not from cold, but from the weight of knowing.
This wasn't a battle.
This was a beginning.
And something in the clouds was watching.
Something laughing through the voice of a corpse.
To Be Continued...