"Wow… things are getting lively."
Victor Sergei spoke as he shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun. Before them stood the colossal body of an Origin-class Entity, its aura pulsing through the air like a silent warning.
"He's looking at me," Elara Queen said quietly, her gaze fixed and unblinking.
Victor chuckled under his breath.
"Haha… these creatures — small brains, but smart enough to sense when something dangerous is staring back."
"Then why isn't it running away?"
Victor smirked. "Didn't I just tell you? Small brain."
He tilted his head upward, squinting at the empty sky.
"Strange… not a single aircraft up there. Completely silent."
Elara exhaled slowly.
"Maybe I should just let it be."
"Why?" Victor asked, half-curious.
Elara turned to him, her lips curving into a sly grin.
"Weren't we planning to leave anyway?"
Victor burst out laughing, his deep voice echoing across the barren plain.
"Hahaha! My daughter… so heartless."
"So, do you agree or not?"
He drew a long breath, then rested a casual hand on her shoulder.
"There are still people inside that city, Elara. Million of them. If you're going to be cruel… at least choose the right place for it."
Elara turned away, her expression blank.
"Boring."
"You'd better hurry before that thing decides to use its mouth," Victor warned lightly.
"Wouldn't be a problem if it did — once or twice," Elara replied flatly.
Victor chuckled. "You really are merciless."
Elara stepped forward. "I'm going."
"Be careful… don't die," Victor said.
Elara glanced back over her shoulder. "Who are you saying that to?"
"The monster, of course."
A faint smile touched her lips — then she shot upward, her body vanishing into the sunlight.
Victor watched her ascend, the faint grin returning to his face.
"I swear… my own daughter scares me more than the monsters do."
-----------
Meanwhile, in the northern sector — thousands of superhuman troops began their descent into the fortress in staggered waves.
They leapt down from the towering ramparts, using the specialized harnesses strapped around their waists.
The first wave landed safely, led by their commanding officer. But within moments, chaos erupted — the fog was too dense, visibility near zero.
Orders crackled through the communication channels, each commander shouting instructions, their overlapping voices echoing in the ears of those still waiting above. Anxiety began to spread like wildfire.
"Everyone, prepare to descend!" one of the commanders barked to the third-year cadets.
"I'm going to die… I know I'm going to die!" a trembling student muttered, gripping his harness with shaking hands.
Below, Captain Solaris was already on the move, attempting to regroup his commanders. Each step was measured, cautious — the shattered streets around him littered with debris and half-collapsed buildings.
"Captain!" several commanders called out as they arrived with their respective squads of supers.
Solaris raised his hand sharply, signaling them to halt. Then he pressed the small button on his earpiece.
"Redlands, Maya, Hunt, Lambert… begin the operation."
"Understood," came their unified reply.
With a curt nod, Solaris gestured to his officers to take positions. The signal was then relayed from squad to squad — a silent chain of readiness rippling across the battlefield.
Beneath the shadow of the northern wall, the wind-type supers braced themselves — their palms glowing faintly as the air around them began to stir.
A moment later, they unleashed their power, ready to sweep away the suffocating fog that blanketed the ruined city.
Silence returned.
Aisan Drank, Mirabel, Lucia, and the rest of the third-year cadets stood atop the fortress wall, waiting for the final command to jump.
A heavy stillness gripped them — the kind that tightened around the chest and made breathing feel like effort. Their bodies trembled, eyes fixed downward at the ocean of fog that swallowed the city whole.
Then, everything changed.
The air began to stir — softly at first, then violently. Whirlwinds erupted one after another along the length of the wall, each spinning faster until the mist was drawn upward in great twisting columns.
The dense fog scattered, unraveling into the sky. Slowly, the view beneath them cleared — revealing the long-abandoned city, silent and lifeless under the pale light.
Below, the commanding officers began issuing new orders, directing the superhuman squads to spread throughout the city.
They moved with precision — some gliding through the air, others using their waist devices to leap from one crumbling structure to the next.
Captain Solaris maintained constant communication through a secured channel, his voice steady amid the static.
The city of Orion stretched vast before them — a labyrinth of broken towers and narrow streets thick with metallic dust.
Every step had to be measured.
No one dared move too fast, for any shadow, any flicker among the ruins, could be where the Primals were waiting.
Time kept ticking.
The superhuman squads were now scattered across the vast ruins of Orion City — moving in tight formations, following the orders of their respective commanders.
Each footstep echoed faintly between the half-collapsed buildings shrouded in a thin veil of mist, as if the city itself still breathed beneath the silence.
Over the comms, Captain Solaris's voice came through — calm, but edged with command.
"Status report. Redlands, you first."
"Eastern sector secure," replied Tom Redlands. "But… it's too quiet. No sign of any Primals."
"Western sector's clear too," said Maya Haller after a brief pause.
"But I don't like this silence. Usually before a large-scale surge, the air vibrates… now it's dead still."
Solaris pressed his lips together, scanning the skeletal cityscape ahead.
"Hunt, Lambert, your status?"
"Southern sector's stable, but I found several collapsed buildings with large drag marks. Something heavy was pulled toward the city center," reported Jeremy Hunt.
A moment of static followed before Akasa Lambert's voice came through — hoarse, restrained, as though she was holding back unease.
"I tried casting my shadows into the central zone… but there's no feedback. No life signatures. It's like everything there is already dead."
Solaris went quiet. Only the faint hiss of radio static filled the silence.
"You're certain, Lambert?"
"Absolutely. This isn't normal, Captain. I can usually sense traces of Primal energy even from miles away — but right now… nothing. Not a single pulse."
Then suddenly, the comms exploded with overlapping voices — panicked, disordered.
"Commander! We found something!"
"There are Primal corpses in the central district!"
"They're… arranged. Not killed in battle — arranged!"
Solaris's heartbeat thundered in his chest. He gripped his communicator tightly.
"Repeat that report!"
"Primal corpses, sir. Hundreds — maybe more. They've been stacked… like a pyramid."
Silence fell across the channel.
Maya, Redlands, Hunt, and Lambert said nothing — the weight of the discovery sinking in.
A cold wind swept through the ruins before Solaris's voice returned — firm, decisive.
"All units, advance to the central district immediately. Repeat — advance to the central district, now!"
Atop the fortress wall, the third-year cadets stood tense, awaiting their command. Their breaths came in sharp, uneven pulls, fingers clutching tightly to the handles of the waist-mounted gear strapped around them.
From below, a deep roaring sound began to rise — like a brewing storm. The superhuman troops stationed beneath the fortress were moving in unison, the synchronized rhythm of a force already at war.
"Listen up!" the commander's voice thundered through the loudspeakers, sharp and commanding.
"Before you drop, activate your comms and check your harness systems! Make sure every stabilizer's working! Understood!?"
"Yes, Commander!" they shouted in unison.
"Now! Jump!"
Aisan Drank, Mirabel, Lucia, and the rest — twenty in all — took one steadying breath before leaping off the fortress edge.
Fear coiled in their chests, but training took over. The waist devices engaged with a metallic hiss; steel wires shot outward, spinning fast and catching the air before tightening, slowing their descent until their boots hit the cracked earth below.
"Commander! We've spotted Primals on the city's western edge! Repeat, two Primals sighted on the west side!"
"How many?" Maya Haller's voice came through the channel, calm but taut.
"Only two, Commander… but they—"
The voice broke off — the line filled with sharp static.
"—the creatures… they ran away from us."
The comms went dead.
Aisan Drank turned toward Mirabel, his face pale and slick with cold sweat.
"Ran away?" he whispered. "Since when do Primals… know fear?"
-------
Captain Solaris and his squad moved swiftly through the ruins of the city, their footsteps echoing between crumbling walls coated in iron dust. Each soldier gripped their weapon tightly, eyes sharp — but the deeper they went, the stranger the air felt.
When they reached the city's center, the view opened before them — and in unison, everyone froze.
Thick black blood seeped through the cracked streets. The walls and concrete were splattered with the scars of a violent struggle. Severed pieces of Primals lay scattered across the ground — some charred beyond recognition, others cleanly sliced apart as if by something too fast to perceive.
"Who… did this?" one soldier murmured, voice trembling.
"This is insane… it's like a massacre," another whispered, eyes wide with disbelief.
Uneasy murmurs rippled through the squad as they pressed forward. Then, when they stepped into an open square — every breath stopped.
Before them stood a mountain of corpses. Hundreds of Primal carcasses stacked neatly upon one another, forming a black pyramid that nearly touched the ruins of a collapsed tower above it.
Captain Solaris stood rooted to the ground. His voice came out low, heavy.
"This… wasn't done by humans."
Across the comms, overlapping voices filled the channel — Maya Haller, Tom Redlands, Jeremy Hunt — each reporting the same scene from their sectors.
"Unbelievable…" Maya's tone was tight with horror. "All the Primals in the west — they've been arranged. Into a pyramid."
Captain Solaris lifted his gaze again, eyes fixed on the grotesque monument before him.
"What kind of creature… could do something like this?"
Aisan Drank raised his hand high, signaling everyone to stop moving. Their breaths were still uneven from the landing, but the air suddenly fell silent when a voice crackled through the comms in their ears.
"You all heard that, right?" Aisan spoke quietly, his sharp eyes scanning their surroundings.
"Yeah…" Lucia replied, her voice trembling — somewhere between disbelief and relief. Her face was pale, but her eyes flickered with a faint spark of hope.
"There's no way… the Primals could just die like that, could they?" another student asked, still trying to process what they'd heard.
"All divisions have confirmed it," Aisan finally said, exhaling slowly, the weight in his tone unmistakable.
"Which means… we're safe."
Those words felt like a lock snapping open — the pressure that had crushed their chests since the start of the mission finally lifted. Some of the students laughed weakly; others bent over, releasing long, shaky breaths of relief.
Then, the comms buzzed again — this time with a lighter, almost teasing voice.
"Looks like you still get to live another day, little brother," Maya Haller's voice came through, followed by a soft chuckle that broke the tension.
In an instant, the entire third-year unit erupted into cheers.
"We're safe! We're safe!" voices overlapped, laughter spilling out between words. For the first time in what felt like forever, they allowed themselves to feel joy.
in the middle of it all, Aisan Drank only smiled faintly. For the first time since the mission began… it felt like the world was breathing again.
But that moment didn't last.
A siren suddenly tore through the air — long, piercing, layered — shaking the very walls of the northern fortress.
"Code Red! Code Red! To all commanders and super units — we've detected the presence of two Origin-Class Entities! Repeat, two Origin-Class Entities detected at the western fortress!"
The trembling voice from the comms froze everyone where they stood. Faces that had just moments ago been filled with laughter turned white with dread.
"Voss! What's happening?!" Captain Solaris's voice thundered through the channel.
Inside the Northern Fortress II control tower, the entire room pulsed with flashing red light. Aeria Voss stood before a massive control panel, fingers darting across holographic screens.
"Origin attack confirmed, Captain! Two massive entities approaching simultaneously from the west!"
"What?!" Solaris's jaw tightened, voice sharp as steel.
The calm they had fought so hard to regain shattered instantly. Every squad across the northern sector went rigid — they all knew the western fortress was nearly an hour away.
"Deploy all transport carriers to my position — now!" Solaris barked.
"Yes, Captain!" the operator replied.
Over the comms, Tom Redlands's tense voice cut through.
"Solaris! We'll go ahead!"
Jeremy Hunt followed, his tone calm but heavy.
"You go first. I don't have flight capability."
Without another word, Captain Solaris launched himself into the air, the force of his leap sending a shockwave rippling through the ground. His expression hardened, eyes fixed westward — toward the oncoming catastrophe.
Aisan Drank, Mirabel, and the rest of the third-year students stood frozen atop the ruins, their eyes wide as they watched the sky.
Three streaks of blinding light sliced through the clouds like missiles — racing toward the western fortress now engulfed in a sea of red alarms.
-----
"Activating automatic cannon systems! Activating automatic cannon systems!"
The voice of the fortress AI blared through every corridor of the western stronghold, echoing against steel walls. In an instant, rows of massive cannons along the fortress ramparts came alive — their barrels whirring, red indicators flashing rapidly before locking onto two airborne targets: Elara Queen and the Origin-class Entity.
"Open fire!"
The western sky exploded.
Hundreds of crimson energy beams ripped through the air, each one howling as it tore past. The battlefield blazed with violent light and thunderous detonations that shook the walls and scorched the air.
In the midst of it all, Elara Queen hovered motionless — unshaken. Her black hair whipped wildly in the storm of light, the glow of explosions reflected in her calm, unreadable eyes.
"Why are they shooting at me?" she murmured flatly, almost like a sigh.
Each blast that struck her vanished instantly, absorbed by the faint, shimmering field surrounding her body. Not a scratch. Not even a ripple.
She laughed softly.
Whenever the Origin Entity behind her opened its mouth to release a blast of energy, Elara would vanish — reappearing an instant later beneath its massive jaw to deliver a brutal uppercut that slammed its maw shut with an earth-shaking crack.
The creature roared in fury, its voice booming across the clouds like a storm. It understood now — the little girl was toying with it.
"Ugh, you're so annoying!" Elara shouted, eyes flaring crimson as more cannon fire screamed toward her.
She lifted one finger, pointing lazily toward the fortress guns still blazing.
"Boom… Boom… Boom."
Each word rolled out like a whisper of judgment.
And with every syllable, a cannon exploded — one by one — bursting into plumes of flame and molten steel that rained down the fortress walls.
Down below, Victor Sergei watched from afar, palm pressed to his forehead.
"Great… she's blowing up the defense systems. They're gonna fine me for this," he muttered, sighing heavily.
Then he cupped his hands and yelled, "Elara!! Hurry up! Stop fooling around! They're coming any second!"
Elara glanced down, a crooked smile tugging at her lips — her eyes gleaming with mischief and danger.
"Alright, alright!" she called back.
She turned again toward the Origin Entity, still thrashing in defiance.
Her smile sharpened — not kind, but cold and final.
"Sorry… I can't play anymore. Goodbye" As her final word fell, her finger pointed straight at the Origin's chest "Boom."
A pulse of pure light erupted from her fingertip, piercing straight through the Entity's chest and out its back.
The colossus convulsed once — then crashed to the earth with a sound like a mountain collapsing, sending shockwaves rippling across the entire fortress.
Elara brushed the dust from her shoulder, expression serene.
"Done."
She descended slowly, landing lightly in front of her father. Her hair, still fluttering from the shockwave, framed half her face.
"What's with that face, Dad?" she asked flatly, though her tone carried a hint of teasing.
Victor stood with his hands on his hips, looking thoroughly exasperated.
"Why did you destroy all the cannons, Elara?" he asked sternly, though the disappointment in his voice sounded almost tired.
Elara shrugged. "They were annoying, Dad. And why were they shooting me? I'm not the monster."
"Well, maybe because you were playing with the monster instead of killing it," Victor shot back, half-angry, half-concerned.
Elara smirked faintly, eyes drifting toward the darkening sky. "So what? I was bored."
Victor groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Enough. Let's go. Tomorrow I'll get a vehicle so we can move out."
"Why not buy a plane?" Elara asked, her tone suddenly innocent, almost childlike.
"Because your dad's broke."
Elara raised an eyebrow. "What about that crystal?"
"I'll sell it when we get there. Not here — too many regulations."
Elara sighed lazily, kicking a loose pebble as she walked beside him, hands shoved in her pockets.
"Traveling by land's gonna be boring."
Victor smiled faintly, shaking his head.
"Boring maybe, but at least you can sleep through it."
-----
At full power, Captain Solaris, Tom Redlands, and Maya Haller streaked through the sky like missiles, leaving the hypersonic aircrafts far behind. The roar of air tearing through the atmosphere merged with the blare of sirens below, wrapping the entire horizon in tension.
"Report! The Origin-Class Entity has been neutralized! I repeat — the Origin-Class Entity has been neutralized!"
The voice from Central Command echoed through their comms, making the three figures slow down almost instinctively.
"What about the other one?" Solaris demanded quickly, his voice taut.
"Apologies, Captain... it's not an Origin. It... looks human."
The words hit like a shockwave. For a moment, none of them breathed.
Maya turned to Solaris, confusion etched on her face.
"Hey... what do you mean human? You heard that, right, Solaris?"
No response.
Solaris' eyes were fixed ahead, toward the fading red glow on the western horizon — where the Western Fortress stood. The last bursts of explosion dimmed, leaving behind nothing but shimmering dust in the air.
"That's... impossible," he murmured, his voice nearly swallowed by the rush of wind.
Tom Redlands furrowed his brow. "Tell us the truth, Solaris. Did the government hide something from us? Some kind of secret weapon?"
Solaris shook his head slowly, his face pale.
"No... there's no weapon capable of taking down an Origin that fast. None..."
Maya gritted her teeth — frustration and dread mixing in her tone. "Then what? How does something that big fall so easily? Don't tell me it was a human... that's insane!"
No one spoke after that.
Only the sound of the wind howling around them — and their own racing heartbeats.
Finally, Solaris spoke again, his tone low, heavy with unease.
"I think... there's something at the Western Fortres Something that shouldn't exist there."
Tom Redlands turned west, watching the faint glimmer in the now-quiet sky.
"Maybe..." he said softly, then looked back at Solaris, his voice hardening.
"But if there really is something there, Solaris... are you sure you can face it?"
Solaris was silent for a long time. His eyes remained