(Flashback: 150 Years Ago)
The horizon pulsed. It was with such intensity that it almost came off as a bruise in the sky, a swirling vortex of deep crimson clouds that seemed to drag the very atmosphere into its maw. This was the Red Zone.
Captain Kaelen stood at the edge of the canyon ridge, his massive arms crossed, staring at the anomaly. The rest of the Iron-Fist Squad stood behind him, the adrenaline of the mine fight fading into a cold, prickly unease.
"We should radio this in," Torr rumbled, his voice steady. "Protocol says anomalies get flagged to High Command."
Rix fiddled with his comms unit, his brow furrowed. "I been tryin'. Its static. Just dead air. It's like… Ion know man."
"We're barely a few clicks out," Vora said, stepping up beside Kaelen. She flexed her gauntlets, the silver bells chiming softly. "If comms are down, we just gotta go back to report it in person. But…" She looked at the red swirl, a hungry glint in her eyes. "We're right here. Wouldn't hurt to get a closer look, would it? Just to see what's causin' it."
Zorr, brimming with energy, nodded eagerly. "Yeah, Cap! Imagine if we bring back intel on a Red Zone shift. We'd be legends. 'Iron-Fist Squad: The ones who ventured into the red zone when no one ever has'."
Kaelen hesitated. He was their captain. His gut told him to turn around. But he looked at his squad, strong, undefeated. They had just chewed through a High-Tier swarm like it was nothing.
"Well, the intel would be meaningful to the village, we don't engage," Kaelen said finally, his voice hard. "We scout the perimeter. We see what's shakin', and we leave. No impulsive acts. Especially you, Zorr, I seen how you get sometimes."
Zorr grinned, hiking his heavy pack higher. "Loud and clear, Cap."
They moved out, leaving the rocky safety of the mine territory for the desolate plains leading to the Zone.
As they advanced, they noticed the world change around them. The air grew denser. The gravity felt… inconsistent. One step felt heavy, the next light, almost as if there was something causing all of this deep within the area.
Then they saw the dust cloud.
"Movement!" Rix alerted, diving behind a boulder.
The squad took cover, weapons ready.
A stampede of beasts tore across the plain. There were hundreds of them, Spine-Wolves, Razor-Backs, massive Rock-Crushers. BloodWrought class beasts that usually tore each other apart on sight.
But they weren't fighting. They were running.
They trampled past the squad's hiding spot, eyes wide with primal terror, foaming at the mouths. They ignored the vampires completely, fleeing away from the direction of the Red Zone, where the others were headed.
"They ain't attacking," Zorr whispered, confused. "They're running away."
"Scared stiff," Vora muttered. "What the hell scares a Blood-wroughts?"
Zorr, ever the opportunist, saw a straggler, a massive boar-like beast that had tripped and broken its leg. He slipped out of cover, crushed its skull with a quick, efficient stomp, and pried the core loose.
"Zorr! Get back in formation!" Kaelen ordered.
"Free loot, Cap," Zorr whispered, stashing the core. "Whatever scared 'em is miles away. We're good."
But as the dust settled, the silence returned. Heavier this time.
Rix tapped his ear. "Still no signal. And Cap… I don't like this. This feels odd."
Kaelen stood up, his grip tightening on his hammer. The playfulness was gone from his face. "Alright. We've seen enough. Something's pushing the wildlife out. That's the intel. We're leaving. Now."
They turned to head back toward the village.
And that was when the something sprung.
From the cracks in the earth, from the shadows of the boulders they had just passed, they emerged.
BloodWroughts. But not the terrified ones. These were different. Their eyes didn't glow with the usual yellow or green of wild beasts. They glowed a dull, uniform violet.
Dozens of them. Barbed Stalkers. Iron-Hide Bears. Venom-Spitters.
They didn't roar. They stood in a perfect semi-circle, blocking the path back to the village.
"Ambush!" Torr shouted, slamming his shield down. "Reverse Blood Arts: Seismic Wall!"
The red barrier flared up just as a volley of venom spit hit it, sizzling against the energy.
"They cut off our retreat," Vora snarled, sliding into a combat stance. "Clever girls."
"Push through!" Kaelen roared. "Don't let 'em pin us! Titan's Impact!"
He swung his hammer, sending a shockwave into the center of the pack. Three beasts blew up on impact, but the hole in the line filled instantly. More beasts poured in from the flanks.
Zorr punched a Stalker mid-leap, his fist glowing red. "Piston Punch!" The beast's ribcage shattered, but another was on him instantly, snapping at his throat. He kicked it away, panting.
"There's too many!" Zorr shouted. "Where did they all come from?"
"They're herding us!" Rix yelled from above, axes spinning as he fought off two flying terrors. "Look at 'em! They ain't trying to kill us outright, they're pushing us back!"
It was true. Every time the squad tried to break toward the village, the beasts fought with suicidal ferocity. But when the squad stepped back toward the Red Zone, the attacks slowed.
"They want us to go deeper," Kaelen realized, horror dawning on him. "Torr, hold the line! We do not go that way!"
"I'm tryin', Cap!" Torr grunted, his massive shield buckling under the weight of three Iron-Hide Bears hammering against it. "They're too many and abnormally powerful!"
The battle raged for what felt like hours. The squad fought with the precision of elites, their Reverse Blood Arts flashing in the gloom. Vora turned into a whirlwind of silver blades; Rix rained death from above. Kaelen was a one-man siege engine.
But for every beast they killed, two more took its place. The squad was forced back, step by bloody step, inching closer to the swirling crimson vortex known as the Red Zone.
Zorr's lungs burned. His knuckles were raw. The weight of his backpack, filled with cores, felt like an anchor.
"Cap… I'm low on stamina," Vora gasped, cutting a wolf in half. Her movements were slowing.
"Hold!" Kaelen roared, though his own swings were losing their initial power.
Suddenly, the beasts stopped.
They didn't flee. They didn't attack. They simply froze, stepping back to form a corridor. A path leading straight to a massive, jagged cave mouth that sat at the very edge of the Red Zone's influence.
The fighting stopped. The silence crashed down, louder than the roar of battle.
The squad stood in the center of the encirclement, chests heaving, blood dripping from their armor.
"Why'd they stop?" Zorr wheezed, wiping blood from his eye.
Then, it hit them again.
THOOM.
The second wave of the ominous aura.
This wasn't the wash of pressure from before. This was focused. A spear of spiritual gravity that drove them to their knees. Zorr felt bile rise in his throat. Torr's shield arm dropped. Even Kaelen staggered, using his hammer to stay upright.
"Eyes up," Kaelen whispered, his voice trembling.
They looked toward the cave mouth.
Standing there, shrouded in the shifting red mists, was a Silhouette. It was humanoid, tall and skeletally thin, with limbs that seemed too long for its body. It didn't look like a beast. It looked ancient, almost as if it's existed all this time, in silence.
It raised a hand.
Two points of light ignited in the darkness of its face.
Glowing red eyes.
They weren't the feral eyes of a beast. They had an ominous intensity behind it, enough to make the group of vampires be more on their guard now.
Then it cracked an ominous grin.