anwhile, far from the battlefield, beyond the reach of both human soldiers’ and virus beasts’ eyes, an Advance-rank virus beast floated silently in the air.
Its pitch-black body blended seamlessly into the background, everything except its glowing orange scythes, which radiated intense heat.
From its elongated tallic body, the upper section peeled open as if wings were about to sprout. Instead of wings, small jet thrusters erged, keeping its massive fra suspended in the air.
"It begins."
A mysterious figure, entirely cloaked in a robe, spoke softly. He stood atop the beast’s head, gazing down at the battlefield. His expression was hidden beneath a worn hoodie, lending him an air of eerie obscurity.
He turned his head to the side, watching hundreds of virus beasts sent by an entity known as the Venerable Mother advance toward the battlefield. The Mother had granted him a single flying beast, entrusted to him for his own mission.
Then, the awaited mont arrived.
The hundreds of beasts landed. Contrary to the Venerable Mother’s expectations, the humans did not collapse; instead, they burned with even greater ferocity, slaughtering their enemies one by one.
A question surfaced in the mind of the floating, cloaked figure.
"Why doesn’t the Venerable Mother attack the humans’ base directly?"
He paused, shifting his gaze eastward beyond the towering rocky hills ahead. With flight capabilities, such terrain was aningless.
"Wouldn’t that be easier?"
Indeed, rather than allowing her forces to be gradually reduced, the Venerable Mother could have sent her flying units over the mountains to annihilate the human base outright.
As a newborn Intelligence-rank monster, this small monster brimd with curiosity, like an infant discovering the world around him.
Yet one crucial truth eluded him.
The Venerable Mother thirsted for power, but she thirsted for human blood even more.
Human blood carried a sharp, tangy scent of iron, akin to her own tallic body, and it granted her an indescribable pleasure that no one else could understand.
Setting that aside, the little monster was currently entrusted with a new mission from the Venerable Mother: to discover what the humans were so desperately protecting.
Though it was known that humans were rebuilding a civilization, the Venerable Mother sensed sothing deeper, sothing that stirred her instincts honed over hundreds of years.
Lost in thought, the little monster suddenly snapped out of his daze as the battlefield situation shifted.
His attention locked onto the distant human fortress. His hands clenched tightly, producing a tallic ’clatter’.
A heavy pressure wrapped around his body, the sa oppressive tension he felt whenever the Venerable Mother was enraged.
’Sothing strong is coming.’
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a man, no, a storm-wearing human skin, entered the battlefield. The massive sword in his hands swept sideways, obliterating dozens of flying beasts in a single motion.
’This is bad.’
The little monster instantly realized the human’s strength far surpassed his own and knew such a being would easily detect his presence, even from afar.
Fortunately, the man was too focused on slaughtering the beasts to protect his comrades. Seizing that brief lapse, the little monster issued a ntal command. The beast carrying him turned sharply and retreated from the battlefield.
From there, the little monster began observing other fortresses.
He saw beasts under the Venerable Mother’s control endlessly assaulting the humans. Whenever a human fell, their corpse was dragged to the rear lines, and later, it was offered as tribute to the Mother.
Shifting locations once more, his attention was suddenly drawn to weaker yet feral beasts roaming far from the main battlefield.
’I can use them.’
Without hesitation, the flying beast dove sharply, prompting the smaller beasts below to extend tentacles from their bodies.
The little monster stretched out his hand, releasing an invisible wave. The smaller monsters imdiately went limp, retracting their cable-like tentacles.
"Good."
This ability to control beasts resembled the Venerable Mother’s power, but it was still far too weak, usable only on low-level monsters.
Even the beast he had created earlier to exterminate humans, who took the attribute he coveted, had been left to rampage freely, and only given minimal sustenance to grow stronger.
Yet even that beast had been defeated by humans with ease.
After exerting his influence, the little monster commanded the small beasts to extend their tentacles, bind themselves together, and lift them over a towering hill.
He continued carrying them closer to where humans were building their hos. As expected, iron walls encircled a small settlent. Inside, humans bustled about, unaware of his presence.
"First, I’ll evaluate their strength."
The monster glanced at the beasts beneath him and gave an order.
"Destroy that place."
The mont he spoke, he leapt into the air, hovering as powerful winds billowed his large cloak.
When the flying beast landed near the wall and released the smaller monsters, a single slash split the sturdy iron wall apart, opening a wide path for the beasts to pour in and wreak havoc.
Watching from above, the little monster crossed his arms and scoffed.
"Hmph. I should’ve attacked directly from the inside."
He closed his eyes, focusing his hearing. Monts later, the cries of terrified humans echoed in his ears.
Several seconds passed, yet none of the beasts he sent were defeated. After waiting a little longer, his eyes opened. He prepared to enter and investigate.
From his analysis, the settlent was vulnerable, its defenses weakened by the war at the fortress. Their inability to handle even the weak beasts he sent was proof enough.
"...I’ll go in."
He hesitated, wondering if this was the Venerable Mother’s plan: to draw away all enemy forces so he could infiltrate unnoticed.
With his power, he could easily slaughter everyone inside. But, just as he lowered his altitude, ’Bang!’, gunfire rang out.
He froze midair, eyes snapping toward the settlent.
What followed happened in rapid succession; the connections to the beasts he controlled were severed one by one, until only the large one remained.
"I thought it was clean, but..."
His words trailed off as he witnessed a human fighting the flying beast, unleashing a massive slash that cleaved its body in two.
The black energy released by that strike sent violent tremors through his tallic body.
He knew this sensation.
"...Impossible... you’re here too!?"
mories from months ago resurfaced, his encounter with several youths within those ruins.
From beneath his hood, the monster’s lips stretched into a grin, revealing rows of sharp tal teeth. His eyebrow twitched as he watched the boy wielding black lightning pause, scanning his surroundings for further threats.
"He’s sharp... just as expected of soone I acknowledged."
His fists trembled, his desire to fight that boy and reclaim what was rightfully his surging.
But he loosened his clenched fist. Instead, he began devising a plan to lure the boy out of his safe zone.
At that mont, he withdrew. And two days later, as the little monster gathered deeper information about the area, fate smiled upon him.
He saw the boy leaving the settlent in a vehicle, heading east.
’This is my chance.’
Unbeknownst to Cain, the promised battle was approaching far sooner and far faster than he expected.
***
Oblivious to what had transpired around him, Cain let out a short sigh while leaning back in his seat.
He stared out the transparent window beside him, gazing at the vast black plains stretching endlessly, mirroring his own feelings.
The reason for his unease sat behind him. From the row of girls seated together, cheerful voices echoed throughout the cabin.
Cain glanced at the rearview mirror, watching Senior Luna animatedly chatting with Louise and Rika about him during training.
"So that’s what Cain is like at the training facility."
The silver-haired girl parted her lips, while Louise, who was sitting beside her, pressed her fists over her chest, unusually energetic for soone so shy.
"That’s right! Leader is always taking the first place in running, and when it cos to strength, no one can match him! Right, Rika?"
The red-haired girl smiled softly at Louise, pleased to discover this adorable side of her friend. Rika nodded, then crossed her arms.
"Yes, he’s amazing. But I still have doubts about his personality."
"Huh? Why?"
Louise raised an eyebrow sharply. Senior Luna leaned closer from her seat as well.
Rika shrugged.
"Well, you all know how our leader is, arrogant, acts cool, and always ends up half-dead, making everyone worry like crazy."
For so reason, Rika’s words turned into sharp blades that shredded Cain’s consciousness completely.
He shifted closer to the door, shrinking under the weight of not just his teammates’ gazes, but Senior Luna’s as well.
"Yeah... I agree. Leader can be reckless sotis."
Louise added gently, her soft voice slapping Cain straight in his face.
He turned his face toward the window.
"You hear that, leader?"
Peter asked from the driver’s seat, his teasing tone tightening Cain’s chest.
"...Okay, okay. I know I ssed up and made you all worry. I’m sorry."
The three girls chuckled. Then the last mber of his group spoke up.
"Don’t worry, Cain. You may be reckless sotis, but you’re a good leader."
Unknowingly, Abel’s cheerful voice delivered the heaviest blow.
Cain laughed bitterly.
"Heh... so this is what betrayal feels like."
"That’s all your fault!"
All four replied in unison, their voices rattling Cain’s eardrums.
However, amid the noise, a soft, amused laugh rang out.
"Fufu... Cain is really loved by his team."
Thanks to Senior Luna, the cabin’s atmosphere brightened. Conversation flowed easily until Peter slowed the vehicle and spoke.
"Our destination is in sight."
Cain turned his attention forward, seeing a towering rock cliff dozens of ters high in the distance. He frowned, then said.
"Alright, everyone get ready. This is our first stop."
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