The Night Hounds Attack!

A sinister hiss echoed through the chamber as the hatch above swung open, revealing a concealed spiral staircase. The scene was engulfed in darkness, but that changed swiftly as square digital bulbs, positioned at ten-step intervals, blinked to life.

Jake, his resolve gathering like armor, took the first step with a metallic clang. Each subsequent step felt smoother, though he knew there was no turning back now.

"Gyrs," Jake said, his voice trembling beneath his determination, "once we reach outside, tell everyone to divide into groups of six."

Their formations were second nature to everyone, but Gyrs empathized with Jake's plight. 'He must be terrified beneath that brave facade,' Gyrs thought.

"Yeah," Gyrs nodded, hoping to reassure his fearful friend.

The ascent felt like an eternity, though it was merely fifteen minutes on the circular staircase. Panic raced through their minds, each step filled with thoughts of what lay ahead, making the stairs seem endless until they finally reached the top.

"Here we go," Jake declared, his gaze fixed on the last obstacle between them and the unforgiving world beyond.

The hatch, designed like a well, swung open at the top, releasing the bitter chill of December into the base.

Their armor offered respite from the biting wind and cold, leaving only the unpredictable land to contend with.

Emerging into the frigid wasteland, Jake and his comrades beheld a sight that sent shivers through their souls (quite literally):

an endless expanse of icy clouds concealing the sky and a treacherous, uneven landscape, a frozen apocalypse stretching before them.

"This is even worse than what we saw three months ago..."

"No kidding... This is a freaking nightmare."

Grrr!

The sound of growling beasts quickly perked up everyone's ears as they all took their fighting stance and divided into their positions.

"Here we go, guys..." Jake said, taking out his longsword and one last glance at the hovering message in front of him.

**[Trial 5: Survive the Wave of Night Hounds] - [Number of hounds killed: 0]**

In such a dire situation, the last thing they could afford was to split up. With limited numbers, losing even a single comrade was unthinkable.

Four teams of six, tightly knit together, started to move forward for a few minutes.

And then, Jake's instincts kicked in, and he yelled, "They're here!"

Grrr...

Suddenly, a chilling gust of wind rustled through them, causing dust to whisper against their skin. Out of the inky darkness, grotesque beasts emerged, their eyes gleaming like malevolent stars in the moonless sky, as if conjured from the very depths of the abyss.

A Night Hound appeared, with its razor-sharp fangs and claws, and its 6-foot-long wolf-like visage. It pounced toward the first man it saw.

"Gyrs! The shields!"

"Got it!"

As the beast charged forward, Gyrs slammed his shield into the wolf, knocking it backwards.

[Skill - Taunt]

With his skill, Gyrs effectively drew the beast's attention.

Clang!

Without wasting a second, Jake lunged forward, swinging down his sword, slashing the beast in two.

[+01...]

Adrenaline surged through their bodies as they defeated the hound through instinct.

"...?"

It was surprising that the beast was easier to kill than they thought.

Immediately, a system message appeared in front of him.

**[Number of Hounds killed: 01]**

Sorden, the archer behind Jake, nocked an arrow imbued with his blue mana.

[Skill - Edgeshot]

The skill allowed Sorden to split his attack in two, taking care of two beasts at once.

[+01...]

[+01...]

But the pleasure of victory became short-lived as more glowing eyes revealed themselves out of the darkness.

"Damn! their numbers..."

"It's like zombies... Weak by themselves, but it's impossible to fight these odds."

**[Trial 5: Survive the Wave of Apocalypse]**

Rgrr...

"If this is a joke... I'm not laughing."

The number of glaring eyes kept increasing at an alarming rate.

But the fight was not over. Hell, it didn't get a proper start at all.

"Yep. Looks like you guys are pretty much f*cked..." said sands walking behind Jake

The real fight was now beginning.

"Without us, anyway! "

The wave of attack started, and the soldiers behind them took their arms and fell into their positions.

"We'll protect this base even if it's the last thing we do..." Lieutenant Sands said, looking at Jake and the heroes, "From all those who threaten us."

Jake had a feeling that those words indirectly meant them, but this was not the time to resolve their conflict of opinions.

"We need to fight together, whether we like it or not, provide support, Sands," Jake replied with a monotonous tone, "After taking a closer look at this trial, I think we might survive with no casualties, after all. But I don't want to make a hasty decision. So back us up with all your snipers and tanks."

"...First, you don't order me here. Second, backup is already prepared; you just look at the fight ahead."

As soon as Sands said that, soldiers with weapons came forward.

"But ordinary guns don't work against monsters..." Jake said, frowning.

"Fire!" Sands ordered, ignoring Jake's plea.

The bullets penetrated the hounds' bodies, killing them in the next second.

Sands scoffed.

"Who said they were ordinary guns?"

'We weren't idling our thumbs all these three months; that thing is called Aker, a special gun with bullets imbued with mana. It can kill monsters like flies. The Department of Research and Development created them after the third trial.'

As more monsters appeared, the firing squad began their fireworks of the night, with sparks flying left and right.

[+01...]

[+01...]

[+01...]

Along with Jake and his retinue, hope became possible in the unexpected fight.

***

Back at the control panel, all cameras were focused on Kai, as displays showed in the room, the image of the unexpected guest.

"Either he's too brave or too foolish... who is this?"

"Yeah, does he think we'll just let him inside just because he asked us to? Even tanks can't come through those doors if they want. The control room is the most protected area of the base, save for the commander's office."

As pointless scattering started inside, Seron was having an uneasy feeling in the heart, he didn't know what it is, but the man who just appeared gave him goosebumps.

'I have a bad feeling about this,' thought Seron.

Outside the chamber, Kai was having an internal conflict of his own.

[Alright, Sherlock listen up. More soldiers will come here, if you stay here longer than five minutes. I bet your ass that they already called for help when they saw you killing these guards.]

"..." Kai knew all that, but knowing things didn't make him feel any better, he had a sad face for some reason.

[Look, I'm not trying to force you, but you should let me handle these things. You know you are not cut out for this; that's why I'm here. Just let me take the wheels.]

When he heard that, Kai gripped his hand, with his face regaining the look of determination.

"No... Not this time, Zeff."

Zeff scoffed, [...Just don't get us killed early in the game, I don't like boring deaths.]

Kai almost laughed when he heard that.

Kai said smiling, "Don't worry, we'll go out with a bang!"

He closed his eyes and placed his hand on the door, which actually looked more like a secured vault of a bank with several digital lines of hologram.

When his fingers touched the surface of the door, a reaction erupted as a sword manifested in his hand emitting a black aura.

"...!"

Back inside, when Seron saw the black sword appear, he almost had a panic attack due to his shock.

"Seodt!? He had a Seodt!?" yelled Seron, almost jumping out of the edge of his chair.

When he saw the face of Seron lose color and grow pale, Pito Grav, his assistant, had an uneasy feeling in his heart.

"Sir, what happened? What's a Seodt? Do you know who he is?"

Seron took a step back, looking straight at Pito, Seron regained some of his composure, "I-I will explain later!"

"Fast! Take out that thing they gave us! That Shield- like something I passed you at R&D!"

Pito never saw his superior like this; Seron was a calm man all his life, the number of things that made him lose composure could be counted on fingers, save for the apocalypse and monsters.

This never happened before.

Pito took what Seron said out, "But sir, this would..."

"Just do it!"

But it was too late.

Baaang!