C98 Iron Fenrirs The Iron Forge

She caught a glimpse of Yin and Yang just ahead, both of them fighting through the same hell.

They were all in this together. No one was getting left behind.

Catherine's eyes stung as she wiped at them with the back of her hand, trying to clear her vision.

The gas was everywhere, clinging to her skin and choking her lungs.

Every breath came with a sharp, agonizing burn, but she kept moving.

She more or less knew what this was, the Iron Fenrir a version of a crucible.

It was their final test, the last push to see if they had what it took to become Iron Fenrirs.

She gritted her teeth as another flashbang exploded in front of her, temporarily blinding her.

The noise was deafening, the echoes bouncing off the metal walls of the ship, disorienting everyone around her.

The recruits were flailing, some stumbling in confusion while others fought to push forward through the thick smoke.

"Stay close!"

She called out to Morgana, who was struggling beside her.

Morgana gave her a quick nod, determination etched on her face despite the tears streaming from her irritated eyes.

Together, they pressed on, trying to make sense of the chaotic mess the barracks had become.

As they burst out of the barracks and into the corridor, the recruits were met with their first challenge, a low-hanging obstacle course with barbed wire stretching overhead.

Thick mud coated the ground most likely taken from the firing range and mixed with water, making the crawl even more difficult.

The corridor was still filled with smoke, and the flashbangs continued to explode around them, adding to the disorientation.

"Go, go, go!"

A deep voice bellowed from somewhere ahead.

It was Paul, one of the demon drill sergeants from hell one of the four lackeys of the devil lord Incarnate, his silhouette barely visible through the smoke.

"If you stop, you're done!"

Paul roared as he pulled his smart rifles trigger producing loud gunshots that deafened and disoriented the recruits while the hot spent blanks got ejected and hit the ground producing clinking sounds.

Yin dropped to her belly first, dragging herself through the mud as the barbed wire scraped against her bare back.

Her hands sank into the thick muck, but she kept pulling herself forward, refusing to slow down.

Yang was right beside her, gritting her teeth as she crawled through the sludge.

The recruits around them groaned and cursed as the wire caught on their bodies, ripping fabric and skin alike.

But there was no room for hesitation. Catherine and Morgana followed closely behind, their bare bodies except for their tank tops and underwear already caked with mud and grime.

Another flashbang went off, and Yin winced as her vision went white again, the shockwave rattling her bones.

"Keep moving!"

Catherine growled through clenched teeth, pushing through the pain.

Julian's voice cut through the chaos as he also pulled his trigger.

"You think this is hard? Wait until you're out there in the field! This is just a warm-up!"

The smoke, the blaring sirens, the red lights, the biting gas, the constant sound of gunfire everything merged into one long, agonizing moment of pure survival.

Yin could feel her body starting to give out, her muscles screaming with every pull forward, but she couldn't stop.

She wouldn't stop.

She glanced over at Yang, who was just as exhausted, her face contorted in pain as she crawled through the mud.

But even then, she could see it, the fire in her twin sister's eyes.

The same fire burned in Yin's chest. They were not going to fail after coming so far.

After crawling through the mud under the barbed wire, Yin, Yang, Morgana, and Catherine stumbled into the next corridor.

The air was thick with gas, and their bodies ached from the crawl.

The lights overhead flickered menacingly, casting sharp shadows on the walls as they moved forward.

Ahead of them, the corridor ended abruptly at what appeared to be a vertical shaft, its metal sides slick with condensation.

There were small metal rungs lining the shaft, leading upward into darkness, but the rungs were spaced far apart, barely reachable.

Yin blinked through the sweat and gas burning her eyes.

"Are they serious? We're supposed to climb this?"

Yang glanced at the shaft, her face grim.

"We don't have a choice."

Darius thundering voice echoed from behind.

"If you can't get up this shaft, you might as well quit now. You think the enemy is going to wait for you to catch your breath? Move it, you lazy f*cks!"

The recruits stared at the challenge before them, scaling a near-impossible vertical shaft, where one misstep could mean falling back down into the group below.

The air inside the shaft was thin, and they could hear the faint hum of the ship's systems vibrating through the walls, making the rungs slick with condensation.

Morgana wiped her face, still covered in grime from the previous obstacle.

"We'll have to help each other up. There's no way we can do this one by one."

Catherine nodded, her voice hoarse from the gas.

"You go first, Yin. We'll push from below."

Yin hesitated only briefly before grabbing onto the first rung. It was cold and slippery, her fingers barely gripping it.

She braced herself, her muscles screaming as she hoisted herself up, reaching for the next rung.

Yang and Morgana followed, each pushing from below as the rungs became harder to reach.

As they climbed higher, the air seemed to thin, making it harder to breathe.

Every pull felt like lifting the weight of the world, but they couldn't stop now.

Falling would mean starting over, or worse.

"Don't let go!"

Morgana shouted from below, her voice strained.

"One more rung!"

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of climbing, Yin reached the top and pulled herself into the next corridor.

She collapsed onto the cold floor, gasping for air as the others followed, their bodies trembling with exhaustion.

"That... was insane,"

Yin muttered between gasps, her body aching from the effort.

Yang pulled herself up next to her sister, collapsing beside her.

"We're not done yet."

As soon as the recruits caught their breath, they were forced into the next corridor, a passage filled with electrified wires hanging from the ceiling and walls.

Sparks crackled ominously, lighting up the space with every flash, the arcs of electricity dancing dangerously close to the floor.

Airids deep voice boomed over them.

"This is what you'll face out there. Tight quarters, no room for mistakes. One wrong move here, and you'll be fried like a bug. Get through the maze without touching the wires. If you do... you'll start over."

The recruits glanced at one another, fear creeping into their exhausted minds.

There was no room for hesitation here, one touch could mean severe burns or worse.

The walls and ceiling were too close together, forcing them to duck, crawl, and twist through the wires with barely an inch of space.

Yin took the lead, her heart pounding in her chest as she carefully stepped into the maze.

Her breathing was shallow as she ducked beneath the first set of wires, feeling the heat from the electricity sizzling through the air.

The acrid smell of ozone filled the corridor, making her stomach churn.

Yang followed closely behind, her eyes darting from wire to wire, her body moving like liquid to avoid touching the live currents.

"Stay low,"

She whispered,

"and move slow."

Behind them, Morgana and Catherine followed, their bodies pressed tightly against the floor as they crawled beneath the lowest wires.

Catherine's hand slipped on the slick floor, nearly brushing the wire above her head, but she managed to pull back just in time, her heart hammering in her chest.

"I almost had it,"

Catherine muttered, her voice tense.

"Don't rush,"

Morgana whispered back.

"One mistake, and we all go back."