Chapter 26: Monster of Chaos

The door slammed open.

Emily burst into the maintenance bay, her breath catching in her throat as she scanned the dim, metallic space. The overhead lights flickered, washing the walls in alternating shades of cold blue and blood red from the emergency backups.

She headed straight for Gabi—except Gabi wasn't at her desk.

"There's been a breach at Site 0," Emily said, voice trembling slightly. "Code: Black. Status: Locked... for now."

Gabi froze mid-step. The wrench in her hand clattered to the floor.

For a second, nothing moved. Then adrenaline surged in her chest. She spun toward the central panel and slammed her palm on the emergency alarm.

A mechanical wail tore through the complex. It wasn't just a siren—it was the kind of noise that made your bones vibrate. Lights across the ceiling snapped to crimson. Somewhere deeper in the facility, heavy doors rumbled as automated lockdowns engaged.

"Comm team!" Gabi shouted over the shrieking alarm. "Send return messages to the team that went to check on the earthquake—immediately!"

From the back of the bay, someone called out:"Gabi, the team sent to fix Containment Unit 731—they haven't returned either!"

Gabi didn't hesitate.

"Message the welding team. Tell them to drop everything and get back here now."

She turned toward the maintenance comms console—an older unit, smeared with grease, its surface pitted from years of abuse. She flicked open the protective casing. Her fingers trembled, but her voice was steel.

"Army Command, this is Maintenance Manager Gabi at Site 0. There's been a breach. We require immediate reinforcements. I repeat—we are compromised."

A pause.

A voice crackled through the speakers, rough and distant, as if it were echoing from a bunker buried deep underground.

"The request has already been made by your Captain. Bastion Whitewake has deployed Cohort-Theta R, led by Commander Gabriel. Two Sundered—Eric Dumas and Eva Laine—are on their way. The terrain is unstable, so additional reinforcements will be delayed."

"We don't have time!" Gabi barked, her voice faltering as fear tightened its grip on her. "This is Site 0. The breach is underway. Patch me through to Commander Gabriel."

The pause stretched longer this time. Only static and the relentless hum of the alarm filled the void.

And then—

"This is Commander Gabriel. Who am I speaking with?"

"Manager Gabi, Maintenance Corp. We've locked Site 0 manually, but it's temporary. The Captain has declared Code Black. Please—we need boots on the ground."

There was a pause on the other end. The line popped slightly, like someone had inhaled sharply before speaking.

"Code Black..." Gabriel muttered. "Understood, ma'am. We're on our way."

Elsewhere...

Dark fog rolled across the cracked earth of the outer basin.

Commander Gabriel turned from the transmitter, his silver-plated pauldrons catching the pale flicker of distant lightning. He didn't need to explain—they'd all heard.

Cohort-Theta R was already moving. Boots thudded against the gravel. Metal clanked against armor. The air was heavy with ozone.

Eric Dumas trailed behind, eyes sunken, his gaunt face shadowed beneath a cowl. He muttered beneath his breath, half to himself, half to something no one else could hear.

"Code Black… Why me? What sins have I committed?"

Eva Laine strode past him without breaking stride. She tossed a glance back, pulling her mask down over her mouth.

"If whining were a sin, you'd be damned twice over."

...........

At the departure bay, Lieutenant Carter and Lucas cautiously made their way out. The area outside was carefully arranged to ensure discretion for the supply corps, allowing them to move without disrupting the Greywell's operation but still remain observable. The exit led through the main road, so any incoming reinforcements could be intercepted midway.

Charlie, trembling with fear, asked, "Where did the mist boy go?"

Lucas glanced at him. "I don't know, but we better get out of here before he comes back."

Lieutenant Carter nodded. "Let's move."

He glanced toward the end of the departure bay, where all the vehicles should have been but were halted at the staging area, leaving them no choice but to continue on foot.

The supply corps moved carefully through the wilderness, steering clear of the main road as it was too dangerous. Their concern wasn't about missing reinforcements but rather the Abominations lurking near Greywell. Strange plants surrounded them, some massive enough to sap the forest floor of its nutrients. Without lingering on their eerie surroundings, they pressed onward.

...................

Malo was seated in the center of the hall when the door suddenly burst open.

A man stood there, clad in jagged black armor with a hollow, glowing chest radiating dark energy. A halo hovered above his head, and his horns were strikingly different—one so dark it seemed to erase existence, the other so chaotic it distorted the space around it.

"Seth, what happened to you?"

Before Malo could utter another word, the figure lunged at him with lightning speed. Hatred, malice, and despair burned within the creature's heart.

Malo quickly circulated his Aether, transforming into a monster.

They clashed with such speed that shockwaves rippled through the room, shattering its supposedly unbreakable walls like glass.

The knight demon summoned a sword, aiming to gut his target, but Malo didn't falter. He caught it with his hand, twisted it, the abysmal flames scorching his flesh. He pulled back, but before he could even register the pain, the sword reshaped itself, distorting the space around it, and plunged into Malo's heart.

A scream of pure agony echoed through the room as the monster reverted back to human form, then back again into a monster. Time bent and twisted, changing the boy's appearance—one moment a man, another a child, sometimes an old man.

The knight demon began charging his abysmal flames, preparing to strike.

Both his horns blazed with powers that defied coexistence, yet they merged under the knight demon's command. The beam, dark, vile, and sinister, a manifestation of agony and despair, was about to be unleashed.

Malo writhed in pain, screaming at the top of his lungs as his mind began to fade, slipping in and out of consciousness.

........

Back at the cabin, a report miraculously survived the chaos that had consumed the room.

The report, submitted by Spectral Analysis Detachment (SAD-7), bore the code name "The Cabury Monster."

The wind flipped through its pages, uncovering a note about its ability to passively discharge energy within a range of five thousand meters. The image of the monster assessed by SAD-7 was blurry—it was a demonic creature with wings on its back, its skin clad in red and black armor. Its appearance resembled a fantasy orc, its head adorned with jagged horns that mirrored its menacing form.

However, the beast had no crimson crown.