"GRAAAAWWWWOOOOOOHHHH—KHHRRK!"
A silver-scaled wolf let out its last weak growl.
"BOOM!"
A shotgun round fired, turning the wolf's face into a mess of meat.
"Use 50 caliber armor-piercing rounds from afar, and 12-gauge armor-piercing rounds from up close," a war machine pilot instructed over the radio, finishing off the creature. The wolf had measured between eight to nine feet in length.
Cain sat inside a tank with Delilah, listening to the lecture. Two soldiers from the 42nd Battalion operated the tank alongside them. Tomorrow, Cain and the other students would get to pilot a war machine—not in live combat, but for training. Today, they were just observers.
The silver-scaled wolf was only one example of the abominable creatures patrolling the wild. Cain and his classmates from the ATP were currently under the care of the 42nd Battalion of the SDFD.
The battalion consisted of nearly 700 personnel: approximately 450 infantrymen, over 50 engineers, 30+ medics, 30 war machine pilots, 60+ tank crew and mechanics, 40+ techs, and 15 officers.
An elite platoon composed of a few dozen infantrymen, three tanks, and a war machine was assigned to escort the dozen ATP students. Their mission: visit a few military checkpoints in the mountain zone and then circle back. The goal was to give the students front-row exposure to how real military operations were carried out.
After this field trip, they would be transported to an artillery battalion stationed 100 kilometers away from the mountain region. There, they would remain for another week before returning to the academy.
The 42nd Battalion was responsible for guarding the lower ends of the northwestern low-mountainous regions of the TianShan Mountain Range.
Valleys, ridges, rocky passes—this rugged terrain made movement difficult. As a result, ambush tactics and chokepoint defenses were essential to hold this area effectively.
Three battalions were stationed along Dzonal's western border, where skirmishes often broke out between Dzonal and its neighbor, Iharen.
While Iharen had a larger population—over 200 million more than Dzonal—it was far less advanced technologically. Despite having plenty of military personnel, Iharen couldn't afford to go to war. Their weapons were outdated, and most of their forces were already tied up dealing with beast tides, mutated monster incursions, and H.I.V.E.-spawned plagues.
Still, Iharen was aggressively working to improve its AI infrastructure, receiving substantial aid from Western continental powers. Their goal was to deploy more drones and automated war machines—essential tools in pushing back the monstrosities threatening their borders and reclaiming land lost to H.I.V.E., all while minimizing human casualties.
In contrast, Dzonal enjoyed the natural protection of the TianShan Mountain Range. It acted as a massive stone wall, shielding Dzonal from direct H.I.V.E. incursion.
However, the western low-mountainous terrain remained contested. Dzonal wanted to secure full control over that region. Iharen refused to relinquish it, The area was seen as their final fallback in the event of a catastrophic monster tide.
The region Cain and his group were headed toward bordered the D.O.V.—the Dzonal Occupied Virangan conflict zone. While it remained relatively safe, it was still dangerously close to where skirmishes flared and monsters prowled.
From this elevated position, one could even glimpse the montane forests of the far north. However, visibility was often limited, making elevated observation posts and regular patrols critical.
The group of students spent two weeks rotating through different checkpoints near the command HQ.
One evening, Cain ventured into a patch of woods down the slopes from an infantry checkpoint. Earlier that day, while surveying the area through a spotting scope, he had noticed something peculiar just as the sun was setting.
Now he was running. He had less than an hour before he needed to return to the checkpoint. His target was a strange-looking tree.
Unlike the others adorned in the vibrant hues of autumn, this one stood out with its jet-black leaves, almost unnatural against the fiery reds and golden yellows of the forest.
Cain approached it cautiously. He examined the bark, the leaves, and the base of the tree with a focused eye. He planned to collect a few leaves and a small piece of bark as samples—for Delilah.
He didn't know why this tree looked the way it did. Maybe Delilah would have an answer. And if not her, Cain doubted anyone else would. Nobody among the students or infantry seemed to notice this anomaly. If it turned out to be special, Delilah would surely want to experiment with it.
Cain didn't think the infantrymen would bother coming down here to investigate. This entire area had been safe from beast tides for years. That was the reason ATP students were allowed to train here in the first place.
It was also the reason Cain and one of his classmates had been temporarily assigned lookout duty for this particular checkpoint. Cain had offered to cover the post for the first half of their shift—but the moment he got the chance, he slipped away.
Cain had a lust for adventure, something rarely indulged within the strict confines of ATP's curriculum.
So he made a quick plan—gave his classmate a can of beer as a bribe in exchange for covering his absence and making up an excuse if anyone noticed. The legal drinking age was eighteen, and while Cain never drank, he knew some of his classmates were daring enough to sample forbidden pleasures early.
His partner today was one of them. Cain had swiped the can of beer from the army medic post—how he got his hands on it was a secret only he knew.
With that problem solved, he had taken off down the slope to find the mysterious tree that had caught his eye.
Now, he stood before it.
Something about it felt… off.
But Cain was never the type to turn away from the unknown.
He collected a small piece of bark from the tree and picked up a few of the black leaves scattered on the ground. As he examined the area, something unusual caught his eye—among the dense, dark foliage of the tree's crown, a single golden flower hung from one of the branches.
It resembled a Lycoris, but something was off.
Lycoris, a bulbous plant species, typically grows from underground stems—not from the branches of trees. Seeing such a flower blooming high above the ground was deeply unusual.
Curious, Cain climbed the tree.
He reached the branch and carefully plucked the flower. The moment he did, its radiant gold hue faded into a pale, lifeless yellow. Cain grimaced in frustration. If he had known the flower would lose its mystical glow, he would've photographed it for Delilah beforehand.
While he was still regretting his mistake, the tree suddenly trembled—no, not just the tree, the earth itself began to shake.
Cain lost his footing and fell from the branch.
He crashed into the ground below but stood up moments later, unfazed. In the concrete jungle Cain had grown up in, trees like this were rare. But thanks to rope climbing drills and repeated tumbles onto thick mats back at the academy, he had some tolerance for impacts.
Still, if Cain had ever actually fallen straight to the ground from a height of seven meters before, he might have realized something wasn't quite right.
No normal human would have stood up so easily if not at all after a fall like that.
The ground continued to tremble faintly. Cain didn't linger. He rushed back toward the checkpoint, concerned that someone would notice his absence amid the unexpected quake.
By the time he reached the post, the shaking had stopped.
He joined his classmate, who appeared unaware of anything strange. From what Cain could gather, the tremor hadn't been as strong here as it was near the tree. He figured the epicenter must've been further north.
Cain didn't think too much about it. His mind was still buzzing with excitement over the black-leaved tree and the strange golden flower. He couldn't wait to speak with Delilah.
But he had no idea—
This moment… would mark the beginning of the tragedy that his life was about to become.