Morning came, and all volunteers were awakened and ordered to gather in a single room.
The entire chamber was built from the same black metal — walls, ceiling, floor — cold and silent.
One hundred seventy-five volunteers stood or sat, waiting anxiously for the reason they had been called.
At the center of the room stood Captain Rion Kade, expression hard and unreadable, waiting for Hazelsun to appear onstage.
A few minutes later, Hazelsun stepped onto the stage.
The moment he appeared, the murmuring among the volunteers died instantly. All eyes turned toward him.
Then — footsteps.
Six figures walked out from behind the stage.
They were the division commanders of the Aether Raiders:
3rd Division Commander
10th Division Commander
2nd Division Commander
9th Division Commander
4th Division Commander
6th Division Commander
Each one wore a mask covering their face.
Hazelsun finally spoke.
"I called you here because you will be joining us to eliminate the Core Monsters."
The volunteers erupted in shock — all except Captain Rion Kade, who remained still.
"The Core Monsters… are they the same creatures we saw when we first arrived on Earth?"
"So those were—"
Hazelsun's voice cut through their panic like a blade.
"Silence."
Cold.
Calm.
Terrifying.
The room froze. The volunteers felt something emanating from Hazelsun's presence — something heavy and suffocating.
When all had fallen quiet, he continued:
"As I said earlier, I will now explain this world to you."
The volunteers exchanged stunned looks. They never expected Hazelsun to explain anything.
On the other side of the room, Kassandra looked to her side — and realized Kadia was gone.
"Huh? Where did she go…?"
HALLWAY — FLASHBACK
Kadia walked silently down the hallway.
A flashback played in her mind:
Earlier, she and Kassandra had passed by Klamb's roommate, who was also a soldier.
Kadia stopped him immediately.
"Where is Klamb? Why isn't he with you? Why didn't he come?"
The soldier visibly broke into a sweat.
"He's… not feeling well today. He can't attend."
Kassandra had teased, "Wow. Asking a lot. You two close?"
Kadia shook her head. "No. I'm… just worried. Klamb is the reason I'm part of this mission."
The soldier tried to walk away, but Kadia grabbed his arm.
"Tell me the truth. He's just sick, right? It's not something serious — not something fatal?"
The soldier pulled his arm free.
"Yes! Why are you so persistent? I said he's just sick."
As he hurried off, Kadia stared after him.
I saw it…
In his face.
He's hiding something.
BACK TO THE MEETING
Hazelsun continued his explanation.
"As I said, I will explain the creatures you have encountered — also known as Core Monsters.
There are eight types of cores:
Black
Purple
Green
Red
Brown
White
Blue
Yellow
There are also size classifications. The larger the creature, the more difficult the battle.
Type I — 0–20 meters
Type II — 20–40 meters
Type III — 40–60 meters
Type IV — 60–80 meters
Type V — 80–100 meters
Type VI — 100–120 meters
Type VII — 120–140 meters
… and so on.
The largest creature currently on land measures 200–300 meters:
the blue-core serpent known as Bakunawa."
Shock rippled through the room.
Kassandra whispered, "Two… two hundred to three hundred meters? Is that real…?"
Whispers filled the chamber, but there was no fear.
Every volunteer here had accepted the possibility of death the moment they joined the mission of leap gate.
Kassandra raised her hand.
"Then what do the colors of the cores mean?"
Hazelsun answered without hesitation:
"Blue — sea.
Red — fire.
Green — life.
White — wind.
Brown — land.
black, Yellow and purple… we cannot categorize.
We rarely encounter them, and know little about their nature."
Captain Rion seemed satisfied with the explanations, even clapping along with the others.
Hazelsun observed them quietly.
"If there are no further questions, begin preparing—"
"I have something to ask before we leave," Captain Rion interrupted.
His tone had changed — darker, sharper.
"What is the purpose of this black metal surrounding us?
And why… why is the Aether Raiders organization still alive after 1–5 million years?"
Rion's face twisted in barely controlled fury.
Hazelsun responded calmly:
"My apologies if I haven't explained it yet.
This black metal serves as the defense of the 2nd Division's base.
It can melt the skin of giant monsters that try to approach."
He lifted a needle made from the same black metal, the Aether Raiders' Divine Stone, letting it float above his hand.
"I don't care about that," Rion spat.
"I want to know why the Aether Raiders STILL EXIST after 1–5 million years.
That trash group should have died long ago!"
Hazelsun's voice remained soft.
"Only our leader can answer that.
I don't know what you think you know about the Aether Raiders… but could you stop being rude, Captain?"
"My family was killed by the Aether Raiders," Rion growled.
"You want me to calm down?!
The thing I hate most is that your group is STILL ALIVE after millions of years!"
His voice cracked into something unhinged.
He began to laugh — a high, broken sound, as if slipping into madness.
"I followed your orders… because I wanted to see what you really are.
But you can't hide it from me… You're all monsters!"
Slow footsteps echoed from the stage.
One of the masked division commanders — the 4th Division Commander — walked down toward Rion.
"Forgive your suffering, Captain," he said softly.
Then, in a single blur of motion,
as soon as he reached striking distance—
SCHHHK!
He drew a blade and beheaded Captain Rion Kade.
"I won't prolong your misery."
Rion's severed head hit the floor—
—but suddenly long tendrils sprouted from his neck, trying to escape.
As the head dragged itself away, the tendrils touched the black metal floor—
—and began to burn, stopping it in its tracks.
The 4th Division Commander approached, raised his foot, and crushed the head.
The volunteers watched in horror as the parasite inside Rion's brain revealed itself —
a creature none of them had ever imagined.
Not one of them could move.
"Their captain…"4th division masked looking to hazelsun
"had already been infected."
The scene cut to Klamb.
Still in his room.
His eyes bloodshot.
Blood dripping from his eyes, ears, nose.
His breath ragged.
The parasite inside him beginning to awaken.
And the scene go to the soldier standing on the crowd
the soldier Kadia confronted earlier… something was wrong with his face—small, unnatural movements, and his eyes shifting in odd, unsettling directions.