Squad Umbra – Briefing Room
Kaizen stood silently as Kavros projected the map. The target: a Bist Hive hidden beneath the ruins of the city of Ghoran — a place once full of life, now crawling with nightmares.
> "This isn't a drill," Kavros said. "Eliminate everything. No survivors. No mistakes."
Kaizen scanned the faces of his new squad.
Each one powerful. Hardened. And none of them trusted him.
But Kaizen didn't care.
> "Just tell me who to burn," he muttered.
Meanwhile – Ayaka's Transfer
Ayaka was escorted by two silent guards through a mountain corridor — toward a classified research site.
There, in a white-walled room, sat a thin old man. Pale eyes. Scarred hands.
He looked up as Ayaka entered and said:
> "You're Kaizen's... anchor, aren't you?"
She froze. "Who are you?"
> "Name's Doctor Yurei. I worked with his parents before they died."
Ayaka's heart dropped. "You knew his family?"
He nodded, grim.
> "And I know the truth behind the Veinborn curse... and the origin of the Bist."
---
Into the Hive
Kaizen and Squad Umbra reached Ghoran's outskirts. The wind carried a foul stench.
> "Scanners show at least 50 Bist signatures underground," said Riven, a tall Umbra sniper.
"And something... bigger."
They dropped into the hive — tunnels of flesh and rot. Every wall pulsed like a heartbeat.
Suddenly — movement.
A scream.
Bists charged.
Kaizen fought with fire in his fists. Every strike burned them to ash.
Umbra followed behind, executing with ruthless precision.
But deeper inside, Kaizen felt something call to him. A presence… familiar.
---
The Lost Message
Back at the research facility, Yurei showed Ayaka an old data log — footage from a broken cam years ago.
> "Project Ignis: Subject Ryouma. Unstable. Flame-core activated. Recommend termination."
Ayaka gasped.
> "They experimented on Kaizen?"
Yurei nodded. "His parents fled with him. Tried to erase his origins. But the Bist… they weren't born by accident. They were created."
Ayaka: "Created by who?"
> "By the very government that now hunts Kaizen."
The Deeper Chamber
Kaizen separated from his team, drawn by whispers.
He found a massive cocoon — pulsing, humming, alive.
Suddenly, it cracked.
From inside stepped a towering Alpha-Bist.
But it didn't attack.
It looked at Kaizen — and spoke.
> "You… are kin."
Kaizen froze.
> "What the hell are you?"
> "We were made from your bloodline. You are not our enemy… you are our beginning."
The Alpha raised its claw — not to kill, but to offer its memory.
Kaizen's mind exploded with visions:
Scientists harvesting Veinborn DNA
Failed experiments turning into Bist
His mother crying as flames consumed a lab
He collapsed, screaming.
---
Betrayal and Revelation
Umbra reached the chamber.
Kavros fired a blast straight through the Alpha-Bist's head before Kaizen could stop him.
> "No!" Kaizen roared.
> "It was trying to manipulate you," Kavros said coldly. "They lie."
But Kaizen wasn't sure anymore.
The truth felt too real. Too painful.
He looked at his hands, at the dying glow fading from his veins.
> "Am I… one of them?" he whispered.
Back at the facility, Ayaka broke into restricted files after Yurei was taken away.
She found a hidden file. Labeled: "Codename: Ember King"
Inside:
A child's profile.
Kaizen Ryouma.
Under it:
> "Last of the true flame-bearers. Target priority: Eliminate before awakening Stage Two."
Ayaka dropped the pad, hands shaking.
> "They're not trying to use him… they're planning to kill him."
---
End of Chapter 6