The gates of Tartarus closed behind them with a deafening metallic groan.
Massive steel doors, scarred by decades of monster attacks, sealed the city from the wilderness beyond. Watchtowers lining the walls swept the horizon with powerful searchlights while Guild sentries silently observed every expedition departing into the wasteland.
Kaelen paused for only a moment before stepping forward.
The land beyond Tartarus was unlike the cursed forests surrounding the city. The ground was cracked and stained crimson, as though countless battles had soaked the earth in blood. Jagged rock formations pierced the landscape while twisted trees, blackened by centuries of cursed energy, stretched toward a gray sky.
Lyra adjusted the heavy backpack on her shoulders.
"I hate this place already."
"You've been here before?" Kaelen asked.
"Only once."
"And?"
She forced a weak smile.
"My entire team died."
Silence followed.
Kaelen didn't ask another question.
Everyone who survived Tartarus carried memories they preferred to bury.
---
Hours passed.
The city disappeared behind distant hills until only the towering Guild spire remained visible against the horizon.
Kaelen checked the mission file once more.
Mission ID: B-417
Objective: Recover biological samples from Sector Twelve.
Warning: Multiple hybrid lifeforms confirmed.
Reward: 3,200 Guild Credits.
Simple.
Too simple.
SC's warning echoed inside his mind.
Several mission records were altered.
Sector Twelve appears repeatedly in classified Foundry documents.
Kaelen folded the datapad.
"This isn't just a collection mission."
Lyra looked over.
"You figured that out too?"
"You did?"
She nodded.
"The Guild always lies."
---
Near midday they reached a dry riverbed littered with enormous skeletons.
Some belonged to creatures Kaelen recognized.
Others...
He had never seen before.
One skeleton possessed six forelimbs and three skulls fused together by black crystal.
Another had metal plates growing directly from its spine.
Kaelen crouched beside one of the remains.
"The bones were cut."
Lyra frowned.
"By monsters?"
"No."
He traced several perfectly straight marks across the ribs.
"Energy blades."
Someone had harvested the creature.
Professionally.
Recently.
---
A sudden vibration spread beneath their feet.
Lyra immediately froze.
"Don't move."
The ground trembled again.
Tiny stones bounced across the cracked earth.
Kaelen slowly scanned the surrounding terrain.
Nothing.
Then...
A low humming sound.
Almost mechanical.
It grew louder.
"Incoming!"
The ground exploded.
A massive creature burst from beneath the earth in a shower of shattered stone.
Its body resembled a giant armored mole, but jagged crystal spikes erupted from its back, glowing with cursed energy. Four crimson eyes locked onto the intruders.
It shrieked.
The sound echoed across the valley.
Kaelen rolled aside just as enormous claws ripped through the ground where he had been standing.
"Distance!" he shouted.
Lyra sprinted toward higher ground.
Kaelen raised his laser rifle.
Three precise shots struck the creature's shoulder.
The beams scattered harmlessly across thick crystal armor.
"No penetration."
The beast charged again.
Its enormous body plowed through stone as though it were soft soil.
Kaelen activated the rifle's overcharge mode.
Energy gathered along the barrel.
The creature leapt.
He fired.
A brilliant blue beam slammed into its chest.
The impact hurled the monster backward several meters, but instead of collapsing...
The wound began healing.
Lyra stared.
"It regenerated..."
Kaelen's expression hardened.
"Hybrid."
Not natural.
Engineered.
Exactly like the others.
---
The curse beneath Kaelen's bandages stirred violently.
Dark mist escaped through the fabric.
His breathing grew heavier.
"No..."
Not now.
The creature roared again before charging.
Kaelen closed his eyes for only a fraction of a second.
He remembered SC's words.
Aim for the unstable energy core.
His eyes snapped open.
The glowing crystal along the creature's throat pulsed with every movement.
"There."
Kaelen waited.
Ten meters.
Eight.
Five.
At the last possible instant he dove beneath its attack.
Sliding across the dirt, he twisted his body and fired upward.
The concentrated beam pierced directly into the glowing crystal.
For one heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
Then the creature erupted in blinding light.
A violent shockwave swept across the valley.
Fragments of crystal scattered in every direction.
The monster collapsed without another sound.
Silence returned.
---
Lyra slowly approached the corpse.
"I've never seen anyone fight like that."
Kaelen lowered his rifle.
"I've seen too many of these creatures."
She knelt beside the body.
"This isn't listed anywhere in the Guild's records."
"It won't be."
He pointed toward the creature's neck.
Stamped into the flesh beneath the shattered crystal was a burned metal symbol.
A circle surrounding a black furnace.
The Foundry.
Someone had branded the creature before releasing it into the wilderness.
Kaelen photographed the mark using his communicator.
"This confirms it."
"The hybrids aren't accidents."
"They're being manufactured."
Before either of them could speak again...
SC's voice suddenly returned through Kaelen's communicator.
"We have a problem."
The transmission crackled violently.
"I've traced Foundry activity."
A pause.
"They've already detected you."
Kaelen's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"They know someone is investigating."
The communicator emitted a burst of static before SC spoke one final sentence.
"...And they're sending hunters."
The signal died.
Far away, beyond the crimson hills, several dark figures appeared against the fading afternoon light.
They weren't monsters.
They walked with purpose.
Each carried weapons unlike anything the Guild used.
Kaelen quietly raised his rifle.
For the first time since entering the wilderness...
His enemies were human.
Or at least, they had once been.
The hunt had begun.