The morning did not bring a miracle, but it brought something Kaito's body desperately craved: Fuel.
In the slave barracks of Iron-Thistle, the "meal" had been a grey, watery gruel that smelled of wet limestone—barely enough to keep a heart beating. Here at the West Gate, the Vanguard's efficiency demanded more.
Elian sat in the dirt, staring at a wooden bowl of thick, brown pottage. There were actual chunks of salted fat and gristle floating in it, paired with a slab of hard-tack bread that didn't crumble into dust. It wasn't a feast—it was barely palatable by Earth standards—but to his malnourished 12-year-old frame, the protein was like liquid gold.
"Eat up," Talin grunted, tearing into his own bread. "The Kingdom doesn't feed us out of kindness. They just want the meat to be firm before the slaughter."
The scouting orders were identical to the day before. The Crows were signaled to the Lawless Zone outpost, where a scarred guard pointed a spear toward the shifting violet horizon.
"Map the sectors we cleared yesterday," the guard barked. "Report any shifts in the fog. Move!"
The Crows entered the Lawless Zone in their established diamond formation. Talin in the lead, Kaelen in the rear, and Baraq shielding Elian. As they reached the "marked spots" from the previous day, the atmosphere shifted. The thin, metallic air of the "Death Zone" grew heavy with the stench of cooling ozone and rot.
They rounded a jagged outcrop of obsidian rock and stopped.
The clearing was a graveyard. The Tier 1 Shadow-Hounds they had seen yesterday weren't just dead; they were shredded. In the center of the carnage stood a nightmare.
A Tier 3 Mutated Chimera-Warg.
It was a mountain of matted fur and bone-plating, nearly twice the size of a Cliff-Shredder. Its magic affinity pulsed visibly—a Corrosive Acid that dripped from its jaw, hissing as it melted the stone beneath it. Currently, the beast's head was buried in the ribcage of a Tier 2 Iron-Hide Boar, its serrated teeth snapping through bone like dry twigs.
"Don't. Breathe," Talin whispered, his face turning a ghostly white.
This was the first sign of true Magic. The beast's fur shimmered with a Chameleonic Camouflage, blurring its edges against the violet fog.
"Back away," Talin commanded, his voice trembling. "Slowly. If it hasn't scented us—"
CRACK.
Under the weight of Talin's retreat, a brittle obsidian branch snapped. The Chimera-Warg's head whipped around. Its eyes weren't animalistic; they were glowing pits of toxic green. It let out a low, wet gurgle, acid bubbling between its fangs.
The beast lunged.
"Run!" Talin roared, but Elian was already moving.
His 50% vision was a blur of grey, but his ears caught the direction of the beast's heavy footfalls. A cold, dark plan formed in Kaito's mind—one that Seraphina would have admired for its cruelty.
"Follow me!" Elian shouted, his voice cracking with feigned terror. "Toward the Vanguard post! Fast!"
The chase was a desperate scramble through the jagged terrain. Acid spit hissed past Elian's ear, melting a tree trunk beside him. Talin took a glancing blow to his shoulder from a stray claw, and Baraq's leg was sliced by a flying stone shard, but they didn't stop. They burst through the final layer of fog, screaming for help as they reached the Vanguard perimeter.
"Help! Help us!" Elian shrieked, his face a mask of fake panic. He spotted Horgan's squad lounging near their polished spears.
Horgan stood up, a mocking laugh booming from his chest. "Look at them! The 'Elite' Crows running from a shadow!"
"It's a Tier 2!" Elian cried out, his voice high and trembling. "Just a Tier 2 Boar! We can't hold it!"
"A Tier 2?" Horgan's eyes lit up with greed. A Tier 2 kill at the start of the shift meant extra rations and glory. He unsheathed his gleaming spear, gesturing for his squad to follow. "Move aside, you pathetic runts. Watch how a real unit handles a pig."
As Horgan and his elite slaves marched confidently toward the fog, Elian slowed to a halt. The "terror" vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, razor-sharp smile.
He didn't look at the beast. He looked at Horgan's back.
Enjoy the Tier 3, Horgan, Kaito thought, his silver static pupils flickering for a brief, lethal second. Let's see if your 'real' unit can handle acid.