In the middle of a street covered in corpses, a heavy silence ruled.
The mist had disappeared, but what remained was scarier than the mist itself.
Selina had fallen to her knees, trying to compose herself with broken breaths.
Cassian stood a few meters away. His armor was broken in several places, and blood was dripping from his arm, but neither of them paid any attention to their wounds.
Because three others were missing.
Marcus.
Claire.
Liana.
As if they had disappeared into the mist.
Cassian looked around with a pale face. He shouted their names many times, but received no response.
Only the cold wind that blew through the abandoned buildings.
That was all.
"Marcus!"
Silence.
"Claire!"
Again silence.
"Liana!"
Nothing.
Lian was examining the area at the same time. The ground, the walls, the footprints, anything that could give a clue.
But there was nothing.
No blood, no bodies, no signs of struggle. Not even a trace of bodies being dragged on the ground.
Nothing. As if three grown adults had suddenly been erased from reality.
"Maybe they’re still nearby..." Selina said with a trembling voice.
But even she did not believe her own words.
Cassian clenched his teeth. His eyes burned with anger and helplessness.
Why? Why? Why? Why did something always have to happen to his group members? Why couldn’t he protect them?
Even when he couldn’t protect his group members, did he really deserve to be the leader of this group? All this time, he had been the most useless member, and now he couldn’t even protect his group members.
Two of his group members were dead, and now three others had disappeared.
"We’re going back."
His voice was hoarse.
"Right now, we’re going back and finding them."
But before he could take a step, Lian’s voice rose.
"No."
"What?" Cassian immediately turned around.
"Not now."
"They’re out there dying!"
"Maybe." Lian answered without changing his expression.
"But if we go forward now, only three more people will disappear."
"You want to abandon them?" Cassian stepped forward.
"No. I want us to stay alive." Lian looked directly into his eyes.
He knew that this piece was part of a plan, and slowly the puzzle pieces were coming together for him. He knew that going after those three was definitely what the creature behind all this wanted.
He was confident in his own power, but he was not sure he could protect these two.
A few seconds of silence passed between them. The wind blew through the street.
Lian continued.
"We lost three people. Selina is wounded. You are wounded. And we don’t even know what we’re dealing with."
"If we go forward now, three more people will disappear."
Cassian clenched his fists. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to object, but he couldn’t.
Because he knew Lian was right.
In the end, he lowered his head, and for the first time, he felt how tired he was.
"Damn it..." His voice was barely heard.
Lian said nothing. His gaze fell on Selina, and fortunately, even though she was also angry, she did not object. The small remaining group began the path back to the base.
When they reached the base, everything turned into chaos within minutes.
Three students were missing. On the last day of the operation. Right when everyone thought the mission was coming to an end.
Gareth had personally come to receive them, but when he saw only three people, his face changed color.
"Where are the rest?"
No one answered. Cassian just threw the Stalker’s corpse on the ground. The sound of the monster’s body hitting the concrete echoed in the silent space.
And then they told the whole story.
The mist, the Bloodfang attack, the mist-producing monster, and the disappearance of three group members.
The further the report went, the darker Gareth’s face became. Rina even lost color several times during the report.
When the story ended, Gareth immediately started issuing orders.
"Rapid response forces get ready. Activate all reconnaissance drones. Contact the central command. Notify the Federation mages."
For the first time since the start of this mission, the base went into full combat mode.
Everyone was running. Everyone was shouting. Everyone was in a hurry.
And this showed that even the commanders and officers no longer felt in control of the situation.
Three members were missing, and this was a very serious matter. If the news spread, it would cause waves of chaos among the people.
They had to find those three as soon as possible.
At the same time, the Stalker’s corpse was sent to the Federation through a portal.
A few minutes later.
In the command room, Gareth stood in front of Cassian. He could see how worried and angry this boy and Selina were, so he needed to calm them down a little.
"If their goal was to kill... we would have found bodies. The fact that they took them... means they value them alive."
Cassian raised his head. A weak hope formed in his gaze. But that same hope created a scarier question.
Why alive? Why would they want them alive? Is this a hostage situation? What is the main goal? His brain was not working at all.
On the other hand, Lian was also silent, but in his eyes... signs of understanding were appearing... as if the puzzle pieces were slowly coming together and he was figuring out exactly what was happening.
About two hours later.
Everyone was ready. Armors were worn. Weapons were ready. Even Gareth had put on his own special military armor.
For the first time, the commander personally intended to enter the city. And that alone showed how serious the situation had become.
This matter was no longer as simple as before. Three Awakened had disappeared, and they had to be found, dead or alive. Otherwise, if the news spread... Gareth did not even want to think about it.
Cassian fastened his sword. Selina tightened the last straps of her armor.
Lian stood silently by the wall.
And everyone was waiting for the order to move. But at that moment, the command room door opened.
Rina entered.
And everyone understood something had happened. Her face was completely white. She held a tablet in her hand.
She went straight to Gareth and whispered something in his ear. Gareth’s face changed color.
A heavy silence filled the room. A few seconds later, the commander let out a deep sigh.
"The operation is suspended for now." He said.
"What?!" Cassian’s voice echoed in the room. For the first time, he had truly lost control.
"Three members of my group are out there!"
"We can’t just sit and wait!" Selina also stepped forward.
Rina lowered her gaze, and Gareth said nothing.
The only one who remained calm was Lian. He just looked at the commander and asked.
"Why?" Just one word, but that one word made everyone fall silent.
Gareth sighed and quietly relayed the report his deputy had just given him.
"The corpse was examined."
No one spoke.
"And it was determined that the Red-Eyed Stalker is not a natural monster."
Selina frowned. Cassian also did not understand, but Lian frowned at that moment, as if his mind had moved ahead and a dark guess had appeared in his mind.
He thought about how the monsters did not kill humans but instead collected them. And he thought about how the monsters even collected the corpses of other monsters.
And suddenly, a spark of understanding flashed in his mind.
Gareth continued.
"This creature was not born but was made."
Silence, no one even dared to breathe.
"In its body, there is DNA from ten different humans. The muscles belonged to different people. The bones belonged to different people."
"The nerve tissues belonged to different people. Even the eyes belonged to two different humans. And some of its internal organs belonged to different monster species."
Then he paused.
"Every part of its body belonged to a different human." He said quietly.
"What do you mean...?" Selina barely said.
"Are you saying... someone made this creatures?" Cassian also looked stunned.
But Lian said nothing. He just stared at the ground. And the more he thought, the worse he felt.
Gareth was quiet for a few seconds, then said the last sentence. A sentence that plunged the room into absolute silence.
"According to the Federation’s report..." He paused and then continued.
"The Red-Eyed Stalkers are not monsters. They are made from humans and other monsters."