"Yeah," he whispered, his voice almost swallowed by the wind. "How long are we supposed to live like this? We can't go anywhere… everything feels pointless."
Ethan stood straight, but the familiar smile was gone. His hands were buried deep in his pockets, his body trembling slightly—not only from the cold, but from an unease that hung in the air. He watched Radit and Frans carefully, weighing their words with an expression he rarely showed.
"If we really don't know what to do," he said quietly, his voice firmer than before, "why don't we find Kaivan? Let him read the Tome of Omnicent. At least then, we'll know why we're really here."
Raphael stood near the bunker gate like a silent guardian, arms folded across his chest. Snow piled on his shoulders, yet he didn't move. His sharp eyes remained fixed on the forest, as if trying to pierce through the darkness.
"It won't be easy," he replied flatly, his voice solid as stone. "First, we don't even know where Kaivan is. Second, we're always being watched. Like test subjects."
He glanced at the others, then lifted his gaze to the dark sky.
"Don't you realize? Even our meals are controlled. And they keep injecting us with that serum. None of this is normal."
His words froze in the air, sinking into the falling snow. Silence swallowed the four men, each lost in his own thoughts, until the world itself seemed to grow cold and still.
Then, the silence shattered.
A roar echoed from afar—deep, powerful, and unnatural. It sent vibrations through their chests. It was not the voice of any ordinary creature. It did not belong to this world.
Ethan straightened, his eyes widening as he strained to see through the darkness.
"What… was that?" he whispered.
They all turned toward the sound at once, bodies tense. Footsteps approached from their right—the guards. Four men in dark uniforms rushed over, panic written across their faces.
"Get inside, now! This is an emergency!" one of them shouted.
But before anyone could move, they froze.
Above them, something descended from the sky.
A massive shadow drifted through the storm—no, it fell from the heavens. A black silhouette with glowing red eyes pierced through the curtain of snow. It was enormous, larger than a military truck, and its movement was nothing like that of a living creature.
Frans whispered in disbelief, "Is that… a monster? Or a machine?"
Radit dropped his cigarette into the snow. His body snapped into readiness, his right hand reaching for the weapon hidden beneath his jacket.
"Ready or not… we're facing this," he said softly, his voice no longer relaxed.
Ethan turned to Raphael. "Is this part of their experiment too?"
Raphael nodded slowly.
"If we survive tonight… we might finally get our answer."
The night inside the training bunker was silent and hollow, only hours before the outside world would be shaken by explosions and mysterious roars from beyond the mountains.
Kaivan lay on his thin bed, wrapped in a dull gray blanket in the corner of his narrow, metal-walled room. The neon light above him flickered weakly, spilling pale white light that carried a quiet sense of melancholy. The air was thick with the sharp scent of old iron, machine oil, disinfectant, and lingering sweat.
He tried to close his eyes, but his thoughts refused to rest. Faces drifted through his mind—Felicia, Isabel, Thivi, Raphael, Radit, Ethan, Frans, Livia, Zinnia—each carrying memories and unanswered questions. He exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself.
Suddenly, the communicator beside his bed crackled softly. A gentle yet firm voice cut through the silence.
"Kaivan, can you come to Fabrizio's lab now?"
It was Lyra's voice—calm, yet hiding quiet urgency.
Kaivan opened his eyes at once. Without hesitation, he rubbed his face, stood up, and took his gray jacket from the hook. His footsteps echoed through the narrow corridor lined with warm, steaming pipes. Dim yellow lights blinked lazily, casting long shadows along the walls.
After passing two automated security checkpoints, he arrived at Fabrizio's laboratory. The door slid open with a hydraulic hiss.
Inside, a wide space glowed with blue-violet holographic screens, cables, and softly shining devices. At the center, Fabrizio sat before a massive console, his fingers dancing across a virtual keyboard.
"What's going on?" Kaivan asked, standing straight at the doorway.
Fabrizio turned, studying him with sharp eyes before pointing to the large screen behind him. An interactive map of the Caucasus Mountains glowed, red lines pulsing at its center.
"Kaivan," he said quietly, his voice heavy with pressure, "today is the five-year inspection of the Iron Wall of Yajuj and Majuj."
Kaivan stared at the screen, his brows lifting slightly. He still did not fully grasp the urgency.
Fabrizio stood up, his oversized white lab coat swaying as he moved with firm steps. He traced a red route toward the northeast.
"This inspection is critical. Satellites report extreme weather within forty-eight hours—blizzards, low pressure, and microquakes. All land routes will be sealed. After that, access to the Darial Pass will be closed for months. This is our only chance."
Kaivan listened in silence, his eyes fixed on the display.
"And… you're going there yourself?" he asked softly, yet firmly.
"I have to," Fabrizio replied without hesitation. "Not only as head of the research team, but as the only one who controls the Tome Omnicraft—the one that shaped the Wall itself. I need an escort. I want you with me.
You're not just a soldier, Kaivan. You think fast. You can protect things even I cannot."
Silence fell between them. Only the hum of machines and the flicker of holographic data reflected on their faces.
Kaivan looked at him for a long moment, as if trying to see through his thoughts.
At last, he nodded slowly. "Alright. When do we leave?"
Fabrizio walked back to the console and tapped a panel. The screen shifted to a digital countdown.
00:29:57
"We depart by helicopter at exactly twenty hundred," he said. "Wear snow gear. Bring all weapons. Prepare surveillance tools. And take the Tome Omnicent with you, just in case."
Kaivan turned to leave, then paused.
"Is there anything else I should know?"
Fabrizio stared at the screen before answering quietly.
"There is. A new energy anomaly has appeared. Its fluctuations are unstable—like something that has slept for two thousand years… is beginning to awaken."
Kaivan did not react. He only drew a long breath.
In that silence, he understood—this mission was more than an inspection.
It was a call from history.
Or the beginning of a disaster.