From the unending fog and fire emerged several Ya'juj and Ma'juj—primitive beings with rough skin, wrapped in layers of muscle and frozen blood. But now, they were different. No longer mere beasts. They had evolved in horror.
Their bodies were fused with brutal fragments of tanks. Steel plates from military vehicles were embedded into their chests and backs, bound with human bones and barbed wire, turning them into living fortresses. In their hands, shattered cannon barrels became clubs, and broken helicopter blades were sharpened into massive swords.
Every step they took shook the ground. From their throats came roars not born of living creatures, but of the ancient world's pure rage.
"They're reinforcing themselves!" Lyra cried out as her thermal sensors registered a drastic change. The internal temperature of the creatures dropped sharply, as if their bodies were adapting to survive longer in the extreme battlefield conditions.
A violent wind roared, sweeping ash and fragments of steel plates into the sky. Above them, the clouds turned crimson, like coagulated blood, as if reflecting the fury of a world beyond saving. In the distance, a sharp whistling sound cut through the storm—a small rocket shot out from the laboratory facility, piercing the snowy mist.
Lyra looked up and noticed it.
"Kaivan, please, go! I—"
Her words were cut off by a scream from her system.
The ground beneath her exploded.
One of the Ya'juj Ma'juj burst out from the frozen earth, clamping its jaws onto Lyra's mechanical leg with impossible force. Its teeth drilled into the metal like industrial machinery, crushing even hardened titanium.
"KRRAAAAKK!!"
"Ahh!"
Lyra staggered and collapsed. Her metal body slammed into the ground, shattering thick layers of snow. Instantly, the other monsters swarmed her—like wolves tearing apart a fallen deer. They ripped at her waist, tore through her cables, and shattered her energy shield. Wild sparks hissed and burst, blue flashes dancing between claws and fangs.
"LYRA!" Kaivan screamed with all his strength, but his voice was drowned by the roar of battle and the shrieking alarms of her damaged system.
With his chained kujang still dripping with blood, Kaivan charged forward. He leapt onto one of the beasts and drove his weapon into the gap in its neck.
—TING!
The blade bounced back.
It cracked, split apart, and shattered into steel fragments. The reinforced armor of the Ya'juj Ma'juj was simply too strong.
"Damn it!"
Kaivan tried to retreat—but he was a second too late.
Another monster lunged from his left and bit into his right leg. The sound of breaking bone and exploding metal echoed at once.
"AAAAARRRGHH!!!"
Kaivan screamed. Fresh blood burst from his thigh. Another creature struck from behind, driving a massive spear through his left arm.
It pierced straight through.
His arm was severed instantly.
"ARRHH—!!"
Before he could even breathe, a monstrous hand clamped around his head. Dagger-like claws stabbed into his left eye.
The pain was beyond imagination.
In an instant, his world collapsed.
The creature lifted him and hurled him into the air.
Kaivan's body spun helplessly. The world twisted violently. His blood traced red lines across the sky. The freezing wind wrapped around his shattered form. The only sound he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.
Slowly, his vision began to fade.
But from the corner of his remaining eye, he saw Lyra—still alive, though barely intact—reaching out to him with a hand that was almost torn away.
"…Kaivan… don't die…"
Snow fell harder, like endless white pages covering the world in oblivion. Above the Caucasus Mountains, the sky burned red, split by cold lightning flashing through gray clouds. The air froze to the bone, carrying the stench of blood, scorched metal, and unresolved rage.
Within the storm of destruction, Kaivan's body floated in midair—no more than torn flesh and broken metal, thrown like a broken doll by the power of Ya'juj Ma'juj.
His thoughts boiled—not from heat, but from inner conflict.