The journey through the ancient forest continued.
After the giant bear disappeared, the growls were gone.
No more crashing trees.
No more violent tremors.
And somehow...
that made everything feel even more wrong.
Because now—
the forest was far too quiet.
A thin veil of mist drifted between the towering trees.
The river they had been following grew wider, its calm surface reflecting the dull gray light filtering through the dense canopy above.
The air turned colder.
Every breath felt as though they were stepping deeper into a place that had never belonged to humans.
Bimo walked along the riverbank, peering into the water.
"I seriously hope there aren't any glowing fish in there."
Dika patted him on the shoulder.
"With our luck? Don't tempt fate."
Farhan studied the readings on his laptop.
"The Core's signal is getting stronger."
Lila zoomed in on the digital map.
"We're halfway to the center of the resonance zone."
Kai walked beside Arga, his eyes occasionally flashing with a faint golden glow.
"The forest is responding."
Arga slowly scanned their surroundings.
He felt it too.
Ancient energy flowed beneath the earth.
Not like a current—
but like the slow heartbeat of something unimaginably enormous awakening beneath their feet.
And somehow...
every pulse echoed inside his own chest.
As if something hidden deep within the forest...
already knew who he was.
The mist thickened.
The towering trees became little more than giant black silhouettes.
The birds had fallen silent.
Only the sound of the river...
and their footsteps remained.
Suddenly—
Sinta stopped.
"Wait."
Everyone froze.
"Something's here."
She crouched beside the muddy riverbank.
A massive footprint was pressed deep into the earth.
It wasn't human.
It wasn't a bear.
It was longer.
Heavier.
Older.
Bimo stepped closer... then immediately stepped back.
"Okay..."
"...I officially hate anything this big."
Farhan snapped several photos.
"Estimated mass..."
"...over one ton."
Tono raised an eyebrow.
"In the river?"
Kai answered quietly.
"The Core's energy changes every living thing."
Then he added in a voice that made the air feel even colder.
"And not every change is a good one."
Suddenly—
the river rippled.
The mist above the water twisted...
as if something beneath the surface were pulling it downward.
Everyone turned at once.
Something emerged from the fog.
Slowly.
Silently.
A gigantic serpent.
Its body was as long as a fallen tree.
Black scales shimmered like wet metal.
Beneath them, thin golden veins pulsed rhythmically—
like living energy trapped beneath its skin.
Bimo instantly backed away three steps.
"Okay."
"I officially take back everything I said about glowing fish."
The serpent slowly lifted its head.
Nearly two meters high.
Its golden eyes burned brightly.
Its tongue flicked through the air...
sampling their scent.
Then it stopped.
Its gaze locked directly onto Arga.
Kai stiffened.
"It's looking at you."
Arga tightened his grip on his lunchbox.
Why me?
Every Guardian...
Every Core...
Every creature touched by this power...
always looked at him first.
He never asked for any of this.
Before he could gather his thoughts—
the serpent moved.
Fast.
Far too fast.
SWOOOSH!
Its enormous body shot out of the river like a black spear.
"SCATTER!" Sinta shouted.
Dika leaped left.
Rani pulled Lila to safety.
Farhan nearly dropped his laptop while diving aside.
The serpent's tail slammed into the ground.
BOOOOM!
Mud and water exploded into the air.
Tono had already jumped onto the highest tree branch.
From above, he yelled,
"It's over twenty meters long!"
Bimo looked up.
"Why does knowing that make me feel even worse?!"
The serpent coiled around them, circling the riverbank.
The swirling mist followed its massive body...
forming a white wall that blocked every escape route.
Farhan stared at his screen.
"Its energy is completely unstable!"
Lila touched her tablet.
"Wait..."
She froze.
"There's a pattern on its body."
"What kind of pattern?" Sinta asked.
Lila enlarged the live image.
The glowing golden lines across the serpent's scales...
weren't random.
They formed symbols.
The very same symbols they had seen inside the First Core.
Kai's eyes widened.
"...Impossible."
Arga turned toward him.
"You've seen them before?"
Kai hesitated.
His face had turned pale.
"Those symbols..."
"...were inside Dominion's hidden laboratory."
Silence.
Bimo blinked.
"Hold on..."
"You mean..."
Kai never took his eyes off the serpent.
"...Dominion has already been here."
For a moment, Arga felt as if the blood in his body had stopped flowing.
This wasn't simply a wild guardian transformed by nature.
Someone had found it.
Used it.
Experimented on it.
Made it suffer.
The serpent let out a piercing hiss.
SSSSSSSHHHHH!
Yet beneath the threatening sound...
Arga heard something else.
Pain.
Not through his ears—
but directly inside his mind.
A sudden vision flashed before his eyes.
Metal chains.
A dark chamber.
Blue Dominion lights.
A gigantic creature thrashing wildly inside a cage.
Arga stumbled backward.
"Arga!" Sinta called.
He grabbed his head.
"It's..."
His breathing became ragged.
"It's not attacking because it's angry."
Everyone stared at him.
Arga slowly raised his head toward the serpent.
"It's attacking because it's terrified."
The serpent lunged again.
But this time—
its target wasn't them.
It slammed into a giant tree behind the team.
CRAAAACK!
The massive trunk snapped and crashed across the path, sealing off their retreat.
Bimo stared at the fallen tree.
"Fantastic."
"So now we're trapped by trauma... and lumber."
Even as he joked, his hands trembled.
He remembered Dominion's laboratory.
The shattered capsules.
The helplessness.
And he hated that the feeling had returned.
Sinta stepped forward.
"We can't run."
Her eyes remained fixed on the serpent.
"But if Arga's right..."
"...we can't hurt it either."
Dika sighed.
"Our choices are never simple, are they?"
Arga slowly opened his MBG lunchbox.
The fifteen glowing grains of rice shone brilliantly.
But this time...
he wasn't standing alone.
Kai stood on his right.
Sinta on his left.
Even Bimo, still pale, stepped forward with a forced grin.
"If I get eaten by a giant snake..."
"...please make me sound cool in the report."
Rani patted his shoulder.
"If you stay quiet..."
"...we'll consider it."
A few nervous laughs escaped the group.
Short.
Tense.
But enough to remind them—
they were still together.
The serpent raised its head once more.
The mist thickened.
The river trembled.
Just as Arga prepared to step forward—
CRAAACK!
The riverbed split apart.
Golden light burst upward from beneath the water.
Everyone froze.
Farhan stared at his screen, his face drained of color.
"...That's not the Third Core."
Lila slowly turned toward him.
"Then..."
"...what is it?"
The crack widened.
The river water was sucked downward...
as though an enormous abyss had opened beneath it.
Then—
something deep within the darkness opened its eyes.
Two enormous golden eyes.
Not a serpent.
Not an animal.
Something ancient.
Something so old...
that even the giant serpent feared it.
Kai whispered, barely audible,
"...the true guardian."
The mist exploded apart.
The earth trembled.
The forest roared.
And for the first time since entering the Ancient Forest...
they all realized the truth.
The giant serpent had never been the final guardian.
It had only been standing watch...
waiting for something far older...
to awaken.