The fog grew thicker as they followed the giant gorilla deeper into the ancient forest.
The guardian's footsteps were heavy yet steady, each one sending a faint tremor through the ground.
The farther they went...
the more the forest changed.
No birds sang.
No insects buzzed.
Not even the wind whispered through the leaves.
The forest that had once felt alive...
now seemed to be holding its breath.
Sinta stopped abruptly.
"Everyone, stay still."
The entire team froze.
Bimo looked around nervously.
"What is it now?"
Sinta scanned the silent forest.
"It's too quiet."
Farhan frowned at his laptop.
The energy graph that had been stable only moments ago suddenly spiked wildly.
"Wait..."
Lila checked her tablet, and the color drained from her face.
"A new signal just appeared."
Bimo let out a long sigh.
"Of course it did."
The giant gorilla ahead suddenly froze.
Its massive body stiffened.
Its golden eyes blazed brightly.
But it wasn't looking at Arga.
Or at the team.
It was staring toward the west.
Kai understood immediately.
"It's not us."
Arga looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Kai's voice dropped to a whisper.
"It's watching another threat."
Then—
BANG!
A gunshot shattered the silence.
Birds burst from the distant treetops.
The fog rippled through the forest.
Bimo covered his face.
"Great."
"Now we've got armed humans too."
Several figures in black uniforms emerged from between the trees.
Advanced weapons.
Energy equipment.
And at the front...
stood the man in the hat.
A faint smile crossed his lips.
"You really are faster than I expected."
Sinta stepped forward.
"Dominion."
The man glanced curiously at the giant gorilla.
"So..."
"You're the forest guardian."
One of the Dominion soldiers raised his weapon.
The gorilla answered with a deafening roar.
GROOOOOARRR!!
The earth shook beneath everyone's feet.
The man in the hat calmly lifted a hand.
"Lower your weapons."
His eyes shifted toward Arga.
"We're not here to fight you."
Bimo snorted.
"That has to be the biggest lie I've heard all week."
The man ignored him.
Instead, he tossed a small metallic device onto the ground.
A hologram flickered to life.
An old recording appeared.
A laboratory.
Steel cages.
A massive creature struggling against thick restraints.
Then—
the forest guardian.
Younger.
Wilder.
Chains wrapped tightly around its body as blue Dominion energy was injected into its veins.
Its furious roars slowly weakened...
until the creature collapsed in exhausted silence.
Arga's entire body stiffened.
"No..."
Kai clenched his fists.
"You captured it."
"We studied it," the man replied without emotion.
Rani's voice trembled with anger.
"You tortured it."
The giant gorilla stared silently at the image of its younger self.
For a brief moment...
the warmth in its golden eyes disappeared.
The deepest wound had never been on its body.
It was in its memories.
Without warning—
CRAAACK!!
Massive roots burst from the ground.
One Dominion soldier reacted too slowly.
The roots wrapped around him and dragged him screaming into the trees before vanishing into the fog.
His cries lasted only a few seconds...
before silence swallowed them whole.
No one moved.
No one knew whether he was still alive.
Even the man in the hat lost his smile.
This forest didn't care who was friend or enemy.
It would devour anyone who entered.
Nearby, Andra struggled to stand despite his injured shoulder.
Pain shot through his body, forcing him back to one knee.
"Don't move!" Rani shouted as she rushed to his side.
She realized something bitter.
If another battle started now...
they already had an injured teammate.
Every step deeper into this forest carried a real price.
Arga looked at the giant guardian.
The creature that had guided them.
The creature humanity had once imprisoned.
His thoughts drifted to Kai.
To the prototype children trapped inside Dominion laboratories.
It was always the same.
The powerful wanted to own everything.
The living were turned into tools.
His chest tightened.
If they failed today...
the Third Core would suffer the same fate.
And for the first time...
he wasn't sure he was strong enough to stop it.
Sinta stepped beside him without looking away from the enemy.
"Are you afraid?"
Arga stayed silent for a moment.
"...Yeah."
A faint smile touched Sinta's lips.
"Good."
He looked at her.
"The people who fear nothing..."
"...are usually the ones who destroy everything."
She faced forward once more.
"The important thing..."
"...is that you keep moving."
Then—
RUMBLE... RUMBLE...
The ground shook harder than before.
Everyone turned toward the forest ahead.
The fog rolled aside.
Ancient trees trembled.
Something enormous was approaching.
Each step was heavier than the gorilla's.
Far larger than anything they had encountered.
Bimo swallowed hard.
"If this thing is even bigger..."
"...I'm switching genres."
The mist split apart.
And something emerged.
Its body looked as though it had been sculpted from ancient roots, mountain stone, and living earth.
Plants grew across its enormous frame.
Golden light flowed through the cracks in its rocky body like rivers beneath the surface.
Then—
two colossal eyes slowly opened.
They burned like ancient suns.
Farhan stared at his monitor, his face turning pale.
"The energy level..."
"...it's off the charts."
Lila whispered,
"This is the center of the resonance."
Kai slowly shook his head.
"No..."
"That's the Core Guardian."
The giant gorilla immediately lowered its head.
Like a loyal subject bowing before its king.
For the first time...
the man in the hat instinctively stepped backward.
For the first time...
he was truly afraid.
The colossal guardian slowly swept its gaze across everyone.
The Nutrition Guardians.
The Dominion soldiers.
The forest guardian.
Then...
its eyes stopped on Arga.
The air suddenly grew unbearably heavy.
The voice from the Core echoed inside Arga's mind once again.
But this time...
it wasn't just one voice.
Countless ancient voices resonated together.
Deep.
Timeless.
Powerful.
He is not the one you seek.
Arga staggered backward.
"What...?"
The colossal guardian slowly raised one massive arm.
The glowing crack across its chest widened.
And inside...
resting within a chamber of pure golden light...
was a child.
Sleeping peacefully.
Wearing an old MBG uniform.
Farhan dropped his laptop.
"That's impossible..."
Lila stared at the data that had suddenly unlocked on her tablet.
A classified file appeared across the screen.
SUBJECT: THE FIRST GUARDIAN
Pak Rahmat froze.
His face turned pale.
"...I know that uniform."
Arga stared at the sleeping child inside the guardian's chest.
His heart pounded uncontrollably.
Because somehow...
the child's face looked almost identical to his own.
Before anyone could speak—
the colossal guardian slammed its fist into the earth.
BOOOOOOOM!!
A massive wave of golden energy exploded across the entire forest.
Trees trembled violently.
The fog shattered.
Dominion soldiers were thrown backward.
"TEAM!" Sinta shouted.
Everyone moved at once.
But this was no longer a battle about victory or defeat.
Now they had to make a choice—
fight the guardian...
or uncover the forgotten truth sealed within its heart.