The savannah had come back to life.
Young grass sprouted across the ground that had been scorched just yesterday.
The hot wind now blew gently, carrying the distant scent of rain.
The scars of battle were slowly being swallowed by nature.
But their bodies had not yet recovered.
Victory always looked beautiful from a distance.
Up close—
it was covered in wounds.
Near the cargo aircraft, the Nutrition Guardians gathered around Farhan's laptop.
Bimo sat while holding his lower back.
"If anyone asks," he said through a grimace, "I didn't lose to the monster."
He pointed at his own battered body.
"My body betrayed me."
Dika chuckled, then immediately clutched his bandaged ribs.
"Please don't make me laugh."
Rani quietly cleaned the dried blood from her temple.
Tono stood without a word, his shoulder still wrapped in a strip of torn cloth.
Sinta looked as composed as ever—
but her fingers trembled slightly as she folded her arms.
Arga stood at the back.
Silent.
The MBG lunchbox was in his hand.
He hadn't opened it since the last battle.
Because every time the light inside pulsed—
his chest felt as though it were cracking open.
Kai stood beside him.
"You haven't recovered."
Arga answered quietly,
"We don't have time to recover."
Kai stared straight ahead.
"That's exactly what makes humans break so quickly."
Farhan zoomed in on the world's energy map.
Four points were glowing brightly.
The Southern Island.
The Ancient Forest.
The Ice Valley.
The African Savannah.
Four Cores had awakened.
Three other points remained dim.
Waiting.
Then one of them began to pulse.
Slowly at first.
But with increasing intensity.
Its location was far to the north.
At the heart of a massive mountain range that pierced the sky.
Lila studied the data on the screen.
"The Himalayas."
Bimo weakly raised a hand.
"Great."
"After heat and ice…"
"…now we're climbing to the roof of the world."
Farhan swallowed.
"Something's strange."
Everyone turned toward him.
He enlarged the sensor data.
"This Core's energy isn't exploding like the savannah."
"It isn't wild like the Ice Core."
"And it isn't calm like the forest."
Lila whispered,
"Then what is it like?"
Farhan answered softly.
"It's like…"
"…it's calling for something."
Silence fell.
Arga finally opened the MBG lunchbox.
Nineteen glowing grains of rice slowly rotated inside.
But one grain pulsed more strongly than the others.
As if answering a call from somewhere far away.
Kai immediately looked at it.
"It's calling you."
Several hours later—
the cargo aircraft cut through the northern sky.
Below them, the world changed.
The savannah disappeared.
Then deserts stretched beneath them.
Then enormous mountains began rising from the earth.
The farther they flew—
the higher they climbed.
Until, at last, white peaks emerged between the clouds.
The massive mountains stood like walls built by the gods.
Sunlight reflected off the eternal snow.
Dark valleys hid beneath thick layers of mist.
There were no cities.
No roads.
No signs of life.
Only rock.
Ice.
And silence.
Bimo stared out the window.
"I take back every joke I've ever made."
"This place is creepy."
No one disagreed.
Pak Rahmat was in the cockpit.
Calm as always.
His hands remained steady on the controls even as the wind began shaking the aircraft.
An alarm sounded.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
Farhan looked at the navigation panel.
"The magnetic field is changing!"
Lila frowned.
"The compass is unstable!"
Thick fog appeared out of nowhere.
It swallowed the windshield.
The outside world vanished.
Sinta immediately tensed.
"Should we turn back?"
Before anyone could answer—
Pak Rahmat said flatly,
"Too late."
The aircraft shook violently.
BRAAAAM!
Bimo gripped his seat.
"Why does the phrase 'too late' always sound terrible?!"
But Pak Rahmat didn't panic.
Instead, he shut down several of the navigation displays.
Then he turned the aircraft left—
straight into the thickest part of the fog.
Farhan stared at him in disbelief.
"Sir! That's a cliff!"
Pak Rahmat answered without looking back.
"If you only trust what your eyes can see…"
"…you'll die on this mountain."
Everyone fell silent.
A few seconds later—
the fog parted.
A narrow plateau appeared ahead, hidden between towering cliffs.
A natural landing strip.
Unmarked on any map.
The aircraft landed hard.
ROOOOOM!
The wheels slammed against the ice.
The entire aircraft shook.
But they had made it.
Silence filled the cabin.
Bimo stared at Pak Rahmat from across the cabin.
"…I'm getting more uncomfortable with this man by the minute."
The aircraft door opened.
Cold air struck them like a blade.
WHOOSH!
Their breath instantly turned to vapor.
Thin snow drifted through the air.
But the most unsettling thing wasn't the cold.
It was the silence.
No birds.
No animals.
Not even the sound of the wind.
As if the entire mountain were holding its breath.
Arga was the last to step outside.
The moment his feet touched the snow—
the MBG lunchbox began trembling violently.
He almost dropped it.
The nineteen glowing grains of rice spun wildly inside.
Farhan opened his laptop.
The energy graph shot upward.
"The Core is close!"
Lila pointed toward a narrow valley between two enormous rock walls.
"From there."
Thick fog hung inside the gap.
It didn't move.
Like a sealed door.
Kai stared at it for a long moment.
Then he spoke quietly.
"We didn't come here."
Everyone turned toward him.
Kai swallowed.
"We…"
"…were summoned."
The ground trembled.
RUMMMMMBLE.
Snow cascaded down the slopes.
Small rocks rolled into the valley.
The fog inside the valley began to move.
Slowly.
Like something was breathing behind it.
Farhan took a step backward.
"The energy is rising!"
Lila's face went pale.
"It's still rising!"
Bimo forced a laugh.
"Okay…"
"If there's a giant mountain goat, I can probably handle that."
No one laughed.
Two blue lights appeared inside the fog.
Far higher than any human.
Silent.
Watching.
Then—
a single footstep echoed.
BOOM.
The entire plateau trembled.
A second step.
BOOM.
Cracks spread through the ice.
A third step.
BOOM.
The fog split apart.
And something emerged.
A giant.
Its body was covered in mountain stone and ancient ice.
Its shoulders were as wide as the cliffs.
Massive horns curved backward like crescent moons.
Ancient chains wrapped around its arms and chest.
Each link was as large as a human body.
Its blue eyes glowed like stars in a frozen night.
Bimo stared blankly.
"…That's definitely not a goat."
Kai whispered,
"Titan Yakhorn."
"The Guardian of the Cloud Mountains."
The enormous creature didn't roar.
It didn't attack.
It simply stood there.
And its silence was far more terrifying than any roar could have been.
Arga felt his knees weaken.
The MBG lunchbox in his hand grew hot.
All nineteen grains pulsed at once.
Titan Yakhorn looked at Arga.
Then at the team.
Then—
its gaze moved past all of them.
And stopped on one person.
Pak Rahmat.
The wind, which had been completely still, suddenly began to swirl.
Snow whipped around the giant creature.
Titan Yakhorn slowly lowered itself to one knee.
The entire mountain trembled.
BOOOOOOM!
Everyone froze.
Bimo even forgot to breathe.
Sinta whispered,
"…Impossible."
The giant bowed its head toward Pak Rahmat.
The ancient chains wrapped around its body rang loudly.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
And for the first time—
the ancient guardian spoke.
Its voice sounded like a living avalanche.
"You…"
"…have finally returned."