The crash site behind them smoldered, half-buried under snow and rubble. Above, thick clouds swirled in unnatural patterns—as if the weather itself bent to someone's will. Seojun, Elias, Hana, and the enigmatic Agent Rho made their way through the ravine, every step crunching against ice and silence.
"We need transport," Elias muttered. "We're three hundred miles from the target island."
Rho knelt beside a frozen outcrop and tapped his communicator—a device that still worked despite the electromagnetic pulse.
"There's a Phantom-Class stealth sub in the trench off Nantai Ridge. I pre-positioned it last week. We just have to survive long enough to reach it."
Hana narrowed her eyes.
"You're acting like you knew this would happen."
Rho didn't deny it.
"Victor doesn't plan. He orchestrates. Every move he makes is part of a larger algorithm. But I cracked his pattern… partially."
They moved quickly under the cover of snow until they reached a frozen river. But something was wrong.
Seojun paused, raising a hand.
"Elias… do you feel that?"
Elias's pupils dilated.
"Yeah. Something's pinging my neural net."
Suddenly, the snow erupted.
Out of the whiteness rose Hunter Units—bipedal machines cloaked in mimicry fields. Each moved with terrifying grace, artificial muscles twitching like predatory animals.
"He sent drones," Seojun hissed, drawing his sidearm.
"Not drones," Rho corrected. "Prototypes. These are Victor's latest pets."
A firefight erupted. Bullets hissed through the cold air. Elias activated a psionic pulse, slamming two of the machines into a cliffside. Hana's precision shots disabled another.
But it wasn't enough.
One of the Hunters lunged—until Rho stepped in, hand glowing with unfamiliar energy. With a flick, he sliced through the machine like paper.
Everyone froze.
"...You're Enhanced," Elias breathed.
"Not quite," Rho said, voice distant. "I'm what comes after."
They had no time to react. More Hunter signals appeared on the radar. Dozens.
"Run!" Rho barked. "This is just the opening act. He's sending a message."
As they sprinted toward the ridge, the machines gave chase—and in the distance, the black silhouette of the island emerged from the misty sea. Its shoreline glowed faintly with pulsing red lights—like veins on the skin of a sleeping beast.
Victor was waiting.
And the real war had just begun.