Ash stirred. His body felt as if it had been set ablaze from the inside, every breath dragging embers across his lungs. A groan escaped his lips as his eyes flickered open.
Above him stretched a ceiling of jagged stone, shadows dancing across its surface from a faint campfire in the corner. He blinked twice, disoriented.
“Ugh… feels like my entire body is burning alive,” he muttered hoarsely. “Where the hell am I?”
“You’re in a cave,” came a familiar voice.
Ash turned sharply. Adam leaned against the wall, arms folded, but the exhaustion carved into his features betrayed how hollow that casual stance truly was.
“You’re safe—if that’s what you really wanna know,” another voice followed.
From the dark stepped a hooded figure, dragging the carcass of a twisted, mutated radioactive antelope by its horns. With a dull thud, it hit the stone floor. The figure pulled back her hood, revealing sharp eyes and a smirk that suggested she was far too comfortable here.
Ash frowned. “…Who the hell are you?”
“She’s the one who saved us,” Adam answered quickly.
“Saved us?” Ash echoed, narrowing his eyes.
Adam exhaled, rubbing his temples. “You were out cold, so you didn’t see. After you killed the Radbeast, we got ambushed by Those goons from the facility—the ones you pissed off the other day? They were waiting for us.”
Ash stayed silent, unreadable.
Adam pressed on. “That beast attack wasn’t random, either,’’ Adam said grimly.
‘’Not random?…Explain…’’ Ash demanded,
‘’They lured it to you guys. If it weren’t for me…” Luna gestured to herself proudly .
“We’d be dead.” Ash finished for her,
The stranger crouched beside Ash, that sly smile never leaving her lips.
“I’m Luna,” she said simply. “A scavenger.”
Ash’s eyes narrowed further. “…A scavenger. So you’re the other side of the coin, huh?”
She tilted her head, unfazed.
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“Why save us?” Ash asked, his guard up,
For the briefest moment, her eyes softened. Then her tone shifted, playful but dead serious beneath it.
“Believe it or not, my body moved before my brain. I’m afflicted with a disease called kindness.”
Both Ash and Adam stared at her dumbfounded,
‘’your still up on that lie huh?..’’ Adam said sarcastically and a bit annoyed,
‘’Listen I get that you saved us and all but you really expect us to believe that?..kindness in a place like this?…’’ Adam scoffed,
‘’two days… I had several chances to kill you two for two whole days yet I didn’t…Is that enough of a reason?..’’ Luna questioned back at Adam her smile never wavering once,
Adam stood beside ash, speechless, knowing full well she had a point,
‘’Two days huh?…that’s how long I was out?..’’ ash muttered quietly to himself as he gazed down on his palm,
‘’I believe you…’’ ash finally answered,
‘’You gotta be kidding me right?!…why?!’’ Adam questioned ash,
‘’Her reason was solid enough…but that doesn’t mean I trust you…not one bit till you tell us why you kept us alive…’’ ash glared at Luna, a command rather than a request,
“As I thought…you are as sharp as your friend over there…,” she went on, rising to her feet, “just think of it as an investment.”
“…Investment?” the both echoed.
“I saw your fight with the Radbeast. No one survives that, let alone kills it. Having someone like you owe me a favor? Doesn’t sound like a bad gamble.” Her smirk widened, a flash of something sharper hidden in it.
Ash studied her for a long time, his silence heavier than words.
“you’re crazy,” he finally said.
“Mm. I prefer the word free,” Luna replied without hesitation, flashing a grin.
Adam groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Perfect. Another lunatic.”
But Ash—Ash let the corner of his mouth twitch upward, just barely, before leaning back against the stone, eyes closing.
For the first time since the hunt began, he allowed himself to rest.
?
Far from the cave’s fragile calm, chaos reigned.
“What do you mean you lost them?!”
The roar shook the air, scattering nearby mutant creatures into the shadows.
[Name: Goliath]
[Homo branch: Chimera]
[Ability: Gigantification]
[Blood rank: Mid-rank]
[Title: Leader of the Goliath Clan]
Beneath him, hundreds of men knelt trembling in silence as he sat high upon a throne of the rad-beast corpses ash had killed.
“A..apologies , Lord Goliath!” a familiar voice cried. A man with an eyepatch bowed low, forehead pressed to the ground. “It was… that phantom ghost! It interfered!”
“PHANTOMS?! THOSE BASTARDS AGAIN?!” Goliath’s killing intent surged like a crushing tide.
“I should rip your intestines out and strangle you with them,” he growled.
“Perhaps… but save that for later.”
A calm voice cut through the storm.
Goliath’s head turned. Beside him stood a man who looked disarmingly ordinary, yet never seemed to leave his side.
“…You’re still here?” Goliath’s eyes narrowed. “You itching to die, Jake?!”
“Let’s not get distracted,” the man replied smoothly. “I’m here because I’ve got another deal for you.”
[Name: Jake]
[Homo branch: Chimera]
[Ability: Hyena]
[Blood rank: Mid-rank]
[Title: Vice-Leader of the Hyena Clan]
“Another deal?” Goliath rumbled. “Speak.”
“My men found a blood-trail,” Jake said, lips twitching into a grin.’’we already tracked them down through [blood-scent] and the trail leads straight into the Enlightened Forest.”
“The enlightened forest, huh…” Goliath muttered, pondering.
“JAKSON!!” he roared suddenly.
The eyepatch man jolted, stepping forward in terror.
“One more chance,” Goliath snarled. “Fetch him for me. Fail again… and you won’t live to regret it.”
“Th-thank you, sir! I won’t fail you again!” Jackson shouted, scrambling away with his squad.
Goliath rose, his massive aura surging. “let the hunt begin!”
?
Thanaros.
The Isle of the Black Sovereign.
The world’s most secure prison, surrounded by a deadly storm that no man had ever escaped—or entered.
And yet…
Near the southern shores of the second half of Thanaros, also called the Criminal Capital (Eldorado east), a lone boat rocked against the shallows.
“…Hm? The hell?” a fisherman muttered, noticing the battered vessel drifting in.
“What’s wrong?” his wife asked, stepping up beside him.
“That’s weird never seen this boat here before…who is the owner of this boat?” the man asked.
“Oh it belonged to some young fellow, early twenties. Left town a few hours ago. Handsome one, too,” she said with a shrug.
The fisherman’s brow furrowed, eyes fixed on the cracked wood of the boat.
(For a vessel this torn apart to survive the storm… Could he have come from outside? A man in his twenties, slipping past the Black Sovereign’s wall of death? Impossible… and yet…)
He shivered.
If true, then the island had just shifted.
?
Narration:
And just like that, unforeseen circumstances birthed unexpected alliances.
But the cave wasn’t as safe as they thought, Outside, footsteps stirred, faint against the wind. Trails had been left behind.
And on this island, carelessness was never forgiven.
For in the shadows… there was always something waiting.
?
End of Chapter 18.
