Veil of Corruption

Orion's spectral form had already entered the departure bay. Moments later, it materialized beside Jaden, now waiting patiently.

Bastion Whitewake, accompanied by Sundered ranks 304, Eric Dumas, and 289, Eva Laine, received notice of their required participation in the reinforcement mission to the Greywell military complex.

"Seriously, man. Now I have to fight some lunatic in the mountains. I really shouldn't have ticked off the captain," Eric grumbled.

Eva, ignoring him, muttered, "Gabriel. Vanguard Command. Reinforcement Unit Theta-R."

"Huh? What did you just say?" Eric asked, confused.

Eva turned her gaze toward him. "Commander Gabriel will be leading us."

"And what does that have to do with me? I still have to go," Eric replied dismissively.

Eva shot him an angry look, her irritation evident.

There was an announcement through their datapad, instructing them to assemble at the gate where vehicles were already parked.

Eva glanced over her shoulder and said, "Let's go."

Eric muttered under his breath, "Do I even have a choice?"

Eva turned her head back, replying, "No."

Soon, a small group gathered—Cohort Theta-R. With Commander Gabriel leading them and two ranked Sundered at his side, they were a formidable force. But this was not the full reinforcement; a much larger number would arrive later. For now, they were just the scouts.

A group of 30 Sundered departed through the gate of Bastion Whitewake, with Commander Gabriel at the front, flanked by two ranked Sundered. The rest of the group, clad in white armor that covered their faces, wore masks resembling the faces of canine beasts.

...................

In Greywell, a battle was brewing. Captain Silia faced two abyssal-powered humans.

Captain Silia shouted, "Halt! Reinforcements have already been called. Do not make unnecessary complications for yourselves. Surrender now."

The two figures remained still, silently observing their target. Then, without warning, they lunged at Silia. Before they could reach her, she harnessed her Aether, engaging them head-on. Yet, they were unfazed, continuing their advance. Clenching her jaw, Silia activated her ability, summoning a dome of crimson barriers around the room. Even so, the intruders kept moving forward. The dome quaked violently at intervals, but it didn't deter them. Suddenly, they halted, confused—no matter how much they moved, they stayed in place.

Deep within Site 0, in Room 0, a voice resonated, "Bellatrix."

The crimson dome faltered, and the pair lunged again. With her defense crumbling, Silia seemed defenseless—but she wasn't. She activated her relic, consuming the dome and unleashing a crimson-red beam at the duo. The man charged forward, taking the blast directly; his torso tore apart as he was hurled across the room. The woman, unfazed, closed in on Silia. Silia quickly reactivated her dome, this time smaller, encasing her relic. The crimson dome merged with the relic, transforming it into a glowing rapier. With crimson light bending space itself, the rapier shot toward the woman cloaked in black.

The woman conjured a black katana, so dark that as it appeared, the space around them tightened, and she was a step closer to her target. She swung her sword to deflect the crimson rapier moving toward her, but as soon as the blades met, a shockwave sent her flying back toward the already broken door leading to the hallway.

Silia charged into the hallway, glancing at the man's corpse as she passed. In the hallway, Martha lay motionless, and footsteps echoed around. As Silia entered, she sensed someone else nearby. It was Briggs, with crooked teeth and flesh hanging between them. When Silia lunged at him, he backed away, retreating further from the grotesque monster. But Briggs had another target. He lunged at Martha, wrapping her in his arms.

"Oh, my dear Bellatrix," he called her. "Give me thy flesh. I rot inside, trying to forget its hunger."

He opened his massive jaw and swallowed her whole, the crunching sounds echoing through the hall.

Captain Silia didn't wait to see it happen. She was already charging her relic again with crimson energy. Fully powered, this blast would be deadlier than the one she had fired at Ben. But before she could shoot, a shadow lunged at her, severing her right arm entirely. Before she could even process what had happened, Briggs was upon her. There was no time to retreat now. She fired the crimson light, its beam tearing through space itself, warping reality around it with a force so immense it could obliterate the entire mountain. Briggs didn't hesitate. He met the devastating beam head-on. The blast sliced through him, cleaving his torso completely, leaving only his legs stumbling in the hallway.

In the dark room of Site 0, Room 0, a hoarse and utterly terrifying voice surfaced again.

"Saiph."

The entire complex shook to its core, the mountain trembling violently.

..................

Lucas and the rest of the supply corps at the staging bay had planned to head towards the communication department while the others went to the administrative hall to figure out what was happening.

Team A, led by Lucas, advanced towards the comm area. The place was unlit, forcing them to rely on electric torches to navigate through the darkness. With chaos erupting all around them, breaking protocol was the least of their worries.

As they approached the communication station, the sight before them sent chills down their spines.

"What... the hell is that? A SUNDERED."

"What... killed them? Ahh, so..." One of the supply corps members couldn't finish his sentence before vomiting.

The hallway leading to the communication station was littered with corpses, viciously torn apart, devoured, and left mangled by a ravenous beast.

After regaining their footing, the small team pressed on. The man who had vomited, the navigator of the supply corps, was the youngest among them. Previously just an ordinary soldier, he had never faced such a brutal massacre before. His luck had held out until now, but it had finally run dry. While the rest of the team managed to remain composed, he faltered, hesitating to take another step.

Lucas noticed Charlie lagging behind and approached him.

"I can't, sir. I can't go... the beast might still be lingering there."

Lucas hugged Charlie.

"It's okay, it's alright. I'm with you. We can get through this. Reinforcements will come. We just need to wait for them."

What they didn't know was that Captain Silia hadn't been able to transmit the alert across the station. Briggs had already dismantled enough of the network to prevent the rest of the department from learning what was happening. Lucas decided it was up to him to alert the other departments and call for reinforcements.

Soon, when they reached the comm area, there were more bodies—a dozen, their sundered flesh mangled, torn, and half-eaten.

Lucas and his team were paralyzed by the sight, their spirits crushed by the overwhelming horror. Then, a voice broke through, trembling with fear.

"Sir, the network terminal has been torn apart." 

Everybody's gaze shifted from the mangled corpse to the network terminal. It was truly gruesome, torn to shreds as if a giant monster had taken a bite out of it.

Charlie turned his head toward Lucas. "Sir, what do we do now?" 

His voice echoed through the comm, even though he tried to lower it to a whisper.