Two Weeks Later.
Within the Greek Institute's training room we're Chris, Japheth and Joshua. The three were in the midst of sparring. One of them gained the thought of one of their teammates being out of commission and suddenly stopped.
"He's really gonna be out of it until next week?" Japheth groaned, arms crossed as he slumped to the grey floors. "Talk about lucky."
"He's training," Joshua corrected, his voice edged with disapproval. "Unlike a certain someone who'd rather whine than improve."
Japheth shot him a glare, which Joshua met with equal irritation.
"Enough." Chris stepped between them, cutting off their rising hostility. "We need to focus. What's our next mission?"
Cleondra's sharp gaze passed over the group before she spoke.
"The Queen of Brigaden has been confirmed to be working with Donavan," she explained, her tone grave. "This isn't some minor warlord you can take down in the dead of night. If you fail, a war will ignite, and Brigaden—stuck in an era of sword and steel—will become Donavan's domain. The Queen still holds the power he gave her."
A grim silence filled the room.
"This mission will require additional support," Cleondra continued. "The Beta and Zeta squad leaders will join you."
Two figures entered—one with a grin sharp enough to cut, the other wrapped in an air of solemnity.
"Good to see you again," Aria said, hands on her hips. "I heard you got your asses handed to you last mission." She burst into laughter. Throwing her small body to the ground and rolling from her own joke.
"Your humor is as dark as ever," Misery murmured disapprovingly.
Chris eyed Aria, who was still howling with laughter. "What's with her?"
"That's just how she is." Cleondra shrugged.
"Where's the rest of your squads?" Joshua asked.
"Not all of them are field operatives," Cleondra explained. "Most are spies, analysts, or strategists. That's how we gather information so easily. Only two members of Aria's squad will be in Brigaden, waiting at designated locations—the city and an outpost camp.
"Japheth, you'll infiltrate the Colosseum of Scyld as a warrior from a country known as Rusi, sponsored by a wealthy patron. Joshua, you and Misery will uncover more about the land and its monarch. Chris and Aria, you'll handle the beasts that have begun patrolling Brigaden's borders. Something is drawing creatures there, and we need to know why."
She paused before delivering the final piece of information.
"Come back alive."
They all nodded, understanding the gravity of the mission.
"Prepare for departure," Cleondra commanded.
---
My mind felt blank—like I had sunk too deep into the ocean of my own consciousness. The Sin Jayeon Meditation had taken me further than ever before, and yet… something familiar slithered back into my awareness.
Cold.
A feeling that had never truly left me.
"You think you can win with this feeble method?"
Malvick's voice echoed through the void, sharp and mocking. His presence coiled around me like a predator waiting for weakness.
"Darren, I am the key to victory."
I clenched my fists, willing myself to focus. "Yes, you are," I admitted, "but I won't let you control me again."
He laughed—a slow, sinister sound that made my skin crawl.
"And the final blow? You think you can end her without me?"
"I'll use darkness without you."
"You're a fool."
A crushing pressure bore down on me, suffocating me in this endless void. My concentration wavered, my breath shallow.
"Two weeks you've wasted on this nonsense," Malvick hissed. "Your Sin Jayeon is nothing compared to the void. Always remember that. I will return, I will drown this world in darkness—and you will watch as I do so."
I gasped as his presence retreated, leaving me shaken but still standing.
"Bastard…" I exhaled, regaining my breath.
A voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"Are you well, Brother Darren?"
I looked up to see Mike Ol approaching, a basket of fruits and vegetables in hand.
"I am." I stood, flexing my fingers. A red aura shimmered around my arms, pulsing with power.
"Very good," he said, smiling. "One more week of this, and you'll wield Sin Jayeon anywhere in the world. Just remember my teachings."
I nodded, though my thoughts were already elsewhere. I remembered the agony of my first week—my body rejecting years of corruption, purging black bile that stank of rot. Mike Ol had assured me it was normal, that I was expelling the part of me that rejects nature.
The sickness was gone now. Even Malvick's taunts couldn't shake my mind the way they once did.
But through all his mockery, I had learned something.
Donavan's furies could heal from fatal wounds, but if I used my darkness right, I could sever their connection to him completely. Still, the best way to destroy them was to use the darkness outright—if they died by ordinary means, Donavan could bring them back.
Mike Ol studied me with quiet curiosity. "Most would break under the weight of this training. What drives you?"
I hesitated. Images flashed through my mind—things I couldn't forget, even if I wanted to.
"I have to stop something," I finally said. "And I think I'm the only one who can."
"A heavy burden for one so young," he murmured. "Yet, without your strength, our village would have perished. No amount of gratitude will ever be enough."
"Don't burden the boy with thanks."
Ren Ol's voice cut through the air.
The old man stepped into view, his gaze sharp as ever.
"Eat quickly, Darren," he instructed. "You'll return to Sin Jayeon meditation as soon as you finish."
I sighed but obeyed, sitting down to eat.
Even as I chewed, my mind wandered.
I thought of Japheth. Joshua. Chris.
They were already in Brigaden.
I wonder how they're doing…
---
Chris cursed, his face pale.
"What the hell is this?"
The valley below them was a graveyard.
Bodies—hundreds of them—lay strewn across the ground, and amidst the carnage, monstrous figures moved.
Lycans.
Huge, wolf-like men dragging corpses toward a cavern, their snarls reverberating in the night air.
Stomach's twisted within the G. I. Copter.
Cleondra took the telescope from Chris, scanning the scene with cold efficiency.
"The people of Brigaden have been deceived," she said. "They believe these creatures are their protectors. After the failed invasion by Rusi, the Lycans tore through the invaders, earning their loyalty. But they're nothing more than beasts, bound to their Alpha."
"A country ruled by werewolves," Joshua muttered. "Feels like a twisted fairytale."
"Any new intel from your spies?" Japheth asked.
"Everything else will be shared at the rendezvous point."
Chris exhaled, still tense. "Where do we land? This place is crawling with monsters."
"There's an outpost on the eastern border," Cleondra revealed. "Survivors from Rusi's army are holding it. They're willing to cooperate if it means going home."
The black helicopter descended.
Overlooking a dark landscape that didn't have those things walking about.