*** Billion's PoV
I stood at the edge of the forest, arms crossed, staring at the distant volcano. The air was heavy with the scent of ash and earth, even though the eruption hadn't started yet.
The sky was clear, a bright morning sun casting long shadows across the land.
It was too calm. Too quiet.
Steve stood beside me, his sword resting against his shoulder, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
He had been silent for the past few minutes, only occasionally glancing at the volcano before looking back at me.
"This feels weird," he finally muttered.
I nodded. "Yeah. Like the calm before a storm."
The volcano hadn't erupted yet, but we knew it was coming.
The whole unit did. Today would be the start of something different, something harder.
For the past two weeks, we had fought Abominations, but this one was supposed to be on a whole different level.
A test, a challenge, or maybe just a slaughter.
