— Me (desperate, almost shouting): Tell me you've got a plan B, man!
— Roch (detached, almost amused): Not really. If you don't understand your role here, running will be your only option. So… run.
Terror grips my throat.
This is the end. And yet, I stand there, frozen in the jungle like a trapped rat.
But why am I still here? What's holding me back? A way out, maybe.
But the jungle offers only invisible walls, dancing shadows I can't escape.
A sharp crack shatters the silence, as violent as thunder striking the earth. My heart pounds.
— Iris (detached, almost clinical): Alert. Your position is compromised.
— Me: Shit.
I lift my head, eyes wide with fear, the world blurring under the weight of my panic.
Too late.
The end is already here.
— Anomaly Hunter (metallic, icy voice): Target acquired.
The ground trembles beneath their steps, a deep, inhuman rumble. They're coming.
Not hunters.
No, regulators.
Spectators of chaos, cold, calculated agents.
I am their trophy, their problem to solve.
— Squad Leader (calm, but death seeps through his voice): Don't let them escape. Capture them… intact.
A shiver runs down my spine, freezing every fiber of my being.
No time.
Fear twists my stomach, an overwhelming pressure locking my body in place.
I need to escape…
But for a second, every movement feels pointless.
I ran.
My legs scream, a dull pain tearing through me with every step.
Branches snap under my feet, thorns rip through my skin, but the pain is secondary.
I am prey, and they… they are machines.
— Roch (calm, almost amused): William, wait…
— Me (panting, like a cornered animal): Are you serious?! They're too fast, too strong… It's over!
But I have no choice.
Run or die.
The ground vanishes beneath me.
A ravine.
A bottomless abyss.
No way out.
The void.
The earth calls me.
I have a choice, but it's not a choice.
It's a leap into the unknown, a dive with no return.
I jumped.
The air rips at my face, every second stretching endlessly, as if time itself is holding its breath.
Then, something awakens inside me.
An instinct, ancient, brutal.
SHRAAAAAH.
The Shadow Veil bursts from my back, a black, skeletal mass, a living entity that roars from another dimension. An otherworldly force spreads its wings—pure darkness slicing through the air, lifting me up.
I have no control.
The ground rushes toward me too fast, impact imminent.
But the wings beat, an unstoppable force stabilizing me.
The world warps around me.
Time slows.
An electric hum fills my mind, amplified by the echo of my own terror.
I fight to keep my balance, clenching everything I can.
Boom.
Impact.
The ground slams into me with brutal force, but the Veil absorbs the shock, shields me.
My bones crack under the weight of the fall, my leg twisting at an unnatural angle—but I'm still here. Alive.
The Veil wraps around me like a cocoon of shadow, dulling the pain, numbing the agony.
Silence. Heavy. Oppressive. Suffocating.
The air is thick with dust, sweat, and unbearable tension.
The regulators stand frozen. They saw me. They know. What I am.
— Anomaly Hunter #1 (cut-off voice, terrified): …What the hell was that?!
— Anomaly Hunter #2 (nervous, sweat beading on his forehead): Black wings! Chief, was he just an anomaly?
— Squad Leader (cold, teeth clenched): No. He's a problem.
Silence. Deadly.
The words hang in the air, heavy, menacing.
A shiver crawls over my skin.
The worst is yet to come.
— Squad Leader (calm, ruthless): New directive. Requesting permission for immediate elimination.
I know what that means.
I'm out of time.
This is my one chance.
This isn't a hunt anymore.
It's an execution.
I force myself up, every inch of my body screaming, my legs already moving, driven by a will that isn't entirely my own.
I ran.
I hear them behind me, their breath closing in, the pressure of their pursuit crushing me.
But I have no choice.
Not today.
Not yet.