The sound of roars could be heard from a distance, followed by that of slow, almost silent footsteps not too far away. On a closer assessment, one could see a squad of soldiers, all geared in state-of-the-art tech uniforms.
Leading the group, a man, looking to be in his mid-twenties, was at the forefront. Raising his right hand, the group of men instantly halted, waiting for his next orders.
Turning to face the squad of soldiers, the squad leader made a set of movements with his hands, to which the soldiers nodded in understanding.
Taking a few steps forward, the squad leader maneuvered around a bunch of trees, adjusting his head so he could have a clear look ahead.
'They weren't lying. This is a tier 4 evolved monster,' the man narrowed his eyes at the beast not too far away. The monster was at least seven feet tall on all fours, its entire body shrouded in purple fur, and its head gave out what sort of evolved creature it was.
'An evolved wolf monster. This one will be quite troublesome,' turning his head back, the squad leader gave out a few orders with his hands, and his team immediately did as told. Things had changed in the current world, and sign language, among other things, had become far more popular as a means of communication in the military.
Breaking into three smaller groups, the soldiers then went on to surround the area the beast was in. Having realized the rank of the beast, the squad leader didn't plan on fighting it with all his forces concentrated.
The soldiers had worried looks on their faces but chose to hide their emotions from the face of their leader. Sterling their resolve, and practicing some deep breathing, the three groups of soldiers readied themselves for what they were about to face.
Taking a few soldiers with him, the squad leader went to confront the beast at the center of the formation. Adjusting a device attached to his right arm, the man was prepared for whatever the beast had in store for him. The squad leader wasted no time in covering the distance between him and the beast.
Arriving just a few meters away from the monster, the squad leader thrust himself forward, his right arm stretched out as a sharp needle extended just above his elbow. Impatient, the squad leader wished to kill the beast as soon as possible.
Sensing the impending danger, the Wolf Beast instantly moved to the side, avoiding the strike by mere inches. Being a grade four beast, there were certain, well, 'enhancements' it had, that beasts of a lower grade did not. Quickly getting into position, the beast quickly went in for an attack in retaliation.
Before the squad leader could react, a claw had connected to his side, going deep into his flesh, with the force pushing him to the side. As his body rolled on the dirt, the squad leader coughed up a mouthful of blood, and with the brief moments he could observe the beast, he realized it was now head-on after him.
'Shit! I'm screwed!' Closing his eyes, the man let out a silent prayer, gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain that was to follow, but yet, what he had expected, didn't happen. Surprised, the squad leader wished to find out just what had happened to halt his demise.
Opening his right eye, the man could see the wolf beast facing off against the squad of soldiers he was traveling with. Amid his panic and desperation to survive, the squad leader had forgotten he still had his men on the ground.
'No, don't attack like that! You have to aim for underneath its head! Gaah! Did I teach you, people, nothing?!' The squad leader analyzed every kick, punch, and maneuver his soldiers applied in the attack. Honestly, the squad leader believed he could have done a much better job himself, if only he wanted to, that is.
"Sir, we have the beast under control now! Finish it!" A soldier yelled, his hands clasped tightly against the pressure points in the beast's jaws. Being one of the most dangerous positions one could find themselves in, the soldier wished his leader would finish off the target as soon as possible.
Getting off the ground, the squad leader sprung into action, the needle extending from the point above his elbow as he let out an enraged battle cry. The squad leader wished to finish off the beast which had nearly cost him his life, and, which had embarrassed him among his subordinates.
With the large needle being just a few inches away from the beast's face, the squad leader had accepted this as his victory, but the wolf beast had quickly dashed his accepted truth, illuminating itself in a brilliant glow of red light, bright enough to engulf the entirety of the forest the hunt was taking place.
As the bright aura of red light dulled down, the squad leader, as well as his subordinates, looked at the position where the wolf beast was held captive, but the beast was nowhere to be seen. The squad leader's heart began to thump loudly at the realization of this fact. He had made a blunder. A big one, in fact, and he couldn't stop himself from imagining what the implications would be for his act of insubordination.
Cursing at his inferiors, the squad leader was prepared to beat one of them to the ground, but just as he was a few meters away from the soldier, one of them pointed towards the sky and shouted.
"Sir, look!"
Shifting his head, the squad leader looked up to the sky, and immediately, he spotted something. Flying not too far up, a butterfly could be seen, but the butterfly wasn't typical. Well, not many things were normal nowadays. But, something about this butterfly was different.
'If I remember correctly from the files we received, butterflies were one of the creatures which hadn't undergone an evolution after the Great Awakening Of Chaos. This could only mean one thing,' the squad leader thought.
"Everyone, shoot down that butterfly before it flies away!" The squad leader ordered, to which his men obeyed right away. Aiming their arms in the air, a large needle elongated from the point above their elbows, and an energy force could be seen building up from the tip.
These needles were different from the kind their leader possessed, and as soon as they were done powering up, a line of white aura shot out. All the lines of aura had missed the red glowing butterfly, something none of them thought possible. With the superior precision the devices they wore provided, and the years of training they had under their belt, they found it hard to believe they could commit such a blunder, especially when it came to something they had been prepared to deal with.
As the fire-red butterfly fluttered away, the squad leader shifted his gaze to meet that of his subordinates. He was enraged, for more reasons than one, and his nails had dug into his flesh as he clenched tightly his fists, causing blood to drip on the ground.
Loud howls could be heard across the distance, as other wolf-type beasts caught a whiff of the stench of blood, making their way towards the location of what they assumed to be a dead human circus. The squad leader knew this, but he still looked stoic in his current situation.
"Sir, the other beasts in the area are now aware of our location! What are we going to do?!" The same soldier, responsible for alerting him about the red butterfly, asked, shouted, in a panic. Everyone, not just him, was petrified of the idea of losing their lives here. Some had started pacing back and both, their palms dug deep into their hair, pulling it out. Others were sitting on the cold ground, rocking back and forth as they muttered to themselves, their eyes opened wide in the alert.
"You all are going obey my orders as the leader of this squad," the squad leader replied.
__________
The red butterfly had taken to the sky, fluttering as the cold wind blew against it. The morphed wolf beast flew aimlessly in the sky, wishing it could at least find someplace safe where it could continue living its life peacefully.
After flying for a few hours, the butterfly-wolf had grown tired, noticing a house not too far away, the butterfly flew downwards, seeing a human outside and on his knees, seemingly ripping apart a piece of paper.
Having exhausted a great deal of its energy, the beast didn't care anymore about finding a conducive place to live. Now, it only wished to locate a place where it could rest and recuperate its depleted energy.
Landing on the man's shoulder, the red butterfly grew brightly, illuminating a small area around the man, before turning into dust particles, and dispersing into the atmosphere.