The fireball illuminated Endoria's night sky, and many witnessed its fall with trepidation. The beauty as the orange-red glow seemed to slice through the sky, rapidly approaching the earth, losing energy faster and faster.
It streaked across half the continent and landed in the dense green forests, shaking the ground beneath the feet of people and animals alike. Flames spread along the impact zone as the object collided with the ground, leaving several craters of varying depths. Finally, it landed, losing its incredible speed.
The flames continued to burn on this oval-shaped object, which, despite the impact, remained intact, just as whole and smooth as moments before the landing.
Abruptly, one of the plates detached, revealing a door that swiftly flew open. A white-gloved hand appeared beyond the shuttle. Following the hand, a shoe touched the air, finding an invisible platform and landing there. A man in a black suit with an eagle emblem on his chest surveyed the surroundings with his red, weary eyes. His silver-grey hair danced in the wind, as the seemingly young face scrutinized everything around.
The flames that had ignited vanished with a mere gesture of the man's hand, as if they never existed. He glanced at his left hand, where a transparent crystal was held by two thin but incredibly strong white threads. It was an Eden Crystal class A—a pulse of such immense and absorbing power, directed straight to the Eden Crystal.
His right hand moved at his will, but he felt a strange heaviness throughout his body.
"Have I lost my powers?" His right hand touched a point just above his stomach.
"Incredibly, the Eden Core holds only 1/100th of my powers, and something prevents Eden from moving from there to me." His hand clenched the suit it touched, but the form immediately straightened. Crimson eyes involuntarily blinked, adjusting to the light.
"Aria?" He glanced again at the crystal on his hand, which was beginning to change color—red, indicating a meager amount of energy within.
"Yes?" A female voice reached the man's ears after a long delay.
"Where are we? And why did I end up in the escape capsule?" He turned and looked back into the shuttle he had just left a minute ago.
"Forgive me, Lord Carnage, but I have no data on this."
"No data," he rubbed his chin, trying to remember by himself, but, as before, no matter how hard he tried, his mind remained empty.
"What happened in the Frontier?"
"Sorry, but there is no such data."
The red eyes looked up at the sky with hundreds of stars, but what intrigued him more were the three distinct satellites visible in the sky. Although not unique, after Protocol 17, many satellites were destroyed to resemble the original Earthlings.
"Analyze the surroundings; I must understand where we are. Also, locate the Eden Center and send an SOS signal. This shuttle clearly won't take off again."
Inside the ship, there were numerous malfunctions, from minor to ones that couldn't be fixed without tools and extensive work. Wires and many nanomachines seemed broken, monitors shattered, and communication reception and transmission equipment were entirely missing.
Arlok's body staggered, and through the crystal, an energy emerged, invisible yet easily felt by the man. This energy impulse spread through the area, barely skirting it.
"The Eden Center isn't found, and neither were the Eden Threads— we are not in Alliance territory..." Aria replied.
"So we are in the Frontier?"
"No, the planet has an artificially originated Eden Field. According to my data, the amount of Eden here and in the Frontier is incomparable. There's too little here."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, the planet is inhabited by strange life forms. A part of their bodies responds to Eden's influence, while another part does not."
"Living dead," he extended his hand into the forest, and a couple of large and small animals flew out, running somewhere. "I see them, Aria. Their eyes, if they can be called that, are moving, and their legs are moving." An impulse from his left hand passed through the bodies of the animals, and his eyes flickered.
"There is nothing about these species in the database. Nor are there any such cases in the database," he clenched his fist, and everything before him disappeared under Eden's pressure.
"We should destroy the shuttle before we learn more about this place..." Before she could finish, Carnage lifted into the air.
The sight of the enormous green forest amazed the imagination of people, but not Arlok; he was staring intensely into the distance. His figure was a tiny dot in the sky, where his black-red-gold uniform somewhat distinguished him against the night sky.
There, among the dense trees and bushes, there was something that made Carnage feel revulsion.
"Sir, what are you attempting to do?"
"There... something very dangerous!" Aria didn't comprehend her carrier's wording, and in that same moment, she attempted to analyze the surroundings.
He began to fly, the speed nearly reaching the speed of sound, but his hair stopped moving against the wind, and his cloak ceased fluttering. The reason being—he erected a dense Eden Field around himself, shielding him from the world.
Upon landing, he touched down on the grass, which parted as his legs approached. Taking another step, he looked at the strange flesh that vibrated and altered its form.
"Like someone shed a part of their skin..."
Quickly, Arlok turned, and small white particles from his cloak formed a sword-saber in his hands. A sweep towards the forest slashed numerous trees, and something between them darted.
"Think you can escape me?" He reached out, and an enormous invisible hand pressed the entire forest in front of him. This force intensified with each passing second, pressing trees into the ground, but Arlok's body became increasingly heavy.
Next, he gestured towards himself, and something flew out from the heap of forest suppressed by his power. It was a flesh of human proportions, vibrating and changing its form like the previous smaller version.
"Aria, analyze."
"Executing," but before the impulse could exit the crystal, the center of this being began to glow.
The explosion destroyed the ground beneath his feet; the force was incredible. The blast wave toppled many trees in the vicinity and traveled very far.
Arlok, however, was unharmed, unlike the surroundings. Not a stone was left, nor the flesh; it obliterated itself.
"I couldn't prevent it from self-destructing... Energy didn't come from the Core; something hindered my power from reaching me..." He looked at his abdomen.
"Sir?" Again, Aria sent the impulse around, but this time significantly weaker.
"The shuttle is gone."
"How?!"
"I don't sense the ship conducting a survey of the area."
"Hmm," he looked around thoughtfully. "Why did this creature destroy itself so quickly? Are you sure the shuttle disappeared?" Carnage ascended and looked from where he had arrived. "Ah! It was simply destroyed," he saw a huge crater.
A sharp squeal reached his ears, momentarily causing him to lose control of the situation.
"Signal of Eden Crystal class D - code: 992048812341 - unknown enumeration, the code contains digits indicating it was sent after the start of the expedition! Concern - the signal contains numerous variables and energy unsuitable for Eden classification!" Aria reported.
"Different energy?... That doesn't give me anything concrete..." He held his chin, and the sword began to disappear.
"Apologies, initiating detailed terrain scanning, request - more energy is needed," Arlok promptly filled Aria with energy.
"The Council won't like this. We must nip this problem in the bud. Provide me with the precise coordinates of the signal," he held both hands behind his back, gazing at the endless forests shrouded in the night's light...
While Arlok remained outwardly calm, internally, he thought about the Frontier and the gap in his memory, as if it had been erased by someone. And it was done incredibly crudely, so much so that he managed to notice it. Perhaps that was the goal of those who deprived him of his memory...
**
"Ah-ah-ah! How?! How did he appear here?! It's their conspiracy, how 'The End' deals with those who go against the rules! No, 'The Description' is more important than the rules! I saw my fate with my own eyes! So, it's someone else! That creature with the red eyes, or her pupil?!" He struck the table, breaking it.
"He must be dead; how did he come here? How did he find my child?! And why have there suddenly been so many 'fragments'?" The man continued to mutter to himself. "Although it's strange, his power doesn't affect the Eden Field of the planet, meaning he's weakened— is this a chance to kill him? Don't be an idiot; how could I kill him alone?"
He clenched and unclenched his fist, which constantly changed its shape.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered as an idea crossed his mind.
"I need to think more sensibly; if I can't defeat him, I must weaken him!" He began to transform into another man.