In the spring month of February, when the earth should have been stirring from its slumber, life sprawling in every direction, it lay instead suffocated in a deathly silence, utterly devoid of vitality. On a desolate street, a sewer manhole cover wobbled before being lifted by a cautious hand.
Ethan peeked out from the manhole, his eyes darting warily around. All that met his gaze were broken walls and ruins, the remnants of a once bustling city now silent and stripped of its former glory. Dust, paper, bloodstains, and bones drifted everywhere, permeating the air with a sense of decay and heaviness.
This was the third year after the 'Beast Calamity.' When those colossal, unidentified creatures descended upon the world, it took less than six months for civilization to crumble into oblivion, leaving order in ruins.
The survivors, henceforth, lived in a veritable hell.
A gust of wind blew, stirring Ethan's jet-black hair as he swiftly climbed out and loosely replaced the cover. Tied to the cover was a rope, knotted for grip, which the wind now caused to sway.
Ethan, dressed in tattered clothes and covered in filth, had a sturdy waist pack slung around him. All parts of his body that could be exposed to the air were wrapped in waterproof cloth, revealing only a pair of crimson eyes.
Thunder rumbled in the sky, and rain began to fall. Ethan had a love-hate relationship with the rain; it diluted his scent but also brought 'Crimson Poison,' a toxin that increased the chances of infection and exacerbated illness.
'Crimson Poison' was the legacy of the 'Beasts.' Their blood, upon contact with the air, spread this toxin, causing irregular red patches on human skin and dyeing the eyes of the afflicted a deep red. When the red engulfed the entire pupil, death was imminent—just like Ethan, whose eyes were almost completely crimson.
The rain washed over the earth, bringing a scent of mud and blood. Ethan had already pulled down his diving goggles to protect his eyes and donned a waterproof helmet, making himself 'invulnerable' to the toxins.
He moved through the streets, past a dilapidated hot pot restaurant and a collapsed cinema. Suddenly, his eyes burned, and he stopped. His vision blurred, and he saw several grayish glows moving towards an intersection ahead.
This 'vision' had emerged after the 'Beast Calamity.' Before the disaster, Ethan had bought an ancient tome called "The Elemental Construct" online, which was said to be a lost cultivation method. Despite practicing according to the book, he felt no effects until after the calamity, when he began to sense warmth during his exercises and soon saw anomalies—gray glows emitted by humans, Beast parasites, and other creatures, alerting him to danger.
Ethan crept into the trunk of a nearby car, leaving only a sliver of space open. Moments later, wolf-sized creatures resembling ticks with wolf heads passed by. They were vigilant and rarely alone. These 'Wolf Ticks,' parasites from the Beasts, were familiar foes to Ethan.
After ensuring the coast was clear, Ethan continued his journey. He crawled out of a ventilation shaft into a supermarket, his 'secret pantry,' where he could only take as much food as he could carry without drawing suspicion.
With the rain stopped, Ethan's steps lightened. The bread and sausages he had gathered would last him a week, a thought that filled him with fleeting satisfaction.
As he approached the intersection where he had encountered the Wolf Ticks, his eyes burned again, revealing a human-shaped gray shadow in a collapsed bus. Without hesitation, Ethan fled.
"Damn, that kid's sharp," cursed a burly man emerging from the bus. He whistled, signaling two other men armed with knives and clubs. They cornered Ethan, but he drew an automatic pistol, ready to defend himself.
The burly man tried to negotiate, but as he spoke, one of his men secretly aimed a gun at Ethan. Sensing the danger, Ethan fired first, killing the man instantly. The others panicked, and Ethan escaped into the manhole, closing it just as the Wolf Ticks arrived, attracted by the gunshot and the scent of blood.
Ethan descended into the sewers, ignoring the pleas from above. Soon, the only sounds were the ticks feasting on the men. Ethan emerged from the sewers, determined to find painkillers for his 'Crimson Poison' affliction.
As he headed for the pharmacy, the ground trembled—not a Beast, but a convoy of military vehicles, including massive trucks and armored cars. Ethan's heart raced at the possibility of an antidote within the military's possession.
He followed the convoy towards the city center, where a Beast lay in wait. The survivors had taken refuge underground, avoiding the Beast's nest at the 'Galaxy Stadium.' But Ethan knew he didn't have much time left—perhaps only six months.
The convoy was attacked by a swarm of Beast parasites, but they fought back effectively. Ethan seized the opportunity to sneak aboard one of the trucks when a hole was melted through its side.
Inside the truck, Ethan stumbled upon a massive object covered in tarp. As he hid, an alarm sounded, and a voice announced the opening of a 'Beast Space' and the deployment of a Beast. The convoy entered combat readiness, and Ethan realized they were carrying Mech Suits, ready for activation.
He had to make a choice: follow and risk death for a chance at the antidote or retreat to temporary safety. Ethan chose to follow, and as the battle against the parasites raged, he found himself amidst the chaos, with the fate of the city—and his own—hanging in the balance.
The convoy's thunderous rumble passed by, led by an armored vehicle with a massive metal ram at the fore, cutting a path through the city's heart. Ethan, with determination fueling his steps, kept pace. The once 'Flower City,' now littered with obstacles, slowed the convoy enough for him to keep up. If not for the city's current state, Ethan doubted he could have followed.
He speculated they were heading towards the city center, towards the 'Galaxy Stadium.' But that was where a Beast lay dormant. What could these people want there? Were they planning to annihilate the Beast? The thought was almost unbelievable.
After the 'Beast Calamity,' the survivors of Flower City had taken to living underground. The Beast with a sheep's face and human body had nested in the Galaxy Stadium, but as long as one stayed clear of that area, they were safe. Yet, the city's threats weren't limited to the Beast alone; its parasites were scattered throughout the urban landscape.
Despite this, the survivors were loath to leave the city. Outside its borders, without long-distance transportation, encountering Beast parasites or the Beasts themselves meant almost certain death.
Shaking his head to focus, Ethan used his 'mystical vision' to track the life-signifying gray glows, trailing far behind the convoy. Then, he saw it—a dense cluster of gray glows on a side street ahead. A horde of Beast parasites!
Ethan faced a critical choice: to follow or not? Following could lead to death, but also a chance at an antidote. To turn back would mean temporary safety. In an instant, he made his decision. His gaze hardened, and instead of stopping, he quickened his pace.
As he closed half the distance to the convoy, gunfire erupted. The forceful reports made Ethan drop to the ground. He witnessed countless parasites emerging from the street, from gaps in buildings, and from under vehicles, converging into a dark tide crashing against the convoy.
The convoy's mounted machine guns roared, their gunfire cutting through the air, heavy with the smell of gunpowder. The dark tide was hindered, parasites being shot into the air, their bodies torn asunder.
Then, creatures resembling mites but with human faces leaped onto the 'monster' trucks. These 'Face Mites,' another type of Beast parasite, were tenacious. Once they latched onto prey, they would 'settle down,' using their sharp, barbed limbs to anchor themselves firmly.
They secreted a potent biological acid that could dissolve a grown man in about ten seconds. Now, a multitude of these Face Mites clung to the sides of a heavy truck, rapidly secreting their acid and dissolving the metal.
But the convoy had a countermeasure. A mist suddenly sprayed around the trucks, and upon dispersing, the mites froze and fell off. Ethan gasped, relieved he hadn't acted rashly, or he'd be a block of ice now.
Suddenly, he spotted an irregular hole melted through the body of a rear truck—the surrounding swarm nearly wiped out. This was his chance.
Ethan waited patiently, suppressing his urge to act until two nearby jeeps cleared the remaining parasites and moved to support the front. That's when he made his move.
He sprinted past the carnage of parasite carcasses to the slowly moving truck. With a powerful leap, he grabbed onto the crash barrier, two meters off the ground, and clambered up.
Just as he was about to climb through the hole, a shadow leaped from the ground. A Face Mite! Ethan could see its spongy belly and the frantic waving of its limbs. A cold light flashed in Ethan's crimson eyes as he hurled his dagger.
The blade became a streak of darkness, piercing the mite's soft underbelly, eliciting a high-pitched squeal as it fell to the ground. Without a moment's hesitation, Ethan climbed through the hole into the truck.
As he entered, his vision blurred with vague, shifting lights, and his heart pounded erratically, giving rise to an odd sensation that made him stumble and fall. Fortunately, the truck was empty, or the noise alone would have drawn attention.
He quickly surveyed the truck's interior. The space was unbelievably vast, with a colossal object at the front, covered in waterproof tarp and secured with ropes to prevent it from shifting.
Ethan hid himself just in time as an ear-piercing alarm sounded within the truck. He thought he'd been discovered, but then the broadcast began: "Attention! Attention! Spatial fluctuation wave is reaching the critical threshold!"
"The 'Beast Space' will open in three seconds."
"Three, two, one..."
"The Beast Space has opened!"
"The Beast is about to be deployed!"
"Enter first-level combat readiness!"
"All mech suit transport pods, deploy."
"Mech suits, prepare for activation!"
Ethan's pulse raced as he realized the true scale of the operation he had stumbled upon. This was no mere military convoy; it was a vanguard of humanity's resistance, armed with towering mechs ready to wage war against the Beasts that had brought the world to its knees. And he, Ethan, with his life hanging by a thread, was now in the heart of this mechanical maelstrom, where the future of humanity might just be decided.