Two months had passed.
The nights that once brought terror to humanity had become eerily calm. No more snarls or shrieks echoed through the dark. The beasts had vanished, and with them, the portal. It was as if the nightmares that plagued the world had simply ceased.
But for Kai, the silence was anything but comforting. Sitting in his classroom, he gazed out of the window, barely listening to the teacher drone on about historical wars that felt meaningless now. His thoughts were consumed by one question: **What happened to his father?**
No news had come from *Comeion*. None of the team members sent on Operation Terminus had returned. The world was celebrating the sudden disappearance of the beasts, hailing the mission as a success. But Kai couldn't shake the gnawing feeling in his gut. If the mission had succeeded, why hadn't his father come back?
The school bell rang, jolting Kai from his thoughts. As his classmates filed out of the room, chatting and laughing, Kai remained seated, staring at the empty desk in front of him. His father's absence felt like a weight he couldn't carry anymore.
That night, he made a decision.
---
Kai stood in his father's workshop, the dim light of the single bulb casting shadows on the walls. Dust had begun to settle on the tools and gadgets scattered across the workbench. He ran his fingers over a metal gauntlet, a device he and his father had built together.
The **Power Gauntlet**, as Damon called it, was designed to enhance the user's punching power by 100 percent, using a series of kinetic amplifiers. It was a prototype, unfinished, but it worked well enough in their tests. Damon had planned to perfect it before the beasts took over their lives.
Kai slipped the gauntlet onto his right arm, adjusting the straps until it fit snugly.
"If I can't find answers, then no one will," he muttered to himself.
---
The trek to the portal site in the Himalayas was long and grueling. Kai had managed to hitch a ride part of the way, but the rest of the journey was on foot. By the time he reached the location, it was nearing dusk, and the air was thin and cold.
When he finally arrived, he froze in disbelief.
The once chaotic battleground that housed the portal was now completely… empty. No remnants of the portal, no signs of beasts, no destroyed terrain. The area looked unnaturally pristine, as though nothing had ever happened there.
Kai's heart sank. "What is going on here?" he whispered.
He tightened the straps of his gauntlet, his eyes scanning the area for any clues. But as he moved closer to where the portal once stood, a faint growl sent chills down his spine.
A shadow darted between the trees.
Kai spun around, his pulse racing. "Who's there?!" he shouted, his voice echoing in the stillness.
And then it lunged.
A massive beast, larger than any Kai had seen before, leaped out of the shadows. Its crimson eyes glowed with a terrifying hunger, and its jagged teeth gleamed in the fading light.
Kai barely had time to react. The beast slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. His left arm came up instinctively to shield himself, but the creature's jaws clamped down with brutal force.
Pain exploded through Kai's body as the beast tore his left arm clean off. He screamed, clutching the stump as blood spilled onto the ground.
Desperation and adrenaline took over. With his remaining arm, Kai activated the gauntlet. The familiar hum of the kinetic amplifiers powered up, and he swung his fist with all the strength he could muster.
The punch connected with the beast's skull, the amplified force sending shockwaves through its body. The creature let out a guttural roar before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
Kai staggered backward, his vision swimming. The pain in his left arm was unbearable, and his body was rapidly losing strength. As darkness closed in, he fell to the ground, unconscious beside the beast he had just slain.