When I woke up, I found myself leaning against a cold rock, my body aching from the unbearable weight of exhaustion. My senses were sluggish, my vision blurred, and the sharp metallic scent of blood filled the air. The once-bustling unit of over fifty warriors lay in ruins—ripped apart in a single day.
I blinked through the haze, glancing to my left and right. Corpses surrounded me. The lifeless bodies of my comrades sprawled across the battlefield, their weapons broken, their armor shattered. Blood stained the soil, pooling into crimson rivers that painted a horrifying masterpiece of carnage.
At the center of it all, a towering wolf—its fur black as obsidian, its massive frame almost as large as a military truck—devoured the remains of one of my fallen comrades. The crunch of bones echoed in the silence, each bite tearing away what was left of the warriors who once stood beside me.
A breath hitched in my throat. My body refused to move. My mind whispered the truth my heart couldn't accept.
This is how I die.
A pitiful thought wormed its way into my brain, breaking past the fear and sinking into despair.
I don't want to die. I want to live. Why did I come here? Why? Why?
The world had never been the same since the Great Awakening. From the depths of the earth, monstrous creatures emerged, shattering cities and sending humanity into a desperate struggle for survival. In response, world leaders established the Lion's Brigade—an elite organization of warriors tasked with eradicating these beasts.
But not everyone volunteered.
Instead of enlisting only trained fighters, the government implemented a lottery system, forcing civilians into conscription. My twin sister, Lucy, was the unlucky name drawn from our district. But our parents, always favoring her, decided it would be me, Celeste Fairburn, who would take her place. I was dragged into a war I never asked for, thrown into the depths of battle where survival was a fleeting luxury.
That was two years ago.
In that time, I became accustomed to the life I never wanted. I fought monsters daily, where every second counted for survival. I had battled C-class, B-class, and even A-class creatures, growing stronger, adapting to the battlefield. I thought I had found my rhythm, that if I kept fighting, I could carve out a place for myself in this cruel world.
But luxury always has an expiration date.
And mine had finally run out.
Our unit received an S-Class extermination mission—an assignment meant only for veterans. We were sent to the ruins of an underground city, where an anomaly had been detected.
We barely lasted an hour.
When I woke up, all I could see were the bodies of my comrades lying on the floor, their blood turning the ground into a macabre tapestry of death. At the center of it all stood the monster—the beast responsible for our slaughter.
The obsidian-furred wolf with radiant ruby-red eyes.
It continued to feast, not sparing me a glance as I trembled in place, willing my body to disappear. My limbs refused to obey me—not because I wouldn't move, but because I couldn't. I knew instinctively that the moment I so much as twitched, the creature would lunge, and my body would join the pile of discarded corpses.
And then, as if it had been waiting for this moment, the monster lifted its head and turned to me.
It knew.
It knew I was alive.
Terror paralyzed me as its glowing ruby gaze locked onto mine. My mind screamed at me to run. My body refused. I could only watch as it took slow, deliberate steps toward me, its enormous paws making the ground tremble beneath its weight.
My vision blurred. My chest tightened. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs. And yet, in my final moments, the last thing I thought of were the faces of my family.
My parents. My sister.
Why? Why was I thinking about them?
They were the ones who put me here. They were the ones who threw me to the wolves—literally.
They deserve to die, not me.
The beast inched closer, its presence suffocating. Each step sent fresh waves of terror crawling up my spine. The acceptance of death settled in my bones, and a bitter chuckle escaped my lips, shaky and dry.
"Well… I guess this is the end," I murmured, my voice breaking into hysterical laughter.
And then—
"You are an interesting human. That I must say."
I froze. The laughter died in my throat. My eyes darted left and right, searching for the source of the voice.
There was no one else left alive.
Realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. I turned my gaze back to the wolf.
"Is this… your first time seeing a monster talk?" The creature smirked, its deep voice laced with amusement.
I was beyond speechless.
A monster. A talking monster.
The creature towered over me, its fur sleek like polished obsidian, its eyes glowing like burning rubies. It was nothing like the monsters I had fought before. This one was different. Intelligent. Powerful.
It watched me with eerie fascination, as if I were a puzzle it was eager to solve.
"You… are interesting," it repeated.
I shifted slightly, my body still trembling, my mind struggling to process what was happening. "W-What?"
A low rumble vibrated through its chest—something akin to laughter. "Most humans fight us with blind rage. You, however… you were abandoned, weren't you?"
The words struck deeper than any blade. Left to die in my sister's place, thrown into a fight I had no chance of winning. My comrades had screamed, fought, and bled in desperation, only for death to claim them anyway.
And now, I was alone.
Trapped with a monster that could end me in a heartbeat.
It crouched lower, its molten red eyes boring into mine. "Make a pact with me, and I will grant you my protection."
"What?"
It smirked—a terrifying, knowing expression that should not belong to a monster. "You will not leave this place alive otherwise."
My breath hitched. My fingers dug into the dirt, my heart pounding against my ribs.
"You have no other choice."
I knew that.
And as much as I wanted to resist…
I had no choice but to accept.