Kael Nibori stood at the edge of the tunnel, his crimson eyes glowing like twin coals in the dark. His voice wasn't loud, but it rippled through the sewer chamber like a curse etched into the air.
"Rai Tenma," he said again, his lips barely moving. "You carry their blood. But do you carry their sin too?"
Rai's breath caught in his throat.
The squad froze—blades raised, fingers on triggers. But no one fired.
There was something about Kael. Something wrong. He wasn't just a mutant. His posture, his presence, the way he spoke—it was too calm. Too deliberate. Too… human.
"He's… he's not just infected," Yuna whispered. "He's something else."
Kael took a step forward, and even the rats vanished into the sludge.
"I was once like you," he said. "Flesh. Hope. Dreams. But dreams die when science forgets its soul."
Rai's grip tightened on his weapon. "What do you want?"
Kael paused, then smiled—slow, almost pitying.
"What I want?" he echoed. "I want to end the suffering. Your parents—they tried to cure a plague by playing gods. They injected hope into veins that couldn't bear it. And in doing so… they created me."
A chill ran down everyone's spine.
Arika narrowed her eyes. "Wait… created you?"
Kael slowly unzipped his jacket, revealing a chest lined with metal veins and glowing red circuitry, pulsing like a corrupted heart.
"Project Verdant Flame wasn't just a cure. It was a test," he said. "I was their prototype. Their success... and their failure."
Rai's heart sank.
No record, no archive, no encrypted file had ever mentioned a human test subject.
And yet—he was standing right here.
"I remember your mother's voice, Rai," Kael continued. "She used to hum while she worked. Like the melody could drown out the screams."
Rai took a shaky step forward, rage welling up. "You lie."
Kael's smile faded. "You want the truth? Come and take it."
Suddenly, the ground shook. Pipes burst. The air filled with a gurgling growl—the arrival of Kael's personal horde.
The Crimson Shrouds.
Faster than infected, leaner than mutants. Their bodies laced with red veins, twitching under Kael's control. They dropped from the ceiling like insects, moving with inhuman precision.
"Formation B!" Kota barked.
The squad snapped into action. Yuna raised her tech shield at the rear. Arika and Leo surged forward with blades, Rai close behind.
Claws clashed with steel. Screams rang out.
Yuna activated her magnetic pulse generator, creating a shockwave that pushed back the Shrouds.
"Rai!" she shouted. "Go after Kael! We'll hold the line!"
"What if—"
"GO!" Arika yelled, driving her blade into a Shroud's skull. "This is your story, Tenma!"
Rai turned and bolted into the tunnels.
---
The path narrowed into broken shafts and rusted ducts. Rai chased Kael, the echo of his boots ringing against ancient metal. But Kael moved like a phantom—always just out of reach.
Finally, he stopped—inside a vast underground vault.
It was beautiful… in the most horrifying way.
Glass cylinders lined the walls, glowing blue. Inside each floated a body—some adults, some children, some barely human anymore. All marked by crimson veins.
Kael gestured toward them. "Project Verdant Flame," he said softly. "The failures. Each one believed in your parents' dream."
Rai stepped forward, eyes scanning the faces. Some looked peaceful. Others looked like they had died screaming.
"They told me I was the last chance," Kael murmured. "I didn't die. But I didn't live either. I became this."
"Then why lead the infected?" Rai demanded. "Why become the thing they feared?"
Kael's expression shifted—anger fading to sorrow.
"Because pain must be remembered," he said. "If it isn't, it returns. Another lab. Another child. Another false salvation."
He turned fully to face Rai.
"And you… you're the key."
Rai's breath caught. "What?"
Kael pointed to a sealed vault door.
"Your DNA. It holds the activation code. Your parents embedded it in you. Their failsafe. Their legacy."
"Why tell me this?"
Kael's voice cracked. "Because I want to be free."
Rai's eyes narrowed. "Free? You control a horde."
"I am the horde," Kael whispered. "They are pieces of me. I've carried this curse alone for too long."
He looked at Rai, pleading in his voice.
"Destroy it all. The data. The pods. Me. End this before it becomes worse than I ever was."
Rai raised his weapon. His finger hovered on the trigger.
"You're lying."
Kael stepped closer.
"Then shoot. Kill me, Rai Tenma."
---
Rai hesitated.
Then—Yuna's panicked voice cut through the earpiece.
"RAI—WE'RE OVERRUN! LEO'S DOWN! KOTA'S HIT! WE NEED EXFIL—NOW!"
Rai's eyes widened. "No…"
Kael gave a faint, sorrowful smile.
"Choose, Rai. Me… or them. Truth… or loyalty."
---
Rai turned and ran.
The vault. The truth. The pods. All faded behind him.
Only his team mattered now.
---
When he burst back into the chamber—it was chaos.
Leo lay bleeding but laughing. "Took your sweet time, hero…"
Kota was down but still giving orders, blood pouring from his shoulder. Yuna's shield flickered and died. Arika was on one knee, bruised and bleeding.
Rai didn't hesitate.
He pulled a vial from his belt—a flare fused with EMP. He hurled it into the swarm.
BOOM.
A shockwave of heat and light ripped through the chamber. The Crimson Shrouds shrieked and staggered.
"MOVE! Sewer exit, now!" Rai roared.
One by one, they fled, dragging Leo between them.
Behind them, hidden in the dark, Kael watched.
And whispered…
"You'll return, Rai. You have to."
---
End of Chapter 3