In a moment of realization, Tee shifted her gaze and was stunned to see Miko standing motionless behind the hooded adversary. Her jaw dropped as her eyes moved past Miko's trembling form, her torn clothes revealing deep scrapes and wounds, and settled on the sword she held. The sight of Miko’s ghastly red sores sent a painful shiver down Tee's spine, threatening to sap her strength.

  However, as Tee took in the scene before her, the positioning of Miko in relation to the adversary left her uncertain of her victory. Doubt crept into her mind, fueled by either pessimism or objectivity, clouding her perception of the truth.

  Miko released her grip on her sword's handle, the weapon suspended in mid-air. The tip of the blade remained nowhere near the adversary's flesh, ensnared instead between two rows of menacing teeth.

  Tee instinctively jumped backward, her gaze now fixated on the jet-black entity emerging further from the adversary's back. Miko blocked the creature's other half, standing several feet ahead.

  The dark being's lips curled up, revealing an array of razor-sharp teeth, each as long as Tee's pinky finger. Its unsettling smile crept upward, stopping beside a glowing green eye, captivating in its intensity.

  Perplexed, Tee couldn't help but find it peculiar that the creature's gaze was fixed upon her, even though Miko stood closer to it. Unbeknownst to her, one of the creature's eyes remained trained on Miko while the other remained locked onto Tee.

  "Move to the forest," a chilling whisper pierced Tee's left ear, causing her to glimpse both sides in search of its source. There was no one there. Her teammates were in no condition to have moved swiftly to her side and then vanished in such a short span of time.

  To make matters even more unsettling, the other two figures cloaked in black stood at a distance, their unwavering eyes fixated intently upon Tee. She couldn’t believe Sade was just watching her get wounded. A sharp sting of betrayal snapped through her heart. It was clear he was not on her side.

  The repeated word "forest" echoed in Tee's mind, a persistent mantra that competed with the diabolical sight unfolding before her. Her thoughts teetered between the enigmatic whisper and the grotesque spectacle that played out before her eyes.

  Her senses were bombarded as the twisted tongue from the emerging being, slick with glistening mucus, slithered up the length of Miko's sword. The blade, once held with strength and purpose, seemed powerless against the invasive appendage.

  Tee's mind struggled to comprehend the impossible, momentarily forgetting the urgency of the forest. The sword descended into the creature's gaping maw and without piercing through its skull, defying all logic and reason.

  The sight was surreal. A grotesque tableau that defied the laws of nature. The hooded adversary's fiery eyes glowed within the darkness of his hood, fixated on Kie, seeming oblivious to the swallowing of the sword from his own back. A chilling chuckle escaped his hood, reverberating through the air in synchronized, deep voices that sent shivers down Tee's spine.

  Meanwhile, Kie endured excruciating pain as the burning blood from the severed arm seeped through his glove, scorching his flesh and threatening to consume him. He clung onto the fragment tightly, his body contorting under the unimaginable agony.

  With a grand gesture, the hooded figure raised both arms towards the sky, tilting his head back to bask in the sun's rays. The motion of his hood remained rigid, refusing to yield to the movement beneath. A primal roar erupted from his being, shaking the very ground beneath them. The sound started as a thunderous stadium chant, only to morph into ear-piercing screams that left a ringing in the ears of all who heard it.

  Tee felt her entire being jolt in response, pain surging through every bone in her body. The once serene forest erupted into chaos as birds took flight, their frantic wings creating a cacophony of sound against the ensuing silence.

  Kie, his pain momentarily subdued, raised his gaze to the heavens after being drawn by the terror-inducing sound.

  The flurry of birds in flight brought Tee's thoughts back to the forest, a sanctuary they sought in vain. The adversary's intentions became clear—they would not be allowed to escape to safety. The whispered message held no value in such dire circumstances.

  With a thunderous voice that made everyone flinch, the hooded figure lowered his head and declared, "Time to let you out."

  The severed end of his arm erupted in swirling black flames, consuming the stump as it moved downward, past his waist. To Tee and her teammates' astonishment, his arm began to regenerate before their very eyes. The revelation left their eyes widened in shock—he possessed the ability to regenerate all along.

  A sadistic smile crept across the adversary's face as he taunted, "Let's see how long those swords can keep them alive."

  Miko, frozen in terror behind the hooded figure, stumbled backward, her fear almost causing her to lose her balance as she shifted to one side. Tee's heart sank at the sight, for Miko's movement no longer shielded her view. She watched in dread as a tar-black, sinewy appendage started to wriggle its way out of the hole in the adversary's back.

  The cavity in the adversary's back widened, stretching to accommodate the emergence of a creature that resembled a grotesque amalgamation of limbs. Its elongated, spiked arm extended outward, roughly the length of their swords, stabbing the ground to serve as an anchor, pulling the rest of its body forward.

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  The sight signaled that the true battle had only just begun, yet Tee was engulfed in searing pain. Her surroundings blurred, but the vibrant green hues of the forest beckoned to her, offering an escape. She blinked, forcing the terror before her to come back into focus.

  In a moment of desperation, Tee made a decision—to use her teammates as a distraction. They would be too preoccupied fighting for their lives, providing her with a chance to break free. It was a selfish act, but she couldn't afford to care anymore. Survival had become a matter of individual instinct.

  Dropping her sword and cradling her unresponsive hand close to her, Tee took a single deep breath, steeling herself for what lay ahead. Then, with a burst of determination, she darted to her left, each step punctuated by flashes of memories she spent with her comrades racing through her mind. She traversed the treacherous terrain, zipping through the dense forest, propelled by a mix of fear and adrenaline.

  The memories came crashing back—hours spent training with the Commander, running up mountains until their lungs burned, leaping across giant lotus leaves as if the world itself was a playground. The thrill of passing their training tests. The laughter that bubbled up whenever Zod cracked a joke. Even the small, rebellious moments—like refusing to help Kie wash the dishes.

  Each memory stabbed at her heart, warm and fleeting. And yet… she had to bury them all. The adrenaline coursing through her veins propelled her deeper into the forest, each step accompanied by the strong, earthy scent of the wilderness. The cool wind whipped against her face, and the damp leaves and branches smacked her from all directions.

  Kie couldn’t focus on Tee, who had run off—something else demanded his attention. A creature emerged from the hooded one’s back, black smoke curling around it. The smoke twisted and shifted, transforming into tattered bandages that coiled around the creature, leaving the ends of its long, spiked arms exposed. It hunched forward, moving its elongated limbs like massive chopsticks, forming an ominous ‘X’ shape.

  In the blink of an eye, everything blurred. Miko vanished. That was the moment Kie made his decision—flee. He spun and sprinted toward the forest, hoping they could regroup and teleport later. Forget about taking down a Harbinger that day.

  “Go,” Saeda urged Zod, her voice firm but tinged with fear. She intended to stay behind as a last distraction, buying time for him and the others. But as he ran, it became painfully clear that wasn’t going to work. They needed to be close to teleport—and it seemed death was inevitable.

  She played dead, lying still and holding her breath for as long as she could. When the strange figures dissolved into thin air, a flicker of courage surged in her. She forced herself to move, but barely made it before collapsing. One hand clawed toward a tree trunk, and there she decided to wait for whatever fate awaited.

  As Tee navigated through the forest, her heart pounding with adrenaline, the ground beneath her suddenly gave way, a treacherous pitfall that defied her expectations. Her gut dropped, and a surge of terror gripped her stomach, causing her to stumble and lose her footing. She desperately tried to regain her balance, but it was too late. The world spun around her as she tumbled down the steep incline, her body subjected to the whims of gravity.

  Flashes of blinding light alternated with engulfing darkness as she somersaulted through the air, disoriented and at the mercy of the chaotic descent. The world became a dizzying blur, the rushing wind assaulting her senses and drowning out all other sounds. Time seemed to elongate, stretching the seconds into an eternity of uncontrollable motion.

  Finally, with a bone-jarring impact, Tee's descent came to a halt. Pain surged through her body, threatening to overwhelm her senses. She bit her lips with all her might, stifling the instinctual scream that welled up within her. She refused to surrender to the agony, summoning her inner resolve to endure.

  The forest around her was shrouded in stillness, the air heavy with anticipation. Every nerve in Tee's body tingled with awareness, heightened by the intensity of her fall. The world seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for her next move.

  The pain reverberated throughout her body, but amidst the torment, her mind fixated on Tetra. In that harrowing moment, all she yearned for was the solace of her embrace, the comforting touch of her cold lab coat soothing the searing heat of pain.

  Shutting her eyes, Tee attempted to shut out the anguish, waiting for death to embrace her. Time blurred, and she lost track of how long she lay there, but the throbbing of her own heartbeat served as a painful countdown, each second stretching into what felt like an eternity.

  Suddenly, a peculiar sound pierced the air, jolting her eyes open. The verdant canopy of the forest loomed above her, a terrifying reminder of her whereabouts, and the strange noise seemed to originate from nearby.

  Her heart quickened its pace as she strained her ears to listen. Anxiety seized her attention, temporarily diverting her focus from the physical pain. Her brain worked overtime, but the only sounds that reached her were the buzz of insects and the gentle drip of water. Then, there it was again—the sound that defied explanation.

  "Hey," a hoarse voice called out from her left arm. "Is anyone there?"

  In disbelief, Tee raised her left arm before her, devoid of her other hand that would have allowed her to access the communication device hidden within her glove’s cuff. She was certain that was where the voice had come from.

  "I'm okay," another voice, low and unmistakably Miko's, responded. Perhaps the first voice belonged to Zod.

  "Saeda, are you there?" the first voice queried.

  "I'm here," another voice chimed in.

  Tee couldn't believe her ears. She had left them behind, assuming they were lost, but here they were, alive and reaching out to her. She maneuvered her left knuckle close to her dry lips, mustering her strength to speak.

  The anticipation in the air crackled as Tee activated the telecommunication device, knowing that their telecoms would remain open for a precious minute, granting them a brief window to communicate. The device's exterior, sensitive to the touch, responded to her skin, establishing a connection.

  Her voice trembled with a mixture of relief and curiosity as she addressed her comrades, sidestepping the question of their miraculous survival. "How did you guys escape?" she asked, her words laced with a hint of wonderment, tinged with the unspoken question of how they had defied the odds.

  Zod's voice cut through the silence, gradually becoming more recognizable amidst the coughs and hushed sounds. "Is that you, Tee?" he rasped, his voice carrying the weight of their shared ordeal.

  A gasp escaped Miko's lips, her breath heavy and strained. The proximity of the device to her mouth revealed her desperate state.