D-Animal
At exactly 09:00, the training finally came to an end.
The three of them were sitting on a wooden bench in a small plaza in the southeast district, tucked away between residential buildings and old trees that still resisted excessive urbanization. The sun was already high, filtering through the leaves, warming Elara's tired skin and making sweat slide gently down her forehead, her neck, her back.
Lucas was sprawled across the bench like someone who had survived a war.
In one hand, he held a chocolate ice cream Seung-Woo had bought for him; in the other, his dignity had long since disappeared. The boy licked the ice cream with devotion, eyes half-closed, completely oblivious to his own appearance.
"This," he said, sighing in satisfaction, "was the best decision of my life."
Seung-Woo stood just in front of the bench, stretching his arms with slow, controlled movements. His breathing was already fully stabilized, his body calm, as if the training had been nothing more than a warm-up.
Elara leaned her back against the bench and tilted her head upward, staring at the pale blue sky above the treetops. Her body ached in a good way—muscles alive, awake. And yet, something inside her… refused to settle.
She let out a low sigh.
Seung-Woo noticed.
"What is it?" he asked, turning slightly toward her.
"Nothing," she answered immediately, by reflex.
But the nothing didn't leave.
The sensation came slowly.
It wasn't fear. It wasn't pain.
It was alertness.
Something slid down Elara's spine like ice, making her heart beat a fraction of a second off rhythm. Her instincts—the same ones that had never failed her—began screaming in silence.
She sat upright instantly.
Her hand went automatically to her left wrist.
The D-Armilla was cold… far too cold.
"Lucas," she said, her voice firmer than she intended. "Stop eating."
"What?" he complained, confused. "But I—"
Seung-Woo was already fully alert now.
"Elara," he said. "What are you feeling?"
"Something's wrong," she replied without hesitation. "Very wrong."
She jumped to her feet, raising her left arm toward the sky. Her heterochromatic eyes sharpened, focused, completely present.
"Come watch the skies for your Mistress," she commanded, her voice carrying natural authority.
"Owl, Visio!"
The D-Armilla flared.
The ground in front of the bench began to grid itself, holographic lines spreading in familiar patterns. The air vibrated lightly, drawing curious glances from a few people farther away in the plaza.
The projection began the same way as before.
Digital particles rose from the ground, condensing with almost organic precision. The wings formed first—refined metallic plates locking into place with the soft sound of delicate gears. Then the body took shape, slender and elegant, covered in violet circuits pulsing like veins of light.
Visio fully emerged.
The robotic owl perched for a brief second, violet eyes glowing intensely as it analyzed the surroundings. Without waiting for another command, it beat its wings once and shot into the sky, slicing through the air above the plaza.
Elara closed her eyes for a moment.
When she opened them, a translucent panel appeared only before her—visible to no one else.
It was Visio's vision.
She saw the city from above, buildings pulling away rapidly as the owl gained altitude and advanced toward the southern district. The flight was steady, silent, fast.
Then… she saw it.
Elara held her breath.
"No…" she murmured.
On the panel, destroyed streets appeared. Abandoned vehicles. Smoke rising from isolated points. And among the rubble…
D-Animals.
But not as she knew them.
They were digital hyenas—angular metallic bodies, irregular plates as if assembled without care. Their eyes glowed in unstable shades of yellow and orange, aggressive, erratic. Their jaws moved unpredictably, metallic fangs grinding even when they weren't attacking anything.
They moved as a group.
Hunting.
"Seung-Woo," Elara said, her voice now tense. "You need to see this."
He moved closer quickly, watching her face—not the panel, but her expression.
"What is it?"
"D-Animals," she answered. "But… they're not normal. They're aggressive. Unstable. They're attacking everything."
She expanded the view.
The number made her stomach twist.
"There are at least… thirty," she added. "Thirty hyenas."
Lucas slowly stood up, the ice cream forgotten as it melted in his hand.
"Thirty?" he repeated, frightened. "Is that… a lot?"
"It is," Seung-Woo replied immediately, already pulling his phone from his pocket. "It's too much."
He dialed a number that was clearly not an ordinary one.
"Appa," he said as soon as the call connected. "We have a problem."
His posture shifted completely—the polite, restrained young man gave way to the heir trained for crises.
"Ferus D-Animals just appeared in the southern district," he continued. "Confirmed by active surveillance."
Elara's eyes widened slightly.
"Ferus…?" she murmured.
Seung-Woo covered the microphone for a second and looked at her.
"They're D-Animals born without a human bond," he explained quickly. "Feral. Unstable. Extremely dangerous."
He returned to the call.
"Yes," he said to his father. "She counted at least thirty. Predatory class. Hyenas."
On the other end of the line, the response came too fast to be good news.
Seung-Woo's expression hardened.
"Understood," he said at last. "We'll maintain distance."
He ended the call.
Lucas looked from one to the other, clearly trying to appear brave… and failing just a little.
"So," he asked, swallowing hard, "that's like… monsters without owners?"
Elara nodded slowly, still watching the panel.
"Yes," she replied. "And there's no one to restrain them."
Visio's vision showed one of the hyenas attacking a smaller creature—a domestic D-Animal that had lost its bond after its Master's death. The sight made Elara's chest tighten.
"I've never seen D-Animals like this," she murmured. "Not since they first appeared… two years ago."
Seung-Woo studied her carefully.
"Because that information isn't public," he said. "Only high-ranking families know about Ferus. To the rest of the world, they don't exist."
"But they exist now," Elara replied.
Visio flew lower.
The hyenas regrouped.
And on the panel, one of them lifted its head… as if it had sensed something.
A chill ran up Elara's spine.
"They're moving," she said. "And it's not random."
Seung-Woo clenched his fist.
"Then this isn't just an outbreak," he murmured. "It's an event."
Lucas took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.
"Are you… going to fight them?" he asked, torn between fear and awe.
Elara didn't answer immediately.
Her eyes were fixed on the panel—on the coordinated movement of the hyenas, on the aggression that didn't feel like mere instinct… but something else.
Something provoked.
"I don't know," she said at last. "But I know this isn't normal."
High above the city, Visio maintained its silent flight.
And in that instant, Elara Pack knew one thing with absolute certainty:
The world was about to discover something that should never have been hidden.
And the Ferus D-Animals…
were only the beginning.
---
The alert was triggered less than two minutes after the call ended.
At the Han family residence, the security systems shifted state. Reinforced gates sealed shut, external sensors switched to full-scan mode, and holographic panels lit up along the walls of the main office, projecting city maps with pulsing red markers over the southern district.
Han Jae Guk stood before the central table, posture rigid, his serious expression hardening into something colder—authority in motion.
"Visual confirmation?" he asked, voice low but absolute.
"Confirmed," replied the officer on the other end of the encrypted line. "Ferus group identified. Thirty units. Predators."
Yoo Mi Kyung stood beside him, elegant as always, though her fingers were discreetly clenched against her sleeve. Her eyes showed no panic—only calculation.
"So it's real," she murmured. "Ferus… in an urban area."
Han Jae Guk nodded once.
"Deploy the elite D-Animal force," he ordered. "Code Gray. Immediate containment."
The response was instantaneous.
"Order received."
Military trucks appeared on the avenues of the southern district like steel shadows.
Heavy, armored vehicles advanced in tight formation, sirens silent, only the deep growl of engines cutting through the hot morning air. Civilians instinctively retreated, storefronts closed in haste, and civilian drones were automatically expelled from the area by electronic jamming.
The rear doors of the trucks opened almost simultaneously.
Men and women disembarked in coordinated motion, wearing reinforced black tactical armor, helmets with translucent visors displaying real-time data. Each soldier carried heavy weaponry—energy rifles, pulse launchers, containment devices.
And beside them…
The D-Armillas activated.
One by one, robotic dobermans emerged from the gridded projections on the ground, materializing with controlled violence. Angular bodies, compact metallic musculature, reinforced dark plates. Red eyes ignited almost simultaneously, sweeping the area with focused aggression.
Warrior Class.
These D-Animals did not hesitate. They did not analyze. They existed to advance, break, neutralize.
The sound of their gears was heavy, threatening, mixed with the dry snap of metallic jaws locking into place.
"Delta formation," a firm voice commanded.
The soldiers aligned, the dobermans positioning themselves in front—like a living wall of steel and teeth.
Then the leader stepped down from the last truck.
Taller, his posture far too calm for the imminent chaos, he walked to the center of the formation with unhurried steps. His armor bore different markings—symbols of command. He raised his left arm.
The D-Armilla glowed.
The ground before him gridded, the projection expanding upward this time. Digital particles spiraled up, condensing with surgical precision.
A robotic eagle formed in the air.
Its metallic wings spread with a cutting sound, each feather made of articulated blades. Golden eyes lit up, cold, calculating. Where a chest would normally be, a long-range rifle was integrated—embedded into the body, fed directly by the creature's energy core.
Sniper Class.
The eagle perched briefly on the commander's shoulder, adjusting the angle of its head, synchronizing systems.
"Clear sightlines," the soldier reported, watching data stream across his visor. "Multiple targets in motion."
He raised his arm.
The eagle took off, ascending too fast for the naked eye to follow. In the sky, it became an almost invisible metallic speck as advanced sensors mapped every street, every shadow, every anomalous energy signature.
In the plaza, Elara felt Visio react.
The panel before her split, Visio's vision overlaying external signals. She saw the trucks, the soldiers, the dobermans advancing. She saw the eagle rise—and felt the weight of it.
"They're here," she said quietly.
Seung-Woo nodded, eyes fixed toward the southern district.
"Elite D-Animal force," he confirmed. "This is no longer an isolated incident."
Lucas clenched the ice cream stick between his fingers, nervous.
"Is this going to turn into… a war?" he asked in almost a whisper.
Elara didn't answer right away.
On the panel, the Ferus hyenas moved strangely—they didn't flee. They didn't scatter. Instead, they regrouped, forming an unstable semicircle, jaws grinding, yellow eyes flickering in irregular patterns.
"Seung," she said tensely. "They're not reacting like cornered animals."
"What do you mean?"
"They're waiting."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Visio climbed higher, keeping a safe distance. The owl rotated its neck, focusing on a specific point among the rubble—something ordinary sensors seemed to ignore.
Elara's stomach went cold.
"There's something there," she murmured. "Something that isn't… just Ferus."
Seung-Woo clenched his fist.
"That wasn't in the report."
In the sky, the sniper eagle locked its aim.
On the ground, the dobermans advanced one step, growling with deep mechanical resonance.
And in the heart of the city, thirty Ferus D-Animals lifted their heads at the same time, as if responding to a silent command.
The first shot had not yet been fired.
But everyone knew:
Containment was about to become confrontation.
And Elara Pack, watching it all through Visio's eyes, understood that this day would not end in silence.