D-Animal
Visio was forced to retreat.
The skies over the southern district were no longer safe—not for an aerial sentinel. Hostile sensors swept the air like invisible blades, and the echo of heavy gunfire rose between burning buildings. The owl dove in a tight arc and landed silently on a thick branch, hiding among dense foliage. Metallic plates adjusted, violet circuits dimmed their glow.
But the eyes…
The eyes sharpened.
The image reached Elara with brutal clarity.
"—Explosion ahead," she said in a low, tense voice as she watched the translucent panel visible only to her. "Very big."
The impact came in the very next instant.
A colossal detonation tore through Plaza 6 in the southern district. The ground shook as if the city itself had been struck by a localized earthquake. Glass exploded in cascading showers, entire façades collapsed, and a dense cloud of dust and fire spiraled upward.
From the center of the destruction, something rose.
An Indomita Bear D-Animal.
It was gigantic—taller than two stories. Its body was a mass of reinforced plates and ancient rust, as if it had been rebuilt dozens of times without care. Embedded in its right shoulder was a heavy cannon, fed by an unstable energy core pulsing with dirty blue light. Its red eyes burned with constant fury.
It roared.
The sound carried across entire blocks.
Then it fired.
The projectile struck a residential building, splitting it cleanly in half with a dry explosion that hurled concrete, steel, and fire in every direction. Alarms screamed. People shouted. The city, already wounded, plunged into absolute panic.
Lucas's eyes widened, his entire body locking in place.
"W-what… what is that…?"
Seung-Woo took a deep breath, eyes fixed on nothing, listening to the echoes of explosions.
"That," he said, his voice controlled but hard, "is an Indomita."
Elara didn't look away from the panel.
"And it's not a Procul," she added. "It's worse."
Lucas swallowed hard.
"What does that mean?"
Seung-Woo answered as another explosion shook the air:
"There are two types of Indomita. Procul and Deletio."
He spoke fast but clearly. "Procul happens when the human bond is lost through natural causes. The D-Animal becomes… loose. Wandering. Usually calm."
Elara continued:
"Deletio is born when the bond is severed violently. Murder. Execution. Extreme trauma."
She clenched her fist.
"The D-Animal doesn't just lose its Master," she concluded. "It loses its purpose."
The bear fired again.
This time at a military vehicle. The truck was thrown like a toy, rolling down the avenue in flames.
Screams cut through the air.
And then… another sound.
A different explosion.
Farther away.
But not in the south.
Seung-Woo snapped his head around.
"That wasn't here."
Elara felt her blood run cold.
"West," she said, quickly checking Visio's readings. "Commercial area. Far from the bear."
Lucas felt his heart jump into his throat.
"So… there's more?"
No one answered right away.
Because at that moment, the sirens began to fail—one after another.
Seung-Woo made the decision.
"We move. Now."
"Where?" Lucas asked.
"Anywhere with underground structure," Elara replied. "Fast."
They ran.
The street was already chaos: people sprinting, drones falling from the sky, electrical sparks dancing along torn cables. Another explosion shook the block behind them, slamming the three into a side wall.
Seung-Woo grabbed Lucas by the arm.
"Run!"
They burst into a partially destroyed convenience store. The front glass was shattered, but the basement remained intact. People were already crowding below—families, elderly, workers—all with the same look: raw fear.
The metal door slammed shut.
Partial darkness.
Ragged breathing.
Then—the familiar sound of wings.
Visio descended from the sky like a living shadow and perched on a broken pole just above the underground entrance. The owl slowly rotated its head, scanning the area with surgical precision. Its violet eyes flared—total surveillance.
Elara felt the bond tighten.
She lifted her head and began to speak.
"There are more Indomita," she said loudly, for everyone to hear. "Several. Not just one."
Someone choked back a sob.
"How many?" a trembling voice asked.
Elara closed her eyes for a second… then opened them again, expanding the view.
"At least… five together," she answered. "Heavy class. All Deletio."
A horrified silence followed.
"The bear isn't alone," she continued. "And the Ferus… they're moving toward them. They're not fighting."
Seung-Woo frowned.
"They're aligning," he murmured.
Visio tilted its head.
On the panel, Elara saw something that made her breath catch.
"They're… coordinated," she said with difficulty. "As if someone… or something… is pulling the strings."
Outside, a new roar echoed—different from the bear. Sharper. Closer.
The underground lights flickered.
Lucas grabbed his sister's sleeve.
"Elara…"
She placed a hand over his.
"Stay together," she told everyone. "Don't go out. Don't make noise."
Visio remained still, eyes sharp, a silent sentinel in the chaos.
And there, in the heart of the collapsing city, Elara Pack understood the truth no one wanted to face:
This wasn't an outbreak.
It wasn't an accident.
It wasn't a system failure.
It was the beginning.
And destruction…
had just learned to move in groups.
---
Another boom shook the underground.
It didn't come close. It didn't come from above.
It came… from far away.
The sound rolled through the concrete like muffled thunder, followed by a slow vibration that made fine dust fall from the dark ceiling. Some people screamed. Others pressed themselves against the walls. The lights flickered once… twice… then stabilized.
Elara swallowed hard.
She saw nothing new on Visio's panel. No nearby detonation. No immediate impact in their sector.
"West… or north," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "Another zone."
Her chest tightened.
For a moment, the image that came to her mind wasn't the burning city—it was home. The simple kitchen, the smell of coffee too early in the morning, Cida's voice complaining about something small, Tyrant grumbling in the background.
Please… be safe.
She closed her eyes for a second, breathed deeply—and then felt a light touch on her arm.
Lucas.
Without thinking, she pulled him close and wrapped him tightly against her, holding him with firm certainty. Lucas didn't complain. Didn't joke. He just buried his face into her shoulder, gripping her shirt.
"It'll be okay," she whispered, even though she didn't know if it was true.
Seung-Woo watched them in silence, his face serious, eyes alert to everything—the environment, the people, distant sounds, the data feeding through the communicator at his ear.
Elara looked up at the dark ceiling of the underground shelter.
The reinforced concrete plates were intact. Thick. Strong.
For now.
She felt the bond tug at her attention again.
Visio.
The owl remained motionless on the pole outside, wings folded, violet eyes glowing more intensely than before. The vision expanded on its own—an instinctive response to rising danger.
And then she saw it.
Elara leaned slightly toward Seung-Woo, close enough that only he could hear.
"Seung," she whispered, tense. "You'd better summon Iron."
He didn't ask why.
He simply inclined his head—he understood.
"There's a Ferus lion approaching the entrance," she continued, eyes fixed on nothing as she described what she saw through Visio. "Predatory class. Big. Moving slowly… like it's assessing the place."
Seung-Woo clenched his fist.
Outside, armed soldiers moved in calculated sprints, appearing and disappearing among the rubble. Their D-Animals—dobermans, assault felines, reconnaissance birds—clashed with Deletio Indomita in brutal, fast encounters, often lethal to both sides.
Elara saw it all.
She saw a doberman hurled into a wall, never rising again.
She saw soldiers dragging wounded comrades.
And then… she saw something that made her stomach turn.
"No…" she murmured, her voice breaking.
Seung-Woo noticed instantly.
"What?"
She didn't answer right away.
On the panel, the scene unfolded too fast.
A small rabbit D-Animal, still clearly bonded to a human—the Master's D-Armilla flashing in critical state just meters away—tried to flee through the debris. Its small white body still had smooth, newly formed plates.
It wasn't a combatant.
It was a companion.
A Deletio Indomita macaque dropped onto it like a living shadow.
Claws descended.
Metal tore metal.
The rabbit was shredded in seconds.
The feed captured the exact moment the bond snapped—a brief burst of blue energy that vanished almost instantly.
Elara felt as if something had been ripped out of her chest.
"…It still had a Master," she said, barely audible. "It was small. It never had a chance."
Lucas pressed closer to her.
"What… what happened?" he asked, fear in his voice.
She shut the panel reflexively, as if that could erase the image from her mind.
"Nothing you need to see," she said, stroking her brother's hair, forcing her voice to stay steady.
But Seung-Woo knew.
He inhaled slowly, shoulders tense.
"That confirms it," he said quietly. "This isn't random destruction. They're hunting bonds."
Elara nodded, her gaze hardening.
"And they feel nothing," she added. "No pain. No limit."
Outside, a different roar echoed.
Closer.
Deeper.
Visio adjusted its position on the pole, eyes locking onto the street ahead of the underground entrance.
A chill raced up Elara's spine.
"The Ferus lion is less than a hundred meters away," she warned. "If it advances… this place becomes a target."
Seung-Woo stepped forward.
"Stay low," he told the people. "And away from the entrance."
He raised his hand to the D-Armilla.
Elara hugged Lucas one last time.
"Hey," she whispered. "No matter what you hear out there… don't let go of me."
Lucas nodded, swallowing back tears.
Seung-Woo closed his eyes briefly.
The air began to vibrate.
Elara knew.
Iron was about to come into reality.
And as the city burned outside, she felt absolute certainty settle in her chest:
This wasn't just a fight for survival.
It was a fight to decide what still deserved to exist when everything was over.
---
The air tore open as Seung-Woo activated the D-Armilla.
There was no announcement. No dramatic flourish.
There was weight.
The ground of the underground shelter began to truly shake—not like the distant explosions. This came from within, as if something colossal was being dragged into reality by force. Gridded lines spread from Seung-Woo's feet, climbing walls and ceiling, warping the dim lighting.
Elara felt it slam through her entire body.
Her chest tightened. Her ears rang. A metallic taste filled her mouth.
"Come into reality," Seung-Woo said, his voice firm, deep, heavy with absolute command.
"Iron."
The roar that answered didn't sound mechanical.
It sounded alive.
The projection condensed violently. Heavy metal plates collided, sparks flying as the massive body took shape. First the paws—thick, armored, claws capable of crushing concrete. Then the torso, broad, layered in overlapping armor scarred by old battles. Finally, the head.
Iron emerged fully, filling almost the entire street before the underground entrance.
Its eyes burned with intense blue light.
The shoulder-mounted cannon rotated, charging with a deep, ominous hum.
When Iron stepped onto the asphalt, abandoned cars jumped from the impact.
The Ferus lion answered.
It emerged from smoke and rubble like a malformed nightmare. Its body was irregular, plates shattered, exposed sections leaking energy through open fissures like wounds. Its eyes were yellow, deranged, spinning without clear focus.
But there was intent.
Predation.
The Ferus roared—distorted, too sharp—and charged.
Iron did not retreat.
It charged as well.
The collision was brutal.
Metal against metal. Synthetic flesh against heavy armor. The impact generated a pressure wave that swept the street, shattering storefronts and hurling debris like secondary shrapnel.
Elara felt the shock even behind reinforced concrete.
Lucas screamed, burying his face into her shoulder.
Iron drove its claws into the Ferus's chest and lifted it off the ground, the immense weight cracking the asphalt beneath its hind paws. The Ferus responded savagely, biting Iron's arm, fangs grinding against armor, tearing sparks and chunks of metal free.
The sound was horrific.
Grinding. Cracking. The shrill scream of overloaded systems.
Seung-Woo clenched his teeth.
He felt every impact.
Every resistance.
Iron twisted and hurled the Ferus into an overturned bus. The vehicle crumpled like paper as the Ferus smashed through it and rolled amid flames.
But it rose.
Even with its torso torn open, even with one leg failing, the Ferus charged again—faster now, more desperate. It leapt straight for Iron's neck, aiming for vital points.
Iron opened its jaws and bit.
It wasn't clean.
It was war.
Its fangs pierced plates, cables, synthetic flesh. Iron clamped down on the Ferus's neck and slammed it into the ground with enough force to crater the asphalt.
The Ferus thrashed, claws ripping into Iron's chest, leaving deep gashes that exposed sparking internal circuits.
Elara's heart hammered painfully.
"Seung…" she murmured without realizing it.
The Ferus opened its mouth, gathering energy for an improvised blast.
Iron didn't wait.
The shoulder cannon fired.
The shot was short. Direct. Brutal.
The Ferus's head exploded into a grotesque spray of twisted metal, unstable energy, and incandescent fragments. The body collapsed, twitching for a few seconds before going completely still.
Silence.
Not calm silence—shocked silence.
Iron stood over the destroyed body, chest rising and falling heavily. Its armor was scarred, cracked in places, smoke leaking from open seams.
But it stood.
Seung-Woo let out his breath slowly, as if only now realizing he'd been holding it.
Elara felt something loosen in her chest.
Around them, soldiers pulled back to reorganize. Other battles still echoed in the distance—roars, gunfire, explosions—but here, at this entrance, death had been held at bay.
Iron slowly turned its head, blue eyes scanning the area.
Guardian.
Warrior Class to the last circuit.
Elara hugged Lucas tighter, her body trembling now as the adrenaline began to fade.
"He… he won," Lucas whispered in disbelief.
Elara nodded, eyes still locked on Iron.
"Yes," she replied softly, her voice carrying something new.
"But this… is far from over."
Visio, perched above, remained motionless.
Watching.
And as Iron stood like a living wall between the underground shelter and the chaos, Elara Pack felt—with painful clarity—that this fight had been only the first.
The world had begun to bleed.
And it had no intention of stopping anytime soon.