In the wilderness.
The night sky shrouded the land.
Under the scattered stars, the barren Gobi Desert was dead silent. Occasionally, a few Mutant Beasts crawled out of their caves, sniffing for scents.
WHOOSH!
A streak of silver light plummeted from the cliff and smashed into the ground.
BOOM! Sand and dirt flew everywhere as the impact blasted a shallow crater several meters wide into the earth.
The night breeze blew away the cloud of dust. Clad in silver armor, Helido staggered as he climbed out of the crater.
Under the moonlight, his battle armor was covered in spiderweb-like cracks. Most notably, there was a fist-sized gaping hole piercing right through the chest piece, with plenty of dried blood lingering around the edges.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
His heavy panting revealed deep exhaustion and weakness. His face was exceptionally pale, and the scale patterns on his forehead had lost their luster.
"Warning! Warning!"
