Across the darkening sky, small clouds drifted on a cold breeze, a clear herald that rain was coming.

The rain would not be the kind that scars a scorched Earth wounded by nuclear war, but the kind that carries life and abundance.

Below, the world lay serene and calm. Sound was sparse: the light breeze brushing the leaves, and the calls of wild animals beginning their night lives as darkness slowly took hold.

A small creature with long ears emerged from its hole in the soil, tilting its long whiskers and scanning the area with yellow eyes, trying to find its breakfast amid the silent stillness.

Before it could begin, a tremor climbed up from the ground, its home, followed by distant crushing sounds that spooked it. It slipped back into the hole, deciding that spending 1 day hungry would not harm.

Soon, the one ruining the small creature's day came into view in the distance, a compact giant with a powerful build running hard, each stride carrying him meters so he seemed to be leaping.

Every footfall shattered soil and stone, the ground shivering under the impact and forcing the small passenger perched on his head to brace himself so he would not slide off.

"How far are they?" Eren asked, eyes fixed on the small insects flying ahead.

Malrik cleared his throat, swallowed against the lingering burn, and answered. "I'm not sure. They can only track the target."

The winged worms were only a Rank 1 Spark skill, with no feature beyond smelling blood, unable to give feedback on where the target was or how far away.

Malrik was also using his vision skill. The veins around his eyes had swollen, his light green eyes bloodshot from overuse as he tried to catch any movement in the dark, but without success.

Eren did not slow. He took a small black object from the side pocket of his tactical uniform, brought it to his mouth, pressed a nearby button, and spoke.

"Anyone there? Can you track my location?"

Malrik glanced over, confused, unsure what the item was or who Eren expected to answer, but the reply arrived quickly.

But it didn't come from the small black device. Instead, it came from the sky.

He first heard a low hum, like a cloud about to shed its rain. When he lifted his head and looked, his eyes widened.

"What kind of Spark is that?"

From within the dense clouds, a massive, all-dark body began to descend slowly, making him wonder how long it had been there, since he had not realized something like that had been following them until now.

Then a voice came through the radio with the hoverjet, a crackle of static first, then words. "Sentinel Control to Team Captain Eren, roger. Three thousand feet indicated, two-mile trail, continuing pursuit. Over."

Eren nodded, satisfied, and pressed the button again. "The researchers seem to be kidnapped. I'm chasing them now, but can't see them. The only thing I know is they are in the direction I'm running. Can you check?"

He did not know how, but he hoped there was some technology to find them in this dark, hilly environment, at least through bird's-eye surveillance.

The radio fell silent for a moment, then a choppy but clear answer filtered through the static. "Movement at two kilometers ahead. Possible origin of the target."

Static returned for a second, then the voice came back. "Awaiting direction. Authorize rescue initiation?"

Eren did not answer directly. He asked Malrik, "How many enemies are there? What are their Ranks?"

Still trying to decide whether this was technology or a Spark, Malrik hesitated, then answered firmly. "There should be no more than 8, and all Rank 1."

During the sneak attack, Malrik had counted 10 shadows in total. He killed 2 Rank 1, and Eren killed 3 Rank 2. If his assumption was right, only 5 should remain, but he added 3 more for a worst-case scenario, thinking there might be others waiting in the shadows he had missed.

"You heard that?" Eren spoke into the radio and received a reply amid static soon after.

"Positive. Mission track and rescue protocol established. Authorization required to proceed, Captain," the voice repeated, awaiting confirmation.

"Yes, go if you think you can handle it," Eren said, realizing their confidence, and slid the radio back into his side pocket.

Above, the hoverjet that had been hanging over their heads roared, its engines puffing blue flames, and surged forward as it shot into the night.

Malrik watched with his mouth open, eyes tracking it until it vanished into the dark sky, with just 1 question still troubling his mind.

What kind of Spark is that?

"Should we wait for Sir Nochtar and the others?" a black-clad Umbraen asked the rest in a low but audible tone.

His steps were quick and silent, but the small, blonde body lying unconscious on his shoulder clearly threw off his balance.

"Why? Are you tired already, just from carrying that little woman?" said the Umbraen in a teasing tone, running beside him at the same pace, the larger Dr. Veyla slung over his shoulder.

A little behind them, another ran with Isolde's equally unconscious body on his back. He held his tongue for a breath, then spoke with concern. "Really, shouldn't they be done already and have caught up to us?"

At his words, the others were seized by the same sudden worry.

They were 3 Rank 2 Practitioners, and when last seen, they were fighting

Malrik, who was only a lone Rank 2 Practitioner.

With their number and strength, they should have finished the job and caught

up by now.

Unless something had gone wrong...

"You are thinking too much," said the lone Umbraen at the front in a slightly annoyed tone. "Just shut up and focus on running. We should deliver these girls to our Lord as soon as possible."

As soon as the mission was spoken aloud again and they heard the word Lord, each of them fell silent, reverence settling over them and a sharper energy lighting their eyes.

They had come here ready to lose their lives, only to please their Lord, the Dragon Rider Sevrak, and now they believed they had succeeded and were on their way back.

They had come here ready to lose their lives, only to please their Lord, the Dragon Rider Sevrak, and now they believed they had succeeded and were on their way back.

Just as their morale peaked and they started running with fresh excitement and energy, a sudden, low whistling note cut through the night, echoing in their ears, and the Umbraen in front dropped like a log and tumbled across the ground.

"What happened?"

With the sudden change, all of them stopped and looked around, while the one who had fallen a moment ago began to push himself up.

"Fuck, what was that? Something struck my head."

At the back of his skull, among his dark hair, a small bloody dent was visible, as if someone had hurled a stone and split the skin.

Dizzy and hurting, he searched for the cause until the same sound rang out again, and another of them dropped without warning.

"Someone is attacking us." Finally understanding what was happening, they snapped to full alert at once, raising their guards against an enemy they could not see.