700 years ago.
"You... you monster!!"
"Curse you!!!"
A lone soldier stood, drenched in blood. Around him lay nothing but piles of corpses—his fallen comrades. Before him stood a figure with a crystalline purple left hand, clutching a heart. With a cold squeeze, he crushed it.
"Your leader... was never worthy of holding this!"
Blood sprayed from the shattered organ. The remaining soldier could only watch in stunned silence as his commander died right before his eyes.
"D-don't come any closer!!"
The fallen soldier scrambled backward as the figure approached, wielding a crystalline purple blade.
"Oh, relax. I won't... kill you."
The voice was ice-cold, piercing through the soldier's soul.
"Only...."
With a lightning-fast motion, the figure seized the soldier by the throat, lifting him with that crystalline left hand. The soldier gasped, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Tell them... the one you call 'Misfit' will now become the hunter of your leaders!!"
"Especially that fat, hideous Prime of Knowledge of yours, Odinthia!"
A single purple eye glared intensely. The strangled soldier could only stare back in pure terror.
"What... do you mean..." Suddenly, the soldier was hurled away.
His body flew 20 meters, crashing into the ground until he lost consciousness, but the figure spared his life. Seeing a black cloak on the ground, the figure picked it up and draped it over his shoulders.
Nearby lay the body of a blue-haired elf queen. The night sky was filled with shining stars, but on the ground, there was only a graveyard of "fallen stars" and a kingdom slowly being devoured by flames.
"Mother... thank you for always being there for me. While father was busy being a cowardly Archon, you—despite your position as the Leader of Science—still cared for a son labeled as a strange misfit."
After burying the last body, the figure gazed at the inferno consuming the kingdom. He then looked up at the starlit sky, teeming with life.
"Now, Gerald, Lucas, and Mother... you can finally rest in peace."
Behind him, the piles of dead soldiers were left to rot—a final punishment.
"You will rot in this soil! Along with your leader, whose heart I have torn out!"
In the distance, heaps of destroyed robots and fallen starships littered the landscape. The fire consuming the kingdom also incinerated the corpses of the Abyssium monsters.
The sound of the roaring flames faded, replaced by the hum of the Ventura's engines and its cooling systems. Valencia, along with Ren, Leon, Jack, and 20 Spartan troops, were embarking on a mission that practically beckoned the Grim Reaper.
"So... we're really doing this?!" Leon looked out at the dark, haunting planet below.
"Yes. Even though we know the risks, we can't just back down like cowards!" Valencia said, looking down with her eyes closed.
Meanwhile, Ren and Jack were double-checking their equipment. Unbeknownst to them, their ship was being shadowed by another vessel bearing the "Corinth" emblem—an eagle's wing on its hull—the mark of the High Sentinels.
"They don't know we're here, right?!"
"I'm betting they're going to have a rough time on this mission!"
Siegfried watched the ship carrying Valencia and the others with a cynical gaze and a sarcastic tone.
"I've already briefed the pilot; relax, Sieg!" Vorta replied, adjusting some controls. He was used to Siegfried's sarcasm toward their juniors.
Alongside them were Fang at the helm, Seth being his usual restless self, and Heliostra monitoring comms with Foxana, Kryos, Raiden, and Haedeus back at The Haast.
Back on the Ventura, the pilot announced they would land on a highland to avoid monster detection.
"Landing in 30 seconds. Everyone, gear up!" Through the speakers, the pilot displayed the thermal mapping of Planet Morgulon.
The Ventura finally touched down. The rear hatch hissed open, and the four captains along with 20 troops stepped out. The dark atmosphere, the pungent stench, and the total absence of wildlife sounds forced them into combat stances.
"Stay sharp, everyone!"
Valencia surveyed the 20 Spartan soldiers. Ren readied his sniper rifle, Jack activated his energy shield, and Leon loaded his dual plasma cannons.
"Yes, Captain!" they all responded.
Slowly, Valencia led the unit. Their mission: destroy the giant Abyssium core located in the heart of the wilderness. Above, the ship carrying Vorta, Siegfried, Fang, Seth, and Heliostra watched them while scanning the perimeter.
"The monster core is about 10 km from their landing zone!"
"They have to cross a vast grassland. Those plains are usually teeming with smaller prowling monsters!"
Heliostra stared at the screen, showing the red dot of the primary target and a region marked with an "X"—the vast plains. Down on the ground, Valencia's team descended from the highlands and reached the edge of the grassland.
"Damn it. This terrain gives us zero advantage!"
"Is this the only way, Valencia?!"
A wary Leon asked as he watched Valencia narrow her eyes at the path ahead.
"Going around would waste too much time. This is the fastest route, even if it's the most dangerous!"
Valencia loaded plasma rounds into her machine gun and checked the sword at her hip. Ren, looking through his thermal scope, saw numerous small monsters sleeping, unaware of their presence.
"As long as we're careful, we won't trigger all of them!"
"Mostly small fries, but I don't know if there are any hiding underground!" Ren glanced at Valencia, waiting for her call.
"If we take too long, the swarms guarding the core will arrive. We need to move fast. Prepare yourselves!"
Valencia and the others moved stealthily through the tall grass, weapons raised.
Above them, Seth watched with boredom, Siegfried focused on sharpening his blade, while Vorta and Heliostra monitored the feed.
"They've started moving. I hope those purple creeps down there have a surprise for them, hahaha!!" Seth's eyes tracked the small Abyssium monsters hidden in the grass.
"The core guardians aren't there yet. They should be able to finish this easily!" Heliostra scanned the wilderness ahead, where a giant, pulsing core oozing purple fluid was visible.
After trekking for a while, Valencia's team only encountered small monsters that they could kill silently. However, something was already tracking their movements.
"This place is creepy. I just hope nothing pops out from underground," Jules, one of the Spartan soldiers, whispered.
"Heh, you scared, Jules? Pathetic."
"They're weak, we can–"
John, who was walking right behind Jules, suddenly went silent. His voice vanished, swallowed by something.
"John... where are you?!" Jules turned around, but all he saw were John's weapon and cap lying on the dirt.
Valencia halted the line, turning toward the confused Jules.
"What's happening back there?!"
"C-Captain, Private John is gone. He was right behind me!"
Ren, Leon, and Jack immediately realized the truth: the monsters already knew they were there. As Valencia stood thinking, the other three saw a sight that turned the entire squad to stone—something was looming directly behind Valencia.
High above, Seth grinned at the surprise.
"Hohoho, here it is....!"
"The party's starting, boys!!"
Seth was ecstatic, much to Heliostra's annoyance.
"Shut up, Seth! You're way too loud!" she snapped, tossing a small piece of chalk at his head.
"Ouch! What was that for?!" Seth grumbled.
Down below, a medium-sized Abyssium monster with a mouth full of tentacles prepared to strike.
"LOOK OUT...!!" a Spartan soldier screamed, raising his rifle.
Valencia turned quickly, but it was too late. The monster's tentacles lashed out, wrapping around her and swallowing her whole before retreating into the earth. The screams triggered the other monsters in the plains. Ren and the others had no choice but to sprint for the exit while fending off the swarms.
"You damn monster!!"
"I have to fight back, or these tentacles will strip me of my gear!"
Inside the monster's gullet, Valencia was drenched in sticky purple slime. She fumbled for her sword; her machine gun had been lost in the grass when she was snatched.
Suddenly, a drop of acidic fluid dripped onto her armor and clothes.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Damn it, it's corrosive!!"
The acid began to eat through her protective plating and fabric. Finally, Valencia managed to draw her blade, even though her armor was mostly melted and her clothes were heavily damaged.
"Eat this!!"
With a sudden slash of her plasma blade—which was now inexplicably coated in intense heat energy—Valencia struck the monster's throat.
"What is this energy? This sword shouldn't be putting out this much heat!?"
"Whatever, I just need to get out of this thing. The heat doesn't matter right now!!"
Outside, Ren and the others had almost cleared the grassland. Vorta's team had lost her signal; the tracker had vanished when she was swallowed.
"Blast it, we lost her!!"
"Ugh, what is going on down there?!"
Vorta's fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to re-establish a lock on Valencia and her team.
"Should we head down, Kryos?!"
"That kid looks like she needs a hand from my blade."
Siegfried glanced at Kryos, who was watching from the main headquarters.
"Wait... Foxana says she can still hold on, right?!"
Kryos's pale blue eyes turned to Foxana, whose fox tails were twitching.
"Yes, she can still hold on. I'm certain of it!"
Foxana knew Valencia had a connection to the Ruler of Fire and Sun, based on the residue she had found at the training grounds.
Valencia finally succeeded in carving through the monster's throat. Luckily, the creature wasn't underground at the moment. The beast collapsed, dead, but Valencia was in a rough state—her armor destroyed, her clothes in tatters, leaving her with only her sword.
"Ugh... I really hope nobody sees me like this....!"
"But at least, the target is right in front of me!"
A pulsing sound echoed, and purple fluid flowed past Valencia's feet. She was standing exactly where she needed to be: at the heart of the giant monster core in the middle of the wilderness.