The rain had finally stopped.
For the first time in what felt like forever, silence settled over the battlefield.
Drops of water slid from shattered branches. Smoke rose from destroyed vehicles. The forest that had once been alive now looked like a graveyard of broken trees and scorched earth.
Above them, the dark storm clouds slowly parted.
But what appeared behind them was far worse.
The sky glowed crimson.
A giant pillar of red light stretched from the earth into the heavens, illuminating the entire mountain range in an unnatural glow.
The air felt heavy.
Almost alive.
Stella stood frozen, staring at the light.
Her heart pounded against her chest.
Something deep inside her was reacting to it.
Something ancient.
Something terrifying.
"What is happening?" she whispered.
Lucien smiled despite the blood running down his face.
"The future."
Raven immediately stepped forward.
"We need to leave."
But nobody moved.
Because everyone could feel it.
A powerful presence was awakening.
The Hollow Beast whimpered and backed away.
The giant creature that had torn through armies now looked frightened.
Its glowing red eyes never left the pillar.
The First Agent slowly stood from the ruins where Omega's energy had thrown him.
His crimson aura flickered around him.
For the first time since Stella had met him, he looked genuinely worried.
"No..."
Lucien laughed softly.
"You recognize it."
The First Agent clenched his fists.
"You actually completed the project."
Lucien's smile widened.
"Not completed."
He looked proudly toward the pillar.
"Perfected."
BOOOOOOM!
The mountain shook violently.
Huge cracks spread across the earth.
Trees toppled over.
The crimson pillar expanded even higher.
The sky itself seemed to split apart.
Lightning made entirely of red energy flashed across the clouds.
Stella shielded her eyes.
The power coming from the pillar was unbearable.
It felt as though an entire world was trapped inside it.
Then
Something moved.
Far within the crimson light.
A silhouette.
Large.
Human-shaped.
Walking.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Each footstep shook the mountains.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
The figure continued walking through the pillar.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Until finally
It emerged.
Stella's breath caught in her throat.
The creature looked human.
Almost.
Dark crimson scales covered parts of its body like armor.
Black wings stretched from its back.
Golden markings glowed across its skin.
A floating halo hovered above its head.
Yet there was nothing angelic about it.
Its eyes were empty.
Cold.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
The creature looked across the battlefield.
Then smiled.
A smile that made Stella's blood run cold.
Lucien immediately lowered his head.
"Welcome back."
The creature ignored him.
Instead, its gaze settled directly on Stella.
The moment their eyes met
Pain exploded inside her head.
Stella gasped.
Images flooded her mind.
Laboratories.
Screaming.
Scientists.
Glass containers.
Blood.
So much blood.
Then darkness.
The vision vanished.
Stella stumbled backward.
"What was that?"
The creature tilted its head.
Interesting.
Almost curious.
Then it spoke.
Its voice echoed across the entire valley.
"Blood Agent Stella."
Stella froze.
How did it know her name?
The creature smiled.
"At last."
Lucien stepped forward proudly.
"Designation Omega."
The name echoed through the battlefield.
Omega.
The Final Project.
The ultimate weapon Black Veil had spent decades creating.
Raven's shadows immediately spread around him.
Subject 13 clenched her fists.
The First Agent stepped forward.
And Omega looked directly at him.
For a brief moment
Something resembling amusement appeared in its eyes.
"Failure One."
The First Agent's jaw tightened.
"I should have killed you before they finished creating you."
Omega laughed.
The sound wasn't loud.
But it somehow echoed everywhere.
"You couldn't."
The mountain behind Omega suddenly exploded.
Without warning.
Without movement.
Without effort.
The entire side of the mountain collapsed.
Thousands of tons of rock crashed into the valley below.
The battlefield fell silent.
Omega hadn't attacked.
That destruction had happened simply because Omega existed.
Subject 13 whispered,
"Impossible."
The Hollow Beast whimpered again.
Even Lucien seemed amazed by what he had created.
Omega slowly spread its wings.
Crimson energy flowed around its body.
The ground beneath its feet began melting.
The air distorted.
Reality itself seemed unstable around it.
Stella felt sick.
She had never sensed so much power before.
Not from Raven.
Not from Subject 13.
Not even from the First Agent.
Omega was something else entirely.
The First Agent suddenly moved.
BOOOOM!
The earth exploded beneath him.
He shot forward like a missile.
His crimson aura erupted around his body.
The sky shook.
Trees were ripped from the ground by the force.
Within a second, he reached Omega.
His fist crashed forward with enough force to destroy a building.
CRAAAAASH!
The impact echoed through the mountains.
A massive shockwave tore across the valley.
Everyone covered their faces.
Dust exploded into the air.
For a moment
Nobody could see anything.
Then the dust cleared.
Silence.
The First Agent froze.
Omega hadn't moved.
Not even an inch.
The creature simply stood there.
Completely unharmed.
Looking bored.
The First Agent's eyes widened.
Omega slowly looked down at the fist pressed against its face.
Then sighed.
"Too weak."
Tap.
Only a single finger.
That was all Omega used.
The First Agent was launched across the valley.
BOOOOOOM!
He smashed through dozens of trees.
Then disappeared into the mountains.
Silence returned.
Nobody could believe what they had just witnessed.
The strongest Blood Agent in history had been defeated with a single touch.
Omega slowly turned back toward Stella.
Its eyes glowed brighter.
"You are incomplete."
Stella stepped backward.
"What do you want from me?"
Omega spread its wings wider.
The crimson sky darkened.
The ground trembled.
"The same thing Black Veil wants."
Its gaze sharpened.
"Your Blood Core."
Lucien smiled.
"Once Omega absorbs Stella's Blood Core, evolution will be complete."
Stella felt her stomach drop.
Absorb?
Raven immediately moved in front of her.
"No."
Darkness exploded around him.
The shadows surrounding Raven grew larger than ever before.
For the first time, Stella saw his full power.
Black wings formed behind him.
The sky darkened.
Shadows spread across the battlefield like an ocean.
Subject 13 stepped beside him.
Crimson energy erupted around her body.
"We stop him together."
Raven nodded.
The two former enemies stood side by side.
United.
Omega looked unimpressed.
"How disappointing."
The creature raised a hand.
Instantly
The shadows around Raven vanished.
The crimson energy around Subject 13 disappeared.
Both Blood Agents staggered in shock.
"What?"
Omega lowered its hand.
"Your powers belong to the same source."
Its smile returned.
"I simply control that source better."
Raven's eyes widened.
That shouldn't have been possible.
But Omega wasn't lying.
The Final Project could influence the very energy that powered Blood Agents.
Which meant
Omega was their natural predator.
The situation had just become far worse.
Stella looked around desperately.
There had to be something.
Some weakness.
Some solution.
Then she remembered something.
Her mother.
The necklace.
The black-wing symbol.
The final words she had heard in her visions.
Run, Stella.
Her hand instinctively touched the silver necklace around her neck.
The necklace suddenly felt warm.
Very warm.
Then
It began glowing.
Omega immediately noticed.
For the first time
Its expression changed.
Shock.
The creature stared at the necklace.
"No."
Lucien frowned.
"What is it?"
Omega's eyes remained locked on the silver pendant.
"That should not exist."
Stella looked down.
The black-wing symbol glowed with brilliant white light.
A completely different energy from the crimson powers surrounding Omega.
The necklace suddenly opened.
Click.
Everyone froze.
Inside was a tiny hidden photograph.
A photograph Stella had never seen before.
Her mother.
Her father.
And a third person standing beside them.
The First Agent.
Stella's eyes widened.
"What?"
The photograph slipped from her fingers.
But before it could fall
White light exploded from the necklace.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire battlefield was flooded with brilliance.
Omega immediately stepped backward.
For the first time since its arrival
It looked afraid.
And somewhere within that light
A familiar voice whispered:
"If you're hearing this, Stella..."
"Then the truth is finally ready to be revealed