Colt's voice wavered as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the ground. "She told us… she said she was going back to rescue Suki."
The words landed like a thunderclap. Benny blinked, startled. "Suki? Who's Suki? There's no one here by that name."
Marco stepped in quickly. "It's Faye's teddy bear."
The revelation hit hard. Faye's shoulders quivered as fresh tears welled in her eyes. She clutched the hem of Marco's shirt, her tiny voice trembling.
"I told her it was okay… that I didn't need Suki anymore. But she wouldn't listen…"
Colt's expression twisted with frustration, his hands curling into fists. "I told her not to go."
Marco knelt and placed a hand gently on Colt's head, offering calm where words had failed. "It's not your fault. We both know how stubborn Mera can be."
Colt nodded, though the guilt still clung to him like a shadow. Then—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion shook the Iron Fortress. Growls echoed down the steel corridors. The walls trembled as the Devils outside shifted—drawn toward new prey.
The mother's voice cracked under the weight of desperation. "Benny, please—save my daughter!"
The room had fallen into a thick, suffocating silence.
The mother's cries still echoed faintly, her voice raw and pleading, but no one moved. No one spoke. The weight of the girl's absence settled like a storm cloud above them.
Dawn stood frozen amid the crowd, her fingers curled into her sleeves, her heart pounding against her ribs like a warning drum.
Mera's name repeated over and over in her head, a whisper at first, then louder… more insistent.
She went back for a teddy bear…
The absurdity of it twisted something in Dawn's chest.
A child—barely old enough to spell her own name—had walked willingly into the jaws of death for someone else's teddy bear.
Not even her own. Just something that belonged to a friend. Something soft and small that reminded them the world hadn't always been this cruel.
For comfort.
For courage.
For love.
And now she was out there—alone—in a fortress crawling with monsters.
Dawn's heart continued to pound against her chest.
She remembered her own childhood—those late nights back home when the world felt too big, too dark. When she'd buried her face into her pillow and prayed, someone would come if she ever screamed.
She remembered the cold nights alone after her father left, how she used to hold her blanket tight and pretend she was brave.
If I were Mera…
If it were me, trapped and alone, too afraid to scream…
Would anyone come looking?
That's when her feet started moving.
"I'll go."
Gasps followed her words. Every head turned. All eyes fell on her.
Theo jolted from the crowd. "What!? Dawn, no! You've seen what those things can do—we barely made it out alive!"
But Dawn kept moving.
Toward Isabella.
Toward Benny.
Toward the weight of her decision.
"I remember her," she said softly. "She was with the children Theo and I helped earlier. I know which room they came from."
Marco stepped forward. "Then let me go. You stay here. You've done enough."
"You're needed here. You're leading the evacuation. That's your job."
Dawn turned her gaze to the group of children clinging to their parents, shaking with fear. Her eyes landed on Faye, whose tear-streaked face stared up at her, full of questions she was too young to ask.
"This one… is mine."
Isabella stepped closer. "Dawn, are you sure?" she asked.
Dawn nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"But why?"
Dawn didn't answer right away.
She turned her head slightly, looking past the group, past the walls of the fortress, as if she could already see Mera waiting in the dark.
"Because…" Her voice softened. "If I were her, I'd want someone to come looking for me too."
And with those words, the room seemed to hold its breath.
Theo stepped forward, his strained with desperation. "Then I'm going with you."
Dawn turned to face him. Her eyes softened, but there was no room for compromise. "No offense, Theo… but you'd slow me down."
Her words weren't cruel—just true. Her tone held no malice, only clarity.
Theo's jaw tightened. "Damn it, Dawn. Then take David with you, at least. You can't go alone."
She tilted her head slightly, a small smile touching her lips. "You know I'm faster than both of you. I'll be fine. I promise."
Theo didn't believe her. And she knew it. But there wasn't time for a fight.
Across the room, Isabella's voice ran through. "Recruits! Fall in!"
The room erupted into motion.
Benny and his workers hauled out the specially reinforced shields, their metal cores etched with elemental resistance runes that shimmered under the emergency lights.
The recruits—Theo, David, Curtis, Bryce, Arthur—formed a line, their faces shadowed with grit. The male workers, fewer in number, joined them, shields clutched in trembling hands.
Isabella spoke with purpose. "Once you find her, Dawn, I want you to make your way to the main entrance. We'll clear a path for you."
Benny stepped before Dawn, reaching into a pouch strapped to his side. He pulled out a small, compact blade—sleek, balanced, razor-sharp—and placed it in her hand.
"Take this," he said quietly. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing."
She accepted it wordlessly, fingers tightening around the hilt.
David pushed his glasses higher on his nose, studying her closely. "We'll be waiting for you," he said with a warm, steady smile.
"Waiting for me? Not if I beat you there," Dawn replied, winking.
The hint of mischief in her voice masked the fear clawing at her chest.
Then she turned to Theo.
Their eyes met—just for a moment.
"You'll be waiting too," she said, softer this time. "Won't you?"
Theo swallowed. "No," he replied. "I'm not waiting. I'm coming back for you."
Dawn sighed. "Didn't you hear me? I'm beating you all out of here."
Before the moment could stretch further, Isabella's arm shot into the air. "Let's move!"
The heavy door groaned open—and chaos rushed in to greet them.
A surge of heat met the group the moment they entered the corridor. Devils had sensed the movement—sensed life—and responded in kind.
Flames exploded from the darkness.
"Shields up!" Benny roared.
The frontline of men locked their shields together, creating a gleaming wall of protection. Fire slammed into it like a tidal wave, cascading down the hallway, but the line held. Sparks flew. The air grew hotter with every passing second.
Isabella stepped into the front, her water whip already drawn. With a single flourish, the liquid lashed out in a spiraling arc, cleaving through the air—and the Devils beyond it.
Steam hissed into the corridor as Dyna met Dyna.
"Now's your chance!" Isabella shouted.
Dawn didn't hesitate.
She sprinted forward, body low, blade tucked tight. Her boots thudded against the shields as she vaulted over the wall of shields, twisting mid-air, and landed in a full sprint.
In seconds, she vanished up the staircase—leaving only the sound of her footfalls in her wake.
Behind her, the fortress erupted.
"Charge!" Isabella's voice echoed like thunder.
The shield wall advanced, slow and heavy at first—but then with fury. The corridor turned into a battlefield. Flames collided with steel, claws scraped against them, and still, the men pushed forward.
"Hold the line!" Benny bellowed, rallying the second wave behind them.
"Take cover!" another voice rang out just before a fresh wave of flame barreled toward them.
The frontlines crouched, shields angled down as the fire slammed against their defenses.
"It's hot," Bryce grunted, his hands blistering beneath the shield straps.
"Don't you dare drop it!" Arthur shouted, holding firm as sweat poured down his forehead. "We drop, we die!"
Through the inferno, Isabella's whip cracked again—steam hissing, another path clearing.
Curtis saw it.
"We're clear!" he shouted, bolting through the opening.
The recruits and workers surged after him, feet pounding against the ground, lungs burning from heat and smoke.
They saw it now—the front entrance. Freedom.
But between them and the exit—
A mass of Devils blocked the path.
"Don't stop!" Isabella commanded her voice a blade of its own.
"Push through!" Benny added, charging at full speed.
"Get ready!" Curtis barked. "We're breaking through—GO!"
The line smashed into the Devils like a battering ram. Shields collided with claws. Bodies crashed into one another. The Devils reeled, staggered—some flung through the ironbound doors and out into the open.
Fresh air hit them like a slap.
Moonlight. Wind. The world outside.
But they had no time to enjoy it.
"Above us!" David shouted.
Everyone looked up.
From above, boulders—dozens of them—were launched high into the air, silhouettes against the night sky.
And then—
They fell.
Like meteors. Like punishment from the gods.
And the world screamed again.
Back inside the Iron Fortress—
Dawn ran through the crumbling corridors. The halls screamed around her—flames licking the walls, beams groaning as they sagged overhead, shattered glass crunching beneath her boots.
"Mera!" she called out, her voice echoing into smoke-filled silence.
No reply. Just the distant crackle of fire and the groan of a dying fortress.
She pressed on, eyes scanning every doorway.
Then she turned a corner—
And froze.
A dozen paces ahead, framed in the flickering red light of an emergency beacon, stood Mera.
The little girl trembled in the center of the hallway, arms wrapped tight around a soot-stained teddy bear—Suki.
Her cheeks were tear-streaked, but she didn't cry. Her jaw was clenched. Her voice, though shaky, rang out into the corridor.
"I-I'm not afraid of you…!"
Towering above Mera, its hulking frame hunched and swaying, was a Devil. Its matted fur glistened with heat and sweat, jagged claws twitching at its sides.
Saliva dripped from its jaw in thick, bubbling ropes, sizzling into the floor like acid.
Dawn couldn't move.
Her limbs locked. The scene burned into her mind like a nightmare she couldn't wake from.
Move.
Move, damn it.
But she was frozen.
Paralyzed.
Then—
A memory surged.
A sunlit field. Wildflowers swaying in the breeze. A wooden sword cracked against hers.
A man's voice—stern, patient, relentless.
Hesitation isn't what I taught you, Dawn. I taught you how to—
"Fight!" she yelled aloud, eyes blazing.
The memory shattered.
Dawn lunged forward, her blade flashing like silver lightning.
In one clean, fluid motion, she slashed downward—her blade slicing through the Devil's arm just as it reached for Mera.
The limb hit the floor with a thud, hissing as the acid ate through the ground.
The Devil reared back in a shriek of rage.
Dawn didn't wait.
She grabbed Mera by the hand, yanking her away from danger.
"Hold on!" she shouted, already running.
Mera clutched Suki tight in one arm and Dawn's hand in the other, legs struggling to keep up as they fled down the ruined hallway.
But the Devil wasn't finished.
It roared, stomping forward—and slammed its foot into the ground.
The floor groaned.
Cracks spiderwebbed out beneath them.
Then the hallway gave out.
With a deafening CRACK, the floor beneath their feet crumbled into a black abyss.
"Mera!" Dawn screamed, her body lurching as gravity tore her downward.
She twisted mid-fall—reaching—
Mera's tiny hand caught hers.
Their fingers locked.
Rubble cascaded around them. Chunks of stone and rebar tumbled like rain.
The Devil howled above as the world shattered around them.
Together, Dawn and Mera plunged into the darkness—
Swallowed whole by the Iron Fortress.