Evolution.

According to the Hyper-Vigilant Corps' extensive records on the mutanauts, gleaned from their ancestors during the Great Unity War, these formidable creatures are capable of undergoing six distinct stages of evolution.

The sixth stage is unparalleled by the rest but is exceptionally rare.

The fourth stage is regarded as their most powerful form, with the sixth mostly out of the picture. After the fourth evolution, a mutanaut reaches a level comparable to that of an HV superior commander—rank one soldiers in the hierarchy.

Conversely, the fifth stage marks a vulnerable period for the mutanaut, during which it reverts to its weakest form. In this state, it can be killed with alarming ease, similar to a mutanaut in stage one or, in a few cases, similar to ones that are yet to even undergo a first evolution.

However, if a mutanaut manages to consume a significant quantity of living beings while in this vulnerable state, it may ascend to the elusive sixth evolution.

Remarkably, this sixth stage occurs in only one out of every thousand mutanauts.

Thus, the fourth stage remains the most feared, followed closely by the third stage, which aligns with the level of the star soldiers.

While their capabilities fluctuate based on the number of victims they have consumed, the second stage of evolution emerged as the most frequently encountered during the war.

This is where soldiers ranked four to six truly excel.

Although a handful of exceptional lower-ranking HV soldiers have a chance against them, it is rare to see one beat the test.

Most who ever did were often lower ranks who possess physical prowess on par with higher-ranking HV soldiers but have yet to be promoted due to other shortcomings, primarily intellectual or mental deficiencies.

Mutanauts typically reach their second evolution after consuming approximately ten to fifteen humans, while the first evolution is achieved with their very first kill.

Chris was a highly skilled rank four HV soldier, renowned for his prowess and relentless determination.

He had grown weary of effortlessly dispatching the second-stage evolution mutanauts available in the Advanced Combat Environment (ACE) training technology.

Having far surpassed his fellow rank fours, he was just one victory away from defeating a third-stage evolved mutanaut and earning his promotion to a star soldier.

For someone like Chris, who had single-handedly taken down even the strongest stage two mutanauts, this creature here, which had clearly attained only one evolution, didn't qualify as a threat.

From the moment he arrived at the scene with his now late partner, Chris hadn't taken the mutanaut seriously.

Based on his calculations, it had only consumed two victims and had evolved just once. Actually, even if the calculation was off and it had feasted on five, six, or even ten more people, it didn't make any difference to him.

At least, that was what he thought until now.

But what was happening?

Chris had dedicated most of his life to becoming the perfect weapon against the likes of this monster, honing both his physical abilities and intellectual acumen.

He knew all there was to know, and even if there were others who were far superior to his rank, the man was undeniably strong, and most definitely should be stronger than this monster.

'That power and speed just now...' He pondered, struggling to comprehend what he had experienced.

Although it seemed simple, one could call his earlier success in evading the first strike a clear and definitive testament to all his years of intense training. And perhaps if he had trained even a single day less, his fate might not differ much from that of Janet or Katarina by now.

But the second attack still caught him, and all he could do in evasion was a quick glance.

All he could do was watch it strike him.

The second attack seemed like an instinctive reaction, fueled by the unexpected failure of the first, and perhaps that was the only reason he had survived at all.

The power behind that strike was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Even the stage three mutanauts, who operated on a level still beyond his reach, had never demonstrated such force.

He had never faced a stage four himself, but Chris was sure that the men he's seen and known—his superiors, who had supposedly triumphed over stage four mutanauts—would be reduced to nothing against such power.

There's just no way those men had defeated something like this before. EEM battle gear aside, weren't they just human like him?

Chris was still unable to grasp the logic pertaining to the strange reappearance of this monster, which he could have sworn had been destroyed earlier.

Although, despite the now massive difference in its size, behavior, and aura, Chris knew this was the same monster from before; every mutanaut bore its distinct shape, and this creature was unmistakably the same.

Something about the thought bothered at him, yet he continually brushed it aside, trying not to admit it.

The more he reflected, the more undeniable it became, but he stubbornly reassured himself that it couldn't possibly be that.

There was no way it could be. If it were, something like that would've been a focal point in the discussions about the Mutanauts.

Yes, there's no way the mutanauts could regenerate.

He hadn't witnessed it happen earlier, and in a way, he was relieved by that. At least this way, there was no definitive evidence to confirm whether the creature had truly regenerated or not.

He was like a child who harbored a painful truth deep within, yet desperately avoided speaking it aloud, clinging to the hope that by keeping it unspoken, he could continue to pretend it wasn't true.

"Damn , Christopher, calm down," he muttered to himself, shaking off the intense dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him, a result of the weight of his own thoughts.

With a quick, casual motion, he wiped his hand across his forehead, dragging it down his face to his jaw, removing the blood and sweat that clung to him.

"You're making too much of it. If we go by your logic, then this monster must have gone through a sixt..." He suddenly halted, flinching at the word, but then shrugged it off with a smile. "Too much, Christopher, too much. Get your shit together."

Grabbing his knee, he helped himself up from the pile of rubble with a staggered motion.

"Dunno what that shit you pulled just now was, but you seriously had me," he called out loudly, limping as he walked through the massive crack left in the fence by his earlier crash.

As he approached the monster, Chris paused just before the sword lying carelessly on the ground. Its unusually bright silver surface reflected the pulsating blue light emanating from its hilt.

The moment he squatted to pick it up, the light vanished.

"Damn, broken bones hurt like hell," he groaned, wincing in agony. With a determined effort, he plunged the sword into the ground, using it as leverage to pull himself back up.

"Shit, why aren't they made of irons?" Chris, now standing upright, spoke, looking to the mutanaut, "Thanks to this gear, I can still move. It's probably shattered to grains, but as long as I can endure the pain, I can walk like normal. Isn't technology such a great thing? What's more, it's got inbuilt painkillers––cough" He shot an arm to his mouth, poorly barricading the blood that suddenly rushed out from it.

"...Well, guess they still aren't enough." He uttered with a chuckle.

Wiping off the blood, he looked at the sword on his hand for a while.

"Hmm, why do we use swords again?" Saying this, he pondered for a while, then casually flung it away. "Well, it can be fun to use sometimes." He concluded, pulling out his gun.

"Hey, I don't know why, but you've been acting strange lately, you got some power up or sumn? Just so you know, I'll be going all out from here. That attack just now, I'd like to think it's my hallucination making it into some huge deal. Something must've been up with my head, cos there ain't no way a stage one like you could've pulled that off."

The man reached and pulled the tiny switch along his chest plate.

"Huh?"

CLICK CLICK!

He pulled to and fro a couple more times but nothing happened.

"Why won't it on?"

CLICK CLICK.

Even after a couple of more pulls, the 01 security system didn't budge.

"A malfunction? Well, I guess it doesn't matter," he said nonchalantly, reached into a pouch on his waist and pulled out two small silver orbs.

With a flick of his wrist, he dropped them onto the floor and stepped onto each one, his legs poised as they began to roll apart.

"Heee" Chris let out a wide grin, and in a sudden shift, he aimed his gun at the mutanaut.

Just as he steadied his aim,

GBAAANG!! —The orbs detonated simultaneously with a thunderous blast.

The explosion erupted like a small cannon, sending a shockwave that rattled the air and knocked him off his feet. He was aggressively launched backwards from the power, weightless for a moment, as debris and dust swirled around him.

In the midst of this chaotic flight, he instinctively pulled the trigger. The gun fired, the unknown force it triggered, slicing through the tumult like a bolt of lightning, before finally connecting with its target in an instant.

Chris hit the ground with a heavy thud, rolling to absorb the impact. As he came to a stop, quickly regaining his footing.

Time seemed to slow as he caught sight of the mutanaut. The shot had a massive chunk of its body blown off and its enormous arms barely hanging on by a shred of meat.

"Oh, that didn't kill you?" he uttered, a mix of disbelief and amusement in his voice.

"Pfft."

In an instant, he shifted his weight, planting his foot firmly on the ground, and—

WOOOSH!

With an explosive burst of speed, he shot forward, his legs slapping loudly against the ground at each stride, as if to show off his impressive agility.

Taking full advantage of the dust that had enveloped the scene, he circled around the mutanaut's back in a heartbeat, and forcibly, he broke his momentum in a spontaneous stop.

This actually caused his leg to give out, buckled beneath him, and he stumbled, losing his balance in a split second. Time seemed to slow as he felt himself falling.

In that moment, he instinctively raised his gun, pointing it at the creature's exposed back, his heart racing as he steadied his aim, even as he descended toward the ground.

But right before he pulled the trigger

SWISHHT!

"From... where...?" He gasped, the words barely escaping his lips as a sudden force violently collided with his body from the side.

The force sent him hurtling gracelessly through the hard ground, finally ending with a loud bone jarring crash into the floor.

His gear slashing hard against the tarred surface had actually ignited a fierce blaze that surged rapidly through the dirt, and the flames flickered ominously, casting a crimson glow that illuminated the chaos, thick cloud of dust, and smoke enveloping the scene.