The steel door loomed before them, towering twice the height of a man and reinforced with thick plates that looked like they could withstand artillery fire.
But the soldiers’ breaths turned shallow—not because of the door itself, but because of what sat in front of it.
The air itself seemed to warp with pressure.
A beast the size of a truck lay in wait, its golden mane glowing faintly under the artificial lights, each strand of fur catching the glare like molten steel.
Its eyes burned amber, predatory, unblinking.
A lion—yet not just any lion.
Its muscles rippled beneath a hide that shimmered like polished iron.
Its fangs looked carved from ivory, too sharp, too perfect, as though they had been engineered.
The closer one looked, the more impossible it became to accept that such a creature could exist naturally.
And then the voice came.
Not from the lion, but from everywhere.
It reverberated across the corridors, bouncing through the comms in their ears, echoing off the very walls.
> “Captain Tom of Interpol…”
“How did you find me?
How did you cut through my defenses so cleanly?”
The voice was calm, deep, and amused, yet threaded with venom.
> “I was sure I had your source fooled.
Yet here you are, standing before Nemeo.”
The lion’s ears twitched at its own name.
The beast lifted its head slowly, its mane flowing like liquid fire, and gave a low growl that rattled the floor beneath their boots.
Tom clenched his fists at his sides.
He didn’t answer Sulaiman’s taunt right away.
His jaw tightened, and for the briefest moment his eyes flicked to his men.
Fifteen of them stood there, tense, weapons raised but fingers trembling on the triggers.
He exhaled sharply through his nose.
> “You guys handle it,” Tom said at last, his voice cutting through the heavy silence.
“Split into three.”
He raised a hand, pointing one finger at the group.
> “Five of you stay here.
Distract the lion for as long as it takes.
That’s your mission.”
Another point of his hand, sharp, commanding.
> “Five of you break into the cells.
Release every animal you find, no matter what.
If Nemeo gets past us, those animals need to be out before this base becomes a slaughterhouse.”
And then his hand turned, palm open, toward the last cluster of soldiers.
> “The last five—your mission is Sulaiman himself.
Bring him back here in cuffs.
Alive if possible.
Dead if necessary.”
His words dropped like hammers, heavy and absolute.
The recruits straightened despite their fear.
They trusted him.
They always had.
But before he could finish—
A flash of movement.
Touya.
The young man’s footsteps rang loud on the steel floor as he sprinted forward, blazer snapping in the stale wind, smirk plastered across his face.
He didn’t hesitate.
He didn’t even glance back at Tom.
He just rushed headfirst down the corridor toward Sulaiman’s lair, eyes burning with the reckless fire of someone who wanted nothing but to see for himself.
“TOUYA!” Tom roared, arm snapping out too late.
“Damn it!”
Four others, startled, cursed and ran after him.
“Wait!”
“Don’t go in alone!”
Their voices faded as they disappeared into the shadows of the hallway, leaving Tom seething.
The captain’s hand lingered in the air, then curled into a fist.
He lowered it slowly, his gaze hardened.
He muttered under his breath, more to himself than to anyone else.
> “Idiot… why is he running ahead?…”
Then, as though deciding in that very moment, Tom turned on his heel.
> “I’m going back to the plane,” he declared, voice cutting through the tension.
“It’s landed.
I’ll supervise the animal transport myself.
Good luck to everyone here.”
He didn’t wait for objections.
Didn’t wait for questions.
He trusted them enough.
He ran off, boots striking hard against the floor.
But then—
A crackle in their comms.
Static at first.
Then the sound of a small voice.
Trembling.
Wet with tears.
> “H-Hello…?
Where’s… my sister…?”
Every single soldier froze.
The hammer-user—Rolf—was the first to react.
His deep voice rumbled through the channel.
> “Repeat, command.
We’ve got a child on the line.
Female.
Around eight to nine years old.
She says her sister is missing.”
The room’s tension doubled instantly.
Tom, already halfway down the corridor, slammed his fist against the wall before replying.
> “Damn it…!
I’ll look for her on my way out!” His voice came through sharp, commanding, but strained.
“You guys—focus on the lion!
Focus on the animals!
Arrest Sulaiman!
I’ll handle the kid!”
And just like that, his voice faded as he cut transmission, leaving the others standing in raw silence.
Then, slowly, all eyes turned back to the lion.
The beast rose.
Its claws scraped the floor, sparks flying.
The sheer weight of its aura pressed on their lungs, suffocating.
It stepped forward once.
Twice.
And then it roared.
The sound was not merely a roar—it was an avalanche, a storm tearing down a mountain, thunder splitting the heavens.
The shockwave slammed into them, forcing the closest soldiers to stagger back, hands clamped over their ears as the very ground trembled.
Someone muttered shakily, “That thing… it’s invincible…”
Another soldier’s hands shook on his rifle, sweat dripping down his chin.
But then one of them—braver, or perhaps more foolish—raised his gun and fired.
The muzzle flashed bright.
The bullet streaked toward the lion’s skull—
—ping!
The round flattened against its hide like a pebble tossed at stone.
The lion didn’t even blink.
A crushing silence followed.
Then the beast bared its teeth in something horrifyingly close to a grin.
> “T-This… this is the Nemean Lion…” one whispered, almost reverently.
The first step had been taken.
The battle for the beasts’ cell room—the battle against Nemeo—had begun.
Gunfire erupted.
Muzzle flashes lit the hall like stuttering lightning, but the bullets might as well have been spitballs against a tank.
Each round flattened or ricocheted with a metallic ring, clattering uselessly across the floor.
“Keep shooting!
Keep its attention away from the release team!” a soldier barked, voice cracking.
The lion prowled through the storm unfazed.
Every step was deliberate, patient, like a predator humoring prey that believed it stood a chance.
When it leapt, the world blurred.
A body went flying, slammed into the wall with a sickening crack.
Screams echoed.
Someone cursed, dragging the injured man away, but the lion didn’t chase—it turned its glowing eyes on the one soldier who dared to reload too slowly.
> “It’s toying with us…!”
Rogan’s voice boomed over the chaos, steady as an anchor.
He slammed his hammer into the ground, cracking the steel beneath him, forcing everyone’s eyes back to him.
> “Listen up!
Tranquilizers won’t pierce that hide!
We’re going to trick it into drinking one!”
The idea sparked disbelief—until he explained.
He hefted a canister-sized tranquilizer vial, thick and glowing faint green.
> “When it roars, its throat opens wide.
We’ll shoot the dose directly down its gullet.
If we land it, no hide will save it!”
The squad rallied behind him instantly.
Desperation gave way to grim determination.
“Cover Rogan!” someone shouted.
“Keep it distracted!”
Two soldiers rushed forward, spraying suppressive fire while another hurled flashbangs.
The hall exploded with light and smoke.
Nemeo snarled, head snapping from side to side, mane glowing brighter with its fury.
Rogan charged.
His hammer swung up with a roar of his own, colliding with the lion’s jaw in a thunderous blow that actually forced its head back.
The beast staggered, stunned for a breathless second.
> “NOW!”
A sharpshooter raised a custom launcher, sight locked on the beast’s gaping maw.
He fired.
The vial streaked through the smoke—
—but at the last instant, Nemeo twisted.
Its instincts were too sharp.
The vial shattered against its iron hide, spraying green fluid uselessly across its mane.
“No way…!”
The lion’s roar came like an earthquake, vibrating their bones.
Its paw lashed out, striking Rolf full force.
The hammer-user’s body skidded across the floor, armor denting as blood sprayed from his lips.
“ROLF!!”
Chaos broke.
Soldiers fired wildly, voices cracking between curses and cries for retreat.
Rogan coughed, groaning, but forced himself to his knees.
His hammer trembled in his grip.
> I can’t… go down here… not before the kids are safe…
His vision blurred, but he lifted the comm to his lips.
> “Release team… hurry…!
We’re out of time!”
Meanwhile, the second squad sprinted down rows of reinforced cages.
The air reeked of blood, fur, and fear.
Countless creatures—mutated wolves, serpents with extra heads, birds with metal grafts—slammed themselves against bars, eyes wide with a hunger not their own.
“This place is hell…” one whispered, sweat beading down his temple.
Their mission: release everything.
Yet no button, no control panel had appeared despite minutes of frantic searching.
“Nothing’s here!
Where the hell’s the switch?!”
Another voice snapped back, “Keep looking!
It has to be centralized somewhere!”
Claws raked from within cages, barely missing throats.
Sparks flew as beasts gnawed steel.
One cadet stumbled back, shrieking as a wolf’s teeth tore through his sleeve.
Gunfire rattled against walls already trembling from the clash outside.
The five-man release team sprinted through the corridors, boots splashing in pools of blood and chemicals as alarms wailed overhead.
“Where the hell is it?!” one cadet barked, hammering fists against a console.
“Check the side panel—Sulaiman wouldn’t leave the controls out in the open!” another shouted, prying open wiring, sparks spraying across his gloves.
The sound of battle from outside bled into every breath—Nemeo’s roar shook dust from the ceiling.
The assault team’s shouts mixed with the metallic howls of machine guns.
Nothing was working.
And still the cages were locked.
One cadet slammed her rifle to the ground, nearly breaking into tears.
“If we don’t get them out now, that thing’s going to eat everyone alive!”
Her panic snapped the others into sharper focus.
Together they tore through the panels, fingers burning on hot circuits.
Then—click.
A hidden lever slid free.
“There!
The metal groaned, followed by a thunderous KA-CHUNK.
One by one, locks snapped open.
The first cage door screeched wide.
Then another.
And another.
The beasts didn’t hesitate.
Wolves barreled out, eyes red with fury.
Massive birds battered their wings into the hall, forcing the cadets to shield their faces.
Serpents coiled and slithered into the shadows.
The flood was instant, overwhelming.
“Contact Tom, NOW!” someone roared, raising his comm.
> “Animals are out.
Repeat—animals have broken containment.”
Static buzzed, then Tom’s voice answered, steady even under strain.
> “Good work.
Get out of there—don’t try to control it.
Evacuate.”
Relief flickered for only a heartbeat—before reality crashed in.
Because the moment the cages opened, Nemeo went berserk.
It stopped fixating on the soldiers and threw its body against the walls, roaring so loud the building itself shuddered.
Cracks spiderwebbed across steel beams.
Alarms shorted out.
Fire sprinklers burst into useless streams as debris rained down.
“RUN!”
The release team barely dodged as Nemeo slammed a paw the size of a car into their corridor, gouging the wall like paper.
One cadet fired a full clip into its face, but the rounds sparked off its hide.
The beast blinked once, almost amused, before snapping its jaws around the rifle and crushing it in its teeth.
The cadet screamed and scrambled backward, barely alive.
Another voice crackled over comms—Rogan, coughing hard, his tone ragged:
> “Animals are out… mission priority… done…”
He was still alive.
Barely.
But victory had cost him almost everything.
Rogan staggered to his feet, body battered, breath ragged.
His hammer trembled in his grip as he stared at the lion that still stood untouchable.
His comm buzzed—confirmation.
The animals were free.
His lips curled into a bloodied grin.
> “Good… Then… even if I fall here…”
He tightened his grip.
> “We’ve already won.”
Nemeo snarled, eyes blazing.
The battle was far from over—but the tide had begun to shift.
Somewhere deeper inside the complex, away from the chaos of soldiers and beasts, a child’s sobs echoed faintly through the dark.
The little girl hugged her knees inside a cage, rocking back and forth.
“I… I just wanted to find my sister,” she whispered through tears.
“When the guards weren’t looking, I ran.
I thought I was going outside… but I went the wrong way…”
The corridor she had chosen had led deeper, not out.
By the time she realized it, screams filled the halls.
She panicked, ducking into the first empty cage she found.
Now, beasts thundered outside, their roars shaking her tiny bones.
The air was thick with smoke and dust.
She pressed her hands over her ears, praying no one—or nothing—would find her.
“I shouldn’t have come here,” she whispered again, voice cracking.
“I shouldn’t have hidden here…”
Her words were swallowed by the storm outside.
Nemeo’s fury only grew worse with each passing second, tearing into its master’s base, collapsing halls, shattering steel beams.
The soldiers scattered, desperate to regroup, while the release team sprinted for their lives.
No one realized the small, trembling figure still trapped inside one of the cages, her tears falling into the dust as the world collapsed around her.
While the soldiers bled and beasts broke free, another fight was about to begin.
Touya burst into Sulaiman’s chamber, boots slamming against polished black stone.
The room reeked of power—dark wood walls lined with maps, cages suspended in corners, monitors glowing with surveillance feeds.
Behind a massive desk stood Sulaiman.
He wasn’t fleeing.
He was waiting.
His voice boomed across the office, echoing like the roar of a beast itself.
> “Captain Tom of Interpol… how did you find me?
How did you cut through my guardians so quickly?”
He smirked, stepping out from behind the desk, eyes narrowing.
> “I was certain I’d buried my leaks.
I was certain you were fooled.”
Touya’s team skidded to a halt behind him—four cadets panting, weapons ready.
One muttered in disbelief, “This guy’s not even worried…”
Touya clenched his bat tighter, teeth flashing in a dangerous grin.
His heart pounded, but his blood burned hotter than fear.
Sulaiman shrugged off his coat.
It fell heavy to the floor with a metallic clang.
Beneath it, his torso wasn’t human anymore.
His flesh bulged, muscles stretched too far, veins running black across skin that shimmered like scales.
His spine jutted like a beast’s, his jaw shifting as fangs bared.
One cadet’s voice cracked.
> “He… experimented on himself.”
The truth sank like lead.
The Beast Tamer had made himself the ultimate beast.
Touya stepped forward, smirk curling sharper.
> “Everyone.
Get ready for a fight.”
Their voices rang together, sharp and strong despite the fear:
> “YES!”
The office shook with the promise of blood.
Sparks lit from broken wires in the walls.
The air itself felt like a battlefield waiting to ignite.
Sulaiman grinned wider, spreading his monstrous arms.
> “You’ve bitten off more than you can chew, children.
Now—are you ready to die?”
The room exploded into motion.