The air outside the beast-tamer’s base was sharp and cold, burning the lungs of every Interpol recruit that staggered into the open.
Boots pounded the dirt, guns clattered against armored vests, and voices carried through the dark as squads tried to regroup.
The night sky seemed calm compared to the chaos they had left inside — but that calm was a lie.
Some cadets collapsed near the trucks, gasping for air, coughing smoke from explosions.
Others formed a tight perimeter, weapons raised, eyes darting back at the trembling building as though the walls themselves might lunge forward.
A soldier leaned against the hood of a transport truck, bloodied hand pressed to his shoulder, muttering,
> “Never seen a mission like this… not once… this isn’t policing, this is war.”
Another barked back,
> “Shut it!
Eyes up, don’t let your guard down.
If that lion comes out here, trucks won’t save us.”
The convoy rumbled with tension.
Everyone looked older than they had hours ago.
Meanwhile, the arrest team boarded the waiting Interpol jet.
The engines were already humming, lights piercing the night like blades.
Captain Tom stood at the base of the ramp, scanning every helmet, every face, making sure the package was secure.
Behind them, chained and unconscious, lay the monster of a man who once ruled the facility: Sulaiman.
Even bound, even sedated, his body twitched with unnatural power.
No one dared stand too close.
Inside the plane, the recruits slumped into seats, adrenaline crashes turning their limbs heavy.
Some whispered prayers, some cursed, others simply stared out the windows — the kind of silence that only follows a fight with death itself.
Tom followed them in last, barking:
> “Strap in.
We’re taking off now.
The further we are from this hellhole, the fewer chances that bastard has of slipping free.”
The plane’s nose tilted up, engines roaring, dust blasting across the ground.
As it climbed, Tom loosened his collar, scanning reports on his tablet.
Then he froze.
“Where’s Touya?” he asked flatly.
The cabin went quiet.
One recruit scratched his head, awkwardly answering,
> “Uh… Sir, he… he didn’t come out with us.
He just… ran off.
Somewhere inside.
Before we could stop him.”
Tom’s jaw tightened.
His fist slammed against the seat’s armrest.
> “That reckless brat—!
Of course he did.
Of course he’d vanish the second things quieted down.
Damn it!”
Another recruit tried to ease the tension:
> “He’ll catch up, Captain.
Touya always does.”
Tom glared, fire in his eyes.
> “He better.
Or I’ll kill him myself when he does.”
The cabin shuddered as the jet cut through the clouds, carrying Sulaiman into the night sky.
But on the ground, one thread of the mission was left dangling.
Inside the crumbling base, far from the safety of trucks and planes, an eight-year-old girl sprinted barefoot across the cold concrete.
Her breath hitched, raw from screaming, throat burning as she cried:
> “Help!
Somebody, please!
Don’t leave me here!”
Her voice echoed, bouncing uselessly through empty halls.
But no one answered.
Every soldier was gone — either already airborne with Tom or nearly a kilometer away with the convoy.
She was alone.
Or rather… not alone.
Behind her, claws scraped against the floor.
Heavy.
Slow.
Calculated.
The golden hide of Nemeo glistened in the scattered lights.
The perfect replica of the Nemean Lion moved with terrifying patience, stalking instead of charging.
It knew she was trapped prey.
The girl’s sobs shook her chest.
She tripped once, knees slamming the ground, skin tearing open.
Pain flared, but she forced herself back up, ignoring the blood dripping down her legs.
Survival was louder than pain.
Her mind screamed with regret.
> I should never have entered here.
I should never have touched that keycard.
If I hadn’t picked it up when the guard dropped it… If I hadn’t tried to escape my cage that way…
She remembered the panic.
The alarms blaring.
The chaos when the recruits stormed the base.
She’d seen a guard fall near her pen, his ID sliding across the floor.
She took it.
Swiped it at the wrong door.
She thought she was running outside — but instead, she’d gone deeper.
Deeper, into the beast’s den.
Now she ran past empty cages, the smell of animals still lingering in the air.
She remembered this room — it was where bulls had been kept, their roars deafening.
But the bulls were gone, released into the night by the animal release squad.
Only their cages remained.
And she wasn’t supposed to be here.
Her eyes darted left and right.
Cages open.
Bars bent.
Broken chains.
And behind her, the sound of steady, confident steps.
Nemeo sniffed the air.
A low growl rumbled in its chest, like a drumbeat echoing through the halls.
Its mane caught the dim emergency lights, golden fire that turned the walls into a shimmering nightmare.
The girl’s heart raced so fast she thought it might burst.
She dove into one of the empty cages, curling into a ball, holding her breath so hard her chest burned.
Tears streaked her cheeks as she pressed her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming.
Nemeo stopped.
Its shadow fell over her hiding place.
The beast lowered its massive head, nostrils flaring, snout pressing against the steel bars.
The girl trembled, eyes wide, whispering desperately:
> “Please… please, God… don’t let it find me… please…”
Her prayer vanished into the silence.
Nemeo’s eyes glowed faintly in the dark.
It leaned closer, lips curling back to reveal fangs as long as daggers.
It sniffed once, twice.
Then its head turned.
Its ear twitched.
The girl squeezed her eyes shut.
Her stomach growled.
The tiny sound shattered the stillness like glass.
Nemeo’s head whipped back to her cage.
Its pupils dilated.
Muscles coiled like springs, ready to strike.
The girl’s breath broke into ragged sobs.
She had nowhere left to run.
No one to hear her cries.
The lion crouched low, golden claws scraping sparks across the floor as it prepared to pounce.
The basement was darker than night itself.
Touya’s footsteps echoed against cold steel as he descended the staircase.
His breath was steady, but his eyes burned with curiosity as he reached the final landing.
Before him stood a colossal reinforced door, humming faintly with electricity.
On its center: a glowing panel, cracked but still active.
Touya wiped sweat from his brow.
> “…So this is it.
The basement Kyle mentioned.”
The panel flickered to life, casting pale blue light across his face.
A single word pulsed in bold letters on the display:
PROJECT TALCON.
Touya squinted.
> “Talcon…?
What the hell is a Talcon?”
His finger hesitated, then pressed the screen.
Instantly, data rushed across it, filling the basement with cold, sterile light.
First came an image.
A beast, unlike anything Touya had ever seen, filled the panel — its presence alone made the air feel heavier.
A tiger, majestic and brutal, but its body was laced with alien features.
From its back unfurled colossal falcon wings, their span nearly infinite, feathers edged like blades.
Its paws ended not in claws, but hooked talons capable of tearing steel.
Its eyes glowed with wild intelligence, sharper than any animal should hold.
Below the picture, lines of text appeared like whispers from a nightmare.
> Codename: Talcon
A force-bred hybrid created through cross-species genetic fusion.
Parent strain: Bengal Tiger.
Parent strain: Peregrine Falcon.
Secondary modifications: reinforced dermal plating (“Iron Fur”).
Touya frowned, scrolling further.
The explanation was clinical.
Cold.
It listed the horrors as if they were mere numbers.
Iron Fur: Feels like soft fur when relaxed.
But when the creature tenses, each strand straightens into hardened spines, sharper than blades, capable of deflecting bullets and tearing flesh.
Volatile Gas Organ: Beneath its belly lies a chamber that releases a unique compound — Ignis Vapor — a colorless, highly flammable gas.
Electro-Bio Field: Entire body capable of generating electric currents.
Even internal organs are resistant.
Sparks ignite upon release of Ignis Vapor.
Pyro-Surge Phenomenon: Contact between Ignis Vapor and generated electricity creates flames hotter than standard combustion.
Estimated max temperature: 3,000°C.
Aerial Dominance: Flight capacity up to 1,000 meters.
Falcon heritage allows speeds exceeding 300 km/h.
Adaptive Cognition: Creature demonstrates high-level understanding of human speech.
While vocal cords incapable of speech, it can learn communication through body language and gestures.
Touya read in silence, each line carving deeper into his mind.
Finally, his lips curved into a thin smile.
> “So… it’s a fire-breathing, electric, iron-furred, flying tiger-falcon hybrid.”
He exhaled slowly, the absurdity of the words almost making him laugh.
But then, at the bottom of the display, one last feature blinked:
“Adaptive Intelligence: Talcon has the capacity for emotional memory.
Once bonded, it will recognize an individual as master, ally… or enemy.”
Touya’s eyes widened slightly.
Then, his grin sharpened.
> “And it can understand us… huh?
Sounds like a monster—and maybe… more than that.”
He leaned closer, tapping the glass as if to beckon the creature inside.
> “Alright, Talcon.
Let me see what kind of nightmare you really are.”
The dashboard’s hum grew louder.
Somewhere beyond the reinforced walls, Touya heard the echo of chains rattling, the hiss of air vents, and something else… a heartbeat.
A rhythm so powerful it shook the floor beneath him.
Thump… thump… thump.
It wasn’t mechanical.
It wasn’t artificial.
It was alive.
Touya’s grin didn’t fade.
Instead, he whispered under his breath:
> “Project Talcon… Sulaiman, you were playing god down here.”
The screen flickered once more, switching from text to live-feed video.
Inside a vast chamber, lit by faint red emergency lamps, the Talcon lay coiled.
Its wings were folded tightly against its body, feathers twitching even in sleep.
Sparks danced across its striped frame, each pulse illuminating the cruel perfection of its form.
Its chest rose and fell with deep, rumbling breaths — and with every exhale, thin wisps of Ignis Vapor shimmered, igniting for a brief instant before vanishing.
Touya’s breath caught.
> “…Beautiful.
Terrifying.
The ultimate weapon.”
His eyes hardened.
> “No wonder they buried you in the basement.
You’re not a guard… you’re a goddamn calamity waiting to wake.”
The air around Touya vibrated as the creature stirred, its talons scraping against the steel floor of its cage.
The sparks grew brighter, like lightning caged within fur.
The panel blared a warning:
[VITAL SIGNS: ACTIVE]
[SUBJECT STATE: DISTURBED]
Touya muttered to himself, words heavy and sharp.
> “So this is the trump card.
This is the beast meant to erase cities.
But now…”
He clenched his fist.
His shadow stretched across the floor, merging with the glow of the panel.
> “…Now, you’re mine to face.”
The sound of wings rustling filled the speakers.
The Talcon’s head lifted, its glowing eyes turning directly toward the hidden camera.
For the first time, Touya felt a presence pressing back — a will, ancient and unbroken.
The panel trembled.
The feed shook violently.
Then, the beast opened its jaws.
Electricity crackled between its fangs, gas spilling into the chamber.
A flare of flame erupted, searing across the camera.
The feed cut to black.
The screen displayed only a final warning:
PROJECT TALCON: STATUS — UNSTABLE.
Touya chuckled under his breath, his tone daring, defiant.
> “Unstable?
Good.
That means it’ll be fun.”
While Touya discovered horror below, the girl’s voice still carried through the halls above, desperate cries swallowed by concrete walls.
> “Somebody… anybody… help me!”
But no answer came.
Only the low growl of Nemeo, stalking closer.
The fate of the child balanced on a knife’s edge… and the shadow of Talcon stirred beneath the earth.
The basement’s air was heavy.
Static filled the chamber, clinging to Touya’s skin like needles.
The reinforced doors groaned open at his touch, and the sound echoed into the hollow dark.
There it was.
The Talcon.
Its wings stretched wide, the blue shimmer of its iron fur catching the light like a sea of blades.
Sparks danced across its frame, casting jagged shadows across the walls.
It lifted its head slowly, eyes glowing with intelligence, suspicion, and rage. New chapters come out on g.com first.
The creature did not hesitate.
With a roar that shook the chamber like thunder splitting the earth, it launched forward—talons outstretched, lightning sparking, jaws dripping with flame-born heat.
Touya didn’t raise his fists.
He didn’t pull a weapon.
He didn’t even flinch.
Instead, he planted his feet, let the storm close in, and shouted through the chaos:
> “I’m not your enemy!”
The beast crashed against the ground in front of him, wings beating with enough force to knock Touya back several steps.
Claws screeched against steel, leaving glowing scars across the floor.
Touya steadied himself, wiped blood from his lip where the force had split the skin, and looked straight into the monster’s burning eyes.
> “Listen to me, Talcon.
I know you can understand.
I’m not here to chain you.
I’m not here to hurt you.
I’m here to set you free.”
The beast’s growl deepened, electricity spitting dangerously.
Its talons struck forward again, grazing Touya’s shoulder.
His jacket tore, skin split, and blood sprayed.
But still, Touya didn’t step back.
He laughed.
> “That’s good… you’re not stupid.
You’re cautious.
You don’t trust me yet.”
The Talcon reared its head, vapor spilling from its chest cavity.
Sparks lit, flames bursting just short of Touya’s face.
He could feel his skin blister from the heat.
Yet his grin only widened.
> “But I’ve got your attention now, don’t I?”
The Bond
For a long moment, neither moved.
Human and beast stood in stalemate, the chamber thrumming with power.
Touya lowered his voice, steady, unshaken.
> “They used you.
They tortured you.
Locked you in this hole like some experiment.
To them, you’re just a weapon.
But to me…”
He spread his arms wide, exposing his chest.
> “…to me, you’re freedom itself.”
The Talcon tilted its head.
For a second, its claws relaxed.
A spark of hesitation.
Touya caught it instantly.
His words became sharper, colder, but carrying weight.
> “Come under me, and I’ll make sure every bastard who made you suffer pays in blood.
I’ll burn their names out of history.
You want vengeance?
So do I.
Serve me, Talcon—and I’ll give it to you.”
The Talcon’s breathing slowed, its chest rising and falling like the tide.
Then, a shift—a flick of its wing, a subtle bow of its head, a movement of one claw scratching the ground.
Touya’s eyes narrowed.
> “…That’s a question, isn’t it?
You’re asking me… how do you know you can trust me?”
He chuckled low, shaking his head.
> “You don’t.
You never will.
But here’s one thing I can promise—I’ll get you out of this cage.
At the very least, I won’t leave you to rot in someone else’s chains.”
For a heartbeat, silence ruled the chamber.
Then the Talcon lowered itself, wings folding.
The chains on its legs rattled as it shifted its massive frame forward.
Its gesture was clear: Do it.
Break them.
The Pact
Touya’s smirk sharpened.
> “So you’ve chosen.
Good.”
He grabbed the nearest chain, veins straining as he pulled.
With a roar matching the beast before him, he ripped the reinforced steel links until they snapped.
Sparks burst with each break, and one by one, the Talcon’s bonds fell away.
When the last shackle shattered, the Talcon stretched its wings fully, filling the chamber with a storm of feathers, wind, and sparks.
The force nearly knocked Touya to his knees, but he stood firm, staring straight up at the unleashed creature.
The Talcon crouched low, wings folding again—not in aggression, but submission.
Touya’s grin softened into something almost human.
He placed his hand against the beast’s iron fur.
It was warm.
Alive.
> “You’re mine now.”
The Talcon blinked, slow and deliberate, as if acknowledging him.
Touya laughed under his breath, climbing onto its back, gripping the base of its wings.
> “I think I’ll name you… Blue.”
The beast let out a low growl, not in protest, but approval.
Sparks flared, and for the first time, Touya felt the raw, unfiltered power of the Talcon beneath him.
Above Ground
The factory walls shook violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Meanwhile, outside, chaos reigned.
The girl, small and trembling, stumbled into the open air, her voice raw from screaming.
Tears streamed down her dirt-streaked face as she cried:
> “Somebody!
Help me!”
But the only answer was a roar that split the heavens.
Nemeo burst out of the collapsing facility, stone and steel shattering around it like paper.
The replica of the Nemean lion tore through walls as if they were nothing, golden mane blazing, eyes burning with hunger.
The child froze, horror consuming her.
From the plane above, Tom saw it happen.
His heart stopped for a moment, then rage burned in his chest.
> “Seriously?!
So many goddamn unforeseen circumstances!”
He unstrapped his harness, ready to leap from the ramp.
His voice tore through the comms:
> “I’ll save her—no one dies on my watch!”
But then—
A second roar drowned out even Nemeo’s thunder.
The ground split as a new storm erupted.
Through the shattered roof of the factory, Touya and Blue burst into the sky.
Sparks rained from Blue’s wings, fire trailing from its maw as its roar shattered the horizon.
Touya stood atop its back, coat whipping violently, eyes burning with defiance.
From the plane, Tom froze.
Then, despite the chaos, he smiled.
> “…Heh.
Guess I don’t need to jump after all.”
His voice softened, almost proud.
> “He’ll handle it.”
The Talcon spread its wings wide, blue lightning splitting the storm clouds above.
Nemeo roared back, earth trembling beneath its claws.
Between them, the girl stood frozen, caught between two titans.
And in that frozen moment, the battlefield shifted—the dawn of a new storm.