The howl echoed through the valley.
Once.
Then again.
Long...
Deep...
Powerful.
Every soldier instinctively reached for their weapon.
Leon climbed onto a broken section of the wall, scanning the surrounding forest.
"I don't see anything..."
"But something's out there."
Ben rested his shield against the ground.
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I," Kael replied.
---
The injured woman struggled to sit up.
Sam gently steadied her.
"Easy."
"You're safe now."
Tears welled in her eyes.
"...Safe..."
She gave a weak laugh.
"No one is safe..."
"...not from him."
Inside Sam's mind...
Rex spoke.
Her vital signs are stabilizing.
She can answer questions for a short period of time.
Sam nodded.
"What happened here?"
The woman stared at the ruined fortress.
Her hands trembled.
"We were... Base 117..."
"Our Commander refused to surrender."
"We thought we could defend the walls..."
She closed her eyes.
"...we were wrong."
---
Everyone remained silent.
"He didn't attack alone."
She continued.
"He marched with hundreds of soldiers..."
"...and monsters."
George wasn't there...
But Ben's face mirrored the disbelief everyone would have felt.
"He commands monsters?"
The woman slowly shook her head.
"I don't know..."
"The wolves..."
"They fought beside his army."
"He never attacked them."
---
Inside Sam's mind...
Rex's voice echoed.
Commander...
Commander Bjorn's class is Beast King.
It is highly probable that he possesses abilities allowing him to command powerful beasts.
Sam frowned.
"So those wolves weren't summons..."
"They were allies."
Correct.
---
The survivor continued.
"Our Commander challenged him..."
"They fought..."
"...for less than a minute."
Silence.
Ben looked stunned.
"One minute?"
She nodded weakly.
"...He never had a chance."
---
Leon suddenly raised his hand.
"Movement."
Everyone turned.
Several Dire Wolf Scouts emerged from the trees.
One of Sam's scouts quickly dismounted.
"Captain!"
Leon stepped forward.
"What is it?"
"We found tracks."
"What kind?"
The scout swallowed.
"Wolf tracks."
"Hundreds of them."
"They're fresh."
---
Inside Sam's mind...
Rex immediately responded.
Estimated time since passage...
Approximately three hours.
Sam's eyes narrowed.
"He's close."
---
Another System notification appeared before Sam alone.
---
World Mission Update
Regional Commander Activity Detected.
Commander Territory Expanding.
Current Regional Bases Remaining:
26
---
Sam stared at the number.
Only yesterday...
There had been twenty-seven.
Now...
Only twenty-six remained.
The Trial wasn't slowing down.
It was accelerating.
---
Ben looked toward Sam.
"What do we do?"
For a moment...
Sam remained quiet.
Then he looked around the destroyed Base.
Broken homes.
Shattered walls.
Abandoned dreams.
He clenched his fist.
"We rebuild."
Several officers blinked.
Ben tilted his head.
"...What?"
Sam pointed toward the ruins.
"This Base may have fallen..."
"But its resources haven't disappeared."
"We'll recover everything we can."
"Food."
"Weapons."
"Stone."
"Lumber."
"Anything useful."
He looked toward the lone survivor.
"And we'll bring our people home."
Ben smiled.
"Now that's a command I can get behind."
---
The soldiers spread throughout the ruined fortress.
Doran would have loved the damaged forge, Sam thought.
Even broken...
Its tools could still be salvaged.
Kael gathered stacks of usable spears.
Runa recovered bundles of arrows that had escaped the fire.
Leon mapped every building before it was dismantled.
Nothing would be wasted.
---
As the sun began to set...
One of the scouts sprinted back.
"Commander!"
"We found something beneath the command hall!"
Sam followed immediately.
Deep below the ruins...
Hidden behind a collapsed staircase...
A heavy iron door stood untouched.
Unlike the rest of the Base...
It hadn't been breached.
Ben rested a hand on the handle.
"It's locked."
Sam stepped forward.
The moment his hand touched the metal...
A blue screen appeared before him.
---
Commander Vault Detected
Base 117
Commander Authorization Required.
Alternative Access Available.
Conqueror's Override.
---
Sam read the final line carefully.
Inside his mind...
Rex spoke.
Commander...
Every Base possesses a hidden vault.
If abandoned, another Commander may claim its contents.
Sam looked at the massive iron door.
"If Base 117's Commander protected this until the end..."
"There must be something valuable inside."
The officers gathered behind him.
The ruined fortress fell silent once more.
Sam slowly reached toward the glowing confirmation panel.
What waited beyond that door...
Could change Base 101 forever.