Doomsday Pillars

The 180 combined entourage of Firebirds and Hong Kong Triad didn't know where they were. Obviously, they weren't in the same place.

"Where are we now?"

"What just happened?"

"Did we teleport?" asked one of the Firebird members. As far as they knew, teleportation only existed in science-fiction and games. It's somehow easy to imagine, but to experience it is still a very unique experience for each of them.

"Maybe this is an illusion or dream! Whoever or whatever is talking in that room is playing with our minds!"

Each group had their own theory. Christina was quite surprised that even the Triad had come up with a theory and had a wild imagination. 

Christina carefully studied their surroundings. The severed hand she had found proved they were in a dangerous place.. She felt the need to immediately find out why they were in this place.

'Are you worthy?'

That was the last word they had heard before being transported here. That could mean they were being tested like an exam or a mission. Christina began to search for any signs or hints and handed over the gun to Jennie. 

After Jennie had examined the handgun, she said, "I can confirm this is a weapon from the police force."

Nam and his brothers came over and took part in examining the weapon.

Christina looked back at Jennie and said, "What else did you find?"

Jennie explained how the hand wasn't cut by a sharp object but rather as if it's being torn apart by an animal. What she found alarming was how the finger was still in the trigger and the gun still had all its bullets. Either the attacker was so fast, or this unlucky fighter was a coward.

"Ha! Hong Kong's police have always been the same!" said Chicken, showing his disdain for the incompetent police.

Unbeknownst to Chicken, what he said slightly dampened the atmosphere especially the Triad members. Christina knew Inspector Tang had only brought in veterans who had consumed spirit stones. This made Christina more alarmed.

"So any guesses where we are? As far as I can see, only snow hills and pine trees... I think we're in Canada," said Chicken.

"Wow, you've been to Canada? You're so classy!" said one of the Triad members, making Chicken's ego bigger and further believing they had been teleported to an area around Northern America.

Christina stopped listening to their nonsense because she knew they weren't in Canada. Christina had traveled a lot due to her family and their businesses. She knew with certainty that even though this tree was similar to a pine tree, she was sure this tree was as strange as the extraterrestrial building they had entered.

Christina debated in her mind if she should tell this to the group. But before she could make a decision, Nam approached her.

"We found a trail to the west of our position that seems to have human footprints. The trail is quite long, and we think this was made by Inspector Tang's team. We'll try to follow it. How about you? Are you coming?"

Christina thinks that blindly entering the forest was a stupid idea. "We need to gather information first."

Christina looked around and pointed to one of the closest hills. "There!, I suggest we go to the plateau for a vantage point and familiarize ourselves with the area first. What do you think?"

"Christina, you saw how that gun had an arm still holding it. That means Inspector Tang needs immediate help. If we find him, we can help him and also get the information we need."

"30 minutes, just give us 30 minutes," Christina answered. "After 30 minutes if I don't find anything, I'll follow your idea."

Christina's instincts were at an all-time high. 

Christina invited Jennie and several other Firebird members while Nam told Chicken to accompany them. Maxine and Corrie stayed with the others to keep watch.

Christina and her entourage reached the hill without obstacles but even from the top of the hill, all they could see were hills, snow, and trees.

From the top of the hill, the cold wind hit her skin and at that moment Christina began to feel anxious. She began to believe her decision to enter this alien pillar was something of carelessness and now she was endangering the lives of dozens of Firebird members she had invited.

"There's nothing here, let's go back!" said Chicken.

"Wait, sister!" Jennie replied. She pulled the automatic rifle that was always on her back and aimed it at a corner of the opposite forest. She looked through the sight scope and discovered something.

"I can see something! It's a little unclear but I'm sure it's smoke!"

"Yes, there's something or someone there!"

Christina quickly made a simple sketch of the surrounding landscape and made a sign of the location of the smoke. "Okay! Let's go back!"

As they made their way down surrounded by tall trees, Christina and the others could vaguely hear some rustling. A shadow passed by on one of the trees. 

"Over there!" Christina immediately chased after that shadow, but Chicken was the fastest among them and managed to get close first.

The shadow noticed Chicken's presence and spun toward Chicken's direction.

"!!!"

SLAAATTTT

Blood splattered from Chicken's neck!

"Chicken!"

"I'm fine! It's a shallow wound! What was that!" said Chicken as he held onto his neck.

In front of their eyes, the creature looked like a wolf; but it had no fur on its skin. It appeared to be thin, but its muscles were clearly visible.

The creature moved back slowly while looking at its left and right, watching everyone's movement.

While Christina and others were still stunned to see the strange creature, the creature suddenly jumped quickly toward Christina.

BANGG!

A high caliber bullet from Jennie's handgun struck the creature's body. The shot managed to stop the creature's attack but it wasn't enough to paralyze or kill it.

Christina drew her sword from the sheath bound from her waist. But the wolf raised its head to the sky—HOWWLLLL!!!—before running back into the forest.

Chicken tried to chase it but Christina stopped him.

"We should immediately return to the group!" Christina said.

Together, they ran back to where the group was, and Christina's heart was beating fast. The worries became more and more so when she heard the sound of gunfire from the direction where the troops had gathered.

Tratattatat Tratatatatatt Taraattatatata!

Dozens of Firebirds members were fighting fiercely against dozens of creatures like the wolf.

Christina didn't think much and immediately drew her sword and entered the battle.

Clank! Slash!! Slash!! Tratatata!! Slash!!

The wolves were moving so fast that the Firebird members were being overwhelmed. A few of them had already fallen and the white snow began to be filled by red blood.

A few minutes later, when almost half of the creatures were defeated, the remaining wolves ran away.

"Corrie!"

Corrie, one of the strongest Firebird fighters, had her back ripped by one of the wolves. "Cough..." 

Maxine, Jennie, and Christina approached her and Corrie simply smiled. Corrie was wincing in pain. Having one of their strongest fighters being injured made Christina more worried.

Maxine said, "Five people had already died and eight had been seriously injured."

It hadn't been an hour since they had arrived but there were already casualties.

"Where are Nam and the Triad members?" Christina asked.

"They chased the same creature into the forest. But who would have thought shortly after they left dozens of these creatures came to attack."

Christina fell silent. These creatures were strong, fast, and appeared to have intelligence. Christina immediately thought about the next step and said, 

"Nam and the others are in danger!" She quickly decided to bring the group into the forest.

After two kilometers running through the tall trees, they saw a terrifying sight. The area was full of blood and dozens of corpses were torn apart. They were the bodies of the Triad members.

Many Firebird members immediately turn pale at the sight.

"No! My brothers!" shouted Chicken. Everywhere was just full of corpses of the creatures and the Triad members. Chicken was very afraid to find his four adopted brothers among the corpses.

They continued following the trail of corpses and at the end of the forest, they stopped. There was a creature standing on top of the bodies, it was similar to the wolf-like creature, but it was three times bigger and it stood on two legs. 

Chicken and the creature stared at each other. Its blazing red eyes looked directly at his eyes, making Chicken tremble and froze on the spot. But the creature appeared indifferent before returning to the pile of corpses nearby.

Christina gently touched Chicken's shoulder and whispered, "I understand that you're concerned about your brothers, but we must regroup and leave this place immediately."

Their situation was dire. Only a short time had passed and they already had casualties.

Chicken could only look down and follow Christina's words. They slowly backed away and left the area. Still shocked with the sight, Christina can only choose to head toward the place she had marked from the top of the hill.

Dozens of Firebird members were close to breaking down, especially Christina. She didn't expect this to happen. Wasn't this pillar supposed to be the solution that would help humanity?

Christina muttered to herself thinking about her friend who told her about the pillars. "Alex, what did you bring us into?!"