In pitch darkness, your consciousness hovers at the edge of wakefulness, surrounded by chaotic static and explosive humming.
Gray Raven Commandant... Ascendant... devastating...
Time expands in the chaotic void.
...Corrupted... run... hurry...!
Red Mist... spreading...!
Hauntingly familiar phantoms saturate all your senses, tearing at your body like howling waves and sending bone-chilling pain through your spine.
...Little raven.
For a brief moment, a warmth dispels the nightmare.
[player name].
It is a gentle, enchanting call.
The woman takes hold of your hand, gently applying pressure and sending a wave of warm radiance to guide you toward the end of this vast darkness—
The dreadful nightmare is uprooted completely, and a beautiful figure gradually materializes before your eyes.
Heh, you look quite adorable when you sleep.
A stranger, who somehow feels... familiar?
I'm Nirvatia, Security Director of the Science Council.
Repeat that to me.
Good, it seems the wound on your head isn't that serious, so we can skip the craniotomy.
As she speaks, she leans in closer, carefully examining your eyes.
Pupillary response is normal too. Good.
You have a shrapnel wound on the inner side of your right thigh. I've already applied temporary hemostasis, but now I need to unwrap it for examination.
She takes a pair of scissors from a basin of water beside her and points at your tattered uniform.
Do you mind?
Oh? Interesting. I'll make a note of that.
She cuts away the bandage with precise, efficient movements, her practiced technique instilling a profound sense of security.
There's no active bleeding, but there's debris around the edges of the wound. We need to perform debridement.
I'll administer a local anesthetic and tetanus antitoxin, then suture the wound. You might feel a slight stinging sensation. Bear with it.
She brushes back her light purple hair and immediately begins the treatment.
Before injecting the anesthetic, she notices the several other exposed scars on your leg and looks up with curious eyes.
How did you end up alone in the radiation zone? The higher-ups are beside themselves with worry.
What happened before all this?
You feel a dull pain between your eyebrows as hazy memories begin to unfold before you.
Three Hours Ago
Three hours ago.
...Besieged by our ground forces, the Ascendant John Doe has been driven to the edge of the Carthaki radiation zone.
F.O.S. should have taught you about the "Great Akdilek Explosion".
After the explosion, a mist-like form of the Punishing Virus emerged across thousands of square kilometers around ground zero. We call it the "Red Mist".
The incident sounded like a nuclear radiation accident, so locals simply started calling the area engulfed by the Red Mist a radiation zone.
As we speak, John Doe is hiding at its border, which was once a major settlement of Akdilek.
Suspend all your current assignments and proceed to Carthaki immediately. You'll command the ground forces to hunt down the Ascendant.
This was Hassen's idea, so I didn't ask further. He has his own considerations.
Your squad is en route from other conflict zones, but the situation is dire. You need to depart now.
One more thing, [player name]. Under no circumstances are you to make contact with or enter the radiation zone.
The Red Mist, much like the Red Tide, possesses unique properties. It inflicts minimal physical damage to humans and Constructs, but causes severe mental side effects. The exact manifestations remain unknown to this day.
Because in the 29 years since the Great Akdilek Explosion...
No one has ever emerged alive from the radiation zone.
One Hour Ago
One hour ago.
Echo-1, calling HQ...!
Echo squad is being ambushed by the Ascendant at B-77! I repeat, Echo squad is being ambushed by the Ascendant at B-77! We are suffering heavy casualties!
The Red Mist is spreading! There are too many refugees to evacuate! We can't hold out!
HQ, do you copy?! HQ!
No, you're a high-priority target, we—
C-copy...!
No one could have anticipated that the radiation zone, silent for so many years, has hidden such vast numbers of Corrupted.
You arrive in the combat zone right when the Corrupted bypass the frontline defenses, striking at the command post like a dagger without warning.
Hastily engaging in combat, you see bullets whistle and surge across the wilderness. For every Corrupted that falls, another would lunge forward with grotesque metal arms, ready to take its place.
Meanwhile, the architect of this chaos stands nearby on higher ground, gazing down at the unfair battle below with fanatical pleasure.
The slightest tilt of the scales made you believe you were on the verge of victory... Such is the arrogance and delusion the Reconquista Age has instilled in you.
My pawns are endless, Gray Raven Commandant. How much energy will you waste protecting that crowd behind you while fighting mine?
Regrettable. You see, I was never playing the same game as you are, Gray Raven Commandant.
Look, the proliferation has already begun, and you have the great fortune of becoming "her" first nourishment.
As the Ascendant grins maliciously, you finally notice the eerie red fog that is billowing around you and spreading across the entire landscape—
A metallic, blood-like stench fills your nostrils. Suddenly, the world spins around you as everything becomes blurry and distant.
Protected by your power armor, you shouldn't be affected by this level of Punishing Virus concentration.
With your consciousness fading away, you hear the Ascendant deliver his final prophecy.
The Seedling has been planted...
Now's the time to welcome our next prey to the stage.
Done?
In the dim light, Nirvatia cuts off the excess bandage, smoothing out the wrinkles at the edges of your dressing with her fingertips as gently as one might flatten the curled corner of a letter.
...Does it still hurt?
I can tell how tough you are.
Here, let me blow on it to make it better—
She leans close to your ear and playfully blows a gentle breath.
Here.
She points to the weathered walls around you: Carthaki Experimental Secondary School.
Because of this.
Nirvatia takes a device from her waist and holds it in front of you.
It's a Red Mist Blocker. It works similarly to the Omega Device, generating microscopic particles that neutralize the Red Mist within a limited area.
You're lucky. Standing before you is the person who understands the Red Mist better than anyone else in this world.
She smiles faintly and nods.
I brought two of them, but since we'll be working together, I'm keeping the second one as a backup.
She lowers her gaze slightly, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.
...I was on a mission. I'm here to collect test data from the Post-Pandemic Age for the Science Council.
Prompted by Nirvatia's reminder, you quickly open your terminal to send your coordinates to the military and establish contact.
Beep—the secure line connects instantly.
But in that very same moment, the ground beneath your feet begins to tremble—
...An earthquake?
It's not safe in here. Can you stand, little raven?
Nirvatia reaches out toward you.
The comms cuts off almost immediately. Nirvatia swiftly opens the door, leading you outside into the desolate expanse of Carthaki.
Just then, a thunderous boom echoes from between the distant buildings.
The ground shakes violently, debris jumps beneath your feet, and a nerve-racking rumble fills the air, as if the very skeleton of the city is being torn apart by some tremendous force.
Streets crack, buildings groan, and steel facades shatter into falling crystal fragments. All across Carthaki, this corpse of a dead city is being forcibly lifted by a violent rebirth surging from below.
Something rips through the bedrock amidst the earth-shattering tremors, erupting from the distant abyss below and thrusting directly into the heavens above.
Countless hanging vines drip with luminous droplets, while shattered buildings and metal debris slowly rotate in orbit, forming a shell around its exterior like rings around a planet.
It is a colossal "tree," radiating streams of golden luminescence.
Its massive trunk stands as tall as skyscrapers, its enormous branches radiating brilliant light and sending golden rays in all directions.
What is this...
The Punishing Virus concentration readings on your terminal spike, and the Red Mist Blocker emits an unsettling warning.
The connection fails, filling your ears with harsh static.
Connection lost... Connection lost...
The Seedling has been planted...
Now's the time to welcome our next prey to the stage.
The Ascendant's words mysteriously echo in your mind... Could what you see before you be connected to him?
Thinking back to the disaster you have just witnessed, you know that if the radiation zone continues to spread, the resulting catastrophe and loss of life will be immeasurable.
You cannot allow that to happen.
That place is... the Carthaki Research Institute.
Nirvatia murmurs softly as she gazes at the massive tree rising from the ground in the distance.
...The origin of all this devastation.
Within the brilliant radiance, thick mist descends like golden snowfall, scattering across the entire continent alongside your gaze, drifting down in gentle flurries.
Outskirts of the Carthaki Radiation Zone
Meanwhile
Meanwhile Outskirts of the Carthaki Radiation Zone
...
Amid a deafening boom, a female soldier pushes through the underbrush and climbs to the top of a small hill. Steadying her cap, she gazes down at the trembling world before her.
What the hell was that explosion... Dammit! Captain, our vehicle's dead too!
We don't have time. Strip the heavy weapons from the other vehicle and let's evacuate!
But if we encounter the Corrupted without this equipment... Captain, are we coming back?
I heard there's some kind of satellite city ahead with thousands of people trapped inside.
Orders from above are to withdraw immediately and get as far from that cursed mist as possible.
...We can't worry about other things now. Just follow your orders.
Their hasty evacuation is reaching its end. This operation, which began with such force only to fizzle out, is concluding with humanity's defeat.
Tch, pampered toy soldiers. They stormed in with such bravado, but they're just a house of cards in the end, crumbling at the first sign of trouble.
It's all "united front" when they're winning, but "tactical retreats" and "abandon the civilians" when things get rough. How Babylonia.
She unwraps a stick of gum, leaps down from her vantage point, and plunges alone into the despair-filled battlefield.
Four or five trucks drive past her. Leaving their fading rumble behind, she walks straight toward the mist-shrouded path ahead.
...So pretentious. Even drew a map of Carthaki.
She pulls a letter from her breast pocket. It is the "invitation" she received not long ago.
I know the way home far better than you do.
She crumples the paper as her eyes linger on the sender's name—
Nirvatia.
The moment she steps into the hazy mist, she feels a sharp pain on her eyelids.
Something seems to appear amidst the swirling vapor, and her pupils suddenly dilate.
The sounds of children's laughter echo all around as a red brick building materializes before her eyes.
The entrance is adorned with intricate plaster flowers, with sunlight cascading down like a curtain from above. Words written in gold float within the light, shimmering brilliantly.
Carthaki Experimental Secondary School.
The figures of countless children flicker past. Memories that should have remained buried are being stitched together by threads of mist and reconstructed before her eyes.
...
Tch. Cheap tricks.
She shakes her head to dispel the phantoms of the past, tightens her grip on her rifle sling, and continues on the path back to her homeland.
Her tiny figure wavers like a mirage on the horizon before vanishing completely.
In an instant, those phantoms converge once more, draping over the land like a gossamer net, silent and all-encompassing.
