Inside the dimly lit room, the massive embryo sat in a grotesque, broken state. A large, ragged hole had been torn in its front, a violent exit wound for the creature it had once contained.
The embryo itself was colossal, nearly the size of a full-grown elephant. It was not difficult to imagine the terrifying scale of the being that had hatched from it.
The network of tubes connected to the embryo's back suggested a complex, artificial life-support system. At some point, this apparatus had provided enough nutrients for whatever was inside to develop fully and break free.
"Is that... an embryo for a dangerous species?" Leon frowned, staring at the disturbing sight. Even with his vast experience, he felt a twinge of visceral disgust. "What kind of creature requires such an elaborate setup to be cultivated?"
Maite adjusted his glasses, his academic mind analyzing the scene. "Typically, a dangerous species' offspring are nurtured naturally by their parent. There is no biological need for an artificial womb like this."
"Unless..." Leon muttered darkly, "it's not a natural dangerous species at all."
The rest of the team turned to him in unison, sensing his grim realization.
"I found records about this embryo in a research notebook," Leon said, handing the tattered journal to Nacho.
Nacho flipped through the pages as the others leaned in to read over his shoulder.
Leon continued, "First, I'm certain this notebook belonged to Queen Elizabeth. The handwriting is a perfect match for the letter she wrote to the Shadow that we intercepted." He gestured toward the notes. "The final entries mention this embryo explicitly. According to her, Elizabeth had been working on this 'project' for a long time. After repeated failures, she considered abandoning it in favor of a 'Cold Flame' plan, but the Shadow rejected the proposal. Left with no choice, she continued her experiments."
"It seems she eventually succeeded," Nacho concluded, looking up from the page.
Leon tapped the open notebook. "Pay close attention to this particular description of the embryo."
Rebecca leaned forward and read aloud, emphasizing each word: "'We felt waves of flame heat as if from ancient times.'"
She looked up at Leon, her expression puzzled. "Captain, what does that mean?"
"It means the creature she was cultivating possessed immense, primordial fire-elemental power," Martin explained, his voice low.
"Oh! Then I think I understand the purpose of all these tubes," Rebecca said, her eyes widening with understanding. "The residual geothermal heat in the Flaming Valley itself was being siphoned off to nourish this giant embryo."
"Exactly," Leon agreed. "Which brings us to the critical question..."
Nacho handed the notebook back to Leon, his face grim. "What hatched from this embryo? Is it some kind of hybrid monster, infused with the residual power of the Flame Demon, or—"
Before he could finish his thought, Simmons shouted from the cave entrance, his voice sharp with alarm, "Captain! Something's wrong! The Blazing Flame Deer outside are going berserk!"
Leon froze. "Berserk?"
Exchanging a single, tense glance with Nacho, Leon led the group out of the lab at a run.
As they emerged from the cave mouth, a palpable, chilling aura washed over them. Rebecca shivered visibly.
The Blazing Flame Deer, which had been calm and harmonious just minutes before, now surrounded them in a menacing semicircle. Their earlier placidity was gone, replaced by raw hostility.
Their eyes glowed with a sinister red light, their expressions twisted with unnatural aggression. The large bucks lowered their massive, fiery antlers, aiming the sharp points directly at the group.
"Captain... why are they suddenly turning on us?" Rebecca asked, her voice tight as she instinctively reached for a holster that was, for once, empty.
Leon's eyes narrowed, his gaze locking onto the herd's leader. A dark, oily shimmer seemed to ripple across the buck's fur, centered on its chest. "The Black Dragon Scales," he said, his voice grave. "I can feel their energy becoming chaotic. They're being activated."
Martin crouched into a defensive stance, magical energy crackling around his hand. "It seems you were right, Captain. These deer are clearly being controlled through the scales."
Nacho's voice held a note of dread. "What's the plan? These deer might be classified as gentle, but they're still an S-rank dangerous species. And there are hundreds of them."
Leon raised an eyebrow, glancing at his visibly tense team. "Why do you all look so worried?"
Rebecca huffed. "Because you're tense, Captain! Your face is our official barometer for whether we should be panicking or not!"
Over the years, the team had learned to gauge any situation by Leon's expression. A serious look meant genuine trouble. A calm demeanor meant they could relax and let him handle it.
Leon allowed a small, awkward chuckle. "I wasn't worried about the deer. I was just distracted by the implications of the scales being activated remotely." He stepped forward, raising his hands in a placating gesture toward the deer. "Relax, everyone. It's just a herd of Blazing Flame Deer. Nothing we can't handle."
He clapped his hands together sharply, and a massive, intricate blue magic circle flared to life beneath his feet, covering a wide area.
"Captain, when did you have time to set that up?!" Rebecca asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Right after I realized the deer might be remotely controlled," Leon replied with a casual shrug. "I learned my lesson after being ambushed a few months ago. I'm not getting caught off-guard like that again."
As the magic circle activated, brilliant arcs of lightning shot out from its perimeter, engulfing the enraged herd in a crackling, dazzling storm of electricity.
"Thunder Roar: S-rank magic, Lightning Prison Annihilation," Leon announced calmly.
He had studied and mastered this technique after being on the receiving end of it during a duel months prior. Its effectiveness as both an area-of-effect attack and a powerful control spell had impressed him enough to secretly train in its use.
This time, however, Leon carefully controlled the output. Rather than unleashing its full, annihilating power, he used just enough electrical force to overload the deer's nervous systems, paralyzing them without causing permanent harm.
Within moments, the enraged Blazing Flame Deer collapsed to the ground one by one, their bodies twitching slightly but otherwise immobilized.
Leon deactivated the spell and walked over to inspect the nearest buck. Satisfied that the herd was unharmed but safely neutralized, his eyes then drifted to the smaller female deer and her newborn calf, who had also been caught in the spell's area of effect and lay still on the ground nearby.
"Nacho, call in the other dangerous-species specialists from the backup team," Leon instructed. "While the herd is paralyzed, we'll work on surgically removing the Black Dragon Scales from their bodies."
Nacho nodded. "Understood. Martin, with me."
Rebecca sidled up to Leon, a grin spreading across her face. "Captain, you've really gotten into the habit of doing good deeds lately, haven't you?"
Leon offered a faint smile. "Helping them is the practical choice. If we leave the scales in their bodies, 'Shadow' could simply reactivate them later, creating a problem for us down the line. We might as well solve the problem at its root while we have the chance."
Rebecca blinked, then nodded in understanding. "Makes sense."
Leon's gaze, however, grew sharp and focused. "Besides, didn't you notice the strange timing?"
"Strange timing?" Rebecca echoed.
"These deer were perfectly fine until the moment we entered that lab. Then, suddenly, the Black Dragon Scales activated. That is not a coincidence."
Rebecca's eyes widened as the implication hit her. "You're saying... Queen Elizabeth, or whoever is controlling this, didn't want us snooping around in there any further? They triggered the scales to distract us or drive us away?"
"Exactly," Leon said, his voice low and steady. "Even if they cleaned out most of the evidence, they were worried we might find something they missed."
Rebecca tilted her head, a spark of cold realization igniting in her expression. "Wait, Captain! If that's true... doesn't that mean the person who activated the scales... might be nearby, watching us right now?"