CHAPTER 205: Suicide Mission

CHAPTER 205: Suicide Mission

Recovery Mission

The night enveloped the mountain range in a dense silence, barely broken by the wind that swept the snow like invisible blades. At the forward base, several kilometers from the cave entrance, Alpha Team prepared to descend. Michael adjusted the fastenings of his tactical gear, while Selene double-checked her weapon's magazine for the last time. Alongside them, four Enid Corp soldiers reviewed thermal sensors and anchor ropes.

From the surface, on an improvised platform of steel and halogen floodlights, Enid Drakewood watched the screens alongside Grunbak. The image showed a three-dimensional map of the cave: a labyrinth of ancient ice, with a massive central chamber marked in red.

"The mission is clear," Enid said in a firm voice through the communicator. "You enter, secure the perimeter, and recover Eva's remains. No improvisation. If anything moves down there, I want to know instantly."

Michael pressed the communicator to his ear.
"Received. What kind of readings do you have?"

Grunbak interjected, in a strangely calm tone.
"Intermittent heat spikes. Too regular to be natural. Whatever it is, it's not completely dead… or it doesn't sleep like something normal."

Selene frowned as she looked at the dark opening of the cave.
"So we're not just coming to collect a corpse."

"It never is," Enid replied. "But remember: Eva is the priority. If you can bring her back intact, better. If not… bring proof."

Alpha Team advanced. The flashlights pierced the bluish darkness of the ice, revealing walls covered in ancient symbols, almost erased by time. With each step, the cold grew deeper, more unnatural, as if the cave were breathing slowly.

"I don't like this place," one of the soldiers murmured.

Michael heard him but didn't respond. He had the feeling they weren't alone, that something had been waiting for centuries for this very moment.

On the surface, Grunbak smiled faintly, watching the readings.
"It's beginning," he said quietly.

And in the depths of the snowy cave, something ancient seemed to stir in its eternal slumber.

As they slowly descended through the snowy cave, the ropes creaked under the weight of the team, and the icy wind filtered through the upper opening like an ancient whisper. The flashlights illuminated bluish ice walls, covered with cracks that looked like scars of time. Michael advanced in silence, attentive to every sound, while Selene descended beside him with an unusually solemn expression.

"For vampires, Eva is not just a myth," Selene began, breaking the silence. "She is the mother of our species. The first. The one who accepted the darkness when the world didn't yet understand what true fear was."

Michael turned his head slightly toward her, listening carefully.

"It is said that Eva was not created like the others," Selene continued. "There was no bite, no incomplete ritual. She was transformed directly, purely. That's why her blood is different. Older. Stronger. Many believe that if she awoke, she could claim all vampires as her own… or destroy them just as easily."

One of the Alpha Team soldiers swallowed hard, clearly uncomfortable, but Selene kept speaking, her voice firm.

"For centuries, the clans secretly worshipped her. Hidden temples, chants, symbolic sacrifices. But over time, fear overcame devotion. They understood that if Eva returned, the balance would shatter. That's why her rest became sacred. No one was to find her. No one was to awaken her."

Michael looked toward the depths of the cave, still invisible in the icy mist.

"And yet here we are," he murmured.

Selene nodded slowly.

"Because Enid Corp doesn't believe in the sacred. It believes in power. And Eva…" she paused briefly, "is the very definition of it."

The team continued descending, surrounded by the tomb-like silence of the cave.

The team advanced cautiously until the tunnel opened into a colossal chamber. Before them stood an immense door formed by layers of ancient ice and black stone, covered in carved symbols that seemed to pulse with silent energy. The air was so cold that every breath became visible.

Selene stopped short. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the carvings.

"I knew it…" she murmured. "This is a door sealed by the Ancients."

Michael stepped closer, observing the structure.

"Ancient vampires?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Selene replied. "The first clans. Before the wars, before Lucian, before everything. This type of seal cannot be opened with force or technology. It only recognizes the blood of its lineage."

Without hesitation, Selene removed her glove. She took a small blade and made a clean cut across her palm. The dark blood fell slowly, and she smeared it across one of the central grooves of the door. Instantly, the symbols began to glow with a muted crimson tone. The ice creaked, as if awakening from a long sleep.

A deep sound resonated throughout the cave. The door began to split in two, releasing a current of icy, ancient air. On the other side, a gigantic crypt was revealed, supported by pillars of stone and ice, with kneeling vampiric statues and a colossal sarcophagus at the center.

Michael looked at Selene in astonishment.

"How exactly does it work?" he asked.

Selene squeezed her wounded hand and put her glove back on.

"The door is alive," she explained. "It recognizes blood, but also intention. If someone not of the lineage tries to open it, the seal kills them. It's not a defense mechanism… it's a test. Only those who respect Eva may cross."

The Alpha Team exchanged tense glances as they advanced into the crypt. Something had been sleeping there for millennia, and everyone felt it. It wasn't just cold.

It was presence.

Selene cautiously approached the center of the crypt. The light of the flashlights revealed a surface of black stone covered in frost. As she drew near, her eyes fell on letters carved with almost ritual precision. She knelt before the inscription and ran her fingers over the ancient symbols, clearing away the accumulated snow.