Tri Realm: Reborn in Iron

The morning mist clung to the trees like a shroud, the air cold and heavy with the promise of something ominous. The team had moved a few miles from their last camp, but the tension between them had only grown thicker. Sergei, who had been quiet since their escape from the factory, was now sitting alone, staring into the distance, his eyes glazed with something deeper than just fatigue.

Akio, Viktor, and Anya gathered around him, their expressions a mixture of concern and impatience. It was time for answers.

"Sergei," Akio said, his voice gentle but firm, "we need to know what happened in there. You've been avoiding it, but we're in this together now."

Sergei shifted, his gaze drifting to the ground as if seeking the right words from the dirt beneath his feet. "I wasn't supposed to survive," he muttered, almost to himself. "I was never supposed to come back."

Anya frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Sergei looked up at them, his eyes hollow, haunted. "I was sent on a mission—an assassination. There was a scientist. A man named Dr. Alexei Volkov. He was conducting research... dangerous research. I was told to eliminate him before things went too far."

---

The Mission

The night had been darker than usual, as Sergei recalled. The stars were barely visible, hidden behind thick clouds that seemed to swallow the moon. His orders had been simple—sneak into the factory, take out Dr. Volkov, and destroy all his research. It was supposed to be a clean job, quick and easy.

But when Sergei had arrived at the factory, things weren't as they seemed.

The scientist had been meeting with a group of unknown figures. They were exchanging something. Not just documents or money, but something far more unusual—vials filled with a thick, glistening fluid. Sergei had hidden himself in the shadows, watching closely.

He had intended to intercept, to eliminate them all, but something had gone terribly wrong. The guards at the factory were stronger than he anticipated. They were everywhere, covering the exits, making it impossible to get close without drawing attention.

"I thought I could handle it," Sergei continued, his voice tight with frustration. "But I wasn't prepared for what came next."

As Sergei had moved into position, a shot rang out, and a guard fell. In the chaos, the vials of liquid had been knocked from the table, spilling onto the body of the fallen guard. It wasn't just any liquid—it was something... unnatural.

Sergei paused, eyes widening. "At first, I thought it was just a mistake—an accident. But then... something changed. The body, the guard's body, it started to twitch. It wasn't... normal."

---

The Horrors Unleashed

The liquid seemed to consume the guard's body, turning it into something else. It was as if the corpse had been reanimated. But it wasn't just life that had returned to it. It was something darker, something far worse.

The guard's eyes snapped open, glowing with an eerie, unnatural light. His limbs jerked, and then, like an instinct born from pure chaos, he began to attack. He tore through the group of mercenaries with terrifying speed, his movements disjointed, as though he were a puppet controlled by some unseen force.

"The others didn't understand what was happening," Sergei said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I tried to stop it, but... it was already too late. The fluid—it spread. The guards, the mercenaries—they all turned. All of them became like that... that thing."

He clenched his fists, his knuckles white. "And then, the worst part... the virus... the thing inside them started to... consume. It wasn't just flesh—it was as if it was absorbing their very essence, their life force. Like it was growing stronger with each death."

Anya's eyes narrowed, a look of realization dawning on her. "The virus... it infected the entire facility, didn't it?"

"Yes." Sergei's voice was grim. "It spread through the factory like wildfire. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't contain it. The infection... it was spreading too fast. I was barely able to escape."

---

The Aftermath

"But then what happened?" Akio asked, his brow furrowed with confusion. "How did you end up here, with us?"

Sergei shook his head slowly, as if fighting against the memory. "I don't know. Everything felt... wrong. It was like I was infected, too. Like the virus was inside me, crawling under my skin. My body couldn't keep up with the changes, but I knew—I knew that if I stayed there, I'd turn into one of them. The Echoes. They were calling it that... the things that were reanimated."

"Wait, you mean those things in the factory? The creatures?" Viktor interjected, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes." Sergei's voice was laced with a dark realization. "The virus turned them into something else, something more... powerful. But the worst part was that it wasn't just a physical infection. It was changing the way they thought. It was giving them... purpose. An agenda. And the worst part was, I could feel it inside me too. Like it was growing inside me. I could barely control it."

Sergei swallowed, visibly shaking. "The factory... it's just the beginning. The virus is spreading, and it's not just confined to the people who were infected. It's contagious. It's spreading beyond the walls of that place."

Anya looked horrified. "So the scientist wasn't just doing research on his own... he was selling this virus to someone else. Who are they working for?"

Sergei's eyes darkened as he turned to face her. "I don't know, but whoever they are, they're just the beginning. This isn't just some rogue experiment. This is bigger. This is an army in the making."

---

The Revelation

A tense silence fell over the group as Sergei's words settled in. The reality of what they were up against was overwhelming. But there was one question that still gnawed at Akio.

"How are we going to stop it?" he asked, his voice resolute.

Sergei exhaled sharply, his hands shaking as he ran them through his hair. "I don't have all the answers. But I know one thing: we have to find the source. We need to stop this before it spreads any further. But..." He paused, his eyes flicking to the others, as if debating whether to share more. "But I'm afraid it's already too late. The virus is already here."

Anya's hand tightened on her weapon, her jaw set. "Then we'll fight it. We'll find a way to kill it."

Sergei nodded, but there was doubt in his eyes. "I'm not sure we can. This... this isn't something we can kill with just our weapons. This is something much worse."

Viktor's gaze hardened, and he clapped a hand on Sergei's shoulder. "Then we'll burn it out. From the inside."

The group exchanged grim looks, knowing that their path forward would be dangerous, but they had no choice. The virus had been unleashed, and with it, a dark future that none of them were prepared for.

But one thing was clear—they had to stop it. No matter the cost.