The falling cold rain reflected the lights of the patrol cars in a chaotic blur.

"Don't move! Hands behind your head and get on your knees!"

The shouts of the SWAT team and the intense glare of dozens of tactical lights mercilessly illuminated the man and woman stepping out of the car in the alleyway. Countless red laser sights were aimed at the chest and forehead of the older brother, James.

"...So this is it."

James maintained his arrogant smirk, but stepped forward as if to shield his sister, Guest. His expensive suit and Guest's hoodie were soaked by the rain. It was the end of the line for the genius criminal siblings who had cracked high-security vaults across the country and mocked the police.

As Guest gripped the fabric of James's back in fear, James whispered in a low voice without looking back.

"Don't say a word. There's no need to talk to these idiots. ...I'll handle this, I promise."

Rugged handcuffs were snapped onto James's wrists, and Guest was also restrained by another officer. Guest could only watch her brother's back as he was pushed into a separate patrol car.

—RUMBLEEEEEEEEE...!!!

Suddenly, a low-frequency sound like the earth groaning fell from the sky. It wasn't the sound of a plane. The atmosphere vibrated, and the old fluorescent lights in the workshop began to flicker all at once.

"What is it?! An earthquake?!"

As the prisoners stood up in a panic, Guest, driven by instinctive fear, crouched under her workbench.

The next moment, with a roar that felt like it would burst her eardrums, the entire prison was violently shaken.

Cracks ran through the concrete walls, and the reinforced glass windows shattered into pieces. The resulting blast and dust swallowed the workshop, mixing screams and angry shouts.

"It's from the men's wing... the exercise yard!"

As the shaking subsided and the dust slowly cleared, Guest crawled across the floor and looked out through the gap in the blown-out window frame.

The sky, which should have been clear, was stained an unnatural color.

A massive crater had formed in the center of the men's exercise yard. From the reddish-black "meteorite" wedged there, a pulsing, eerie 'purple light' was emitted, illuminating the entire prison in a toxic glow.

The high-pitched wail of emergency sirens rang out. However, Guest's ears caught a sound even more terrifying than that.

What came from the direction of the men's wing were not the screams of panicked humans.

—Grrrrrrr...!!! GYAAAAAAAH!!!

Bestial roars unlike anything she had ever heard. The sickening sound of bones crushing and flesh tearing.

Guest had no way of knowing yet that the people in the yard bathed in the purple light had transformed into "something else" and begun devouring each other. Only the absolute presence of death was surely approaching through the concrete walls.