The sky was still gray. The city lay beneath a blanket of smoke and dust. Faint cries of civilians echoed from beneath the rubble.
Alpha walked alone through a half-destroyed street. His footsteps were light, almost soundless. His clothes were still stained with the blood of monsters, and his sword hung loosely on his back.
Every time he passed a group of soldiers, they would pause and glance at him. Some whispered, some swallowed hard, and others instinctively stepped back without knowing why.
But Alpha didn't look at any of them.
His focus was fixed on the western side.
He reached an abandoned plaza, littered with the remains of burned monster corpses some torn to pieces, others appearing as though something had melted into their skin.
He stopped at the center and glanced around.
"Their scent is still here... Not all of them left."
He raised his hand slightly and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. A faint pulse of energy spread from his body, rippling across the ground before vanishing.
"On the rooftop..."
He suddenly jumped, twisting mid-air, and swung his sword in a wide arc. One of the shadows tried to flee from the roof of a ruined house but it didn't make it.
Alpha's strike sliced it in mid-air, cutting it down before it touched the ground.
He landed calmly and muttered:
"There are still plenty of rats left... Good."
Then he began walking toward the next alley.
Meanwhile...
Outside the capital's walls, the mercenary leader marched at the head of a squad of thirty fighters. Their faces were weary, but their steps were steady.
Each one of them was trained for battle. Yet they knew what awaited them wasn't an ordinary fight.
One of the soldiers walking beside him asked:
"Sir… do you think we'll make it back?"
The leader replied without turning:
"The most important thing… is not dying before you find out who attacked us."
They passed a rocky hill and entered a sparse forest.
The leader spoke in a low voice:
"Stay alert. Don't trust the ground or the shadows."
Suddenly, one of the scouts up ahead shouted:
"I found something!"
The commander hurried forward. When he arrived, he looked down at the ground.
A deep, circular crater. The edges were scorched like the impact zone of a meteorite.
But at the center… a thick, black, sticky substance slowly writhed as if it were breathing.
The leader muttered:
"...What is this?"
Then he lifted his eyes to the sky, where the vortex still swirled slowly above the capital watching, as if observing every movement.
The Royal Palace
The king stood before a tall window, watching the dark vortex in the sky from afar. His arms were folded behind his back, and his voice was low and heavy:
King:
"Those eyes... they were watching us. Even after their death, something remained in the air... something I couldn't understand."
The royal advisor approached slowly, carrying a small scroll. He placed it on the table and said:
Advisor:
"That's why I sent for the Head of the Mages, Your Majesty. If those creatures were merely monsters, it would be a matter for the military. But if they're something else, then we're facing a far greater catastrophe than we imagined."
The king turned slowly and looked the advisor straight in the eye:
King:
"Do you trust the Head of the Mages?"
The advisor nodded cautiously and replied:
Advisor:
"As much as I can, yes. But he lacks experience with unfamiliar energies... Still, if there's even a trace of unnatural power he'll sense it."
The king remained silent for a few seconds before he finally spoke:
King:
"I'm not afraid of monsters… I'm afraid there's a mind behind them. A will. A system."
The advisor lowered his gaze momentarily, then muttered:
Advisor:
"And I fear this wave was merely a test to gauge our response."
The king slowly clenched his fist as he asked:
King:
"Do you think that vortex is still open…"
Advisor:
"Or perhaps it's trying to read us."
The two men exchanged a heavy, wordless look. Finally, the king said:
King:
"If the Head Mage doesn't return within an hour, send someone after him. I don't want to be caught off guard again… What happened today is more than enough."
Advisor:
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The king slowly exited the room, leaving the advisor alone, staring at the map pinned to the wall where a line was boldly written:
"The gate is still open..."
The Head Mage arrived at the clearing with four of his apprentices. They moved swiftly toward the area where the bodies were found. The ground was littered with monster remains cleanly sliced, each part nearly identical to the others.
Raising his right hand, the Head Mage cast a short detection spell. Runes appeared in the air before him. He didn't stop. He kept moving forward.
He instructed his first apprentice to analyze the ambient energy. The apprentice pulled out a small crystal, planted it into the soil, and stepped back. The crystal glowed with a dark hue. The Head Mage silently made a note.
A massive monster's corpse, split into over fifty pieces, appeared intact from the outside but the energy radiating from it was unstable. He cast a second spell, focusing on one specific spot on the skin. The energy burst outward, but he instantly blocked it with a short magical shield.
He ordered his team to inspect three separate bodies without touching them. The results were identical. The monsters weren't slain by traditional sword strikes; their bodies had been shattered from within. The energy had entered through their pores and detonated internally.
He wrote in his notebook:
"The killer didn't use magic. He used focused pressure. The energy pierced the outer layer and tore the internal structure apart without direct contact."
Approaching one of the severed heads, he pulled a small crystalline shard from his pocket and placed it on the forehead. The crystal recorded traces of energy belonging to an unknown-tier entity.
He noted:
"The pressure was unidirectional. The bodies didn't just explode they were dismantled with precision."
He examined the layout. The position of each corpse indicated that the killer had moved at extreme speed. All the strikes occurred simultaneously. The explosions were instantaneous.
He turned and gave a signal to withdraw. One of the apprentices collected the crystals and packed them away as they retreated together.
He wrote the final line in his enchanted journal:
"Alpha employed an unfamiliar killing technique. The focused pressure exhibits properties beyond our current understanding. This wasn't a battle it was an experiment. Forward the findings to the king."
As they began to leave, one apprentice called out:
"Master! You should take a look at this one. It's… different. Its veins are bulging and it's leaking grey blood."
The Head Mage approached quickly. He looked down at the corpse. Its veins were protruding through the skin, slowly pulsing as if still alive. The blood seeping from the neck was a thick, grey fluid not evaporating like the others.
He cast a short analysis spell and placed a crystal on the chest. The readings fluctuated wildly. The energy inside the body was still active, yet unfamiliar. It didn't match anything in the existing bestiary.
He instructed two apprentices to erect a containment barrier. It activated swiftly. Pulling out a ritual blade, he cut off a piece of the skin and placed it into a small stone container. The grey blood began to move on its own without external contact as if it were alive.
He muttered a note under his breath:
"This creature was modified. This isn't its natural form. The grey blood indicates a hybrid energy state… a mix between monster energy and another kind most likely human."
He paused briefly, then said:
"Take the sample. We'll need a full analysis inside the palace. Do not touch the corpse without the barrier."
Then he added:
"Don't send this report to the king just yet. First, we find out who's behind the modification… then we inform him."
The team began to move out, leaving the mutated corpse sealed inside the barrier.