The single, colossal eye burned through the mist like a beacon of malice. For a heartbeat, everything was silent. The guards, the aberrations, even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Then the world shattered.
With a deafening crack, the obsidian claws tore through the gate's foundation. Shards of stone and twisted iron shot into the air, some the size of carriages, crashing into nearby walls and rooftops. Screams erupted as men were flung like ragdolls by the shockwave.
"Fall back! FALL BACK!" the captain's voice was already hoarse, but panic sharpened it like steel.
The ground heaved again, and the rest of the gate collapsed in an avalanche of rubble. Through the gap rose the beast—if "beast" was even the right word. Its head alone was larger than the city's clock tower, armored in jagged plates that seemed to drink in the light. That glaring eye tracked every movement with cold precision, the violet glow inside it pulsing like a heartbeat.
[Colossal Aberration Detected]
[Vitality: 100%]
[Analysis Incomplete]
"Is that thing even killable?" Sylvara muttered, blades already drawn, her voice tight.
"It doesn't have to be killable," Rein said, his mind racing. "We just have to survive it."
The creature opened its maw, revealing rows of teeth curved like scythes. A sound rumbled out—not a roar, but a deep, resonating hum that rattled the stones beneath their feet. The hum became a vibration, the vibration became pressure, and in the next instant, the air detonated outward in a blast of pure force.
The front ranks were obliterated. Shields splintered, men vanished into the night with broken cries. Rein was slammed against the ground, the System flashing red warnings across his vision.
[Warning: Structural Damage to Armor]
[Vitality: -12%]
He rolled to his feet just as the black-skinned aberrations surged through the breach, their movements now faster, more frenzied. The giant's arrival had ignited something primal in them—they weren't just killing, they were tearing everything apart.
"Rein!" Lyra's voice cut through the chaos. She stood on a half-collapsed wall, staff raised, golden runes swirling in the air around her. "I can hold them for sixty seconds, maybe less. Get the civilians out of here!"
Sixty seconds. Against this? It was barely a heartbeat.
He sprinted toward her, cutting down two aberrations that lunged in his path. Sylvara moved with him, her daggers flashing arcs of silver in the torchlight. Together they carved a narrow corridor through the chaos, but every step felt like a losing battle—more creatures spilled through the gate with each passing second.
The giant began to move forward, each step sending cracks racing through the cobblestones. Its shadow swallowed the street, and that single violet eye never left Rein.
Then, through the dust and screaming, he saw it—the cloaked figure from before, standing calmly at the giant's feet, as though none of this carnage mattered. Its head tilted, and Rein felt that same crushing weight on his lungs.
It was controlling this. All of it.
He didn't know how, but he knew one thing for certain:
If the figure reached the city center, there would be no city left to save.
The giant raised its claw, blotting out the moon completely—
—and brought it down in a strike meant to flatten everything before it.
The world went white
The claw came down like a landslide made of steel. Rein dived sideways, dragging Sylvara with him as the ground exploded in a shockwave of shattered cobblestone and dust.
"Keep moving!" he shouted, coughing through the haze.
The giant swung again, demolishing an entire row of buildings with one brutal sweep. Roofs crumpled like parchment, walls cracked open, and screams pierced the smoke.
Through the chaos, Lyra's golden barrier flared—a dome of runes holding back the swarm at the east gate. But fractures crawled across it with each impact.
"I said sixty seconds!" she yelled over the roar. "I'm at forty!"
Rein cut down a lunging aberration, black ichor spraying across his gauntlet. The giant's movements were deliberate, not random destruction—it was heading deeper into the city.
Then he saw it. The cloaked figure from before, standing in the rubble, utterly untouched.
The moment it raised a hand, the swarm shifted, abandoning scattered attacks to flood toward Lyra's barrier. The cracks deepened.
[Warning: Critical Civilian Loss Imminent]
[Recommendation: Eliminate Command Unit]
Rein didn't hesitate. "Sylvara—on me! Lyra, hold!"
"You're insane!" Sylvara snapped, already falling into step beside him.
They sprinted through the breach, weaving between mangled bodies and wreckage. The closer they got, the thicker the swarm—every foot gained meant another parry, another desperate strike.
At twenty paces, the air grew heavy, pressing against their chests like a deep ocean. The figure's head turned toward Rein. A whisper seemed to slip directly into his mind:
> "You are not meant to be here."
The cobblestones split, and black tendrils lashed upward. One snared Sylvara mid-leap, pulling her off her feet. She slashed at them, but they only coiled tighter.
Rein lunged forward alone, sword humming with System-fed energy. He was a breath away from striking when the giant's claw slammed down between them. The shockwave hurled him backward into a crumbling wall.
By the time he regained his footing, the figure and giant were withdrawing through the breach, the swarm flowing after them like a tide receding.
The quiet that followed was worse than the noise. Buildings smoldered, the air thick with ash and blood. Lyra collapsed, her barrier shattering into fading sparks. Sylvara stumbled to her feet, coughing, armor torn.
The east gate was gone. And with it, a third of the city.
Rein's gaze fixed on the breach. The figure had looked directly at him—seen him. It wasn't random. It had been here for him.
The System pulsed.
[New Directive: Pursue Command Unit]
[Risk Level: Catastrophic]
[Warning: Solo engagement not advised]
Rein's fists clenched. He didn't need the System's warnings. The next time they met, there would be no retreat.
Above, the city's war bells changed their rhythm—three short tolls, one long. The sound that meant only one thing.
The outer wall had fallen in the north.
The bells' grim toll rippled through the choking smoke, each note hammering the truth deeper into the marrow of everyone still standing. The north wall had fallen.
Rein didn't wait for orders. He was already moving, boots pounding against rubble-strewn streets, eyes locked on the distant plumes of smoke curling above the northern quarter.
"Rein!" Lyra's voice cracked as she limped after him. "You're not—"
"I am," he said without looking back. "If the north goes, the whole city's done."
Sylvara caught up, blood streaking her cheek. "Then we make them pay before it does."
The run through the city was chaos incarnate. Families fled in every direction, clutching children and whatever they could carry. Fires licked across rooftops, sending sparks into the ash-heavy air. Rein had to shoulder past people, forcing himself not to look at the pleading eyes, the trembling hands reaching for help. There wasn't time.
By the time they reached the northern gate district, the scale of the disaster was undeniable. The once-tall wall was reduced to a jagged maw of stone, its edges slick with black ichor. Through it surged a different breed of aberration—leaner, faster, their limbs jointed at wrong angles, moving with a predator's grace.
And leading them, standing tall in the breach, was something worse. A hulking beast plated in segmented bone-like armor, with a ridged back that bristled as it roared. The sound shook the cobbles beneath their feet.
[Aberration – Siege Variant]
[Vitality: 100%]
[Threat Classification: Apex]
Rein drew his blade, its edge shimmering as the System poured power into it. "We bring that thing down, we might hold this line."
The creature noticed them instantly. Its head jerked forward, and in the next second it charged—an avalanche of claws and armor. Rein met it head-on, sliding under a swinging forelimb to slash at its exposed underbelly. The blade sparked off its plating but left a shallow cut.
Sylvara vaulted onto its back, driving her daggers between the armor plates at its neck. The beast bucked violently, hurling her into a shattered cart. Lyra's staff flared, launching a chain of golden bolts that hammered against its face, forcing it to recoil for only a heartbeat.
That heartbeat was enough. Rein leapt, driving his sword deep into one of the cracks Sylvara had made. The creature bellowed, spinning to throw him clear, but he twisted midair, landing in a crouch.
"Left flank! Now!" he barked.
The three of them fell into perfect rhythm—Rein drawing its attention, Sylvara darting in with precise strikes, Lyra hammering it with spells when openings appeared. The fight was brutal, exhausting. Every blow they landed seemed to cost them two in return.
Then the worst happened.
From beyond the breach, more shapes emerged—three smaller siege beasts, each moving in perfect sync with the larger one. The defenders behind them faltered, fear rippling through the ranks.
Lyra's voice was tight with dread. "Rein… we can't fight them all."
He knew she was right. But retreat meant surrendering the north, and surrendering the north meant the city's heart would be next.
The System chimed in his mind:
[Emergency Protocol Available]
[Warning: Activation Will Cause Severe Physical Strain]
Rein tightened his grip on his sword. "Then we don't fight them all." His eyes locked on the largest beast. "We kill the leader, and the rest follow."
And as he charged, the clouds above split, revealing a sliver of moonlight that caught on his blade like liquid silver.
The hulking siege beast reared back, its armored plates shifting like a fortress adjusting for war. The smaller ones circled, herding Rein's group toward the rubble. Their coordination wasn't mindless—it was hunting.
[Emergency Protocol: Confirm Activation?]
[Cost: 65% Stamina | Muscular Damage | Temporary Neurological Strain]
Rein's breath came in hard bursts, the copper tang of blood thick on his tongue. He looked at Lyra and Sylvara—both barely holding their footing. If he didn't act now, they wouldn't make it to another heartbeat.
"Confirm," he growled.
The System's tone shifted—no longer neutral, but resonant, almost alive.
[Protocol Engaged]
[Muscle Output ×3]
[Reaction Time Increased 240%]
[Pain Dampening: Active]
It hit him like a lightning strike. Every vein burned, every muscle screamed, but in that agony came precision. Time seemed to thicken, the movements of the siege beasts dragging into syrupy slowness.
The largest beast lunged, jaws wide. Rein stepped inside the bite, planting one boot on its lower jaw, the other against a protruding armor plate, and launched himself upward. His sword cut a perfect arc through the night, slicing deep into the seam at its neck.
The monster's roar turned into a wet, gurgling bellow. It staggered, trying to throw him free, but Rein didn't let go—he drove the blade deeper, twisting until the resistance gave way and hot ichor sprayed across his face.
The smaller beasts faltered, their rhythm breaking. Sylvara was on one in a blink, her daggers flashing in a lethal blur. Lyra's magic struck another with a point-blank blast, sending it tumbling into the debris.
Rein wrenched his blade free and dropped to the ground as the massive beast collapsed behind him, shaking the street with the weight of its fall. For a moment—just a moment—it looked like they'd done it.
Then the ground beneath their feet began to crack.
Through the fissures seeped a thick, pulsing darkness, like tar alive with heat. From it rose shapes—too many to count—some humanoid, others monstrous, their eyes glowing with a hunger that felt older than the city itself.
The System's voice returned, almost… strained.
[Unknown Entity Detected]
[Classification: Uncatalogued]
[Recommendation: Run.]
Rein tightened his grip on the sword, his breath ragged. He glanced at Lyra and Sylvara—both staring at the nightmare unfolding before them.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Too late for that."