The silence that followed the battle was thick, heavy, almost sacred. The Vorm's twitching remains lay strewn across the rubble, its grotesque body finally stilled. Kael dropped to his knees, his chest rising and falling in ragged gasps. Around him, the few who had survived slumped against collapsed walls or lay on the blood-soaked ground, too broken to celebrate, too drained to even cry. For a moment, all was still. They had won. Somehow, they were alive.
Declan stood with his hands on his knees, his chest bare and stained with blood not his own. His twin blades hung loosely in his grasp as he stared into the smoking distance. Naelys sat beside Kael, her arm around her ribs, where a long gash still leaked. Nyra and Syla leaned against each other, wordless, breathing, but their faces haunted. Mira, Eron, Selia… gone. Too many names that wouldn't rise again. Kael whispered them silently, their memory burning behind his eyes.
Then a faint rumble echoed from above. Heads turned slowly. Through the dark clouds of smoke and ash, several dark silhouettes emerged—flying crafts, the rescue fleet. A thin ripple of hope crossed the faces of the soldiers as the ships descended, parting the smoke like celestial messengers. One of the vessels dropped a cable ladder, the metallic rope uncoiling swiftly toward the ground, ready to lift the survivors one by one.
But hope has a cruel sense of timing.
Before anyone could reach the ladder, the ground beneath them began to tremble violently. Debris rattled, broken glass fell like rain, and what was left of the ruined buildings began to shift and crack. Kael stood, instincts screaming. "Get ready!" he shouted. "Something's coming!"
From the shadows beyond the crumbling city blocks, a monstrous shape emerged. It moved like a phantom but struck like a meteor. With a thunderous crash, it leapt through the smoke and smashed into the nearest transport ship. The vehicle burst into flames as it spiraled downward, crashing into the earth in a blazing inferno. Screams rang out from inside.
Kael didn't hesitate. He sprinted toward the wreckage, followed by Declan and Naelys. They tore through twisted steel, flames licking at their boots as they dragged wounded soldiers from the wreckage. Among the fifty who managed to crawl from the explosion, one stood tall—untouched, unmarred. Sareth. The Steel Breaker . His armor was intact, his expression impassive, his stance unshaken by the destruction around him.
Kael stared at him, momentarily stunned. "Now I understand why they call him that," he muttered. "That name… it suits him." Even through the haze of blood loss and shock, Kael felt the imposing presence of the man. It wasn't just strength—it was something deeper, something carved into his bones.
The ground cracked again, and the true horror revealed itself. From behind a toppled skyscraper, a beast emerged—a gargantuan creature, its scales a sickly green-black, its head reptilian but twisted, unnatural. Its claws were like tree trunks, and each breath it exhaled shimmered with burning vapor. It was a nightmare, like a lizard-god born from the heart of a dying world. And it was angry.
With a single roar, the monster shattered the sky. The very air trembled. Nearby buildings collapsed under the force of the sonic blast, their foundations pulverized. Soldiers clutched their heads, blood pouring from their ears. Some fell screaming. Others simply crumpled, their skulls cracked from within. Even Kael stumbled, vomiting blood, his balance shattered by the crushing pressure. Only Sareth stood unmoved, his body a pillar amidst the storm.
Declan staggered beside Kael, wiping blood from his mouth. "That thing… it's not like the Vorm. This is something else entirely."
Naelys crawled to Kael's side, her voice hoarse. "We have to move. Get the injured to cover. We can't fight it here. Not yet."
But the monster didn't wait. It lunged forward, its massive body crashing through steel and concrete like paper. Its tail swept across the battlefield, throwing vehicles and soldiers into the air like rag dolls. Fires erupted. Smoke blinded. Chaos reigned again, as if the previous battle had only been a prelude.
Kael grabbed a fallen rifle and helped Nyra up. "We need to regroup! Now!" he shouted. "Sareth—can you hold that thing off?"
The Briseur d'Acier stepped forward without a word. His eyes locked onto the beast. With a thundering step, he launched himself at it, fists glowing with kinetic energy, his body moving faster than expected for someone his size. His punch struck the creature in the jaw, and for the first time, the monster recoiled.
The shockwave of impact flattened the debris around them. Kael could barely believe what he was seeing. Sareth… wasn't just strong. He was something else—like a weapon in human skin.
But even he couldn't stop the creature alone. The beast roared and retaliated, swiping Sareth across the field. The man flew through the air but landed on his feet, dragging his boots into the dirt to slow himself.
The rest of the survivors scrambled. Kael helped load the injured onto what remained of a dropship. Declan took up a defensive position with Syla. Naelys gathered a group of gunners. "We buy time. That's all we can do."
Above them, another rescue ship hovered low, hesitating. The pilot screamed over comms. "We can't land! That thing's too close!"
Kael looked back at the monster. Its eyes were locked on them now. And it was smiling.