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1. The Beast Tide Begins
Dawn broke red—not from the sun, but from the smoke and ash that filled the horizon.
From the eastern cliffs to the northern crags, Scorchfront stood on high alert. Trumpets blared from the watchtowers, horns echoed across the valley, and shadows began to stretch unnaturally long across the battlefield.
They were coming.
And the ground itself trembled.
> "Incoming from all fronts!" barked Kaelen, eyes sharp as steel. "Massive horde movement spotted at South Basin and Ember Gorge!"
> "Sound the flame alarms," Aira commanded, standing on the front battlements. "Prepare for all gates to be overrun. This is no longer a test—it's war."
Thousands of soldiers manned the walls, mages lined the towers, and siege engines gleamed under the red sky. The air shimmered with enchantments.
And then—
> The first roar echoed across the world.
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2. Monsters Without End
The monsters emerged like a black flood. Skinless hounds with molten breath. Ironhide beetles as large as wagons. Carrion wyverns shrieking overhead.
They were not natural beasts.
They were evolved, warped, and hungry.
The earth cracked beneath their feet. Their eyes glowed with crimson rage. Their howls chilled the bones of even the bravest men.
> "Archers—fire!"
A rain of enchanted arrows blazed through the sky. Dozens of creatures fell, but dozens more surged forward, clawing over corpses and debris.
Explosions rocked the plains as rune traps activated, incinerating entire squads of beasts.
But still they came.
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3. Flameheart Unleashed
Aira stood tall at the vanguard, her new Eternal Ember talent glowing beneath her skin. Her presence turned the air into wildfire.
Her flaming chains lashed forward, yanking a charging ogre into a crater of boiling lava.
> "Meteor Shower—now!"
She lifted both hands skyward. The sky responded.
A dozen flaming meteors fell from the heavens, ripping into the battlefield with devastating force. Entire rows of monsters were reduced to ash and fire. The shockwaves shattered the land, leaving scorched trenches.
> "Her fire... it burns through even their resistances," Kaelen whispered in awe.
Aira didn't respond.
She was too deep in the fight.
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4. South Wall Collapse
At the South Wall, things were going badly.
A Crystal-Spined Basilisk breached the emberline and let out a shriek that turned several soldiers to stone.
> "Evacuate the stone-cursed! Don't let the venom spread!"
A group of mage-knights surrounded the beast, buying time. But it was no use—the creature impaled three of them with its tail before roaring toward the inner city.
Aira dashed across the wall, summoned three flame clones, and surrounded the basilisk in a ring of hellfire.
> "You've had your last kill," she whispered.
Her chains snapped out, binding its mouth shut. With a burst of will, she drove fire into its skull, boiling its brain from the inside.
The beast thrashed once—and fell.
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5. Air Battle Above the Flames
Above the chaos, a flock of Carrion Wyverns and Stormwing Bats descended from the clouds.
Sky mages launched spells, but the creatures dodged mid-air.
Suddenly, a wyvern crashed onto a tower, biting a commander in half.
> "Aira! We need you above!"
She leapt.
With her Flame Dash, she soared skyward—flames beneath her feet.
She met a wyvern mid-air and punched through its heart with a flame-coated fist.
Then spun mid-air and summoned her newest trick: Flame Wings. Two burning wings burst from her back, keeping her aloft.
> "Now we fly."
She became a comet in the sky, streaking through enemy fliers with searing speed.
One. Two. Five. Ten.
They fell like burning stars.
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6. Unexpected Betrayal
But amidst the chaos, an explosion rocked the North Wall—from the inside.
Saboteurs.
A traitor guild—Nightglass Fang—had been bribed by the Prime Beast.
They set off explosive sigils inside the gate control, collapsing part of the defense wall.
> "Aira, we have a breach! Internal sabotage!"
> "I'm on it."
She landed at the shattered wall, bodies strewn around her.
Three Nightglass assassins turned to strike.
They never got the chance.
Aira snapped her fingers.
A sphere of pure flame enveloped the area.
When it faded, nothing remained but ash.
> "You pick the wrong day to betray me."
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7. Field of Ash
The battlefield was now a nightmare.
Monsters swarmed like ants over burning trenches.
Smoke choked the skies.
Soldiers screamed and died.
Aira carved a path of fire, rallying survivors and lighting signal beacons.
> "Sector C is about to fall!"
> "Pull back and regroup at the molten line!"
> "Medic teams—move!"
Kaelen fought beside her, his lightning blades crackling.
> "We won't last another hour like this."
> "We don't need to," Aira replied.
> "We just have to last until nightfall."
That was when the backup forces from Emberhold were due to arrive.
If they didn't…
Scorchfront would fall.
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8. Monster King Emerges
Just as things seemed to stabilize, the ground split open.
And from beneath, a colossal centipede-like creature emerged—at least fifty meters long, its body covered in molten plates.
> "The Dreadcoil Alpha…" Kaelen gasped.
It was one of the Beast Generals.
One of five.
It hissed, then spewed acid over three towers, melting stone and steel alike.
> "Flameheart! That thing will destroy everything!"
Aira didn't hesitate.
She blinked onto its back with Flame Dash, summoned her Flame Chains and anchored herself.
Then—
> "Blazing Meteor Shower!"
A meteor the size of a boulder slammed into the Dreadcoil's side.
The beast shrieked.
She began carving down its back, burning through layers of armor and flesh.
It tried to buck her off, but she lashed herself tighter, unleashing a nova burst of Eternal Ember into its heart.
The creature exploded in a torrent of black blood and molten fire.
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9. The Toll of Flame
But victory came at a cost.
Aira collapsed to one knee.
Her mana reserves were low.
Burns lined her arms. Her vision blurred.
Soldiers dragged her behind the inner barrier line.
> "Commander, please, you need rest—"
> "No time."
> "You'll burn yourself out!"
She forced a potion down and stood again.
> "If I fall, so does Scorchfront."
And she walked back toward the fire.
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10. The Night Draws Near
The sun dipped low.
But the monsters were relentless.
A third wave approached.
Some were intelligent now—coordinated.
Aira stood atop the central gate tower, chains glowing, wings flickering, her aura like a furnace.
> "Thi
s is the First Wave," she said softly.
> "And it's only the beginning."
She raised her hand.
A final flare shot into the sky, marking the fall of the day.
Reinforcements were still not in sight.
> "Come then," she whispered to the darkening horizon. "Let the whole world come."
> "Let them burn."