Vantalis, Outer District — Three Weeks After the Towers Arrived
The smoke never left the sky anymore.
Vantalis used to be a bustling trade city: gold markets, lively taverns, shimmering bridges. Now, half the structures were rubble, the other half patched together with wood, rope, and scraps of monster hide. Broken carts lined the streets like abandoned bones.
And somewhere far beyond the horizon, the first Tower loomed—silent, cold, watching.
Ragnor wiped blood from his brow as he stepped over a corpse.
Not human. Not anymore.
The creature looked like a wolf split open and reassembled by someone who didn't understand anatomy. Four jaws. Six legs. Eyes that twitched even in death.
"Second one this hour," Lyra said behind him.
Her voice was low, steady—like she'd already seen too much for her age. She kicked the creature's corpse, and a faint glow drifted from the blood. Aether energy. Unstable, but usable.
"We're supposed to clear the sector before nightfall," Ragnor muttered.
Lyra's silver braid swayed as she looked up.
"The monsters are getting bolder. Closer. Smarter."
Ragnor cracked his knuckles.
His Earth-aligned aura flared—hot, dense, crushing the dust underfoot as if the ground bowed to him.
"Then we hit back harder."
From behind them, Iris flinched.
The small mage girl held her spellbook close, hands shaking.
"Please don't talk like that…" she whispered. "Every time you say something bold—something terrible happens."
Ragnor smirked.
"You think speaking attracts monsters?"
"No. I think you attract them," she muttered, hiding behind her white hair.
A voice cut through the ruins:
"Then let's hope he attracts something worth the effort."
Aetherion stepped out from behind a broken wall, cloak drifting as though it floated in water. Star-dust shimmered in the air around him. His dark eyes—deep, endless—locked onto the broken street ahead.
"Something is coming," he said.
The wind died.
The birds fell silent.
Even the smoke froze midair.
Then they heard it.
A low clicking.
A dozen feet skittering.
Something big.
Ragnor raised his fists.
Lyra nocked an arrow, breath steady.
Iris opened her book, runes glowing faintly.
Aetherion's cosmic aura crackled like muted thunder.
From the mist, the monster emerged.
A spider—if spiders were ten feet tall and made of red sinew and bone.
Eight legs, razor sharp.
A human-like face molded into its thorax, screaming without sound.
Lyra exhaled.
"I hate these ones."
Ragnor stepped forward.
"Good. Means it'll die fast."
The monster lunged.
Ragnor moved first.
Ground shattered beneath him as he dashed forward. His fist collided with the creature's face—
SMAAAASH!
The spider screeched as its skull dented inward. But it didn't stop. Two legs stabbed toward his ribs—fast, sharp, inevitable.
Until an arrow pierced one mid-strike.
Lyra's voice cut through the chaos:
"Left side—NOW!"
Ragnor ducked. The spider's leg sliced air inches above his skull.
Aetherion stepped beside him, eyes darkening.
"Move."
Starlight condensed around his hand.
A miniature galaxy spun in his palm.
He hurled it.
The projectile hit the monster point blank—sending it flying into a wall with a cosmic explosion that shook the ruins.
Iris flinched as dust rained over them.
"W-we shouldn't use that much force this close to the city—"
Before she finished, the wall cracked.
Then split.
Then exploded outward as the monster burst free, body now mutated, glowing with red sigils.
Aetherion clicked his tongue.
"It adapted."
Ragnor's jaw tightened.
"They're evolving too fast."
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
"Iris. Now."
Iris raised her trembling hands.
A glowing clock circle materialized behind her—ticks echoing in reverse.
[Temporal Bind: Minor]
Time around the monster slowed.
Just a fraction, but enough.
Lyra fired three arrows—
piercing three joints.
The monster shrieked again.
Then its head snapped to the right.
Toward a shadowy rooftop.
Ragnor frowned.
"…the hell is it looking at?"
Lyra squinted.
"I don't see anything."
Aetherion did.
His cosmic eyes widened.
"There's someone watching us."
Iris shivered.
"I felt… something. Like a nightmare walking."
The monster began trembling violently.
Then—
It turned away from the group.
It bowed.
As if submitting.
As if afraid.
As if something stronger was near.
Ragnor's skin crawled.
"What kind of monster bows?"
A whisper of cold wind brushed their backs.
Lyra felt her heartbeat spike.
Aetherion's aura flared instinctively.
Iris froze as the ticking behind her halted.
Ragnor turned.
Slowly.
On a rooftop above them, a small silhouette stood motionless.
A child.
Small frame.
Bare feet.
Dark hair.
Brown skin.
A white, expressionless mask.
And two glowing red eyes behind it.
The child tilted his head.
Just slightly.
The world seemed to dim.
The monster screamed—not at the group.
But at the child.
Then—
It exploded.
A burst of blood and gore splattered across the ruins.
None of the four moved.
None of them breathed.
The masked child stared at them.
Then disappeared.
Gone.
No sound.
No dust.
No footsteps.
Ragnor finally exhaled.
"…who the hell was that?"
No one answered.
Above them, the sky cracked faintly.
And in the distance, the Tower pulsed with light.
End of Chapter 1.