The sun began to set behind the horizon once more. A golden light temporarily illuminated the entire world as the sun took its dying breaths once more, just as it did every day.
Alarms blared loud enough to deafen the body and hinder the mind. An unknown masculine voice spoke through the speakers, "Code black! Multiple Realm Gates have appeared both in and out of the city walls, a category three among them!"
Men ran past the cohort. Most of them were only Awakened, and some of them were of the Crested rank.
An excruciating sigh left Dawn's mouth, "Well then. I will have a few of my men escort the Dormants you are supervising." His voice was stoic despite the potentially desperate situation.
'A… A category three!? That means there is at a bare minimum a Fallen Fiend on the battlefield…'
The world outside had suddenly become full of chaos and despair as Purge Beasts went rampant. The last few minutes of sunlight were upon them.
Those few minutes instantly disappeared. Suddenly, the shadows deepened, a roaring mass of decaying flesh had spread its wings and seemingly devoured the dying sun, encompassing most of Fort Bravo with the sheer mass of the abomination. And with it came death for all; Dormant or Awakened—even those of the Crested rank were not safe from the Fallen Terror's power.
Clouds split, land quaked, grasping darkness in one of its hands, and pestilence in the other—it sentenced them all to the clutches of death with its abominable Will.
Even though the Cohort could not see the abomination with their own eyes, they felt it in all of its entirety. Its presence demanded acknowledgement and would be given as such. Even the strongest of humanity, Dawn, began to shake slightly; a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek; "Well, this predicament is quite tricky if I do say so myself."
Ira, Bariealla, Cammie, and Kaine all fell to their knees—gasping for air and clutching their chests in pain—the abomination's Will was truly terrifying.
Andrisson on the other hand, did not fall to his knees instantaneously—rather, he kept his body from collapsing with his own Will; even if he was barely holding on.
"That is enough," Dawn said—the world began to be illuminated by him, and him alone. The abomination's profane Will was contained in no more than a moment; "Fear not, Dormants. I am here, and I will slay this abomination before the night ends." A subtle smirk was apparent on his face. He was like a star that never dimmed, refusing to succumb to even the dreadful of beasts.
Could he really defeat a Fallen Terror—a being an entire class higher than himself? If he could not, humanity would fall.
"We must.. fight…" Bariealla said, her voice strained after having the breath stolen from her lungs.
Dawn clapped his hands gently, "Well, if that is what you wish, I permit you; but what about your other companions? Do they share the same idea? Will they risk their lives against abominations even Awakened would fear? Will you battle while those of the Crested and Fallen rank battle all around you, their Echo abilities destroying the land and killing those of both the Profane and Enlightened paths—regardless of whether they know they are doing so?" The slender man questioned. In a battle, many things could happen.
Humans were not known for their kindness, but rather their cunning and ruthless domination of surrounding competition. Long ago, it was not the rarest thing to hear about a grenade killing a team of individuals, only for it to be revealed that it was done by a member from a different team, regardless of whether or not they were supposed to work together. No one would ever know, it was war after all.
Bari hesitated under the pressure from Dawn; "I-I…"
"I do," Ira said. Her voice brimmed with confidence that she herself did not know where was coming from. "I will not sit idly by as innocent civilians are slaughtered like sheep. I have seen it once, and I will not tolerate it again. I was weak and powerless back then, and now I am... Well, still weak and powerless. However, I can still make a change, I can still stain these youthful hands in the blood of monstrosities to save my fellow awakened."
Bariealla stared at the young girl intently, a look of reassurance and excitement on her face—she now knew she would not be alone on this endeavor.
Cammie spoke too, "I agree with Ira. It doesn't sit well with me to let people die knowing I could have saved them." The rosy-haired girl locked eyes with Kaine, edging him towards agreeing.
A nervous laughter left the beautiful man, "I too, agree with Ira." His response was short and forced, but that did not matter.
All that did was that he agreed to aid them.
The strongest of humanity only nodded his head, "Come along, then."
◇
As the metal doors opened, Ira could now see the Fallen Terror in all of its might—well, at least the part that had made it outside the Realm Gate.
Darkness encompassed it like a mantle of void—an endless abyss that seemed to swallow anything that grazed it. Rotting flesh fell from its towering body and onto the ground, weaker Purge beasts swarmed and devoured, soon falling sick and bloated with diseases and all that attacked the body.
'How are we supposed to fight that—thing!' The young girl horrifically thought to herself, beads of sweat profusely fell from her face and onto the dusty floors.
"I will battle the abomination. You all, however, will slay its generals. Andrisson, I permit you to use Serpent. Go Northeast from here, squad zero is already on march to challenge a Fallen Demon." Luminious said.
Andrisson only shook his head, a nervous smile flashed across his face at the mention of such a powerful being—he was only an Awakened Monster, after all.
Luminious—Dawn, had begun to walk a few steps before abruptly stopping, "You, Dormants. Follow me."
Without a second thought, the cohort of dormants—Ira, Cammie, Kaine, and Bariealla all began to follow him.
Soon, they reached an open plain of debris and fallen Purge Beasts of all different types of ranks and classes—two of which were even of the Fallen rank. The ground around them held no grass, resembling that of the barren wasteland that lay behind the towering walls of the Fort. 'It seems the Gates corruption has already spread through the land...' Ira thought to herself.
"Split up into teams of three. You all must slay at least one Aberrant Demon—or this Fort is destined to be lost. Now, as for you, Dormants. You will be led by an Awakened Fiend at least. Aid them, sacrifice yourselves so they live on. You have no hope of slaying the Aberrant Demon without them. Do I make myself clear?"
The Dormants only nodded their heads in despair—all except for the four of them. They would not die here. They would live on to achieve their dreams, no matter what…
"Bari… Are you sure we can do this?" Kaine said, his brow crunching together. His eyes lay on the ground, not daring to stare up at the Fallen Terror that demanded their lives.
"No. No, I am not sure. But that does not matter. What does, is our mission to slay all Purge Beasts. No one will stop us, no mere beast will kill us, and no one will dare challenge our will. We fight with bravery—not cowardice or fear. Steel yourselves for what is to come—or we will all die, Kaine." Her voice was not its usual dreaminess, but rather a cold and malicious tone that struck at the heart—an aching pain would most undoubtedly be felt if it were to be aimed at one of the members of the Cohort.
A sudden brightness illuminated the sky as if the sun had risen once more—but it was not. It was a single man of slender figure and beautiful amber eyes.
Luminious had challenged the Fallen Terror directly, his will colliding with the abomination's in a furious clash of Enlightenment and Profanity.
"Who might you be, wretched thing… You dare to step into my domain and challenge my rule? Do you not know who I am?!"
A pause followed suit. Plasma dripped down from the slender man's wrist, forming into a simple javelin. "I am Prince Of Dawn, Luminious, Child of Skies and Strongest of Humanity. My call to the throne of Sol is absolute. Darkness fears me, and light embraces me. You are a beast of darkness—are you not? Tell me… What do you feel when you stare down your death?"
A blinding radiance shot forward towards the Fallen Terror. The javelin split the air and boiled the moisture away, piercing the clouds and revealing the few stars already visible in the twilight sky.
The abomination slowly lunged away from the radiant javelin with its massive size. Wings flapped as it flew above the clouds and into the twilight skies. The Prince of Dawn quickly followed suit after it, too. His radiant form casting the darkness away as if he were a blazing sun.