From the northeastern gate, the fog began to thicken.
A shadow pierced the veil. Lusian emerged through the smoke with Dainslein in one hand and Shadow Mana rippling around him. He did not advance in haste.
A feline leaped from a rooftop. Lusian raised his sword, and a black barrier sprang up before him.
CLANG!
The claws struck the darkness and were deflected to the side. Lusian spun and slammed the flat of Dainslein into the beast, sending it crashing into a wall. He did not stop.
Another feline dropped from above. Another barrier. Another strike. Another monster. Lusian was not trying to destroy them all; he was carving a path through the chaos.
"Over here!" he shouted.
Behind him, a burst of Divine Light tore through the fog. Emily appeared surrounded by wounded soldiers. The glow of her Staff of Light illuminated the street as thin golden threads reached toward the fallen, closing wounds and restoring the breath of those who were still able to rise.
"Move! Don't fall behind!"
The light advanced with her.
Kara burst through a moment later, crimson mana pulsing through her muscles. A feline the size of a warhorse leaped toward the group, but Kara did not retreat an inch. She tightened her grip on her greatsword.
"Out of my way."
The blow came down with the force of an avalanche.
BOOM!
The beast was sent flying, smashing through walls. Kara did not stop. Lusian cleared the path, Emily healed the survivors, and Kara destroyed anything that threatened their line.
And then they reached the central square.
The A-Omega was still there in the center. Marcus could barely keep it contained.
Lusian arrived and did not hesitate. He extended one hand, and black chains burst from the cobblestones, violently wrapping around the beast's forelegs.
The A-Omega roared and pulled with brutal force.
The chains tightened until they creaked, while Lusian held them with everything he had. The ground began to crack beneath his feet from the pressure.
But it was obvious they would not hold for long.
"Now!"
Emily raised the Staff of Light.
A golden wave exploded from her position and spread across the entire square. The lesser felines recoiled in terror as the radiance engulfed them. Some collapsed to the ground, writhing under the pressure of the magic, while others immediately retreated toward the rooftops.
Kara did not waste the opening.
"Now!"
She charged, pushed off the ground, and leaped onto one of the beasts. Her greatsword swept through a brutal arc before smashing into its side.
BOOM!
The impact sent a cloud of dust and blood into the air. The creature was hurled several meters before crashing into a wall with enough force to crack the stones.
Kara landed with the greatsword resting on one shoulder and grinned.
"One less."
The defenders regained their courage. Shields up, swords forward, mages covering the rear. For a few seconds, the fortress breathed again.
Marcus saw it...
The A-Omega stopped struggling.
It became completely still.
Lusian frowned.
"What...?"
The creature lowered its head.
The black chains began to vibrate.
Then they shattered into a thousand pieces.
The explosion of mana shook the square. Lusian was hurled several meters away, rolling across the cobblestones. Kara drove her greatsword into the stone to keep herself from being swept away, while Emily raised a barrier that barely held against the shockwave.
The A-Omega raised its head, its gaze fixed on Lusian.
Its ensuing roar made the windows throughout the street tremble.
The beast charged.
The soldiers had no chance. The impact tore through the first line: three men were thrown into the air, then five more, their bodies mangled beneath the claws and sheer force of the charge.
There was no time left for orders or strategies.
Marcus exhaled the last air from his lungs and ran. Every step made the cobblestones crack beneath his boots.
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
His mana erupted. Flames burst from his sword and transformed into blazing chains that wrapped around the A-Omega.
The creature roared and pulled with all its strength, trying to break free, but Marcus gritted his teeth and held the spell with everything he had left.
He was at his limit.
The A-Omega raised a claw.
Marcus barely managed to lift his sword to block it.
CRACK!
The blade shattered.
The claw struck him head-on, sending Marcus crashing across the cobblestones. He rolled through the dust and flames, blood filling his mouth as the world spun around him.
Lusian rose sharply.
He saw Marcus hurled across the cobblestones—and the A-Omega still trapped by the shadows that had cost the governor his life.
"We won't waste this," Lusian declared.
Dainslein vibrated in his hand with a hungry hum, and Lusian dissolved into the darkness.
Kara understood the maneuver instantly. She sprinted toward the A-Omega's exposed flank, leaped with seismic force, and brought her greatsword down with the full weight of her body.
BOOM!
The impact crushed the creature's shoulder and forced it down onto one knee. The A-Omega turned its head toward her, enraged, but its time had run out.
Emily already had the spell ready. The sacred mana from her staff had been compressed into a brilliant needle of pure light.
"Lusian."
The shadows closed like a perfect vise, wrenching the monster's head aside and exposing its throat.
"Now!"
Emily fired.
The lance of light pierced the A-Omega's neck from side to side. Its final roar died in its throat before it could be born.
For one eternal second, the colossus remained frozen in the middle of the square.
Then a white fissure of light tore through its body.
Its core exploded from within, and the creature disintegrated into a storm of crimson ash that the wind scattered among the flames.
On the cornices and rooftops, the lesser felines froze.
One stared at the remains of its leader. Another fixed its eyes on Lusian...
And panic spread through the pack.
They fled.
The pack scattered in disarray, disappearing into the darkness of the forests beyond Eldoria.
Eldoria fell into a deathly silence. Only the crackling flames, the groaning of structures on the verge of collapse, and the muffled cries of the wounded remained.
Lusian slowly lowered Dainslein. Kara rested her greatsword on her shoulder. Emily ran toward Marcus and knelt beside him.
She placed both hands against his chest, and golden light covered his wounds. The bleeding stopped, and his breathing seemed to stabilize.
For a moment, Emily believed she could save him.
She gritted her teeth and intensified the flow of magic.
"No... No."
Marcus slowly opened his eyes. It took him a moment to focus, but he recognized Emily, Lusian, Kara, and his soldiers.
The Jackal managed a faint smile.
"So... you came."
"Save your strength," Emily pleaded.
"No..." Marcus murmured, turning his gaze toward the burning marketplace, where men were already forming lines to fight the flames. "I've done enough."
His eyes slowly closed.
Emily kept her hands pressed against his chest until the very end, maintaining the golden glow, but Marcus Valentine's heart stopped beating.
The silence that followed weighed heavier than any roar.
Lusian approached. He said nothing.
Kara and Emily lowered their heads.
Marcus Valentine had defended Eldoria until his final breath. He could not defeat the monster on his own, but he had bought the time they needed to do it.
The Jackal had fulfilled his duty.
At the far end of the square, an electric whinny pierced the fog.
Thunder emerged through the smoke. Elizabeth and Dayana dismounted and approached them. The princess stopped dead when she saw the governor's body, her expression changing instantly.
She asked no questions.
None were necessary.
Around them, the soldiers of Carpathia and the survivors of Eldoria continued working side by side. Some formed lines to carry water, others pulled the wounded from collapsed buildings, while officers organized patrols and mages fought the remaining pockets of fire.
The city had survived, but barely.
Lusian raised his gaze toward the collapsed walls.
This had not been an ordinary incursion.
The A-Omega had thought, coordinated the pack, and selected its targets with tactical precision.
The beasts' retreat did not mean the threat was over.
It only meant they had survived their first encounter.