"Be alert," Omfry growled, his eyes scanning the shadows. "These creatures are fast."
Ziraiah, still catching her breath, was gently helped up by Anuel. The older woman stepped in front of her, shielding her with quiet resolve, her eyes fixed on the twitching air around them.
Meanwhile, deep in another chamber of the fortress, Jeriana's team stood before a glimmering mountain of ancient gold. Jeriana, composed as ever, brought a thin, pen-like device to her lips—a strek communicator.
"Daiel, just in front of me. Open your portal," she commanded.
Moments later, a glowing portal spiraled open high above the treasure. Jeriana frowned.
"It's too high. Bring it down."
Daiel's voice crackled in through the strek, far louder than necessary.
"Hey, you think I can do this infinitely?! You should've told me exactly where! I have to focus here so some creature doesn't ram through my skull. My sentinel isn't all-seeing, you know!"
Lisa, standing nearby, rolled her eyes. "Stop whining and just do it, Daiel."
As if in retaliation, the high portal vanished, and a new one shot forward horizontally—straight toward Lisa. She barely had time to blink.
She was gone.
Jeriana blinked. "What? Daiel, stop messing around. Bring her back."
High above the ocean far from the ruin, Lisa screamed as she plummeted from the sky.
"DAIEL, YOU BASTAAAARD!!"
Daiel's voice came casually through the strek. "That girl never respected me. Thinks I'm some errand boy."
Back in the room, Omfry deflected another bone-nosed rat-beast and muttered, "That's not nice, Daiel."
"Don't worry. She'll be back."
True to his word, Daiel opened a new portal beneath the gold pile. The treasure vanished into the rift, sucked into his holding space.
Lisa, soaked and furious, swam through a glowing ripple beneath the waves—another of Daiel's portals. It spat her out next to Jeriana, accompanied by a gush of seawater.
She hit the ground gasping. Jeriana stepped back as the water splashed around her boots.
Daiel's voice followed smugly. "Looks like you forgot—I can send you anywhere. Absolutely anywhere. Remember that."
Then the line cut.
Sumshus walked up, shaking his head as Lisa panted on the stone floor.
He put a hand on her shoulder. "You asked why we always fought? Well... now you know. He always abuses that Seed of his."
---
Back in Omfry's chamber, the assault worsened.
The rat-like beasts didn't just run on walls or ceilings—they ran on the air.
"Is there no end to these things?" Omfry barked, punching another creature into a red mist.
Time slowed.
His perception locked in. Everything became clear.
The creatures had four thin legs, but it wasn't just agility. They moved with thunderous grace.
Thunder Stride, Omfry realized, smirking. Even these little ones can use it.
Time resumed.
More and more creatures poured in. For some reason, they all focused on Omfry.
Ziraiah watched in stunned silence as Omfry's arms vanished into blurs. Boom after boom echoed as bodies burst, splashing blood across ancient walls.
He made sure not to hurl any toward his team.
One creature dodged his strike mid-air. Omfry's eyes widened.
What?
The beast rebounded off nothing and launched straight for Anuel.
Omfry turned, instincts flaring.
"No."
He folded his fingers into a sharp gesture—index finger extended—and struck the air vertically.
A thin, invisible line of force tore through the room.
The rat-like creature was cleaved in half instantly, blood trailing behind it.
The energy carried forward, slicing toward the far wall—
And stopped.
No damage. No mark.
Omfry narrowed his eyes.
What is this place made of?
He roared, his aura erupting—and in one instant, every single remaining creature in the room was sliced to ribbons.
He turned. "Let's go."
They bolted from the room.
As they ran, Omfry's mind raced.
Even I can't scratch these walls. If something strong traps us here, we may never escape. How many creatures in this place can shrug off my full force?
"Anuel!" he barked. "Pick up the girl. We can't move at her pace."
The ruin was no longer a vault.
It was a predator.
In another wing of the fortress, Dreados moved with quiet purpose, opening chambers one by one as his team followed. The walls whispered with ancient weight—unbreakable, unmoved by time. Echoes of past grandeur and present danger coiled in every corridor.
Far behind them, the Lycans had finally entered the fortress—this time through the main gates. Their earlier attempt at brute force had left them humbled. And yet, outside the walls, the siege had only intensified.
Thousands upon thousands of Raiders and Unbound had amassed at the base of the fortress. The air roiled with spells, chants, and raw frustration.
"They're launching everything they have," someone muttered.
"What the hell is this thing made of?" another shouted.
Dozens more joined in, unleashing devastating barrages of magic and weaponry against the outer structure—but nothing left a mark.
Orian's group soared above the crowd, scanning the chaos.
"Even with all this firepower…" Omar murmured, eyes narrowed, "they've barely dented a pebble."
"And many of them are monsters too," Omria added grimly, her camera silently recording.
The scale of the fortress was so colossal, even nearly a hundred thousand gathered warriors barely occupied a fraction of its wall.
---
Within the fortress, Valerius and Eryndor walked side by side, their boots echoing against the hollow stone.
Valerius looked around. "This place must've been really nice… once."
Eryndor's gaze was steady. "Indeed. One can only imagine how resplendent these halls must have appeared in their prime—a civilization at the pinnacle of its refinement, now reduced to dust."
They came upon a small chamber with a cracked doorway. Half the ancient door had been blown apart, the rest hung crookedly on rusted hinges, just wide enough for one person to pass at a time.
Beily approached, expression curious. He placed a hand on the remains of the doorframe and tried to wrench it free.
Nothing.
He gritted his teeth and tried again—this time with both hands. His muscles strained, veins pulsing, breath sharp.
He paused, stunned.
"…What the hell?"
He turned back. "Dreados! This door—I can't move it. At all."
Dreados barely glanced his way. "Your humor is mistimed. Focus."
"I'm serious."
Valerius slipped past him easily, brushing through the narrow space, and entered the room beyond.
Inside, clusters of glowing crystals shimmered faintly on pedestals and shelves.
He picked one up, eyes wide. "Hey, Eryndor. If I take this back to Earth, how rich would I be?"
Eryndor stepped inside, his tone detached. "Valerius… we are already among the wealthy elite."
Valerius frowned. "That's Mom's money, man. I wanna make my own."
He lifted a handful of crystals toward his face, inspecting them.
"With this? I'll be stinking rich."
Eryndor exhaled. He folded his arms, posture stiff. "Our mother controls the largest corporate empire on the planet. There exists no luxury or pursuit you could not already attain. And yet, you still seek more?"
Valerius looked up at him, tuning out the rest of the lecture.
Why do I have to have a ridiculously uptight brother like him? Just look at him. All high-and-mighty, always talking like some damn noble. Doesn't even talk about girls. We could've had so much fun if he was just… normal.
Eryndor's voice broke through his daydream.
"Valerius! Is your mind so enshrouded in folly that even my clearest words vanish into the abyss of your disregard"
"Huh? Y-yeah. Yh, yh."
Eryndor stared at him. "You feigned attention, but comprehension never took root, did it?"
"What? I was!"
Eryndor's voice was calm, clipped. "No one in this world is more capable of discerning your fabrications than I."
Before Valerius could respond, a bang exploded through the chamber.
A shockwave slammed into them.
Valerius and Eryndor were hurled through the air, crashing against the far wall.
It was Beily.
He'd punched the door.
And the door hadn't moved an inch.
Beily stood there, staring at his knuckles, wide-eyed. "See, Dreados? No material should be this hard…"
Dreados's gaze darkened. He remembered the Lycans slamming into the outer walls and being violently flung backward.
So it's not just the exterior. Every inch of this fortress… is impossibly dense.
Valerius groaned from the floor. "What… just happened?"
No one answered.
Dreados raised his strek and called Daiel. "Five meters in front of me. Ground portal. Fifteen meters wide."
Valerius, dazed, scrambled to his knees. He glanced down at the crystals, then at his Warframe.
"…Doesn't this thing have a pocket?"
A small compartment slid open along his thigh.
Valerius grinned. "Oooh. Nice."
He loaded the crystals inside just before Daiel's portal opened. The rest of the room's crystals sank into the portal and vanished.
Dreados turned, walking past Beily.
"Take the children. We're sprinting."
Beily extended two of his arms. Valerius sighed.
"Gonna be carried again… like a damn handbag."
He walked into Beily's grip, and Beily scooped up both siblings effortlessly.
---
Elsewhere in the fortress—
Omfry's group continued running.
"Lisa," Omfry said, voice sharp. "Tell Dreados—I can't damage this place. We need to leave now. If we get surrounded by strong beasts, we're trapped. Also—tell him to watch out for creatures the size of your palm. Incredibly fast."
Lisa blinked. "What?"
"Just do it."
Lisa activated thought transmission. Omfry says he can't damage the fortress. He looks worried. He said we need to leave before strong beasts show up. Also… watch out for tiny creatures—the size of a hand. They're fast as hell.
Dreados narrowed his eyes. "Creatures? What creatures?"
That's when it hit.
A blur screamed through the air at blinding speed.
Dreados sensed it—barely—and tilted his head just in time. The projectile whistled past him and vanished into the hall beyond.
Lisa gasped. "It's done."
Omfry's voice came through. "Good. Now tell Jeriana the same."
---
Beily, unfortunately, was slower to react.
A rat-like creature slammed into his chest, and with a strangled yell, he was thrown back—along with both siblings.
They crashed through the hallway, bouncing against the fortress walls.
Unscathed walls.
Beily coughed violently, dropping Valerius and Eryndor as he fell to his knees. Blood stained his vest.
What was that…?
He looked down, chest heaving. If I hadn't fortified my body… I'd be dead.
He scanned the shadows, but the creature was gone.
The rest of the team arrived.
A woman ran forward. "Beily! Are you alright? What happened?"
Dreados was calm. "He was hit. Something's here. Everyone—on guard."
He knelt beside the siblings. They were both unconscious.
"Leporid," he said. "Heal him."
Gustin, who had been trying very hard to remain unnoticed, was gently dropped from the shoulders of a giant, gray-skinned man with a single eye.
The man didn't say a word. He simply walked to Beily and healed him.
Dreados turned. "Marie—inform Daiel. We require a spare Warframe without delay."
Marie, a Dragoon woman in emerald robes, nodded and cast thought transmission.
Daiel received the message and opened a portal before him, vanishing through it.
Anuel blinked. "Where's he going now?
Moments later, Daiel entered the hidden storage vault and grabbed the spare Warframe. With haste, he opened another portal.
Time was running short.
And the fortress had only begun to show its teeth.
---
Daiel emerged from the portal, his boots hitting the stone beside Dreados's group.
"I've got it," he announced, holding the Warframe over his shoulder.
Dreados gave a short nod. "Give it to the Leporid. We can't have him dying on us."
Daiel set the Warframe down. It activated instantly, scanning Gustin with pulses of blue light. As it adjusted to fit his form, Gustin recoiled slightly, nervous.
"H-Hey! What is that thing?!"
The one-eyed giant standing beside him looked down with a blank expression and said, "Get in."
Reluctantly, Gustin stepped inside. The suit hissed as it closed around him, adapting perfectly.
Dreados turned to Daiel. "Bring your team here."
Without hesitation, Daiel clenched his fist and struck the air beside him—boom. A portal burst open. Simultaneously, on the other side of the fortress, Omfry's team was greeted by the same swirling light.
They stepped through, appearing beside Dreados in an instant.
"Bring Jeriana's team as well," Dreados ordered.
Daiel closed his eyes, his brow tightening. "They're moving… I can't lock on."
Dreados narrowed his eyes. "What's the delay?"
"My sentinel is the weakest among us," Daiel muttered. "I have to concentrate… give me a moment."
A long beat passed.
Then Daiel's eyes snapped open. "Found them."
A new portal bloomed open across the city—Jeriana's team blinked in surprise as they stepped through.
But the moment they arrived—trouble followed.
Dreados turned toward the scent of violence.
"We've got company," he said, low and sharp.
From the far corridor, figures emerged.
Towering, snarling, fanged—the Lycans.
One of them grinned as he approached. "Katos, are those the Elvheins that opened the ruin?"
Katos—the massive, jagged-furred leader of the Devouring Beasts—nodded, eyes gleaming.
"Yes," he growled. "That news scroll was right. And those Elvheins…" His claws flexed. "I must have them. Kill everyone else."
Beside him, a taller Lycan swung a giant flail lazily in one hand. Standing at sixteen feet, his voice was guttural and twisted.
"They've got gorgeous women," he sneered. "Just my type. I'm going to enjoy breaking them."
The Lycans marched forward, grinning like hyenas.
But Dreados stepped forward, calm and steady. His gaze cut like winter.
He and the Lycan leader approached one another, locking eyes. The Lycan leaned down, grinning with rows of jagged teeth.
"You the leader?" he asked.
"Well, here's what's going to happen," he said, voice dripping malice. "I'm going to kill you. Then I'll take those Elvheins—"
He leaned closer, his breath hot with bloodlust.
"—and your women."
Dreados smiled.
Not the smile of a man amused.
The smile of a guillotine just before it drops.
He raised his voice—not in a shout, but in a tone that made the air still.
"Do you know what happens when dogs bark at their owners?"
He raised a fist.
"They are reminded who holds the leash."
His arm dropped—and with it, the world prepared to bleed.
To Be Continued...