Two Years Later
Steel scraped stone. The blade bit deep into the cliffside, sending a spray of dust down the jagged wall. Ash pulled himself up with his other hand, muscles trembling, breath shallow.
The wind howled.
A crow landed on a crooked branch jutting from the stone. Not a normal one—its feathers shimmered like oil, and five eyes blinked in strange rhythm. It stared at Ash. Tilted its head.
Ash's blade flashed.
The branch split. The crow vanished in a blur of wings and silence.
He gritted his teeth.
"Damn creature."
He kept climbing. Slower now. Blood ran from his palm where stone had torn through the glove.
Fingers found the ledge.
As he reached up, a figure lunged over the ridge.
No skin. Bone mouth. Hollow sockets where eyes should've been. The thing screamed, breathless and sharp, and snapped its jaw toward his throat.
Ash grabbed the skull, fingers digging in. With a growl, he hurled the creature down. Its scream faded as it fell, bouncing off the cliff in a spiral of limbs and bone.
He pulled himself over the edge. Rolled onto his back. Chest rising. Dust in his lungs.
He sat up slowly.
Around him, the mountainside was littered with bodies—humans and creatures twisted together in death. Blood soaked the roots of shattered trees, their blackened trunks still smoldering. The scent of ash hung heavy in the air. Far below, through the gaps in the trees, the plains stretched into haze and ruin—he saw it.
A mantis-shaped beast, towering over the cragged stone. Wings like broken glass twitched against its back. Its claws gleamed—long, curved, sharp enough to split bone. Dozens of eyes lined its head, wide and motionless. Always watching.
It hissed.
One of its legs was gone, ripped off at the joint, but it didn't stop. It lunged again, slashing at the person standing before it—who barely managed to dodge, flying backward
Ash narrowed his eyes. Jaw clenched.
He rose to his feet.
A trail of fire cut through the sky.
It slammed into the towering insect, exploding against its carapace. The beast raised a clawed arm, shielding its face as heat splashed across its shell.
Then it screamed.
Not a roar—something worse. A wave of sound, sharp and low, like teeth grinding inside the skull. The air vibrated. Rocks cracked.
Kael dropped from the smoke, barely avoiding the blast. His black hair whipped in the wind—messy, unruly—save for one streak of red burning through it like a flame that never died. A grin split his face. Not joy. Something wilder. The grin of a man born for battle.
He dropped low. Then launched forward.
His fist struck the beast's torso. Flesh cracked. The mantis screeched again, coughing out two pulsing sacs—wet, translucent, twitching.
Kael hissed.
"Not this again."
The creature struck back, a wide swing of its jagged arm. Kael flew sideways and crashed into the cliff wall, stone breaking behind him.
The mantis turned
The eggs writhed. Then split.
Three things slithered free—human-sized insectoids, hunched on four legs. Their wings shimmered. Their faces were bare skulls stretched thin over bone. No eyes. Just hunger.
They turned their heads.
Near the edge of the field, a small group of survivors stood behind a warped metal cage. Faces pale. Eyes locked forward. Scared but not shivering. Not broken like most stage 1 do after meeting a tier 5 creature. But they didn't move.
The newborns crawled closer—one flew, two walked.
A blast lit the air.
One of the creatures dropped, its body folding in on itself, smoking from the chest.
The others stopped.
A man stood behind the rising smoke. Arm raised, fingers shaped into a barrel. His body was wrapped in a sleek suit of black plates, and a curved helmet covered his face. Smoke curled from his palm.
The Creature screamed again.
A high-pitched screech that cracked the dirt and split the clouds. A beam of raw sound surged from her throat, a lance of pressure aimed straight at the shooter.
The man moved—sideways, fast. The beam carved the earth where he'd been.
He fired again. Then again. Bursts of light slammed into the mantis.
The newborns turned. Wings snapped open. They charged.
They struck him mid-step. One drove him down. The other followed, claws raised.
Ash's heart clenched. He stepped forward, rage rising in his chest.
"Shit, Max."
Ash shifted his weight, ready to move.
Then something rose behind him.
Wings buzzed—fast and sharp. A shadow closed in.
Ash snarled, blade halfway drawn.
"How the hell are these damn things learning to fly this fast?"
The creature dove.
Ash spun, just before impact. His blade flashed. One wing sliced clean off. The creature dropped, screeching, limbs flailing.
It didn't stay down.
Claws tore at the earth as it lunged again, jaws wide.
Ash stepped in. Drove the blade through its skull. A crunch. Then silence.
He yanked the weapon free, turned, and split the head in two—just to be sure.
Then he ran.
Max was still out there.
But before Ash could reach him, something echoed inside his mind—cold and strange.
"[Vanquished Tier 2 Creature: Broodspawn Mantid]"
His breath hitched for a second.
That voice again.
It dug under the skin, left a chill in the bones. But Ash didn't stop. He'd heard it too many times to care.
Ahead, beams of light flared.
Both spawn dropped, bodies twitching in the dust. Max stood between them, his suit stained with black blood. One shoulder plate bent. His visor cracked—but he didn't slow.
A new sound—heavy. Thunder on stone.
Ash looked up.
The ground trembled. The Creature charged, each step like a hammer.
Max raised his arm.
A burst of force ignited beneath his boots, launching him backward just as the claw came down. Stone shattered where he had stood.
Max spun in the air.
His gauntlet shifted. The barrel on his hand flared.
Bolts of energy screamed through the air, slamming into the beast.
It raised an arm, blocking the shots with its thick shell.
Still, Max didn't stop.
Ash moved.
Sparks danced across his skin. Small arcs flickered between his fingers and the blade in his hand.
Then the voice returned. It sounded like his voice but more calm, cold and mechanical:
"[Skill: Storm Vein]"
"[Skill: Static Surge]"
The world shifted.
Edges sharpened. Time stretched. Every motion slowed except his own.
Ash lunged.
His body blurred, the storm inside him cracking through muscle and bone. He slipped past the creature's claws, ducked beneath the curve of its blade-like leg, and drove his weapon toward its head.
The blade punched through chitin, sank deep between twitching eyes.
The beast screamed.
But it didn't die.
It threw its weight back, dragging Ash with it before slamming into the ground. Max fired. The blasts struck its neck—but it didn't fall.
The creature roared and surged forward, slamming both of them aside like toys.
Ash rolled across the stone. Max was sent skidding into a boulder, suit sparking.
The beast didn't care.
It turned.
Straight for the survivors.
The cage stood in its way—twisted steel and reinforced bars—but the creature hit it like a wrecking ball. Metal snapped. Screams rose.
One man tried to run.
Too slow.
A claw pinned him down. Jaws opened. Bone crunched.
Then silence.
The body vanished.
In its place, the creature coughed.
Four wet pods dropped from its mouth. Eggs, pulsing with sick light.
Max raised his arm.
His gauntlet sparked, preparing to fire—
—but the creature's head slammed into him before he could shoot. He flew back, crashing into a wall hard enough to leave a dent.
The beast turned again.
The remaining survivors were frozen. Legs trembling. No weapons. No way out.
Then the air shifted.
A shadow streaked past.
Fire exploded across the creature's side.
Kael hit it like a meteor.
His whole body burned—flames rising from his skin like they were alive, feeding on his rage.
He drove his fist into the mantid's chest. Again. And again.
Each hit scorched flesh and shattered chitin.
The beast screamed, claws flailing—but Kael didn't stop. He dragged it across the ground, fists pounding, flames roaring louder than the creature's shrieks.
Together, they vanished into the distance—fire trailing behind them.
Ash didn't look toward Kael. His eyes were locked on the eggs.
He moved.
Blade drawn, crackling faintly with static. He swung down hard.
Too late.
One egg split open. Then another. And another.
Four broodspawn spilled out—smaller than the mantis, but faster. Hungry.
They shrieked.
Ash stepped in. His blade cut a clean arc, severing the head of the first.
It hit the ground, twitching.
Then the voice slithered into his skull again—unwelcome, but familiar.
"[Vanquished Tier 2 Creature: Broodspawn Mantid]"
Ash didn't have time to breathe.
A second creature slammed into his ribs, knocking the wind from his lungs.
Another rose, wings buzzing, and latched onto him. Its legs wrapped tight. Then it lifted.
The ground fell away.
Ash caught a glimpse of the cliff edge. The drop. The sharp rocks below.
His jaw tightened.
"No. No no no—we are not doing that again."
He twisted, jamming his blade into the creature's side.
It shrieked.
They dropped.
Ash hit the ground in a rough tumble, rolled through dust and blood, then rose again—bruised but standing.
In front of him, one of the broodspawn landed and hissed. Wings twitching. Eyes burning with hunger.
The others turned toward the fleeing survivors.
Ash didn't move. Not yet.
He stared at the one in front of him, lightning still sparking at his fingertips.
"You're alone now,"
His voice low.
"You're going to die here, you damn creature."