Ash tore his blade free from the creature's skull. Black blood hissed as he flicked it off the steel.
"[Vanquished Tier 2 Creature: Broodspawn Mantid]"
He straightened. The clearing was empty now. The survivors were gone. Max too.
Ash looked down the mountain. Further ahead, fire lit the trees in bursts. That's where Kael was.
The ground shook. The mantis-like beast came crashing down, carving a trench through roots and stone.
It scrambled up on shaky legs, one claw shattered and dangling uselessly.
It turned to flee.
A wall of fire roared up from the forest floor—cutting it off.
The creature stopped. It screeched, long and sharp, but the flames didn't flinch. Neither did the footsteps behind it.
Kael stepped through the smoke, a glow rising in his eyes. Flame danced around his shoulders like a living thing.
"You think I'd let you run?"
His voice was calm.
The creature opened its mouth, releasing a scream that warped the air—a vibration that rippled through the mountain trees.
Kael didn't stop.
His body lit up—fire trailing from his limbs as he launched into the sky.
He flew high, just above the screech, then dropped like a meteor. His fist burned red-hot.
He slammed it into the creature's chest.
The beast howled, stumbling back. Ash could see smoke rising from the hole where Kael's fist had hit.
It swung with its good claw.
Kael ducked under the strike and leapt back, fire still wrapped around his arms.
Kael raised both hands.
A beam of fire burst from his palms, searing through the misty air like a lance of light. It struck the creature dead center, pinning it in place. The mantis screeched, its cry twisting the trees, rattling the stones—but Kael didn't stop.
The fire kept pouring out, carving deep into its carapace. Steam hissed from its flesh.
Still grinning, Kael leaned in.
The creature's body cracked. Then it burst—black blood splashed across the earth, painting Kael's cloak in dark stains.
He stepped forward, slow and calm.
Where the creature once stood, five large eggs remained. Bigger than the others. Pulsing faintly. Wet.
Kael stopped and stared.
A smirk tugged at his mouth.
"Tier Five. Five eggs. Rebirth through one of them... huh."
One of the eggs twitched.
Kael didn't hesitate. He raised an arm.
"I'll make sure you don't crawl back."
A column of flame roared from his hand, engulfing the cluster.
The eggs shrieked—tiny, muffled cries that died just as quickly as they came.
Silence followed.
Kael lowered his arm, smoke curling from his fingertips.
"I guess we're done here."
————
Far off, near the edge of the mountain path, the last two broodspawn twitched once, then dropped—lifeless. The moment the mantis died, they did too.
Next to their corpses, a woman lay half-consumed. Her back was gone, spine exposed, blood soaked into the cracked earth. Whatever pain she felt had already passed. There was no saving her.
Max stood still, the survivors huddled behind him. No one spoke.
He kept his eyes ahead as Kael approached from the smoke.
Max's voice broke the silence.
"What's the creature's name?"
Kael glanced at the body, then at the twitching remains. A crooked grin spread across his face.
"Mmm... something with 'mantis' in it? Slipped my mind."
He pulled off his helmet. His black hair caught the sunlight, streaks of dried blood along his jaw. He looked older than Kael—they are brothers so you can tell.
He frowned and said flatly.
"Don't screw with me. I told you already—getting the name matters. That thing was new. Strong. If we had the right tag, other squads might not walk into the same fight blind."
Kael shrugged.
"Wow, alright. Relax. I was messing with you."
He nodded toward the ruined husk.
"It's called Vilemantis Broodmother. The little ones?"
Max cut him off.
"Broodspawn Mantid. I know."
He raised a hand. A soft hum filled the air as a holographic screen flickered to life. His fingers moved fast, data scrolling across the light.
Kael tilted his head.
"Already logging it?"
Max didn't answer.
The sun broke through the clouds for a moment. All around them, the bodies of monsters and men cooled in silence.
Ash stepped through the scorched field. His boots pressed into blackened grass, crushed shell, and half-buried bones. He stopped beside the broken corpse of the Broodmother, then turned and ahead to Max and the others.
His gaze flicked to the dead woman, her face twisted in fear, jaw locked mid-scream.
Max didn't meet his eyes. Instead, he turned to the shaken crowd.
"You did the right thing, going back into the cage,"
His voice was low, calm, like he was forcing himself to stay steady.
"If you hadn't, you'd all be dead. And those things would've bred again."
He looked downhill, past the smoldering trees and the shattered edge of the cliff.
"They're gone now. You're free."
A woman dropped to her knees. Her shoulders sagged like the weight of her loss had crushed the bones inside her. Her eyes were blank.
"My husband… my children…"
she whispered.
"They're gone. All of them."
A man beside her clenched his hands over his face. His breath came in ragged gulps. He didn't speak.
Max stayed quiet.
Then another voice broke through.
"If we leave… they'll just come again. Lock us up. Feed us to more monsters."
Kael turned.
"Who?"
His tone was sharp, edged with flame even when he wasn't burning.
The crowd shifted.
An old man stepped forward. Gray-bearded, dirt-streaked, but somehow… calm. Like someone who had seen worse and survived it. He looked Kael in the eye.
"Bandits, They come every month. Always more of them."
Max narrowed his eyes muttering to himself.
"Bandits are hitting this place too? That's the third report this week."
The old man nodded once.
"They show up out of nowhere. Demand contribution points, weapons, anything of value. If you have nothing, they take blood instead. The ones they don't kill get locked up."
His voice dropped lower.
"That cage wasn't built for monsters. It was built for us. So we could be bait. So we could be food."
Silence fell.
Ash looked up at the darkening sky. No wind. No birds. Just the reek of blood and smoke curling down the mountainside.
Kael glanced at the huddled group, then down at a small boy clutching his mother's bloodstained waist. The kid's hands were shaking.
Kael's jaw tightened.
"They even take the children?"
A woman beside them nodded once, eyes hollow.
Max turned to face the group.
"You need to move. We're on a mountain. Carrioncall birds don't wait long when they smell blood."
The words had barely left his mouth when a low, bone-deep screech rolled across the sky. Then another. The sound multiplied, layered over itself, building like a storm of dying voices.
The wind shifted.
A shadow spread overhead—not a cloud, not dusk.
Wings.
Hundreds of them.
Rot-black feathers stripped to the bone. Twisted shapes soared above, their wings torn like flesh-paper, beaks serrated like rusted blades. Yellow eyes glowed through ragged sockets. Their cries weren't natural—more like the last scream of something that knew it was about to die.
Each bird carried a piece of a past kill—bone spears jammed into their wings, strings of human sinew stitched through their skin like crude thread.
The sky wept acid.
Screams broke out. The group scattered, some falling to their knees, others covering their heads.
One man stared at the sky, lips trembling.
"This is it… we're done…"
Max didn't move. Neither did Ash.
He glanced at Kael.
"Kael."
Kael grinned, teeth showing, like he'd been waiting for this.
"Already on it."
He raised a hand.
A line of fire tore through the sky like a whip made of the sun itself. It hit the flock in mid-dive. Some birds exploded midair, bile raining down in streaks. The rest scattered, their screams rising as they fled into the clouds.
For a moment, the only sound was fire crackling in the sky.
Max watched the last of the birds vanish into the clouds, streaks of bile still sizzling where they'd splattered against stone.
"That bought us time. Not much, though. They'll come back."
He turned to the survivors. Most were slumped or kneeling. No one spoke. No one looked up.
Their fear hung thick in the air—like ash after a fire.
Max exhaled through his nose.
"You won't survive like this. Not if more creatures come."
He glanced at Kael.
"Can you take them back down the mountain?"
Kael's gaze drifted to the kid again—the one gripping his mother like she'd vanish if he let go.
"Yeah, sure."
His voice was low.
Then he looked at Max.
"You're not coming?"
Max's eyes shifted, drawn to the place where the battle had ended. The scorched stone. The shattered cage. The eggshell fragments slick with black blood.
"I'll be there soon, I need to check something first."
Kael tilted his head, confused, but didn't press.
"Alright."
He turned and walked, his steps slow so the wounded could keep up. The others followed, heads down, feet dragging.
Max stood alone as the sound of their footsteps faded.
Ash stepped beside him, eyes on the burned battlefield.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
Max's voice dropped.
"The bandits. They said they wanted points… but that doesn't add up. Not for something like this."
He started walking toward the broken cage, the wind pulling at the edges of his coat.
"There's more going on. I want to see what they left behind."
Ash followed without a word, boots crunching over burned feathers and stone.
The mountain was quiet again.
But the silence didn't feel like peace.
It felt like a breath before the next scream.