A day had passed inside the hidden fortress of the Ashen Blades.
Kaela's body ached with every movement.
Her wounds were stitched, her bones still bruised, but she was standing — barely.
The peace didn't last long.
---
A Summons
Kaela, Arin, Riven, and Veyne stood in front of Selene Varkas, the leader of the Ashen Blades.
Behind her, a rough map of the ruins glowed faintly, showing red zones expanding like bleeding wounds.
Selene didn't waste time.
> "A vital energy relay tower is about to fall into enemy hands.
If they control it, they'll have the means to call reinforcements from beyond the dead zones.
If that happens... this city dies."
Her yellow eyes burned into them.
> "You want to earn your keep here?
You'll help us stop it."
Arin scowled. "We're barely patched up—"
> "War doesn't wait for the wounded."
Selene tossed a battered datapad at Kaela's feet.
Inside it was the mission plan — rough, brutal, suicidal.
---
March into Hell
Hours later, the four of them crouched in the shadow of a collapsed skyscraper.
The relay tower loomed ahead — broken but still functional, surrounded by scavengers and twisted mercs.
Worse — the ground itself hummed.
Veyne muttered lowly:
> "Something's wrong.
The Hollowborn's corruption... it's already spreading."
From the cracks in the earth, black tendrils pulsed and writhed, like veins under rotten skin.
And inside the tower...
something moved.
Something that was once Hollowborn — but now, evolving.
---
A Glimpse of the New Enemy
For just a moment — before they launched their attack — Kaela caught sight of it.
No longer a simple bio-mechanical horror.
It had reshaped itself, absorbing the machines, the broken tech, the dead bodies around it.
Now it stood three times taller, its form ever-shifting.
Metal twisted with bone.
Its head crowned by a halo of jagged wires.
Its body cracked and leaked black mist that corroded everything it touched.
Its hollow eyes glowed with sickly gold.
It was no longer just a monster.
It was becoming a Living Cataclysm.
---
The Battle Begins
Selene's voice crackled in their comms:
> "Delay it.
Buy us time.
Or die trying."
Kaela tightened the grip on her weapon.
Arin loaded the last of his ammo.
Riven adjusted his damaged blade, grimacing.
Veyne smiled grimly. "Just another bad day."
They charged into the darkness.
Guns blazing.
Blades flashing.
Against an enemy that was no longer meant to be fought.