[Realm: Uhorus]

[Location: Verdantis]

[Embereach]

They had heard the barrier break only seconds ago, yet the sight awaiting them already felt hauntingly complete, as though the city had been waiting for this exact moment to finally lose the struggle it had desperately prolonged.

The northern wall of Embereach had been torn open.

A massive hole split through the stone fortification, rubble still collapsing from the edges in heavy chunks as snow and dust billowed outward into the freezing air. The defensive wall was ripped apart by claws too large and vicious to comprehend restraint.

And from that opening, the Abyssal Creatures poured through.

Fiona’s breath slowed.

There were too many.

The creatures came in a writhing flood of blackened bodies, crawling over broken stone and climbing over one another without care for shape or structure. Some were small and quadrupedal, their movements twitching and unnatural as they skittered across the snow with disturbing speed. Others were enormous masses of distorted flesh and Abyssal matter, forcing themselves through the breach while the wall around them crumbled further beneath their sheer size.

The white snowfields beyond the city walls had almost disappeared beneath them.

And the sound was horrible.

A mixture of screeching, scraping, and wet tearing noises, along with distorted clicking, echoed through the ruined opening as the creatures surged forward with singular purpose. There was no hesitation in them.

Only destruction.

Fiona felt her fingers tighten unconsciously.

Even after fighting them repeatedly, the Abyssal Creatures remained deeply unpleasant to look at. Their forms felt wrong in ways that went beyond appearance. Looking at them for too long created a pressure behind the eyes, as though the mind rejected their existence.

Cold wind whipped across the street.

Snow scattered around Fiona, and beside her, Ingrid stepped forward first.

The young knight’s expression did not shift even slightly as she adjusted the silver gauntlets covering her hands, emerald eyes fixed entirely on the advancing tide.

"We cannot let them spread further into the city," Ingrid spoke calmly, though there was a sharper edge beneath her composed tone. "If they disperse into the residential districts, evacuation will become impossible."

Fiona let out a slow breath through her nose before stepping beside her.

"No need to tell me," she murmured quietly.

Despite her relaxed tone, her salmon-pink eyes had sharpened completely. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The pressure in the air had changed.

The creatures continued forcing themselves through the opening, larger forms shoving aside smaller ones with brute force as broken stone rained down around them. One particularly massive Abyssal Creature dragged itself halfway through the breach, its body too wide for the opening until it simply forced the walls apart further with sheer physical strength.

The ground trembled.

Fiona clicked her tongue softly.

"That’s repulsive," she muttered.

Ingrid glanced at her briefly before returning her focus ahead.

"You possess a Divine Artifact as well, yes?" Ingrid questioned suddenly.

Fiona blinked once before giving a small nod.

"Yeah. The Beast Gods." Her voice steadied as she spoke, eyes never leaving the creatures. "It lets me empower myself with the abilities of Astrothians. Strength, senses, speed, durability... depends on what I invoke."

Ingrid absorbed the information quickly.

"Useful," she stated simply.

Unlike many people Fiona had met, Ingrid did not react with awe or fascination toward Divine Artifacts. She seemed to treat the information like a resource to be assessed and utilized efficiently.

"My Artifact manifests as a blade," Ingrid continued evenly. "Its active ability specializes in destructive output. Wide-range attacks and effective against large concentrations."

Fiona’s ears twitched slightly beneath their ornaments as she glanced sideways at the younger girl.

Ingrid looked composed, or resolved was more accurate.

"As expected from a knight of Verdantis," Fiona said quietly.

Ingrid extended one gauntleted hand slightly as if mentally measuring the battle before them.

"I can hold back the majority of the Abyssal Creatures near the breach," Ingrid continued without pause. "Some will inevitably bypass me. Those I leave to you while you continue searching for remaining civilians."

The way she said it sounded less like a request and more like an immediate order.

Fiona stared at her for a brief second before a small, tired smile touched her lips.

"You hand out orders like a certain someone I know," Fiona murmured.

Ingrid looked at her properly.

"What was that?"

Fiona immediately waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, nothing."

Though inwardly, the comparison had already settled itself firmly in her mind.

Another violent crash erupted from the breach as one of the larger Abyssal Creatures slammed itself fully through the broken wall. Its massive body hit the snow-covered streets with enough force to crack stone beneath it.

Smaller creatures immediately surged around it.

Fiona’s expression hardened again.

"Let’s see what we can do to ease this situation," she said quietly.

Ingrid gave no verbal confirmation.

She simply moved.

The moment her knees bent, Fiona felt the sudden spike of mana.

Then Ingrid vanished.

The snowy street beneath her feet exploded apart from sheer force as the young knight launched skyward in a blur. Wind spiraled violently in her wake, snow scattering across rooftops as she ascended high above the approaching horde.

Far faster than Fiona expected.

Fiona adjusted her own movement immediately, sabatons pushing off the ground as she leapt sideways instead of forward.

Her body landed weightlessly atop a tall snow-covered building overlooking the northern district. The rooftop groaned softly beneath her.

From there, she could see everything, the broken wall, the endless swarm and the terrified flickering lights deeper within the city where civilians still hid.

And Ingrid.

The raven-haired knight hung briefly in the air above the breach before her right hand extended outward.

Mana exploded.

A brilliant silver light erupted into existence beside her, condensing rapidly into the shape of a massive blade almost larger than her own body. Blue lines ran along its surface, glowing brighter and brighter as the surrounding air distorted from the density of power gathering around it.

The Abyssal Creatures noticed her instantly.

Several of the larger ones shrieked upward far too late.

Ingrid swung downward.

The attack did not resemble a slash so much as an explosion. A colossal arc of silver light crashed into the frontlines of the Abyssal horde with deafening force. The street erupted apart instantly. Stone shattered and snow vaporized. Entire clusters of Abyssal Creatures disappeared beneath the blast before they could even react.

The explosion rippled outward violently.

Black bodies were torn apart and buildings near the breach shook. The shockwave alone flattened dozens more creatures.

Fiona’s eyes widened slightly despite herself.

"Huh," she muttered beneath her breath. "There’s something about that light..."

But even then more kept coming.

The surviving Abyssal Creatures climbed over the remains of the destroyed ones without hesitation, continuing their advance through the breach like an endless tide.

Fiona exhaled slowly.

"Of course it wouldn’t be that easy."

Her eyes narrowed, then her pupils sharpened vertically. Mana pulsed through her body, a faint red aura began forming around her limbs as the Divine Artifact responded to her will. The cold air around Fiona suddenly felt heavier. Her muscles tightened beneath her armor as enhanced physical power surged through her body.

Below her, several Abyssal Creatures had already broken away from the main horde, skittering rapidly through the streets toward the inner districts.

Fiona’s gaze sharpened the moment her feet left the rooftop.

The black gauntlets wrapped around her forearms shifted with a metallic groan, layers sliding over one another as though alive. The armor thickened around her hands, extending past her fingers into curved claws of alloy. The outline of engravings lit across the surface for a brief instant before dimming beneath.

Then she disappeared.

The rooftop beneath her feet cracked from the force alone as Fiona shot downward in a blur, her body cutting through the freezing air with frightening speed. One of the Abyssal Creatures barely managed to raise its malformed head before Fiona tore through it entirely. Her clawed hand ripped across its torso with enough force to split the creature apart mid-motion, black matter bursting outward as her momentum carried her straight through it.

She did not stop.

The moment her sabatons touched the ground, she twisted sharply, claws flashing again. Another Abyssal Creature lunged toward her with elongated limbs, only for Fiona to duck beneath the strike and drive her claws upward through its chest. The impact lifted the creature off the ground before she flung it aside into two others rushing her from the flank.

The street exploded.

Abyssal Creatures crawled over shattered stone and broken walls, their bodies twitching unnaturally as they surged toward her in a frenzy. Fiona inhaled slowly through her nose, centering herself despite the overwhelming numbers.

("Too many...") Her expression shifted. ("But panicking helps no one.")

One creature leapt from above.

Fiona reacted instantly. Her body spun low, claws carving through its legs before she sprang upward and tore through another directly behind it. Blackened limbs hit the snow-covered ground as she continued forward without hesitation.

Another creature opened its distorted jaw wide.

Fiona slammed her claw into its face hard enough to cave its head inward before dragging the creature through the ground beside her. Stone cracked violently beneath the force.

Then another.

And another.

She tore through them in quick succession, claws ripping apart bodies as black blood stained the snow around her.