Krug channeled fire into the socket of his greataxe and launched his body across the plaza. The entity tracked the approach with its multitude of eyes and swung a scythe toward the cobblestones. Krug hoisted his weapon upward to meet the descending limb.

The collision cratered the street beneath his boots and sent a shockwave rippling through the surrounding buildings.

Violet flames erupted from the point of impact to scorch the creature’s plating.

A scythed limb crashed into the cobblestones exactly where Krug had been standing a heartbeat before. Krug rolled across the ruined plaza and raised his iron greataxe.

He channeled his gravity manipulation to alter his own weight. The sudden shift propelled him upward over a second sweeping strike to let him land safely a few feet away.

Kronos coated his broadsword in golden light and slid under the creature’s guard. He drove the illuminated blade deep into the exposed joint of the beast’s lower leg. Thick tendons snapped under the edge of the steel.

The monster shrieked and twisted its torso to rip the leg free from the weapon.

’We need to cripple its mobility before it regenerates,’ Krug thought. He gripped his greataxe tighter and watched the multitude of blinking eyes tracking their movements.

"Take out the joints." Krug pointed his weapon toward the creature’s legs. "I will keep its attention focused on the center."

The entity unhinged its maw to unleash a torrent of corrosive sludge directly at the attacking pair. Kronos dove behind a collapsed brick wall to evade the toxic spray. The dark fluid splashed against the bricks and liquefied the stone into a bubbling gray puddle within seconds.

’The acid burns through stone easily,’ Kronos noted. He wiped a stray drop of sludge from his armor. He sprinted around the melting barricade to flank the beast with a tight grip on his sword.

The creature pivoted to track Kronos across the cobblestones. Krug utilized the distraction to scale the creature’s wounded limb. He altered the gravity field around his boots to walk straight up the chitinous plating toward the torso.

The monster snapped its head around and clamped its jaws at the climbing attacker.

Violet flames erupted along the edge of Krug’s greataxe. He vaulted over the snapping teeth and brought his weapon down squarely onto the beast’s skull. The strike scorched the armored plating and sent a shockwave through the creature’s brain.

The beast writhed and swung its remaining scythe toward the sky to dislodge the attacker. The strike caught Krug in the chest plate and launched him backward through the sky.

He crashed through a nearby wall and tumbled across wooden floorboards inside an abandoned tavern.

Kronos jumped from the melting brick barricade and brought his glowing broadsword down upon the extended appendage.

The golden blade sheared completely through the chitin and sent the severed scythe crashing onto the pavement. Foul-smelling liquid sprayed from the open wound to coat the plaza.

Krug pushed himself out of the rubble and wiped a streak of blood from his snout. ’I need to hit the core directly,’ he decided. ’Fighting this beast will be a good practice for me. I wish I could fight it alone, but the lives of innocents are on the line, so I can’t be picky.’

He stepped back out into the ruined street and inverted his gravity field. The shift launched him straight into the sky above the flailing monster.

The creature snapped its jaws at the empty sky and tried to rear up on its remaining legs. Kronos leaped away from the falling debris and sprinted toward the edge of the plaza to clear the blast radius. He kept his glowing sword raised to deflect any incoming projectiles.

Krug amplified the gravity field around the head of his axe and plummeted downward. He struck the center of the monster’s torso with blinding force. The impact caved the entire carapace inward and obliterated the entity into a shower of purple gore.

The purple gore splattered across the cobblestones and dripped from the ruined brick walls. Krug pulled his iron greataxe from the cratered pavement.

He flicked the weapon downward to shed the corrosive sludge from the blade. Kronos wiped his broadsword on a torn banner and stepped over a severed limb.

Wooden floorboards creaked inside the collapsed tavern. A dozen starving people crawled out from beneath the shattered debris.

They pressed their backs against the wooden beams and stared with wide eyes at the steaming remains. Their gaze shifted rapidly between the dissolved monster and the two towering warriors.

Krug rested his axe on his shoulder and walked toward the survivors. He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a wrapped block of nutrient paste. He tossed the white slab onto the dirt at their feet.

A starving man scrambled forward and tore into the paste with his teeth. He swallowed the dense food and dropped to his knees. The other men and women rushed forward to snatch up the remaining pieces.

Krug slammed the butt of his axe into the cobblestones. The impact cracked the stone and forced the group to look up.

"You hide in the dirt while monsters eat your children." Krug pointed his weapon at the dissolving carcass. "You pray to silent idols and beg for salvation. Rubedo provides it."

He reached out and grabbed a sharp piece of chitin from the dead beast. He crushed the hardened shell inside his bare fist to demonstrate his physical strength.

"Consume to evolve." Krug opened his hand to let the crushed fragments fall. "The weak feed the strong. The strong protect the whole. The Spiral fed us and forged our weapons."

Kronos stepped forward and rested his hand on his sword hilt. "We bring the exact same offer to you. Swear your blood to Rubedo and you will never starve again."

The man who ate first pressed his forehead against the bloodstained pavement. He raised his hands and placed them flat against the dirt.

"We serve the Spiral." The man kept his face pressed against the earth.

The rest of the group knelt and bowed their heads alongside him. Krug tapped his communication crystal to call for the transport wagons. He turned his back on the kneeling crowd to secure the perimeter.