The Black Hollow burned through the rest of the night.

Flames climbed across the ruined mountain structures while thick black smoke rose into the dark sky. Entire sections of the underground complex had collapsed inward after repeated attack runs from the A-10. Stone corridors were buried beneath rubble. Storage vaults burned from secondary explosions. Bodies littered the pathways leading out of the ruins.

And above it all—

The flying metal beast still circled.

Daren stumbled down a rocky slope beside Marrick while several surviving Hollow members fled deeper into the mountains. Nobody stayed together anymore. The organization that once controlled multiple trade routes and brigand networks had collapsed in less than an hour.

Not defeated.

Collapsed.

The difference mattered.

Because this was not a battle.

Battles implied resistance.

This had been extermination.

Another roar echoed overhead.

RRRRRMMMMMMMMM.

Everyone flinched instinctively now whenever they heard it.

The A-10 passed through the clouds again, low enough this time that Daren finally saw it clearly beneath the moonlight.

Metal.

Gray.

Huge.

The straight wings stretched wide while twin engines screamed behind the cockpit. Nothing about it resembled any living creature. No feathers. No scales. No magic glow.

Just machinery.

And somehow that made it worse.

Marrick looked completely broken beside him.

"...How do you fight that?"

Daren honestly had no answer anymore.

One surviving Hollow guard suddenly pointed upward in panic.

"It’s turning!"

The aircraft banked hard through the sky before descending again toward the ruins.

Then came the sound.

BRRRRRRTTTTTTT.

The GAU-8 Avenger roared again.

The mountain exploded beneath the cannon fire.

30mm rounds tore through another stone structure near the upper ruins, collapsing an entire section of wall outward in a violent avalanche of debris. Fire burst from underground storage chambers seconds later as hidden supplies detonated.

The shockwave rolled through the mountain pass hard enough that Daren nearly lost his footing.

Gods.

It sounded like the sky itself was trying to kill them.

Several fleeing survivors screamed and threw themselves against the rocks while debris rained down from above.

Another Hollow operative stared upward in complete horror.

"That thing isn’t human..."

No one argued.

Because nothing human should have been capable of this.

Far above the ruins, inside the cockpit of the A-10, the pilot remained calm while reviewing target updates across the HUD.

The aircraft shook slightly during the cannon burst before stabilizing again.

The pilot glanced briefly toward the targeting display.

Thermal signatures still active.

Scattered survivors fleeing west and south.

Main structure heavily damaged.

Mission parameters almost complete.

The Predator drone feed continued relaying battlefield data directly toward the cockpit systems, allowing the pilot to monitor movement across the ruins even through smoke and darkness.

One surviving cluster of heat signatures appeared near the lower escape path.

The pilot adjusted heading slightly.

Not an immediate threat.

Good.

Because the objective was destruction of infrastructure first.

The Hollow itself had to disappear.

Back below, Daren and Marrick finally reached a narrow stone ledge overlooking part of the ruined valley.

And for the first time since escaping the tunnels—

They stopped running.

Mostly because they were too exhausted to continue.

Marrick collapsed against the rocks breathing heavily.

"We’re dead."

Daren kept staring toward the burning Hollow.

The hidden base looked like a volcano now.

Firelight illuminated shattered ruins while secondary explosions continued erupting from underground chambers.

Years of criminal operations.

Weapons.

Money.

Trade records.

Smuggling routes.

Gone.

All gone.

Daren slowly sat down against the cliff wall while clutching his wounded arm.

His mind kept replaying everything from the last two days.

Falmouth.

The walls.

The machine guns.

The flares.

Then the flying beast.

Every part of it felt impossible.

One Hollow survivor nearby suddenly started laughing weakly.

Not sane laughter.

The man stared toward the burning ruins while shaking his head repeatedly.

"They found us..."

Nobody answered him.

Because they all understood the truth now.

This was never luck.

The outsiders tracked them.

Hunted them.

Watched them.

And by the time Daren realized it—

It was already too late.

Far away in Falmouth, dawn slowly approached over the city walls.

The atmosphere there felt completely different from the mountains.

Calm.

Controlled.

Atlas personnel moved through the southern battlements while local guards finally started relaxing after the night’s battles.

Bodies still littered the fields outside the walls.

Dead brigands.

Broken shields.

Burned carts.

But inside the city itself, fear had started changing into something else.

Relief.

People slowly emerged from homes as the sun began rising while whispers spread rapidly through the streets.

The brigands failed.

Again.

And not just failed.

Destroyed.

Several city guards stood near the battlements quietly discussing what they witnessed during the night.

One younger guard still looked pale.

"I’ve never seen weapons like that..."

Another nodded slowly.

"They were cutting men down before they even got close."

The younger guard looked toward the Atlas machine gun mounted along the wall.

"That thing sounded like thunder."

An Atlas infantryman nearby overheard them while checking ammunition belts.

"Trust me," he muttered. "That wasn’t the loudest thing we have."

The guards looked unsettled afterward.

Inside the command center, Marcus stood beside the operations table while studying the latest reconnaissance feed from the Predator drone.

The Black Hollow still burned.

Thermal signatures inside the ruins had dropped dramatically.

Most were dead.

The rest scattered.

One Atlas operator updated the damage assessment quietly.

"Primary structure destroyed. Secondary storage chambers collapsed. Large-scale fires still active."

Marcus nodded once.

Good.

The criminal organization lost its central operational hub.

That alone would destabilize every brigand network operating under it.

Another operator looked toward him.

"A-10 requesting mission status."

Marcus picked up the radio calmly.

"This is Atlas Command. Battlefield assessment complete. Begin withdrawal."

Static crackled briefly.

Then the pilot answered:

"Copy. Returning to base."

Outside the operations room windows, the people of Falmouth slowly gathered near the streets again.

Marcus noticed it immediately.

The city felt different now.

Not terrified.

Curious.

Hopeful.

Cedric Valehurst entered the command center moments later looking exhausted but relieved.

"I just received reports from the walls."

Marcus glanced toward him.

"And?"

Cedric actually laughed weakly.

"They’re saying the brigands fled in complete panic."

Marcus nodded slightly.

"They did."

Cedric looked toward the drone feed displaying the burning mountain ruins.

Then his expression slowly changed.

"...That’s them?"

"Yes."

Cedric stared at the screen quietly.

The merchant already struggled understanding Atlas technology before.

Now?

Now he looked genuinely shaken.

"That entire place..."

Marcus answered calmly.

"Was the central command structure behind the brigand attacks."

Cedric swallowed slowly.

"There were really that many?"

"Yes."

Another long silence followed.

Cedric eventually looked toward Marcus again.

"I don’t think people are going to believe any of this."

Marcus honestly did not care.

Fear spread faster than facts.

And after last night?

The surviving brigands would spread plenty of fear.

Far away in the mountains, the A-10 finally disappeared into the distant sky.

The roaring engines faded gradually afterward.

And for the first time since the attack began—

Silence returned to the ruins.

Smoke drifted across shattered stone while scattered survivors slowly emerged from hiding places among the mountains.

Daren remained seated against the cliff wall while staring downward.

The Black Hollow was gone.

Not damaged.

Gone.

One surviving overseer eventually staggered toward their position through the rocks, covered in dust and blood. The expensive clothing he once wore was burned and torn now.

The older man looked decades older after one night.

When he finally saw the destruction below—

He froze completely.

Marrick looked toward him carefully.

"Overseer..."

The man said nothing at first.

He only stared.

Then finally whispered:

"...Impossible."

Daren slowly looked toward him.

"No."

His voice sounded hollow now.

"Not impossible."

The overseer turned toward him.

Daren stared toward the ruined Hollow again.

"Just stronger."

And honestly—

That terrified him far more than magic ever could.

Because magic belonged to stories.

This?

This felt real.

The thunder weapons.

The flying machines.

The hunting from the sky.

It all felt cold.

Mechanical.

Efficient.

Like the outsiders did not merely win battles.

They erased people.

The overseer slowly clenched one shaking hand while looking toward the smoking ruins.

"...Who are they?"

Nobody answered.

Because no one there truly knew.

Far above the mountains, the Predator drone completed one final surveillance pass over the destroyed Hollow before banking away toward the east.

Its cameras captured everything.

Burning ruins.

Scattered survivors.

Destroyed infrastructure.

Total collapse.

Inside the command center at Falmouth, Marcus watched the final feed quietly before the drone shifted course back toward Atlas territory.

One operator finally leaned back in his chair.

"Well..."

Marcus folded his arms lightly.

"It’s over."

For now anyway.

Because Marcus already understood something important.

Organizations like the Hollow rarely existed alone.

There would be more networks.

More groups.

More threats eventually.

But after what happened tonight—

Word would spread.

And when it did, every brigand, smuggler, and criminal syndicate across the region would hear the same terrifying story.

A new force had arrived in this world.

And they hunted from the sky.