The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Hitake kept his eyes fixed on the distant shape of the Hive Queen.
It stood beyond the ruined structures, partially hidden behind curtains of acid-green fog. Its enormous body barely moved, yet every pulse from its chest sent a vibration through the ground.
The red core beneath its armor glowed once.
Then again.
Hitake's Eyes of Truth immediately focused on it.
For an instant, the world around him seemed to peel apart.
Mana.
Muscle.
Bone.
Energy pathways.
Everything became visible.
Except the thing wrapped around the Queen's core.
That foreign energy remained a blur.
Something his eyes couldn't understand.
“Hitake.”
Zena's voice pulled him back.
He looked at her.
She was already holding both daggers.
“What?”
“You're staring.”
“I'm thinking.”
“About the Queen?”
“Yeah.”
Zena glanced toward the creature.
“Professor said we aren't supposed to engage it.”
“I know.”
“Then don't.”
Hitake smiled faintly.
“You sound worried.”
“I am.”
There was no hesitation in her answer.
Hitake's smile softened.
“I won't fight it.”
“Good.”
Nefertiti appeared beside him, invisible to everyone else.
“Excellent decision, darling.”
Hitake ignored her.
The sound of an explosion interrupted them.
A section of the outer wall collapsed.
“Team Seven!” an instructor shouted from behind them. “Move! The eastern evacuation route is being overrun!”
Hitake turned immediately.
“John!”
“I heard.”
John raised his shield.
The fear was still there.
Hitake could see it in the slight tension of his shoulders.
But John was moving.
That was what mattered.
“Zena, take the left side,” Hitake ordered. “John, stay with the healers. Protect the civilians first. I'll clear the path.”
John nodded.
“Understood.”
Zena glanced at Hitake.
“And you?”
“I'll make sure nothing reaches you.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“That wasn't what I meant.”
“I know.”
She sighed.
“Just don't get reckless.”
Hitake grinned.
“No promises.”
“Hitake.”
“Fine. Minimal recklessness.”
“That isn't reassuring.”
Before she could say anything else, a swarm burst from the fog.
Dozens of creatures crawled over the broken wall.
Hive Crawlers.
Most were Level 2.
A few were Level 3.
Their insectoid bodies were covered in pale armor, and acidic fluid dripped from their jaws.
One lunged.
Hitake disappeared.
His increased Agility carried him forward before the creature could even finish its movement.
His sword flashed.
The Crawler's front leg separated from its body.
It twisted toward him.
Hitake stepped inside its reach and drove his blade beneath its jaw.
The creature collapsed.
Another attacked from behind.
Zena's dagger flew past Hitake's shoulder.
The weapon buried itself in the Crawler's eye.
“You're welcome,” she said.
Hitake glanced at her.
“I had it.”
“You were slow.”
“I was distracted.”
“Excuses.”
Three more crawlers charged.
Hitake smiled.
“Fine.”
He moved.
The battlefield became a blur.
His Eyes of Truth mapped every movement.
There.
A damaged joint.
There.
A thin section beneath the armor.
There.
The mana concentration feeding the creature's claws.
He didn't waste movement.
One strike.
One step.
Another strike.
The creatures fell one after another.
But there were too many.
“More coming!” someone shouted.
Hitake looked toward the eastern street.
The fog was moving.
Not drifting.
Moving.
Like something was pushing it from beneath.
His expression changed.
“That's not normal.”
Nefertiti appeared beside him.
“No.”
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
That answer bothered him more than anything else.
Nefertiti always seemed to know something.
Even when she refused to explain it.
Before Hitake could ask another question, a group of civilians emerged from the fog.
“Help us!”
“Please!”
“There are children!”
Hitake immediately sheathed his sword.
“John!”
“I've got them!”
John charged forward.
A Crawler dropped from a ruined building directly above the civilians.
John didn't hesitate.
He raised his shield.
The creature slammed into it.
The impact drove John backward several meters.
His boots scraped across the ground.
“John!”
“I'M FINE!”
The Crawler struck again.
John's arms shook.
His breathing became heavier.
For a split second, his eyes widened.
The weight.
The claws.
The helpless people behind him.
It looked too familiar.
His shield nearly dropped.
Then a little girl behind him began crying.
“Mommy!”
John's expression hardened.
“No.”
He planted his feet.
The shield stopped moving.
The Crawler struck again.
John pushed back.
His muscles trembled.
But this time he didn't simply absorb the attack.
He stepped forward.
The creature stumbled.
John roared and slammed his shield into its chest.
The Crawler flew backward.
It hit the wall hard enough to crack the stone.
The civilians stared.
John stared too.
His breathing was ragged.
Hitake smiled.
“Nice.”
John looked over.
“Was it?”
“You tell me.”
John looked at his shield.
Then at the civilians behind him.
“Yeah.”
He smiled faintly.
“Yeah, it was.”
Zena watched him from across the street.
“There he is.”
Hitake nodded.
“He's getting stronger.”
“No.”
Zena looked at him.
“He's getting braver.”
Hitake considered that.
She was right.
Strength wasn't always about numbers.
Sometimes it was simply doing what needed to be done while your body was screaming at you to run.
“Team Seven!” the instructor shouted. “Evacuation route is clear! Move the civilians!”
Hitake turned.
“Everyone, move!”
The civilians began running toward the transport zone.
John stayed at the rear.
Shield raised.
Every few seconds he looked over his shoulder to make sure nobody had been left behind.
Hitake noticed.
He didn't say anything.
Instead, he moved beside him.
“You don't have to stay at the back.”
John looked at him.
“Someone has to.”
“Then we'll do it together.”
John smiled.
“Deal.”
They continued forward.
The eastern section of the Hive was strangely quiet now.
Too quiet.
The swarm had stopped attacking.
Hitake slowed.
“Something's wrong.”
John looked around.
“What?”
“Listen.”
John did.
Nothing.
No screeching.
No movement.
No insects.
Only the distant sound of evacuation transports.
Zena approached them.
“The creatures are retreating.”
Hitake nodded.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Then the ground beneath them pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
A deep vibration rolled through the ruins.
Hitake's Eyes of Truth activated automatically.
His vision pierced through the ground.
The tunnels beneath the Hive appeared.
Thousands of them.
Some were filled with mana.
Some were empty.
But one tunnel stood out.
It descended far deeper than the others.
At the bottom was something enormous.
Hitake's pupils contracted.
“What did you see?” Zena asked.
Hitake didn't answer immediately.
He could see the Hive Queen.
Not above them.
Below them.
The creature was standing inside a massive underground chamber.
Its body was connected to the walls by countless veins of black energy.
And beneath it—
Something was moving.
Something much larger.
Hitake's heart skipped.
Nefertiti appeared beside him.
Her face had gone completely serious.
“Darling.”
“Yeah?”
“Stop looking.”
Hitake frowned.
“Why?”
“Because whatever is beneath this dungeon…”
She stared into the darkness.
“…doesn't belong here.”
The ground suddenly shook violently.
A crack opened beneath the ruined street.
John grabbed a nearby civilian and pulled them away.
“MOVE!”
The crack widened.
Something scraped against the stone from below.
Once.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Then a sound emerged from the depths.
Not an insect.
Not a monster.
A voice.
Barely audible.
But unmistakably human.
“Kael…”
Hitake froze.
The world seemed to stop.
Zena looked at him.
“Hitake?”
His eyes widened.
The voice came again.
This time, louder.
“Kael's blood…”
The crack suddenly sealed itself.
Silence returned.
Hitake stood completely still.
His hand tightened around his sword.
Nefertiti's expression was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Who was that?” Hitake whispered.
Nefertiti didn't answer.
For the first time since he had awakened her, she looked away from him.
And somewhere beneath the Rotting Hive, something opened its eyes.