The battlefield changed in a single second.
One moment, the Mawback swarm moved like a single organism.
A perfect, unstoppable wave of black chitin and razor-sharp claws.
The next moment, the wave shattered.
Thousands of monsters suddenly lost their rhythm.
A massive beast near the front line tripped over its own feet, crashing face-first into the mud.
Another stopped completely, violently shaking its head as if trying to dislodge a parasite.
The invisible strings had been cut.
The hive mind was gone.
Instead of charging the Hunters, the monsters turned on each other.
Some screeched at the empty air, while others clawed desperately at the earth in total disorientation.
The unstoppable army devolved into a pack of panicked animals.
The Vanguard Hunters noticed.
Dropping to one knee in the mud, a veteran Hunter let out ragged, bloody gasps.
Gripping the edge of his shattered tower shield, the man waited for the final blow.
His armor was completely ruined.
Then, the warrior looked up.
The Mawback standing over him wasn’t attacking.
It just spun in a circle, snapping its jaws at a shadow.
Pushing himself back to his feet, the veteran spat a thick glob of black blood into the dirt.
Instead of checking the sky, his eyes locked onto the distant city walls.
“My family is in that city,” the man whispered.
Both hands tightened around his heavy broadsword.
A heavy steel slammed directly into the confused Mawback’s kneecap, snapping the joint backward.
The beast shrieked and tripped, its massive arms flailing uselessly.
Without hesitation, the veteran drove his sword straight down into the gap between the monster’s neck plates.
Dark blood sprayed across his helmet.
Ripping the blade free, the Hunter kicked the corpse away.
“You die right here!” Across the muddy valley, cheers erupted.
Hunters running for their lives suddenly slid to a halt.
Looking back, the fleeing soldiers saw the chaos rippling through the swarm and heard the veteran’s roar.
The retreat ended.
Swords cleared scabbards.
Plasma guns locked into place.
Panic vanished, replaced by pure, desperate anger as the Vanguard charged back into the meat grinder.
Soldiers lunged at the scattered swarm, tackling disoriented Mawbacks into the mud and driving spears into exposed bellies.
The massacre stopped.
The real fight began.
Near the center of the Vanguard, Kellan wiped black gore from his eyes, staring at the colossal Mawlord in front of him.
The monster stood perfectly still.
Four massive arms hung uselessly at its sides, while a spiked tail rested flat in the mud.
Right against its massive back stood Lucy.
Her bare hand pressed flat against the thick armor.
She wasn’t moving either.
Wide, distant eyes glowed with a faint, pulsing white light.
Kellan stared at her glowing eyes for a split second, then looked back at the paralyzed monster.
He didn’t waste breath on questions.
Taking the opening, Kellan gripped his heavy iron hammer with both hands.
His boots planted deep into the mud.
Twisting his torso, Kellan pulled the massive weapon back over his shoulder.
The muscles in his back strained against his armor before releasing the tension.
The hammer swung forward with everything Kellan had left.
CRACK.
The massive iron head smashed directly into the side of the Mawlord’s skull.
Deafening noise echoed as thick black armor caved inward like crushed glass.
Dark blood and gray fluid sprayed across the dirt.
Yet, the beast didn’t flinch.
The monster just stood there with a broken skull, brain exposed to the cold air, completely paralyzed.
Letting out a breathless laugh, Kellan rested the heavy hammer on his shoulder.
“I need answers, Lucy.” Kellan wiped a mixture of sweat and monster blood from his chin.
“How the hell did you do that?” Lucy didn’t blink.
The words never reached her ears.
Lost in the connection, pure Origin Energy pumped through her arm, flooding her nervous system with absolute fire.
Lucy’s physical body remained locked in a suspended trance, acting as nothing but an anchor for Lucen’s desperate hold on the hive.
Trembling fingers pressed against the chitin, but the grip held firm.
Kellan frowned, looking away from his partner to scan the battlefield.
Regular Mawbacks were falling apart.
However, the other nine Mawlords were already recovering.
Worse, thousands of monsters had bypassed the Vanguard line before the network paralyzed them.
The swarm headed straight for Sector 135.
Tapping the telecom receiver in his ear, Kellan tried to establish contact.
“Anyone copy?” The shout barely cut over the sounds of dying monsters.
“Command, do you copy?
The main swarm bypassed the line.
They’re heading for the city walls.
We need backup.
We can’t handle these Mawlords alone.” Static hissed in return—a low, continuous crackle.
“Command, respond!” Nothing.
Pulling the small plastic device from his ear, Kellan squeezed his fist until the casing cracked and wires snapped.
The broken pieces vanished into the mud.
Turning back to Lucy, Kellan noticed her breathing becoming dangerously shallow.
The Sentinel still held the paralyzed beast.
Half a mile away, the colossal Mawqueen stopped moving.
A massive, suffocating weight shifted at the far end of the invisible connection.
Without physically turning around, the beast swept her mind backward across the valley.
That dark awareness traced the broken string in the web, sliding down the psychic line until it crashed right into the paralyzed Mawlord.
Through the mental link, Lucen felt dozens of red eyes lock directly onto Lucy.
Instead of roaring, the Queen simply pushed back.
The pressure inside the tether spiked as a crushing wave of hostile psychic energy gathered, then surged fiercely straight down the connection.
The invisible tide crossed the battlefield instantly, slamming directly into Lucy.
Lucy gasped.
Arching her back violently, searing, white-hot pain ripped through the Sentinel’s skull.
The white light in her eyes flickered.
“Lucen, how much longer do I have to hold this?” Inside her mind, Lucen’s voice cracked.
“Just a little more.” The words sounded completely ruined.
Lucen was at his absolute limit.
Psychic energy from the Queen crashed against his own barrier like a tidal wave hitting a glass wall.
The pressure kept building.
Then, suddenly the telepathic connection snapped between Lucen and Lucy.
Staggering backward, the sudden separation physically threw Lucy into the mud.
Knees hitting the dirt hard, the Hunter gasped for air while her lungs burned.
Complete silence inside her head felt almost worse than the previous noise.
Above her, the Mawlord woke up.
Shaking a massive, broken head, gray fluid leaked down the creature’s neck.
The red veins under the dark armor suddenly flared a blinding, aggressive blue.
Sparks of electricity jumped across the thick chitin.
“Why is this bastard still alive?!” Kellan roared.
“I opened its damn skull!” Raising massive upper claws, the beast charged the air around it.
The smell of ozone overpowered the stench of blood, while lethal electric currents gathered between jagged fingers.
With hive mind connection restored, the monster looked down at Lucy with pure, animalistic rage.
Kellan didn’t wait.
Dropping the heavy hammer, he lunged forward.
A desperate tackle caught Lucy around the waist a split second before the monster brought its glowing claws down.
BOOM.
Lightning scorched the earth exactly where the Sentinel had just been kneeling.
A massive shockwave lifted both Hunters off the ground.
Flying through the air, the two skidded brutally through the wet mud before crashing hard into the side of a dead Mawback.
Groaning from the impact, Kellan fought to catch his breath.
Pushing up from the dirt, the veteran shook his head to clear the high-pitched ringing in his ears.
A calloused hand grabbed Lucy’s shoulder, pulling her upright.
“Lucy!
What happened?!” Coughing up a mouthful of dirty water, Lucy frantically searched the mud.
Shaking fingers finally brushed against the smooth shaft of a spear, gripping the weapon tight.
“The connection,” the Sentinel gasped.
“It broke.” Kellan’s grip tightened on the silver armor, forcing eye contact.
“For God’s sake, Lucy.
What connection?!” Ripping herself away, Lucy stood up and glared at the Mawlord.
The beast turned toward the Hunters.
Black gore bled from an open skull, trailing down an ugly face.
Blue electricity crackled along all four arms.
The monster moved erratically now, twitchy and incredibly dangerous.
“I’ll tell you everything after this.” Lucy’s jaw tightened, locking her grip on the spear into something rock solid.
“We need to break their connection to the Queen permanently.” Kellan stared at his partner for a long second.
Glancing at the towering, sparking monster, then looked back at Lucy.
A loud, frantic laugh escaped his chest.
“Fine.” Leaning down, Kellan scooped the heavy iron hammer out of the mud and rested the weapon on a shoulder.
“I don’t know how the hell any of this works, but I’m down.” Shrieking into the sky, the Mawlord charged, tearing up the earth with heavy claws.
Kellan charged right back.
Pushing the exhaustion deep down, Lucy followed close behind.
Her legs pumped forward, even though her chest felt incredibly tight.
Total silence inside her mind was terrifying.
“Why did it break?” the Sentinel wondered, ducking under a wild swing of electricity.
“Is Lucen alright?” ⋙ ──── ✦ ──── ⋘ In the dark basement, Lucen’s legs dangled two feet above the concrete floor.
A man in a long, dark coat held the teenager up by the collar, using only one hand.
Trying to fight back, Lucen reached up to grab the stranger’s wrist.
Weak fingers barely closed around the fabric.
The boy had absolutely nothing left.
Massive energy output over the last few minutes had completely drained all Origin reserves.
The physical toll was ruinous.
Blood dried on pale cheeks, while a crushed chest made every breath taste like copper.
A weak, rattling gasp escaped Lucen’s throat.
The masked intruder simply watched the struggle.
A smooth, featureless mask reflected the dim emergency lights from the street outside.
“Do you hear them?” The voice was smooth, cold, and entirely void of empathy.
Tilting a hooded head toward the ceiling, the stranger listened to the faint sounds of sirens and muffled explosions echoing through the floorboards.
“People are dying up there,” the cold voice whispered.
“The Vanguard is breaking.
The city walls are cracking.
We could save them.
We could end this entire war.
With what you have.” Gagging against the tight grip, Lucen fought for a tiny sliver of air, unable to speak.
“Years.” The grip on Lucen’s collar slowly tightened.
“We’ve spent years searching the battlefield remnants.
Tracking every tiny, insignificant spike of Origin Energy.
Looking everywhere.
Turning over every stone.” Stepping closer, the stranger brought a freezing chill into the room.
“And you were hiding down here in a basement.
Like a rat.” The featureless mask tilted slightly, studying the boy like a scientist examining a dying insect.
“What do you know about the First Hero?” Lucen’s eyes widened slightly.
Lack of oxygen made the room spin, but those specific words cut through the mental fog.
The First Hero.
Everyone knew the legends.
The only person in history who bypassed the Hunter Serum.
The one who gained strength through a pact with a monster, the man who ended the First Incursion.
“I…” A completely broken whisper scraped past Lucen’s lips.
“I don’t know.” “Don’t lie.” The leather glove opened.
Hitting the concrete floor hard, Lucen dropped like a stone.
Pain exploded across battered ribs.
Coughing roughly, the boy curled into a tight ball, desperately trying to pull air into burning lungs.
Before a single attempt to roll away could be made, the stranger stepped forward.
A heavy, boot planted directly over Lucen’s thin leg.
There was no stomp.
No quick kick.
The boot just slowly pressed downward, applying steady weight.
Pressure built against the shin.
The bone bowed under the strain.
CRACK.
Lucen screamed.
White-hot pain completely blinded the room.
Agony tore through a fragile nervous system, wiping out every other thought.
Clutching wildly at the shattered leg, the boy curled inward, entirely unable to breathe.
There was only the scream.
The masked intruder didn’t react to the noise.
Crouching down calmly, a leather-clad hand grabbed Lucen by the hair, wrapping fingers tight into the roots.
A harsh yank forced the boy’s head back, demanding eye contact with the featureless mask.
“The energy you possess belongs to him,” the cold voice stated, never changing pitch.
“We’ve searched for his dead body for a hundred years.
We scoured the impact craters.
We tore apart the old world.
We never found it.” Another tug pulled Lucen’s head back just a fraction more, pulling the skin on the boy’s neck tight.
“So,” the whisper echoed in the quiet basement.
“How did you get this power?” Lucen couldn’t answer.
Pain completely swallowed the room, making the cold concrete floor feel miles away.
Vision blurred as the edges turned black, rapidly narrowing into a tiny, dark tunnel.
The featureless mask slowly faded into the shadows.
A ruined body finally gave out.
Everything went black.