Midnight cloaked Jakartha City in a veil of dread, like a dying heartbeat stretched over cold silence.
The two moons loomed pale and distant, veiled by restless clouds, as if even the heavens dared not witness what approached. Shadows stretched unnaturally long across the cobblestones, quivering with tension. The land didn't tremble from wind or storm; it shivered beneath the invisible weight of a predator's breath.
THUD... THUD... THUD...
Each tremor struck like the pounding of a war drum. Not a celebration of execution.
CRACK!
The ground near the northern gate split open ancient stones fracturing into spider web patterns. Dust billowed upward, a silent scream from the earth itself. The very walls of Jakartha groaned, not from age, but from fear.
The Third Wave had come.
Not scouts. Not stragglers.
A living nightmare.
It surged across the horizon black as sin, fast as vengeance. A legion born of abyssal instincts and elemental wrath. The air itself rebelled against their presence, thickening into a suffocating miasma. Blood. Smoke. Magic. Death. A cocktail so potent it turned lungs to iron and hearts to ice.
Even the star's eternal watchers had vanished behind the clouds.
Only moonlight bore silent witness to what would follow.
There was no middle ground now.
Do or die. Live or be devoured.
This wasn't a skirmish. This was war.
Third Star Beasts.
Creatures that marked the transition from nightmare to extinction for Ascendants under Mortal Tier (1-Star to 3-Star) – Foundation Stage
Each one stronger than any soldier. Each one a storm wearing flesh. Each one a death sentence with claws.
And then they saw them.
The vanguard of the horde broke into view, two monstrous packs leading the charge:
Twenty Earthclaw Rhinos thundered forward colossal tanks of jagged stone and muscle, each step shaking the ground like a god's footfall. Their earthen armor bristled with jagged spines. Obsidian horns glowed, veins of emerald light pulsing through them like barely contained earthquakes. With every breath, the air quivered. They didn't walk, they quaked.
BOOM... BOOM... BOOM!
Behind them ran the twenty Icefang Wolves sinister and swift. Their bone-white fur gleamed under the moonlight like polished ivory, their glacier-blue eyes fixed on prey not yet dead. Every step left frost prints that crackled with magic. Their fangs gleamed like jagged icicles blades sculpted by winter's malice. Their howls…
AWW OOOOOOOO!
…weren't calls. They were execution orders.
And behind them?
A tide.
A roaring wall of beasts. Crawling, leaping, stampeding a tsunami of flesh and fang. The ground darkened beneath them, as though the land itself retreated.
Then
"FIRE!!!"
A voice ripped the silence like a blade tearing through silk.
SHATTER!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Dozens of elemental arrows screamed across the sky
Flaming shafts trailed tails of fire,
Frost-laced bolts left spirals of snow,
Lightning-charged arrows crackled with blue death.
A dazzling storm of precision wrath.
CRACK!
BANG!
FWOOSH!
Spells burst into existence.
Fireballs erupted midair
BOOM!
Thunderbolts screamed down from the heavens
ZRAK-KRACK!
Ice Spears launched like jagged meteors
CRACK-SHINK!
Wind Blades sliced through the chaos
WHOOSH-WHISH!
Stone Shards blasted upward
KRAKAKOOM!
Water Blasts crashed like tidal fists
SHLAAAASH!
The battlefield exploded into light and color, a maelstrom of elements colliding.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The Earthclaw Rhinos bore the brunt
THUD!
THUD!
Their massive frames staggered, flames coating their hides in molten agony. Plates of rock cracked and shattered.
The Icefang Wolves were struck next
CRACK-SHHH!
Frost magic exploded across their flanks, freezing limbs mid-leap. One shattered like a statue dropped from the sky.
ZAP-ZZRAAK!
Lightning danced through the ranks beast to beast, sizzling fur and rupturing organs.
Flesh tore. Tusks flew. Blood painted the sky in red arcs beneath the silver moon.
And still they came.
Still breathing. Still bleeding. Still screaming.
The burning Rhinos let out ear-shattering bellows
FARRRAAAHHH!!
They surged forward with madness in their eyes.
The Icefang Wolves, frost trailing from wounded jaws, howled once more. Their howls weren't cries of pain.
They were promises.
There would be no mercy.
Even with half their pack crippled, the beasts pressed on.
No tactics. No formation. Only instinct remained:
Devour. Destroy. Feed. Kill.
The walls of Jakartha shuddered.
Not from the assault. But from the fear inside every heart watching.
This was no mere battle. This was the beginning of the end.
----
As the Ascendants surged forward, their steel-clad ranks shimmered under the storm of spells and battle cries. The first line held firm.
Twenty-five Knight Ascendants, their shields locked like the gates of a fortress, stood resolute. Armor gleaming, sweat slicked beneath their helms, eyes burning with a single, unwavering vow:
No beast shall pass.
CRASH!!!
The Earthclaw Rhinos slammed into them like a tidal wave of flesh and stone.
BOOM!!!
The earth convulsed beneath their feet, the very foundation of Jakartha groaning in protest. The land split, fissures crawling outward like open wounds, but the Knights didn't yield. They couldn't yield.
The formation stood shaken. A wall of iron, will, and sweat. A bastion made flesh.
And then
"COUNTERATTACK!!"
The cry echoed over the battlefield like a battle hymn.
RAAAHHHH!!
From the second line, Warrior Ascendants roared as they surged forward, muscles rippling, veins bulging with primal strength. Their weapons gleamed blades forged in fury and might.
Power Strike!
BOOM!!!
The Rhino's massive chest caved in, its bones splintering with a sickening crunch. A shriek of agony followed a sound that would haunt the earth for centuries.
Sweeping Slash!
SHAHRAK!!
The blade cut through the air like a blade through butter, severing two, three beasts in one wide, bloody arc. Their bodies tumbled like sacks of meat, blood raining in all directions.
Spinning Cleave!
WHIRL!
A cyclone of steel and fury spun through the battlefield, dismembering everything in its path. Limbs flew. Guts spilled. There was no escape.
Leap Strike!
CRACK!!!
The warriors fell upon the beasts like war god. Their boots crashed into the earth, creating craters where monsters once stood, skulls crushed beneath the weight of their fury. The very air seemed to quake with their power.
But then chaos truly erupted.
The third line exploded into action.
Beast Tamers charged forward, their beasts howling in unison. Wolves, eagles, tigers, and more each creature fought in perfect tandem with their master, a symphony of savagery and strategy. Claws slashed. Fangs tore. Their war cries intertwined with the roar of beasts.
SCREECH!
ROOOAR!!
SNAP!!
Beasts were torn apart as their human counterparts tore through them.
Blood sprayed like a crimson storm. Limbs were torn from their sockets. Screams echoed across the battlefield a chorus of agony that only spurred the Ascendants on.
In seconds, the Earthclaw Rhinos and Icefang Wolves were decimated. Annihilated.
Their bodies lay in heaps, twitching and quivering like spent puppets. Bones jutted from shredded flesh, but the field was painted in blood and glory.
But there was no time to celebrate.
No victory yet.
From the depths of the chaos, more horrors surged forward twice as large, twice as fast.
Their footsteps thundered with the force of an impending storm. Their roars were war drums, echoing across the field of death.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The earth shook with their arrival, like the very bones of the world cracking.
"HOLD THE LINE!!"
The command rang out, but it felt like a prayer.
The Ascendants screamed their defiance as they collided with the new wave of terror.
1... 2... 3... 4... 5 Ascendants were flung like ragdolls. Slashed. Gored. They were tossed through the air like broken toys, bodies torn, blood splattering the earth.
But they weren't abandoned.
"MEDICS!!"
Priests rushed forward, their robes billowing like spectral shadows. They called upon their blessings with swift hands and brighter hearts.
"Sanctum Heal!"
"Mend!"
"Holy Pulse!"
DING!
WHOOSH!
A burst of holy light surged from their palms, radiating warmth into the cold, unforgiving night.
Bones reknit. Skin mended. Vitality returned like the breath of life itself.
The fallen stood once more weapon in hand before the divine glow had even faded and charged back into the fray.
But then
RRRRRR AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!
A roar so monstrous, so ferocious, it felt like it cracked the very air around them.
It didn't come from a beast. It came from a tyrant. Every heart skipped. Every breath caught.
Every gaze turned to the deep shadows that now moved. Something else was emerging.
And then they saw them.
Ten pairs of crimson eyes.
Eyes that blinked once, twice as though they had all the time in the world to watch, to study, to calculate.
Not beasts. Not mindless monsters. But kings.
These were the leaders of the horde. Third Star Peak Stage Beasts.
Predators born of rage and the cruelest of designs. Beasts with minds with tactics.
Apex predators evolved to rule, to dominate, and to slaughter under.....Mortal Tier Foundation Stage!
And they were coming.
The real battle had only just begun.
-------
To Be Continued…!!