As they continued deeper the smell of rot started to pick up, Harley scrunched her nose, the sewage refinement system was supposed to be much deeper so this smell was unnatural for their location.
They rounded a bend light stretched into the tunnel from up ahead. Nico broke into a swift sprint, not his full speed but enough to hasten their progress, as the three of them burst into the lit chamber they saw a a hulking mass of a chimera Standing in the center of a large antechamber the ceiling reaching way above them, She knew the sewer ran deep but she hadn't realized just how far down they might have been, the ceiling was at least ninety feet up. The Chimera propped itself up its eyes resting on the three of them, it had bone growing out of its skin covering major parts of its body, it had the head of a bear and the jaws of a shark. It grinned, in a way that no animal ever should, and expression that spoke of intellect a monster should never have. Across the antechamber at the other entrance Trina slid into the room with a platoon of guardsmen at her back, the mark of the owl adorning their armor, Trina's personal guard. Her eyes flicked to the chimera and to Harley. The Chimera craned its neck looking at Trina and her platoon. That grin never left its maw.
"Wellcome lessssser meat! I ssssee you have taken good care of my brood!" The creature's voice was low and gravely.
Nico's face paled for a moment hearing the creature speak, Harley too understood her own face a mirror of his. "Holly, Harley... This is an A class threat. It cannot leave the sewers." His voice was deadly soft.
Trina started throwing up commands to her platoon and the men fanned out into the room, Nico and Holly followed suit surrounding the Chimera on their side of the room, Harley stood still, taking in the room around them. On the far right side of the room was a shrine made from polished bones, various skulls, including those of the children's bones they had found, It was definitely an altar to some Dark God. She couldn't feel the energy around it but something in her told her it was there, the shrine was consolidating some form of power. Her emerald eyes snapped back to the Chimera who was now standing on all fours properly, its long tail flicking around its body eagerly awaiting the first action from its would-be hunters.
Tina snapped loud and clear, her guardsmen reacting instantly, opening fire with their drawn rifles in a hail of energy rounds that bombarded the chimera, as the attacks rained down on it it began to laugh a deep unnatural laugh that boomed in the area. Seemingly unfazed it galloped over to Trina and her men attacking with ferocity.
Trina's platoon scattered, avoiding the attack and holstering their ineffective rifles for their melee weapons. Nico and Holly began to move in as well charging lightning in their own unique ways ready to help contain and fight the chimera from behind, as they closed the gap toward the chimera, a robed man landed in front of them kicking up bone dust on the ground, sending a wave of it their way. Nico and Holly came to a stop, but Harley charged forward. This robed figure was no ally to them. All their allies were coordinating and wouldn't be dumb enough to interrupt a charge on a large enemy. She moved forward in the blink of an eye, not as fast as Nico, but fast indeed. Zipping past Nico and Holly she met the robbed man with a first that he caught with a strange glowing seal hovering above his hands. Yes he caught the attack but it sent him skidding backward bond dust swirling upward as he regained his posture. Behind him Trina was dueling head on with the chimera, loud cracking sounds ringing out as she landed hits on it with her fist, quills where peppered all over the Chimera's face and forelimbs, no doubt gifts from Trina, she did keep numerous foot long needles in her feathers cloak.
Nico closed the gap to the robbed man next lightning wrapping his arms as he reached out to grab the man. The robbed figure bent backward avoiding being grabbed and kicking Nico in the side of the face, his body swung back into a proper standing position. Nico Spun for a moment regaining his footing and sending a bolt of lighting toward the man from his fingertips. The bolt was deflected by the same strange glowing seals that stopped Harley's attack. Holly too jumped in her feet gliding across the ground as she came in for her own attempt, allowing for Harley and Nico to observe. As she glided past Nico she reached out and they slapped hands, it was subtle and almost unnoticeable but lightning arced between them passing from Nico to Holly, overcharging her red lightning. She swept in around the robed man like she was skating on ice. Her leg flew up swiftly slamming the man in his side sending him careening across the room just under the whipping tail of the Chimera.
Trina caught a heavy paw from the beast parring it to the side deep gouges being left in the concrete from its claws, skipping back a few steps she waved her cloak at it to and fro sending foot long needles into its face and open mouth. The chimera snarled, chomping down on the quills as he approached Trina swallowing the broken remains of her weapons.
"Little scurrying rat! Stand still!" Its voice boomed, shaking the air around Trina and her men.
Behind it Nico and Holly were again running in for intersection but the robbed man was back up, from his position he sent a dark serpent of energy that cracked down in front of Holly and Nico only missing due to their sharp reflexes. Nico focused on the man
"Holly, Harley he is using Dralth, be careful not to get hit. It could have nasty effects." Harley nodded in response to Nico's warning, her eyes on the man. She lamented not being able to help Trina, but this was how the battlefield was right now, they needed to play their moves right to move into a supportive position for her.
The robed man stood up dusting himself off, taking a half step forward he instantly teleported forward, now between the Chimera and Nico.
"This is going to be the grave you rest in Skyflock." The man's voice was youthful, he sounded like he was in his early twenties, full of confidence.
Harley moved past Nico again, it was her turn to engage. Again she closed the gap pulling a tight fighting stance and sending a punch toward the man's mid midsection. The man brought up her guard again, her green eyes, faster than her body flicked down observing the strange glowing seals writing themselves into the air around his hands, intricate abstract patterns with symbols she didn't understand that formed spheres around each of his hands. Just before she connected she charged her Aura full tilts into her muscles and halted her muscles like a car slamming their brakes from going too fast, her hand snapped open from its fist and did a loop changing its trajectory entirely in the blink of an eye. The man was far too slow to react to her sudden change in movement, the feint being so fast she could feel the muscles in her arms shredding slightly from the exertion. Her open hand snapped to the side of his head. She stepped into it and brought her full weight down as she dragged his face through the air and into the ground with a sickening impact. Bone dust flew up all around them and she pressed her hand down farthing attempting to crush the man's skull into the concrete. As she was exploding her aura once again, a crack sound in the room that rivaled the one she made from slamming the man, glancing up her breath hitched seeing Trina sail across the room into the opposite wall behind her Nico, and Holly. She slumped where she landed the concrete of the wall and floor around her, a ruin of cracks and rubble. The robbed man swung her feet upward kicking Harley in the face, He took full advantage of the distraction and distanced himself from Harley. His hood miraculously stayed up the entire time but blood was seeing onto the front of his cloak from the damage she had dealt him.
Tina's guardsmen could be heard shouting concerns for her as the Chimera started picking them off, one man was torn completely in two his intestines splaying out around the group causing others to desperately evade for their lives. Another was chomped down on by the Chimera's jaw leaving only his legs to flop to the ground. A spin from the chimera and his tail cracked into a couple others, they flew several feet, landing hard and not moving. The guardsmen were not pushovers ,but without a fighter to tank the monster's frontal assault they were dead in the water, they just didn't have the power as individuals that Trina and the others had.
Harley glanced at Nico and then Holly who were on either side of her, they immediately charged themselves with their respective lighting and full speed intercepted the Chimera. Why hadn't they used this speed earlier? Their abilities could become very indiscriminate while fighting amongst others, lightning was volatile and if not controlled perfectly scold jump to an ally and kill them, but this was an emergency, preventing more guardsmen from being slaughtered was a priority.
Holly shot forward, slamming the Chimera across the jaw with a crack of red lightning. It reeled, staggering back—then surged with renewed fury, its claws slicing toward her. She dipped beneath them, gliding low in a dancer's crouch. Her feet slid across the ground as she re-positioned, static charge running up her legs into her body.
Nico stopped short of the closest Guardsmen. Pulling him to his feet he gave orders. "Get your men back into the tunnel, we are going to take the fight from here, with Trina recovering we need to reorder the fight immediately!"
"Y-yes Lord Nico." The guardsmen swiftly dragged their injured away and collected themselves in the tunnel as Nico and Holly parried and fended off the Chimera.
The robbed man turned a bit as if to go to the aid of the Chimera but Harley stomped her foot forward in a direct threat, "You're truly a troublesome enemy, inhuman by all standards"
From under his hood he spit blood onto the ground. In the back of Harley's mind she chided herself, she could have let him turn to intercept Nico and Holly and used that chance to attack him from behind, but Nico's warning was ringing in her ears. And the movement, that teleportation he had done earlier, she'd rather keep his attention fully focused on her. Harley let her aura loose, warming the air around her. Her form blurred and seemed to divide, multiple copies of her splitting off to stand before the robbed man. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Harley spoke, her voices seemingly coming from every direction. "Your not going to be able to focus on anything but, " She disappeared, all of her forms vanishing from sight reappearing beside the man, a swift elbow smashing into his ribs sending him into the air. "Me!" Her voice boomed out with the sound bombarding him from all directions.
The man caught himself mid air inhumanly, his body stopping like a puppet on strings as he righted in the air and weaved a strange black fire around himself. Indecipherable words spewed from his mouth in what could only be described as sounds that no human should be able to make. Harley didn't wait for the spell or whatever it was to finish, all of her forms began launching at him each impact a wave of tangible heat that singed and burned his cloak until one of the impacts finally blasted him out of the air. He landed hard slumped over breathing raggedly as Harley pulled her vanishing act again, reappearing in front of him for and elbow to his head, but this time he reacted swiftly both hands coming up, and those inhuman words coming from his mouth in an explosive torrent all at once. Harley found herself frozen in place, not even able to move her arms.
Holly and Nico worked swiftly managing their spacing from the retreating guards ,calculating the distance between themselves. The Chimera was relentless blood now covering its forelimbs and mouth from the carnage it had been able to enjoy.
As it prodded Nico and Holly's defense it let out joyish throaty chuckles as if relishing sturdier targets, while Trina was small and light and couldn't just take a hit from this chimera head on, Nico and Holly where different. Nico took each hit with his body. Full guard. Each attack a solid connection. Holly met its attacks with her own colliding her first with his clawed paws even head butting an attack away. Their weight classes were higher than Trina's. This wasn't an aura thing this was a mass thing, pure and simple. While Holly wasn't quite as built as Nico being a woman herself, she was more built than Trina who was very petite.
The final guard moved outside her range, Holly's face lit up as she caught a blow from the Chimera skidding back from the force, she grinned broadly with feral excitement as she made eye contact with it. Deep red electricity surged around her body and coursed through her into him, arcing off her and into Nico who channeled it as well as his own lightning abilities. Nico rose into the air slowly, lightning building around him bursting out and licking the ground hissing as it smashed into the concrete and arced over to Holly. Her own red lightning charged up as it absorbed stray lightning from Nico. The Chimera yanked it's paw away from Holly and swung at Nico who stopped it cold mid air, not even budging. Nico's hand flew up and a torrent of Lightning exploded fourth cutting through the Chimera's form and deep into the concrete, Holly unleashed a massive surge of her own that jumped into Nico as stray bolts arced off her. She surged lightning across the hide of the Chimera, its bone armor cracking under the intense heat her lightning produced.
Recoiling from their attacks it took a step back from the force of the energy torrents. Nico blitzed from the right still mid air, not as fast as he was on the ground but still undeniably fast. Holly flanked from the other side, her lightning jolting up and into the chimera traveling through it to Nico who sent it back through the chimera and to Holly. The two of them weaved around the creature that struggled for a moment to deal with their onslaught. They traded lightning to each other like secret messages sending it back and forth, the charge exploding with renewed power after each pass.
Slamming its forelimbs down the chimera bellowed in rage, swiping at Nico who hovered back from it deftly avoiding its attacks, it whirled around onto Holly, its jaws flying down and opening in an attack as it attempted to bite her in half. Holly, still charged with extreme levels of lightning, grabbed its teeth as it tried to clamp down on her. She grit her teeth, chuckling to herself as she struggled against its bite force, still taking the concentrated actions of passing Nico's Lightning back through the chimera. She focused her aura on healing her fatiguing muscles granting her renewed strength and she slowly pushed it mouth open.
"TRY NOT TO CHOKE ON IT!!!" She pushed her arms out to a full extend breaking the lower jaw of the Chimera causing it to stumble backwards its broken teeth still in her hands as she sucked air with excitement, the battle lust threatening to take her over, one thing about using Aura to directly charge your body with electricity or even lightning was that it tended to excite your mood at extreme levels of charge, she was towing the line of full battle mania but her intense training and experience was keeping her rationality there. She ran forward toward the reeling chimera flipping through the air and slamming her knees down into its skull slamming it into the concrete. Jumping backward off the impact she gain some distance letting out a joyish excited cry.
"WOOOOOOOOO"
The chimera rose again, shaking off Nico's follow up lightning blasts. It leveled its gaze at Holly and flicked its head upward, its ruined jaws making a sickening crunching sound as it snapped into place fixing itself. Its teeth ground against themselves, a sound that was like a torrent of cheese grated grinding each other and bone grinding stone. Nico floated down next to Holly and Sparked lightning off himself. The two of them grabbed Holly's hand and the lightning surged between them, both of them overcharging their bodies with electrical destruction.
The Chimera grinned the same over confident grin. "COME MEAT!"
The robbed man took his time, a brief fleeting few seconds to recover his breath, behind Harley could feel the energy of Nico and Holly as they clearly stopped restraining themselves. She strained against this frozen state she was in, she had fallen for some kind of spell from this man. Stupid!
The man stood fully up and took his hood off. "I admit you are dangerous, maybe not as widely destructive as the two fighting Alatros over there but you are definitely a fighter. His face was young, human, but not at the same time. He had slightly off pink skin and two small horns that rose from his forehead to the edge of his hairline, and deep black hair that fell into his robe combed back neatly. Harley strained every ounce of her strength, her aura was practically seeping off her as it amplified itself within her, like a powerful spring being continuously tightened.
The man seemed to see her confusion at his appearance. "I supposed you People of Dora don't have many other races visit this backwater dead zone of a world. Never seen a Devil-Kyn before?" He chuckled over confidently as he drew a blade from inside his robe. Harley's fingers twitched slightly as she continued to strain. "The man whistled " Now that raw power for you. For all over your complexities in using Aura the raw power is definitely legit. Know this young Woman, It is Zergial that kills you here. Mark it with your dying breath, carve it into your soul s I send your screaming in regret to the afterlife." His blade flicked up to her throat the cool steel against her skin, "A shame really i would hav-" He dropped his knife and stumbled forward spitting blood several long quills blooming from his back. Trina stood several feet away, her mask a cracked mess, her Amber eyes glowing with rage. In that moment all of the held power from Harley exploded as she surged her fist upward into the stumbling mans chest in and uppercut, The contacts was extreme his forms molding briefly around her fest bones snapping a rhythmic click, click pop before his body jolt rebounding with insane force. Her blow was so immense that it seemingly teleported him into the farewell, the shockwave that resulted from him traveling through the air caused a sonic boom in the area. Harley stumbled forward for a moment, a torrent of sweat pouring off her face. All that bound intensity was now peeling off her slowly as her body unwound.
Trina walked over to Harley, placing a hand on her shoulder, her gaze sliding back to the crater where Zergial's broken form lay.
"Yeah... I hope that killed him too," Harley muttered.
She staggered forward, trying to get her legs under her, but every muscle screamed in agony.
"I don't suppose you could heal me with your Aura?" she asked, glancing up.
Trina gave a simple shake of the head and a shrug.
"Yeah, didn't think so."
Trina turned and dashed toward Zergial, who was dragging himself upright, blood trailing from his mouth. His silver eyes were sharp despite the damage. He spit blood to the side and grinned through clenched teeth.
"You tricky little bitch," he hissed.
Trina flipped her wrist, conjuring several foot-long quills between her fingers. Just as she moved to pin him to the floor,Zergial stuck out his tongue and bit it clean through, blood misting the air.
A sigil erupted in crimson light before him—a circle etched in writhing script—and from it burst a serpentine Chimera, its body too long, its jaw unhinged too wide, dripping saliva like acid. Trina reacted instantly, hurling the quills in her hand into its face and whipping her cloak forward, sending hundreds more screaming through the air.
The creature shrieked, but its momentum carried it forward, crashing past Harley in a wave of blood and bone dust. It skidded across the chamber, tearing up the ground as it flailed.
Trina landed smoothly, a gust of feathers behind her as she blinked back to where Zergial had been
Only empty dust and fading sigil-light remained.
Her mask hid her expression, but her glowing amber eyes smoldered with fury.
He was gone.
Nico flicked his gaze briefly to the scene just behind the Chimera, the opponent Harley had been dealing with was nowhere to be seen and a large snake creature was dead over there. Parrying a blow from the chimera he moved past its forearm and stuck it in the chest, lighting exploding from his fist as he did, the blow was solid, but the Chimera didn't seem fazed by it. Its head came down ward into a bite that Holly kicked aside, she was in a semi battle manic state and reacting on pure adrenaline right now. The Chimera slammed its previously parried forearm back toward Nico who caught it and held it and swung the creature around. His eyes lit up with white energy and he hauled the massive chimera around and swung it upward. Holly takes this chance Unleashed redlighting in a full torrent upward at the Chimera. Her lightning seared the bone armor on its body and cooked the exposed flesh not protected. Roaring in rage the Chimera sailed upward. At the zenith of its climb its back burst open with a set of dark leathery wings that took up almost the entire room, a wingspan of almost a hundred feet. A Single flap sent a massive shockwave that blasted downward and cleared all the dust in the room blasting it into the side entrances. Nico stood ready, but Holly collapsed to one knee. Glancing over he could see how winded she was, long fights like this were ill suited for her. She was powerful, yes, but the nature of the Aura she wielded was volatile and affected her adversely in long form battles. Nico looked back up at the Chimera who made eye contact with him, a knowing look in its gaze.
"You fight well for meat! I grow tired of this, you haven't the power to deliver a finishing blow to me, and i haven't the patience to fight an opponent that seems inexhaustible. Instead I will go to the surface and extinguish your city! Fear my name, For soon this city will be my sacrifice. I will join my Mother as an S Class monster as you humans say. Or as one of the Chosen, in my kinds' belief. I Alatros will raze this World to the ground once I ascend!" Another flap of his wings, another blast of intense wing that gusted downward pressing Holly to her other knee and Harley to the floor entirely.
"Nico! We cannot let him into the city!" Holly yelled not looking over to him.
Nico nodded, of course he knew that, charging he threw his hand out, lightning searching from the top of his head down his should and out his fingers, it sailed upward and blasted Alatros in the face, but that grin came slowly over his face. Another flap, and other gust, Nico clicked his tongue as Alatros began to flap harder and face upward heading for the ceiling of the antechamber. Nico sprint over to TRina who shared a moment of eye contact and nodded. Kneeling down she braced herself as Nico jumped up, catching his feet she maxed out her aura focusing on all of her muscles sending him soaring toward Alatros like a comet.
Alatros had already started to gain speed each of his wing beats sending gusts downward as Nico sailed upward, reaching out, he grabbed onto his tail just as Alatros slammed into the concrete roof of the antechamber bursting through it, He grabbed the side of the rubble and launched himself into the air a view of the city greeting him and Nico, the late afternoon sun casting over them like a ( something i need to think up). Nico gripped hard pulling himself forward onto Ataltros, back. Several flying cars flew past them a hair's breadth from colliding with them. Albatross turned over in mid air his powerful wings keeping them aloft as he reached for Nico. Nico kept moving over his massive striking as he did trying not to be rolled off and sent to the ground. He soon found himself on his Chest looking down at his grinning maw.
"Your fight is futile little bird. You haven't the ability to deal me a fatal blow."
Nico smirked, standing tall as the wind whipped his white trench coat around him.
"I don't need to deal you a fatal blow," he said calmly. "This is Yunirith City, dumbass. And you're in the air—too close to the walls."
A mechanical whine echoed from behind the battlements—followed by a gut-churning thunk as reinforced plating slid open.
Alatros's grin twitched.
From the upper ridge of the wall, a line of colossal dual-barreled turrets rotated with lethal precision, each one easily the size of a transport truck. Their targeting arrays flared red as stabilizers locked in.
CLACK–CLACK–WHRRRRRRRR—
Then came the thunder.
The opening salvo dropped like a meteor storm. An eruption of sound so massive it warped the air, split the clouds, and sent Nico sailing out of the blast zone just as twin streams of .7000 caliber anti-titan shells ripped through the sky. Each round—four feet long, chrome-black, and sheathed in heat shimmer—screamed toward Alatros with aftershock trails chasing them like comets.
Alatros only had time to turn his head before the first impact struck.
BOOOOOOOM.
His entire body twisted violently midair as the shell slammed into his flank, splitting the sky with white fire. The next caught his wing mid-beat, detonating like a pressure mine and spiraling him downward in a storm of smoke and gore. He roared in agony, the sound swallowed by the next volley.
Below, white-clad gunner crews moved in flawless synchronicity—rehearsed dancers in a death machine.
Brass casings the size of tree trunks ejected with a clang, rolling off the platforms in rhythmic doom. Vapor hissed. Sirens howled.
Yunirith's walls didn't just defend—they hunted.
The turrets continued their barrage, every shell slamming into Alatros's midair form with surgical, apocalyptic precision. From Nico's vantage point, the monster was no longer visible—only a growing stormcloud of fire and smoke floating high above the city.
Seconds passed. Then more. Until finally, the turrets whined to a stop, their barrels glowing white-hot, too overheated to continue firing.
And then—
A single blackened figure plummeted from the sky like a fallen god, trailing smoke, blood, and broken arrogance.
With an earth-splitting CRACK, Alatros slammed into the street below, cratering the pavement with bone-shattering force.
Nico kicked off the air in a nose dive chasing Alators down to street level.
Twisting his body, he descended feet first focusing his aura bracing his body as he landed hard skidding forward on his feet like a snowboarder over concrete. The smoking figure of Alatros unfurled his ruined wings and cackled, after that intense barrage he only had superficial wounds. Nico charged in As Alatros unleashed a swipe from his claws that dwarfed the attack he had demonstrated thus far. The hairs on Nico neck stood on end as Alatros's claws tore through the air with such force they birthed a vacuum blade—a sickle of pressure that carved through the street under Nico and continued, shearing straight through the bones of several buildings, toppling them into rubble. People screamed and tried to escape jumping from windows and vacating to safety.
Alatros' eyes burned with glee as he prepared to swing his another set of claws, but as he did, a figure streaked int a long handled warhammer in their hand, descending downward like a comet, slamming the warhammer into Alatros' chest, The warhammer cracked like thunder on impact, sending Alatros cartwheeling down the block in a smoking arc of limbs and shredded pride."
"When the dust cleared, only one silhouette stood: broad-shouldered, cloaked in steam, a warhammer slung across her back like a titan come to collect her due, Lyra, the Mountain. She turned back to Nico giving him a wink as she trudged forward toward Alatros, who was pulling himself out of the rubble of the street beneath him. Lyra stopped several feet from him, planting the head of her warhammer on the street, it seemingly weighed nothing not even making the slightest sound. She leaned on the handle with a smile on her face.
"Monster in the city? Seems like you are far from home, little chimera." Lyra's voice carried an edge to it, not a warning but a promise. "I guess this tends to happen from time to time, a monster learning how to speak, getting too big for his britches. You see I came from the planet Okenhine about a century back, and the monsters there, well they make you look like a joke sweetie."
Alators's jaws grinded together in frustration. "You meat always talk when you think you have the upper hand!" He lunged forward, jaws open claws extended. Lyra simply kicked the base of her warhammer, sending it vaulting upward into his open jaws. The weight was undeniable, it carried more force than the .7000 rounds that had hits him earlier. His form twisted, flipping backwards and slamming the ground with sickening force, bone cracking, flesh tearing.
Alatros whipped around getting upright once more, his form seemed to radiate heat, He charged forward not longer the intelligent enemy, now just blind with rage. As he approached Lyra picked up her warhammer and hefted it in both hands winding up to meet his charge, when he was in range she swung with such fro the air scream, and a mach cone formed around the head of the hammer. Alatros stopped short of ramming her and caught the head of the hammer with his right forearm, his claws gripped down on his and he leveled it down ward as he roared at her mouth open wide, saliva sputtering out at her. Lyra grinned savagely, grabbing the side of his head and slamming it down, She brought her fist up and sent it downward into the side of his head in a thunderous crack. Alatros slammed his arms down gripping the ground and whipping his body around smashing Lyra into the side of a building. Lyra recovered in an instant, her movements light as a shadow. She lunged, seized his tail mid-turn, and with a violent wrench—tore it clean off. Flesh ripped. Blood hissed as it hit the stone, as he roared in pain, whirling around he brought his claws down on her creating that same vacuum slash, he had used on Nico. But Lyra merely threw up her arms in a tight guard and tanked it, absorbing the attack entirely. She peeked up from her guard and rushed forward and grabbed hold of Alatros foreclaws. Gripping so tightly they shattered. Her knee flew up once again putting Alatros on his back, The giant chimera heaved, sucking in deep ragged breaths.
Lyra walked over and collected her hammer slinging it over her shoulder, "A class might be a bit of a stretch for you, certainly you are powerful, and maybe your durability is A class, but i have seen A class monster wield Aura and Dralth with enough power to level small mountains and razed cities. You are still a long way off offensively. Although our classifications probably don't mean much to monsters." She sauntered forward warhammer at the ready.
Alatros recovered, getting to his feet, but when he made eye contact with Lyra, all of his lesser instincts screamed, a warning. Flee. Alatros turned on his heels and dug into the pavement making a run from Lyra, who in turned gripped her hammer with two hands and charged after him. As he fled, he craned his neck around and ripped off both of his wings in turn. Reaching the intersection at the end of the block he lunged into the air, new wings bursting from his back, he flapped hard, desperately, gusts of power pushing downward as he climbed. Lyra sprinted forward, kicking off the ground and floating upward at him, weightlessly.
"Too slow," she cursed under her breath. Her ascent halted midair, momentum dying as she watched Alatros climb higher into the sky.
Below, a thundercrack split the air—Nico surged upward like a bolt of vengeance, slamming into Alatros with a burst of lightning. The Chimera barely flinched, his singular focus on escape unwavering. He brushed Nico off effortlessly.
As Nico fell back toward the city, he twisted mid-air and hurled another massive bolt across Alatros's spine. At the same moment, hundreds of quills lanced upward from below, peppering Alatros's flank—Trina, launching a precision barrage from a rooftop perch.
Just when Alatros escaped her range, a sound came forth from the ground, a deep rumbling, not a breaking sound, but an earthquake, like the city itself trembled. From below massive roots snaked their way out of the ground, not destroying anything, but moving around it. They surged upward with terrifying speed, coiling around Alatros's legs, then his torso and wings.
Other roots caught Nico mid-fall, gently dragging him back to ground level. But Alatros wasn't so lucky.
The roots yanked him downward, twisting and snapping his wings into gory, useless hunks. His shriek ripped through the air, glass shattering in windows across several blocks. Civilians nearby collapsed from the sound, blood trickling from their ears.
Lyra landed a moment later, hammer in hand, feet cracking the pavement. She wasted no time. Her boots thundered across the broken stone as she charged in, warhammer already raised.
Seeing her approach, Alatros's body surged with crimson light—he roared, opening his maw wide, and a beam of red energy exploded toward Lyra like a solar flare.
Nico intercepted it.. Lightning wreathed his form, his ruined arm raised like a shield. The blast collided with his aura—he grunted, planted his foot, and diverted it skyward with a crack of thunder.
Lyra didn't slow.
"That's worthy of A-Class," she said—and then swung low.
The warhammer connected with Alatros's skull. It didn't stop. It crushed, shattered, and splattered brain and bone across the pavement and up the nearby wall.
And then—silence.
Thick. Heavy. No wind. No words.
Lyra stood alone, her hammer still steaming. Then, without ceremony, she turned and walked toward the wreckage, as if killing A class nightmares was just another line in her job description.
Only then did Nico exhaled. He dropped to one knee, adrenaline vanishing. His arm was charred to the bone, flesh gone from bicep to wrist.
Lyra circled back, whistling low. "Good to see you punching above your weight class, Raven. If you had just a little more juice, this fight might've been yours alone."
Nico chuckled hoarsely.
"Heal up. We've got cleanup... and paperwork. Your team and mine."
With a last grin, she turned away and gave Trina a high five as she made her way toward a partially collapsed building.
Nico coaxed his Aura forward. Slowly, light flickered through his ruined limb—bone knitted, muscle regrew, nerves laced themselves together. Skin crawled over the mess.
In a few minutes, his arm was whole. He flexed it wryly and stood, staggering slightly.
Trina was there before he fell, catching him without a word. Her steady hand anchored him as he regained his balance.
Looking back, Holly and Harley were slowly walking up to them supporting each other, and behind them, the devastating aftermath of the fight, almost an entire city block was in rubble,
"I guess we can count ourselves lucky he didn't have that energy attack before, it would have been a lot worse." Nicos words were tiring.
Trina nodded in response. Her eyes were glowing with determination, "Yea, I think we both still need to get stronger, Trina. I felt like Alatros was a step ahead of me."
Trina looked up at Nico, her eyes shining through her mask, bright and affirmative. She nodded sharply. When Holly and Harley finally sauntered up to them They embraced in a hug crushing Nico and Trina. Their greeting was short as the city needed attention.
Trina steadied him, and Nico gave her a grateful nod. Behind them, Holly was already moving—tending to those hurt in the street, speaking quietly to shaken civilians, her hands glowing with healing red light.
The city wasn't still. Not yet. But it survived.
Nico turned toward the approaching press, a grim expression on his face.
The clean up was rough, many people had been injured by Alatros after he had escaped the sewers. Lyra was coordinating with local enforcement to help people trapped in rubble. Trina helped some of the engineers from the manufacturing district as they used their Aura to repair the hole in the road that lead to the sewers below.
Harley stood with her arms folded, armor scraped, cloak streaked with dried blood. Captain Tano approached, wiping dust off his uniform tablet.
"We have managed to clean up the Chimera's roaming the sewers and Lyra finished the A class. There was one more involved in this, A Dralth user. The mage wasn't human," Harley said first. "He was a Devil-Kyn. He summoned a chimera and disappeared.
Tano frowned, stylus pausing mid-stroke. "Devil-Kyn? That's a rare sight. And they're not exactly known for aligning with monsters. That's gonna turn heads."
Harley nodded grimly. "He wasn't some wild summoner either. Tactical. Calm. He knew what he was doing. Went by the name Zergial."
Tano started tapping rapidly on his datapad, compiling a briefing. "We'll put him on an intercity watchlist. I'll file for collaboration with the Hunters Guild. I need a sketch or a mask image ASAP."
"Also There is an Alter below, in the main antechamber we first encountered Alatros in. Make sure to send a specialist team to dismantle it and collect the bones so we can bury the dead." Tano nodded in response.
Harley sighed. The adrenaline had long worn off. Now came the part she loathed most.
"...This means I'm stuck doing the paperwork, doesn't it."
Tano didn't even look up. "Harley, if you spent half the effort on forms that you spend dodging them, you'd be the Minister of Reports by now."
She groaned theatrically, shoulders slumping. "Can I at least pass some to Nico?"
"You can try. But Holly already beat you to dodging."
Nico was speaking to several people holding small black devices that seemed like microphones, cameras hovering just behind each reporter, broadcasting to their respective stations.
"Lord Raven! Were you aware that this incident would spill into the greater city!"
"This incident was unprecedented. It was never an expectation that the threat would spill into the city, but we did take necessary precautions. These very streets were cleared of ground level traffic and work, everyone was protected inside their homes, Isolation shields were up." Nico spoke only the truth, he was bad at dealing with the press and people who tried to weaponize public opinion, reporters always seemed to be playing both sides, trying to use the truth or otherwise to get a leg up.
"Lord Raven!" Another younger reporter. " Reports are showing that despite the destruction here today the only casualties are Guardsmen who fought in the sewers below, would you attribute this to the swift actions and training you and other Skyflock members have been absent for these past three years."
Nico spread his hands out. "I would indeed, not only have we been getting stronger in a physical sense, we have been getting smarter, Lad Bluejay, and Captain Tano laid out a strong plan for this operation today and the low number of casualties is a testament to that. Outside of the fight with the Chimera Alatros, there were no casualties."
"Lord Raven, Chimine from YCB (Yunirith City Broadcast) here, when are the rest of Skyflock going to be arriving home, is it soon? Many wish to see Lady Flamingo, and Lord Cardinal."
Nico smiled, "Everyone should be returning in the next couple of days, we have very strict dates for our return."
"Would you say that the sixty-two or more missing individuals that went missing are in fact a testament that your absence has negatively affected Yunirith city? Wouldn't you say that in fact shows the incompetence of Skyflock, aren't they casualties!" The speaker this time was a reporter he knew well—she ran her own indie broadcast and always poked her nose into many things trying to drum up her rating as much as she could.
"I would say this was a testament to how intelligent the enemy was, Alatros was an A class monster, capable of speech, the fact that he was able to orchestrate the abduction and slaughter of sixty-two people, that we know of I will state. This proves he was highly capable. In fact if it wasn't for Lady Bluejay this plot would have never been uncovered."
Exasperated, Nico held up a hand, "That is all for now, any further questions can be made to Lady Quail, but I implore you to not disturb her as she is healing many of the injured right now at the field hospital." Nico turned to leave.
"Wouldn't you Agree Lord Raven that regardless of the low casualties and the swift response of Skyflock, people suffered from your absence? How can you praise the actions here today when they wouldn't have been necessary if the city's protectors hadn't left to train." That same reporter, Lise, her name crossed his mind in an instant as he remembered the send off ceremony three years ago, she had been there as well calling their decision to get stronger selfish.
"Tell me Lise. Have you ever seen war, not one of these battles, but actual war, people fighting people, killing each other?"
"Lise stammered for a moment, " I- no- but" Nico cut her off. "Us leaving to get stronger was a decision made because we all have seen war, most of us are orphans of war, we have seen the zenith of power and how single individuals can be so powerful they can wipe a city off the face of Dora with the wave of a hand. There are weapons of science out there so powerful they can crack planets and sunder stars. I think you should try to see the bigger picture before you criticize the people protecting you for trying to get stronger to do the job." He turned left with her still stammering, the other reporters were wildly taking notes and talking into their devices.
"Lord Raven declaring Skyflock's determination to protect Yunirth is absolute!"
"Indie reported Lise was put in her place by Lord Raven during the aftermath interview."
"Skyflock's members are no more brazen than ever with the press and their standings!"
As Nico listened, walking away he groaned, yet again he had set the media headlines a blaze. Walking toward the field hospital, he flipped back the cloth door coming into the scene. Inside the pop-up field hospital, the air was thick with antiseptic mist and the low moans of the wounded. Holly knelt beside a guardsman, her hand hovering inches above his shattered thigh. Deep red aura pulsed gently from her fingertips, spreading across the broken skin like petals unfolding.
The man hissed in pain but stayed still. "It's warm," he whispered.
"Good. That means your body's still listening to mine," Holly murmured. Sweat beaded on her brow. She wiped it away with her sleeve and reached for a gauze wrap as the aura finished closing the deepest tear.
From behind her, a med-tech handed over another list. "These four have fractures and concussions. The next three need burns flushed."
Holly took it without a word, reading it over with exhausted eyes. Her lips moved silently as she prioritized.
Nico entered just as she moved to the next cot.
"You good?" he asked softly.
She nodded once. "Ask me again in two hours. Right now, I'm running on fumes, but regardless this is good for my growth."
Nico nodded, "I'll see what i can do to get the low priority ones out of the way." HE moved through the tent to a couple of nurses who were using scanners on patients. "Direct all superficial wounds to the restoration equipment and all low priority injuries to me, Lady Quail is handling the extreme cases, I want her supervised if she starts to fade let me know so I can back her up."
Both nurses nodded and went about the tasks directing patients around. Nico took a seat as a line formed. He began to take care of people, with non life threatening wounds. He smiled, taking a child by the hand looking him over. Still a good day.