The ground trembled beneath their feet as the circle of beasts closed in.
Their pale-blue scales shimmered with frost. Icy breath fogged the air around their snarling mouths. Five against four—no, five against three, Aryan realized, as he looked to his right and saw Kira's body fall, lifeless, her throat torn open.
"Kira—no!" Reno screamed, launching a fireball blindly. One of the beasts lunged at him with terrifying speed. The flame hit, but it wasn't enough.
The beast didn't even flinch.
With a brutal swipe of its claw, Reno was down. His flames sputtered out with a dying hiss.
"Reno!" Kat shouted, charging forward and slicing one of the creatures across its leg, his dual blades gleaming. "Aryan, hold the left! Don't let them flank!"
Aryan gritted his teeth, planting his feet as a beast came barreling toward him. With no blade, only his fists and a crude knife, he ducked low, rolled forward, and slashed upward across its underbelly. The creature shrieked but didn't go down.
Too fast. Too strong. We're not prepared for this...
The healer—Neya—screamed as icy fangs tore into her side. She tried to summon her power, but it was too late.
Kat cut down one of the beasts with a spinning slash, then immediately engaged another, his breath ragged, his clothes soaked in blood and sweat. Aryan finally managed to finish off the wounded beast he had injured earlier, driving his knife into its throat.
That left only two.
"Two down…" Aryan gasped, barely standing. "Two more…"
But the air shifted.
A howl rose from the distance, low and sharp.
And then—
A sandstorm hit.
A violent wind howled through the Wasteland, sweeping up dust and debris, turning the battlefield into chaos.
"Get close!" Kat shouted, barely visible through the haze. "Stay back-to-back!"
Aryan stumbled, covering his face. The sand stung like needles against his skin. Visibility dropped to zero. He could barely hear over the shrieking wind.
And then—
A scream.
Kat was struck from behind by one of the beasts. Aryan turned just in time to see Kat drop to one knee, blood dripping from his side.
"Kat!" Aryan yelled, but before he could reach him, a claw slammed into Aryan's chest, sending him crashing into a rock.
Pain exploded in his ribs. He gasped, struggling to stand.
So this is it... Is this how it ends?
A growl echoed through the storm. The beasts were closing in.
But then—
Something shifted.
Through the swirl of sand, a shadow appeared.
A man. Barefoot. Unmoving.
He was holding something massive in one hand—dragging it across the ground. Aryan couldn't make it out clearly, the storm too thick. Only the silhouette burned into his vision.
Then—
The shadow vanished.
And in the blink of an eye—
He appeared behind the beast that was lunging for Kat.
A sickening crack.
The beast stopped mid-leap—frozen, its head twisted unnaturally.
Then it dropped, lifeless.
Aryan's eyes widened as the figure turned slowly toward him.
The second beast growled and pounced at Aryan.
The man didn't move.
But just before impact, the beast's body jerked—and collapsed. Its chest crushed, ribs snapped inward as if smashed by an unseen force.
Aryan's vision blurred. He was slipping out of consciousness.
Who… is that…?
The storm howled, and then the figure vanished—swept away like smoke in the wind.
When Aryan awoke, the storm was gone.
He sat up slowly, coughing sand from his throat. His body ached.
Beside him, Kat groaned, one hand clutching his bloodied side.
Aryan turned his head—and froze.
The first thing he saw were bodies.
Kira. Reno. Neya.
Lying cold and still.
A few feet away—the corpses of the remaining C-rank beasts, crushed and torn.
He looked at Kat, who was breathing heavily, his face pale.
"You… saw him, right?" Aryan whispered.
Kat nodded slowly, eyes wide. "Yeah… I saw him."
"The man in the storm…"
Kat didn't answer right away. He just stared ahead, silent.
Then finally—softly—he muttered, "That… wasn't human."