The snapping of trees and the rumble of the earth shook the forest as rows of massive blackout military trucks tore through the forest.
Trees splintered and rocks cracked under the weight as the trucks advanced through the foggy, damp woods.
The sun had already set, and with thick fog hanging low, visibility dropped to almost nothing.
Aside from the tremors caused by the vehicles, the forest was eerily silent—no insects, no birds, no signs of life.
Aeris stood on top of an armored vehicle, her glowing pale-blue eye scanning the fog for threats.
'It's far too quiet,' she thought, gripping her rifle tighter against her chest. Her gaze sharpened, ready to fire at the slightest movement.
Then, at the edge of her vision, her radar flashed. Something stirred underground.
Before she could warn the others, the ground gave way beneath her.
The vehicle she was standing on lurched, and her stomach dropped with the sensation of falling.
A massive sinkhole yawned open, swallowing the entire line of vehicles.
Aeris anchored herself to the vehicle and stared down into the hole.
Even with her enchanted sight, she couldn't see the bottom.
But she could see them. Mountain-Eaters, clinging to the sinkhole walls like predators waiting for prey, their eyes gleaming in the dark.
Without hesitation, Aeris shouted into her comms. "Enemy ambush! Mountain-Eaters ambush at the medical section!"
She steadied herself on the roof of a tumbling vehicle, drew her sniper rifle, and began firing.
One shot—one Mountain-Eater down. A second shot—another fell. By the third, the convoy had already plummeted around the creatures' level.
Banging her fist on the roof of the vehicle, she yelled.
"We're about to be swarmed! Soldiers, get out and defend yourselves now!"
Windows burst open. Soldiers braced against the falling vehicles, weapons ready, eyes scanning the shadows.
Muzzle flashes lit the sinkhole as the first Mountain-Eaters leapt onto the convoy.
Gunfire and screams echoed through the hole, but the underground darkness and the monsters' camouflaged hides made them almost impossible to target.
Vehicles were battered, flipped, and torn open. Some monsters slammed straight into the armoured hulls, others clung to windows, trying to drag soldiers out into the dark.
The soldiers fired wildly, desperate to hold them off.
Aeris fared better—her night vision allowed her to spot and kill those lunging at her.
Then she caught sight of the ground rushing up toward them.
"Brace for impact!" she shouted.
[BOOM]
The convoy slammed into the bottom of the sinkhole, wheels absorbing most of the shock thanks to reinforced suspension.
But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a wave of dirt and sand surged in like a landslide, slamming the vehicles and flipping them onto their sides.
Aeris was the first to recover. Her glowing eye locked onto movement—and froze.
A monster loomed above them, taller than a three-story building, its massive form blotting out what little light filtered into the pit.
***
Above ground, chaos erupted. Sinkholes tore open across the battlefield, swallowing squads whole.
The Mountain-Eaters attacked in waves—striking from below the ground and charging on the surface.
Leading the charge was a giant unlike the rest, ripping through formations and armour vehicles aside like toys.
Inside the army's command center, alarms blared and red lights flashed.
Holographic screens lit up with warning markers spreading across the map.
Operators rushed between stations, shouting reports, typing furiously, or dashing with data pads in hand.
At the center of the storm, four senior commanders stood over a massive holographic display, its surface painted with flashing red warnings.
"Commanders!" an officer rushed up, saluting quickly.
"Reports confirm Mountain-Eaters are using disruption tactics. Small skirmishes here, full assaults there.
Their main strategy is sinkholes—splitting our forces, picking us off one unit at a time."
A bald general's face twisted. "The Mountain-Eaters… using tactics? Could a second Prince be leading them?!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, Harold," another commander cut in. "We don't have proof."
"It's a possibility we can't ignore," Harold snapped. "Issue the order—hold positions, stay on the defensive. No reckless offenses."
"Agreed. Get mages to reinforce the ground. Pull our soldiers out of those sinkholes, use ladders, ropes, whatever it takes. We must not let them separate our forces."
Orders spread quickly.
Units reorganized, melee fighters forming a wall, gunners behind them, and mages hardening the earth beneath their boots.
Within minutes, the army had steadied itself, pushing back the chaos.
And just as quickly, the Mountain-Eaters vanished, retreating into the mist as if they had never been there at all. Soldiers held formation, confused but wary.
In the command center, the map cleared of red markers, the holographic battlefield returning to calm. Too calm.
"Stay alert," a commander barked into the comms. "They could be regrouping for something larger."
"What's our next move?" the officer asked.
"Try reestablishing contact with Isaac and Gerald. And get updates from the scouts."
The officer saluted and hurried off. The commanders turned back to the map, unease heavy in the air.
"If these things are showing higher intelligence…" one began.
Suddenly, every warning light on the map flared red. Sirens screamed.
[High-speed enemy detected—approaching from the northwest. Engaging barriers.]
[Outer barrier—bypassed.]
[Inner barrier—bypassed.]
[Core barrier—bypassed.]
The moment the core barrier fell, a warning blared through the entire army:
[Warning: Command Center has been breached.]
A chill swept across the soldiers as the message echoed.
"How?!" Harold shouted, bolting up from his seat as he rushed out of the truck.
Outside, elite soldiers gave chase to the intruder who had crashed straight into the heart of their territory.
The Mountain-Eater Prince had arrived—the same monster Gerald once faced.
But its crystalline armor was no longer flawless. Holes riddled its plating, and a massive crack split its chest, exposing the black flesh beneath.
Elite soldiers surrounded it instantly.
The Prince ignored their presence and slowly raised its arms. Soldiers tensed, weapons trained on it.
"Stop it!" one of them shouted—but the warning came too late.
With a deafening crack, the creature slammed its armor plates together.
A shockwave burst forth, a surge of magic-nullification that rippled outward and swallowed the entire command sector.
Spells flickered and died. Systems crashed. Holograms vanished.
Then, in a blur of motion, the Prince leapt past the soldiers, escaping from the encirclement and base with monstrous speed.
"What the hell did it just do?!" Harold shouted. His answer came seconds later as a panicked operator sprinted towards him.
"Commander! Our systems—all of them—just went down!"
"!!!"
***
Aeris and the group of soldiers who had fallen into the sinkhole were finally being lifted out.
Remarkably, they were mostly unharmed. Everyone survived, and the worst injury was a soldier's crippled arm.
Surprisingly, the monster waiting at the bottom of the sinkhole retreated once the soldiers showed even slight resistance.
When their vehicles were pulled back to the surface, their condition was revealed—dents and cracks covered the frames, the result of constant pounding and ramming from the Mountain-Eaters.
As the group resurfaced, paramedics and healers were already waiting.
They quickly checked everyone, casting minor healing spells and carrying away those with more serious wounds.
Aeris only suffered small injuries, easily healed, and was soon back to full strength.
She was brought before an officer to receive a new assignment.
While the officer thought over her placement, she asked, "Isn't the command center under attack? Why is everyone still standing guard here?"
The officer's face tensed, then eased. "I'm not sure myself.
The last order from Commander Harold was to hold position before communications cut off."
"I'm just as confused as the rest, but the command center is heavily guarded—elite soldiers, layered barriers. If it were truly in danger, we'd have felt it by now."
"Have you sent anyone to confirm the situation?"
"Of course. A squad is already on the way."
"I see." Aeris nodded, satisfied for now, and stayed quiet.
Before the officer could finalize her reassignment, the ground shook violently. The tremors grew stronger by the second.
A soldier rushed over. "Sir! We've detected hundreds of Elite Mountain-Eaters charging toward us!"
Almost immediately, a deafening explosion echoed across the battlefield.
The officer's face went pale, but he managed to bark out orders. "Dash! Report to the command center now! Warn the other sectors too!"
"The others—"
"Officer!" another soldier barged into his office. "Our frontline has been breached!"
"What!" Gritting his teeth, the officer stormed out of the truck to see for himself.
And sure enough—it was a massacre.
In seconds, hundreds of Mountain-Eaters had smashed through the defense line.
Vehicles flipped, soldiers were torn apart, and massive stone pillars and sinkholes erupted everywhere.
"Spread out! Drive your vehicles and lure them away! Do not fight head-on!" The officer used magic to amplify his voice across the battlefield.
But the elite monsters leading the charge ignored the soldiers, pushing deeper into the army lines.
"!!! Armor-piercing cannons, missiles—intercept them! Don't let them through!"
Cannons deeper in the formation roared to life, locking on and firing.
But before the projectiles hit, a small crystalline figure leapt out among the monsters.
With a single punch, it released an invisible wave that swallowed the incoming missiles and enchanted rounds.
The glow of magic around the shells winked out.
They still hit the monsters, but without enchantments, they barely scratched them. The beasts pressed forward.
"No—stop them! Don't let them reach the inner row!" the officer screamed, veins bulging.
But most soldiers were already overwhelmed by the thousands of regular Mountain-Eaters pouring in after the elites.
Only a handful could respond.
Pulling at his hair in frustration, the officer nearly lost hope.
At that moment, Aeris finally moved. She leapt from vehicle to vehicle, firing her sniper rifle at the elites in the distance.
Her first shots chip their hides, but the monsters' sheer size made the wounds meaningless.
'I need to hit the vitals,' she thought.
Sprinting faster, she lined up her scope with a monster's eye and fired.
The recoil slammed her shoulder, but the shot connected. The creature roared in agony.
It glared toward her with its five remaining eyes, but after a pause, it turned back to follow the group.
One of her questions was answered. The elites refused to be baited away, no matter how much she harassed them.
Still, Aeris continued shooting, trying to provoke a chase.
The monster grew more erratic and violent, yet it never broke formation.
As she planned her next move, a blazing white meteor streaked toward her.
She instinctively darted out of its path, keeping it in sight from the corner of her eye as she pushed forward.
Just before it struck the ground, the meteor veered sharply and shot straight for Aeris, accelerating fast.
Caught off guard, she barely avoided a direct hit.
A forcefield flared around her the moment it slammed into the earth, the explosion blasting her off her feet and hurling her several yards away.
Dazed, Aeris struggled to stand—until something seized her ankle.
Dirt crawled up her leg and dragged her across the ground, her armor scraping against dirt and stone.
She was being pulled straight toward the direction of the elite monsters.
"Let go of me!" she shouted, firing at the dirt clinging to her ankles. It didn't work.
Charging her rifle, she blasted the dirt with a stronger shot. It exploded, freeing her, but her leg was badly injured.
Adrenaline dulled the pain as Aeris forced herself upright and staggered away.
Only one thought filled her mind: 'I have to get out of here.'
Her body shimmered with a faint gray glow, then turned translucent— and she vanished.
But the earth lashed out again. A whip of dirt wrapped around her invisible throat, yanking her down.
This time, the soil covered her entire head as she was dragged along the ground.
Her gun slipped from her hands. She fought with her fists, then with fire, hurling fireball after fireball.
But the dirt smothered everything she threw at it.
The ground seized her, lifting her head up before slamming it hard against the ground.
Dazed, she tried to cast again, but another brutal strike cut her off.
The pounding didn't stop. Her spells faltered, her fists slowed.
She kept struggling, but each blow drained more of her strength until her body finally went limp.
Unconscious, Aeris was dragged toward the elite monsters rampaging in the distance.