The guards scrambled through the nearby streets but found nothing. Even the car was gone. Thomas and his crew had already vanished into the fog.
Out beyond the Safe Zone's border, the hammer truck rolled quietly through the mist. Thomas sat at the wheel, driving slow and steady like he had all the time in the world.
Iris moved along the side of the truck, her eyes scanning the shifting fog. "Should we go now?"
Bryan flew just above, wings brushing the mist. He shook his head. "Just follow Thomas. He knows what he's doing."
Nevin floated near the front of the truck, glowing faintly. "Feels like we're skipping work."
No one answered.
Because they were.
Back at Kuroda, Renji's patience finally snapped.
With no sign of Thomas's team and no time left, he gave the order.
Plan B.
If Thomas's crew wouldn't kill the pack, then the pack would be turned into a weapon.
Kuroda's men were pushed into the fog and set to work, driving the creatures toward Okada territory. It didn't take much.
The pack had been patrolling between the two safe zones. All it took was a little noise to draw their attention.
But this wasn't just another group of fades. These were nightmare creatures, animals reshaped by the fog.
They looked like spiders, only swollen to monstrous sizes. The smallest were as big as a motorbike, the largest rivaled delivery trucks. Black, hairy, speckled with red, they crawled and skittered in terrifying unison.
Bryan's theory was right. Packs didn't stay random. Once formed, they mutated into a single race. Unlike strays thrown together, packs were organized. They moved with formation. Attacks came coordinated. Even their patrols looked like military sweeps.
A handful of Kuroda's men baited them toward Okada scavengers working near their safe zone. It was simple, throw something, make noise, then run. The spiders gave chase until the trail vanished, and then their many eyes locked onto easier prey.
By the time Okada's scavengers noticed, it was too late.
Over twenty fades poured into the street, webs firing from every angle. Sticky strands coated walls, cars, and pavement.
Okada's fighters, barely enough to count on two hands, scrambled to form a defense. But the spiders leapt from walls and rooftops, crashing into them from every direction.
Kuroda's members stayed hidden, watching.
Webs thickened across the streets. Screams rang through the fog. One after another, Okada's fighters were dragged down.
For Renji Kuroda, it was perfect.
The plan was working. The spiders were doing their job.
They thought they were winning.
They thought this was under control.
They thought nothing could go wrong.
But none of them stopped to ask where Thomas was.
Out there, somewhere in the fog. Driving. Coming.
Renji Kuroda stood on a rooftop, arms folded, watching the chaos below.
For days, the Kuroda family had been preparing to seize the Okada Safe Zone. It was the perfect prize: high walls, stable supplies, and a strong foothold in the region. If they claimed it, their influence would spread across the area. But just as they were ready to strike, the spiders appeared.
Their sudden arrival ruined everything. The pack entrenched itself between Kuroda and Okada, making a clean attack impossible. Charging straight in would mean being shredded before they even reached the gates.
So Renji chose another way.
Push the spiders into Okada's territory. Let the monsters and Okada's fighters bleed each other dry. Then, when both sides were broken, Kuroda would walk in and claim the safe zone.
And it was working.
Okada's fighters were falling, and so were the spiders.
The streets had become a battlefield of Glints, each one transformed into their own monstrous form, werebeasts, drakes, ogres, banshees. They fought back-to-back, blades and claws flashing as they hacked at the spiders.
But they were losing ground.
The spiders attacked in formation, surging forward in waves. Their sheer size let them drag Okada's Glints down one by one. Some dropped from rooftops, crashing into the line. Sticky webs stretched across streets and between buildings, cutting off escape.
Okada's defenses were breaking. Their line was about to buckle.
Then something stirred in the distance.
A low rumble rolled through the mist.
Out of the fog came a hammer truck, its engine growling as it crept toward the battlefield. Three Glints flanked it, each moving with calm purpose, ready for a fight.
On one side ran Iris, already in her Phoenix Sentinel form. Her long cape swept behind her as her blade hung ready at her side, eyes fixed on the chaos ahead.
On the other side floated Nevin, his wisp form glowing faintly. His new arms pulsed with light, the energy compacting within him as he recharged.
Above, Bryan soared just over the truck, his Celestial Tiger form flying low, wings brushing the edges of the truck's safe zone bubble.
And behind the wheel, Thomas drove slow and steady, chewing on a snack. He hadn't even bothered to transform yet, eyes calm as the battlefield opened before him.
Okada's defenders turned at the sight. For a moment, no one knew what to think. Were they allies? Strangers? Another threat?
The hammer truck rolled to a stop just steps away from the clash, halting the battle in its tracks.
The spiders twitched, their glowing eyes shifting from Okada's fighters to the new arrivals. Hisses echoed through the street as the pack sensed the change.
Iris moved first.
Without a word, she darted ahead, her blade flashing into her hand. She leapt onto a spider, carving through legs and body in wide, precise arcs. Another lashed at her, its limb slicing across her shoulder. She hissed through her teeth but didn't slow down, finishing it cleanly and stepping over the corpse as blood ran down her arm.
Bryan veered left, scanning the chaos. He didn't rush. He waited, watching for weak points. A pair of spiders tried to flank a group of exhausted Okada fighters, but Bryan struck before they closed in. His claws shredded the first in seconds. The second raked his ribs before he turned and ended it with a crushing bite to the neck.
"Watch your sides," Bryan barked, shoving debris into a narrow path to cut off more surprises.
Nevin floated between them, his light tethering to Iris and Bryan. Their wounds closed quickly under his healing. But while moving, a spider caught him with a swipe, leaving a shallow cut across his arm.
Still, together with Okada's Glints, they formed a new front line. For the first time, the defenders caught their breath.
But the spiders didn't stop. More surged forward, and the larger ones still lingered at the edges, waiting.
The hammer truck's door opened. Thomas finally stepped out, stretching his arms. He walked into the fog, and the moment his foot touched the ground his body warped into his Glint form. His Oni form surged to life, muscles swelling as stone-gray skin rippled across his frame, glowing runes burning into place.
He glanced around the battlefield, then wrenched a rusted street sign from the sidewalk. He spun it once over his shoulder, grip casual.
"Guess it's my turn," he muttered.
The pack responded at once. One of the largest spiders struck, a needle-thin leg darting toward him. Thomas swung the sign and deflected the blow, but the force still shoved him back, leaving a long gash across his side.
He looked down at the blood, then smirked.
"Alright," he said. "Let's see what you've got."
From the rooftop, Renji's smile faded. Thomas wasn't supposed to be helping Okada. This was supposed to be finished already. So he made his move, while Thomas and his crew were tangled with the spiders and Okada's fighters were barely holding on.
"Send the signal," Renji ordered. "Get the rest moving. Full force. We're taking the Safe Zone now. Kill anyone in the way."
One of the Kuroda Glints stepped forward. His body pulsed with light, glowing faintly like a firefly. In the fog, where torches, flares, or any man-made lights refused to work, this glow was the only way to send word across distances. The signal shimmered through the mist, carrying Renji's command.
Only a handful of Kuroda fighters, the ones used to lure the spiders, had stayed behind to watch the clash unfold. If Renji wanted to attack Thomas and Okada in full force, he needed the main fighters still gathered just outside Kuroda's safe zone, now marching toward Okada's walls. They thought they were walking into an easy win.
Then the ground shook.
A sharp hiss echoed through the ruins where Kuroda's forces were advancing. Cracks split the pavement, and manholes rattled as something surged from below.
From the broken streets burst massive serpents, nearly twenty of them. They spread out in formation, the pack moving as one.
The thin ones slithered fast, bodies wiry, jaws filled with small but vicious teeth. Behind them came larger serpents, slower but crushing, their tails smashing debris to rubble with each swing. Others crawled up walls, leaping down with long venom-dripping fangs.
The ground trembled under their weight.
Kuroda's fighters froze, realizing too late what was happening.
The spiders weren't the only monsters stirred by the fog.
Another battle was about to begin, this time on Kuroda's side.