Kuroda's fighters advanced through the pink fog, unaware of the danger closing in. By the time the serpents revealed themselves, it was already too late. They were surrounded.
Running was pointless. Some of the serpents could leap, climb walls, even drop down from above. There was no escape. The only option left was to fight head-on.
The serpents didn't give them a chance to prepare. Several lifted their heads, throats bulging as acid brewed inside their jaws. Others coiled along the walls, ready to spring. The ones on the ground coiled, then launched themselves forward.
It was a coordinated strike.
In an instant, the hunters who thought they would profit from Okada's struggle became the hunted.
Chaos raged in Okada's side of Safe Zone.
A spider the size of a truck screeched, the sound sharp and shrill as it stabbed its needle-like legs into the pavement. Its swollen, armored body pressed forward.
Thomas met it head-on. The rusted street sign swung like a club in his hands, the metal bending from the force of each strike.
The spider was stronger than he expected.
Every blow against its thick shell sent shocks up his arms. When one leg slashed across his side, it cut a deep gash through the stone-like skin of his Oni form. He winced but pushed through, dragging the bent sign through the ground before hurling it like a spear into one of its eyes.
Okada's Glints fought at his side, centaurs, harpies, werewolves, each straining to hold the line. Without Thomas and his crew, they would have broken hours ago.
Still, the spider refused to die.
It slammed its weight into him, throwing him back across the street. Thomas hit hard, blood streaking from his mouth. He rolled his shoulders, smirking through the pain.
"Fine," he muttered. "Let's end this."
He ducked the next strike, snatched a length of steel pipe from the rubble, and drove it upward into the soft underbelly beneath its sacs. The spider shrieked, legs thrashing. Thomas forced the steel pipe deeper until the massive body shuddered and finally collapsed, twitching into silence.
With the big spiders down and the smaller ones picked off by Iris, Bryan, Nevin's support, and Okada's remaining fighters, the tide turned.
One by one the last spiders were hunted down. The streets fell quiet, leaving only wreckage and blood in their wake.
Okada's fighters exhaled in relief. For now, they had survived.
On the other side of the battlefield, things only grew worse.
The serpents tore into Kuroda's forces.
Renji's fighters were the first to fall. The fast serpents slipped through rubble and alleys, dragging Glints down before they could even raise their weapons. Acid rained from above, hissing as it melted makeshift shields and armor. The largest serpents crushed anyone they coiled around, smashing bodies against stone and steel.
Renji realized something was wrong when the signal reached him, a sharp, cricket-like sound carried through the fog. From his position with the lure group, watching the spiders clash with Okada, he knew the main force was in trouble.
He gathered the fighters at his side and moved to reinforce them, charging into the serpent battle himself. But by the time Renji and his group arrived, half the main force was already gone, slaughtered in the opening assault. The serpents had torn through them before they could even form a defense.
Renji roared and fought hard, his Glint form a towering, stone-armored brute. His blade carved through several of the smaller serpents, but the bigger ones only watched, circling, patient. One of them finally slid forward, scales grinding against the pavement.
Renji struck with everything he had, his blade cutting into its scales and leaving only a shallow mark. The serpent barely slowed.
That was all the strength the Kuroda had left.
And when Renji finally fell, the rest of his family broke.
Thomas wiped the blood from his mouth and glanced toward the horizon, where another pack had struck Kuroda's forces.
"Guess we're not finished," he muttered as shouts echoed faintly through the fog.
A man stepped forward, armor cracked and streaked with dirt, exhaustion written across his face.
"I'm Noah Okada, leader of this Safe Zone," he said, giving Thomas a nod. "Appreciate the help back there."
"I'm Thomas," Thomas replied, jerking a thumb toward the others. "These are my friends. We were paid to kill the pack, that's why we're here."
Noah frowned at that. Paid? By who? It didn't add up. But he couldn't deny the truth, they had killed the spiders. He let it go, for now.
He turned his gaze back to the fog, where distant sounds of battle still carried. "Scouts say Kuroda's forces ran into another pack while trying to regroup. Serpents. They've been tearing through them since the moment they moved."
Thomas gave a shrug. "Lead the way."
Noah nodded once. "Alright." He raised a hand, signaling his fighters to form up. What was left of Okada's men and women gathered behind him, battered but ready to move.
Noah still couldn't figure out Thomas and his crew. If they truly intended to save Kuroda's forces, so be it, but Noah already had a different plan in mind.
They didn't waste time. What remained of Okada's fighters gathered, many still limping, all wounded but unwilling to stay behind. Thomas's crew fell in beside them. Their short march toward Kuroda's last position was silent except for dragging boots and the occasional groan from half-healed wounds.
Nevin worked as they moved, his light reaching out to close what injuries he could, though his own glow flickered faintly from strain.
"You okay?" Iris asked quietly.
Nevin flexed his half-formed fingers. "Good enough to not die. Probably."
Bryan kept his eyes fixed ahead, wings twitching. "Let's not make getting banged up every fight a habit."
By the time they reached the ruins of Kuroda's last stand, some of the serpents were still there. Two massive ones waited among the rubble, their scaled bodies coiled around shattered walls, yellow eyes glowing in the mist.
Thomas rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as he stepped forward.
"Well," he muttered, "round two starts now."
The jumping serpents struck first, darting from the fog. Okada's Glints met them head-on, talons slashing, armored limbs colliding, but exhaustion slowed them. Their line wavered.
Thomas's crew filled the gaps.
Iris took the left flank, clashing with a mid-sized serpent skilled at binding. Its coils snared her leg, squeezing hard, but she rammed her blade down through its neck before it could crush her. She stumbled free, panting, fresh blood trailing down her arm where an earlier wound had torn open.
Bryan swooped upward, catching an acid-spitting serpent before it could unleash its spray. He ripped it from the rooftop, claws tearing, though its thrashing left deep scratches across his back.
Thomas, meanwhile, strode straight toward the two giants coiled in the ruins.
One lunged, fangs snapping. He ducked low and drove his fist into its jaw, the impact sending tremors through its coils. The second serpent whipped its tail around, striking him square in the chest. The blow hurled him into a broken wall with a bone-shaking CRASH.
Thomas staggered to his feet, coughing as dust rained down. He wiped his mouth and smirked.
"Yeah… definitely stronger than the last one."
The fight dragged on. Okada's forces pushed themselves to the limit, Noah rallying them through the chaos, but the serpents refused to relent. Each time one was cut down, another slid out from the shadows.
At last, Thomas saw his opening.
One of the massive serpents reared back to strike. Thomas lunged first, driving a jagged steel beam through its throat. The serpent thrashed violently, body twisting in spasms before collapsing, its coils spreading lifeless across the street.
The second serpent lunged immediately after. Thomas sidestepped, letting it slam headfirst into a wall. Rebar jutted from the rubble, spearing into its skull. Without pause, Thomas drove his fist into the wall itself, shoving the metal deeper until it tore through bone and burst out beneath the serpent's chin.
The great snake's glowing eyes locked on him for a moment, then dimmed. Its body slumped to the ground, shaking the ruins with a heavy tremor.
With the two giants slain and Thomas backing them up, the rest of the fight turned quickly. Together with Iris, Bryan, Nevin, and what remained of Okada's Glints, they cut down the last of the serpents.
At last, the battlefield was still.
Noah didn't wait. With the serpents gone and Kuroda's survivors weak and scattered, he turned his forces on them without hesitation.
"For everything you did to us," Noah said, his voice cold and final, "this ends today."
The Kuroda family never stood a chance.
Renji, barely alive, his body torn and bleeding, dragged himself forward in a last, desperate crawl for survival. His Glint form, once a towering brute of stone and strength, was crumbling, the armor breaking apart piece by piece. Blood ran down his claws as he stumbled three steps. On the fourth, a taloned hand drove him into the dirt. Claws ripped through his side, ending him where he fell.
The rest of Kuroda's warriors froze, the truth undeniable. They were finished.
Some dropped their weapons, crude spears, rusted blades. Others, still twisted in monstrous Glint forms, raised their clawed hands, spiked limbs, or wings in surrender. Their resolve shattered, their glowing eyes dimmed.
But hesitation was fatal.
Those who faltered, those who lingered even a moment too long, were cut down. Pierced. Crushed. Torn apart.
The battlefield became a graveyard of broken Glints and fallen warriors.
When the last scream faded, only Okada's fighters remained.
The battle was over. Their hold on the region was absolute.
Kuroda was gone.