The impossible happened.
The boulder that blocked the cave's mouth—massive, immovable stone—slid aside as the spear-bearer placed one hand against it and pushed. No straining. No roar of effort. Just raw, silent power.
Gasps erupted from Tian's team. Awe and fear tangled in equal measure. Humans? Or something far beyond human?
A pressure rolled outward, a palpable aura that pressed against the lungs, the bones, the soul itself. It came from the strangers, heavy and electric—like standing at the edge of a storm, moments before lightning split the sky.
At the shattered cave entrance, two more figures emerged with the Spear-bearer.
The spear-bearer led, tall and wary, his weapon angled low but ready to strike. Beside him stood the swordsman, protective hand hovering near his blade, every muscle coiled like a spring. The woman followed close, eyes sharp, searching—her presence radiated quiet authority.
Tian's mind raced. Hostile? Neutral? Desperate? His thoughts flicked through every scenario. How to speak without words? How to shield his people without sparking bloodshed? With a subtle hand signal, he warned his companions: Hold steady. No rash moves.
The woman's gaze swept the group until it locked on Tian's hand. Her pupils tightened. Her breath caught.
"...Essence Orb."
Her voice, reverent and trembling, was almost prayer.
At once, the other two stiffened. Their eyes flared wide, darting from Tian's glowing container back to his face, disbelief and sudden hope warring in their expressions.
The woman stepped forward, tone urgent, words sharp and foreign yet unmistakable in meaning: Where? How? Why do you hold it?
Tian shook his head slowly, raising both arms in a universal gesture of peace. "We mean no harm," he said softly, voice tight with sincerity.
Elena's voice cracked as she stepped forward: "We're cut off… our people are sick… resources failing…"
Tian pressed on, desperation bleeding through every word. "The world outside is wrong. Broken. Darkness without end. What has happened here? Is this… a weapon? A plague? What curse swallowed the sun?"
The strangers didn't understand the words—but they felt the plea. Emotion was its own language. And for them, legend whispered only of chosen humans who bore the divine orb. And here, impossibly, such humans stood before them.
The woman muttered swiftly to her companions. In the same instant, both warriors tensed and raised their weapons. Spear. Sword. Power crackled like thunder in the gloom.
Tian's soldiers reacted instinctively—rifles raised, safeties off, adrenaline surging. A heartbeat from violence.
Then—
The orb flared.
Its glow blazed, drowning the cavern mouth in blinding radiance. A halo of light swallowed shadow, humming with impossible resonance.
The strangers froze. Suspicion melted into something else—fear, awe, recognition. Their weapons lowered, though their eyes never left Tian's group. The air between them thrummed with tension, as though fate itself held its breath.
No words bridged the gap. No trust yet formed. But something undeniable had shifted.
And then—the ground split.
A thunderous crack tore through the ruins. Stone fractured, dust exploded upward. Tian's team staggered, scrambling for footing as tremors rippled outward.
The woman's head whipped toward the sound, her face sharpening into command.
"Hasura!" Her voice cut like a blade. "Ready for combat!"
The survivors surged forward, spear and sword flashing, anticipation of battle etched in every motion.
The earth split wider, and from 400 meters away the nightmare emerged.
A titan. Three meters tall, forged of sinew and fury. Each step sent shockwaves rattling stone. In its hands, a wooden club thicker than a man's torso, every strike splitting earth like brittle glass. From its fanged maw, fire licked the darkness, a furnace roar shaking the night.
The two warriors charged without hesitation—fluid, synchronized, like blades guided by one mind. Their strikes cut with precision, each dodge impossibly timed.
Behind them, the woman dropped to her knees, pressing her palm flat against the soil. A surge of unseen energy rippled outward. In that instant, the warriors' movements sharpened even further—guided as though she painted their strikes across the battlefield itself.
Even in the black haze, they did not miss. Not once.
Tian's crew could only stare, transfixed. Humans… fighting monsters. But not like us. Stronger. Faster. More than human.
In the rear, Amara stirred awake. Her vision was blurred, her body weak. Yet when the report hit her ears, she forced herself into her astral form, determination overriding her pain. She had to see. She had to know.
The clash before them wasn't merely survival.
It was revelation.
Their first encounter with humanity's remnants had become a battlefield—one that would decide whether hope was reborn, or lost forever.