The laughter still resonated in the devastated square, a thin and fragile one like glass. Selvara was in the middle of imitating Thalos' brusque voice, flinging her arms wide like a stout dwarf twice her size, when the air changed.
There was a silence—no not the comfortable one of friends gasping for air, but a weighty, stifling, unnatural silence. Even the crackle of burning wood hesitated, as if the fire itself was afraid to make a noise.
Aeloria's fingers locked on her bowstring. Her sensitive ears twitched, picking up something the others missed. A low hum, deep and primitive, vibrated through the cobblestones under their feet.
Her words were a whisper. ".Do you feel that?"
The others froze. And then they did too.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Each blow was far away, but weighty enough to rumble the ground, to split loose rock spiderwebbing with cracks. The squad's laughter vanished in a moment.
Kaelen swallowed, going pale. "That's not… not ogres. That's bigger."
Out of the smoke beyond the square, a figure stretched—too tall, too wide, pacing with terrible slowness. An ugly silhouette appeared, illuminated by the flames: a three-time human height humanoid figure, its form tall but corded with sinew that writhed like coiled snakes under gray, stonelike skin.
Its face… gods, its face was wrong. Half-man, half-beast, its jaw unhinged too wide, showing a jagged smile lined with teeth like black glass. Its eyes shone with cruel intelligence—predatory, mocking, as if it had been waiting for this very moment.
The S-Rank monster had finally come.
Selvara's bravado failed in an instant. She tumbled from her perch on the wagon, tail bristling. "That's… no. That's not possible. They said S-Ranks wouldn't—"
"They said wrong," Thalos interrupted her, face grim, shield going up to guard his chest.
It moved into the square, and with every step, its limbs twisting in unnatural ways, joints bending too far, the muscles elongating with sickening flexibility. It wasn't as mindless as the mobs they had just seen—its eyes swept across the squad individually, pausing only long enough to notice them.
Then, in a voice that sounded like dry stone rubbing against dry stone, it spoke.
".Small ones."
The word dripped with contempt. It wasn't a roar, not the incoherent noise of a beast—it was speech. Unmistakable. Cutting. Marred by brutal mockery.
Aeloria's bowstring quivered between her fingers. "It… it can talk."
Varon's grip on his glaives went white, jaw clenched. He could feel the fear of his squad gathering like a wave, ready to crash them before the fight even started. So he made his voice steady, commanding.
"Steady. Form up. Don't give it the satisfaction."
But the beast merely cocked its head, that glassy grin spreading. "Your bodies are exhausted. Your spirits shattered. I see how your laughter died. I will shatter you, piece. by. piece."
Selvara's ears folded back against her skull. "I… I don't like the way it's staring at us."
Kaelen retreated, sweat dripping down his temple. His healing staff vibrated feebly in his hands, but the mage's lips were parched. "That's not choosing. That's looking."
The monster moved suddenly. One moment it was still, the next it blurred forward, its massive hand slamming into the ground where Selvara had stood a heartbeat before. Stone shattered, sending shards flying. The wolf-girl rolled, barely escaping, her claws sparking as she scrambled upright.
Thalos let out a roar, standing between it and the others, shield braced. The crash as the monster's fist landed on the shield sounded like a bell, digging the dwarf's boots into the cobblestones. Blood spurted from his nose as he fought to maintain ground.
"Captain—!" Aeloria's voice cut through, panic breaking through discipline.
Varon did not flinch. His glaives came to life, black steel slicing through the smoke, his form hurtling forward in practiced precision. Every strike was for tendons, for vulnerabilities, for areas where even the monster must give way.
But when his blades hit, the flesh was tempered stone. Sparks danced. The monster laughed. A cold, bone-grating sound that shook through their bones.
"You bleed… I do not. You break… I endure."
Its other fist swung like a hammer, hammering into Varon's side. Pain burst as he was thrown across the square, his body crashing through the side of a splintered cart. His ribs screamed, vision blinding white.
"Varon!" Selvara and Kaelen shouted in unison.
The beast didn't follow him right away. Rather, it crouched, lowering its face to observe the cadets scrambling, relishing their terror.
Varon pulled himself up to his feet, blood pouring from his mouth. He made his body listen, spitting red into the ground. His squad stared at him, hesitating between running over and being paralyzed with fear.
***
And in that moment, Varon Draegus knew what had to come.