When the yellow eyes separated from the darkness and took shape, Eray felt his stomach tighten.
They were Ghouls.
But they were nothing like the weak, rat-like grave scavengers he had studied in academy biology classes. The high Ether density here had mutated them. They were muscular, hunched, and their skin had hardened like stone.
What froze Eray's blood was not their bodies.
It was what they were wearing.
On the shoulder of the creature in front hung a shattered piece of Raiders armor. Another swung a twisted infantry rifle, using it like a club.
They ate the previous teams, Eray thought calmly.And now they want me for dessert.
"Come on then," he whispered.
The first creature lunged forward with an inhuman scream. Its speed was far too high for something so bulky.
Eray braced the Lightning rifle against his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
BOOM! BOOM!
The rune-enhanced 7.62mm rounds slammed into the creature's chest. Glowing with Ether energy, the bullets tore through flesh and shattered the rock behind it. The Ghoul was thrown back and collapsed like a lifeless sack.
But it was only the beginning.
The gunfire worked like a dinner bell.
From every corner of the ruins, from the tops of broken walls, guttural growls rose. Three. Five. Ten. A pack. They hunted together.
"Damn it," Eray muttered as he took a tactical step back and used the tank wreck as cover.
Two Ghouls attacked from the right at the same time. Eray swung his rifle toward them, but they zigzagged with terrifying agility. One leapt onto the tank.
Eray let go of the rifle and reacted on instinct, drawing his Trench Knife from his belt. When the creature jumped at him, the exo-suit's hydraulics groaned. Metal crashed against metal. The Ghoul's claws scraped across Eray's shoulder armor, throwing sparks.
Using the strength of the suit, Eray drove the blade into the creature's neck. Black, tar-like blood splashed across his visor.
But the other one…
The other had gone for his legs.
One of the exo-suit's leg pistons was crushed between the creature's teeth. The sound of bending metal rang out. Eray lost his balance. The Ghoul drove its claws into the thin, unprotected joint of the armor.
A sharp pain shot from Eray's left calf straight into his brain.
"Armor breached. I'm wounded."
His logic still held. He pushed the pain aside.
The rifle was out of reach. The knife was stuck in the throat of the dead creature.
Only one option remained.
Shadow.
Eray reached into that cold, dark well inside him. On Ea
But here…
The moment he focused, shadow surged over him like a flood. A violent wave of power exploded through his veins, far beyond his control.
"DIE!" he roared.
Eray's shadow stretched against all laws of physics. It sharpened, rose from the ground, and turned into black spears.
Normally, he used this ability only to blind or slow a single enemy. But under Umbra's four-hundred-percent Ether density, it became a catastrophe.
The black spears pierced the creature clinging to his leg.
They did not stop.
The out-of-control shadow spikes tore through nearby rocks, the tank wreck, and three more approaching Ghouls.
The blast threw Eray backward. He slammed into a hard wall.
He gasped for air. Red warning lights flashed across his visor.
Armor integrity: 65%.Left leg hydraulics: Critical.Biological status: Blood loss detected.
His vision darkened.
The magic had drained not only the surrounding Ether, but his own life force as well. This was proof of why "Magical Humans" went mad and died. The power of this dimension was too much for a human body.
The area fell silent.
The remaining Ghouls had retreated into the darkness, frightened by the sudden and terrifying burst of power. But they had not left.
They were watching.
Waiting for Eray to weaken.
With shaking hands, Eray pulled a syringe from his pack. A military-grade coagulant and painkiller cocktail. He drove the needle through the torn armor and directly into his calf.
"Ahh…"
He clenched his teeth.
He tried to stand. His left leg felt heavy because of the damage to the suit. He was limping.
He picked up his rifle and checked the magazine.
Half empty.
"I can't stay here," he muttered, his voice echoing inside the metal helmet."The smell of blood will attract more things."
He fixed his eyes on the forest in the distance, where the strange vegetation grew thicker. It might be more dangerous, but it was better cover than the ruins.
Limping, leaving behind dead creatures and a trail of his own blood, Eray moved toward the forest.
He was alone.He was wounded.
And he had not yet met the more "welcoming" residents of this cursed dimension.