Dr. J'an
The following entries document what is now referred to as the Valley Collapse Engagement—the moment the battle against Huǒ Róng Yuán fully escalated beyond conventional warfare.
Multiple perspectives have been preserved. While fragmented, together they form a cohesive account of the chaos that unfolded.
It is important to note:
No army present that day was prepared for what emerged.
And fewer still survived it.
Ren
I watched in absolute fear—and something far worse—as Huǒ Róng Yuán shifted into his new form.
The moment he stopped speaking, the air itself changed.
Heavier.
Hotter.
Alive.
And then—
More of those creatures began crawling out from what used to be his main body.
Not born.
Not formed.
Spilled.
That was the moment I understood something simple.
There was no strategy left.
Only survival.
Only killing.
I tightened my grip on my blade and shield—
And ran.
The first beast I engaged had three arms, its entire body radiating heat like a furnace.
Didn't matter.
I closed the distance instantly.
It swung at my side—
I raised my shield and caught the blow, the impact ringing through my bones as heat surged across the surface.
Before it could recover—
I stepped in.
One clean slash.
Its arm came off.
I drove my shoulder forward, slamming into what passed for its head and knocking it off balance.
It collapsed backward—
And I ended it.
My blade came down and severed its head completely.
The moment it died—
Its body began to cool.
Cracking.
Turning to stone.
No time to breathe.
Heat flared behind me.
I dove to the side—
A molten fist crashed into the ground where I had stood, sending shards of burning rock outward.
I rolled.
Recovered.
Turned—
And drove my blade straight through the creature's skull before it could strike again.
Then it became a blur.
Movement.
Steel.
Heat.
Death.
I slammed one creature down with my shield and crushed its head.
Turned—slashed another across the leg, dropping it to one knee.
Followed through—cut from its arm to the center of its chest, splitting it open.
Another lunged—
I pivoted and took its head.
"GENERAL, HELP!!"
I turned.
One of my men was surrounded.
Five of them closing in.
I ran—
But I didn't make it.
A molten fist struck my shield and sent me flying.
I hit the ground hard, my arm screaming in pain.
Even through the armor, I felt something shift.
Bruised.
Maybe worse.
If I kept taking hits like that—
That arm was gone.
No time.
Another strike came down toward my head—
I barely rolled out of the way, feeling the heat pass over me.
I got to my feet and cut off the arm it used—
Then drove my blade into its skull.
I ran back toward my men—
And then—
I heard it.
A scream.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Something worse.
It cut through everything.
Then—
The sound of flesh being torn apart.
Ripped.
Crushed.
Cooked.
And then silence.
I looked.
And wished I hadn't.
The beasts surrounding my men—
What remained of them—
Were melting.
Fusing.
Combining.
Twenty of them.
Merging into one.
It was wrong.
Completely wrong.
A mass of limbs—arms, hands, twisted together into something that barely resembled a body.
It moved on all fours—
No—
More than four.
Too many.
Its movement was unnatural, shifting and dragging in ways that made my stomach turn.
Even inside my helmet—
I nearly threw up.
But I didn't move.
Couldn't.
Not because I was weak.
But because something deeper—
Told me.
This is where you die.
It turned toward me.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
And then it charged.
Lee
We were in hell.
There was no other way to describe it.
The ground was scorched, cracked, and half-molten beneath our feet, heat rising in waves that made the air shimmer.
And the beasts—
They didn't stop coming.
Some crawled from the earth.
Others—
Climbed out of corpses.
Dead bodies twisting, cracking open as molten creatures forced their way out.
I saw one coming toward me.
I didn't hesitate.
I grabbed my bow and loosed an arrow straight into its head.
It shrieked—
Then collapsed, cooling and turning to stone.
Then I heard it.
A scream.
I turned—
One of my fellow soldiers had been grabbed.
The creature's hand wrapped around his arm—
And I watched his skin begin to sizzle.
Peel.
Melt.
And then I saw his face.
Red skin.
One of them.
One of the people who enslaved mine.
The ones who took everything.
The ones who broke us.
I could let him die.
No one would know.
No one would care.
And for a moment—
I wanted to.
But I didn't move.
Because of them.
Not because I was good.
Not because I cared.
But because—
They hadn't broken me.
And I refused to become them.
I fired.
The arrow pierced the beast's head.
It dropped instantly.
I ran to him.
"Don't mention it," I said when he tried to thank me.
"Let me see your arm."
It was bad.
Burned.
Cracked.
Barely holding together.
But still attached.
I wrapped it quickly.
"Can you fight?"
"…Yes."
"Then move."
From there—
We fought together.
And others joined us.
I pulled two more soldiers from under collapsing bodies.
Shot three beasts off another before they could finish him.
Dragged one man out of a burning pit as his armor began to melt into his skin.
We became a group.
Six of us.
Barely holding.
Barely surviving.
Then we climbed.
A ridge.
A better view.
And I saw him.
General Ren.
And what he was fighting—
Was worse than anything we had seen.
Lee — The Turning Point
The creature towered over him.
A grotesque fusion of molten limbs, writhing and shifting constantly.
Ren was losing.
Barely standing.
His body was covered in burns.
His left arm—
Was ruined.
Blackened.
Crushed.
Barely even shaped like an arm anymore.
And yet—
He still fought.
And he had done damage.
Arms severed.
Chunks missing.
But it didn't matter.
It kept moving.
"Go!" I shouted to the men with me. "Help him! I'll cover you!"
They didn't hesitate.
They ran.
The fight was chaos.
They reached him—
And were immediately thrown into it.
One man was crushed instantly, his body folding under a strike.
Another lost his head before he could even raise his weapon.
The third managed to land a blow—
Before being grabbed and torn apart.
I kept firing.
Arrow after arrow.
Targeting joints.
Eyes.
Anything that looked weak.
Ren struck.
Again.
Again.
Barely holding it back.
Then—
An opening.
I took it.
One arrow.
Straight through what passed for its central mass.
Deep.
Precise.
The creature froze.
Cracked.
Then—
Collapsed.
Ren fell with it.
I ran to him.
He was barely alive.
I tried to tend to his wounds—
But more creatures were coming.
Too many.
And then—
Reinforcements arrived.
They came like a wave.
Disciplined.
Efficient.
They cut through the beasts with precision.
Saving our men.
But not everyone.
They ignored the other factions.
Completely.
Even capturing some of their leaders.
Binding them.
Dragging them away.
The rest—
Were enslaved.
That's when I understood.
This war—
Was never just about the beast.
Marrick
I shot forward with everything I had.
And hit him.
The impact alone shattered the mountain behind him.
We crashed through it—
Stone collapsing around us.
I didn't stop.
I tried to follow up—
But he caught me.
His hand wrapped around my face—
And slammed me into the ground.
Then he dragged me.
Across stone.
Across molten earth.
My body tearing through everything in its path.
Before I could recover—
He grabbed my arms.
His upper limbs holding them in place—
Pulling.
Like he wanted to rip them off.
But wasn't.
Holding back.
His lower arms—
Started beating into my torso.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Even with regeneration—
Even with everything—
I felt it.
Bones cracking.
Breaking.
Reforming.
Breaking again.
Then something gave.
Inside me.
A break I couldn't fully place.
And with it—
Pain.
Sharp.
Stabbing.
Over and over.
I coughed blood.
For a moment—
I thought—
This is it.
No.
Not yet.
I headbutted him.
The impact dazed him—
And shattered one of my horns.
The world spun.
But I didn't stop.
I ran at him again.
And punched.
BOOM.
He flew.
Slammed into the valley wall.
I didn't give him time.
I followed.
And started hitting him.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOOOM.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
My fists moved so fast they struck twice before the sound caught up.
The ground beneath us turned to lava.
The wall collapsed inward—
Turning into a tunnel from the sheer force of the blows.
Then—
Something grabbed my leg.
And everything flipped.
I was thrown.
Launched through the air—
Toward another mountain.
Before I hit—
He was there.
He slammed me into it.
Then another.
And another.
He grabbed my leg—
And began slamming me into the ground.
Over.
And over.
And over.
My teeth shattered.
My nose broke.
Blood filled my mouth.
Then—
He grabbed my head.
And squeezed.
I felt my skull crack.
Fracture.
Shift.
Right before it broke—
He stopped.
And threw me again.
I landed hard.
Dazed.
Broken.
Barely conscious.
I tried to get up.
I couldn't.
Then he was there again.
His foot came down on my chest.
Everything gave.
Blood flooded my mouth.
I choked on it.
My vision faded.
And then—
I was gone.
Marrick — Awakening
I gasped.
Air slammed into my lungs.
I sat up—
Violently.
And looked.
Fuxi stood before me.
For a moment—
I couldn't understand it.
Why he was here.
How.
I tried to speak—
But only blood came out.
He raised a hand.
Calm.
Unshaken.
"Don't worry."
His presence—
Was different.
Stable.
Controlled.
Powerful.
"I've got this."
The sigils on his body glowed faintly.
Perfectly aligned.
Effortless.
"Stand by."
Even the battlefield seemed to still around him.
"Catch your breath."
Huǒ Róng Yuán—
Paused.
For the first time.
"Let the regeneration sigils do their work."
Fuxi stepped forward.
And in that moment—
He did not look like a man.
He looked like something far greater.
And for the first time since the battle began—
I believed—
We might not lose