The second wave came without warning.
[Warning: Multiple hostile signatures. Count: 240. Range: 30 meters. Closing fast.]
[Threat Level: Critical relative to current team composition.]
More than twice the number from before.
The first creature broke from the darkness at the edge of the torchlight larger than the one he had killed, its body more solid, its claws scraping sparks from the stone floor. Behind it, a tide of shadow and teeth and purple eyes.
Doran's voice cut through the chaos. "Form up! Shield wall! Now!"
The hunters moved, their training taking over despite their fatigue. Shields locked, swords raised, a wall of steel and desperation between the creatures and the camp. But Kaelen could see what Doran the vectors could not, the angles, the gaps in the formation that the creatures had already identified.
They were not mindless or atleast the leader was not.
The first impact hit the shield wall like a battering ram. Three creatures slammed into the center, their combined weight forcing the shields back, creating a gap. A fourth slipped through, its claws raking across a hunter's arm, opening the defense wider.
Kaelen slashed the creature feeling pain in his pathways. Another passed and he killed it too.
Kaelen watched it happen in the space between heartbeats. He saw the trajectory of the breach.
Then another breach was found and this beast bigger than the previous two lifted its claws and dug into the stomach of one of the hunter's.
His body moved before his mind caught up.
The knife was in his hand. His feet were carrying him forward, into the gap, into the space where the shield wall had broken. The creature that had wounded the hunter was turning, its purple eyes fixing on him, its maw opening to reveal rows of teeth that should not fit in a mouth that size.
It lunged.
Kaelen stepped left. The claws passed so close to his chest he felt the wind of them. His left hand caught the creature's wrist the joint was weak and twisted. The creature's momentum carried it forward, off-balance, its throat exposed.
The knife found it.
He pulled the blade free, already moving, already tracking the next threat. Another creature was coming through the gap, larger than the first, its claws already raised.
No pause.
Another was already coming. He could not dodge this one. The space was too tight, the angle too sharp.
Faster. His vision was blackening.
He adjusted but his body was too taxed.
Too slow.
Pain lanced through his arm as claws grazed him, tearing fabric and skin. His grip tightened, but his hand trembled.
The system flared.
[Warning: Mana pathways under strain.]
[Motor response delay: 0.3 seconds]
That was enough to kill him.
He stepped back once resetting his stance.
An arrow cut past his shoulder.
The creature behind him dropped instantly, a shaft buried deep in its eye socket.
"Watch your blind spots!" the archer snapped.
Kaelen dcaught his breath. "Thanks."
He then dropped low, under the arc of the claws of another, and drove the knife upward. The blade found the soft tissue beneath the creature's jaw, the same weak point, the same perfect angle. The creature's momentum carried it over him, its body convulsing, its weight crashing into the creature behind it.
He had already killed more than twenty but the number of creatures was not reducing.
Kaelen rose from his crouch, the knife dripping, his chest heaving. The shield wall had reformed around him, the hunters pressing forward, their confidence returning now that the breach was sealed. Doran was shouting orders, his sword flashing, his voice raw.
The system flickered:
[Combat Assessment: 20 hostiles eliminated. Time: 15 seconds.]
[Efficiency: 84%(efficiency is reducing)
[Warning: Physical strain exceeding current vessel capacity. Recommend immediate withdrawal.]
He ignored it. The battle was not over. There were still creatures in the corridor, still hunters fighting, still gaps that needed to be filled. He moved to the left flank, where a young hunter barely more than a boy was being pushed back by a creature twice his size.
Kaelen stepped in. His knife found the gap. The creature died.
The boy stared at him, his eyes wide, his sword shaking in his hands.
He looked around the hunters were getting tired and some had not healed from the first attack.
Kaelen's gaze moved past the front line to the creatures and he noticed a pattern.
One of the beasts never moved. It was smaller than the rest. It didn't lunge, didn't scramble for openings like the others. Its head tilted slightly, body angled as if listening to something.
There were always beasts around it and no matter what had happened.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed.
"…Doran."
The captain didn't turn. His blade caught a claw mid-swing and forced it down with a grunt. "Busy!"
"They're not attacking on instinct."
That got his attention.
Doran shoved a creature back and stepped half a pace toward Kaelen without breaking formation. "Make it quick."
"There's one directing them," Kaelen said. "Backline. Slightly right. It's not engaging."
Doran followed his line of sight.
Then his expression tightened.
"…I see it."
"Like the first time, we take it out the rest retreat."
Doran nodded once.
"Creed!" he barked.
"I'm on it!"
"Backline target slightly right.Take the shot!"
The archer shifted position, drawing his bow, eyes scanning through the chaos.
He paused.
"…There's no clear line!" he shouted. "They're packed too tight!"
Another wave slammed into the shields, forcing the formation inward.
"I don't have a shot!"
Doran clicked his tongue, irritation flashing across his face.
"Then make one!" he snapped.
"Who is the the one with the bow between us?" Creed shot back. "if I say their is no shot then their is none."
A hunter to the side staggered, clutching his side where claws had torn through leather.
"Less shouting, more not dying," the healer muttered, pressing glowing hands against the wound.
"Easy for you to say," the man hissed. "You're not the one getting turned into ribbons."
"Exhaustion might get me before that if you keep bleeding like that," she shot back. "Hold still."
Another impact shook the line.
Doran's gaze flicked between the archer and the mass of creatures.
Kaelen exhaled slowly.
They were too compressed and they moved too fast leaving no gaps for attack.
He turned.
The boy was still there hands glowing faintly, mana gathering without direction clearly he was doing it unconsciously.
That gave him an idea
Kaelen stepped toward him.