Arou sat on the porch, quietly drinking a glass of water while Haru chewed on a piece of bread. The others enjoyed the calm morning air, taking in the rare moment of peace.
"Ah… mornings like this feel amazing," Nova said as he stretched and took a deep breath.
Then suddenly—
"Monsters! Monsters are coming! Run!!"
Screams erupted from the direction of the village.
Panicked footsteps, cries from children, and terrified voices shattered the peaceful morning.
Arou immediately jumped to his feet.
"What…?"
He looked into the distance—and nearly froze.
Thousands of creatures were rushing toward the village.
Their bodies were twisted and malformed, moving in unnatural ways. Some had elongated arms dragging across the ground, others bent backward at impossible angles. Their hollow eyes stared blankly ahead as their footsteps shook the earth itself.
"This is insane…" Haru muttered, eyes wide.
Feeth had already drawn his daggers, his body tense.
"There are too many—we need to move now!"
Nora looked at Arou urgently.
"We have to protect the villagers first."
Arou nodded sharply, his gaze fixed on the approaching horde.
"Our peaceful morning is over… but stay calm."
Then he shouted at the top of his lungs—
"EVERYONE INSIDE! GET TO THE COURTYARD NOW! DON'T STOP RUNNING!"
The villagers immediately obeyed.
Tomo guided the children, carrying the younger ones in his arms, while Haru directed the adults toward safety.
Once everyone made it inside, the massive iron gate shut automatically, becoming the first barrier between the monsters and the frightened civilians.
Inside the courtyard, Shion prepared his sniper rifle and began scanning the battlefield.
Emi stood near the gate with her sword and shield ready.
Nova, Feeth, Nora, Rei, and Arou quickly took strategic positions, preparing for the first wave.
The monsters slammed against the iron gate with violent force.
BOOM! BOOM!
The entire courtyard trembled under the impact.
"Everyone stay behind the gate! Don't panic!" Arou shouted firmly.
The creatures attacked from every direction, some climbing over each other in an attempt to break through.
Shion fired from a distance with deadly precision, dropping the most aggressive monsters one after another.
Feeth sliced through any creature that got too close, moving swiftly and efficiently.
Haru and Tomo continued guiding the terrified villagers toward safer areas.
Emi stood firm at the gate, blocking every monster that tried to force its way inside.
Then suddenly—
Three figures appeared from behind the swarm.
Arou narrowed his eyes.
"Akari… Lumina… Shi."
Their arrival immediately shifted the flow of battle.
Lumina blended into the crowd of monsters unnoticed, disguising herself among them. Confused by her movements, several creatures began crashing into one another, ruining their own formation.
Arou smiled faintly.
"Good… now we can control the battlefield."
Shion kept firing from afar while Feeth, Akari, and Shi defended the front gate together.
The second wave became even more aggressive, but with Akari, Lumina, and Shi joining the fight, the defenders slowly gained the upper hand.
Amid the chaos, Lumina remained hidden within the horde itself.
The monsters never noticed her presence.
With quick, subtle movements, she redirected larger creatures into one another, causing collisions, confusion, and disorder throughout the battlefield.
Her presence became an invisible weapon.
Meanwhile, Akari and Shi attacked directly, taking advantage of the openings Lumina created.
Arou watched the strategy unfold perfectly.
"Good… this combination works."
Shion continued eliminating threats from long range.
Feeth and Emi guarded the gate relentlessly.
Haru and Tomo kept the villagers calm and organized while Lumina moved through the crowd like a ghost, manipulating the monsters without them realizing it.
Gradually, the monsters' roars weakened.
Not because their numbers had dropped dramatically—
but because their entire formation had collapsed.
The battlefield turned into complete chaos.
Monsters stumbled into each other, attacked their own allies, and lost all sense of direction.
Arou raised his sword.
"Now! Push them back!"
The command was answered instantly.
Feeth dashed forward, his blades carving open a path through the horde.
Emi reinforced the right flank before the line could collapse again.
Shion adjusted his angle and picked off any monsters attempting to regroup.
In the middle of the battlefield, Lumina paused briefly, analyzing the enemy movements. With a single subtle step, she lured several of the largest monsters into moving toward the wrong direction.
"Now they're trapped," she whispered.
Akari and Shi seized the opportunity immediately.
Their attacks slammed into the clustered monsters, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. The ground trembled once more—but this time, the advantage belonged to the defenders.
"The rear side is secure!" Tomo shouted.
Arou took a deep breath and raised his sword.
"This ends here."
At his signal, everyone moved together in perfect coordination.
Shion stopped enemy movement from afar.
Feeth and Emi charged forward side by side.
Akari and Shi closed in from the opposite flank.
The remaining monsters completely lost control.
Slowly, Lumina stepped back into the shadows, disappearing as though she had never been there at all.
A few moments later…
Silence.
Dust drifted through the morning air while the exhausted breaths of the fighters echoed around the courtyard.
Arou lowered his sword.
"We won… not through strength alone, but through strategy."
The warriors had defeated thousands of monsters.
The battlefield fell quiet, leaving behind only destruction and shattered ground. The iron gate of Arou's house still stood strong, though covered in deep scars from the battle.
But the peace didn't last long.
Not long afterward, the sky suddenly changed.
The bright blue faded away, replaced by a crimson glow spreading across the horizon. The air grew heavy, pressing against everyone's lungs.
Slowly, everyone looked up.
"What's happening…?" Haru whispered.
Arou's expression hardened.
"This isn't natural."
Shion immediately raised his weapon again.
"This pressure… it's far stronger than those monsters."
Feeth tightened his grip on his daggers.
"So this is what they were talking about."
Lumina stared silently at the crimson sky.
The energy felt strangely familiar to her.
"Something has been activated," she said quietly. "And the source isn't here."
Emi stepped closer.
"So there's another threat?"
"Yes," Lumina replied.
"And this time… they're no longer hiding."
In the distance, the crimson clouds slowly twisted into a massive vortex.
A deep vibration spread through the ground beneath their feet, strong enough to make everyone realize the truth—
This was only the beginning.
Arou raised his sword once more.
"Everyone, get ready. The real battle is about to begin."
The crimson sky continued spreading endlessly above them, signaling the arrival of a far greater danger than anything they had faced before.