It was 4:00 AM. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble violently. The air was pierced by the sound of frantic screaming. The three of them were still sprawled across the bed in a deep sleep, tangled in a messy pile of limbs. Aryan let out a groggy "Yaaahhhhh" in his sleep, but a massive jolt—like a violent earthquake—sent them flying into the air. They slammed back down onto the bed, limbs colliding, waking up in a confused rage.
"What is happening?!" they shouted.
Ayush rushed to the window. His face went pale. Standing outside was the exact same monster they had abandoned and fled from earlier. "Bro, it's that monster! The one we left behind!"
Vikas and Aryan froze in shock. "Don't just stand there, run!" they yelled. They bolted out of the room, charging through the hotel and onto the streets.
When they stepped outside, the sight was horrific. The monster had already laid waste to the Kingdom. The outer walls were shattered. Even though the Kingdom was massive, the monster loomed over it, continuing its path of destruction. Aryan stared, paralyzed.
"Stop looking!" Ayush shouted. "Remember what happened last time? Run to the other side!"
They sprinted toward the center of the Kingdom along with the panicked crowd. Suddenly, Aryan saw a young boy directly in the path of the monster's foot. Without thinking, Aryan pushed his body to full speed to save him. But before he could reach the spot, the monster's foot came.
Aryan stopped, trembling. Was the boy dead? He tried to move toward the impact site, but the night was dark and thick with the dust of collapsing buildings. He couldn't see a thing. Ayush grabbed him by the shoulder. "Do you want to die? Move, now!" He dragged Aryan away toward the center of the city.
The center of the Kingdom was supposed to be protected by a powerful magic barrier that extended inside and out, but the monster had already torn through it. They reached the King's castle—a structure so vast it could house the entire city's population.
Inside, the King sat upon his throne, remaining hunters preparing for battle. People were weeping or standing frozen in terror. Aryan felt a crushing sense of helplessness. He wanted to help, but he knew he was too weak.
Beside the throne sat several people.
Among them were Rei and Juine, looking broken and hopeless. One of the turned to the King. "There must be a way to stall it until reinforcements arrive!"
The King looked down, his voice hollow. "Reinforcements aren't coming. All High-Rank hunters are at war or on distant missions. It would take at least a day for anyone to reach us. We can do nothing but fight until our last breath."
Rei began to sob, his head in his hands. "No... there has to be someone. We couldn't even scratch that thing. It's my fault. I took that mission. I failed to kill it, and it followed us back to the Kingdom. This is all on me."
Seeing the S-Rank hunters in such despair stripped the crowd of any remaining hope. Ayush bit his lip. It's my fault too, he thought. If I were stronger, maybe I could have stopped it, or at least given these people hope.
Aryan watched the chaos, his mind racing. This isn't the time for guilt! Are we really this weak? He looked at Rei and prepared to shout, "In this situatio-!"
At that exact moment, Vikas looked up. His eyes widened. Standing near the King was the same mysterious girl who had visited the hospital—the one who had warned them about Rei's party. Time seemed to freeze. She was staring directly into Vikas's eyes, her hair fluttering in the draft.
Just as Aryan started to speak, the castle erupted. The monster had unleashed its skill: triple slash.
Gigantic cross-shaped three slash ripped through the entire Kingdom, connecting and tearing the city apart. The destruction was so absolute the Kingdom was on the verge of vanishing. The monster now held a colossal longsword. For the first time, its face was revealed—a grotesque mixture of a dog and a fox, with a third, glowing yellow eye embedded in its forehead. The creature was so massive that only its body from the chest down was visible; the rest was lost above the clouds.
Time slowed to a crawl. The King's face was twisted in ultimate terror. The entire roof of the castle was torn off, but the debris didn't fall on Ayush or the others—it was blown away by the terrifying atmospheric pressure of the attack.
Everything was falling apart.