His eyes turned to the fallen heroes, their bodies huddled together. That was when he heard a shrill, keening cry that sliced through the silence like a razor.
He turned sharply, sword in hand, and his gaze landed on something towering. it stood nearly double the height of the Lorder but moved with a serpentine grace that defied its size. Its body was obsidian black, rippling with muscle that seemed almost liquid, shifting under its skin like shadows. Its head was elongated, almost skull-like, with eyes that glowed like molten silver, cold and unfeeling. Tendrils sprouted from its back, curling and uncurling in the air, dripping with a viscous black fluid that sizzled upon hitting the ground.
Ash stared, sweat trickling down his back, as the creature's mouth opened fully, releasing that same high-pitched wail. It drilled into his skull, forcing him to clutch his ears as pain shot through his mind. The ground shook, pebbles and stones vibrating, rising an inch off the ground before collapsing back.
Ash's eyes shot upward, heart sinking as he saw the swarm: Vulcers. Their wings stretched wide, black as soot with feathers like jagged knives, gliding through the sky in circular formation. Their heads were sharp and angular, eyes glowing crimson like embers in the darkness. They were vultures in essence, but larger—each one spanning twice the size of a man, with claws that glimmered like polished steel.
Ash cursed under his breath. First the Lorder, now this. His luck was rotting faster than he could run.
The creature lunged, long limbs propelling it forward with a speed that contradicted its size. Ash sidestepped, the tip of its claw grazing his cheek and drawing a thin line of blood. He swung his sword, the blade glimmering as it sliced through the air, carving a clean path towards the creature's chest. The blade struck true—or so he thought. The edge met resistance, but instead of splitting flesh, it slid off as if the creature's body was coated in something slick and unearthly. His eyes widened. The sword hadn't even scratched it.
The creature's tendrils flared out, whipping toward him with terrifying precision. Ash ducked, rolling to the side as they slammed into the ground where he had been standing. The impact cracked the stone beneath, sending shards skittering across the platform. He was back on his feet in a heartbeat, heart thundering, adrenaline pumping. He couldn't keep this up. Not with Vulcers circling like vultures, waiting for him to make a mistake.
A screech pierced the air, and Ash snapped his head up just in time to see three Vulcers diving straight for him, wings spread wide, talons outstretched. He swung the sword upward, catching the first one mid-dive, its body splitting in a burst of feathers and black ichor. The second one veered off, but the third clipped his shoulder, sending him sprawling backward. Pain shot through his arm, but he forced himself back up, blade still gripped tight. He couldn't lose it. Not here.
The towering creature's scream came again, shaking the ground, causing the Vulcers to screech in reply as if summoned. Ash's eyes darted around, searching for an opening, a weak spot—anything. But the creature moved with fluidity, its limbs almost intangible, like shadows sewn together with sinew and rage. Its eyes watched him, calculating, unblinking.
He couldn't brute force his way through this one. Ash took a deep breath, feeling the familiar cold edge of desperation creeping in. He dashed to the left, sprinting across the rocky terrain, Vulcers swooping low, snapping at him with metallic beaks. He ducked, rolled, and cut through feathers and claws, blood splattering against his clothes, but he never stopped moving.
The shadow beast followed, long legs spanning distances in a single step, its tendrils whipping forward with each stride. Ash swung his sword in wide arcs, cutting through the tendrils, watching as the severed pieces writhed on the ground before disintegrating into black smoke.
The creature barely flinched, its mouth still parted, still screeching, shaking the air with every pulse of sound. Ash's head pounded with each scream, like nails being driven through his skull. His vision blurred, but he held firm.
Another Vulcer swooped down, claws outstretched. Ash dropped to one knee, thrusting the blade upward as it came down, the tip of his sword slicing through its skull with a sickening crunch. Its wings spasmed, flapping wildly before it crashed into the rocks beside him. Ash panted, wiping the sweat and grime from his brow with the back of his hand. His lungs burned, his legs ached, but he wasn't done. Not yet.
The creature lunged again, faster this time, a shadow across the battlefield. Ash twisted, bringing his sword up in a desperate parry. The blade clanged off its arm, but this time he noticed something—a slight stagger, a flicker of recoil. His eyes narrowed. It could feel pain. Maybe it wasn't invincible after all.
But as soon as that realization hit, the creature reared back, its tendrils flaring out in all directions, its mouth opening wider than ever before. The scream that followed wasn't just sound, it was force. A wave of energy exploded from its mouth, cracking the ground, sending Ash flying backward, his body slamming into the jagged stone with a sickening thud. He gasped, stars flooding his vision, the taste of copper flooding his mouth.
He forced himself to his feet, legs shaking, sword still in hand, knuckles white with strain. The Vulcers circled back, shrieking louder, their eyes glimmering with a predatory hunger. And the shadow beast stood tall, its silver eyes unblinking, tendrils snapping back into place, prepared to strike again.
Ash wiped the blood from his mouth, stance lowering, eyes locked onto the creature. Out there on the horizon, through the haze of distorted space, a shimmer erupted, translucent at first but solidifying with every second. A massive reflection, stretching across the skyline like the ghost of a warrior—an armored knight towering above the landscape, holding a sword that blazed with otherworldly light.
The sword swung down slowly, leaving a shimmering trail of energy in its wake. It wasn't real, not entirely. It was a projection, a manifestation of raw power. But the ground did not care for its intangibility; it cracked and split beneath its weight. Ash's eyes widened. He knew that technique. Even from this distance, there was no mistaking it.
"Berserker Gear..." he whispered, voice swallowed by the roar of rupturing stone. Dev had learned it. Mastered it. A skill born from pure rage and control, from the ashes of his fight with Richie. Ash had only seen it once before, a fleeting glimpse in a training simulation.
But admiration was a luxury Ash couldn't afford. His mind snapped back to the present—the shadowy creature shrieked in response to the shockwave. Its attention, for the briefest moment, was stolen, eyes flickering with confusion. This was his chance. Ash launched forward, sprinting toward the bodies of the fallen heroes.
The Vulcers above shrieked, their metallic feathers catching the light as they dived, wings slicing through the air like blades. Ash's eyes flickered upward just in time to see one of them, talons outstretched, swoop low. Its claws latched onto the limp form of one of the heroes, dragging the body skyward with brutal efficiency.
"No!" Ash shouted, the word tearing out of him as he leaped forward, fingertips grazing the ground before he stumbled back. His eyes followed the Vulcer's ascent, horror clawing at his chest. The bird screeched, flapping its wings as it rose higher, higher, when suddenly, the shadowy creature moved.
Its limbs shot out, sinuous, blacker than midnight, and wrapped around the Vulcer's wings. Ash watched, breath frozen in his chest, as the limbs constricted, pulling tight with the force of a collapsing star. The Vulcer shrieked, its wings flapping wildly, but it was no use. The limbs twisted, bone snapped, feathers scattered like ash, and with a sickening tear, the Vulcer was ripped apart.
Its remains tumbled from the sky, black ichor splattering across the ground like rain. And then, the body of the fallen hero began its descent, plummeting back toward the earth.
Time stretched. Ash's legs moved before his mind caught up. He was running, sprinting with everything he had, lungs burning, legs screaming. The hero's body was spiraling downward, limp, lifeless, and then Ash saw it, the shadowy creature's limbs lashing out once more, claws spread wide, angling straight for the hero's body.
"No!" Ash roared, the sound tearing from his throat. He flung himself forward, body arching through the air, sword held out like a beacon of defiance. The claw was faster, descending in a blur of blackened shadow, but Ash didn't stop. His blade, he could feel it got stronger somehow, met the limb with a flash of steel, slicing through the tendril with a surge of adrenaline-fueled strength. The creature recoiled, the severed limb writhing in midair before disintegrating into wisps of darkness.
Ash hit the ground hard, rolling across stone. But he didn't let go. His hands latched onto the hero's body, dragging it away from the creature's reach. Blood trickled from his fingertips, leaving smudged prints on the hero's armor. He barely had a moment to recover when the creature screeched, louder than before, shaking the air with its fury. Two more limbs unfurled from its back, lashing out with blinding speed.
Ash barely saw it coming. He twisted, bringing his sword up in a desperate block, but it wasn't enough. The first limb crashed into his side, throwing him across the clearing like a ragdoll. He skidded across stone, feeling skin tear and bones crack. His sword slipped from his grip, clattering somewhere out of reach. Before he could even think to recover, the second tendril struck, whipping through the air with a vicious crack. It caught him by the arm, curling around his bicep, squeezing. Ash cried out as pain lanced through his arm. And then, with a sickening snap, it pulled.
His scream tore through the air, raw and broken. The pain was blinding, a flash of white that obliterated all sense of direction. He crumpled to the ground, clutching at the stump where his left arm had been.
Its limbs lashed out again, this time wrapping around the wings of a descending Vulcer. Ash's eyes, blurry and bloodshot, watched as the beast hurled the bird toward him with the force of a cannon. The Vulcer crashed into him, its metallic wings slamming against his body, crushing him into the rock. His body bounced against the stone, flopping back to the ground.