The field was a vision of hell. Three colossal reptiles were the epicenter of a swirling vortex of violence. Around them, a desperate, outnumbered group of Players struggled to hold the line against a tide of smaller, snapping lizards. Arrows streaked down from the embankment, mostly bouncing from armored hides. Bodies, human and monster, littered the ground.
Kira didn’t hesitate. Her jaw set, her staff materialized, and she was gone, a streak of green and gold charging into the fray.
Guess that’s my cue. I summoned my sword and broke into a sprint.
Ahead, Ryker was thrown backward by a sweep of a giant’s tail. He hit the ground hard, coughing up blood, but staggered back to his feet.
“Logan led one off,” he gasped as I reached him, his eyes wide with desperation. “But two more spawned right after! It’s chaos!”
I gripped his shoulder, forcing him to focus. “Fall back. Get the wounded out. Kira will heal them.” He nodded grimly and moved.
My attention snapped back to the fight. Charlie was a frantic blur, his sword a futile effort against a giant’s leg. Nearby, a simple gladius lay discarded in the grass. A battlefield pickup. I snatched it with my left hand, summoning my Jian to my right.
My mana hummed, connecting instantly with my own blade. I tried to push that same energy into the gladius. A faint shimmer crept up the steel. It was slow, clumsy, but it obeyed. A new sensation, an extension of my own will into a foreign object.
Mana Control skill unlocked. Proficiency 1%.
A grin tugged at my lips. Let’s do this. I sprinted forward as another reptilian elite swiped at Charlie. I threw myself between them, crossing both blades. The impact was a bone-rattling shockwave that threw us both to the ground.
“Move!” I barked, hauling Charlie to his feet. “Regroup with Ryker! If you stay here, you’ll just get in my way.”
The words were harsher than I intended. I saw the flicker of hurt in his eyes before he nodded stiffly and ran. The moment he cleared the area, the lizards’ heads snapped toward him.
“Not today,” I growled, lunging into their path, my blades a whirlwind of steel. I became a dervish, a frantic dance of survival. I ducked under snapping jaws, slid under sweeping claws, my blades leaving deep, oozing gashes in the softer flesh of their underbellies. They turned on me, their movements clumsy in their rage, their collective hatred a palpable force.
Then, I made a mistake.
A swipe from my right, too fast to counter. The claws collided with my armor. My mana surged to the point of impact, dulling the blow, but the sheer power sent me careening backward. My momentum stopped when my head slammed against a tree. Pain exploded behind my eyes, and the world went black.
I came to with my face pressed into the damp earth, my head pounding. A sharp, grinding pressure clamped down on my leg. A Lesser Lizard had me, its teeth grating against my new greaves as it thrashed its head, whipping my body through the air like a ragdoll.
A low, mechanical whirring grew louder. Above, the familiar silhouette of the Valen PD chopper hovered like an avenging angel. The deafening crack of a .50 cal echoed across the field. Green blood spurted from one of the giants as it faltered. Headlights blazed, and a police truck slammed into the lizard pack, Jamie leaping from the driver’s side, his shotgun booming.
“Jamie…” I croaked, staggering to my feet.
He was already there, his face set with a grim determination I’d never seen before, half-carrying me toward the truck.
“I’ve got you,” Jamie said, his voice firm as he slipped an arm under mine. His grip was a steady anchor in the swirling chaos.
He helped me to the truck, and I leaned against the cold steel of the bed, my body a single, screaming nerve of exhaustion. My vision swam, and a wave of nausea clawed at the back of my throat.
“Jamie?” I croaked.
“I’m here, sir.” His grip tightened, keeping me upright. “And I brought reinforcements.”
I blinked, forcing the world into focus. He wasn't wrong. A tide of red and blue strobing lights washed over the battlefield, painting the trees and wrecked vehicles in frantic, dancing colors. A convoy of Valen and North District cruisers poured into the clearing. Doors flew open, and officers spilled out, their movements disciplined and sure as they formed tight, overlapping fields of fire. The ragged symphony of panicked shots transformed into a controlled, thunderous volley of coordinated destruction.
Hope, a feeling so foreign I almost didn't recognize it, flickered in my chest.
Then I saw her. A tall officer with spiky hair broke from the line, charging an oncoming lizard. She didn't fire from a distance. She sprinted forward, her movements a blur of ferocious grace, and jammed the muzzle of her shotgun directly into the creature’s gaping maw before pulling the trigger. The resulting explosion of green viscera was a testament to a level of raw courage that bordered on insanity.
But hope is a fragile thing in a graveyard. The bellows of the giants tore through the air, and the tide of lesser beasts seemed endless. I gripped the side of the truck, my legs threatening to buckle.
“I have to help them,” I said, gritting my teeth as I pushed myself upright. The world tilted, my vision blurring at the edges.
“Wait!” Jamie’s hand clamped down on my shoulder.
“No, Jamie.” I shook my head, the motion making the nausea worse. “You can’t stop me.”
He stepped in front of me, blocking my path. His face was calm, resolute. In his hands, he now held a simple shield and a shortsword, their surfaces catching the strobing police lights. They had materialized from a reward box of his own. He was a Player.
“I’m not stopping you, sir,” he said, his voice steady with a newfound determination that sent a shock through me. “I’m coming with you.”
I stared at him. The cowering rookie was gone, replaced by a warrior forged in the last hour’s hell. A weary, faint smile touched my lips. “Looks like I don’t need to worry about my back this time,” I said, the words an effort.
I stumbled around the truck to get a better view. It was a portrait of valiant futility. Officers fought in coordinated clusters, but for every lizard they dropped, two more seemed to take its place. Claws tore through Kevlar with ease. The screams of the overwhelmed were sharp, then abruptly silenced. My gaze snagged on an officer cornered by three reptiles. He dropped one before another lunged, and the man’s cry was a shard of glass in my chest.
I tore my eyes away as one of the creatures broke from a pack, its predatory gaze locking onto us. Its claws gouged deep furrows in the earth as it charged.
My swords. They lay in the grass a few feet away, their labels glowing like faint beacons. I tried to run, but my legs were clumsy, refusing to obey. The lizard was closing when Jamie moved, planting his shield to meet its claws with a shrill screech of protesting steel.
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“Get your weapons!” he shouted, his voice strained as he braced against the onslaught.
I stumbled forward, my knees hitting the dirt. I ignored the scrape of gravel on my palms and crawled, my world narrowed to the two glowing hilts. My fingers closed around them, and with a thought, they vanished into my inventory.
I turned back. Jamie was losing ground, the shield buckling. The lizard’s jaws, dripping with saliva, were inches from his face.
“No!” The word tore from my throat, but my body betrayed me. I tripped over the uneven ground, falling face-first. A sharp, searing agony exploded at the back of my head. My trembling fingers came away wet and crimson.
Fuck. I looked up just as another reptile charged me. I was helpless, grounded, waiting for the end.
A sound like the sky cracking open split the air.
The lizard attacking Jamie simply erupted, a geyser of green ichor spraying from its side as a round from the .50 cal found its mark. It collapsed onto Jamie’s shield. He groaned, shoving the carcass off just as two more bounded toward him. He was back in the thick of it, but now, I was the one in danger.
The second lizard leaped. I threw up my arm, a last, desperate defense. Its teeth clamped down on the armor of my forearm, the sound of grinding metal screaming in my ears. The pressure was immense, a living vise threatening to crush the bone beneath. A raw cry ripped from my throat as it thrashed its head, whipping me back and forth like a dog with a chew toy.
Through the spinning chaos, a surge of desperate clarity cut through. I summoned my Jian. As the beast yanked me closer, its rancid breath a suffocating wave, I drove the blade forward. The steel met the soft, gelatinous surface of its eye with a wet, yielding sound. The creature let out a deafening shriek of fury and agony. I roared with it, shoving the blade deeper, feeling it push past bone and sinew until the resistance gave way.
Lesser Lizard killed – 25 XP.
Its jaw slackened. I tore my arm free and hit the ground hard, rolling onto my back. Before I could even process the pain, another one was coming.
“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, my limbs heavy as lead. “Can’t I get a goddamn break?” I am really getting tired of these fucking near death experiences.
A shadow fell over me. A savage bellow that was more beast than man echoed across the field. Logan charged into view, his massive Axe a blur of enchanted steel. He cleaved the oncoming lizard in two with a single, brutal swing.
He turned, his broad silhouette outlined against the carnage, the snarling wolf on his new chest piece pulsing with a faint, red light.
“You look like shit,” he grinned, extending a hand.
“And you,” I croaked, letting him pull me to my feet, “almost look heroic. Except you’re missing a shoe.”
He glanced at his bare, blood-stained foot and wiggled his toes. “The price of all this heroic shit, I guess.” He slung my arm over his shoulder. “Thank your partner over there for keeping me in one piece.”
I looked. Across the field, Kira stood near the treeline, her staff raised, channeling a gentle warmth that flowed through me, knitting together torn muscles and soothing the deep, bone-bruising aches. My vision sharpened.
“Her heals are something else,” Logan said in awe.
“They are,” I agreed.
Jamie jogged over, his face etched with worry. “Are you alright?”
“I am,” I replied, my gaze shifting from my friends to the chopper circling overhead. “Thanks to everyone. And whoever’s up there.”
The helicopter’s mounted gun barked, picking off targets with deadly precision.
“That’s Chief Dobson,” Jamie said.
I blinked. “What?”
“When I got back, the Chief had already settled the city,” Jamie began, his voice swelling with pride. “He gathered everyone who was left. He told them they had a choice: go home to your families, or arm up and come fight for your city. For your homes.” He paused, his gaze sweeping over the officers now fighting a coordinated battle. “The ones who stayed… they’re all here.”
A surge of profound respect tightened in my chest. Kira’s healing magic faded, leaving me feeling sharp and whole. I rolled my shoulders and summoned my swords, the blades shimmering to life in my hands.
“Well,” I said, my voice firm with a new resolve. “Let’s thank them properly.”
Logan’s grin was feral. The wolf on his armor seemed to snarl in agreement. “I’m in.”
Jamie gave a quick, determined nod.
Without another word, we broke into a sprint toward the closest giant. Gunfire from the main line ceased as we closed the distance. The beast’s tail swept across the ground. I leaped, vaulting over the appendage as Logan darted forward, his Axe cleaving through the thick limb like it was nothing.
As the reptile roared in agony, I landed on its back. Mana surged from deep within me, flowing into my blades until they extended with an ethereal glow. The power was a wild, exhilarating fire as I drove my swords down, carving deep gouges in the creature’s hide. I climbed its back, and with a sharp inhale, I leaped sideways and plunged my Jian deep into its throat.
My own weight did the rest. The mana-infused blade sliced clean through muscle and artery. The beast’s death cry was cut short as it collapsed with a ground-shaking crash.
One down. I dismissed the notification screen and rushed back into the fray. Lesser lizards poured from the gate, and I became a whirlwind of steel, their shrieks filling the air as I cut them down.
Congratulations on leveling up! Accept rewards? Yes/No.
“Not now,” I hissed, denying the prompt.
Ahead, Logan engaged the second giant, his Axe a brutal, relentless engine of destruction, sinking deep into its chest. The beast snapped and I was against Logan's shoulder deflecting the giant row of teeth. My muscles strained with the effort but I managed to give Logan enough time to swing his axe another time embedding it deep into the giant lizard's chest cavity. It collapsed in a heap of twitching limbs.
Congrats on killing an Elite! 100 XP issued based on Contributions.
“Two down,” Logan gasped, his grin bloodied but triumphant. “One more to go.”
"Not bad I got 100 XP for only deflecting it's ugly head" I beamed back.
Logan looked aghast "wow is the system holding your hand for level ups?"
"How about I kill the next thing while you swat at its nose and we will find out."
"You just want me to get eaten so you can have all the experience" Logan roared.
"Well let's see who kills it first then shall we?" I was still grinning ear to ear. This was alarmingly exhilarating. Was this my own feelings or was the system somehow changing my emotions so I adapt faster. I was afraid of the answer.
Logan was also grinning "Lets" and we took off sprinting.
We formed up with Jamie and advanced on the final target. It was tearing through a cluster of officers, Kevlar shredding like paper under its claws. Logan charged its rear flank while I slid beneath its massive underbelly. My mana-infused blades left deep, weeping gashes, spilling its entrails onto the grass. Logan severed one of its legs, and the beast toppled, rolling in agony. The deafening crack of the .50 cal and a volley of Shanira’s arrows tore into its neck. I leaped onto its writhing form, hacking and slashing, the fatigue from the constant mana use a leaden weight in my limbs.
My arms dropped to my sides, and I collapsed to my knees, unsummoning my swords. Fuck me. This is exhausting.
The world suddenly twisted. I didn’t see the hit coming. I was airborne, tumbling through the air before slamming into a police cruiser. I lay stunned in the crumpled metal, my head swimming. That should have killed me. That would have killed any normal human. The thought was like a bucket of ice dumped over my head. Human. Am I even human anymore? The question was a cold, drowning tide. Not now, Elias. Focus.
A new resolve, cold and sharp as forged steel, ignited in my chest. Fine. If this is the new world, then I will use this system to shield the people I care about from its darkness.
I tore myself from the wreckage, the metal groaning under my augmented strength. I opened my stats.
Level 6. Five available points. I need more power. The skills had completely changed the course of the battle. I dumped all five points into Mana.
The energy surged through me, a wildfire fueled by my own rage at this new world of death. The golden veins in my armor flared to life. +15 to Agility. My swords appeared in my hands, their weight a familiar anchor as ethereal light extended from the blades.
My senses exploded. The battlefield unfolded before me in slow motion. I could smell the acrid tang of monster blood, the hot oil from the wrecked vehicles. I could hear the shriek of steel on scale, the wet tear of flesh. I could feel the very air vibrating with energy from the gate.
I pushed the mana into my legs.
New mana skill unlocked. Wind Step.
I dismissed it. In the blink of an eye, I was above the nearest of two new giants that had emerged from the gate. I felt weightless, suspended in the air for a fraction of a second. As gravity took hold, I plunged both glowing blades deep into its neck, and with a cry of pure, agonized effort, I tore them through flesh and bone as I fell. The beast collapsed behind me, its life cut short before it even knew I was there.
The last giant charged. I planted my feet, letting the intoxicating power of the mana surge through me. As it leaped, I swung my Jian. The mana in my armor flared, and my blade met its lower jaw, cutting cleanly through bone and into its upper palate, the force of the blow deflecting its entire massive weight sideways. I spun with the momentum, the gladius in my other hand sinking deep into the side of its head. The crushing weight of the collapsing monster drove the blade to the hilt.
Congratulations on killing an elite monster! 175 - XP
Congratulations on leveling up!
Five new points surged into my mana.
