The air turned ice-cold.
The clicking sound grew louder—closer—until it echoed from every direction.
Then—
A shape erged from the ruins.
Larger than the others. Taller. Stronger.
Its body was like shifting ink, constantly warping, reshaping, never staying the sa for more than a second. But its eyes—jagged slits of burning white—stayed locked on them.
A deep, unnatural voice rasped through the silence.
"Out…"
Selene's grip on her daggers tightened.
The smaller creatures halted for a mont, almost like they were waiting.
Then—the thing moved.
Fast. Too fast.
One second, it was standing at the temple ruins.
The next—it was right in front of them.
Selene barely had ti to react before a massive, clawed arm ca crashing down toward her.
She vanished.
A split-second before impact, her body lted into the shadows at her feet, slipping through the darkness like liquid. The attack smashed into the ground where she stood, shattering the stone in an instant.
She reappeared behind the creature, eyes sharp.
"Tch." Damien clicked his tongue. "Fast one, huh?"
His sword ignited in black flas.
Without hesitation, he launched forward, flas trailing behind him like the tail of a teor.
The monster reacted instantly, twisting unnaturally to counter—
But Damien was faster.
His sword sliced clean through its torso, the searing flas devouring its flesh like wildfire.
It shrieked—a horrible, ear-piercing sound—as its body twisted violently, trying to shake off the flas.
But Damien was already moving again.
He flicked his fingers.
Boom.
The flas exploded outward, sending black tendrils of the creature flying in every direction.
"Hah. Not so tough." Damien grinned, resting his blade on his shoulder.
Then—
The shadows stirred.
The monster reford.
Piece by piece, its body stitched itself back together, the burning flesh regenerating as if ti had reversed.
And this ti—it didn't stop.
It lunged.
Straight at Damien.
A clawed arm shot forward.
Damien barely had ti to curse before Selene's voice rang out—
"Got you."
His own shadow suddenly ca to life—grabbing onto him and pulling him under.
Whoosh.
In a blink, he sank into the darkness just as the monster's claws ripped through the air where he stood.
Damien re-erged a few feet away, blinking in mild irritation. "A little warning next ti, maybe?"
Selene smirked. "You're welco."
Thomas exhaled. "Yeah, yeah, save the family bonding —incoming."
The smaller creatures moved again.
Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
All charging.
"Here we go!" Damien swung his sword, the black flas roaring to life once more.
Selene disappeared, lting into the battlefield.
And Thomas—
His eyes narrowed.
Then—
He vanished.
Not like Selene.
Not like Damien.
It wasn't teleportation.
It wasn't shadow travel.
It was sothing else.
One second, he was standing still.
The next—
He was everywhere.
Dodging, weaving, predicting attacks before they even happened.
A claw swung at him—he was already behind it.
A tendril lashed toward his back—he stepped to the side, milliseconds before impact.
A creature leaped at him—he caught its head mid-air, twisting violently before slamming it into the ground.
Crack.
It dissolved instantly.
Damien whistled. "Show-off."
Thomas ignored him.
He moved again, flowing through the battlefield like a phantom.
One step ahead of every attack.
And then—
Selene made her move.
Her shadow stretched across the battlefield, rippling like ink.
Then—chains burst from the darkness, latching onto the creatures, dragging them back, holding them still.
For a split second—
Everything stopped.
Then—
"Burn."
Damien swung his sword.
And the entire battlefield erupted in black fire.
The creatures screeched as the flas swallowed them whole, burning through their bodies faster than they could regenerate.
One by one—they collapsed.
Until only the large one remained.
It stood still.
Burning.
Then—it spoke again.
"…Out."
Its body rippled, twisting—expanding.
Selene's breath hitched.
"Oh, co on—" Damien growled.
The thing shifted.
Dark tendrils burst from its back—dozens of them, like writhing snakes. Its body doubled in size, its aura growing heavier.
Thomas clenched his fists. "Selene. How long till backup?"
"Should be any second now—"
A shockwave suddenly tore through the battlefield, shaking the ruins to their core.
The creature froze.
Selene's eyes widened.
"They're here."
The portal flickered behind them, its eerie glow casting long shadows across the battlefield.
Then—two figures stepped through.
Raphael. Freya.
Freya's sharp gaze swept over the creatures, her lips curling in disgust. "Ugh. What are these things?"
Then her eyes landed on Thomas. Her smirk was instant. "Oh? Little Thomas is here too."
Thomas twitched. His expression darkened like a storm cloud. For the love of God. He was in his mid-twenties now—when the hell was she gonna stop calling him that?
But there were bigger problems. He exhaled sharply, pointing at the stampede of monsters still clawing toward the portal. "As much as I hate that nickna… we really need to stop these things from getting out."
Raphael rolled his shoulders, cracking his knuckles as he stepped forward. "Then let's handle it." His grin was sharp, dangerous. "Been a while since we had so fun."
Freya took a slow step, then another—her presence shifting.
The air around her chilled. Frost spread beneath her feet. Her long black hair shimred—then ignited into blue-white flas, flickering wildly as the wind howled through the ruins.
She tilted her head, eyes gleaming. "Oi. How about you pick on soone your own size?"
Raphael let out a low chuckle, stretching his arms. "Oh, please, love." His smirk widened. "This'll barely count as a fight."
The air vibrated.
The creature's tendrils snapped toward them like whips, slicing through the stone ruins like paper.
Raphael didn't move.
Not yet.
He just tilted his head, watching.
Then—
The tendrils struck.
Boom!
A deafening shockwave ripped through the battlefield. Dust exploded into the air, swallowing everything in a thick haze.
For a mont, nothing moved.
Then—
Raphael's voice. Smooth. Unbothered.
"That all you got?"
The dust cleared—
And there he was. Standing there. Unscathed. One hand in his pocket.
The tendrils that should've skewered him?
Frozen.
Thick layers of ice crawled along them, creeping up the creature's body like a death sentence.
Freya smirked, lowering her raised hand.
"You were saying?"
The monster shrieked, trying to shake off the ice—
But Raphael was already moving.
He blurred.
One second, he was standing still.
The next—he was above the creature, fist cocked back.
The air howled around his knuckles.
Then—
BOOM.
His punch connected, and the entire battlefield shook. The impact sent a shockwave so powerful that the ground cracked beneath them. The creature's massive form was launched backward, smashing through ancient pillars like they were nothing.
But before it even hit the ground—
Freya was there.
Her icy flas roared as she raised her hand, fingers snapping.
The flas reacted.
They surged toward the monster midair, twisting into massive spears of fire and ice—
Then—
BOOM.
The spears impaled the creature in a brutal explosion of frost and fla.
It shrieked.
But it wasn't dead.
Its burning body convulsed, tendrils lashing wildly—trying to reform.
Raphael sighed. "Persistent, huh?"
Freya cracked her neck. "Annoying is what it is."
The creature lunged again—
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