Outside Silver Tree Town
At the military encampment, Colonel Yuri stood at the front line, his gaze fixed on the wave of blackened townspeople rushing toward them.
As a seasoned soldier with experience in guerrilla warfare and urban combat, Yuri had seen his share of fierce enemies. But even those battles paled in comparison to the sight before him: over two thousand crazed residents—men, women, children—all barreling toward them with wild, animalistic fury.
The sheer pressure was suffocating.
He grabbed a microphone and began broadcasting:
"This is Colonel Yuri from Homeland Security! Residents of Silver Tree Town, stand down immediately! The military is here to help!"
His voice echoed across the plain, but the wave of bodies paid no heed.
The townspeople, their skin blackened like charred wood, glared with glowing red eyes. Hairless and gaunt, they charged forward with reckless abandon, snarling like beasts.
Colonel Yuri gave a grim command:
"Deploy tear gas!"
The soldiers lobbed canisters into the town, and clouds of thick smoke soon blanketed the streets. Yuri hoped the gas would break the mob's momentum.
But it didn't.
One by one, the frenzied townspeople burst through the smoke, unaffected by the gas. Their snarls and roars only grew louder as they closed in.
"Shoot!" Yuri bellowed. "Non-lethal rounds—aim for the legs!"
The soldiers flipped their rifle safeties off.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets found their marks, striking legs and knees. Dozens of residents collapsed, tumbling to the ground under the force of the shots.
But the tide didn't stop. The next wave trampled over their fallen, showing no hesitation or mercy as they pushed forward.
From the safety of the barricade, Yuri exhaled, thinking they had managed to hold the line.
Then he saw it.
The residents they had shot were already rising. Their muscles twitched unnaturally, forcing the bullets out of their flesh like splinters. The wounds sealed shut almost instantly, as if nothing had happened.
In disbelief, Yuri whispered, "What the hell...?"
A wave of fear washed over the soldiers, their pale faces betraying their growing panic. One man broke discipline and raised his weapon higher, firing into a resident's chest.
A bullet punched through the man's heart, sending a spray of blood into the air—but he barely flinched, stumbling only for a moment before charging again.
"Monsters…" Yuri muttered, gripping the radio tighter.
At the barricade, Ice Princess clicked her tongue. "If these soldiers can't stop them, I'll have to."
With a graceful leap, she skated forward on a path of ice, her white skirt fluttering behind her.
In one smooth motion, she raised her hands and unleashed a powerful blast of cold wind.
The icy gust swept across the front line, freezing the legs of the leading residents. Their movements faltered as frost crawled up to their thighs, locking them in place.
Some fell to the ground, others toppled into each other like dominoes.
But what happened next made her heart race with disbelief.
The frozen residents, undeterred, began smashing their own legs. With each blow, they shattered the ice—and their bones along with it.
Then, dragging their mangled bodies behind them, they crawled forward with terrifying speed.
Ice Princess shivered. What kind of madness is this?
With a wave of her hand, she summoned a massive wall of ice, ten meters high. The barrier loomed before the crawling horde, cutting off their path.
But the residents didn't care. They slammed into the wall headfirst, their skulls cracking audibly, blood and bone splattering across the ice.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The relentless assault on the barrier sent chills down everyone's spines. Even the superhumans standing at the barricade exchanged nervous glances, unsettled by the inhuman behavior they were witnessing.
The residents continued to hurl themselves against the ice, piling atop one another, forming a grotesque mound of bodies.
In no time, the macabre hill grew high enough to reach the top of the wall.
"Oh my god…" Ice Princess whispered. She was already at her limit—she couldn't summon the strength to raise the barrier any higher.
"Switch to Lethal Mode!"
Colonel Yuri made the sign of the cross over his chest. "Lord, forgive me."
"Switch to lethal rounds!" he roared.
The soldiers adjusted their rifles, taking aim with grim determination. Yuri knew they had no choice. If even one of these creatures escaped into the wider population, the consequences would be catastrophic.
They had to end this here.
Elementalist turned her gaze toward the river nearby. Her irises shifted to a brilliant silver, and the water began to stir.
In an instant, the river surged, roaring as it diverted from its natural course and rushed toward the town.
The torrent crashed through the streets, sweeping away buildings and dragging the residents under. The force of the water made it difficult for them to advance, buying the soldiers some breathing room.
Spark leaped into action, his body crackling with electricity. In a flash, he teleported to a nearby power pole, anchoring himself to the metal frame.
With a shout, he extended his hands, unleashing arcs of blue lightning that danced across the flooded streets.
The water acted as a conductor, electrocuting dozens of the nightmarish residents. Their bodies twitched violently as electricity coursed through them.
Ice Princess inhaled deeply and exhaled another freezing gust. The water solidified, trapping many of the residents beneath thick sheets of ice.
But despite their efforts, it wasn't enough.
More residents surged past the frozen barriers, a relentless black tide crashing toward the military line.
"Open fire!" Yuri bellowed.
Gunfire erupted, bullets tearing through flesh. Residents dropped by the dozens—but more came, trampling over the fallen and surging forward.
The black wave closed in, mere meters from the barricade.
"Close your eyes!"
A voice rang out over the chaos.
Instinctively, the soldiers squeezed their eyes shut just as a brilliant burst of light illuminated the battlefield.
The radiance was overwhelming, searing away the darkness and forcing the charging residents to recoil in agony. Their shrieks filled the air, a cacophony of pain.
Yuri fumbled with his sunglasses, slipping them on just in time to witness the aftermath.
The light faded, revealing scores of residents sprawled across the ground, stunned and incapacitated by the flash.
At the center of it all stood a young blonde woman, her body still shimmering with residual light.
"Starlight…" Yuri whispered, awe-struck by her power.
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