Xavier stood dumbfounded, his gaze fixed on the golden words floating before him. Their glow seemed ethereal, otherworldly, yet undeniably real. His instincts took over, and he hesitantly stretched out his hand, fingertips grazing the shimmering letters.
The moment he touched them, they dissolved into nothingness, scattering like dust caught in the wind. He blinked, momentarily dazed, his mind scrambling to make sense of what he had just seen.
'What the hell was that?'
Before he could dwell on it, a voice rang out, sharp and urgent. "Hey! This is still a battlefield, idiot!"
Xavier snapped back to reality, twisting on his heel just in time to witness a massive, clawed hand gripping the edge of the wall. The grotesque limb twitched, its sinewy muscles bulging as it attempted to haul its monstrous bulk upward.
Nearby soldiers were already upon it, hacking and stabbing desperately, their strained faces painted with exertion and fear. But despite their efforts, the beast refused to let go.
Xavier took a step back, his breath shallow and quick. He didn't belong here. He had no idea who these people were, why they were fighting, or what monstrous shit he was fighting in this chaos.
The only thing he knew was that he wasn't going to die for a battle that wasn't his. Escape—that was his current priority. If he could just find a way down, away from this madness, he could figure things out later.
But as his eyes lingered on the struggling soldiers, something deep within him stirred. A distant, painful memory clawed its way to the surface—one annoying one in particular that he didn't want to remember. He clenched his jaw so tightly it ached.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. "I'm always doing stupid shit like this…"
With a frustrated growl, he snatched a broken spear from the ground, turned on his heel, and sprinted toward the looming beast. He launched himself off the wall, spear poised in his hands. The creature, focused solely on climbing, never saw him coming. The spear's jagged tip plunged into its grotesque skull with a sickening crunch, embedding itself deep.
For a split second, Xavier dangled midair, his weight held aloft only by the weapon lodged in the monster's skull. His pulse pounded in his ears, and his breath caught in his throat.
'What the hell am I doing? I'm going to fall with this thing...'
But the thought was fleeting. With a sharp exhale, he wrenched the spear free and kicked off the creature's face just as its body tipped backward. It let out a deafening shriek before plummeting back into the writhing mass of its kind below, its massive frame crushing several others in the process.
The soldiers, momentarily stunned, stared at him in awe. But there was no time to react. A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air—another soldier, a young woman barely in her twenties, was pinned beneath a monstrous, lanky beast. Its elongated maw dripped with saliva as it tore into her arm, her agonized cries ringing out over the battlefield.
Without hesitation, the nearby soldiers charged forward to save her. Xavier groaned, tightening his grip on the spear before breaking into a sprint after them.
The next twenty minutes were a blur of carnage and chaos. Xavier fought with a crazed madness and strength he didn't know he had, slashing, stabbing, and tearing through the abominations that scaled the city's walls.
There was no time to think, no time to process—only the primal instinct to fight and survive. The soldiers fought alongside him, their movements no longer as sluggish with despair but fueled by the newfound drive to hold the line. When one of them faltered, another took their place. They fought as one, pushing back against the relentless horde.
Each time the creatures threatened to overwhelm them, a thunderous crack would ring out, followed by the unmistakable whistle of a massive bolt slicing through the air. The girl with the ballista stood vigilant, her glowing yellow eyes scanning the battlefield. Her perfectly timed shots sent the larger beasts tumbling off the walls, their weight crushing those still trying to climb. She offered no words of encouragement—only the silent promise of continued support.
The shift in battle was small, almost imperceptible from an outside perspective, but it was there. The relentless slaughter of the human defenders had slowed. The tide, while still overwhelmingly in favor of the enemy, had been stymied. Soldiers who had once succumbed to fear now fought with a fire in their eyes. The will to survive had taken root.
And as Xavier stood amidst the blood and bodies, panting and gripping his bloodied spear, he realized something unsettling.
He was still alive.
***
Ten minutes later...
Xavier slammed the shattered remains of the sword into the skull of the snake-like monster, feeling the sharp vibration travel up his arm as the brittle metal gave way under the impact. The beast spasmed once before collapsing into a heap, lifeless. He exhaled sharply, his breath ragged from exhaustion.
"Damn it!" he hissed under his breath, tossing the useless handle aside. That was the fourth weapon he'd lost in just this fight. '
At this rate, I am going to be forced to fight these ugly abominations barehanded.'
He scowled at the thought. These creatures weren't just monstrous; they were grotesque nightmares made flesh, each dripping with an unnatural hunger that made his stomach churn.
And worst of all despite how easy he made it look they were still physically superior to the soldiers fighting.
As he turned to find another weapon, his eyes flicked to the side, catching sight of the ballista girl. She was no longer firing—she was scrambling, desperately searching for something. Xavier's eyes widened in realization. She had run out of bolts.
'Shit.'
He followed her line of sight and saw what she saw—a monstrous creature, one that had just scaled the wall and was now locking eyes onto her. It crouched, its muscles coiling, preparing to pounce. Without hesitation, Xavier ran toward it, shouting obscenities at the top of his lungs, waving his arms wildly to draw its attention.
"Hey, you ugly bastard! Your mother's a slug and your father's a pile of dung! Come get me instead!"
The creature's eerie, pupil-less eyes snapped toward him. It hesitated for only a moment before shifting its weight, seemingly reassessing its target. Xavier braced himself for another desperate brawl when, suddenly, the battlefield shuddered.
A low, resounding vibration coursed through the air, a sound so deep and unnatural that it settled in Xavier's chest like an unrelenting pressure. It was as if the entire mountain itself had begun to hum ominously. The battlefield froze. Soldiers, monsters, everyone, everything—came to a sudden halt.
Then, something absurd happened.
The monsters at the farthest edge of the battlefield began to retreat.
It was slow at first, only a few turning away. But soon, one after another, they all started pulling back, abandoning their relentless assault. The soldiers, still locked in combat, faltered in confusion. Some took advantage of the distraction to strike their foes down, while others simply stood there, weapons raised, baffled by the sudden shift.
Though the monster paid no heed to them even as they were slashed at or even killed as they focused on their retreat.
Xavier, panting heavily, watched in stunned silence. "What the fuck is going on?" he muttered to himself.
The monster that had been ready to pounce on the ballista girl turned away from him without a second glance, effortlessly leaping off the wall to follow its kin. Every single creature was now in full retreat, disappearing into the distance as swiftly as they had come.
The silence that followed was deafening. No roars, no screams, no clash of steel—just the quiet sounds of the wind whispering through the bloodied battlefield.
Then, with an exhausted sigh, Xavier let his legs give out beneath him. He collapsed onto his back, staring at the smoke-filled sky, every inch of his body screaming in protest.
'I've never worked this hard for something in my entire life.'
His muscles ached, his knuckles were raw, and now that the battle was over, the pain of his wounds was catching up to him. He barely had the strength to wiggle his fingers.
And yet…
He was alive.
The stunned silence of the guards didn't last much longer. As the realization set in, a cheer erupted from them—first tentative, then growing into a triumphant roar. Some soldiers fell to their knees in relief, others clapped each other on the back or embraced, overwhelmed with emotion. A few openly sobbed, having just moments ago believed themselves doomed.
Xavier closed his eyes, letting the noise wash over him, feeling a strange mixture of satisfaction and disbelief. He had survived. Against all odds, he had made it through.
The celebrations, however, were short-lived. A voice, firm and commanding, cut through the revelry like a blade.
"Enough! Settle down!"
The commanding officer's roar brought the guards back to attention, their cheers fading into wary obedience. The battle was over, but something told Xavier that this war was far from finished.
The commander swept his gaze over the battlefield, his expression grim as he took in the carnage left behind. Despite the sudden retreat of the monsters, he knew better than to assume the battle was truly over. His voice cut through the murmurs and relieved sighs of the soldiers like a steel blade.
"This is not a victory!" he barked, his voice carrying across the battered wall. "We did not drive them back. They left on their own! That means something worse is coming. I need every able-bodied fighter to gather weapons from the fallen. We need to be ready. Those who can't fight, retrieve the bodies of our comrades. They deserve a burial, not to be left to rot among the filth. Move!"
The soldiers who had been on the verge of celebrating quickly sobered, nodding as they scrambled to carry out his orders. The air of exhaustion still lingered, but the disciplined urgency of trained fighters took over. The commander exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. Nearly forty percent of his force had been lost in this one battle. He feared that number would rise once they accounted for the wounded.
Xavier, lying flat on his back as he tried to catch his breath, groaned internally. He was barely able to move his limbs, let alone get up and start helping. His entire body felt like a lead weight, his muscles aching with exhaustion he had never known before.
'I don't know how I'm still breathing after all that' he thought bitterly. 'That was the single worst workout of my life, and I wasn't even given the courtesy of knowing why the hell I was thrown into it.'
He turned his head slightly and caught sight of movement—someone was coming up the wall. His blurry vision sharpened as he saw the golden-eyed girl from before. She had been the one manning the ballista, saving his and many of the other soldiers' asses more than once.
As she drew closer, Xavier watched as her luminous golden irises faded into a dull yellow. That only added to his confusion. Was it some kind of ability? Or just a trick of the light?
Back in New Eden, this wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. Plenty of people bought cybernetic eye implants for aesthetic reasons. But here? He had yet to see a single other person with anything but natural brown or black eyes. 'Something's up with her,' he mused.
Soon, she stopped near him and studied him for a moment before smirking.
"So... were you trying to see how much punishment you could take before dropping dead?" she teased, crossing her arms.
Xavier let out an exhausted chuckle before groaning. "If I say yes, do I get a prize?" he shot back, still catching his breath.
The girl laughed, shaking her head. "You get bragging rights, I suppose. That was insane, by the way. I've seen some reckless idiots, but you? You take the cake."
Xavier smirked despite himself. "Yeah, well, it worked, didn't it?" he said, rolling his shoulders as he attempted to push himself up again. His entire body protested, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.