The Rift pulsed.
Aiden felt it—deep in his bones, in his lungs, in the slow, rhythmic pulse pressing against his skin.
Something was watching them.
But no one else reacted.
The E-Tier boss should've been here. Instead, something else stood over its corpse. A hulking shadow, its limbs slick with something too dark to be blood, its presence wrong in ways that made Aiden's stomach churn.
This thing wasn't supposed to be here.
And the worst part?
Jenna adjusted her stance, shoulders squared, blade steady. "Everyone, hold formation."
Marcus twirled his daggers. "It's just a D-Tier. We handle these all the time."
Garrick scoffed. "We've got, what—five people? This is nothing."
No.
They didn't get it.
Aiden's fingers twitched at his sides. This wasn't normal. The air was wrong. The Rift itself felt off.
Even Tess—the dark-haired girl flipping a knife between her fingers, lounging like this was nothing—snorted. "Scared, blind boy?" She spun the blade absently. "Or did you see something we didn't?"
Aiden clenched his jaw. He didn't answer.
Jenna's grip tightened. "Stay together. We take this thing down, we finish the job."
No one listened.
Because the creature moved.
Not forward. Not lunging.
Just—flickering.
One second, it stood in the wreckage of the Rift Boss. The next—
Marcus wasn't there anymore.
A clawed limb had speared him clean through the ribs, lifting him off the ground like a toy.
Marcus twitched, his mouth opening, blood bubbling past his lips—then the creature tossed his corpse like garbage.
No hesitation. No struggle.
It hadn't even noticed him.
Tess cursed, stumbling back, blade raised. "Oh, hell no."
She flipped her knife, crouching into a stance—then sprinted forward.
Aiden already knew it wouldn't matter.
The way the air shifted, the way the Rift's pulse warped around her—
She thought she was fast enough.
She wasn't.
The creature blurred.
Tess never even got to scream.
A claw snapped through her spine.
Her body crumpled.
Dead before she realized it.
Aiden swallowed hard. This wasn't a fight.
This was a massacre.
Jenna was already moving, sword flashing in a sharp arc—clean, fast, aimed for the thing's throat.
It should've landed.
Instead—it flickered again.
Reality skipped a frame.
Jenna's sword carved through empty space.
Soren reacted next, his heated wires lashing forward—coiling around the creature's arm.
For a second, the air buzzed with heat.
Then the creature twisted its arm.
The wires snapped like thread.
Soren barely managed to dodge.
The creature lashed out—Soren twisted just in time, the claws ripping through his side instead of his chest.
He crashed into the pavement, gasping. Alive. But barely.
Blood dripped between his fingers.
Aiden's stomach turned. It wasn't done with him yet.
Garrick panicked.
Aiden saw it in the way his breath hitched, the way his feet shifted—preparing to run.
And then—
He grabbed Soren.
The injured Hunter barely had time to react before Garrick shoved him forward.
A human shield.
Aiden felt his stomach drop.
Soren's eyes widened. "You—"
The creature pounced.
Soren barely had time to scream before a claw speared straight through his chest.
Blood splattered across Garrick's face.
He took a step back, gasping, stumbling—realizing too late that it hadn't saved him.
The creature turned toward him.
A blur of black claws.
A sickening crunch.
Garrick didn't survive.
His reinforced arms shattered like brittle glass. His body hit the ground in two pieces.
Aiden didn't move.
Jenna exhaled sharply, blade still raised, shoulders tight with tension.
Now?
Now it was just them.
The creature stopped.
Not attacking. Not rushing.
Watching.
Aiden swallowed the lump in his throat.
Jenna's grip on her blade was tight enough to turn her knuckles white.
Her breathing was steady. Controlled.
But Aiden could see the truth.
She was injured. Tired. She couldn't do this alone.
The creature tensed.
Aiden knew—it would attack again soon.
It would end this.
And Jenna wouldn't stop it.
Aiden took a breath.
And stepped in front of her.