BOOM!
A dangerous explosion rippled through the battlefield as Jack's blazing dagger sliced clean through a beast's throat, its body collapsing with a thunderous.
THUD!
Behind him. Scorch marks still sizzled on the bloodstained earth, steam rising like a grim mist over the fallen.
All around him, carnage reigned.
And yet Jack, James, Emma and Jack's parents friends stood tall amidst it, their weapons gleaming, their armor cracked but unbroken, their eyes fierce.
They had done it.
They'd cleared their quadrant of the battlefield beasts slain, their corpses piled high in smoking heaps. But there was no time to rest. No cheers. No celebration.
Because others were still fighting… and many were losing.
Without exchanging words, the trio and other two gave each other a firm nod.
Jack's voice was cold and resolute. "We help others. No one dies on our watch."
James gripped his sword, his brow furrowed beneath sweat and blood. "We split up. Cover more ground."
Emma whispered a short incantation, her body shimmering briefly with a spell of enhanced movement. "Let's move. Fast."
WHOOSH!
With blinding speed, they scattered Jack darting along the southern perimeter, James to the east, Emma soaring westward with the support of wind magic. Their companions from the Adventurer's Guild followed close behind, forming teams of two to assist wherever they could.
The battlefield had become a chaotic, living nightmare. Roars echoed through the jungle, metal clashed with bone, and magic lit the sky like fireworks from hell.
Jack skidded to a halt beside a collapsed Ascendant, a young man whose leg was crushed beneath the corpse of a giant, horned beast. Another was still alive, lunging toward the defenseless man with jaws wide open.
BANG!
Jack's dagger flashed one stroke, one kill. Blood sprayed across the dirt as the beast's head flew.
"Can you move?" Jack asked.
"N-no… my leg's shattered," the Ascendant wheezed, tears mixing with dirt on his cheeks.
Jack didn't hesitate. He threw the man over his shoulder and ran him to safety behind a half-toppled siege wall, where support healers had begun setting up a temporary aid zone.
All around the battlefield, James's long sword was a storm of destruction.
CRACK!
THUMP!
SLASH!
Every swing sent beasts flying or left them twitching on the ground, limbs torn, necks broken. He moved like a mad war god, shouting battle cries that shook the hearts of those nearby.
Emma danced through the battlefield like a tempest in motion.
FWOOM!
A Fireball exploded into a group of lesser beasts.
WHOOSH!
A blade of wind sliced through three in a row.
DING!
DING!
Her dual-casting flared, casting faster than the eye could track. She was magic incarnate, and nothing survived her path.
One by one, they reached every Ascendant they could find some just barely hanging on, others already surrounded. But with Jack's team stepping in, the tide began to shift.
Thirty minutes passed.
Only thirty minutes.
But in that time, everything changed.
The battlefield once a blood-soaked slaughterhouse began to calm.
The rampage of the beast horde slowed. Cries of desperation turned to gasps of relief. And slowly, a fragile stillness began to settle over Jakartha's outer edges.
Thud.
The last of the beasts dropped, pierced through by a crimson arrow from their guild's Archer.
All across the field, Ascendants staggered to their feet. Some limped. Others coughed blood. But they were alive. And alive meant hope.
Jack stood in the center of the battlefield, breathing heavily. His cloak was torn, his armor dented, his hands slick with blood not all of it beastly.
James, Emma, and the others regrouped, gathering near him.
The remaining Ascendants, once strangers, now looked at them like lifelines. Eyes full of admiration. Of gratitude. Of awe.
Jack turned slowly, surveying the field.
But that pride turned to sorrow as he counted the bodies.
Five hundred Ascendants had arrived when the battle began.
Now?
Only one hundred still stood.
A grim silence took hold. No one spoke. No one moved.
Some Ascendants were dead crushed under beasts, torn apart, swallowed whole. Others lay crippled beyond healing, their paths as Ascendants ended before they truly began. A few wept silently, clutching comrades who would never wake up again.
Emma's voice trembled. "So many are gone…"
James exhaled a long, weary breath. "This wasn't a battle. It was a goddamn massacre."
Jack's fists clenched.
But his voice was calm, resolute. "The ones who survived… they're not just lucky. They're warriors. Each one of them. These are future kings, generals, legends of Otherworlders. If we make it out of here."
He looked up at the barrier wall.
Or what used to be the barrier.
With a sound like.
CRAAAAACK!
The protective dome over Jakartha City finally shattered into glimmering fragments, falling from the sky like dying stars.
KABOOM!
Jakartha City Protection Barrier has been fully destroyed.
No more walls.
No more shields.
Only open city gates, flickering torchlights… and a shadow growing on the horizon.
BOOM!
The earth trembled again. Heavy. Rhythmic.
BOOM! BOOM!
Then came the growls. Not the mindless screeches of lesser beasts but something darker. Deeper. Smarter.
Ten silhouettes emerged from the jungle mist. Towering. Snarling. Each step cracked the ground beneath their feet.
Final Wave Incoming.
The beasts were massive, each at least fifteen feet tall, brimming with killing intent.
Jack's Eye of Truth scanned them all.
Each of these monsters was at the Peak of the 3rd Star Realm. Their power? On another level entirely.
He turned to the crowd of surviving Ascendants.
Most were at 2nd Star Peak at best.
Some weren't even there yet.
That was a full major realm gap.
He didn't need to say it aloud. Everyone could feel the truth.
This… this was impossible.
But no one turned to flee.
Not one.
Emma stepped beside Jack. "We're all that's left."
James rested his axe against his shoulder. "Guess that makes us the final wall."
A young archer nearby laughed bitterly. "What a joke… a hundred of us against that?"
Jack stepped forward. His dagger lit up with the flames of Pyro Slash, flickering like a torch in the darkness.
"Not a hundred," he said. "A hundred of the strongest survivors. A hundred who stood when others fell. We are the final wall."
He raised his blade toward the approaching monsters.
"This isn't a fight we survive. This is a fight we define. You want to live? Then fight like maniac who wants to live and save his loved once."
Silence followed.
Then someone shouted
"For Jakartha!"
Another voice "For the fallen!"
Then the war cries rose like thunder.
BOOM!
WHOOSH!
CRACK!
Magic lit the sky. Swords clashed. Arrows soared.
And the final stand… began.
The gap in strength was like heaven and earth.
It was unfair. Brutally unfair.
But life never promised fairness.
Now the true battle begins.
Will the last hundred become heroes or myths?
Will they endure or fall like the rest?
Who will be the last one standing... and who will laugh at the end of this nightmare?
Beasts Overlords or Otherworlder Ascendants.
This is their final stand.
-----
To Be Continued...!!