The sky ruptured.
A spear of lightning cleaved through the clouds above the Ashen camp, splitting the veil of night with a violet blaze. Trees howled as their branches were ripped into splinters. Wind slammed through tents and watch posts. The Vesh had arrived.
It didn't walk into the camp—it bled into it, its body oozing out of a tear in space, limb by twitching limb. Its height rivaled a siege tower, cloaked in writhing veils of shadow that peeled back to reveal bone-pale skin etched with roving sigils. Its arms were too long, ending in claws more like scythes. Its face was less face and more… void, two orbs of electric stormlight locked inside a mask of runes that shifted like puzzle pieces. Then came the drones.
Tyrant Drones scuttled from the rift like ants from a dying hive—dozens at first, then hundreds. Their eyes glowed the same unholy violet. The ground hissed where they crawled, their limbs sparking with ambient energy.
A cold pulse tore through the camp's barrier. The Codex Map in Won's mind ignited with warnings.
Csharp
[Boss-Class Entity Detected: Vesh, The Pale Warper]
[Shapeshifters, adorned with arcane runes and glowing sigils. This beast is a master spellcaster and able to invade dreams or minds, foresighting enemy moves. Its elements are storms, reality distortion, charm/dominate enemies and shadow teleportation]
"Everyone—NOW!" Commander Ashen's voice roared through the chaos, hoarse and lethal. "No formation drills! Fight or DIE!"
The camp exploded into motion.
First-years screamed. Some dropped their weapons. Others moved on instinct. Senior Ashens threw up shielding sigils, casting elemental strikes into the darkness. Orson surged ahead with his broadsword, already roaring, "COME ON THEN!" as he cleaved through a wave of drones like a man possessed. Blossom followed a heartbeat later, sprinting low, her katana singing as it blurred into motion, severing limbs and cracking chitin.
"Won!" Orson's voice tore through the clash. "You with us or what?!"
Won's breath fogged in the unnatural cold. His Sensari screamed against the pressure—the Vesh's aura was dense, like standing underwater while the tide pulled in reverse. He flicked his wrist, and the star-iron wire hissed out into a lasso, whirling, hungry for a throat.
But someone wasn't moving. He glanced sideways—Aviva. She stood like a statue, eyes wide, pale as death.
"Aviva," he snapped, "snap out of it!"
"I…" Her pupils dilated. "Fifteen minutes," she whispered. "That's all I can give."
"What're you—"
She ignited. It wasn't light—it was wrath made radiant. White-gold fire roared out from her skin, scorching the earth in a perfect circle around her. Her eyes were no longer human. And from the Codex Map strapped to her waist, two gleaming daggers ripped themselves free of the parchment, folding reality as they emerged. She caught them mid-air with inhuman grace.
And then she moved.
A drone leapt for her. She turned it to ash in two slashes. Her movements blurred, skipping frames like a corrupted film reel. Her aura pulsed brighter with every heartbeat. She wasn't a girl anymore—she was a star burning through flesh and shadow alike.
Won felt the heat from ten meters away.
"Menace," he muttered, finally understanding what Blossom meant.
Aviva screamed into the tide, whirling both daggers in blazing arcs. The air shimmered as her strikes tore through the enchanted carapace. One drone tried to flank her—she pivoted, stabbed through its eye, then hurled its twitching corpse into another with a feral grunt. She was burning so brightly it hurt to look at her.
Blossom skidded next to Won, slicing a drone's legs clean off. "She wasn't kidding," she said grimly, eyes tracking Aviva's rampage. "She can only last fifteen minutes like that."
"She's lighting herself up like a goddamn flare!" Leo barked from behind a tent wall, reloading with machine precision. "They'll all focus her. Won, MOVE!"
"Right." Won snapped into motion, spinning his wire into a scything arc and slicing a drone's spine. It writhed, trying to crawl toward him even as its torso separated. He slammed a boot down, crushing the thing's throat. The wire recoiled like a serpent around his arm.
The Vesh hadn't moved. Not yet.
But its eyes pulsed. Its runes shifted. And then it vanished—teleportation. The next second, it reappeared behind a formation of seniors. One blinked, dropped his blade, and turned on his comrades with wild, glassy eyes.
"It's in our HEADS!" someone screamed. "It's inside—no, no—get OUT—!"
The Vesh lifted one clawed hand and snapped. Lightning surged outward in a ring, blasting half the seniors off their feet. One was flung straight into a rock wall, neck twisting at the wrong angle. Blood sprayed.
"Commander!" Orson shouted.
"I SEE IT!" Commander Ashen hurled his radiant spear. Chains of golden light shot from the impact, ensnaring a chunk of drones, pinning them in place. "Break their line! I want that thing surrounded!"
Blossom vaulted over a dying drone, blade flashing as she moved to Aviva's flank.
"You're burning out already," she snapped.
"Don't tell me what I know!" Aviva snarled, sweat already pouring down her brow. "Five minutes in!"
"You fight like this every time?" Blossom blocked a claw aimed at Aviva's back.
"No. Usually I don't fight."
"Then stop being dramatic and make it count."
Aviva grinned. "Thought you didn't like me."
"Still don't."
Lightning shattered the ground between them. Both scattered in opposite directions, flames and shadows crackling in the air.
Won tracked the Vesh again. It reappeared near the south side—only feet from Leo. Won didn't hesitate. He snapped the wire forward—snap—and caught a drone mid-jump, hurling it into the Vesh's path.
The beast hissed, warping space again to dodge.
But it had seen Won.
"You dare," it whispered, but it wasn't sound. It was thought. It slithered into his skull like oil. "You, little maggot. You defy me?"
Won gasped—suddenly, he wasn't on the battlefield anymore.
He was in a narrow street, watching a beggar, alone.
Is it my mother?
He was alone. Filthy. Powerless.
"No," he whispered. "You don't get to show me this."
Sensari flared. The illusion shattered. He was back. Wire in hand. Grit in his teeth. "You're not in my head," he spat. "Not anymore."
Aviva's light flickered. She struck down another drone, but her breath was ragged, arms trembling. The fire was costing her. Won could feel her heartbeat faltering in the field's rhythm.
"Eight minutes!" she shouted. "I'm running dry!"
Blossom slashed another drone. "You're already over limit!"
"Too bad!"
The Vesh howled, its sigils going nova. The earth buckled. Cracks webbed through the ground. Wind screamed, sucking the heat out of the air. The storm it had been holding back was unleashing.
Orson dove forward, bringing his broadsword down with a thunderclap. The Vesh met it with a claw—and held.
Orson snarled, muscles bulging. "I don't CARE how big you are!" he bellowed. "I'll bring you down!"
"You are one," the Vesh whispered.
And then it shoved him back like a ragdoll, sending him skidding across the ground. Blossom and Leo were locked in their own fights now—each step, each breath measured and brutal. Leo was bleeding from his shoulder. Blossom's hair was singed. Aviva had just barely dodged a bolt of chain lightning that left her thigh scorched.
"Five minutes left," Aviva said again, her voice hoarse.
"Don't count it down," Blossom snapped.
"I need to know when I fall."
Won was weaving between bodies, wire striking like a snake. His Sensari had locked onto something—the Vesh's core. Deep in its chest. But it kept teleporting, kept slipping past them.
Until now.
Won spun to face the beast, wire gleaming.
"Get me an opening," he growled, voice low. "I'll kill it."
***
A storm wasn't just overhead—it was the Vesh now.
Darkness boiled around the creature's frame, the runes along its limbs pulsing faster, feeding the growing tempest. Clouds above churned like a living vortex, and the air went thin, suffocating. The beast lifted its arms.
Reality fractured. Won felt the field tilt—no, it folded, like a page turning in space. The battlefield bent into an arc, tree lines snapping upward like spears, dirt lifting in jagged pieces. Gravity reversed for a second. Ashens were flung into the air, screaming.
The Vesh stood in the center of the fold. A storm god, cloaked in shimmering sigils.
"No more hiding," it thundered—again, not with voice, but in thoughts, carried like echoes in the spine. "No more illusions. You will all kneel."
"EAT ME!" Orson bellowed, dragging himself to his feet and charging the distortion with a raw, brutal defiance. He leapt into the air, sword overhead, swinging down with a thunderous crash.
The Vesh intercepted mid-air, claws slashing. Sparks exploded.
Orson roared, matching the creature blow-for-blow, muscles rippling with raw Strength Imbuement. His sword cracked against the beast's forearm, leaving a jagged line of black ichor.
Blossom darted behind the Vesh, slashing at exposed runes. A shriek of metal-on-shadow. Then the Vesh twisted, disappearing.
Teleportation—again.
Blossom's blade found only air. "Dammit!" she spat, sliding to a stop. "Won! How do we catch this thing?!"
(Continued)