"There's… nothing more we can do," Jasmine said softly, her voice cracking as she dropped to her knees on the shattered pavement. Her fingers trembled as they clenched the dusty ground beneath her. Her once-bright eyes were now dim with despair. "I think… this is the end."
Around her, the other students exchanged hopeless glances. Their faces were pale, bloodied, and smeared with sweat and grime. Fear clung to them like a heavy fog.
Mario stood a few feet ahead, panting hard. His hands shook, and his body was covered in cuts and bruises. He was at his limit—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Then the ground began to rumble.
A roar tore through the chaos.
Through the swarm of lower-ranked Geminis charging toward them, a massive figure emerged—a living tank barreling through a sea of insects. The monster shoved its own kind aside with terrifying force. It was no ordinary Gemini.
It was a Savage-ranked Gemini—a rank just below Elite.
Its thick body was armored with jagged, bone-like plating. Each step it took cracked the ground, its weight leaving deep footprints. It was shaped like a humanoid beast, but distorted—like a nightmare come to life.
A loud ding popped in front of Mario's eyes.
[System Notice]
You have encountered a Gemini.
Rank: Savage Beast
Gemini Species: Scarbone
Strength: B
Speed: A
Agility: C
Intelligence: D
Endurance: A+
Final Rank: Scarbone C
Abilities:
Berserk: Temporarily boosts all stats massively for 60 seconds.
Super Regeneration: All non-fatal damage is rapidly healed.
Weakness: None Detected.
Mario's eyes widened as the notice hovered before him. His breath caught in his throat.
He stared at the creature. The Scarbone was nearly three and a half meters tall, a towering monster of living bone. Its eyes glowed red with madness, and every inch of its body screamed danger.
"It... it has no weakness? What the hell is this thing?" he whispered.
Before he could react, the Scarbone let out a monstrous roar and charged.
Mario barely managed to raise his holographic shield, but the creature crashed into it with such overwhelming power that the shield shattered instantly—like thin glass beneath a hammer.
The impact sent Mario flying backward like a ragdoll. He slammed into Leon, and the two of them were hurled into the side of a nearby building. The wall cracked as they hit it, bricks tumbling to the ground.
Across the battlefield, the girl carrying the crowbar—their only hope of escape—let it slip from her trembling hands. Her eyes filled with terror as the wave of Geminis surged forward behind the Scarbone.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching her head, and let out a heart-wrenching scream.
"I don't want to die! Somebody, please—anybody!" she cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. "God, Buddha, whoever's out there, please—help us!"
The air reeked of smoke, blood, and the sharp sting of fear. The ground trembled with the thunder of charging beasts.
Mario groaned, coughing up blood as he tried to stand. His body ached with every movement. His arms hung like lead weights.
Leon, crumpled beside him, didn't move.
"Leon…?" Mario reached toward him, but the boy didn't respond. He was unconscious, possibly worse.
A few steps away, Celine—their team's healer—froze. Her hands, glowing faintly with healing magic, hovered above a wounded classmate. But her focus had broken. Her wide, terrified eyes were fixed on the wave of death approaching them.
Her lips parted, but no words came out.
The Scarbone let out another roar. It was only moments away now.
And hope was fading fast.
The Scarbone charged toward Celine with a murderous intent that hung in the air like poison.
Celine froze, her lips parting slightly in a silent gasp, unsure whether to run or scream. Her instincts urged her to move, but her body refused to obey. Her eyes locked onto the incoming threat—something twisted, something wrong. Jasmine's eyes stared forward like hollow glass orbs, completely devoid of life. It was as though she'd given up all hope.
Among the six awakened fighters, only four were still standing. One was wounded badly, collapsed on the ground. Leon and Mario had both been knocked out earlier by the Scarbone. Darren, their fire mage, had used up the last of his mana points minutes ago—his hands now shaking, barely able to lift themselves, let alone cast a spell. Celine was now trembling with fear, unable to focus on the injured awakener. She had no combat ability. No weapon. Just fear.
And that left one man to make a stand.
Malric.
He was their last line of defense.
Malric rolled his shoulders, each crack echoing through the streets like splintering bones. The dust shifted beneath his boots as he approached the monstrosity. The others watched in horror, their hopes shackled to one man's fist. He wasn't a martial artist—his moves were raw, and his footwork was rough. But he was born to take hits and dish out pain. His awakening had blessed him with brute strength, blistering speed, and the ability to recover from wounds that would kill a normal man. He was a Delta-class awakener—two full ranks below the monstrous Alphas. Still, he was stronger than most.
He took a breath, steadying himself. Then, with a roar, he activated his ability.
His body swelled with power. Muscles bulged beneath his tattered shirt, veins throbbing with pulsing energy. His skin glistened with sweat as the ground beneath him cracked from the sheer force he radiated. A gust of wind exploded outward, blowing ash and debris into the air.
Then he moved.
In a blink, he was charging forward, feet pounding against the pavement, leaving behind a trail of fractured concrete. He sprinted straight at the Scarbone—a twisted fusion of beast and bone, walking like a man but built like a nightmare. Bone spikes jutted from its shoulders and arms like weapons forged from its own body. Its skin was grayish-black, leathery, and wrapped tightly around slabs of muscle.
Malric let out a furious roar as he closed the distance.
He leapt—and threw a punch meant to kill.
His fist—powered by every ounce of his strength—collided with the monster's chest. The impact sent a deep echo through the ruined city, a booming crack like thunder.
But it wasn't the Scarbone that broke.
Pain tore through Malric's arm like fire. He stumbled back with a strangled cry, clutching his wrist. Blood splattered the ground.
"No... no no no!" he gasped, eyes wide with disbelief. "I hit it with everything I had… so why the hell am I the one bleeding?!"
His fingers were bent at sickening angles, bones shattered. He could barely move his hand. He staggered back, panting, sweat dripping from his forehead.
The Scarbone looked down at him slowly, its head tilting in eerie silence. It flexed its arm, and sharp bones stacked over its knuckles like a natural gauntlet. The air grew colder, heavier.
Malric's breath hitched.
The beast raised its arm high, bones glinting in the gray light.
"Oh... crap," he whispered.
Then the punch came.
Faster than he could react, the Scarbone's fist slammed down toward his head. The wind screamed from the force of the strike. Time slowed. He saw his reflection in the beast's bone-covered fist—small, broken, helpless.
In that final moment, as the shadow of death fell over him, Malric's thoughts drifted far from battle.
'I miss my mama…'
Darren, drained completely of mana, still refused to stay down. Gritting his teeth, he threw himself forward in one desperate, reckless move.
With all the strength he had left, he hurled his body into Malric—who stood frozen in terror—knocking them both out of the Scarbone's path just in time.
A fraction of a second later, the Scarbone's bone-plated fist came crashing down like a hammer from hell.
It struck the ground where Malric had just stood, and the impact was devastating.
The concrete exploded beneath its blow, sending cracks racing across the pavement like lightning veins. A booming shockwave followed, ripping through the air and lifting dust, shards of stone, and broken glass in every direction.
From a few meters away, Mario—his face pale with exhaustion—reacted instinctively. He raised a trembling hand, and a flickering, half-formed holographic shield shimmered into existence in front of him.
The translucent barrier flickered with unstable energy as it absorbed the wave of debris, sparing the group from being skewered by flying rubble. Still, the force of the impact made his knees buckle.
The Scarbone paused, blinking as it stared at the crater it had just created. Confusion flickered in its hollow.
It could have sworn the human was right there.
A low growl rumbled from its throat.
Malric and Darren now lay sprawled on the broken pavement. Dust swirled around them, painting their faces in gray.
Malric lay wide-eyed, gasping. He couldn't move. His body had shut down in pure terror, his mind struggling to process how close he'd just come to death.
Darren groaned weakly beside him. He could barely lift his head. His body felt like a bag of bricks, every muscle screaming in pain.
They were both down.
The others weren't in much better shape. The healer crouched beside the injured awakener. Leon was unconscious. Jasmine… devoid of any fighting spirit, though she was still conscious. Mario's shield was flickering, barely holding.
And the Scarbone wasn't the only threat.
Even if it vanished into thin air, they still wouldn't survive the other Geminis approaching from the rear—twisted shadows inching closer with every second.
It was hopeless.
Darren exhaled a shaky breath, managing a wry smile. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Man," he muttered, voice barely audible over the wind. "It was nice knowing ya."
He turned his head slightly toward Malric.
Malric gave a faint nod, his expression calm despite the chaos.
"Likewise, my friend."
Then—something strange happened.