Chapter 48: Pressure

The room inside the Clyden Military Base was lit only by open windows, casting long shadows across the chipped concrete walls. A square table sat in the center, scuffed from years of use, surrounded by chairs. Zarnem leaned forward with his arms crossed, and Shera sat beside him, arms folded tightly across her chest. Across from them, Kyto sat at the far end of the table with Esako and Jaze. Virem, seated with his back to the only window, scanned their faces with grim focus. On each of his side sat Bayz and Analee.

Virem: We are sorry to hear what happened in Krutone and are glad you are here safely. Esren did not make it back?

Kyto: He did not. The Zagons were too much. Aside from myself, no one made it from the summit.

Bayz: And for sure, we lost Fex and Ira?

Zarnem tilted his head down.

Zarnem: We did. We also lost a soldier of mine, Makota.

Those words stung Shera.

Zarnem: We also lost Dain and Yerah.

Virem: I understand.

Esako: Pardon me, but how will we handle it if they come here next?

Jaze: We don’t have the same technological weapons as we did in Krutone, let alone our soldiers.

Virem: We may not have Krutone’s power, but we can still fight. We can always retrieve soldiers from Luria if we must. What opponents do we have left?

Zarnem: Their names are Aku, Sicrus, Zan and Mayzen. Those are the four left including their Zagons.

Kyto: The Zagons are not a worry. It’s the four who control them.

Esako: Yes, but this time around, I’ll be there to put up a fight. Dain was a bright one. I could’ve worked more with him.

Virem: So, Penim is no longer a threat?

Zarnem: Sen took down Penim. We also still have Sen and now Josar.

Virem: Josar?

Zarnem: He’s a very strong lightning user, the best I’ve ever witnessed.

Shera: But we don’t know if they’ll fight.

Virem: Why is that?

Zarnem (interrupting): They’ll fight with us. They’ll have to if they want to protect Clyden.

Shera: And how do you know he’ll fight with us?

Zarnem: Because he’s not with them.

A moment of silence.

Esako: As General, I’m suggesting we use Jaze’s ability as well.

Jaze looked up.

Jaze: What?

Esako: You might be the key to ending Zan. You have to eliminate him, completely.

Jaze: But I— that’s risky for me.

Esako: Yes, and this seems to be the time to fight with everything you’ve got. President Kyto, you approve, yes?

Kyto remained quiet.

Esako: You saw what happened in Krutone. Our enemies require us to go all out, even if it destroys everything else around us.

Jaze thinks.

Virem: I can’t promise we will have the same power as Krutone. In fact, I know we don’t. But if the situation is as bad as it seems, it’s not like we have any other choice. Clyden will fight to the death.

Zarnem: The only question is, how?

Virem: The only way we can. We go in swinging. As of now, we have two of Krutone’s most powerful fighters with us, Esako and Jaze. If Josar is as powerful as you say he is, we’ll have the power we need. May I know who killed Penim?

Zarnem: It was Sen.

Virem: Sen? The same recruit you picked up before you left? Is he that capable of a fighter?

Zarnem: He is. He’s the dark and light user.

Virem: Then we have another—

Zarnem: He’s the one who may not fight.

Virem: Why is that?

Zarnem: He’s… not mentally there anymore. This war has took a toll on him.

Silence.

Zarnem: He lost Dain and Yerah. They mattered to him.

Virem: And Shera lost Makota. You lost Fex and Ira.

Zarnem: Yeah… but Sen just isn’t there right now.

Virem: Understood. Hopefully, he’ll come around.

Bayz: So, is the plan to simply fight when they arrive?

Virem: It’s the only thing we can do. We’ll prepare our soldiers. Is there anything else we should know or consider?

Kyto: Aku is after me and me only. He doesn’t have any interest in any of you.

Silence.

Kyto: I’m the target. We use me as bait.

Esako: But, President Kyto! You can’t—

Kyto: We lure him closer to the heart of Clyden’s Military Base. We surround and overpower him there.

Jaze: But Zan and Sicrus?

Esako: Don’t forget Mayzen. On the airship, Josar explained Mayzen was the one who killed Makota.

Kyto: That’s your job. Esako, Jaze, Shera, Zarnem. You must deal with them, and we may get Josar to align with us. If Aku wants me, he can come for me. If he wants to duel, I’ll engage.

Esako: President Kyto! You can’t be serious!

Kyto: I am. But I will also have Clyden’s military with me.

Jaze: Perhaps I should take on Aku.

Kyto: No. Be useful in wiping out the others. Aku wants me, and he’s going to regret ever coming for me. We must trap him by making him come for me.

A moment of silence.

Virem: So, we wait until then.

Zarnem: I will go find Sen and Josar.

The midday sun hung high over Clyden, casting sharp rays across the cracked pavement outside the Training Center. Heat shimmered above the concrete, blurring the distant horizon. Sen sat on the edge of a short stone wall, elbows on his knees, head tilted back slightly. Beside him, Josar leaned against the wall with arms crossed, eyes half-closed, his face unreadable.

Sen: This was the place.

Josar: Where you and Dain would always train? Where you would see Yerah?

Sen: Yeah.

Small silence.

Josar: At some point, Aku is coming. It might be soon.

Sen: Yeah. I know.

Josar: What are you going to do?

Sen: I don’t know. What about you? What will you do?

Josar: I still haven’t spoken to him. I just left.

Sen: I didn’t know that part.

Josar: Yeah. Sicrus tried stopping me.

Sen: He let you go?

Josar: It was never his choice. It was mine.

Sen: And if you see him again?

Josar: I really don’t know. To be honest, I don’t even know what I’ll do after this war is over.

Sen: What if Aku wins?

Josar: Not sure. Probably just start a new life for myself.

Sen: And if Kyto wins?

Josar: Same thing. I’d just start over. Disappear probably.

Sen: You plan on disappearing?

Josar looked at the ground, lips pressed tight. He didn’t need to say anything. He’d been living that answer his whole life.

Sen: That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually. I wouldn’t mind just being gone after all of this is over.

Josar: You want to vanish too? Don’t you have Dain’s parents? Don’t you think they’d want you around?

Sen: Maybe. I don’t know.

Josar: I think you should stay with them. They already lost Dain. You should continue being the son to them that they always loved like their own.

Silence.

Josar: I’m different. I have nothing, so it makes more sense for me to just vanish.

Sen: I guess I shouldn’t say stuff like that. I guess surviving just doesn’t feel the same as living… You know, you could always stay here in Clyden too.

Josar doesn’t answer to his last statement.

Josar: How upset are you with Aku?

Sen pauses.

Sen: I’m quite disappointed… but I get it.

Josar: Yeah… same.

Sen: He has hate. I’m not justifying it. I’m just recognizing him.

Josar: Yeah… I get why Aku hates the system. I get why he hates Kyto. I get why he hates the world… but if it’s something I can’t understand is why he had to hate himself along with it.

Sen: Hm… that’s deep.

Josar: Maybe if he had a little bit of love for himself, he wouldn’t have to prove to the world he was worth anything by trying to fix it… but I guess self-hate is just the result of being thrown away.

Sen: But he wasn’t thrown away. He was given another chance… a very horrible chance at the orphanage, but still a chance.

Josar: Not to his eyes…

Quietness.

Zarnem’s boots crunched softly against the gravel as he approached. He stopped a few paces away, arms relaxed at his sides, eyes shifting between Sen and Josar.

Zarnem: So, this is where you both have been.

Sen: What do you want now?

Zarnem paused.

Zarnem: I wanted to check if you—

Sen: No.

Zarnem blinked.

Sen: I’m not interested in helping. I don’t take orders from you anymore.

Zarnem: Clyden is in danger. Don’t be selfish, Sen.

Sen: Selfish? You mean like how you treated Penim?

Zarnem was taken aback.

Sen: You mean like how your issues with Penim became ours? You never dealt with your issues with him, and we got caught it in. Dain and Yerah got caught in his hands. And I finished him for you. I took care of your work, so don’t come at me with what you think is selfish.

Zarnem sighs angrily.

Zarnem: Sen, I’m sorry that—

Sen: You don’t know what sorry feels like. Stop giving yourself that much credit. It’s embarrassing.

Silence. Zarnem's jaw tensed. His eyes narrowed, but no rebuttal came.

Zarnem: Josar, will you fight with us?

Josar glances over to Sen once then looks back to Zarnem.

Josar: I’m not one of you.

Zarnem was disappointed.

Josar: Sen told me you all were going to leave me behind in Krutone. It was Sen to reached out to save me… So, I’m not one of you.

Zarnem: If you don’t, orders might be made against you. You were once the enemy after all. I wouldn’t want President Kyto to—

Josar: I’m sure he was always going to kill me anyways. You’re just trying to make use of me while you can. Both me and Sen. I get how it goes. Even Aku isn’t cruel like that.

Zarnem didn’t know how to respond.

Josar: I’m not one of you.

Zarnem: I did everything I could. I wasn’t the greatest, but I expect you both to do everything you can also.

Sen: You can leave, Zarnem.

Zarnem: What a shame.

Sen: Yeah. What a shame. Penim. Aku. Kyto. The system. You. You’re all a mess, and we got pulled into something that we never asked for, yet here we are picking up the pieces we never broke.

Zarnem: That’s life, Sen. You don’t get to choose your problems.

Sen: I’m aware. I’m also aware that I can choose which problems to take on. The steps I take are not decided by anyone but me… and they’re definitely not decided by someone like you. Again, you can leave, Zarnem.

Zarnem stood frustrated. He looked once more at Josar who appeared to be unbothered.

Zarnem: Sen, you are a soldier. You don’t get to—

Then, a sharp boom cracked through the air followed by another. The ground trembled beneath their feet. Distant plumes of smoke curled into the sky, and the faint, familiar screeches of Zagons pierced the quiet. The war had arrived in Clyden.

Josar: Aku’s here.

Zarnem: Already!?

Sen doesn’t say anything. He stares at the direction of the explosion.

Zarnem: Damn it! I need to return to Kyto!

Zarnem slammed his foot into the ground, and with a surge of force, a jagged slab of earth cracked free from the soil, rising beneath him like a platform of living stone. Dust spiraled in his wake as he propelled forward toward the Clyden Military Base. Sen narrowed his eyes, squinting into the distance where the smoke twisted skyward. His breath slowed.

Sen: That’s… is that?

Josar: You ok?

Sen: That’s the direction from… Maren and Arna’s home.

Josar: Dain’s parents?

Sen: Damn… please don’t tell me—

A portal cracked open behind them like a wound in the air, jagged tendrils of dark energy slashing outward as dozens of Zagons erupted from within. Sen’s palms lit with a pulsing dual glow— light in one, dark in the other— his body vanishing in a flicker of energy as he surged forward to intercept the first beast mid-leap, slamming it into the ground with a blast of force. Beside him, Josar’s arms sparked with streaks of lightning and gale wind, hurling a bolt that shattered through a second Zagon’s skull before kicking off the wall into a spin, slicing another with twin arcs of voltage.

Josar: Sen! Go check on them!

Five more portals opened, and more Zagons came through.

Josar: These are just Zagons. I can hold them. Go check on Dain’s family!

Sen gave one more look at Josar who was already preparing another attack on the Zagons. Sen clenched his jaw and nodded once, the flicker of hesitation vanishing from his eyes. With a sharp burst of light and dark energy coiled around his legs, he launched into the air, streaking toward the distant smoke. Behind, Josar stood his ground, arms outstretched as thunder surged through his veins. He unleashed a blinding arc that lit the battlefield refusing to let a single Zagon through.

The walls of the Clyden Military Base trembled faintly as another distant explosion echoed through the air. Inside the command room, Kyto stood still by the window, his eyes narrowed toward the rising smoke on the horizon. Virem stepped closer, arms behind his back, his face cold with resolve. Esako and Jaze stood across the table, tension rising between them.

Jaze: They’re here.

Esako: Already? Where’s Zarnem?

Virem: I will bring Kyto to the heart of the base.

Kyto’s jaw tightened.

Esako: President Kyto?

Kyto: Stick to the agenda. I will follow Virem. Let Aku come. Deal with the rest of them.

Without another word, Virem turned, his boots echoing against the stone as he led Kyto out of the command room and into the corridor, the air thick with tension and distant tremors. Kyto followed. Esako cracked his neck, fists already glowing with concentrated flame, while Jaze silently adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves. The two moved in unison toward the outer gates, the sounds of war growing louder with every stride.

Zarnem soared across the war-scarred terrain on his floating slab of earth, the wind whipping through his hair. As he neared the outskirts of the base, he spotted Shera, Bayz and Analee fending off a pack of Zagons. Zarnem leapt from his platform, slamming into the ground with a shockwave that toppled two Zagons mid-charge, then landed beside Shera.

Shera: Zarnem!

Zarnem: Where’s Kyto!?

Bayz: He took off with Virem!

Analee: Are they here already? Aku?

Zarnem: Yes. This is his work.

A low hum vibrated through the earth. In front of Zarnem, Shera Bayz and Analee, a swirling portal tore open the space. From within, Sicrus and Mayzen stepped out first. Then came the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps. Zan emerged. Then, behind them, a fourth figure moved forward, hooded, quiet, but unmistakable. Aku. He said nothing, but the air bent subtly around him. The bottom half of his face was visible, his jaw relaxed, yet unreadable. Even from a distance, Sen’s likeness in him was undeniable.

Zarnem: All four. Stay alert everyone! They are not to be messed with!

Mayzen without a word pointed northeast.

Mayzen: That way. Kyto is that way.

Zan: Is there anything we need to get past?

Sicrus pointed his finger at Bayz, immediately shooting him in the head with a piercing bullet of Intergy. Bayz dropped instantly. Dead.

Analee: Bayz!

Analee generated fire in her hands.

Zarnem: Analee! Don’t be dumb!

Analee: Bayz just died! We’re really just going to stand here!?

Zarnem: Fuck! Analee, don’t you—

But Analee charged forward with a scream, unleashing twin torrents of flame from her palms, the heat warping the air around her. But before the fire could reach its mark, a wall of darkness surged upward, swallowing the blaze whole. In the instant she hesitated, Zan appeared beside her. His hand sliced across her neck with horrifying precision. Half her throat vanished, skin and muscle melting away in a hiss of corrosion. She staggered, choking on her own blood as steam rose from the sizzling wound. Her eyes widened in shock, then dulled as she collapsed. The other three, Aku, Sicrus, and Mayzen, remained utterly still, never once acknowledging her. To them, she hadn't even been worth a glance.

Zarnem: Shit!

Shera: Holy…

Zan: Dumb bitch. Hahaha.

Mayzen stepped forward with eerie calm, his boots brushing the scorched gravel beside Analee’s corpse. He knelt beside her, and with a practiced motion, he pointed his fingers to her temple, and a vein emerged. He retracted it then stood.

Mayzen: Kyto’s specifically waiting in the armory. Military base.

Sicrus: No Intergy barriers?

Mayzen: None. Just doors and soldiers.

Without a word, Aku moved. His body blurred in a streak of motion, dark Intergy coiling beneath his feet like liquid shadow, while jets of light Intergy propelled him forward with blinding speed. He glided northeast. Zarnem reacted instantly, lunging forward, but before he could take a full step, a sharp crack rang out. A bullet of Intergy slammed into his side, fired by Sicrus. Zarnem dropped with a grunt, but the attack only pierced his outer barrier of Intergy he layered himself with. He hit the dirt, dazed but intact. Aku never paused, never looked back, as if Zarnem and Shera didn’t exist. The force of his momentum split the air behind him.

Zan: Stay down little Zashy!

Zarnem: Damn it!

Mayzen: You’re quite a shame, Zarnem.

Zarnem: Why the hell do you three support Aku?

Zan: This is gold. Why do we support Aku? The better question is why do YOU support Kyto?

Mayzen stepped forward.

Zan: Tell him, Mayzen? Give little Zashy the final truth of what he’s fighting for?

Zarnem: Final… truth?

Mayzen sighs.

Mayzen: Oh, Zarnem… What a shame you are.

Zarnem got back on his feet.

Mayzen: Do you know why your father died?

Zarnem: My… father?

Mayzen (with a slight cold smile): You know, Zarnem… your father Zash is still regarded as one of Krutone’s greatest soldiers. A legend, they say. A hero. His name is etched into history. But legends, like most things, are built on illusions. He died at the hands of Emperor Osin. That much is true. I watched it myself through Osin’s own eyes. Aku tore Osin apart back in Krutone, and before his body turned to ash, I extracted everything. I saw the truth buried inside his memories. And here’s where it gets… delightful.

Zarnem gritted his teeth.

Mayzen: There was a plan concocted between Kyto and Osin. They needed more funding for their war machine, more justification for military expansion. So, they staged an ambush. Revano would “unexpectedly” attack Krutone, making it seem like Krutone needed more protection, more soldiers, more power. But your father… he didn’t know it was a performance. Zash acted on instinct and principle. He led a preemptive strike and killed countless Revano elites. He did what a true warrior would do. He protected Krutone, and in doing so, he ruined the narrative. He cost Osin some of his finest soldiers. That... didn’t sit well.

Mayzen looked to the sky.

Mayzen: So Kyto offered your father a deal. A promise. A promotion beyond General. Said he’d make Zash his right hand, the second most powerful man in Krutone. All Zash had to do was push deeper into Revano… break their defenses completely. It was an easy mission. What he didn’t know was that it was a death sentence.

Zarnem’s face grew cold.

Mayzen: Kyto ordered Zash and his battalion’s food supply tainted, not with traditional poison, but with something interesting. A compound designed to weaken Intergy reserves, to rob them of their strength quietly. By the time they realized something was wrong… it was already too late.

Mayzen looked into Zarnem’s eyes.

Mayzen: That’s how Osin was able to kill your father. He didn’t win because he was stronger. He won because Kyto made sure Zash had already lost before the battle even began. That’s the truth, Zarnem. Your father didn’t die a hero. He died as a sacrifice, offered by the very system he swore to protect. And you… you’re still fighting for it.

Zarnem: You’re fucking lying! Bullshit!

Mayzen shrugs.

Mayzen: You don’t have to believe me. I have no reason to lie to trash like you. I’m only doing you a favor so you can die in peace knowing what you lived for… and what you’re going to die for.

Shera: Zarnem! Don’t let them get to you!

Zarnem: I won’t.

Mayzen: You betrayed your best friend, Penim for a system that chewed you up and spat you out. He became a monster, a madman, because of you. Because you cared for ranks. Because you believed you had to live up to Zash’s legacy, and the cost was everything. Penim lost his mind. Dain and Yerah lost their lives, caught in the crossfire of Penim’s vengeance… And all because you were too obsessed with chasing your father’s ghost to see the very blood you were walking through.

Zan’s grin was wide. Everything was entertainment.

Mayzen: Look at the mess you’ve made, Zarnem. And still… still, you defend Kyto. The man who orchestrated your father’s execution. The man who watched your life collapse and handed you a promotion. That’s your god now?

Sicrus remained calm and unbothered.

Mayzen: And trust me… I know why Jezra, your mother, can't stand the sight of you. I saw it all through Lessa’s eyes. The way Jezra avoids your name. The way she flinches when people bring you up. Anyone would be ashamed to call you their son. If Zash were alive… He’d be ashamed too.

Zarnem: Fuck you!

Mayzen: To you, that truth is devastating. To me? It’s comedy.

Sicrus: So, you ask us why we support Aku? The better question is for you and why you align with Kyto. But it doesn’t matter if you support Kyto or not. We’re killing you anyways.

Zarnem prepared to fight.

Sicrus: For killing Scray. Norad. Baylene. Tyla. Fletris.

Sicrus raised his hand at Zarnem with the calm precision of a man who had already calculated the outcome. In a blink, five Intergy bullets launched from his fingertips, each one screeching through the air. They struck Zarnem in rapid succession, erupting with bursts of kinetic force. The impact sent Zarnem far backwards, his body glowing faintly with the hardened shell of Intergy he’d instinctively summoned.

Shera: Zarnem!

Sicrus (to Zan): You want him?

Zan: He’s boring. I want fun.

Without a word, Sicrus propelled himself forward. He soared past Shera without so much as a glance, his eyes locked solely on where Zarnem was knocked afar.

Mayzen: This is the one Makota slept with.

Shera: Ma-kota?

Zan: Ooo. I want this one!

Shera sent waves of wind towards Mayzen and Zan. Mayzen’s eyes turned green and deflected the wind with raw Intergy.

Shera: You killed Makota!

Mayzen: I did, but I’m not interested in you.

Mayzen turned away and began to walk calmly.

Shera: Get back here, fucker!

Zan stepped forward.

Zan: Hey, hey sweet girl. You’re mine.

Mayzen: I will head towards Aku. 

Zan: Meet you later!

Shera stood with caution. She took one look at Bayz’s dead body, then over to Analee’s corpse.

Zan (mockingly): Show me the power of love and friendship! Entertain me a bit!

Sen streaked through the war-torn streets of Clyden, gliding on streams of darkness that curled beneath his feet while bursts of light from his heels rocketed him forward. His heart pounded as he neared the outskirts of the city—Maren and Arna’s home. As he turned the final corner, the sight hit him like a punch to the chest: the house half-collapsed, humanoid Zagons clawing through debris, and in the center, Arna frozen in fear while Maren stood protectively in front, her arm bloodied and slashed. Sen’s eyes flared. Without hesitation, he surged forward, light coiling around his fists, dark blades trailing from his arms. In a single devastating arc, he sliced through the first two Zagons, blasting a third with a pulse of light Intergy. Dust and blood sprayed into the air. He landed by Maren and Arna.

Arna: Sen!

Sen: Are you two fine?

Maren: I’m fine. Arna is hurt.

Another two Zagons jumped in, but Sen sliced them before they could finish their attack.

Maren: I can try to heal her.

Sen (thinking): What kind of Zagons are these? They look different.

Maren tended to Arna’s wound.

Sen: Stay put. I’ll hold them down. They’re just—

More Zagons charged in. Darkness surged beneath Sen’s feet, launching him into the air as he twisted mid-flight, eight radiant blades of pure light spiraling around him like orbiting stars. With a flick of his fingers, the blades shot outward, each one curving with surgical precision through the chests, necks, and skulls of the oncoming Zagons. Blood sprayed in elegant arcs as Sen landed in a crouch. Another wave charged, twenty, but Sen was already gliding backward on a ribbon of darkness, carving a serpentine trail in the air as light blades materialized beside him. With a snap, he thrust his palm forward. The blades shot out, piercing Zagon torsos mid-leap, nailing them to the crumbling walls.

Spinning, Sen hurled two crescent blades from his arms, slicing through the knees of a hulking Zagon that lunged with jagged claws. Before the creature hit the ground, Sen blinked forward in a burst of shadow with slashes from glowing blades of light, severing its arms and spine in one fluid motion. He pivoted again, darkness rippling off his legs as he slid low beneath another attacker. As it soared over him, he kicked upward, sending a disc of light spinning through its midsection, bisecting it cleanly. Sen moved like an unrelenting force of nature.

The Zagons just kept coming. A dozen more Zagons clawed forward, adapting to his movement. Sen leapt and formed a sphere of swirling light above his head, then slammed it downward as he descended. It detonated midair, a radiant shockwave flattening the enemies. Yet as the smoke began to clear, Sen landed and froze because the next wave wasn’t coming for him. The Zagons turned toward Maren and Arna.

He blurred into motion, shooting between them and the defenseless pair, blades of light spinning protectively around him like a living barrier. He struck down one, then two, then three, but it was different now. He was fighting to protect. That made him slower, forced to absorb hits instead of dodge. A Zagon feigned a lunge, then darted left, straight toward Arna. Sen reacted instinctively, catching it mid-leap with a bolt of concentrated light, but a second slipped past his guard. It slashed across his back, ripping through the Intergy shielding and tearing skin. Blood sprayed as Sen grunted in pain. With one arm, he grabbed its throat; with the other, he plunged a blade through its skull, ending it instantly.

Maren: Sen!

More Zagons charged in from all sides, their snarls piercing the haze of smoke and ash. Sen readied himself again, blades of light reappearing around him, slicing through the first few attackers. But something felt wrong. These Zagons didn’t attack blindly. They moved in patterns, circling, waiting for openings. One faked a lunge to bait him into a parry while another struck from behind. Sen blocked, twisted, retaliated, but the rhythm was slipping from him. These weren’t the same creatures he’d cut down in Krutone or Luria. They were smarter. Faster. Coordinated.

Then one of them, a hulking Zagon, its body layered with jagged stone-like armor, stormed through the others. It swung a massive, clawed arm down at Sen. He caught the blow mid-air with a blade of darkness, but the force sent tremors through his body. His feet slid back, heels carving grooves into the bloodstained smoking ground. He clenched his jaw, arms shaking as he tried to hold the weight. The other Zagons saw his hesitation and closed in. Sen’s breath caught, his mind racing, until a thunderclap split the air.

A burst of blue lightning arced through the swarm, searing flesh and shattering bones in a chain of brilliant destruction. The Zagons screeched in agony as electricity ripped through them, bodies convulsing before they dropped. Freed of pressure, Sen twisted, drove a light blade upward through the bulky Zagon’s jaw, and carved its skull in half. He turned his head, just in time to see a figure land in a blur of stormlight. Josar.

Josar crashed into the mob of Zagons like a tempest unleashed, lightning coiling from his fists and crackling beneath his feet. With a sweeping kick, he sent an arc of electricity through three Zagons at once. His fists moved faster than the eye could follow, jabbing throats, breaking spines, shocking hearts until they burst. A final surge of energy exploded outward from his chest, vaporizing the last cluster that dared get close. Twelve Zagons dead in seconds. Josar stood by Sen, fists raised with lightning.

Josar: Sen! Heal up.

Sen: There’s still more.

Josar: I’ll take them all. There aren’t that many left.

Sen understood and knelt, beginning to heal his wound with Intergy. Josar moved. His body was a blur of storm and instinct, each strike charged with the wrath of someone who had nothing left to lose, but everything still worth protecting. A Zagon lunged from the left. Josar spun low, his leg sweeping under the creature and cracking its legs out from beneath it. Before it hit the ground, a bolt of lightning fired from his fist, frying its chest from the inside out. Another leapt from behind. Josar ducked, twisted, then slammed his elbow into its throat and followed with a crackling punch to its skull that caved it in like glass under pressure.

His lightning wasn’t wild. It was controlled. He moved through the horde like he had trained for this moment his entire life. Every motion, every pivot released electric destruction. One clawed at his side, but Josar caught the wrist, snapped it, then spun the beast and hurled it into another group, electrocuting them all in a single surge. Sparks crackled along his arms like armor, thunder rolling in his wake. Blood sprayed. Smoke curled. Josar didn’t hesitate.

A Zagon nearly twice his size charged him head-on. Josar intercepted the charge with a twin-laced strike, both fists glowing with lightning, punching straight into its gut. The Zagon seized mid-motion, bones crackling as lightning spider-webbed through its torso before it dropped, steaming. Josar stood over it, chest heaving, eyes glowing faintly with blue electric light.

Then, from behind, a final Zagon, jaws wide, crept forward in silence, claws raised high. Josar didn’t see it. But Sen did. Without a word, Sen raised a hand. A blade of light materialized instantly, then fired. It pierced through the Zagon’s skull with precision, dropping the beast dead before it ever reached Josar. Josar turned, looking at the smoking corpse behind him, then up at Sen.

Sen gave a quiet nod then turned to Maren and Arna.

Sen: Are you both fine?

Arna: Honey, don’t worry about us. Are you ok?

Sen: I’m good enough for now. How’s your arm?

Maren: I got her recovered for the most part.

Josar arrived.

Josar: We need to get them somewhere safe. Is there a shelter nearby?

Maren: There’s one by the hospital.

Josar: I can take them. Sen, you should finish healing up.

Sen looked to Maren and Arna.

Sen: You can trust him. He’s my friend.