he human mobile fortress crawled across the wasteland like a plated serpent, its treads crushing soil and bone alike. Wrapped around it was the humans' proud invention—the Devastation Shield, a shimmering sphere of mana-infused light drawn from corrupted ley-lines. It was their answer to Demon Empire assaults. Break the shield, and their fortress would fall.
Sylen crouched beside the Volatiles, each one radiating unstable demon corruption like a storm barely contained in flesh. They were perfect for chaos. Perfect for noise.
"Three," Sylen whispered, igniting her hands. "Two… one."
Her blast struck the eastern side of the shield—a beam of cold hellfire that spidered cracks across the glowing surface. The Volatiles charged with roaring, unstable bursts of corrupted demon mana that smashed against the shield in violent, irregular impacts.
Human alarms blared. Soldiers swarmed the eastern battlements.
"SECTOR FOUR! REINFORCE THE EASTERN SHIELD!" "MAGI! INTO POSITION!"
The air filled with frantic human shouting, drawing every panicked optic to the east. Kaiden, already sprinting, used the dust and the noise as cover, circling the fortress until he reached the rear engine housing—the blind spot.
The shield here was stretched thin, its glow pulsing unevenly under the diverted power. Kaiden placed both hands on it. Mana burned instantly through his fingers. His chest vents wheezed.
He pushed.
The barrier resisted for a breath—then bent inward. Kaiden forced the shield apart like a stubborn set of elevator doors. The shimmering wall peeled open, shrieking as the mana framework deformed under brute force. Cracks webbed outward. The sphere destabilized—its fragments breaking off like glowing shards turning to mist.
Inside the fortress, human soldiers screamed:
"WESTERN BREACH!" "How did they—?!" "THE BACK! THE BACK IS COMPROMISED!"
Kaiden stepped through as the barrier collapsed behind him. Ignoring the blinding pain where mana cooked the skin on his palms, he drove his fist into the fortress engine's rear plating.
The steel groaned—buckled—then ruptured under the monstrous force.
The impact destroyed his entire hand. Metal and flesh burst apart in a spray of sparks and gore. Wires ripped loose from his forearm, and his whole arm went numb. He sagged against the opening he made, his legs trembling beneath the sudden, draining agony.
A heavy thud landed beside him. Korvash.
"Move," Korvash grunted.
Kaiden tried. His stabilizers flickered. He stumbled sideways, nearly collapsing as he held the torn panel open with his ruined shoulder.
"Go—" he rasped, swaying. "Do it. Now."
Korvash slipped inside the engine cavity Kaiden had torn open, placing rune-forged demonic charges along the conduits powering the shield array. Inside, human soldiers scrambled.
"STOP HIM!" "SEAL THE ENGINE BAY!" "HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING!"
Sylen's voice crackled through the comm crystal, laced with panic: "Kaiden—Kaiden, your vitals are spiking! Hold on!"
He forced out a laugh, broken and metallic. "I just need… thirty more seconds."
Korvash slapped the last sigil charge in place and burst out of the ruined engine. "Clear!" he barked.
Kaiden grabbed him with his remaining, good hand—and dragged the larger demon into a stumbling sprint. The Volatiles, seeing their leaders escaping, instantly abandoned the eastern distraction and formed a protective retreat formation. Sylen threw up a wide crescent of freezing flame, blocking arrows and human spellfire.
Korvash triggered the detonator.
A brilliant implosion tore through the fortress. The human engine collapsed inward, runes rupturing, treads twisting, the entire machine devoured by its own collapsing core.
Kaiden dropped to one knee, his remaining hand digging into the dirt, his vision spinning. His core flickered weakly—barely alive.
Korvash looked down at him, his voice low, respectful.
"A victory worth bleeding for."
Kaiden didn't answer. He was too busy staying conscious. But he heard it. And he stayed alive long enough to make the victory count.