"Protect humanity!"
The hunters cried out and charged forward.
The lion-like creature's roar shook the very ground beneath. The roar seemed to be a command to the lower creatures as they raged and also started attacking the hunters. Its eyes glowed with an unnatural crimson light as it charged toward the first line of hunters.
Akira swung both axes in perfect rhythm, putting every ounce of strength behind his strike. Even so, the bull-like beast barely flinched. His blades left only a shallow wound. The creature's counterattack came like a hammer. Akira was sent flying several meters, landing hard with ribs crushed.
"Impossible…" he breathed, stunned. That was his strongest swing, yet it had barely scratched the thing. More beasts closed in on him, surrounding him until their shadows drowned out the light.
All around the battlefield, the same panic spread. Hunters shouted in frustration as their blades and arrows failed to leave real marks. Some tried to run, but the creatures moved too fast. Within seconds the hunters were boxed in with no path to escape.
Kenzo and Renzo struggled with a pack of feline monsters whose movements were sharper and quicker than their own. Every dodge pushed the twins further back, every strike put them more off balance.
"Don't give up! We're humanity's last hope!" Akira roared, but his voice barely reached anyone. The beasts had begun tearing into the hunters, devouring them and growing stronger with every kill. Fear crushed any spark of courage left.
"There's no hope for humans…" someone choked.
"We're all going to die!"
And Arcanis wasn't alone. Cities across the world were facing the same nightmare. There was no rescue party coming from anywhere. Humanity had been cornered in every direction.
It was a slaughter. Humans were nothing more than prey.
Lyra was the only one whose attacks made a difference. Her arrows shot clean through the hearts of the smaller goblins, dropping them instantly. But when she targeted the larger beasts, her arrows bounced off their hide like pebbles. Now the stronger ones were closing in on her.
"Help!" she shouted to Akira and the others, but they were fighting for their lives too.
"Don't give up! Fight with everything you have left!" Akira yelled, even as claws ripped into his flesh. He refused to stop pushing them, even while bleeding out.
But their strength was fading. The circle of monsters grew tighter. Humans had reached the edge of their power, and the creatures were still hungry.
All that awaited them now was the end, one bite at a time.
[POV of Akira.]
"Help!" Lyra's voice cut through the chaos.
I turned immediately. She was firing arrow after arrow as she backed away, but the stronger beasts weren't slowing down. Three of them were already closing in.
"I'm coming!" I shouted and pushed forward.
Two creatures blocked my path. One rushed me, and I barely parried. Its claws still tore across my ribs, sending a sharp pain through my whole body. I staggered but forced myself to stay standing.
Lyra screamed again.
I lunged toward her, but the second beast hit me from the side, nearly knocking the air out of me. My armor cracked. Blood ran down my waist.
I swung both axes with everything I had and managed to make the creature step back, but that was it. No real damage. Nothing that would stop it.
"Akira!" Lyra's voice was shaking.
I saw her fall to one knee while trying to load another arrow. The three beasts were almost on top of her. She kept shooting anyway, even though her arrows bounced off their hides.
I can't let her die.
I pushed forward again, ignoring the pain. The creatures were faster than I expected, jumping in my way every time I tried to reach her.
I swung until my arms burned. Claws ripped across my shoulder. Teeth snapped inches from my face. My legs were starting to give out, and blood dripped down my grip on the axes.
Lyra fell backward as one of the monsters pounced.
"No!" I roared, forcing my body forward one last time.
Even if I died, I had to reach her.
And then I heard a voice.
The battlefield faded. The screams, the claws, the blood… all of it slipped into the background, even though I could still faintly hear everyone fighting. I wasn't in the normal world anymore.
I stood before a massive tiger with a serpent for a tail. Its entire body burned with blue flames that didn't consume it but pulsed like a source of strength. It looked less like a beast and more like some ancient tiger-dinosaur hybrid born from myth.
If something like this had shown up with the other monsters, I would've dropped my weapons and accepted death.
But this creature wasn't here to kill me.
It wanted to bargain.
"I'll help you and your companions defeat the creatures attacking you," it said, its voice echoing through the space, "but your bodies and weapons will become our living abode."
If that was the price for power… then so be it.
"If that's all it takes, I won't hesitate," I said.
The beast stared straight into me, its blue flames flaring.
"Remember this: no power comes without cost. If you accept my terms, then speak my name. My name is Ophitigris."
[End of POV]
Back in the real world, the creature's fangs were already buried in Akira's flesh. His strength was almost gone. He was barely conscious, barely breathing, but his lips kept trying to form a word no one else understood.
With the last spark of life he could gather, he forced out a shout:
"OPHITIGRIS!"
There was a silence no one had anticipated. It felt as if time itself had paused for a brief, impossible moment.
And then—
Fwooooooooom!
A sudden surge of blue flames erupted, incinerating nearly every creature in sight. Only a few of the stronger, more resilient beasts remained, scattered and wary.
Akira rose from the scorched ground like a revenant, battered and broken yet refusing to fall. His body and axes burned with the same fierce blue flames, casting an otherworldly light over the battlefield. He gripped both weapons tightly, every movement deliberate, every step radiating power that none of the monsters had ever seen.
Humanity's hope had been renewed.