The ground screamed before the monsters did.
A shockwave tore through the ruined streets, flipping abandoned vehicles and collapsing already-broken walls as two titanic presences collided somewhere beyond the city blocks.
Dust rose like a curtain pulled violently across the sky, blotting out the sun in choking waves.
Raon steadied himself, boots grinding against cracked asphalt.
The roar that followed was not one voice—but two.
One was sharp and piercing, carrying a cold, predatory authority.
The other was deep and thunderous, vibrating through bone and blood alike.
"They're fighting…" someone whispered.
Raon lifted his gaze.
Far ahead, rising above the shattered skyline, stood a massive white wolf perched atop a collapsed overpass. Its fur shimmered faintly even through the dust, and behind it unfurled multiple tails, each one swaying like a living weapon. Frost crystallized around its paws as it snarled, eyes glowing with ancient malice.
From the opposite side came the answer.
A colossal ape-like monstrosity burst through a cluster of buildings, reducing concrete to rubble with its charge. It had six legs, each one thick and powerful, its body twisted and unnatural. Its face was a nightmare—too many eyes, too wide a mouth—and from its back writhed several thick, whip-like appendages that scraped against steel and stone.
Behind them followed their armies.
Smaller wolves with icy fangs poured down the streets, while grotesque, hunched creatures scuttled behind the ape, screeching and slamming their limbs against the ground.
Raon's stomach tightened.
This isn't just a fight.
This is a territorial war.
And humans were standing right in the middle of it.
"Formation!" the Moon faction leader shouted, her calm voice slicing through the chaos. "Defensive line—protect the rear!"
The Sun faction reacted instantly.
Golden light flared as their leader stepped forward, his presence commanding. "All Sun members, engage! Do not let the smaller ones reach the civilians!"
Before Raon could process it, as he looks for the another factions he finds that the Devil faction was already gone.
No words and no sign of their presence anywhere.
One moment ago, their black-robed figures were there, weapons drawn—and the next, they melted into the alleys and ruins, disappearing like shadows swallowed by deeper darkness.
"They're gone…" Han muttered.
Raon didn't respond. His eyes were already tracking the movement of monsters breaking away from the larger clash and charging toward them.
"Here they come!" someone screamed.
Raon moved.
He raised his hand, ice forming instantly, launching sharp shards that pierced the skulls of the first wave of wolf-like beasts. They fell mid-charge, bodies skidding across the ground.
Gunfire erupted. Explosions bloomed.
Screams—human and monstrous—overlapped until they became indistinguishable.
The Sun leader lifted his weapon skyward.
"Burn!"
A pillar of sunlight descended from above, condensed and blinding. It struck the street ahead, detonating in a column of searing heat and lightning. Dozens of monsters were reduced to ash in an instant.
The power was overwhelming.
But Raon noticed the way the man's shoulders tensed afterward, the slight hitch in his breath.
He paid for that power
The Moon faction responded differently.
Silver light spread across the ground, forming layered barriers that slowed the incoming creatures. Moonlight wrapped around allies, reinforcing them, dulling pain, sharpening focus.
Raon fought where the line thinned.
A wolf lunged—he crushed its skull with a telekinetic pull, snapping its neck mid-air.
Another leaped—Han froze it solid, shattering it with a follow-up shot.
Still, there were too many.
The ape monster roared, slamming its limbs into the ground. A wave of its lesser kin surged forward, climbing over rubble, tearing through abandoned storefronts.
"They won't stop!" someone shouted.
"They are too many!"
The Moon leader's eyes hardened.
"Fall back!" she ordered. "We can't hold this ground!"
"What?" a Moon faction member protested.
"If we retreat now—"
"We die if we stay," she cut in sharply. "This is not a battle we can win now."
The Sun leader grimaced but nodded. "All units, disengage! Cover the civilians!"
Moonlight flared. Sunlight followed.
The combined burst forced the monsters back just enough.
"Move!" Han yelled, grabbing someone who had frozen in fear.
Raon turned, slashing down a creature that lunged at his flank, then ran.
Buildings collapsed as they fled. A scream cut off abruptly behind them—no one turned back.
Roars tore through the ruined streets, heavy footsteps shaking broken stone. Shadows leapt across walls as monsters surged forward, and behind them—warriors, twisted and relentless, cutting down anyone who stumbled.
Steel rang.
Moon and Sun soldiers moved to the rear without being ordered, blades flashing as they struck at anything that came too close. Every second they bought was paid for in blood.
Keep running!" someone from the Moon faction shouted over his shoulder. His arm was already bleeding. "Don't stop!"
A Sun warrior followed, planting his feet and raising his spear. "Leader—go! We'll hold them!"
Neither leader answered.
The Moon leader's jaw was clenched tight.
The Sun leader didn't look back even once.
They knew.
If they spoke, it would become a command.
If they hesitated, more would die.
Survival demanded a price—and someone always paid it.
Behind them, screams erupted as the rear line was swallowed. The sound cut sharp, then vanished beneath the monsters' howls.
"MOVE!" Raon barked, shoving someone forward as they nearly tripped over rubble.
Then the road split.
Two alleys burst open ahead—one veering left, narrow and shadowed, the other right, wider but choked with debris.
"Which way?!" someone screamed.
There was no time.
Panic shattered what little order remained.
People scattered instinctively—some of Raon's group veering toward the Sun faction, drawn by numbers and torches. Others were pulled toward the Moon faction, disappearing into darkness and speed.
"Raon!" Han shouted, but his voice was drowned by chaos.
Raon spun once, eyes scanning the split—faces vanishing, footsteps fading, the distance between them growing with every heartbeat.
There was no chance to gather them back.
No chance to choose.
The monsters were too close
The Moon leader hesitated only a second.
"Moon faction—follow me!"
Raon tightened his grip on his sword.
He turned and followed the Moon faction.
The Sun group surged forward, golden light cutting a path through the ruins. Within moments, they were swallowed by smoke and fire.
The Moon group moved fast but controlled, slipping through narrower streets, silver light guiding them away from the monster hordes.
After what felt like hours—but was likely minutes—they reached it.
The city hospital.
A massive structure rose ahead, its exterior scarred but standing. Barricades of wrecked vehicles and reinforced steel blocked the lower entrances. Moon symbols were painted across the walls, glowing faintly.
"Open the gate!" the Moon leader called.
Metal groaned. The barricade shifted.
They rushed inside.
The gates slammed shut behind them with a thunderous clang, sealing out the roars and chaos of the city.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then exhausted bodies collapsed to the floor.
They had survived but only for now.