Merlin didn’t bother shouting orders, no time for that. He vaulted onto the nearest overturned cart, kicking off and bringing his blade down on the first creature’s neck.
The impact rang through his arms. The head came half-off, ichor spraying across the cobblestones in a thick arc. The body collapsed, twitching.
One down. Too many to go.
[Skill Activation: Enhanced Reflex Tier II]
[Warning: Sustained use will accelerate fatigue]
Another lunged from the side. Merlin ducked under the swipe, rolled, and slashed upward, splitting the creature’s underbelly. Its screech was cut short as it crumpled.
The guard rallied for a few seconds around him, their morale boosted by the sudden reversal. But for every beast they felled, two more crawled through the gate.
’If this keeps up, the plaza’s gone.’
Half a block away, the air shimmered again. Merlin didn’t even have to look at the system alert.
[Gate Opening Detected]
"Perfect," he muttered through gritted teeth.
The newcomers weren’t the same species, these were tall, skeletal things draped in strands of shadow that lashed out like whips. One of them seized a guard by the throat and yanked him into the air. His scream was muffled as the shadow strands wrapped completely around him, crushing him like paper.
Merlin moved before the body even hit the ground. His sword sliced through the strands, and the creature shrieked, a high, metallic sound, before dissolving into smoke.
He barely caught his breath before another slammed into him from behind, claws raking against the enchantments woven into his coat. The impact shoved him forward into the cobblestone.
[Minor Lacerations Detected]
[Adrenal Response: Heightened]
’Thanks for the update.’
Merlin spun low, slicing through the creature’s knee joint. It collapsed, hissing, and he finished it with a downward stab through its skull.
The guards were falling back, dragging wounded with them. Someone shouted for the mages, but no one was answering.
Merlin risked a glance over his shoulder, more shadows spilling out, more carapace beasts climbing over each other to reach the street.
His pulse was steady, but he knew the math.
Even with his current speed and strength, there were too many angles. Too many teeth.
[Emergency Unlock Available]
[Stored Skill Fragment – Rathan’s Archive]
[Warning: Physical Strain Risk – High]
He hesitated for half a breath.
’If I hold back, people die.’
[Confirm Unlock?] – Y/N
The change was instant. His muscles felt like they’d been wired into the city’s entire power grid, every twitch sharp, every motion amplified.
The next creature to lunge didn’t make it halfway. One step, one cut, and it was in three pieces.
The guard nearest him stumbled back, eyes wide. "What the hell—"
"Focus!" Merlin barked, already moving toward the gate.
He fought like a blade in a storm, always moving, never in one place long enough to be surrounded. The beasts fell in rapid sequence, ichor pooling black under the green glow. The skeletal shadows hissed and retreated when he cut through their strands faster than they could reform.
Still, the gate pulsed. More pressure building.
He knew what that meant.
The real threat hadn’t come through yet.
Across the city, faint booms echoed, Nathan’s side of the fight. Merlin didn’t have time to worry about him. If Nathan was still breathing, he’d handle it. If not...
’Not thinking about that.’
The green-rimmed gate’s glow flared so bright it washed out the night. The ground shook.
Something stepped through.
It was bigger than the others, taller than the gate itself, forcing its bulk through with a slow, grinding twist. Its body was a fortress of overlapping plates, each etched with faint, writhing symbols. The head was more insect than anything, but with too many eyes. All of them fixed on Merlin the moment it emerged.
[Threat Analysis: Class Omega]
[Survival Probability – 23%]
It moved faster than something that size should, charging, the street splintering under its weight. Merlin dove aside, felt the rush of air as its claw slammed into the spot he’d been. The cobblestone exploded into fragments.
He didn’t aim for the armor, that would be suicide. Instead, he darted for the legs, aiming for the joints between plates. The first strike sparked but didn’t bite deep enough. The second found a seam, and the beast screeched, staggering half a step.
It was enough to prove it could bleed.
The fight blurred into a rhythm of dodge, strike, retreat. Each successful hit bought him seconds; each miss nearly ended him. His breathing grew harsher, his limbs starting to feel the weight of the borrowed power.
[Warning: Muscular Damage – Moderate]
[Skill Fragment Timer: 03:21]
He didn’t have three minutes to drag this out.
The beast lunged again, both claws sweeping in a cross-cut. Merlin dove forward this time, sliding between its legs. As he came up behind it, he jammed his blade deep into the base of its spine, twisting hard.
The symbols on its plates flared violently, too violently.
[Core Destabilization Detected]
The explosion threw him clear across the plaza. His back slammed into a half-collapsed wall, knocking the air from his lungs.
The light from the gate dimmed. Then it flickered out entirely.
For a few seconds, all he could hear was his own breathing. Then distant screams reminded him the other gates were still active.
He pushed himself up, pain lancing through his side.
[Skill Fragment Expired]
[Performance Boost – Removed]
The sudden drain left his muscles heavy, but he forced himself toward the next nearest sound of battle.
By the time he reached the eastern street, Nathan was still on his feet, barely, facing down the last of a cluster of fire-wreathed beasts. His clothes were scorched, his left arm bleeding freely, but his eyes sharpened when he saw Merlin.
Merlin cut down one of the beasts from behind without answering. Together, they finished the rest in a handful of strikes.
The flames crackled around them, hot enough that every breath scraped down Merlin’s throat. He yanked his sword free from the collapsing beast, its body falling into molten fragments that hissed against the wet cobblestones.
His chest heaved, lungs dragging in air that felt too thin. Sweat cut through the dirt and blood on his face, stinging his eyes.
Nathan swayed on his feet, his blade hanging low. His left arm was drenched, blood dripping off his fingertips. The burns on his shoulder made his shirt stick to his skin.
Merlin glanced at him, biting back the urge to curse.
’He’s on the edge. If another gate opens near him, he’s done.’
The system chimed again, bright in his peripheral vision.
[Gate Status: 2 Active]
[Western District – Containment at Risk]
[Northern Plaza – Hostile Surge Imminent]
He clenched his teeth. "There’s no time."
Nathan spat blood onto the ground, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Where?"
"West and north." Merlin jerked his head toward the wider street. "You take west. I’ll clear north."
Nathan barked a laugh that ended in a cough. "I can barely stand, Merlin."
"You’ll manage." Merlin stepped past him, already moving. "Or the west side burns."
He didn’t look back, didn’t wait for Nathan’s answer. He couldn’t.
The city around him was a nightmare of smoke and fire. Shopfronts shattered. Roofs sagged inward from the heat. The cobbles were slick with blood, both human and not. He cut through alleys, his blade still dripping ichor, boots hitting puddles that smelled like rot.
Every few steps the system pinged warnings at him.
[Stamina Decline: Severe]
[Injury Risk: Rising]
’Shut up. Keep moving.’
By the time he hit the northern plaza, it was worse than he expected.
Half the square was gone, ripped open into jagged rubble where the gate had forced itself through. The air shimmered green, a pulsing wound in the center.
Around it, a tide of beasts poured out: some like crawling centipedes with plated backs, others that looked half-human but moved wrong, their arms bending backward as they clambered forward.
The guards here had already broken. Dead bodies littered the street, weapons abandoned where men had tried to run. A handful of survivors clung to the steps of a chapel, shielding civilians behind them.
And they were failing.
Merlin sprinted in without hesitation.
The first centipede-beast snapped toward him, mandibles dripping black slime. He leapt onto its back, sword driving down through the plates.
The crunch echoed through the square as it bucked and writhed. Merlin rode the motion, yanking the blade free before the body collapsed under him.
"Fall back to me!" he shouted to the guards.
They hesitated, then scrambled toward him, dragging survivors with them.
Two half-human things lunged, arms whipping unnaturally. Merlin ducked low, slicing through their torsos in a single spinning cut. Ichor sprayed across his coat, burning faintly against the fabric.
The system pulsed again.
[Warning: Contamination Detected – Surface Contact]
[Neutralization Required]
He pressed forward, cutting into the tide before it could overwhelm the survivors. His blade became an extension of his body, moving too fast for the beasts to track. But for every one that fell, three more crawled from the gate.
One of the guards stumbled at his side, a young man barely old enough to grow a beard. He swung his spear wildly, panic plain in his eyes.
Merlin caught the mandibles of a centipede-beast before they closed on the boy’s throat, forcing the jaws apart with sheer strength. "Move!"
The guard scrambled away as Merlin rammed his sword upward through the beast’s mouth, splitting its skull in two.
’Too many. Too slow.’
His chest burned with every breath now. His shoulders screamed from the constant strikes. He knew he couldn’t hold this pace much longer.
The system flickered a new prompt.
[Stored Skill Fragment Available]
[Rathan’s Archive – Resonant Strike]
He didn’t hesitate. "Yes."
Power surged through him again, sharp and biting. His vision narrowed, colors sharpening to painful clarity. Every movement felt inevitable, each strike already decided before he made it.
The next slash wasn’t just steel. It carried a hum, a vibration that tore through the beast’s body like shattering glass. The centipede didn’t just die, it exploded into fragments.
Merlin pivoted, swung again. Another beast detonated, chunks scattering across the plaza.