Shiva hesitated for a fraction of a second—just long enough for Chase to see the doubt flicker in her eyes. Then she nodded sharply. "Barracks are compromised. Rally point is the granary. Move."
To be fair, she didn't need much convincing.
The tent flap billowed inward as Damian crashed through, axes dripping with black ichor. "They're herding the civilians toward the square," he panted, his helmet visor splattered with something that sizzled against the steel. "Like fucking cattle to slaughter."
Damian would usually be enjoying this way more, however these were some of the creepiest things hed ever seen, crazy strong too. And only Chase had gotten a small glimpse at their leader.
Andrews mask was now soaked with sweat, his water magic forming swirling tendrils around his arms as he prepared for the next wave. "Granary's northeast corner," he hissed between labored breaths. "There's a cellar—warded stone. Might hold them off long enough to—"
A guttural shriek cut through the camp, vibrating the very air like a struck gong. Chase's head snapped toward the sound—the town square where the creatures were herding panicked civilians. His demon blood roared in response, claws elongating further as he caught the scent of something ancient beneath the stench of ichor and burning flesh. *Not just puppets anymore. Something's waking up.*
Shiva grabbed a fallen guard's spear, snapping the shaft in two to wield it like twin daggers. "Granary's too far," she spat. "We make for the square—cut the head off this fucking snake." Her eyes locked onto Chase's, and for the first time, he saw raw terror in them.
The creatures had formed a grotesque procession—twelve guardsmen moving in perfect unison, their grey-skinned bodies now stretched into impossible proportions, arms elongated like boneless tentacles. At their center stood something wearing the tattered remains of a captain's uniform, its jaw unhinged vertically to reveal a second, smaller mouth inside—pulsing with bioluminescent veins.
"No fucking way" Andrew was in the middle of
casting and stopped for just a moment.
Chase took a deep breath before asking
"Should we stop holding back?"
He wanted to say it before things got too life threatening. 'The whole damn town is collapsing before our very eyes, an army was fully and silently amassing before we got here!'
Damian was the first to respond. "Oh thank god, I was wondering when we could stop pretending to be normal" His axes ignited fully, flames licking up the blades in hungry spirals. The heat warped the air around them, casting eerie shadows across his dented armor.
Damians figure bulked up, noticeably his eyes glowed orange, and small orange horns now began to poke out of his helmet.
Shivas jaw dropped.
'So they werent just humans with demonic abilities? They were fullblooded demons?'
Chase didnt answer—his spine cracked audibly as his body reshaped itself, muscles thickening beneath skin now darkening to an ashen hue. His claws elongated into hooked scythes, and when he grinned, his teeth were rows of serrated bone. "Told you we were keeping it PG," he rasped, voice layered with the guttural growl of something primordial.
Lastly, Andrew didn't change much. If you didn't count that his "water magic" was now a deep crimson color.
"Okay, now *that* is kind cool." Damian said, staring at Andrews new… "water magic." The red liquid moved like water, but was clearly something else.
Andrew shrugged, his mask hiding any expression. "What? You think demons can't have blood magic?"
"I guess that was what you were trying to show me." Damian replied.
"Only took a week."
The captain-thing's inner mouth pulsed faster, emitting a high-pitched whine that made Chase's eardrums throb. Behind them, the tent flap dissolved into a writhing curtain of tendrils—cutting off retreat. Shiva flipped her twin spear-shafts into a defensive cross, knuckles white. "Plan?" she hissed.
"Beat that thing to death and burn it's remains."
Damian stepped forward.
"How can we compete with such genius?" Donnie chimed in.
Chase lunged before the sarcasm fully landed—his claws found purchase in the captain-thing's distended throat, tearing through sinew that split like wet parchment. The creature didn't scream. It *laughed*, the sound vibrating up Chase's arm like a swarm of beetles under his skin. Its inner mouth yawned wide, bioluminescent veins pulsing as it inhaled sharply—then exhaled a cloud of glittering spores.
Chase held his breath. Channeling (Hellfire) into his hands, he began slashing at the monster again dodging its giant sweeping attacks.
His teammates were quick to react. Damian crashed into the side of the beast, axes aflame, carving deep gashes into its grey flesh. The wounds sizzled and popped, the stench of burning rot filling the square.
Andrew got all the weakest ones out of the way, constantly casting blood bullets, after each of his attacks connected, he siphoned the inky blood from them, using them as fire against themselves.
Shiva wasn't too bad herself, she used her agility to her advantage, jumping onto one of the creatures and stabbing it repeatedly, twisting the blade before jumping off as it collapsed.
She was likely faster than chase, even while he was transformed, probably rank 2.
The captain-thing staggered, ichor gushing from its wounds—but its laughter only grew louder, a cacophony of overlapping voices that made Chase's skull throb. The spores it had exhaled settled onto the cobblestones, sprouting into writhing tendrils that lashed at their ankles like living whips. One wrapped around Damian's leg, yanking him off-balance. His helmet hit the ground with a metallic clang as a second tendril speared toward his exposed face.
Andrew's blood-whip intercepted midair, slicing the tendril apart. The severed end writhed, spraying black fluid that sizzled where it landed. "Focus fire!" Andrew barked, his mask now flecked with acidic ichor. "Its core—*there!*" He pointed to the pulsating mass in the captain-thing's chest cavity, visible through the gaps in its ribcage.
Damian rolled onto his knees, axes igniting with renewed fury. "Eyes on the prize!" He lunged, burying both blades into the creature's abdomen. The flesh parted with a wet squelch, revealing the core—a throbbing orb of veined light, pulsing in time with the creature's laughter. Damian's eyes widened. "Oh, you're *ugly* up close."
Chase recovered, seeing shiva running up, stabbing the core lf the monster as well. That caused it to writhe in pain.
Focusing, he dashed forward, infusing mana into his legs "[Hellfire]" he cast again. Fire formed in his hand. Everyone else back up in time for his fist to collide with the monsters core, blowing it up and sending the body flying out of the tent.
Chase panted, dropping to his knees as the adrenaline faded. His skin steamed where the hellfire had burned him—small price to pay. Around them, the tent flap smoldered where the creature's body had torn through it, revealing the chaos outside. Civilians screamed as more of the grey-skinned horrors emerged from the barracks, their limbs elongating as they shed their human disguises.
Picking chase up, Damian looked around "where is the leader?"