The savanna had become a hellscape in the span of heartbeats, the chain reaction of fire pillars transforming the once-open grasslands into a labyrinth of flames and shadows. Raygen staggered back from the ridge's edge, his body a vessel of exhaustion, every muscle fiber screaming in protest from the surge that had just ripped through him. The void-shard in his chest throbbed like a dying star, its energy spent, leaving him hollow and weak. He leaned against a jagged rock outcrop, the stone hot to the touch from the ambient heat, and gasped for air that burned his lungs. The wolf spirit, usually a constant undercurrent of sharpened instincts, was now a faint echo, as if it had retreated deep within to recover.
Asa wasn't faring much better. She slumped beside him, her daggers still clutched in white-knuckled hands, but her arms trembled uncontrollably. The destruction affinity that had roared to life moments ago now simmered like embers in her core, leaving her drained and disoriented. Sweat plastered her dark hair to her forehead, and her breaths came in shallow, ragged bursts. "That... that wasn't me," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Or you. Something pushed us." Her otaku mind, ever analytical even in crisis, raced through possibilities—some external force, like a game mechanic or a plot device, intervening. But this wasn't fiction; the pain was real, the heat scorching her skin a reminder of the stakes.
Lira and Kael regrouped with them, the fox-kin scout's tail twitching erratically, her amber eyes wide with a mix of awe and terror. She had a gash across her arm from a stray whip lash, blood matting her fur, but she ignored it, bow still in hand. "Whatever you two unleashed... it's broken something big." Kael, the wolf-kin tracker, limped over, his ribs visibly bruised under his torn tunic, a low growl rumbling in his throat. His claws were bloodied from the brief clash, but the fire in his eyes hadn't dimmed. "The land's crying out. Feel it?"
Raygen did. The ground vibrated beneath them, not just from the distant clashes but from something deeper, primal. The pillars—now five, no, seven—shot upward like spears of molten fury, their bases cracking the earth and spewing geysers of steam and lava-like mana. Each eruption sent shockwaves rippling outward, uprooting brittle grass and hurling debris into the air. The sky above was a canvas of chaos, smoke coiling into dark clouds that blocked the sun, casting the savanna in an eerie, blood-red twilight. The air tasted of ash and sulfur, thick and oppressive, making every breath a labor.
Below, the cicadas' response was immediate and overwhelming. The hum that had been a constant drone escalated into a deafening roar, vibrating through bones and teeth. Foot soldiers burst from hidden burrows in black waves, their obsidian-dark bodies numbering in the thousands—tens of thousands—pouring across the landscape like a living flood. Their translucent shell segments gleamed with dull crimson veins, wings vibrating in short pulses to produce that maddening screech. They weren't attacking randomly; they formed precise formations, clustering around the base of each new pillar, their mandibles working furiously to weave silk barriers infused with absorbed fire. The threads glowed as they hardened, makeshift dams against the leaking energy, but cracks already formed, fire seeping through like blood from wounds.
Elites took to the skies, their larger wings creating gusts that whipped up dust storms, directing the foot soldiers with eerie coordination. Raygen's enhanced senses, even dulled, picked up the patterns—the way the elites' hums modulated, sending commands through the swarm. It was a hive mind in action, a collective will bent on one purpose: containment. The lieutenants, even more imposing, emerged from larger fissures, their bodies the size of hounds, shells etched with runes that pulsed in sync with the pillars. They absorbed direct hits from the flames, their forms glowing red-hot, channeling the energy back into the barriers. One lieutenant near the central breach self-overloaded, its body swelling before exploding in a controlled burst, sealing a fissure at the cost of its life.
"This... this is their full force," Asa muttered, pushing herself up on shaky legs. She wiped sweat from her eyes, scanning the horizon where more pillars erupted—now a dozen, stretching miles in every direction. The explosions were rhythmic, like a heartbeat accelerating, each one widening the cracks in the phoenix's prison. "We broke the chains... and now everything's coming undone."
Lira nodded, her ears flicking toward the sounds of conflict. "The colony's mobilizing everything. I've never seen anything like it—the elders spoke of ancient swarms, but this..." Her voice trailed off as a wave of foot soldiers surged past their position, ignoring the group in their haste to reinforce a nearby pillar. The insects' focus was absolute, their long vigil turning to desperate frenzy.
From the chaos below, Elder Huo and his disciples recovered, their robes smoldering but their resolve unbroken. The elder's chain-whip cracked through the air, felling a cluster of elites with precise strikes that sent ichor spraying. "The breaches are multiplying—harvest what you can!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the din like a command from on high. The wiry disciple, bruised but moving with that unnatural grace, darted toward a pillar, vial in hand, capturing wisps of escaping flame that glowed like captured stars. The burly one smashed through a wall of foot soldiers, his fists leaving craters, ichor coating his arms.
But they weren't alone. Portals ripped open across the field—flashes of crimson light tearing the fabric of space, spilling out reinforcements. A dozen more figures in similar robes emerged, their arrivals announced by bursts of energy that scattered nearby cicadas. These newcomers wasted no time, forming triangular groups that channeled barriers against the heat, advancing on the pillars with vials and pouches at the ready. "The essence is pure—fill every container!" one shouted, his voice laced with greed. They worked in unison, one group siphoning from a breach while another fended off swarms with coordinated blasts—whips lashing, fists pounding, daggers flashing.
Raygen's group used the escalating bedlam for cover, weaving between outcrops and dodging stray fire bursts. A pillar erupted to their left, the force hurling them sideways, heat singeing hair and fur. Raygen hit the ground rolling, dirt grinding into his wounds, the pain a sharp reminder of his limits. "We can't stay here," he gasped, pulling Asa up. Her face was ashen, the surge's aftermath leaving her vision spotting with black dots.
Kael limped ahead, scouting a path. "The pillars are blocking the way back— we circle south." But as they moved, a sect group spotted them, detaching to pursue. "Those mortals—they caused the surge! Capture them for questioning!"
The chase intensified. Raygen's legs burned, each step a battle against collapse. The wolf spirit offered faint nudges—avoid that fissure, dodge left—but it was weakened, its enhancements dimmed. Asa stumbled, catching herself on Lira. "I'm... empty. That power took everything."
The savanna was alive with war. Cicadas swarmed a sect array, mandibles tearing at barriers, while the strangers countered with energy waves that vaporized hundreds. Ichor rained down, mixing with ash, the ground slick and treacherous. Another pillar burst nearby, the explosion deafening, sending shockwaves that knocked pursuers off balance. Raygen seized the moment, leading the group into a smoke-filled gully.
But the reinforcements kept coming. More portals—now two dozen sect members total, their numbers swelling as word spread through whatever means they used. They adapted, forming larger arrays to siphon multiple pillars, vials filling with glowing essence. "The sect will forge legends with this haul!" Elder Huo laughed, his whip coiling around an elite and crushing it.
The odds tilted. The cicadas, for all their numbers, were straining—the breaches too many, the fire too hot. Foot soldiers melted in the heat, elites faltered under sustained assaults. The hive mind pushed them onward, but cracks showed—isolated groups overrun, silk barriers failing.
Then, a shift in the depths. The ground split wide, a massive fissure opening like a wound. From it emerged an insect general—a colossal variant, its shell armored like ancient plate, wings spanning a house, body towering over the fray. Crimson veins pulsed with stolen fire, eyes burning with millennium-old resentment. This was one of the 75,000 guardians, the first to fully surface, its presence an earthquake that shook the pillars themselves.
The general screeched, a sonic boom that staggered the sect members, bursting eardrums and cracking barriers. It charged into the thick of it, mandibles cleaving through two disciples in a single sweep, their bodies draining of energy mid-fall, crumpling like empty husks. The remaining strangers adapted, forming a defensive circle, whips and fists lashing out in unison.
Raygen's group paused in their flight, hidden in the gully, watching the titan clash. "That's... a general," Kael whispered, awe in his voice. "The elders told tales—beasts that could level mountains."
The general gained ground, its shell withstanding blows that would shatter stone, countering with venom sprays that corroded robes and flesh alike. Elder Huo whipped it repeatedly, chains wrapping around a leg and squeezing with crushing force—but the general self-healed with absorbed fire, its veins glowing brighter, snapping free with a burst that hurled the elder back.
Yet the numbers told a grim story. Sect techniques—coordinated bursts of energy—chipped away at the general's armor, cracks forming, ichor leaking. Disciples flanked it, daggers piercing joints, fists hammering weak points. The general roared, wings beating to create gusts that scattered them, but more portals flickered, reinforcements inbound.
Raygen felt the drain pulling at him, his vision tunneling. "We... we started this. But how do we end it?"
Asa shook her head, the world spinning. "We don't. Not yet."
The battle raged, the general's upper hand slipping as the sect's arrogance turned to focused fury. Doom loomed, the savanna a pyre waiting to consume all.
End of Chapter 25