By the time they returned to Li's small apartment, night had completely fallen.
"I'm practically choking to death on all that exhaust and dust!" Erica announced the moment she stepped inside. Her robust body filled the cramped foyer to the point of bursting. "I'm taking a shower first!"
With that, Erica trotted toward the tiny bathroom, her hooves clicking familiarly on the floor. However, just as she reached the door, the lights flickered with a sharp crackle of electricity and died.
"Goddammit!" Erica's signature cursing rang out in the darkness. "Again? Is the power grid being maintained by toothless dwarves?"
She tried to twist the faucet in defiance, but the pipes only responded with a hollow, mocking gurgle. Not a single drop of water emerged.
"The water's cut too!" Erica gave up, frustratedly stomping a hind hoof against the floor with a dull thud. She grumbled as she backed out of the dark bathroom. "Forget it! I'll deal with it tomorrow!"
In the shadows, Li lit a candle. The dim, yellow flame barely illuminated a corner of the room. She looked at the disgruntled Erica and said helplessly, "You get used to it. The grid in this district is always like this. I'll go make something to eat."
She fumbled her way into the kitchen. Soon, a small, flickering magical flame ignited, casting her busy silhouette against the wall.
Jerry didn't say a word; he simply followed her into the kitchen. The space was so small that Li alone made it feel crowded. She stood with her back to the door, focused intently on maintaining the unstable flame beneath the pot. The fire jumped and sputtered, and the food inside showed no sign of cooking.
Her simple cloth dress clung to her back, highlighting the emerging curves and slight, soft fullness of her adolescent figure. Jerry walked up behind her, standing so close that Li could feel the steady, grounded presence emanating from him—a presence far too mature for a boy his age.
"You're doing it wrong," Jerry's voice was soft, yet it carried a weight that vibrated right behind Li's ear. "If you keep heating it like this, it won't be ready until morning."
"Ah!" Li jumped, startled by his sudden proximity. Her body shivered, and the flame beneath the pot instantly puffed out. She turned her head to look at him, her heart racing. "I... I was just trying not to burn it!"
"Let me show you," Jerry's tone left no room for argument.
He didn't let her turn around. Instead, he reached out from behind her. His hands, though a size smaller than hers, covered the back of the hands she was using to cast.
"Relax," Jerry whispered. "Clear your mind. Feel the energy within your body. Don't let it scatter like loose sand. Focus it into your fingertips."
Jerry's body was pressed flush against Li's back. Since she was taller than him, the position forced her to lean forward slightly, while Jerry's chest pressed directly against her soft spine.
What made Li's face flush even hotter was the sensation as Jerry pressed closer. She could clearly feel something hard and radiating an intense heat, poking directly between the mounds of her firm, rounded buttocks through their thin clothing. The sheer girth and rigid outline of the object made her mind go blank for a second.
"Start with the water," Jerry's voice seemed to carry a hypnotic magic, forcing her attention back to the task. "Imagine water. Not a river, not a sea—just the clear water appearing from nothingness into this empty pot. Feel its clarity, its flow, its sound..."
His hands guided hers, pointing toward an empty pot. "Now, release."
As he spoke, a cool stream of energy surged from Li's fingertips. In the next second, clear water manifested out of thin air above the pot, splashing down with a rhythmic glug-glug until the pot was full.
"See? Simple," Jerry said. He let go of her hands, but he didn't move his body away. The massive rod between his legs seemed to have grown even more spirited from the focus, its presence becoming impossible to ignore.
"Now, the fire." He gripped her hands again, guiding her palms to hover beneath the pot of food. "Fire isn't just light to chase away the dark. It is pure heat. Imagine it as the tiny, core spark of friction—the one that contains enough power to ignite everything. Condense it, and then..."
Jerry's voice dropped even lower, becoming seductive. He ground his hips forward, a slow, rolling press against her backside. "...let it burst."
"Mmmgh!" A stifled whimper escaped Li's throat.
She felt the blood in her entire body rush toward the point where he was prodding her from behind. In that exact moment, whoosh—a stable, scorching orange flame erupted beneath her palms, wrapping perfectly around the base of the pot. The food inside began to bubble almost instantly with an inviting aroma.
The stable light filled the kitchen, making it bright as day. It also allowed Li to see the stark, heart-pounding contrast between Jerry's small, boyish hands and the domineering, massive weight she felt pressing into her rear—a weight that certainly didn't belong to a normal boy.
Jerry let go of her hands and stepped back just an inch, maintaining a distance where they were barely touching. "Try to maintain it yourself."
His voice returned to its usual calm, as if nothing had happened. As he shifted his weight, the terrifyingly hot length of him scraped lightly against one side of her butt cheek before the sensation faded into the air.
Li's legs felt like jelly. she had to lean against the counter to steady herself. She looked down at the roaring flame under her control, then at the pot of water, her eyes filled with a mix of shock and something far more complicated. She instinctively touched her reddened earlobe, still feeling the lingering heat of his breath.
"Alright!" Erica's voice boomed from outside, shattering the heavy, intimate silence. "Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving!"
Dinner was served shortly after—a simple stew of dried meat and root vegetables. Under the steady heat of the shaped flame, the flavors had been perfectly extracted, making the steaming meal incredibly enticing in the cold, dark room.
The three sat around the small table. Erica had to stand due to her size, but it didn't slow her ravenous eating. Jerry sipped his soup slowly, as if he were tasting a gourmet delicacy.
"Li, what's your dream?" Jerry asked suddenly.
Li paused mid-sip, looking startled and a bit embarrassed. She stole a glance at Jerry and whispered, "I... I want to be a master Steam Engineer."
"Ha! You're asking the right person!" Erica interjected, pointing her spoon at Li. "Don't let her quiet nature fool you; she's brilliant! She can look at a complex gear set or a steam manifold once and draw the blueprints from memory. She's already taking the Junior Engineer exams. If you ask me, the examiners should be the ones learning from her!"
Erica's pride made Li's face turn even redder. She looked down, whispering, "It's not that much... I still have a long way to go."
Jerry nodded, letting the subject drop, then turned his gaze elsewhere. "Can you tell me about the history of the Silent Plains? I've been here two days, and all I've seen are fortresses, and all I've heard are pistons and sirens. Was it always like this?"
The question caused the lively atmosphere to cool instantly. Erica put down her spoon, her boisterous energy fading. Li looked up, her eyes clouded with uncertainty.
"History?" Erica frowned. "I don't know for sure. I just know that since my grandmother's grandmother's time, my people have always lived on the Silent Plains."
Li added softly, "My grandmother said that a long, long time ago, we weren't all squeezed together like this. The plains were vast back then... where the grass was tall and the herds roamed free."
"Yeah," Erica said with a trace of longing. "We Centaurs galloped across the green seas, Elves lived in the deep rainforests, Dwarves hammered away in the mountain roots, and you Humans... you lived in those beautiful castles with kings. Even the Beastmen hunted on the edges of the grasslands..."
She painted a picture of a vibrant, peaceful world. But the image was quickly shattered by reality.
"Then..." Erica's voice dropped, filled with a simmering rage, "those goddamn bugs appeared. They came from the ground, from the sky, from everywhere we didn't expect. And then, everything changed."
Li's eyes dimmed. "The plains weren't safe anymore. The forests were poisoned, the mines were filled with hives. We had no choice but to retreat into places like Ironforge—giant fortresses behind high walls."
"Exactly," Erica sighed. "To stay alive, we fight every day. We think about repairing walls and building weapons. Who has the mind for old stories? Slowly, the history just... got lost. No one knows anymore."
After dinner, Li cleaned the dishes while Erica leaned against the wall, polishing her lance. Jerry didn't go to rest. He walked over to Erica, his cool gaze falling on her powerful horse-legs.
"Can you teach me how to use Battle Qi?" Jerry asked.
Erica's lance clattered slightly as she looked up in shock. "Battle Qi? You?"
She set her weapon down, her curiosity piqued. She extended a muscular horse-leg, and a faint, translucent glow of energy manifested around her hoof. "Battle Qi is like this. Feel the power in your body, gather it, and focus it where you want to use it. Like this."
She tapped her glowing hoof lightly against the floor. With a soft thud, a shallow hoofprint was left in the iron-reinforced wood.
Jerry extended his palm. Erica gently touched his hand with her hoof. He could feel a faint warmth and a vibration, but none of the "surge" or "flow" she described. Jerry closed his eyes, trying to mimic her, trying to squeeze even a sliver of energy to his fingertips.
Nothing happened. His hands remained ordinary, his skin dull. No light, no heat. Like a dry stone, no matter how hard he squeezed, not a drop of water came out.
"That's weird," Erica tilted her head, her ears twitching. "You can't feel it? It's right there in your body. It's the most basic instinct." She tapped his chest, where she believed the core of Qi should be, trying to spark it. Still nothing.
Li watched curiously, placing a slender finger on Jerry's wrist to check his mana flow, but she found nothing either. Jerry's body was like a blank scroll, devoid of any Battle Qi fluctuations.
Erica looked bewildered. In this world, every sentient being possessed Battle Qi—it was like a second respiratory system they were born with. Even without the elemental power of a mage, Qi was their natural weapon.
"Everyone has Qi. It's an innate gift, like a heartbeat or a breath. Only those who are..." Erica stopped herself, as if remembering something she shouldn't say.
Jerry watched them. He thought of Mora, the Flower Demon. When he had "invaded" her, her familiar Qi signature had vanished, replaced by a raw, primitive life force. It made him wonder if the Qi everyone else felt was merely a specific type of mask—or if he was simply built differently.
Not every creature has this energy, he mused.
Seeing Erica's frustrated face, Jerry reached into the inner pocket of his robe and pulled out a small paper bundle. He opened it to reveal small, irregular, dark-brown beans that seemed to twitch slightly.
"What are those?" Erica leaned in, her nose inches from his hand.
"Chocolate Frog Beans," Jerry replied shortly.
A single "Frog Bean" sat in Jerry's palm, seemingly imbued with life. It hopped gently, each bounce revealing a tantalizing, glossy sheen.
Erica had never seen such a confection; her eyes were glued to the lively little things. She hesitated for a moment, then extended her tongue to lightly lick one of the hopping "frogs." The cocoa bean was sweet yet bitter—a rich, mellow flavor that exploded on her tongue, making her amber eyes light up instantly.
She could no longer suppress her craving and swallowed the chocolate frog whole. The sweet, heavy aroma filled her mouth, drawing a satisfied sigh from her throat. Then, with a swift, powerful motion, Erica reached out and snatched the remaining unopened chocolate frogs from Jerry's hand, stuffing them into her pocket as if fearing someone might steal them. Her actions possessed a childlike yet forceful possessiveness, showcasing her unrefined, wild nature.
"These are all mine!" Erica mumbled, her mouth still busy savoring the lingering chocolate.
Jerry watched her protective stance over the "food," a faint, imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. This world wasn't devoid of sweetness, but the "Honey Crystals" Jerry had tasted at the market were mere translucent, hard blocks refined from moss. That flavor was crude—a thin, sharp, and aggressive sweetness that washed over the taste buds without any depth, leaving a metallic bitterness behind. In a way, it was no different from the cheapest industrial saccharine in Jerry's memory.
Suddenly, a siren—sharper and more ear-piercing than any short circuit or clatter of pots—shattered the silence of the district. It was a scream that tore through the air, far beyond the normal sounds of a residential area.
Wail! Wail! Wail!
The alarms rose in a chain reaction, spreading from distant watchtowers to the roofs of every tenement, enveloping Ironforge in a suffocating shroud of tension.
Erica, still savoring the chocolate, froze. The relaxed, satisfied expression vanished, replaced by a rare, grim seriousness. The bowl in Li's hand wobbled; she looked out the window into the night, her face pale with panic. Both women went stiff.
Jerry's brow twitched. He didn't fully understand the alarm's meaning, but his transcendent mental power surged outward. An invisible ripple expanded from him, piercing through thin walls and the closed curtains of the neighborhood.
He "saw" it clearly.
The moment the alarm sounded, the previously silent houses erupted with movement. Countless points of light—people—poured out of their homes without hesitation or preparation. Dressed in various rags or work clothes, they surged toward a single direction like a tide.
Erica didn't say a word. The moment she heard the alarm, her wild instincts were fully awakened—a primal sense of crisis etched into her marrow. Her movements were a blur. Before Jerry could react, he was snatched up by an irresistible force.
His entire body was clamped into a warm, solid "cocoon" of flesh with no room for resistance. Almost simultaneously, Erica used her free hand to grab Li's slender wrist, practically flinging her forward. Li, light on her feet, stumbled a few steps from the pull but wasted no time. Gritting her teeth, she used the momentum of the centaur's explosive start to vault expertly onto Erica's broad, muscular back.
The movement was practiced, like a trained rider. Her legs clamped tight, knees and inner thighs pressing against Erica's rippling equine haunches. Erica's body erupted with terrifying speed, her massive hooves creating a series of heavy thuds on the wooden floor that shook the entire house.
Li's center of gravity shifted forward. To steady herself, her hands instinctively reached out, palms bracing against Jerry, who was still cradled in Erica's arms. Her soft, slightly plump body was pressed hard against Jerry by the inertia.
Jerry was trapped, pinned between Erica's broad, firm chest and Li's supple belly.
"Erica, what's happening?" Jerry managed to look up, but he only saw Erica's sharp jawline and tight lips. Her gaze was fixed forward.
Li's breathing turned ragged. She hugged Jerry tighter, pressing him deeper into the racing centaur's abdomen. Her cheek was pressed against the back of Jerry's head. In his ears were the thunderous gallop of hooves and the heavy, synchronized panting of the two women. Due to the way she held him, her well-developed breasts ground against Jerry's back with every violent jolt—sometimes soft, sometimes firm—sending a jolt through his nerves. Even more apparent was the sensation of Li's firm buttocks rubbing with a certain pressurized friction against Erica's powerful waist as the centaur ran.
"THE SWARM!!"
Erica's low voice was frantic, the words spat out with a mix of throat-tearing rage and unease. She didn't slow down. Her four hooves carried them with a domineering force out of the shack and into the dark streets where the sirens screamed toward the sky.
The air outside was a thick soup of coal dust and rusted metal. The once quiet street was now a rushing river of people. Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Beastmen... every race Jerry had seen was joining the flood. A dwarf sprinted on thick legs carrying a massive steam hammer; a tall elf wove through the crowd with a longbow; a hulking Bear-Beastman ran shirtless, brandishing a war axe. All shared the same expression—a numb, practiced resolve.
Erica was like a warship in this current, her powerful body brutally shoving a path through the throng. No one complained; they moved aside for her. In this moment of survival, every bit of raw power was respected.
Li held Jerry even tighter. Her soft chest seemed to swallow his back whole, squeezing and grinding against him with every one of Erica's strides. She buried her face in the crook of Jerry's neck, afraid to look. Jerry could feel the heat of her core pressing against his rear, and the hard, massive weight between his own legs—now fully awakened by the physical contact—added a layer of absurd, feverish heat to this life-or-death escape.
VROOOOM!
The roar of massive steam engines drowned out the footsteps of the crowd as they neared the city walls. The view opened up. In the heart of Ironforge, massive iron tracks crisscrossed as steam locomotives—looking like armored beasts—spewed thick white smoke. Workers were feverishly unloading war supplies: crates of giant ballista bolts, rows of cold-glinting steam exoskeletons, and massive iron barrels filled with unknown fluids.
As Erica charged up a high slope, Jerry finally saw the full scale of Ironforge. His pupils shrank. This city wasn't on a plain. Its left, right, and rear were surrounded by bottomless chasms cloaked in mist. Only the front—a miles-long, hundred-meter-high wall of black stone and iron—connected them to the outside world.
It was a fortress with no retreat.
Erica galloped up the stairs of the wall, stopping near a battlement. She set Jerry down but kept an arm around him to keep him from being shoved by the frantic crowd. Li huddled close to Erica, pale and clutching her leather armor, looking out over the edge.
Beyond the wall was endless darkness. But it wasn't silent. It was filled with a skin-crawling, dense "shuffling" sound—like billions of tiny claws scratching the earth, a tide of white noise that made one's scalp tingle.
A deafening whistle blew from below. WAAAGH!
A lone steam engine, stripped of everything but its boiler and a few flatcars, charged out of a massive gate at the base of the wall. It was strapped with barrels of thick, black fuel, and the cars were piled high with sulfur and charcoal. It had no driver; the valves were pinned to the max. It spewed white smoke like a maddened iron bull, charging down the one-way track into the "shuffling" darkness.
Seconds later, the iron bull hit something invisible. It buckled for a heartbeat, then...
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
A colossal fireball erupted in the distance, swallowing everything and turning the night into blinding day. A terrifying shockwave followed, hitting the wall like the palm of a giant.
"Watch out!" Erica growled. Her body stood like a mountain, but smaller civilians around her were sent tumbling by the blast. Li cried out, clinging to Erica's hind leg to keep from being blown away.
Jerry, shielded by Erica, squinted into the light. Even he felt his breath hitch.
The fire tore a hole into hell on the black canvas of the world. By that apocalyptic light, everyone saw the truth. It wasn't a plain. It was an endless, writhing ocean of chitin, claws, and compound eyes!
Countless grotesque insects were packed together, layer upon layer, their shells reflecting a nauseating, greasy sheen. Some were small as dogs; others were as large as houses. The explosion had cleared a massive circle, raining black gore and limbs from the sky, but the hole was refilled almost instantly by the relentless tide behind them.
This wasn't a "swarm." It was a sea that consumed all. The massive explosion was a mere pebble dropped into an ocean, creating only a momentary ripple.
A deathly silence hung over the wall for seconds before being replaced by panicked, angry shouts.
"God... there are so many... this is ten times bigger than last year!" a beastman blacksmith yelled, his voice trembling.
"How? How did they get this close without being seen?"
"What were the 'Steam Knights' doing? Are they blind? Letting this many bugs gather at the gates without a single warning?!" a dwarf engineer roared, slamming his fist into the stone. "Those bastards! They take the most taxes and this is how they protect us?"
Panic spread like wildfire, but there was no time for it. Combat was immediate. In the plaza behind the wall, there were no grand speeches—only the hoarse screams of commanders.
"All mages, go to Depot 3 for Fire-Burst Gauntlets!"
"Strength-rated Grade 3 and above, go to Sector 5 for 'Dreadnought' plates!"
"Everyone else, grab spears and crossbows! Hold the second line! Nothing gets through!"
Li was shoved by the crowd toward a supply pile. A grease-stained dwarf technician shoved a crude brass glove into her arms without a word. It was heavy, cold, and etched with mana lines. "Pour your mana in, point it at the enemy, and it'll fire! Don't you fucking hold back, or you won't be alive to regret it!"
On the other side, warriors like Erica were led to the heavy gear area. The "Simple Steam Armor" consisted of thick, unpolished iron plates held together by crude leather straps and buckles. Small steam pipes coiled around the metal like snakes, connecting to a buzzing boiler worn on the back.
A beastman warrior let out a roar as he channeled his Battle Qi into a steam gauntlet.
With a sharp hiss, a jet of uncontrolled white steam blasted from a gap in the arm-guards, instantly scalding the Orc's flesh into a mess of angry red blisters. The warrior didn't even flinch; he simply slammed the leaking joint shut with his other fist, hoisted a massive steam hammer, and charged toward the walls. In this moment of life and death, the searing burns of steam were nothing more than a minor appetizer before the slaughter.
Erica was now fitted with heavy chest plating and front-leg guards specifically designed for her powerful frame. The metal groaned against her dark coat as she moved. Jerry remained seated on her back, a calm rock in the eye of the storm. He ignored the weapons being handed out, observing the chaos with cold, detached eyes. His mental shroud swept over the crowd, feeling the boiling Battle Qi and Mana, the tragic resolve of those ready to die, and the primal fear rooted deep in their souls.
Suddenly!
THOOM!
A dull, heavy tremor shook the ground—not from outside the city, but from directly beneath their feet. The solid earth arched upward. Everyone froze, staring at the ground in shock.
"What the hell was that?!" "An earthquake?"
Before anyone could process it, a second tremor hit—harder.
THOOM! THOOM!
The stone floor in the center of the plaza spiderwebbed with cracks. People lost their balance, tumbling to the ground. Then, before their horrified eyes, the plaza floor exploded. Soil, debris, and shattered slabs were hurled into the air as a massive sinkhole, over ten meters wide, yawned open.
SKREEEE!
With a shriek that sounded like no living thing on earth, a dozen massive monsters, covered in thick, emerald-green chitin, surged out of the pit. They were like gargantuan beetles with six sickle-like scythes for legs. They had no eyes—only a terrifying, circular maw filled with rows of serrated teeth.
The moment they emerged, they snapped several nearby civilians in half. Warm blood and entrails sprayed over the newly issued weapons. One beast impaled a dwarf warrior through his steam-armor with a serrated leg, lifting him high. The dwarf coughed up blood, his hammer clattering to the ground as his small boiler was punctured, hissing steam uselessly against the monster's impenetrable shell.
The confusion turned into a massacre. The interior of the wall had become a killing field.
"Tunnel-Borers! They dug under the foundations!" Erica roared, shielding Jerry and Li as she backed away. "Those goddamn bugs!"
One of the beasts turned its toothy maw toward them, its six legs skittering across the stone with nauseating speed. It charged, carrying a stench of rot and wet earth.
"Get back!" Erica's body erupted with pale gold Battle Qi. She charged head-on. The natural momentum of a centaur, amplified by her aura, reached its peak.
CRACK!
Like a sledgehammer hitting an iron plate, Erica slammed into the side of the Borer. The massive creature lost its balance and tumbled over, its legs flailing in the air. Erica didn't give it a breath. She skidded to a stop, reared up, and slammed her hooves into its belly, trying to crush its softer underbelly. But the flesh was resilient; her hooves sank in without piercing the vitals.
Snarling, she grabbed a piece of jagged debris the size of a man. Channeling all her Qi into her arms, she hoisted the rock over her head and smashed it down on the monster's head.
SMASH!
The rock shattered into dust, but the Borer's head barely flinched. The emerald shell was left with only a faint white scuff—not even a crack. Erica's pupils shrank. A sense of powerlessness washed over her.
Just as the Borer prepared to flip back up and tear her apart with its maw, Jerry—who had been watching coldly—slowly raised his right hand. His movement was elegant, almost leisurely. He simply raised his palm and pressed it downward toward the beast.
No sound. No light. Not even a ripple of energy.
But in the next second, an invisible force of absolute, physical weight manifested in the air. Erica felt a crushing pressure drop from above, so heavy her legs buckled, forcing her back several steps.
She looked back in horror. The ferocious Tunnel-Borer's head was... simply gone. It had been crushed flat—not cracked or shattered, but pulverized into a smear of green ichor and white brain matter, as if a ten-ton hammer had dropped from the heavens to squash a tomato.
It was eerie. It looked as if the hand of an invisible god had reached down and pinched the life out of a monster as easily as one would kill a common flea.
In the chaos, few noticed. But Erica, standing inches away, saw it all. Her heart skipped a beat. A chill deeper than the fear of the Swarm raced up her spine. She stared at Jerry—the boy who remained impossibly calm.
Jerry met her shocked, terrified gaze. He didn't acknowledge or deny it. He just looked at her with cold, predatory eyes.
"Why are you standing there?" Jerry's voice was like an ice pick. "Waiting for the bugs to eat you?"
He hopped down from her back, landing lightly on the blood-slicked battlefield. His small frame looked out of place among the armored giants and ugly monsters—like a lamb among wolves. But his next move shattered Erica and Li's understanding of reality.
Jerry walked forward, ignoring the rampaging beasts as if strolling through a garden. A Borer noticed the small human and lunged, its scythe-legs blurring. Jerry didn't even look at it. He raised his left hand, fingers splayed, and closed his fist in mid-air.
Crunch... snap...
A sound like a nut being crushed echoed beneath the din of war. The Borer froze mid-leap. Its prideful, steel-hard shell began to cave in on itself, twisting and compressing as if gripped by a titan's hand. Its organs and chitin were twisted into a ball of gore, but an invisible barrier kept the fluids from spraying out. It hit the ground as a mangled "flesh-cube," utterly lifeless.
Jerry didn't stop. Another Borer swept its leg at him with enough speed to create a sonic boom. Without turning, Jerry pointed his index finger at the incoming blade. His fingertip touched the air as if touching a still pond. A ripple of vibrational force exploded outward. The scythe-leg, harder than refined steel, disintegrated into fine powder from the tip to the base. As the vibration hit the beast's body, the Borer shuddered and simply dissolved into a cloud of emerald dust.
No blood. No mess. Just erasure.
Jerry continued his walk—lifting, pressing, and sweeping his hands. Every gesture was a brutal rewrite of the laws of physics. One beast was flattened into a deep pit the exact shape of its silhouette. Another was sliced into dozens of perfect, mirror-smooth cubes by an invisible plane of force.
In the span of a dozen breaths, the monsters that had paralyzed the defense were gone. Jerry reached the edge of the massive pit. He frowned at the security flaw. He pointed his fingers toward the night sky.
An invisible wave connected with the stars. A tiny red dot appeared in the clouds, accelerating at a speed that defied logic.
"METEOR!" someone screamed on the wall.
The flaming rock tore through the night and plunged directly into the sinkhole.
BOOM!
There was no explosion. The ten-meter-wide meteorite plugged the hole perfectly, its glowing surface searing the air and sealing the breach with molten rock.
In the wake of the impact, a figure descended from the sky—the Warden of Ironforge, the Harpy, Kaelia. She looked at the strangely murdered Borers, then at the meteor, and finally at Jerry. Her eyes held a mix of intense relief and bone-chilling terror. She realized that if he had used this power against her earlier, she wouldn't even have known how she died. Without a word, she turned and flew back to the wall to command the defense.
Jerry looked away, as if he had just swatted a fly. But as he landed, his hair stood on end. Instinct screamed. He leaped vertically into the air.
A millisecond after he left the ground, the earth exploded. A beast significantly larger than the others, glowing with a metallic blue sheen, erupted from the soil. Its shell was covered in intricate, circuit-like blue patterns. It lunged for Jerry mid-air with a maw like a giant meat grinder.
"LOOK OUT!" Erica charged, her Battle Qi burning at its limit. She slammed into the blue beast, but this time, the force that would have flipped a normal Borer only made the blue monster flinch.
However, the delay was enough. Jerry twisted in mid-air, dodging the bite. Instead of fleeing, he plummeted toward the beast's head. As his face neared the glowing shell, he opened his mouth.
A blinding, silver-white light gathered in his throat.
K-ZAP!!!!
A whip of pure, living lightning—the thickness of a man's arm—blasted from his mouth. This was the pinnacle of evocation: Living Lightning. It writhed and hissed like a sentient serpent, lashing against the monster's head.
The collision was like a miniature sun. Lightning raced through the blue patterns on the shell, seeking to cook the beast from the inside out.
But then, the impossible happened. The monster's shell didn't melt. It began to absorb the energy like a sponge. The blue patterns grew brighter, and on its forehead, the lines converged into a clear, majestic sigil: three claws and a lightning bolt.
The Mark of the Blue Dragon. One of the Five Great Flights.
His spell hadn't killed it; it had "recharged" it. Jerry's mask of calm shattered.
"Are you fucking kidding me? A DRAGONKIN?!"
The curse spat from his lips in pure frustration. This was a total anomaly. It was like a mathematician solving an equation only to find the answer was a middle finger.
Dragonkin! That word didn't just mean power. How could a bug have the bloodline of a Dragon? It was an ecological and genetic middle finger to the face of reality.
"Holy fuck, you're actually Dragonkin!" "You're a fucking Dragonkin?!" "I cannot believe this piece of shit is actually Dragonkin!"