The sound of splintering wood woke Nana from restless sleep.
For a split second, she thought she was dreaming—that the nightmares of Avalon had finally bled into her unconscious mind. But then the screaming started, and she knew with horrible clarity that this was real.
"EVERYONE UP!" Mina's voice cut through the chaos. "DEMON CLAN! THEY'RE HERE!"
Nana rolled off her makeshift bed, grabbing her sword in one fluid motion. The base's reinforced door—the one they'd checked and re-checked every day—hung in splinters, torn off its hinges by impossible force.
And through the opening poured demons.
Not the solitary hunters she'd fought before. Not two or three. *Dozens* of them, moving with organized purpose, their black eyes gleaming with predatory intelligence. They wore makeshift armor scavenged from the city, carried weapons that ranged from rusted pipes to actual swords.
This wasn't a random attack.
This was an *invasion*.
"Nana!" Mina grabbed her arm, already pulling her toward the back exit. "We have to move! NOW!"
"But the others—" Nana looked back at the base's interior, where survivors were scrambling in terror. The elderly woman who'd welcomed her on the first day. The teenager who'd taught her which plants in Avalon were safe to eat. The man who'd shared his last can of food with her yesterday.
A demon's claws found the elderly woman first. Her scream cut off abruptly.
"NANA!" Mina's grip tightened, almost painful. "We can't save them! If we stay, we die too!"
The teenager went down fighting, his improvised spear shattering against demon hide. The man tried to run for the exit and was dragged back into the darkness.
Nana's vision blurred with tears, but her body moved on instinct—following Mina through the back corridor, up crumbling stairs, across a collapsed section of floor. Behind them, the sounds of slaughter echoed through the base. Screams. Roars. The wet sound of claws meeting flesh.
They burst onto the roof just as the base below erupted into chaos. More demons were pouring in from every entrance, their coordinated attack revealing weeks of planning.
"Jump!" Mina leaped across to the adjacent building, her sword catching the gray light.
Nana followed, her aether core flaring to enhance the jump. They landed hard, rolled, kept moving. Building to building, roof to roof, always running, never stopping.
"We have to warn the others!" Nana gasped as they climbed down a fire escape. "We have to—"
"Warn them what? That they should give up?" Mina's voice cracked with grief and fury. "Some of them *chose* to stay, Nana. Did you see their faces? They were *tired*. Tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of surviving another day just to face more horror tomorrow."
They dropped into an alley, pressing against the wall as demon shrieks echoed from multiple directions.
"Death is merciful compared to this," Mina continued, her breathing ragged. "That's what Chen said before he turned. That maybe becoming a demon was preferable to staying human and afraid. I didn't understand it then, but..." Her hands trembled on her sword hilt. "But after a while, Avalon breaks you. Makes you wonder if survival is even worth it."
"Don't say that." Nana gripped Mina's shoulder. "Don't you *dare* say that. We survive because we have to. Because giving up means they win. Because somewhere out there—" Her voice broke. "Because somewhere out there, Zayne is surviving too. And I *will* find him. We *will* get out of here."
Mina stared at her, then something shifted in her expression. The despair receded slightly, replaced by that fierce determination Nana had come to recognize.
"You're right." Mina straightened, wiping blood from a cut on her cheek. "Okay. District 15. Eastern settlement. We move now, before the demon clan spreads further."
They moved through the broken city like ghosts—silent, careful, every sense hyperalert. The training of the past three weeks saved them over and over. When hybrids appeared on a street corner, Nana's instincts kicked in before conscious thought, pulling them into a collapsed storefront. When a distant roar signaled something massive approaching, Mina's knowledge of Avalon's districts guided them through alternate routes.
But the journey was brutal.
They fought when they couldn't hide. A pack of hybrids in District 8—Nana's sword finding throats while Mina covered her back. A corrupted human in District 10—something that might have once been a survivor but was now more monster than person. Each fight left them more exhausted, more injured, more desperate.
By the time they reached the hybrid district's edge, both women were covered in blood, sweat, and dust. Nana's aether core flickered weakly, nearly depleted. Mina had a gash across her side that wouldn't stop bleeding, each step leaving red footprints on the concrete.
"Almost there," Mina gasped, leaning heavily on Nana's shoulder. "Just... just past this district. Then District 15. Safe. Walls. People who can help."
"I've got you," Nana promised, taking more of Mina's weight. "Just keep talking. Tell me about—"
Her hunter instincts exploded with warning.
Nana spun, shoving Mina behind her as the creature emerged from the rubble.
It was something between a demon and a hybrid—a failed transformation, perhaps, or something unique to Avalon's nightmare ecology. Eight feet tall, four arms ending in claws like butcher knives, its face a grotesque fusion of human and beast. It saw them and *roared*, the sound making nearby windows shatter.
"Run!" Mina tried to push Nana away. "I'll slow it down—"
"NO."
Something in Nana snapped. Not broke—snapped into place. Three weeks of training, of surviving, of adapting crashed together in a single moment of absolute clarity.
She wasn't the Class S hunter from Linkon City anymore.
She was something Avalon had forged from desperation and determination.
Nana moved.
Her aether core flared one last time, blue energy wrapping around her legs as she launched herself forward. The creature swung its claws, but she was faster—*so much faster than she'd been three weeks ago*. She jumped, twisting mid-air, landing on the thing's shoulders with perfect balance.
Her blade found the pulse point in its neck. Once. Twice. Three precise strikes that severed something vital.
The creature stumbled, but it wasn't dead yet. Its massive hands reached for her.
Nana grabbed her massive sword—the one that had felt impossibly heavy when Mina first gave it to her—and brought it down with every ounce of strength she had left.
The blade cleaved through the creature from shoulder to hip.
It dissolved into mist before the two halves hit the ground.
Nana landed in a crouch, breathing hard, sword still raised. Every muscle trembled. Her aether core was completely empty now, not even a flicker remaining. But she was *alive*. They were both alive.
She turned to check on Mina and found her friend staring with wide eyes.
"Holy shit," Mina breathed. "Nana, that was... you just..." She laughed, a slightly hysterical sound. "You're actually going to make it. You're going to survive this nightmare and find your Zayne and probably punch your way through a vampire nest while you're at it."
"Zayne," Nana repeated, the name giving her strength. "Yeah. I'm going to find him."
She helped Mina to her feet, supporting her injured friend as they continued forward. Each step was agony. Each breath tasted like blood. But they walked.
And despite everything—the death, the horror, the exhaustion—they found themselves smiling.
Not happy smiles. Not peaceful ones. But the savage, determined smiles of survivors who refused to quit.
"Hey Nana?" Mina said as they limped through another ruined street.
"Yeah?"
"When we get to the new base and you've rested? Promise me you'll tell me more about this Zayne guy. Because any man who can inspire you to become *that* scary? I need to hear this story."
Nana laughed, the sound surprising even herself. "He's... he's actually kind of boring. A doctor. Doesn't talk much. Probably considers emotions inefficient."
"Sounds terrible. Why do you like him?"
"I don't—" Nana paused. *Did* she like him? She thought of strawberry candies and careful touches and that almost-smile she'd glimpsed in the cafe. "I don't know. He's just... important. You know?"
"Yeah," Mina said softly. "I know."
The eastern settlement appeared on the horizon—a fortified apartment complex with actual walls made from salvaged materials. Guards stood watch on the roof, and as Nana and Mina approached, weapons lowered with recognition.
"Survivors from District 4!" Mina called out, her voice hoarse. "Our base fell. Demon clan. Please—"
The gates opened.
Hands reached out to help them inside. Voices spoke in reassuring tones. Someone pressed water into their hands while another examined Mina's wounds.
They'd made it.
As medics guided Mina away for treatment, the woman looked back at Nana one last time. Her smile was warm despite the pain.
"Find him," she said. "Your Zayne. Find him and get out of this place. Promise me."
"I promise," Nana whispered.
She watched her friend disappear into the settlement, then turned to look back at the broken city stretching endlessly in every direction.
Somewhere out there, Zayne was fighting his own battles. Surviving his own horrors.
And Nana was going to find him.
No matter how long it took.
No matter what she had to become.
"Wait for me, Zayne. I'm coming."
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To be continued.