As the ash continued to fall, humans scrambled to find anything to cover their mouths and noses.
So ripped off pieces of clothing, while others used debris from the rubble.
Those who couldn't find anything coughed and choked, stumbling through the streets.
Many decided to take shelter in the still-standing buildings, hoping the ash would pass soon.
They huddled together, waiting for what felt like an eternity for the air to clear.
But as they waited, a new threat erged.
Beasts from the forest, previously held back by the barrier, began rampaging through the city
The human soldiers and Awakeners fought valiantly to hold them off, but it was clear they wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.
Lieutenant Vincent stood shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Awakeners, their eyes scanning the ever-growing number of monsters.
"Hold the line!" he bellowed as a massive beast charged towards them. "Don't let them break through!"
The Awakeners unleashed a barrage of attacks – blades flashing, elental forces bursting forth from outstretched hands.
Vincent summoned a wall of fla to block a pack of razor-toothed creatures, while his teammate, Elara, conjured a whirlwind to knock others off balance.
But despite their valiant efforts, the beasts kept.
They poured through the streets like an endless tide, their numbers seemingly infinite.
"We can't hold this!" Elara shouted as she stumbled backward under the relentless onslaught. "There are too many!"
Vincent gritted his teeth and rallied his team. "Fall back! We need to regroup and co up with a new plan!"
Just as he gave the command, he saw a swarm of beasts getting sliced to pieces.
A figure moved across the field at extre speed, dancing like a blade master—every ti she moved, a head rolled.
It was Skyler—the S-rank awakener Asher t before.
She tore through the beasts like a storm. Her blade shimred under the sunlight, carving clean lines through flesh and bone.
Each step she took left a trail of bodies behind her. She was death in motion.
Then ca the others.
A blast of lightning cracked through the sky as an S-rank nad Baik surged into the fray.
His body flickered like static, vanishing and reappearing mid-strike. Every flash left behind scorched beasts, their bodies twitching from the voltage.
Behind him, a woman cloaked in shadows erged. Haven.
Her movents were almost invisible, but her impact wasn't.
Beasts dropped one after another, their throats slit before they even saw her coming. With a whisper of smoke, she blinked from target to target, leaving nothing but corpses in her wake.
Another figure landed from above, the ground shattering beneath his feet.
Stron, a tank-type awakener, slamd his fists into the earth.
Spikes of stone erupted from the ground, impaling dozens of creatures in a single move.
His skin was like hardened armor, and not a single beast could scratch him.
Within minutes, the whole situation was reverse.
Roars of monsters turned into screams. What seed like a lost battle began to look like a slaughter.
This was the true power of S-Ranks.
Though Asher had once defeated people with the sa rank with ease, that was because his strength was beyond reason.
Against ordinary beasts, these S-rank awakeners were like God of wars
Just as victory seed within reach, a long, eerie howl echoed from the distance.
The ground trembled as a new wave of terror approached.
From the horizon, dozens of massive sandworms erupted from the earth, their colossal bodies leaping in and out of the ground with terrifying speed, heading straight for them.
But it wasn't just the sandworms.
Above them, a flock of enormous flying beasts soared through the air.
The sky seed to darken with their sheer number. These creatures, usually solitary, had co together in a way no one had ever witnessed before.
Skyler was the first to break the silence, her voice calm but edged with urgency. "W-- We can't fight them..."
The other awakeners shared the sa conclusion.
Just one of those sandworms was a nightmare to deal with, their armored bodies nearly impervious to most attacks.
And now, dozens of them were charging. It was hard to fathom how they'd even begin to handle such a horde.
"We need to retreat," Haven spoke up "I know this is hard to accept, but we can't save the city anymore."
Skyler's jaw tightened, her eyes narrowing at the approaching sandworms. "You're saying we just run? After all this?"
"Skyler, there are still underground settlent we can go to, and they would need our help too. We can't die a pointless death here."
She hesitated, her gaze flickering between Haven and the oncoming tide of beasts
At that mont, Skyler couldn't help but rember a man who had once made her believe that anything was possible.
A man who had beheaded a giant worm with just one slash.
If he were here now, perhaps he could change the outco.
Unfortunately, she never saw him again. The last she heard about him was that he had killed Spiker—though it was more like Spiker killed himself by ramming straight.
And after that, all information about him was either locked out or deleted.
It was as if he had never existed. His na, his deeds—everything—had been erased from the records.
When she spoke to Deuz, the artificial intelligence warned her not to seek him out, labeling him a dangerous being.
Despite the warning, a part of her didn't buy it. A man with that much power, who didn't abuse it or act overbearing—could he really be a threat to humanity?
In her heart, she felt that Deuz was wrong. There was sothing different about him, sothing that told her he wasn't the kind of danger they feared.
"Skyler! You need to decide now. We can still save more people if we go now!" Haven snapped, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Okay, " she sighed and turned around.
However—
"Why do you look so surprised?" she wondered.
They were all staring at her with wide eyes, their expressions a mix of shock and confusion.
But then, she realized it...their attention wasn't on her.
They were looking past her.
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