[SYSTEM UPDATE — THREAT NEUTRALIZED]
?? FLORA ABBERANT (NESTER TYPE) — ELIMINATED ??
Status: Core Destroyed | Heart Severed
CONFIRMED BY SYSTEM SENSORS:
- Nest Core completely shattered
- Primary Heart Cluster incinerated and severed
- Regeneration: Impossible
The monstrous body collapsed, its floral face withering, its roots retracting into the ground like dying veins.
Barnabas lowered his blade with a relieved exhale.
Kael dispelled the last of Zatz’s crackling energy.
“Alright,” Barnabas said, voice firm. “Squad Action, secure the device. Get it out fast.”
Kael nodded. “Squad Prime, focus on carrying Squad Striker. They’re alive, but they’re barely hanging on. Move.”
Both squads acknowledged the orders with quick nods, then split into two teams. Squad Action carefully extracted the circular-topped device from beneath the tree’s roots. Squad Prime hoisted the wounded members of Squad Striker onto makeshift stretchers, supporting them carefully.
As they ascended the basement stairway, the air felt colder—
quieter—
as though the whole building held its breath.
Once they reached the main floor, Kael tapped his earpiece.
“C… cai… Cain… Cain, are you there?”
Static roared at first—
Then slowly cleared.
“Kael, finally.” Cain’s voice came through, strained.
“Listen, the abberant is a Nester Type. It’s extremely dangerous, they can—”
Kael cut in.
“It’s dead, Captain. Eliminated. Both the core and the heart-like organ were destroyed. We weren’t sure which one allowed regeneration, so we destroyed both.”
There was a long moment of silence on Cain’s end.
Then—
A deep, relieved sigh.
“…Good work. The device?”
“Secured,” Kael continued.
“And Squad Striker… wounded, but breathing.”
“Understood.” Cain’s tone shifted, tense, urgent.
“Bring the device and the injured back to the copter immediately. And Kael, listen carefully.”
Kael stopped walking, his squad halting behind him.
“Nester Types don’t die quietly,” Cain warned. “When they’re about to die… they often call other Abberants. Swarm behavior. Packs. Sometimes entire nests respond.”
Kael felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine.
“So, hurry,” Cain continued.
“Before a large group of Abberants gets there.”
Kael swallowed, then turned to both squads.
“EVERYONE! MOVE! NOW!”
The building vibrated faintly.
Somewhere in the distance—
A roar.
Then another.
A deep chime resonated in Kael’s mind like a pulse of cold electricity.
[SYSTEM WARNING — IMMINENT THREAT DETECTED]
?? MASS ABBERANT AMBUSH FORMING ??
Spirit radar fluctuations detected.
Abnormal movement patterns converging from multiple vectors.
THREAT ANALYSIS:
? Type: Mixed-Class Abberant Swarm
? Estimated Count: 120+ signatures
? Composition:
— Critter-Type (Majority)
— Beast-Type (Moderate)
— Semi-Human-Type (High-Risk Cluster)
Kael clicked his tongue sharply. “Tch… not now.”
He turned to Barnabas, jaw tight.
“Go. Take the squads and get to the copter. Move the device and get Squad Striker treated. I’ll follow immediately.”
Barnabas hesitated, eyes narrowing, but finally nodded.
“Squad Action, Squad Prime, move out!” he commanded.
They mobilized fast. Boots thundered up the ruined hallway. Even wounded, Squad Striker pushed onward with assistance.
But one person stayed behind.
Anya.
She stepped close, voice tense.
“Kael… are you sure you can take this many abberants?”
Kael exhaled slowly. Calm. Focused.
The aura of Zatz flickered around him, then shut off as he cancelled the Spirit Drive.
He reached to his chest, pulled out Zatz’s Spirit Card, and slid it back into the belt pocket.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Then he drew two cards:
Kawa.
Kylon.
He closed his fingers around them, their energy pulsing like twin heartbeats.
“I’m sure,” he said, eyes narrowing on the tidal wave of shapes forming in the darkness ahead.
“Now go.”
Anya held her gaze for one more breath. Then she nodded, turned, and sprinted after the others.
Kael stood alone at the basement exit, wind whipping dust around him, the ground trembling as more than a hundred abberants charged his position.
He raised his hand.
The cards in his hand flared with blinding energy.
Kael took one deep breath—
and roared.
“SPIRIT OVERDRIVE!”
A thunderous crack split the air as the hybrid fire-light pillar erupted skyward—
a towering lance of burning blue flame, twisting with holy brilliance and molten rage.
For a moment, the battlefield froze in awe.
When the pillar finally collapsed, the shockwaves rippled outward, stirring dust, bending grass, and sending the first wave of critter-type abberants skidding back.
Then, silence.
A shimmering heat-haze rolled forward.
And out of it… Kael emerged. Dawning in his Pyrolux armor.
Kael breathed out lightly and muttered:
“Spirit Overdrive… Pyrolux.”
The abberants didn’t stop.
Even witnessing that godlike transformation, more than a hundred abberants still lunged forward—
critters screeching, beast-types roaring, semi-human types howling with twisted hunger.
Kael raised his hands.
His voice resonated like fire cracking through ice.
“Burning Claws.”
His gauntlet talons ignited—
but not in normal flame.
A hybrid blaze erupted along the metal:
holy-blue light intertwining with crimson inferno, spiraling like twin dragons dancing.
With a metallic ROAR, the talons shot forward.
FWOOM—SHRRAK—FWOOM—
Chains ripped from the bracers, snapping outward like serpents made of molten steel and consecrated fire.
The claws flew with terrifying intelligence, weaving through the swarm.
The first impact tore through three critters.
Then five.
Then ten.
And they didn’t stop.
The chains writhed and curved mid-air, moving like serpents with a will of their own—
impaling, dragging, slicing, burning.
Every abberant pierced was lifted and pulled through the hybrid fire, their bodies charring with blue and red flame until they dissolved into ash-like dust.
Semi-human types tried to rush him—
but the serpentine chains coiled, wrapping around them, crushing bone, and igniting their twisted forms in a holy-infernal blaze.
Beast-types roared and leapt—
But the talons switched direction mid-air, striking with the precision of a viper and the ferocity of a dragon.
None could get within five meters of Kael.
A swirling perimeter of serpentine burning chains formed around him—
a mobile, living barrier of death.
A sharp, urgent chime resonated through Kael’s mind—
cutting through the roaring flames and crackling energies surrounding him.
[SYSTEM WARNING — SPIRIT ENERGY CRITICAL DROP]
?? SPIRIT OVERDRIVE DRAIN DETECTED ??
Kael’s Spirit Overdrive is pushing past safe limits.
CURRENT SPIRIT ENERGY STATUS:
? Rapid depletion rate: Severe
? Stability: Dropping
? Reserve time left: 2 minutes
Kael’s expression hardened, the twin colors in his eyes flaring—
blue steady as the moon, red burning like a dying star refusing to dim.
“Two minutes is more than enough.”
The Burning Claws retracted with a metallic snap, spiraling back into his gauntlets as the chains coiled like serpents retreating to the nest.
Instantly, the remaining swarm lunged at him.
But Kael did not move.
He simply lowered his stance…
and whispered—
“Radiance.”
A dome of blue fire erupted outward.
Not chaotic flame—
but a pure, sanctified blaze born from Kylon’s light fused with Kawa’s heat.
The dome expanded with a low hum, rippling like a pulse of divine energy—
and every abberant that touched it was instantly burned, consumed in a flash of blue inferno, leaving nothing but drifting, glowing ash.
When the dome faded, silence fell.
Only a handful of abberants remained—
and they were running.
Scrambling over debris.
Shrieking.
Desperate to escape.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“You won’t escape me.”
A step.
A flicker.
And he was suddenly at the exit of the building.
Not teleportation—
just speed so extreme it looked like reality skipped a frame.
The fleeing abberants froze, sensing death standing at the doorway.
Kael raised his right hand, blue flame gathering like a star collapsing inward.
He whispered—
“Holy Nova.”
He slammed his fist into the ground.
BOOOOOOM—
A gigantic pillar of blue flame exploded upward from the impact point, devouring everything in its radius.
The entire building was swallowed, incinerated from the inside out.
Walls melted.
Floors disintegrated.
Metal support beams turned to glowing vapor.
The whole structure was reduced to dust, carried upward in a spiraling column of azure fire.
When the flames subsided…
Nothing remained.
Kael stood alone on scorched earth—
spirit energy burning low, aura flickering yet still fierce.
Kael sprinted across the ruined university, the last embers of Spirit Overdrive: Pyrolux flickering around him. Every step left burning footprints—
blue flame on one side, crimson on the other—
until even those began to weaken as the timer in his mind ticked down.
[SYSTEM WARNING — SPIRIT ENERGY CRITICAL DROP]
- Reserve time left:
1 minute 20 seconds…
1 minute 10…
58 seconds…
He forced his body to keep going.
At the extraction point…
Inside the copter, tension gripped everyone.
Squad Alpha, Squad Regal, Dr. Rose, and Serafina waited in anxious silence.
Outside, Squad Prime struggled to carry the injured members of Squad Striker into the aircraft.
Squad Action provided cover, making sure no stragglers or threats approached.
The moment the last stretcher was secured, Barnabas turned toward the burning skyline.
His jaw clenched.
His fists trembling.
“I’m going back.”
Anya stepped in front of him instantly.
“No. Trust him.”
Barnabas glared at her, angry and desperate.
“He’s alone against hundreds, Anya! I won’t just stand here—”
But before he could finish, the world blazed.
FWOOOOOOM—
A pillar of blue fire erupted from the direction of the east building—
so tall and bright it lit the sky like a second sun.
Everyone froze.
Ash drifted on the wind.
The shockwave trembled through the ground.
Anya looked at Barnabas, expression calm but fierce.
“I told you.” She said quietly.
“Trust him. There’s a reason he leads Squad Prime.”
Barnabas swallowed his anger, his chest loosening with relief as the truth settled in.
Then they saw it.
Far across the blackened landscape…
through smoke and scattered fire…
a figure wreathed in burning blue energy came sprinting toward them.
At first it was a blur.
Then a shape.
Then—
KAEL.
His voice, amplified by his aura, thundered across the field:
“START THE COPTER!”
The pilot didn’t hesitate.
The engines roared.
Rotor blades spun.
Dust and debris blasted outward.
Behind Kael—
hundreds of abberants were chasing him, shrieking, crawling, leaping over wreckage, desperate to tear him apart before his Overdrive failed.
But Kael’s speed—
even weakened—
was still beyond anything human.
He vaulted up the ramp, collapsing forward as he crossed the threshold.
The instant his boots hit the floor—
SHATTERING CRACKLE
His Spirit Overdrive finally broke.
The blue-crimson armor exploded into spirit embers, evaporating into the air.
Kylon’s and Kawa’s spirit cards flew from his chest plate and landed softly in his hands as the last of the energy drained from him.
Kael lay down on the floor of the copter, panting, sweat dripping down his face, steam rising from his body.
But he was alive.
The ramp shut.
The copter lifted.
The ground below shrank into a sea of abberants clawing helplessly upward.
They were leaving.
They were safe.