"Come on, don't waste time. Grab these monsters and drag them in."
The command cut cleanly through the rain.
The Chinese man who gave it stood at the shattered front of Takashimaya like a pillar that refused to fall. He was tall for a Chinese man, nearly six feet three, broad across the shoulders, wearing leather armor, straps tight over his torso, reinforced metal plates bolted to each shoulder. Rain streamed down his bald scalp and traced the long scar that began above his left eyebrow and cut diagonally to his right cheekbone. It gave his face a permanent edge, but it was his eyes that truly commanded obedience, an unusual mix of brown and green that held steady even as lightning flashed overhead.
"Shin Lu, your spear!"
A young boy darted through the downpour, clutching a spear in both hands as if it were sacred. He could not have been more than twelve. No armor. Just a damp tracksuit clinging to his thin frame and a small dagger strapped awkwardly at his side. He grinned despite the storm, pride shining in his eyes.
Shin Lu dropped to one knee without hesitation, rainwater splashing up around him. A rare smile softened his stern features as he ruffled the boy's hair.
"You did well, Tian," he said.
The boy beamed brighter than the flickering holograms above the ruined mall.
"Now head inside before your mama gives me an earful again."
Tian laughed and sprinted toward the entrance, boots splashing through shallow puddles. Around them, others dragged two dead kobolds by the legs, their limp bodies leaving dark trails of diluted blood across the marble steps.
Shin Lu took the spear.
It looked ancient, museum-worthy, its shaft smooth and lacquered, a red tassel tied just beneath the blade. But the blade itself carried a faint blue glow that pulsed in rhythm with something unseen. When his hand closed around it, the glow sharpened slightly, acknowledging its master.
"Not many survivors around here anymore," a woman in her mid-thirties said as she approached him. She wore a black tracksuit tucked into knee-high boots, fingerless gloves dark with rain. Her eyes were tired, calculating. "Rescue teams haven't found anyone willing to join us in a few days."
"Aiko," Shin Lu replied calmly, rising to his full height. With a subtle shift of thought, the spear dissolved into light and vanished. "Then we may have to venture further out."
Her jaw tightened.
He turned toward the entrance. "We're done here. Bring the doors up."
"Yes, sir." Aiko pivoted sharply. "Ken! Ren! Get ready to shut the doors!"
Two massive men stationed near the front nodded. Their arms were thick as tree trunks, veins raised beneath rain-slick skin. They moved toward the heavy reinforced panels that served as makeshift barricades.
And that was when the howl came.
It rolled across the storm like thunder wrapped in hunger.
-
Four hundred meters.
In calm weather, it would have been nothing. A sprint across polished marble and open plaza.
In a storm like this, it felt like crossing a battlefield.
The plaza before Takashimaya was a graveyard of chaos. Giant statues that once presided over fountains now lie broken, marble torsos cracked in half, faces shattered beyond recognition. Rainwater pooled between debris and corpses. Rain hammered everything flat.
Jane ran at the front, her body cutting through sheets of rain with predatory precision. Lynis followed close, shield strapped tight, jaw clenched. Porpo moved with jittering energy beside Jagger.
Jagger struggled. 'Shit, Shit, Shit.'
His lungs burned as if lined with glass. Every breath came ragged, cold air stabbing into his chest. His boots dragged against waterlogged marble, each step heavier than the last.
Just a little more.
That was when he heard it.
A heavy, rhythmic pounding.
He risked a glance over his shoulder.
The lead Razorfur Wolf burst into view, an avalanche of black fur and muscle. Its massive maw gaped open, rows of razor-sharp teeth slick with blood. Crimson eyes burned through the rain like twin embers. It leaped, clearing nearly twenty feet in a single bound, claws gouging trenches into marble as it landed.
It was gaining.
"Lynis, we need to use our skills!" Jane shouted over the storm, grabbing Porpo's arm. "Quick Step!"
Her form flickered.
For a fraction of a second, she and Porpo became silver streaks slicing through rain. An afterimage shimmered where they had been. Then they were fifty meters ahead, water exploding in their wake.
Jagger's heart sank.
The wolves surged faster.
"Get the fuck over here!" Lynis roared, twisting his head back.
Jagger pushed.
He forced everything he had left into his legs. The wolf's hot breath brushed the back of his neck. The stench of rot and blood filled his nose.
Then Lynis grabbed him.
One hand locked around Jagger's forearm. The other ripped the makeshift car-door shield off his back.
"Shield Rush!"
-
[Shield rush] Surge forward in a crushing charge, greatly increasing movement speed and impact power. Enemies hit are staggered. [Cooldown: 2 minutes]
-
Power slammed into Lynis' legs.
He exploded forward, dragging Jagger with him. The car door shield lifted high, transforming into a blunt battering ram. Water parted around them as they tore across the flooded plaza, speed doubling in an instant.
The distance shrank.
Three hundred meters.
Two hundred.
Behind them, claws shredded marble. The lead wolf lunged again, jaws snapping inches from empty air.
"HEY!" Jane screamed toward the entrance. "HELP US!"
Her voice fractured against wind and rain, swallowed before it could carry.
The mall loomed ahead, its broken facade dark and massive.
They were still too far.
Lynis inhaled deeply.
[Warcry]
"HEY!"
His voice detonated across the plaza.
It was not just a shout. It was a skill-infused roar that vibrated through rain and stone, cutting through the storm like a cannon blast and causing the wolves to stagger for a second before they rushed after them again.
At the entrance, Shin Lu's head snapped toward the sound.
Through sheets of rain, he saw them. Four figures sprinting across the ruined plaza. And behind them, three towering Razorfur Wolves are closing in fast.
The moment his eyes locked onto the charging Razorfur Wolves, he walked back out.
Not rushed.
Not panicked.
The storm seemed to recede around him, rain blurring into streaks as the world narrowed to distance, timing, and a single target.
The largest one.
It led the charge like a living avalanche, its bulk dwarfing the others, jaws wide, crimson eyes fixed on the fleeing group. That was the threat. That was the priority.
Shin Lu stepped forward once.
Then stopped.
His posture shifted subtly, weight settling deep into his hips. His spine straightened, shoulders rolling back as if aligning with something older than instinct, something honed through repetition and survival. His left foot slid forward, toes biting into slick marble. His right foot planted behind him, heel barely touching the ground.
He leaned back slightly.
Rain streamed down his bare scalp and traced the scar across his face, but his expression did not change. Calm. Focused. Absolute.
His right arm rose.
Elbow bent cleanly into a perfect ninety-degree angle, forearm vertical, wrist loose but primed. His left arm extended forward, fingers spread, aiming not at the chaos, not at the pack, but at a precise point on the largest Razorfur's chest where bone met muscle, where mass mattered.
Shin Lu took his first step.
Then another.
Then another.
Each stride was smooth, accelerating, controlled, like an Olympic javelin thrower entering the final phase of release. His torso twisted, muscles along his back and abdomen coiling tighter with every step. Hips snapped forward first, shoulders lagging, creating a chain of stored force that traveled upward through his spine.
The air around him tightened.
Mana stirred.
His final step slammed down.
BOOM.
Marble fractured beneath his foot, cracks exploding outward as his momentum halted instantly. His body locked into a perfect spring, hips forward, chest open, core wound so tight it threatened to tear.
And in that frozen instant,
The spear materialized.
Light condensed in his raised hand, blue and white lines snapping into form. The shaft solidified first, then the red tassel whipped violently in the wind, and finally the blade, long and narrow, glowing with compressed energy that hummed like a restrained storm.
His arm came forward.
Violent.
Precise.
Unforgiving.
"Absolute Crushing Spear."
The words were not a shout. They were not a chant. They were a statement of fact.
-
[Absolute Crushing Spear] Channeling kinetic and mana energy into a single, focused point, creating a projectile with immense penetration and concussive force. Ignores 50% of armor. [Cooldown: 20 minutes]
-
The spear left his hand.
The air screamed.
A concussive shockwave detonated outward, flattening rain mid-fall and ripping debris from the ground in a violent ring. Glass shattered behind him. The force punched the breath out of everyone nearby.
The spear did not arc.
It rocketed.
Wrapped in spiraling bands of blue-white energy, it tore through the storm like a missile, leaving a distortion trail in its wake. The sound was not a whistle, but a thunderclap stretched into a continuous roar.
The largest Razorfur sensed it.
At the very last moment, instinct screamed louder than hunger.
It twisted.
Not fast enough to escape, only fast enough to survive.
The spear grazed its side.
A deep, brutal gash was carved along its ribcage as the blade tore through fur, muscle, and flesh, sending a spray of dark blood into the rain. The beast howled, its massive body staggering sideways as pain ripped through it.
And then,
The spear kept going.
The smallest Razorfur never saw it coming.
It had been sprinting just behind the alpha, jaws open, eyes burning, until the world ended.
Impact was instantaneous and catastrophic.
The spear punched straight through its skull, entering between the eyes and exiting out the back in an explosion of bone, blood, and energy. The force lifted the creature clean off its feet, hurling its massive body backward as if it weighed nothing.
Its corpse slammed into the fountain wall with a deafening crash, embedding halfway into fractured stone before going limp.
Silence followed.
Rain resumed falling.
The wounded alpha skidded to a halt, blood pouring down its side, crimson eyes now wide, not with rage, but shock.
Shin Lu stood relaxed, arm lowering slowly, steam escaping his breath.
Another spear began to form faintly in his hand.
"Get them," he said calmly, slamming the spear onto the ground, causing the droplets of rain to freeze in the air momentarily, before falling back down.
The wounded alpha stared at him, a low growl rumbling from its chest. It glanced at its fallen companion, then at the survivors near the entrance, instinct finally overtaking fury.
It turned.
With a snarl, the remaining wolves retreated, vanishing back into the alley from which they had come, their massive forms swallowed by shadow and storm.