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Chapter 13 - Chapter 13 - Beneath the Frenzy Moon

The Wildspire Wastes were silent—but not at peace.

The wind didn't blow. It crept. The silence didn't soothe. It suffocated.

Kael trudged forward beneath a bleeding sky, his breath tight, his sword at the ready. The squad of elite hunters behind him moved like shadows—silent, precise, deadly. At their front was Ria, the lance-wielding hunter of legend, her scarred armor worn by battles most would never survive. Her eyes flicked left and right like a hawk. Tense. Sharp.

They were deep in the fractured basin where Nurazam had fallen—drawn by that thing. By it.

> Gore Magala.

Kael still saw its wings every time he blinked. The rot-black canopy of madness. The way it blocked the moon and replaced it with nightmare. The sound of its breath—wet and wrong. And that scream...

No.

That laugh.

It hadn't roared in fury.

It had screamed in joy.

"Movement," Ria whispered, raising a hand. The group halted.

Kael followed her gaze.

There, lying half-buried beneath collapsed stone and dried spore threads, was Nurazam. His body twitched, convulsed. Steam curled from his pale skin. Even from afar, Kael saw it—his veins glowing with faint purple light, like fire beneath paper.

"Azam," Kael choked out, heart clenching. "He's alive."

He moved—but Ria grabbed his shoulder.

"No," she said grimly. "Look."

From the shadows, a shudder passed through the air—a ripple of pressure, like the land itself took a breath.

Wings unfolded from the dark.

Gore Magala stepped into the moonlight.

Its form seemed larger now. Wrong. The skin along its neck twitched, flexing as if something inside writhed to be let out. Its wings were shredded, but alive—twitching with infectious hunger. Spores curled from its maw with every breath, and where they touched the sand, fungus bloomed instantly.

And worst of all—its head lowered slowly… not toward the hunters.

But to Nurazam.

It made a sound—not a growl, not a roar.

A purr.

Like a beast reunited with its mate.

Kael's blood froze.

> It wasn't just hunting him.

It was keeping him.

"Gods above…" one hunter whispered.

The monster moved with horrifying tenderness. It sniffed Nurazam's hair. Lowered its grotesque jaw toward him. Its claws—capable of tearing dragons in half—brushed the earth near his cheek like a cradle.

And then—it looked up.

At Kael.

And it screamed.

A sound of pure hatred. Possessive. Enraged.

Kael staggered back, instinctively shielding himself.

"Protect the target!" Ria barked.

The squad reacted instantly. Flash pods detonated. Arrows streaked through the air. A greatsword cleaved down upon the beast's spine—but it barely flinched.

Gore Magala exploded in violence.

Its tail lashed, sending a hunter flying into a boulder with bone-shattering force. Its wings snapped outward, scattering Frenzy spores into the air like a hurricane of madness. One hunter collapsed, choking as the black veins erupted along his arms. Another screamed and dropped his blade, eyes wild with infection.

"Antidote! Use support fire now!" Ria ordered.

A support hunter launched healing darts into the infected, just barely stabilizing them.

But Gore didn't care.

It was already charging—straight toward Kael and Nurazam.

"No!" Kael shouted and drew his blade. He stood between it and Nurazam, trembling.

The beast halted just feet away. Its eyeless face inches from his own. Breathing. Staring. Its heat rolled over Kael like a wave of rot.

And then—

> It crooned. A deep, gurgling, pained sound.

It looked at Nurazam.

As if longing.

As if it had chosen him.

"Why him…" Kael whispered in horror.

Ria crashed into the side of the monster, lance first, driving it back. "MOVE!"

Kael snapped out of it and scooped Nurazam up. He was burning hot. Shaking violently. Still whispering in that same feverish tone:

> "It's inside the dark… in the chain… he sees…"

Kael didn't stop.

"Cover our retreat!" Ria shouted. "Push it back!"

The squad surged with coordinated fury. Twin blades danced across its wings. A hammer caught its jaw, dazing it. Bombs detonated beneath its legs, staggering the beast momentarily.

And yet—it didn't stop watching him.

As Kael fled with Nurazam over his shoulder, he felt Gore Magala's gaze following him through smoke and fire and madness.

> Not prey.

Possession.

Obsession.

They were only meters away from the retreat path when Gore let out a final, unnatural shriek—a sound like a name being torn apart in a throat full of fire.

A sound that could only mean:

> He's mine.

Kael didn't look back.

---

The air behind Kael twisted—he didn't need to turn to know.

The second he sprinted away with Nurazam's fevered body over his shoulder, Gore Magala changed.

It didn't roar this time.

It screamed—a scream that split the sky, a deafening, shrieking howl of rage, loss, and pure obsession. The earth vibrated. The stones cracked beneath its claws.

Something broke inside the monster.

> Something feral.

> Something wrong.

Then—it charged.

"IT'S COMING!" Kael bellowed as he stumbled up the rocky path.

The darkness seemed to follow Gore Magala as it lunged forward with terrifying speed. It crashed through stone pillars like a rabid demon, eyes locked solely on Nurazam. Not Kael. Not the other hunters. Only him.

Ria and the elite squad sprang into its path like a living wall.

"Don't let it through!" Ria roared, shield planted. "Hold it back!"

Gore Magala exploded into them like a falling star.

Claws raked across the shield wall—metal screamed and bodies were hurled like dolls. A dual blades hunter dodged by inches, only for Gore's wing to swat them across the battlefield. A support hunter fired a flare that detonated mid-air, blinding it momentarily—just long enough for Ria to leap and drive her lance into its neck.

Blood erupted. Dark. Corrupted. Hissing.

Gore Magala shrieked, thrashing its wings so violently the air pressure alone knocked Kael to one knee even from thirty meters away.

Its body convulsed.

Its tail slammed down like a guillotine, narrowly missing another hunter who barely rolled free. Every movement was faster, more unpredictable—as if its mind was fracturing. It turned from predator to force of nature. Unthinking. Unfeeling. Unrelenting.

But still, it watched Nurazam.

Through fire. Through blood. Through its pain.

> "Give. Him. Back."

Kael could feel it in the air. The words weren't spoken, but forced into his mind.

Then—the frenzy cloud burst.

Black spores exploded from Gore's back like a storm of ash. The cloud enveloped the squad. The ground hissed where it touched. One hunter screamed as their flesh blackened from contact, frenzy overtaking their senses.

"ANTIDOTE NOW!" Ria bellowed, hurling a support capsule at the infected.

Through the haze, a heavy bowgun hunter stood their ground, firing explosive rounds point-blank into Gore's shoulder. The impact staggered the beast, shredding parts of its wing—but it only made it angrier.

Gore Magala roared again, and this time, the ground split.

A canyon wall behind the squad collapsed from the shockwave.

Ria shouted over the chaos, "Kael, go! GO NOW!"

Kael didn't wait.

He sprinted, Nurazam weak on his back, whispering nonsense. Blood soaked Kael's cloak. The boy burned with fever, but his heart—his heart still beat.

Behind them, the battlefield turned into a slaughter.

Gore Magala tore through a boulder to get to them. The tail cracked the earth, throwing dust into the air. Flames burst as one hunter triggered a mine beneath it. Another slammed their hammer into its face, twisting its jaw.

Still—it didn't care.

It would kill the world to retrieve him.

Ria stood firm.

She and two others formed a final wall, throwing down two shock traps and a wall of barrel bombs between Kael and the creature.

> "We stand or he dies."

Kael reached the cliff ledge.

A horn blew behind him—rescue flare. The evac team was inbound.

He turned and saw it.

Gore Magala had broken one trap. Half its face was torn. One horn shattered. Blood poured from one wing. But it was still coming. Still crawling.

"AZAAAAAM!!!"

It screamed again.

Kael leapt over the cliff and slid into the extraction gorge, barely holding Nurazam steady.

Then—the bombs detonated behind him. The ledge collapsed. Gore shrieked, wings flailing, buried under falling rock.

Silence.

Then... a low, echoing growl from the rubble.

It wasn't over.

But they had a head start.

---

Kael didn't stop running until the cliffside dropped out beneath him and the emergency extraction team caught him halfway down the gorge. He fell to his knees, gasping, drenched in sweat, and Nurazam—barely breathing—lay in his arms like a dying ember of warmth.

"Get a stretcher!" someone shouted. "He's infected—badly!"

Kael's heart pounded in his ears as his eyes flicked to the ridge above.

The ledge—where Gore Magala had been buried—was still smoking from the blast.

Then, the air shifted.

The wind stopped.

A stillness took hold—so profound it felt wrong. Too quiet. Too hollow. As if the world were holding its breath.

Ria turned from the battlefield, her eyes narrowing.

"No... No, no, no—"

Then it happened.

The rubble exploded outward, stones launched like cannon fire as Gore Magala burst from its own grave, shrieking louder than ever before. Its entire body convulsed, wings flared high into the storm-lit sky.

But it wasn't just alive.

It was transformed.

Its aura twisted into a maelstrom of pure frenzy. Veins of violent violet crackled through its wings and across its chest. Its broken horn twisted upward unnaturally, and its jaw—partially dislocated—hung open with a deep, mechanical snarl. One eye was gone, but the remaining glowed like a supernova of rage.

"FALL BACK!!" Ria shouted, pushing a hunter aside as Gore Magala screamed—not from pain, not from desperation—

—from wrath.

Then the sky darkened.

The stars vanished.

Clouds swirled unnaturally overhead, forming a wide vortex above the Wastes. The moon turned purple. Lightning flashed, but no thunder came.

And then—

> It rained.

Tiny, slow-falling orbs of glowing purple—like snowflakes from a different world—began to drift down, spiraling in eerie silence.

Each one shimmered like glass and hissed upon touching the sand.

"Is this... frenzy?" one hunter whispered in awe.

Kael stared up, eyes wide. His lips moved soundlessly.

None of them had seen this before.

The first frenzy storm.

The air vibrated with wrongness. The ground pulsed. Armor hummed from static. One hunter caught a flake on his gauntlet—and the metal sizzled, glowing red-hot for an instant.

"I-It's burning through armor!" another cried out.

Gore Magala stood in the middle of the storm, its wings spread wide, absorbing the frenzy like a god basking in its domain. Its chest pulsed—beating in sync with some monstrous rhythm.

And then—its eyes turned toward Kael.

Even from across the canyon.

Even surrounded by chaos and lightning and dust.

It saw Nurazam.

Kael gasped, backing away, clutching Azam tighter. "No… No more…"

Then, Gore Magala screeched one final time—a sound that shattered the silence like stained glass—and took to the skies. Its wings beat once, twice, and it ascended into the madness above.

The frenzy storm followed.

The sky twisted in its wake, and within moments, the storm began to dissipate. The orbs vanished mid-air. The winds returned. The color of the moon faded.

Only silence remained.

The Wastes were left charred and cratered. Ria stood with her lance lowered, blood trickling down her cheek. Around her, the other elite hunters gathered, panting, wide-eyed.

One of them broke the silence.

"…What in the name of the First Flame was that?"

Kael didn't answer.

He was already kneeling beside Nurazam, brushing sweat-drenched hair from his forehead.

> "You're safe now," he whispered.

Even if the thing out there had marked him.

Even if this wasn't over.

---

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