Chapter 26 — March of the Unknown
The wind carried no frost here.
Only heat.
A shimmering haze rippled above the scorched plains as the trio moved in silence, their steps buried under the overwhelming sound spreading through the horizon—a low, rumbling thunder that refused to fade.
It wasn't the wind.
Nor was it the earth shifting.
It was footsteps.
Thousands of them.
Vaibhav crouched behind a jagged ridge of blackened stone and peeked over. The sight below him stretched so far across the landscape that his breath caught.
Beasts.
An unending torrent of them.
Wolves made of fire, their manes flickering like molten metal. Serpents that tunneled beneath the ground, their bodies glowing from within. Titan-beasts with crystalline limbs. Mutated creatures. And many more he had no names for.
They moved in a single direction.
All of them.
Across the endless plains, a steady stream of creatures marched—not running, not hunting, but marching with a structured rhythm.
Alicia knelt beside Vaibhav, her gaze following the flow. "They're not chasing prey. Not fleeing. They're… organized."
Shin joined them last, dusting ash from his boots. His usual casual grin was missing.
"They're focused," he muttered. "Too focused."
The ground quaked beneath the weight of the procession. Heat shimmered. Dust rose in clouds. Every beast moved with a terrifying unity—separate bodies, but one purpose.
None looked toward the trio.
Not even once.
Alicia whispered, "It's like we don't exist."
"No," Vaibhav said quietly. "It's like they can't afford to care."
Shin exhaled, the faintest hint of unease slipping into his tone. "This isn't normal. Even beast tides don't behave like this."
A massive, mutated Mythic boar—its tusks glowing red-hot—passed close enough to shake the ground under their feet. None of the beasts paid attention to their presence. Their eyes were locked forward, all burning with the same feverish intensity.
Hours passed like this.
The trio followed from afar, weaving between scorched ridges, staying low, their footsteps drowned by the thunder of the migration. The sun hung low, its light distorted by smoke and heat waves rising from the cracked earth.
At one point, a colossal Fire Titan lumbered past—a creature easily the size of an building, each footstep leaving molten depressions. Shin pressed a hand onto Vaibhav's shoulder, stopping him from stepping too close.
"Not today," he murmured.
Even he wasn't arrogant enough to disturb this movement.
Alicia's eyes narrowed. "Why aren't they fighting each other? Beasts don't tolerate crowded territory."
Shin shook his head. "Something bigger is controlling them."
Vaibhav watched another wave of beasts emerge—Exalted, Mythic, Mutated Mythic—and yet not a single roar was directed at another creature. No infighting. No territorial clashes. No predatory instincts.
Just… obedience.
Obedience to something unseen.
They pressed further southwest, still keeping distance, still unseen.
The hours dragged.
The fire region grew more intense. Ash filled the air. The ground cracked open in places, revealing glowing rivers of molten stone beneath. The trio maneuvered carefully, stepping over unstable patches, avoiding falling debris.
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, the endless procession finally began to change shape.
The beasts weren't spreading outward anymore.
They were funneling.
Toward something.
Vaibhav felt the shift before he saw it—a strange pull, a gravitational sensation in the air.
Alicia felt it too. "There's energy ahead. Strong energy."
Shin squinted. "Feels… wrong."
They climbed a rising slope, weaving through jagged black rock. Heat radiated strongly, shimmering.
When they reached the top—
All three stopped.
A cliff stretched before them, overlooking a yawning canyon so massive it seemed carved by a god's hand.
The world dropped away beneath them.
In the canyon below lay a structure that made the trio go silent.
A hive.
But not a natural one.
Half-organic, half-crystal.
Its foundation spread through the canyon like roots of obsidian and flesh. Massive plates of translucent crystal pulsed with red light, forming walls, towers, and curved arches that resembled the ribcage of some ancient beast.
Veins—literal glowing veins—ran across the hive's surface, pulsing slowly.
Like a heartbeat.
Vaibhav's breath hitched. "What… is that?"
Thousands of beasts rushed down carved pathways into the canyon. Ramps spiraled downward from ridge to ridge, and the creatures descended with precision, funneling into cavern entrances arranged around the hive.
Alicia's eyes widened. "They're going into it."
Shin knelt at the cliff's edge and traced his fingers across the rock, as if checking something unseen. "Look closely."
The beasts weren't chaotic anymore.
They were forming lines.
Actual lines.
Mythic beasts stepped aside to allow lower-rank beasts to enter first. Mutated ones waited for space to open. Fire serpents coiled along the edges, guiding the weaker ones.
No sound of fighting.
No sound of panic.
Only the thunder of marching.
Vaibhav whispered, "This isn't migration. It's…"
Alicia finished it quietly.
"Following orders."
The hive pulsed again.
A deep, slow vibration that rattled the stones under their feet.
Shin rose slowly to his full height, eyes narrowing, jaw tightening.
"…This isn't natural."
The three stood together on the ridge, heat washing over them as the massive organism-structure continued to beat. Beasts poured inside like soldiers returning to a fortress—obedient, unthinking, unified.
A cavern door at the center of the hive glowed.
Red crystal plates shifted.
Moved.
Opened.
A low rumble echoed—not like a roar, but like something awakening.
The canyon trembled.
The air thickened.
The hive's central gate—towering, reinforced, glowing with pulsing veins—began to rise with agonizing slowness, revealing unfathomable darkness behind it.
As if something inside was breathing.
Waiting.
Inviting.
Vaibhav stepped back instinctively.
Alicia's fingers tightened around her blade.
Shin's expression hardened into the most serious look he'd worn since arriving on Ignis Prime.
The hive doors continued to open.
A slow, resonant creak.
As if welcoming them.
Inviting them inside.
The heat, the migration, the pulsing hive…
None of it compared to the presence emerging behind those growing shadows.
The trio did not speak.
They didn't need to.
Whatever lay beyond that door—
Was not meant for this world.
The canyon shook once more—
And the chapter ended with the hive yawning open.