[Fifteen Minutes Earlier]
Five Mana Cycles cut across the dense ground. They moved without the roar of combustion engines, generating instead a deep, resonant hum. Fueled by refined mana crystals, the machines hovered a foot above the ground, their repulsors disturbing nothing but the surface dust.
Regius led the formation. He sat relaxed on his cycle, his violet eyes fixed on the horizon, his posture loose despite the speed. To his right rode Kael, the squad's second-in-command, piloting a heavy-frame cycle.
Behind them, Vera and Milo held the center. Vera rode a jagged cycle that vented excess heat in shimmering intervals. Milo piloted a lightweight cycle, a skeletal frame of a bike that he wove around rocks and fissures with playful ease.
Olin brought up the rear on a silent cycler, his head on a swivel, watching the squad's six.
An intense pulse vibrated against Regius's left wrist.
The smart band encircling his wrist—called a Sigil Link—flashed bright red. A string of holographic text projected onto his helmet's visor.
[SOS:
LIGHTWOOD: AGRICULTURE VILLAGE.
THREAT: MONSTER TIDE (RANK 0-1).
TYPES: FERAL WOLVES, CRAZED BOARS, STARVING BADGERS.
STATUS: PERIMETER BREACHED. SURVIVORS SHELTERING IN CHAPEL.]
Regius tapped the band, opening the squad channel. The connection chimed in their ears.
"Heads up," Regius said, his calm voice cutting through the noise over the comms. "We have an emergency. A nearby village calls for aid. A monster tide."
Each squad member checked the notification relayed.
"Do we know the density?" Kael asked.
"Most likely high," Regius said. "An SOS like this is uncommon."
"The tide is probably overwhelming," Milo said.
"Are we accepting this?" Olin asked.
"Yes," Regius said. "We're close. We'll be there in five minutes."
The squad moved in sync, leaning forward and increasing the output. The low hum of the cycles deepened into a thrumming power, a heavy chord that vibrated through their bones. The landscape accelerated, transforming from a scenic view of green land into a blur of speed.
In four minutes, they reached a mountain hill overlooking the village. Regius signaled the halt.
The five cycles slowed to a complete stop, hovering over the earth. The rest of the squad disembarked; each clicked their links, folding the cycles into small cubes the size of their palms. They moved to the edge of the cliff to survey the village below.
A sea of black and gray fur swarmed the streets. Hundreds of feral wolves and badgers tore through the market shops, overturning vehicles and smashing through doors. The walls lay trampled underfoot.
In the midst of the chaos, the village's square stood with the chapel in its center. The monsters had surrounded it, a writhing mass of hunger chipping away at the little defenses left.
"That's a lot of teeth," Vera said.
"Look at the north side," Regius pointed, his gloved finger tracing a line through the chaos.
A massive bipedal silhouette lumbered through the wreckage. It stood ten feet tall at the shoulder, covered in matted brown fur and bone plating jutting out from its flesh.
"An Alpha Bear," Olin said. "It's a Peak Rank 2 monster."
"It's heading for the chapel," Regius said. "If it reaches those doors, there will be casualties. We need to go now."
They charged to the gates without a second thought.
"Olin, take the high ground. Clear the rooftops and keep the small fry off our backs. Vera, Kael, you're with me. We punch a hole straight to the square. Milo, rescue detail. If anyone falls behind, you bring them to the chapel."
"Understood," the squad chorused.
The mana around them grew heavy, responding to their intent. The Summoner's Marks etched into their skin flared with light.
Vera's mark, a stylized boar head, burned a deep crimson. Mana condensed beside her, from motes of light to a bright Beast silhouette, settling into the Iron Boar. The Beast stood as tall as a carriage, its body a mass of hardened skin and plates of metal. She jumped onto its back, riding it with fluent efficiency.
Olin's mark glowed pale green. Zephyr, his wind Elemental, materialized as a swirling hawk of translucent green, screeching as it flew high in the air.
Milo's shadow elongated, detaching from the ground to form a Beast summon in the sleek shape of the Shadow Lynx, its eyes burning with white flames.
Kael summoned Bastion, his hulking stone Construct, appearing in a flash of light. Made from plates of metal alloy, it hovered along by his side.
The squad surged down the hillside. Vera took the lead, her Iron Boar sprinting to the village gates. The ground shook with every step the Beast took, kicking up clouds of dust.
They rammed through the village gates.
A pack of wolves turned, snarling. Seeing Vera and her beast bearing down on them.
"Smash them!" Vera yelled.
The Iron Boar lowered its head and accelerated. It collided with the monsters with the force of a wrecking ball. Bones snapped with the sound of dry branches snapping. Lifeless bodies flew through the air, ragdolled by the impact. Vera followed in its wake, her large warhammer bouldering against the stunned monsters.
They breached the main street. The noise of the monster tide became deafening. A chaotic mess of snarls, growls, and stomps.
"Olin!" Regius said.
Olin kicked off a crate, vaulting onto the low roof of a bakery. He ran across the tiles, and called for Zephyr. The summon dove from the sky, its wings extending into blades of compressed wind. It sliced through a cluster of monsters trying to flank the squad, cutting them down in droves.
On the ground, Bastion's shield expanded, forming a moving wall that pushed the tide back. He slammed the energy field into a group of wolves, crushing them against the walls of a building.
Regius moved in between the monsters, his steel sword finding the gaps in Kael's defense, striking vital points, and slicing off limbs. There was very little movement wasted, every step a kill, finishing off dozens of monsters in a minute.
"Help!"
A scream tore from inside a store. There was a woman trapped under a fallen beam. A pack of monsters pawing and gnawing at the door, trying to get in.
Milo vanished and reappeared beside the woman, stabbing a badger by the throat that managed to get inside the store. His lynx summon bit the woman by her collar and the three of them disappeared, reappearing on top of the roof beside Olin.
"Keeping the civvies with you."
"Got it! Zephyr is detecting more being trapped."
"Copy that!"
He vanished into the shadows, saving more endangered villagers.
The vanguard team broke through the final line of monsters and entered the town square. Multiple holes in the defenses were apparent, with streams of monsters pouring in from the weakened walls.
ROAR.
Hearing roaring from the center, Regius's violet eyes glowed, and he saw the Alpha Bear charging at the chapel doors—where all the villagers are holed up. It raised its paws, the size of anvils, and smashed the wooden doors into splinters. It walked inside.
"Vera! Stop it!"
She pulled the mane on her Boar's back and it charged across the town square. The cobblestones cracked under the weight of its heavy stature.
The summon lowered its head and charged at the chapel walls.