The battlefield became a slaughterhouse within seconds of Kai arriving.
Gunfire tore through the clearing relentlessly, flashes of orange erupting through smoke and darkness while humans screamed orders over one another. Dirt exploded beside my boots as bullets buried themselves into the ground around us. The smell of blood, burning metal, and ash choked the air so thickly it became hard to breathe.
But Kai moved through all of it untouched.
Unstoppable.
A soldier rushed him with a combat knife raised high, terror twisting across his face despite the weapon clenched in his shaking hands. Kai caught the man's wrist before the blade could descend.
Bone cracked loudly.
Then Kai slammed him into the earth hard enough to split the ground beneath him.
The impact shook through my feet.
Another soldier fired directly at Kai's back.
The bullets never reached him.
Something invisible stopped them midair.
For one horrifying moment, the metal rounds hung suspended between breaths.
