Ashes of the Silent War: Shadow of the Leviathans
Chapter 3 – Abyss Alpha
The glacier battlefield erupted into chaos.
Abyss Alpha charged across the frozen valley like a living avalanche. Each step shattered the ice beneath its massive claws. Its black crystalline armor reflected the blizzard like dark mirrors.
"Spread out!" Kael shouted.
The Crimson Legion soldiers moved instantly, forming a wide attack line across the broken outpost.
Energy rifles opened fire.
Blue bolts slammed into the monster's armored body.
Most of them bounced off.
"Armor too thick!" one soldier yelled.
The creature swung its massive limb across the battlefield.
A radar tower was ripped from the ground and thrown like a spear, crashing through a building behind Kael's squad.
The ground trembled.
Lyra steadied her breathing atop the broken tower.
Her sniper scope zoomed into the monster's glowing eye.
"Found a weak point."
She squeezed the trigger.
The sniper round cracked through the storm and struck the creature's eye.
Abyss Alpha roared.
The sound shook the glacier.
For the first time, the monster bled.
Dark fluid splashed across the ice.
Kael immediately reacted.
"Target the eyes!"
The soldiers shifted their fire upward.
Several rounds struck the creature's face, forcing it to stagger.
But the monster adapted quickly.
Abyss Alpha slammed both claws into the ground.
A shockwave of ice shards exploded outward.
Two Crimson Legion soldiers were thrown across the battlefield.
Kael rolled behind a shattered vehicle as frozen debris rained down around him.
Above the battlefield, the mysterious Architects watched calmly from the ridge.
The silver-haired leader folded his arms.
"Remarkable," he said quietly.
One of the scientists beside him adjusted a scanning device.
"Combat efficiency: 78 percent. Higher than predicted."
The Architect smiled slightly.
"Commander Kael Varden… humanity's greatest survivor."
His eyes shifted toward the raging battlefield below.
"Let us see how long that reputation lasts."
Kael reloaded his rifle and looked up at the towering creature.
It was faster than any Leviathan they had fought before.
Stronger too.
"Lyra," he spoke into the comm.
"I'm listening."
"That eye shot worked."
"I noticed."
Kael studied the monster's armored chest.
Between two plates of black crystal, a faint blue glow pulsed.
Its core.
"There's another weak point," Kael said.
"Center chest."
Lyra adjusted her scope.
"I see it."
"Can you hit it?"
"Not while it's moving like that."
Kael stood up from cover.
The monster's glowing eyes immediately locked onto him.
Perfect.
He stepped forward onto the open ice.
"Kael what are you doing?" Lyra snapped.
"Buying you time."
Abyss Alpha roared and lunged toward him.
The glacier shook violently with every step.
Kael ran directly toward the monster.
Snow exploded behind him as the creature slammed its claws down, barely missing him.
"NOW!" Kael shouted.
Lyra fired.
The sniper round cut through the blizzard and struck the glowing gap in the creature's chest armor.
The impact cracked the crystal plating.
Energy burst from the fracture.
The monster staggered backward.
"Again!" Kael yelled.
Lyra fired a second shot.
This time the bullet punched deeper.
A burst of blue energy exploded from the wound.
Abyss Alpha howled in fury.
The glacier beneath it shattered as the monster collapsed to one knee.
Kael seized the moment.
"Full fire!"
The Crimson Legion soldiers unleashed everything they had.
Explosive rounds.
Energy grenades.
Armor-piercing shots.
The battlefield erupted with explosions around the creature's core.
Finally—
A massive blast tore through its chest armor.
Abyss Alpha collapsed onto the ice with a thunderous crash.
The ground went still.
The storm howled across the battlefield.
For a moment… there was silence.
One soldier exhaled.
"Did we… actually kill it?"
Kael stared at the fallen monster.
Something felt wrong.
Then the ground began to shake again.
But this time…
The tremors came from everywhere.
Lyra's voice turned cold.
"Kael…"
He looked toward the distant glaciers.
Cracks were spreading across the frozen mountains.
Dozens of enormous shapes were moving beneath the ice.
The silver-haired Architect stepped forward on the ridge.
His voice echoed through loudspeakers.
"Congratulations, Commander."
Kael looked up at him.
"You survived the first Abyss prototype."
The man gestured toward the trembling glaciers.
"But the Architects did not create just one."
The ice mountains shattered.
Massive silhouettes began rising beneath the frozen surface.
The Architect smiled.
"Welcome… to the age of Abyss Leviathans."
Kael slowly raised his rifle again.
The Second Leviathan War had only just begun.