Cedar Lakes, New York State
United States
Terra, Gaea Solar system
Milky Way Galaxy
Neutral Free Zone
28th February 2019
Bodies littered the broken stretch of asphalt, strewn like discarded husks beneath a sky that had long since lost its mercy. The air reeked—burnt metal, ruptured flesh, and the thick, iron tang of blood clinging to every breath.
They moved through it.
Not soldiers. Not beasts.
Monsters.
They dragged what remained of the dead as if harvesting crops—limbs snapping loose, torsos scraping against the road, leaving dark, glistening streaks behind. A growing mound of corpses rose at the center, black suits torn open, insignias stained and unrecognizable.
Agent Wilson Lee did not move.
He lay half-buried beneath the dead, his breath shallow, trembling against the cold weight pressing into his chest. Pain throbbed through his body in violent pulses—his left leg twisted at an unnatural angle, his temple split open, blood crusting along his brow and dripping into his eye.
Don't move.
Don't breathe.
Don't exist.
His fingers curled weakly against the pavement, nails scraping faintly against gravel as he fought the instinct to gasp. His heart hammered so violently he was certain they could hear it.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
It had been routine. Boring, even.
Guard the source stone. Maintain the barrier. Wait.
That was it.
No alarms. No threats. Just quiet shifts under an empty sky in the forgotten outskirts of Nova York. Some of the agents had even joked about it—called it a paid vacation.
Then the sky tore open.
And they came.
Not one.
Not two.
A squad of Greater-ranked Abominations.
Lee squeezed his eyes shut, the memory slamming into him like a physical blow—bodies torn apart before spells could even form, barriers shattered like glass, screams cut short as claws and fangs ripped through flesh. Thirty agents… erased in moments.
Not a battle.
A slaughter.
He hadn't even seen the attack that took him down. Just impact. Darkness. Then waking to silence—and death.
Thirty gone.
Just like that.
A guttural voice dragged him back to the present.
Lee's eyes cracked open, barely daring to look.
Through the gaps between corpses, he saw her.
The bat-like Abomination stood over a survivor, her elongated limbs folded in grotesque elegance. Her wings—fused into her arms—twitched as she leaned forward, a cruel smile stretching across her pale face. Scarlet eyes gleamed with amusement.
The spear in her hand twisted.
The man beneath her choked on his own blood.
"P-please… spare me…"
His voice broke, wet and hollow.
She tilted her head, studying him like a curious insect.
"Look at it," she mused softly, her voice almost melodic. "Fighting so desperately… for something so insignificant."
She drove the spear deeper.
The man convulsed, a strangled scream ripping from his throat before dissolving into a bubbling gasp. Blood spilled faster, thicker—coating her hands, dripping down the weapon.
Her nostrils flared.
For a moment, her expression twitched—something feral threatening to surface.
Then she smiled wider.
"This was more boring than I expected."
The voice came from above.
Lee's gaze flicked upward.
A young man lounged on a tree branch, legs dangling lazily. White hair streaked with black framed a sharp, almost human face—if not for the wolf ears and the predatory gleam in his amber eyes.
Rhyka.
Disgust curled his lip as he watched the scene below.
"I don't understand," he said, almost idly. "Why struggle for something so… worthless?"
The air shifted.
A ripple.
Darkness folded inward—and something stepped through it.
Lee's entire body went rigid.
Even without seeing him clearly, he felt it.
Pressure.
Not physical—no, something deeper. Something that pressed against his soul, forcing it down, suffocating it.
The Abominations reacted instantly.
They bowed.
Even the wolf dropped from his perch without hesitation.
The figure emerged fully from the shadow gate—barefoot, calm, draped in a sleeveless white garment that exposed a chest marked by countless scars.
And one fresh wound.
Beast King Sirius.
Lee's vision blurred.
His mind screamed at him to run, to move, to do anything—
But his body refused.
This wasn't fear.
This was despair made manifest.
"You should stop playing with your food, Kiara."
The bat Abomination didn't hesitate.
The spear pierced the man's heart.
Silence followed.
Her eyes flicked upward, drawn to the scar across Sirius's chest.
"My Lord… you're—"
Sirius traced the wound with a clawed finger, almost absentmindedly. The flesh twitched beneath his touch, as though remembering pain.
"A gift," he said, voice quiet… almost amused. "From a new friend."
For a fleeting moment, something dangerous flickered in his eyes.
Interest.
"The Haravok boy…" he murmured. "He carries something… divine."
The word lingered in the air like a curse.
Rhyka's ears twitched.
"Someone on this planet can harm you?"
Sirius didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward the distance.
"How goes the source stone?"
A third Abomination stepped forward—a hulking figure with a grotesque pig-like face, clad in heavy grey armor.
"It has been destroyed, Your Majesty."
A pause.
Then—
"Excellent."
Sirius raised his hand.
The shadows behind him split open.
And they poured out.
Hundreds.
Reptilian horrors crawled from the gate, their elongated bodies coiling and stretching as they spilled onto the road. Muscles rippled beneath scaled hides, serrated spines jutting along their backs like jagged blades.
Their eyes—
No.
Not eyes.
A swirling abyss of darkness, thick and endless, pulling at the mind.
Madness given form.
They hissed, clawed, scraped against the ground—hungry.
Always hungry.
And then—
Lee saw it.
Beyond them.
A mile away.
The town.
Small. Quiet. Unprotected.
Seven thousand lives.
His breath hitched.
No.
No, no, no—
He couldn't stay here.
He couldn't just lie here and die.
Not when he could still—
Warn them.
His hand trembled as it moved—slow, careful—toward his pocket.
His Zodiak.
If he could just—
A presence snapped onto him.
Cold.
Sharp.
Aware.
Too late.
The spear punched through the corpse above him—
—and into his stomach.
The force tore him free from his cover, sending him skidding across the blood-slick road before slamming into a tree. Air exploded from his lungs, replaced by choking, liquid heat as blood flooded his mouth.
He couldn't feel his legs.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't—
Kiara stood in the distance, her spear resting lazily on her shoulder. Infernal energy curled around her like smoke, her eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction.
Lee's vision dimmed.
But he saw them.
The horde.
Already moving.
Already rushing toward the town.
"It's a shame," Sirius said softly, watching the tide of monsters surge forward. "I won't be there to see your expression… Asha'Yee."
The ground trembled as the swarm descended.
And Agent Wilson Lee—
could only watch.
As the end began.