The battered and exhausted team of Nightguard corps stood over the colossal body of Frostjaw Reiken, the massive dinosaur type monster that had just been brought down after a grueling twenty-against-one battle. The air was thick with dust and tension, the taste of victory bittersweet as exhaustion fell upon them. They had fought fiercely, pushing their bodies to their limits, and for a moment, the nightmare seemed to be over and they had won.
The battlefield was a desolate mess of ice.
The warriors expected the creature to be lifeless, its soul broken and scattered to the void. Yet, as they began to gather their wounded members and prepare to withdraw, a low, ominous sound rumbled beneath their feet — a sound that chilled their bones and shattered the fragile calm.
The beast's massive chest heaved violently. Faint glimmers of iridescent light began to shimmer beneath its thick, armored scales, spreading like wildfire. Reiken's body swelled and stretched, growing at least ten feet taller. A magical aura enveloped it in a radiant but terrifying field of energy that crackled with power and menace. This was no ordinary resurrection. It was evolution — an unnatural transformation that defied everything Rylen and his team had ever faced. The very air buzzed with arcane electricity as the beast's power surged exponentially.
"Impossible…" Rylen whispered under his breath, eyes narrowing with shock. "The Soul attack of mine shouldn't allow this… this abomination."
But before anyone could react further to its evolution, movement surged around them. Ten Level 3 monsters — mini versions of Frostjaw Reiken, vicious creatures born from the darkest nightmares — emerged from the shadows like a pack of wolves, snarling and baring razor-sharp teeth and ice control. Their snarls echoed through the dense forest bordering the battlefield, a symphony of predatory hunger and malice. They circled the Nightguard team like a pack, eyes gleaming with cruel intelligence and ferocity.
The team was suddenly surrounded by an overwhelming force, their hard-earned victory, nothing was left of it. The frozen forest, which moments before had been eerily silent, erupted with the sounds of snarls, growls, and the clash of steel and claws.
From his vantage point high in the sky, Lucien observed the chaos with a mixture of curiosity and restraint. His presence remained unseen by everyone, shrouded by a cloak of divine power that concealed him from mortal sight. His eyes glinted cold and calculating as he studied the battlefield. Every movement, every breath of his comrades was imprinted on his mind.
Lucien was silent, he let them fight their own fights.
Down below, Jason, Lisa, and Kisuke charged headlong into the swarm of Level 3 monsters.
Lisa's electric axes sparked wildly as she weaved through her enemies with rage, a tempest of crackling blue and gold energy. With every arc of her blades, she created dazzling illusions that flickered and danced like ghostly phantoms, confusing and disorienting the level 3 beasts. Her movements were a blur — fast, graceful, and lethal — as she carved through the enemy ranks. Bolts of electricity arced from her weapons, chaining between monsters, causing them to convulse and fall. But the creatures were relentless, and for every one that dropped, two more surged forward.
Jason was a walking fortress encased in a heavily armored exosuit, his every punch charged with kinetic energy so intense it could level entire city blocks. His blows slammed into monsters with the force of a hammer striking steel, sending them flying through the air like ragdolls. Though his armor weighed him down, making him slower and more methodical in his movements, it also granted him near-invulnerability — the ability to shrug off most attacks even from Forstjaw Reiken. His suit enhanced his already formidable strength by a staggering thousand percent, turning him into a juggernaut of destruction on the battlefield. Each punch was a seismic event, the ground shaking under the impact.
Kisuke moved like a flash of lightning, explosive nunchucks whirling in his hands. His speed was almost supernatural — he finally reached Mach 1 — and his shapeshifting that made him transform into different things made him a nearly impossible target to hit. He blurred and changed between forms, evading attacks with uncanny agility, striking with precision and explosive power. His nunchucks detonated in controlled bursts, sending shockwaves that shattered bones and ruptured monster sinews. The battlefield seemed to bend around him — a living storm of destruction.
The three warriors formed a deadly trio on the battlefield, cutting through the monsters with synchronized precision. Lisa's illusions masked their true positions, allowing Jason and Kisuke to land devastating blows before enemies could react to their movements and attacks. Despite their skill and power, the monsters adapted quickly. Reiken's magical field seemed to empower the lesser creatures, bolstering their resilience and aggression.
At the same time, Cho, Rylen, and Emiluna took up critical support roles, weaving through the chaos and fighting Frostjaw Reiken because they had the best fighting style for it.
Emiluna's healing magic was a radiant thread of light binding the team together. She moved swiftly from fighter to fighter, her hands glowing with soft blue energy as she sealed wounds and restored vitality, stamina and their endurance. Without her steady presence, the warriors would have collapsed long ago, their bodies shattered and spirits broken.
Rylen was a whirlwind of power and strategy on the battlefield. He finally went all out. His exosuit was no mere armor but a masterpiece of magic and technology. Reality-warping enchantments flowed through its circuits, granting him flight, defensive shields, and the ability to manipulate the battlefield itself. His venom-coated blades sliced through the air, weakening enemy ranks and cutting a path for his comrades. His predictive abilities let him anticipate enemy moves — dodging lethal strikes and countering with brutal precision.
Cho's the fastest of the Nighguard Corps with her twin revolvers that flashed in her hands, firing bullets that bent through the air with magical guidance. Each shot was a calculated strike, capable of piercing armor and disrupting the magical defenses of Forstjaw. Her calm, cold demeanor contrasted with the chaos around her — a lethal sniper on the front lines. She used her light speed to move through the battlefield.
Together, they formed a cohesive force, but even their combined strength was struggling to pierce the magical defenses of Frostjaw Reiken and its monstrous reinforcements. The battle stretched on, relentless and unforgiving.
The battlefield became a maelstrom of swirling magic, kinetic energy, and very much blood. The trees that still stood trembled, and the ground cracked under the ferocity of the fight. Monsters howled, warriors shouted, and the very air vibrated with tension.
As the minutes dragged into an hour, every fighter felt the crushing weight of exhaustion in their body. Muscles screamed, breath came in ragged gasps, and their once unyielding spirits flickered on the edge of collapse. Emiluna couldn´t keep up and also got tired herself.
The terrifying reality was clear — Frostjaw Reiken had evolved beyond anything they had trained for, and the swarm of Level 3 monsters only intensified the threat and the battle.
Yet, amidst the overwhelming darkness, hope flickered faintly in the distance. High above the battlefield, unseen and watching, Lucien prepared to step down into the fray and join the battle.
The battle continued on like a relentless storm that never seemed to end. Despite their perseverance and unmatched skills, the Nightguard warriors found themselves pushed to their absolute limits tonight. The magical field surrounding Frostjaw Reiken pulsed and shimmered, an impenetrable barrier of radiant energy that absorbed blow after blow, nullifying the team's combined assaults. They had never faced something like this before. This could be the strongest level 1 threat we had seen, and it was only just the beginning.
Karu, Kagetsu, and Ayumu formed the final line of defense against the lesser Level 1 disaster monsters that swarmed in relentless waves. Their synergy was nearly perfect — a combination of raw power, precision, and mystical finesse.
Karu's Chrono Breaker ability was a spectacle of temporal time manipulation. As the battlefield seemed to blur and twist around him, he unleashed the power to slow time to a near halt, his blows striking with devastating force through the halted moments. Normally, this technique would annihilate foes in a matter of milliseconds, making them little more than shattered memories in history. But against Reiken's evolved magic field, even Chrono Breaker only dealt a fraction of its usual damage—about thirtyto thirty-five percent. The monster felt every strike that was thrown, but its energy shield seemed to heal and regenerate almost instantly.
Kagetsu, ever the silent assassin and biggest talent of the nighguard corps, weaved through the battlefield like a shadow. His Silent Launcher fired precise neurotoxin blades, each shot finding the weak spots in smaller level 3 monsters, paralyzing or killing them when they made contact. His teleportation allowed him to vanish and reappear unpredictably, leaving afterimages that confused and distracted enemies, buying precious seconds for his allies. Yet even his deadly tactics could not pierce the core magic of the evolved beast.
Ayumu's mastery of her gravity manipulation turned the battlefield into a chaotic storm of weightlessness and crushing force. She lifted enemies into the air, slammed them into frozen trees and rocks, or pinned them immobile with invisible gravitational chains and crushed them dead. Her control was so precise it seemed almost effortless, a deadly ballet of crushing inevitability. But against Reiken's field, even her gravity wells struggled to hold their targets.
The warriors fought with everything they had. Exhaustion was written on every face, every breath a ragged gasp to continue to fight, every movement a test of will. Their wounds bled and then were healed, their muscles trembled, but their resolve did not waver a single bit. Emiluna's healing magic was the only thing holding them together as a team—her hands glowing softly as she mended wounds and restored energy, whispering words of encouragement between spells.
Rylen was a living storm of destruction and protection. His exosuit was full with otherworldly power, its reality-warping enchantments warping space and deflecting attacks. With flight and abjuration magic, he darted across the battlefield, delivering venomous blade strikes and shielding his allies. He anticipated every move of the monsters, his predictive powers making him a deadly tactician. Yet even he could see the tide turning against them.
The fight stretched on for over an hour by now, a grueling test of endurance, skill, and sheer willpower. The team's condition deteriorated rapidly. Their muscles screamed, their breath became shallow, and their hearts pounded with the threat of impending defeat.
Suddenly, as despair began to creep into their minds, the battlefield was pierced by a sharp crack — a sound like thunder cleaving the sky. All eyes instinctively looked up.
From the heavens, a figure descended with the grace of a god and the fury of a tempest.
It was Lucien.
His divine presence was a shockwave of energy and hope that rippled through the battlefield. The divine power gifted to him by the Creator of Gods shimmered visibly, a radiant aura blazing around his form. His eyes glowed with unyielding determination as he landed amidst the fray, untouched by the chaos around him.
A hush fell over the battlefield for a heartbeat, the monsters instinctively sensing the arrival of a force beyond their comprehension.