The transport doors slammed open before the vehicle had even fully stopped moving.
The operatives aboard flowed out with the practiced professional speed. People who had drilled scenarios such as these dozens of times in simulations and expected to perform it for real eventually. Plasma weapons came up in unison as targeting reticles danced across ruined storefronts and shattered intersections.
The Grimm were already moving.
Shore raised a hand immediately.
"Leave two alive."
The operatives didn't question the order, simply adjusting targets. Then the street exploded into brilliant blue-white light as plasma weaponry opened fire.
The difference between conventional military firearms and LUCID equipment became immediately obvious.
The first Beowolf ceased existing from the chest upwards and the second lost both legs and collapsed into the road before disintegrating moments later. A Creep exploded apart as plasma bolts punched through its skull while another was cut nearly in half by concentrated fire.
An Ursa survived slightly longer but, only slightly.
Several synchronized impacts punched glowing holes through its limbs before a final shot cored directly through its chest cavity and reduced the creature to drifting black ash.
Within seconds the battlefield had transformed from active engagement into cleanup operation.
Only two Grimm remained alive—Creeps.
One for Shore Raye.
The surviving creatures seemed confused by the sudden disappearance of their pack but instinct quickly overrode confusion as both charged.
Raye surged forward with startling speed and reversed her grip on her sword in one smooth motion as the Creep lunged toward her with jaws opening wide enough to remove half her torso in a single bite.
Instead of retreating she stepped into the attack as it's jaws snapped shut.
Her blade plunged downwards and steel pierced through bone plating and entered directly through the cranium of the Grimm's head before punching towards into its brain.
The Creep spasmed once and then collapsed. Black smoke immediately began pouring from the corpse as it started dissolving into ash.
Several meters away Shore raised his own plasma rifle and calmly aimed toward his own target. The remaining Creep sprinted toward him across shattered pavement.
He squeezed the trigger and the creature's head disappeared. Its body continued forward another two steps before momentum finally gave up and the corpse collapsed into drifting black particles.
Silence settled over the intersection.
Then something strange happened, the ashes from Raye's kill moved. Black particles drifted upward from the dissolving corpse before changing direction entirely and flowing toward her body.
Toward the suit.
The Umbra Exosuit absorbed them greedily. The shifting black material along her arms rippled as the particles vanished into its surface.
Raye's eyes widened and the expression on her face looked almost startled before shifting into curiosity.
Then, something else entirely. It looked almost as if she had tasted something new for the very first time.
Nearby, Shore frowned because no ash moved toward him. Not a single particle. His own had Grimm dissolved normally and disappeared into the wind.
Shore immediately checked his visor.
[RESERVES: 0%]
His brow furrowed.
Across from him Raye blinked several times before looking down at her own display.
"...Oh, my reserves just increased."
Shore looked up.
"By how much?"
"One percent."
Her voice carried genuine surprise. Then something strange happened. Blackness flowed across her arm.
Umbra gathered around her hand before reshaping the suit material itself. Her fingers elongated slightly while dark talons formed at the tips, sharp and curved like predatory claws.
The transformation lasted only a few seconds before stabilizing.
Raye stared openly.
"This... is really something else."
She flexed her hand experimentally.
"I think..."
Her expression shifted.
"I think I actually feel a little stronger. Not by a whole lot, but it's still noticeable."
Shore hummed quietly as he considered the information. "It seems the absorption state has an omission in the report."
Raye looked over.
"What do you mean?"
"My own suit didn't absorb anything. I suspect proximity to the kill plays a role of sorts."
He glanced toward the location where his Creep had dissolved.
Raye looked thoughtful.
"Proximity?"
Shore nodded.
"It makes sense if you think about it. You were directly on top of your kill while I engaged mine from range."
Raye considered that for several moments before nodding.
"Right... I didn't see any of the ash drifting toward you."
"Neither did I."
Shore looked down at the empty reserve bar sitting stubbornly at zero.
"It's good information to have."
He adjusted the rifle in his hands.
"LUCID didn't exactly have time to fully test prototypes before reality decided to collapse into a nightmare apocalypse."
His tone remained dry.
"We're probably going to be discovering bugs and limitations while monsters actively try to kill us."
Raye nodded slowly.
"Field testing, huh?"
"Pretty much."
Her attention returned toward her hand. The talons slowly receded back into normal fingers as the Umbra withdrew beneath the surface of the suit once more.
Then she frowned.
"...Oh."
Shore looked up.
"What?"
"The energy's fading already. The reserve dropped to 0.9% already."
Shore grimaced slightly. The bleed rate really was aggressive. The reports hadn't exaggerated.
"Alright. Let's move."
He turned back toward the transport. The other operatives were already climbing back aboard.
There were four of them besides Raye, all carrying various plasma weapons and equipment packs while the lead operative quickly pulled up a tactical display projected from his wrist unit.
Once everyone had boarded the vehicle lurched back into motion. The lead operative glanced toward Shore.
"LUCID designated another zone for immediate intervention."
Shore looked over.
"What kind of zone?"
"Rank Zero infestation. Grimm concentration is building around a civilian shelter approximately ten blocks from our current position."
The operative enlarged the map.
"There are currently two Titan class Rune Frames engaged in defensive operations and preventing the shelter perimeter from collapsing."
Raye frowned.
"Right. I forgot that those are the official names of the mechas. But... hold on, if the mechs are there then why send us?"
The operative's expression darkened slightly as he highlighted several larger signatures.
"Because they're busy. Multiple Rank Ones are engaging the mechs directly."
Understanding settled over the compartment. The mechs were occupied fighting threats worthy of their attention. Which meant others needed to handle the swarm.
Shore's expression became grim.
"They're sensing the life signatures inside the shelter."
Nobody disagreed. That was simply how Grimm operated. Large concentrations of civilians acted like beacons.
"Then let's move."
His eyes shifted briefly toward the reserve bar in his visor.
"This will give us a chance to build the momentum needed for our exosuits."
The other operatives nodded. Ten blocks wasn't far. Not under normal circumstances. Under current circumstances it may as well have been another city.
The transport rolled through ruined streets while shattered vehicles littered the roads in every direction. Grimm prowled everywhere. Lone Beowolves stalked through parking lots while Creeps crawled across walls and rooftops.
Several Ursas wandered intersections as though they owned them. Under different circumstances Shore would have ordered engagement.
But unfortunately other people needed them more.
Several times operatives leaned from the transport and fired drive-by shots toward isolated Grimm as they passed.
Beowolves collapsed and Creeps fell from walls.
An unfortunate Nevermore discovered that flying low over an armed convoy was a poor life decision.
Those kills confirmed the theory. None of the distant kills generated Umbra. No ash drifted toward their suits.
Proximity truly mattered and distance to the kill prevented absorption. The discovery was valuable but unfortunately it was also slightly inconvenient.
Shore however, wasn't entirely focused on that. In his mind he was more worried about the lack people in the surrounding areas.
He had considered that people had been evacuated to shelters, but why weren't there any bodies of civilians or soldiers?
Surely there should have been bodies on the street. It was unlikely that anyone would have cleaned up the bodies in such a warzone.
The streets themselves had become nearly impassable. Destroyed civilian vehicles clogged intersections while crashed transports and collapsed buildings forced constant detours through sidewalks and pedestrian zones.
The transport simply adapted. When smaller obstacles blocked the path the vehicle drove through them. When larger obstacles appeared the operatives shot them apart first and concrete barriers shattered beneath plasma fire.
Then the transport rammed through whatever remained. The armored vehicle was clearly built with exactly this kind of environment in mind.
The impacts barely registered beyond cosmetic damage.
Eventually the sounds reached them.
Gunfire and explosions.
Metal colliding with flesh.
Then the ground shook and the transport rounded the final corner. Everyone aboard saw the battle immediately.
The underground shelter entrance stood behind hastily erected barricades while civilians crowded behind defensive positions and emergency fortifications.
Beyond those defenses...
War was happening.
Two mechs battled amongst the streets.
One drove an energy blade against the chest of an Ursa large enough to crush buses beneath its feet while another unleashed suppressive fire into a charging Nevermore overhead.
Around them surged dozens upon dozens of Rank Zero Grimm.
Beowolves, creeps and Ursa, not to mention a large deathstalker prowling. An entire tide of monsters attempting to drown the shelter through sheer numbers.
The transport hadn't even stopped before Shore was already standing.
Momentum had arrived.
Now they simply needed to survive it.
Shore didn't waste time. He and Raye pushed straight through the firing lines and into close quarters combat.
Raye's sword flashed beneath the crimson sky and a Beowolf's head separated from its shoulders before the creature even realized it had died. Another lunged from the side and she pivoted beneath its jaws before driving her blade through its throat and out the back of its skull.
Shore fought differently.
His plasma weapon barked repeatedly as he fired into Grimm at nearly point blank range. Blue-white bolts punched through masks and chests alike as creatures dissolved into drifting ash around him.
Then the Umbra reacted. Black particles drifted toward him and this time they didn't pass him by. The ash struck the suit and vanished into the shifting black fabric.
His visor flickered.
[RESERVES: 4%]
Shore blinked and another Grimm died nearby beneath concentrated rifle fire from the soldiers behind him. More ash drifted toward him.
[RESERVES: 7%]
His eyes widened slightly.
'Interesting. I didn't kill that Grimm. One of the defenders did.'
Another Grimm died beneath plasma fire and more fragments flowed toward him. The realization struck almost immediately.
They didn't personally need to kill the Grimm but simply needed to be nearby. Proximity to death itself was enough.
The implications were absurd. The suit wasn't rewarding kills but participation in slaughter. Shore almost laughed.
That truly did sound exactly like something created from Shadow Realm biology. The battle intensified around them and the reserves climbed with startling speed.
10%.
15.
20.
25.
The world felt lighter and sharper. A Beowolf lunged toward him from the side and instinct moved before thought did.
He turned and kicked.
The impact launched the Grimm sideways hard enough to send it tumbling through a destroyed bus stop before it crashed into a wall.
Shore's eyes widened.
His physical capabilities had reached approximately the same level as Raye's natural hybrid-enhanced body.
Equivalent perhaps to an awakened possessing 4 or 5 points in their Body stat.
Rank Zero territory.
Superhuman.
And his reserves were only at twenty five percent. A grin spread across his face despite himself. The plasma rifle suddenly felt unnecessary.
He slung it over his shoulder and Umbra surged through his arm.
The suit flowed.
His forearm elongated as blackness condensed into shape and an Umbral blade erupted from his wrist. The weapon looked less forged, than it was grown.
It hummed softly.
A Beowolf charged him and Shore stepped forward, blade passing through the creature effortlessly.
The Grimm fell apart.
Umbra shadow energy erupted around him. Tendrils of darkness burst from the suit and wrapped around nearby debris and ruined walls, pulling and redirecting his movements in sudden impossible directions.
He darted through the battlefield with jittering movements that resembled teleportation more than running.
One moment he stood beside a barricade. The next he was twenty meters away with a dead Grimm collapsing behind him. The rush flowing through him was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Power.
Real power.
For the first time in his life he intrinsically understood why awakened could risk themselves night after night.
Why they fought.
Because this feeling...
It was intoxicating.
Raye was even worse. Or perhaps better. Shore honestly wasn't sure which. Her hybrid abilities combined with the Umbra suit in terrifying ways.
One moment she existed and the next she simply vanished. Invisible death moved through the battlefield.
Grimm dropped one after another as invisible blades punched through skulls and chests alike. Occasionally Shore caught brief flashes of black energy cutting through the air before another creature collapsed.
Entire sections of the backline simply died.
The soldiers near the barricade looked unnerved.
Shore couldn't blame them.
Watching monsters suddenly develop fist-sized holes through their heads without warning would probably do that.
Eventually Raye reappeared beside him.
Breathing hard.
"Can't stay invisible long."
A nearby plasma round screamed past her shoulder.
"...Also I'm pretty sure one of our guys almost shot me."
Shore winced.
"Fair."
She had probably saved herself by becoming visible again. The battlefield had become chaotic enough that invisible allies represented almost as much danger as invisible enemies.
Unfortunately that was exactly when the Deathstalker noticed Shore. The giant scorpion Grimm turned toward him and charged. The ground shook beneath its weight and its pincer descended like a collapsing crane.
Instinctively Shore raised his arm and Umbra surged outward.
A shield formed— dense black energy condensing into impenetrable wall moments before impact.
The pincer struck and the street shattered but the shield held.
[RESERVES: 80%]
Eighty percent. The amount of power flowing through him was incredible. His estimate placed him firmly within peak Rank Zero territory now.
Perhaps even slightly beyond it.
Raye moved and Umbra flowed over her sword. The black energy stretched outward from the blade until it resembled an executioner's weapon rather than a katana.
Then she swung and the enlarged blade crashed downward through the Deathstalker's skull. The creature split apart and black ash exploded into the air slowly drifting towards their suits.
Silence spread across the battlefield.
The Grimm were gone.
All of them.
Farther away the mechs had also finished their own battles.
One stood over the corpse of a gigantic Ursa while another lowered its smoking cannon after reducing a Nevermore to ash.
The siege was over.
For now.
Wisps of Umbra bled from Shore and Raye's suits like smoke leaking from phantom bodies. The black energy curled around them before fading into the air.
Raye exhaled slowly as she looked at her hands.
"Damn. That's kind of crazy. Awakened can operate at this level all the time?"
Shore nodded slowly.
"Some of them probably consider this weak. This is only Rank 0 territory, after all."
That thought was honestly horrifying.
Raye glanced at her visor.
"...Too bad my reserves are already going down."
Shore checked his own display.
Ninety percent now. At some point during the battle it had climbed even higher. He estimated his physical capabilities now exceeded those of a peak Rank Zero awakened by a small margin.
Not by much , but enough. Unfortunately the decline had already begun.
0.1%.
Then another. Roughly every ten seconds. The leak continued relentlessly. Momentum truly was everything. Eventually they returned toward the barricades where soldiers administered first aid and medics moved among the wounded.
The mechs approached as well, towering above the battlefield like silent guardians. Shore located the battalion commander immediately. Something bothered him.
"Why are civilians still outside the shelter?"
The commander looked exhausted.
"The shelter's full, sir."
Shore froze. The officer pointed toward the crowds gathered behind the barricades.
"We're trying to transport overflow civilians to secondary shelters."
Shore looked around. There were a lot of them. Far too many perhaps. Families, children and all of them were injured civilians.
People who couldn't outrun another attack.
His jaw tightened.
This was bad.
Because Grimm would continue sensing them and the shelter wasn't a refuge anymore. It was practically bait.
Then another operative approached at a run. This operative was one of the men that had travelled with them here. The man's expression looked pale.
"Sir."
Shore turned and the operative swallowed once.
"There are reports coming in of Amalgamation Grimm being found."
Everything inside Shore went cold. The lack of bodies suddenly made much more sense now. They had probably been used as sustenance for spawning.
"Damn it."