Janna pulled at his arm.
"Come with me. Now."
Behind them, Mika was already running toward the front line, shouting orders to the hunters gathering by the gate.
Ere looked at her.
"No."
She stopped.
"No?"
Her grip tightened around his wrist.
"What do you mean no?"
Her eyes searched his, fear already settling in.
"You're not going out there.
Not again."
She glanced toward the gate, then back at him.
He stayed still.
She stepped closer.
"For once… listen to me."
Her voice dropped.
"Please."
He looked past her toward the gate.
"They'll break through."
His voice stayed plain.
"If no one steps forward."
She stilled.
For a moment, her grip didn't loosen.
Then—
"You don't have to be the one."
"I do."
She held his wrist a second longer.
Then her grip weakened.
Ere didn't wait.
He turned and moved toward the front line.
The beasts were already closing in.
Their steps carried through the ground before their forms fully emerged.
Many.
The hunters formed without hesitation.
Shield bearers stepped forward first, raising walls of iron and wood, locking into place at the gate. Behind them, the others tightened their grip on their weapons, spacing themselves without command.
Roughly a hundred.
Enough to hold.
Not enough to make mistakes.
The first wave crashed into the front line.
The impact ran through the formation as the front line absorbed it—metal ringing, wood splintering, bodies slamming against shields.
Ere moved past them.
Mika shouted something—probably telling him to stay back—but he was already swallowed by the fight.
For a brief moment, before stepping fully into the dark ahead, he could still feel Janna's eyes on his back from somewhere behind the line.
Watching.
His grip tightened around the dagger.
This was different from before.
Their movement overlapped. No hesitation between them. Each advance filled the space left by the last.
Coordinated.
Ere stepped forward.
Das came free.
The blade responded immediately.
A deep blue glow spread across its edge, thin at first, then settling into a steady pulse.
It held.
He knew the cost.
It drained him over time.
None to waste.
Shadow gathered beneath his feet.
He shifted.
The first beast turned too late.
The blade cut across its neck and shoulder, clean and angled.
It dropped before the body registered the strike.
No pause.
A second came from the side.
Claws first.
Ere lowered his center and passed under the swing, the blade driving upward into the creature's side. He released before the weight collapsed and shifted again.
A third.
Head-on.
Then a fourth behind it.
No delay between them.
Every time one fell, another filled the gap.
Soon he was moving more than fighting.
A step to the left.
A shift through shadow.
A quick cut across a leg to slow one down.
Then another slash as it turned.
There was no room to breathe.
If he stopped for even a moment, they would tear through him.
And he couldn't fall back.
If he gave ground, the second line would crash into them and break the formation.
Around him, Mika and the others were still fighting with everything they had.
Axes drove into thick hide.
The ground shook with every beast that fell.
The air was full of roars, and the sound of men refusing to yield.
One by one, the monsters dropped.
And somehow—no one died.
For a moment, the battlefield held, reduced to the sound of breath—heavy, uneven, dragging through the silence.
Then Mika's voice broke through it.
"We're here! We did it!"
The hunters pulled back and reformed, weapons still raised, eyes searching.
Ere didn't turn. He was already looking ahead.
The silence didn't feel like relief.
It felt wrong.
No movement. No sound.
Then the ground shifted.
A step, slow and deliberate, pressed into the earth, cracking it under the weight. Another followed, just as heavy, each impact carrying through the ground before the figure itself emerged.
Its frame dwarfed the hunters. Muscles layered thick across its body.
In one hand, it carried an axe sized for structures, not opponents.
Its eyes burned with brutal lust.
It's the pack leader.
The true fight had only just begun.