Impetus System: The power of chaos

The group moved forward, the magic density increasing like a fist closing around their lungs. Magical writings on the walls glowed brighter, casting writhing shadows.

Satsu tightened her grip on her techno-magic gauntlets, feeling her pulse racing as she watched the members of the Blades of Carnage. Their auras were like knives pressed against the back of her neck.

"Hey, Haruto…" she whispered, pulling the leader into a shadowy corner of the cave. Soaked rocks dripped icy water onto his shoulder. "There are a lot of Rank A's here… are we safe? How strong are they, exactly?"

"Imagine a hurricane that swallows entire cities and spits their bones into the sea. A Rank A doesn't fight armies… He wipes them off the map. Ryota? If he spits on the ground, a volcano will be born."

Satsu swallowed hard.

"And… what about the other ranks?"

"Rank B's are like titans." — Haruto pointed to Hiroshi, a Blade mage whose robes glowed with a powerful magical aura. — This one knocked down a mountain just to catch a dragon that destroyed some houses in his village. And the dragon? It was barbecued before it fell to the ground.

He raised his hand, drawing numbers in the air with one finger.

—Do you know how much mana a Rank F like you has? Less than a candle. Rank A? It's hell on fire.

Satsu looked at her hands, imagining the mana as a trickle of water running through her fingers.

—And... and Rank S?

Haruto laughed, a dry, humorless sound.

— Rank S are calamities in human form. — he whispered.

A crash echoed from the back of the cave. Ryota shouted for them, and Haruto pulled Satsu by the arm, the explanation ending like a punch in the stomach:

—So... are we dead?

Haruto smiled, a feral gleam in his eyes.

"Dead? No." "Bait. And bait only dies when the fish bites."

The portal pulsed, and a primordial roar echoed from the depths of the cave.

"The portal…" Hana whispered, pointing to the back of the cave.

It was a scar in reality—a pulsing mass of violet energy, surrounded by spirals of stone that resembled teeth. The air trembled around it, and whispered voices echoed, mingling with lamentations and laughter.

"Finally!" Ryota charged forward, ignoring the bones that cracked beneath his boots. "This is nothing!"

But even he hesitated when the portal pulsed, releasing a wave of mana so dense that it knocked two B-rank recruits off their feet.

"Stay alert!" Haruto ordered, drawing his sword.

Satsu felt her gauntlets vibrate, the magic circuits glowing blood red. Something was inside—and this time, it wasn't just goblins.

The portal began to vibrate with increasing intensity, pulsing like a monstrous heart. Each beat echoed off the walls of the cave, causing the ground to shake and loose stones to fall from the ceiling. The air grew heavy, charged with a chaotic energy that seemed to suck the light around it, leaving everything shrouded in an unsettling gloom.

Ryota, with a cruel smile plastered on his face, shouted:

"It's coming out! Where are the weaklings? Put them on the front line!"

Ryota's group immediately grabbed the Ebony Wings with brutal force, dragging them toward the front of the portal. Satsu felt the rough hands of Ryota's henchmen closing around her arms, while Haruto tried to free himself, but it was useless. They were pushed into the center of the cave, directly in front of the portal that pulsed like an open wound in reality.

Everyone was trembling. The fear was palpable, a weight that pressed down on their chests and stole their breath. Satsu looked at her companions beside her: Haruto, with his eyes fixed on the portal, trying to remain calm; Yumi, holding her healing necklace tightly, her fingers white from squeezing; Daichi, his muscles tense, ready to protect the others; Kaito, pale, holding Famine, who was growling softly; and Hana, her hands shaking, but still with a determined look. They knew that anything that came out of that portal would be far beyond their reach.

Suddenly, the portal stopped pulsating. The silence that followed was deafening, as if the very air had been sucked out of the cave.

Ryota frowned, confused.

"Huh, nothing happened?"

It was then that a disturbing sound echoed behind the entire group. A sound of dripping liquid as if a water pipe had burst. Slowly, everyone turned around, and what they saw was terrifying.

A humanoid creature emerged from the shadows, but every part of its body was distorted in a disturbing way. Its pale skin was cracked, resembling broken porcelain, and beneath the cracks, a reddish glow pulsed, as if the blood of its victims belonged to it.

It had no nose, only two deep black slits that looked like endless abysses. Its eyes were completely white, without pupils. Its mouth was wide, full of sharp, jagged teeth, but it did not move when it "spoke." Instead, its voice echoed directly into everyone's minds, a hoarse, distorted whisper.

Its arms were long and disproportionate, reaching almost to its knees. Its hands had thin, bony fingers, with black, curved nails that looked like claws. At times, the skin on its arms moved, as if something were crawling underneath it. He was tall and intimidating.

The creature had already killed three members of the Blades of Carnage before anyone noticed. It had half of one of the members' bodies in its mouth, from which blood was gushing.

Ryota, for the first time, looked uncertain.

"When did he pass us? I couldn't keep up with his movements!"

The creature laughed, a distorted sound that echoed in everyone's minds, as if it was clawing at their souls.

Ryota, trying to regain his composure, shouted:

"ATTACK, YOU IDIOTS!"

The group attacked together. The mages conjured spells of all elements, most of them Rank A. Fireballs, ice blades, lightning bolts, and earth projectiles flew toward the creature. But in the blink of an eye, it pierced the mages' bodies with its sharp claws, at an incomprehensible speed.

The mage who had been beaten by Ryota before, Ren, advanced with determination.

"Inverted Dimension!" he shouted, creating a plate of mana that tried to cut the creature from the inside out.

But the spell had no effect. The creature simply looked at him with those blank, empty eyes, as if it were bored.

Hiraki and the other mages who were friends with Ren conjured more attacks.

"Blade of Despair!" the three said in unison, creating a blade of fortified pure mana.

The monster simply grabbed it with its hands and shattered it as if it were glass.

"What?" they said, incredulous.

Before they could react, the monster appeared behind them and, with a single blow, cut them in half.

One by one, the monster defeated all the adventurers who dared to desecrate its environment.

Satsu, desperate, shouted:

"Where is Ryota?"

Haruto, with eyes full of rage and despair, replied:

"That coward ran away!"

The monster's eyes rested on Yumi. It moved towards her, its claws shining in the dim light.

Haruto shouted:

"Daichi!"

Daichi, with a roar that echoed through the cave, stood in front of Yumi, raising his shield.

"Warrior's Wall!" he conjured, creating a solid mana barrier.

But the monster broke the spell with a single blow, took Daichi's sword and slowly plunged it into its heart, while laughing mockingly at the warrior.

— No... — Yumi whispered, her eyes filled with tears, while Daichi slowly fell in front of her, blood dripping onto the floor.

Haruto appeared behind the monster, attempting a surprise attack, but the creature turned with frightening speed and cut him in half with a quick blow.

Kaito, upon seeing the whole scene, fainted, and Famine was undone, disappearing in a mist of mana.

Absolute silence reverberated in the cave for a few seconds. Everyone processed what had just happened in disbelief.

The monster continued to laugh, a nasal and distorted voice that echoed in everyone's minds, as if it was enjoying their despair.

Hana, with tears streaming down her face, appeared flying towards the monster, her hands glowing with fire.

"Rushing Fire!" she shouted, creating a column of fire that enveloped the creature.

But the monster reached out with surprising speed and grabbed Hana's neck, squeezing tightly. It held her suspended in the air as if she weighed nothing. She tried to conjure fire, but the flames went out before they could even form, suffocated by the dark aura of that malevolent being.

Her eyes widened, filled with fear and pain, as she desperately tried to free herself. Her hands slapped the monster's arms, but it was useless. The monster laughed in a distorted and dark way. It tightened its grip, savoring every moment of Hana's despair.

Satsu, seeing the situation, rushed to help, striking blows with her techno-magic gauntlets, trying to activate Adaptive Impact. But the monster only continued to squeeze Hana's neck tighter, ignoring Satsu's attacks.

"Let her go!" Satsu shouted, desperate.

With a casual slap, the monster threw Satsu against the cave wall. He hit the ground hard and fainted, falling to the ground.

Satsu's last sight was Hana being thrown to the ground unconscious, the monster entering back into the portal, laughing. Yumi and Akira, hidden among the rubble, were psychologically shaken, surrounded by the bodies of their friends. Trembling as if they were wearing summer clothes in an ice age.

Almost all the members of the Canificina Blades had been killed, there were pieces of their limbs everywhere in the dark cave.

Satsu fainted, plunging into a limbo of confused thoughts. His family came to mind... his friends... It was as if dark waters were crushing him, pulling him to the bottom of an endless abyss.

Then, a mysterious message appeared in his mind.

[Impletus system awakened! Dominus vibration found.]

[Installing...]

[Installation completed.]

Satsu didn't understand anything. His mind was confused, fragmented. He just thought:

— Wh... what...?

A cold, mechanical voice answered:

[attention: initiating life support for user.]

[impetus system operating. welcome, forerunner.]