Monsters Uprising

The creature flew over the trees with speed, and beneath them, Sief pursued as fast as he could, still holding his sword.

‘Did this thing come out of the sun or am I hallucinating?!’ Sief gritted his teeth as he saw the monster getting farther away. Soon, he recalled the beast hunters, leading him to conclude, ‘According to what they say, beasts are almost summoned... but there should be one here in Dokkel!?’

Despite his continued running, upon seeing the bridge, he also saw the creature soaring over the walls, its wings sending powerful gusts of wind that Sief could feel even from a distance.

Now that the figure was closer, he could see that its form was somewhat humanoid, clad in giant black armor with wings and a sword split in half. There were features on its weapon and armor that flowed like liquid fire, shining even in daylight.

Sief continued to stare in disbelief until the creature stood upright in mid-air and slowly moved its arm upward, emitting a twisted metallic sound.

In its hand, a fireball appeared and was soon grasped by the black hand. The sphere was compressed and suddenly exploded in the entity's hand, flames falling like a dome and setting the blue sky ablaze, turning it orange as if the flames consumed the space.

Drawing closer to the source, Sief saw the dome close, covering the entire forest, and a sound echoed through a hot breeze, burning the trees and making Sief's throat dry.

Sief felt his body pushed by the wind, forcing him to put both arms in front of him in an attempt to keep moving. But once again, a glow illuminated the scene, and Sief widened his eyes as he saw a large fireball descend from the sky while the creature's hand was still pointed upwards.

Slowly, it descended, and along with it, the fireball gained speed. Realizing the moment of impact, Sief widened his eyes and shouted.

“DON'T DO THIS!!!”

The end of his sentence was drowned out by the sound of the massive explosion colliding with the city. Upon impact, a large pillar of fire rose, and pieces of the wall flew, hitting the nearby trees where Sief stood still, watching catatonically, seeing pieces of burning buildings fall outside the wall.

Not even a second had passed, and Sief already felt a growing emptiness in his chest, but the screams woke him, and astonishment filled his face as he saw civilians crossing the bridge in desperation, pushing each other in flight.

Even as his legs trembled, Sief dashed and reached the crowd, once again pushing against it while shouting.

“BEA!!! ARE YOU THERE? BEA!!!” His voice was almost inaudible amidst the panic; he continued to call, receiving punches and shoves as he shouted. “BEATRICE!! BEA!!!”

But there was no response, and after an avalanche of people, he found himself on the main street where people were still fleeing.

After running so much, his body trembled, exhausted, and his breath was dry and wheezing from the heat; his throat was already closed, and breathing was taking all his strength, but he continued to search, turning his face in all directions, speaking to himself.

‘Beatrice! Where is she? Has she left already? How did I not see her!?”

Something stood out in his vision, and from the corner of his eye, he could see the same monster slowly descending from the sky with the sword in hand and wings like live coals. He saw its size extend beyond the houses, reaching even close to the walls, and as it descended, its wings continued to exhale hot vapor.

Sief gritted his teeth and once again advanced down the main street; there were civilians still paralyzed on the ground, seeing the descending creature, but he didn't stop running, feeling his body getting heavier and his face sweaty until a low voice was heard.

“Beast... A beast...”

When he turned his face, Sief saw the same baker who had expelled them, paralyzed and pointing a finger at the entity without moving. Sief turned around and stumbled, but still jumped over the man's body, falling on his abdomen while grabbing his collar and speaking with a weak, almost inaudible voice.

“Hey!!! Have you seen my sister pass by? Answer me!!!”

Sief shook him, but before the answer came, the wings beat at an even higher speed, and Sief turned, seeing the monster with its sword raised and both arms, hitting its wings rapidly before stopping abruptly, throwing the creature that plunged its sword into the ground.

With the blow, the ground shattered, and white stones flew as if pushed by a powerful wind. Unable to react, a stone passed just above his head, and Sief heard the sound of something being shattered.

Before he could look to the side, the wind came and violently threw his body against the wall, which sank upon impact, making Sief feel his whole body break, spitting a mixture of saliva and blood falling to the ground collapsing due to the pain.

After the shockwave, more and more screams were heard echoing through the city. Sief gritted his teeth and tried to move, but there was no result, and his movement was nothing but a spasm as he saw the top of his vision turn red as if blood were falling directly into his eyes.

‘I can't stop-’ As more spasms occurred, it was as if something inside his body pierced his flesh as he continued to try. ‘Don't fail now! Just a little longer-’

His sight was taken over by red, and the surroundings seemed to disappear until suddenly the screams silenced, and Sief widened his eyes, realizing his sight clearing inside a green dome covering his body.

When he lifted his eyes, he saw a black-haired boy with a worried face, and he soon recognized him as one of those with the group of heroes, who said.

“We made it in time, thankfully...” Then he turned his face with regret and said. “But the other...”

“There's nothing we can do. Focus on what we have to do, Milo.” The voice came with a serious yet calm tone, while walking, his steps seemed to echo in Sief's head, who upon rising saw the blonde of the group of heroes who continued to say. “If you're ready, get into formation, let's eliminate this beast.”

“Right!”

The healer spoke, already standing up, and Sief saw the green circle dissipate, in an instant his pain and wounds had disappeared, but as he turned his gaze to the surroundings, something else stood out in his vision and made his eyes widen, realizing a huge formation of adventurers in a crescent shape around the monster.

Everyone was positioned and facing the creature that had appeared, exuding auras of all colors that seemed to create a wall that prevented the pressure of that monster from reaching them.

On the rooftops were archers and people carrying scepters and wands, while on the ground, there was a huge variety of armored soldiers, from giants to almost dwarves, who positioned themselves in front of the beast.

But Sief kept his eyes on the creature that seemed to be eagerly awaiting the formation of all the adventurers.

Everyone watched it with fear and feared its presence as if the sun had descended in Dokkel, but the blonde remained at the forefront of the formation, standing and facing the creature.

The silence still prevailed on the battlefield as all the adventurers seemed anxious until the blonde sighed and began to float in the air, dropping his serene posture and shouting with a loud voice.

“Once again, monsters invade our land, but this time, before it destroys, we will expel it from here.” He raised his hand to the sky, and above his head, a huge purple circle began to be drawn as writings were made around it. “At my command, everyone attack, conjure without fear, this will be the strongest blow struck by all the adventurers present here.”

As the circle completed, the purple assumed chaotic colors ranging from pinkish to deep blue, from inside the circle, a material mixing all those colors emerged in the form of a tip while slowly revealing itself as a huge spear as large as the circle in the sky, which seemed to be the same size as the creature's skull.

Heavy steps were heard in the midst of that silence, and when Sief got up, he saw the same red-haired woman as before, she was smiling and carrying the same axe as before, but a reddish aura surrounded her body, and she positioned herself under the blonde, shouting with an excited tone.

“This is gonna be fucking awesome! Hey, Milo! Are you taking too long there?” She looked at the healer who trembled at those words but soon confirmed, saying. “Going!”

He pointed his staff at the gigantic monster, and a blue magic circle appeared at the tip of his staff as he muttered.

“Please...”

The circle glowed, and a blue plate appeared above the monster, quickly around it, several translucent hexagonal plates appeared and began to close a dome that trapped it inside, but at specific points, there were reinforced hexagons, and Kastor pushed his staff forward, grunting and making the circle shine even brighter.

In an instant, from those points, chains jumped and grabbed the monster, its arms and legs were pulled as chains from all directions sealed its trunk while pulling, trying to force the monster to be completely imprisoned and subdued.

Seeing that image, Freya laughed excitedly and plunged her axe into the ground, surprising Kastor who jumped back in shock, but soon heard the warrior shout.

“So you plan on just standing there? Then I'll give you all an incentive!!!” Her smile grew even wider, and her eyes shone red, she opened her powerful arms, and with force collided her fists, emanating a red aura that passed through everyone on the battlefield.

For a moment, Sief felt his vision flicker red, and like a huge torrential rain hitting his body, he was filled with energy, and like everyone else present there, he heard.

“I CALL THIS FORTITUDE!!!”

Once again, she shouted excitedly, and this time, the adventurers raised their weapons, joining in a chorus that echoed throughout the area, making even the ground tremble.

At that moment, auras of all colors began to emerge among the adventurers, bows were raised, and arrows glowed.

The staffs began to invoke magical circles in the sky, the swords also shone, and the auras of the warriors emanated throughout the area.

In front of everyone was the red-eyed hero with his sword drawn and exuding flames, maintaining a serious look as he said.

“It's starting.”

Sief felt as if the surroundings began to tremble due to all those presences, everything became deafening and shone even more intensely.

However, he heard a soft, barefoot step that seemed to resonate through the area, but only Sief turned his face and widened his eyes as he saw Beatrice coming out of the alley, with slow steps that seemed out of time while her face was focused on the trapped creature.

Slowly, the girl began to walk in mid-air and seemed to go directly to the monster, but Sief advanced, holding her wrist and stopping at her side, still panting and with a gleam in his eyes, but holding and saying.

“BEA!”

Sief had moved instinctively, and something alerted him that something was wrong; no matter how much he touched her and held her, it was as if she wasn't there, and even though she maintained her appearance, a feeling of strangeness took over the boy's body as he saw Beatrice slowly turn her face.

As she turned, she remained the same, but her hair seemed to float lightly, and her expression was confused, almost catatonic, while her left eye emitted a strong, bluish glow from which a bright tear flowed while she seemed to have no reaction.

Sief saw that image with confusion and disbelief stamped on his face, but once again, a metallic screech caught his attention, and as he turned to the creature, he saw the monster with both arms and the sword raised.

The siblings turned their faces towards the monster, which had changed its position without being contained by the chains, and Kastor retreated as Astrad frowned, the flow of live fire in his body seemed to accelerate insanely.

As if it were a sneeze, the monster's blade emitted a chaotic fire that seemed to fill the dome, causing some of the hexagons to explode, releasing the flames, and upon noticing, Astrad shouted.

“Before it attacks, let's eliminate it.” Hearing this, Sief felt danger coming from all directions, and with all his strength, he pulled Beatrice, who was dragged with him, while the blonde raised his other hand to the sky and shouted. “At my command!!!”

The mage's aura intensified, and his spear shone even brighter, the adventurers accompanied with all auras expanding and intensifying, but Sief continued to run without feeling the danger diminish.

But once again, silence was instilled, a loud sound resembling a cut appeared, and Sief had no time to turn his face, but somehow, he saw.

His body was fine, but it was as if he were facing that monster and everything was moving much slower, even though he saw in front of him, he also saw the monster and felt connected to someone, realizing that he was seeing through Beatrice's eyes a huge, shapeless cut, just a giant red line of flames, piercing the barrier that shattered like glass and making him feel the heat getting closer.

His steps seemed to have stopped in the air as the cut approached, but he hadn't stopped moving, and he just wondered as he saw the cut approaching, aiming for his body.

‘Why directly at us?’

A thunderous and disturbing sound took over all his senses, as if that sound destroyed every piece of his body, crushing and breaking it into several parts until everything went dark.

But even in the darkness, it was as if something still allowed him to hear a deafening explosion capable of bursting his eardrums if he still felt he had them.

Just as suddenly as it had come, the explosion disappeared without diminishing its sound until, in the end, everything was in complete silence.