"Parasites," Captain Astra muttered, gripping her weapon tightly as she stared at the shifting, writhing black substance left behind by the creatures.
Kalem frowned, nudging a fragment of the dissolving mass with the tip of his boot. "That's what you call a parasite?"
"Yes," Astra replied. "Though this is unlike any we've encountered before."
Serka crossed her arms. "You know about these things?"
"Well," Kalem muttered, "I've heard people call each other parasites before—does that count?"
Serka gave him a flat look. "Your lack of knowledge on insults aside, just keep that fire sword ready."
Kalem responded by resting a hand on the hilt of the Burnt Blade, a sword designed to channel his mana into flames. He had no reason to use his serrated whip for this fight—fire was the best counter against something like this. The whip would have its use elsewhere.
Serka turned her attention to Astra again and whispered, "By the way, I heard that all Legion soldiers have high-class enchanted gear… but I don't see anything unusual on them."
Astra smirked slightly. "We do."
Serka blinked. "Then where—?"
Before she could finish, the remaining fragments of the parasites shuddered—and something else started moving.
The dark substance was shifting, as if reacting to their presence. Thin strands of it stretched toward the corpses littering the battlefield, curling around exposed flesh and slipping into open wounds like grotesque tendrils.
Kalem instinctively took a step back. "That… doesn't look normal."
"No, it doesn't," Astra agreed. She turned to the rest of the unit. "Burn them."
A chorus of affirmative grunts followed as the soldiers moved in coordinated precision. Their weapons shimmered faintly—at first glance, they looked like standard steel, but when one of them slashed downward, Kalem saw the faint, nearly invisible runes flicker across the blade's surface.
Serka noticed it too. "Ah. So that's where the enchantments are."
Astra nodded. "Standard-issue for Legion troops. They don't glow like some decorative relic. Practicality over theatrics."
Flames erupted as the enchanted weapons did their work, cutting through the lingering remnants of the parasites. The fire didn't just burn—it seemed to disrupt the black substance entirely, causing it to writhe violently before turning into useless ash.
Kalem studied the way the runes functioned, noting how they activated only when in contact with the enemy. Efficient.
Still, something felt off.
"Did the scouts report seeing anything like this before they went missing?" he asked Astra.
"No," she said grimly. "They mentioned movement, but nothing specific."
Kalem exchanged glances with Serka. "Then we have a problem."
The last of the parasites had been burned away, but the atmosphere remained heavy. The mission was only supposed to be reconnaissance—yet the presence of these parasites suggested something worse had slipped past the frontlines.
Astra turned to the others. "We move. Keep your weapons ready. If these things attacked the previous scouts, there's a chance we'll find them before we find out what's responsible."
Kalem tightened his grip on his sword.
The blackened field behind them smoldered, the scent of burned flesh still lingering in the air. The recon unit moved carefully, following the trail of the infected scouts deeper into the abyssal frontier.
Kalem kept his senses sharp.
Onyx, the bull pulling his cart, snorted uneasily. His ears flicked back, as if hearing something ahead.
Kalem immediately stopped.
"Wait."
The group froze, weapons at the ready. Astra signaled for silence, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword.
The wind shifted.
And then—
A low clicking noise came from the darkness ahead.
Click. Click. Click.
Kalem's grip on his weapon tightened.
"Did anyone else hear that?"
Serka nodded slowly, reaching for her stilettos. "Yeah. That didn't sound human."
From the shadows, something shifted.
Something big.
Kalem exhaled. "Here we go again."
Before anyone could react, a massive shape emerged from the abyssal mist—a hulking figure, its skin covered in pulsating black veins. Unlike the infected scouts, this one was fully transformed.
The parasitic tendrils had completely overtaken its body, forming armor-like growths across its flesh.
Astra cursed under her breath. "That's not a scout. That's a soldier."
Kalem immediately understood.
This was one of their own, twisted beyond recognition.
The thing's head twitched unnaturally, its empty eyes leaking black ichor. It opened its mouth, but instead of words, a horrible, wet gurgling noise came out.
Then it charged.
Astra barely dodged in time, rolling to the side as the creature's massive arm slammed into the ground where she had been standing. The earth cracked, dust flying into the air.
"Formation!" she barked.
The recon unit scattered, moving in practiced precision, but Kalem could tell—this fight was going to be a lot harder than the last.
Serka dashed to the left, launching her stilettos at the creature's exposed joints. The blades pierced the flesh, but the parasitic veins shifted, redirecting the impact.
It didn't even slow down.
Kalem took a step forward, raising his whip. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."