The ground trembled beneath their feet as the last stones of the tower crashed behind them, a dying monolith swallowed by dust and fire. The team stood on cracked pavement, the ruined skyline of the city before them. Buildings leaned like broken bones, windows shattered and corrupted vines pulsed with blinking light across the walls like veins on a corpse.
The sky above no longer flickered. It burned a twisted void of crimson and purple code and glitching stars blinking like dying fireflies.
The sky felt alive.
Watching.
Ryker gripped his hands very hard. The false sun overhead cast no warmth.
"They are coming," Sasha said, her eyes scanning the horizon. Her daggers glinted like twin fangs.
Dozens,
No, hundreds of them were slowly walking through the distant ruins. Humanoid monsters, former students twisted by the simulation's decay, their bodies deformed by data corruption. Their imbs elongated, eyes empty and glitching code trailed their movements.
"I count over a hundred," Dean muttered grimly. "And that's just from this angle."
"We can't take them all head on," Arthur said, his sword drawn.
Ryker's eyes narrowed. "Then we don't."
"We hit hard, we hit fast. We carve a path towards the west, toward the central plaza. If the map is accurate then the main control node is there."
Lia wiped sweat from her brow. Her flames still crackled faintly. "And if it's not?"
"Then we die," Ryker said simply. "But slower than if we stand here."
Lucas grinned. "That is the most inspiring thing you have said all day."
Arthur raised his sword. "Form up. We break their ranks and keep moving."
The corrupted swarmed closer, their glitching shrieks growing louder.
The battle has begun.
.
.
.
"EARTH BASTION" Dean roared, slamming his palms to the cracked street.
Massive walls of stone erupted from the ground, dividing the enemy ranks and creating choke points.
"Thunder Steps"
Lucas zipped ahead like lightning, his spear flashing. He cut through the corrupted with rapid, electric slashes. His every strike is precise and brutal.
Swoosh!!!!
Sasha's form vanished and reappeared between targets, slicing tendons, cutting spines, never staying still.
"Scorching Embers"
Lia rained fire balls across the battlefield, the burning trails igniting pools of code ooze left by the corrupted.
Ryker moved behind them, casting support spells with sharp precision.
"Luminous Barrier"
A dome of golden light formed around Dean as a corrupted brute lunged at him with an axe like arm.
"Radiant Mend"
Sasha's shoulder healed mid dash, her strength restored just in time to block a sneaky strike from behind.
The battle became a blur of motion and magic. They fought like a machine, each of their movement calculated, every skill landing onto their target. The synergy between them had grown in the crucible of the simulation.
But the enemy adapted.
Suddenly, corrupted tendrils burst from beneath the ground, skewering through Dean's barrier and nearly impaling Arthur.
"New variants" Ryker warned.
"Cut the roots," Arthur barked.
"Blazing Vortex"
Lia spun and launched a ring of fire that severed the tendrils, buying them precious seconds.
Then,
REEEEEHHHHHH!!
A massive corrupted behemoth charged from the rear ranks. It was easily twice the size of the others, plated in jagged black armor and glowing with corrupted runes. Its roar sent a blast of corrupted wind across the street.
Lucas was the first to engage, zipping in with his spear, but the behemoth swatted him aside like a fly.
Crash!!
Lucas slammed into a car and tumbled over the hood. Blood trickled from his temple.
"LUCAS!!" Lia screamed.
"I've got him….." Ryker said, moving forward.
But the behemoth charged again.
"Hold the line" Arthur yelled.
"Burning Nova"
Lia unleashed her trump card again but this time, the behemoth raised a jagged arm and absorbed the fire. Its core pulsed, growing stronger.
Ryker's eyes widened.
"It's feeding off magic."
"Then let's not give it any" Dean growled.
He rushed forward, forming a massive stone hammer.
Bam!!!
The hammer slammed into the behemoth's knee, staggering it but the creature responded by hurling Dean into a wall with a backhanded blow.
"Dean" Lia shouted, rushing toward him.
Ryker reached Lucas and quickly activated a mass healing skill.
"Sacrificial Restoration"
Golden waves of light burst out from him, mending broken bones and healing minor injuries across the team.
Lucas groaned, "Still alive…"
"Then fight."
The behemoth raised both its mutated arms and slammed them into the ground.
BOOOOOM!
A shockwave erupted. Buildings cracked. The street splintered.
"Sanctuary Veil"
Ryker activated Sanctuary Veil, shielding the team just as rubble crashed down around them.
Then Arthur moved.
With Voidfire crackling around his sword, he dashed through the falling debris, his aura flaring.
"Cover me"
Sasha and Lia moved instantly. Sasha drawing attention with swift strikes and Lia creating a burning wall between Arthur and the behemoth.
Arthur's sword gleamed. He whispered something Ryker barely caught.
"For the ones we lost."
He leapt, blade overhead, Voidfire dancing like a storm.
"Voidfall Slash"
The blade came down in a perfect arc, carving into the behemoth's neck.
Crack!!
Crack!!
BOOM!!
The creature's head rolled from its body. The glitching core in its chest dimmed.
Silence.
Arthur fell to one knee, panting.
Ryker helped him up.
"One hell of a swing."
Arthur smirked weakly. "Thanks."
The team gathered again battered but alive. The corrupted army had slowed. They were regrouping.
"We move now," Ryker said. "This will only get worse."
They pushed westward, sticking to the broken streets and using alleyways to evade the worst clusters.
As they reached a ruined bridge leading into the central plaza, Ryker suddenly stopped.
He saw it.
A figure watching from the rooftop across the way. Clad in red, unmoving. No face. No identity. Just presence.
It didn't attack. It just raised one hand.
A single finger pointed at Ryker.
Then it vanished.
"What did you see?" Sasha asked.
Ryker didn't answer immediately.
He turned back to the team.
"Change of plans"
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What now?"
Ryker's voice was quiet, but certain.
"We aren't just surviving this simulation anymore."
"We are going to kill whoever's behind it."
And as the red sky pulsed again, the city around them groaning like a dying machine, the team marched forward.
The prey were done running.
Now, they were the hunters.