The flames spread through Blackthorn, licking at the ancient stone buildings, smoke rising like specters into the night. Screams echoed through the streets as raiders cut down anyone who resisted. The city guard had collapsed in the first assault—either dead, bribed, or fled. The people of Blackthorn had learned long ago that when blood spilled, the only way to survive was to run.
But none of the four in the square were running.
Jaxon's symbiote body moved like a living shadow, tendrils striking out, latching onto raiders, and ripping them apart. His human body fought alongside it, a perfect mirror, steel and flesh working as one. A raider swung an axe at him. The symbiote lashed out, morphing into a clawed gauntlet that caught the blade mid-strike. Jaxon smirked as his other body drove a knee into the raider's gut, sending him staggering. The symbiote wrapped around the man's throat, lifting him effortlessly before crushing his windpipe with a sickening crack.
Kade moved through the battlefield like death itself. His Oblivion Chains slithered through the air, passing through armor and bone alike. A raider lunged at him, sword gleaming in firelight. Kade didn't move. His chains reacted first, weaving through the man's ribs and seizing his soul. The raider gasped, his body convulsing violently before collapsing, eyes empty. Another came at him with a spear—Kade's chains snapped around the weapon, wrenching it free before coiling around the man's throat. A single thought, and the raider's life was torn away.
Elias danced through the chaos, his enchanted cards flickering like fireflies. A card flew from his fingertips, glowing as it transformed into a spectral beast—half-lion, half-serpent. The summoned creature pounced, tearing into a raider, its claws slicing through flesh as if it were paper. Another raider aimed a crossbow at Elias, but a flick of his wrist sent a barrage of spectral daggers flying from his deck, each one piercing their mark. The raider slumped against the wall, dead before he hit the ground.
Reed stood at the heart of the battlefield, his Healing Domain pulsing outward. A wounded civilian stumbled toward him, bleeding from a deep gash in his side. Reed touched his shoulder, golden light sealing the wound instantly. But healing wasn't all he could do. A raider charged him, sword raised. Reed's hand flashed forward, touching the man's chest—and his own immune system turned against him. The raider's body convulsed violently, his breath hitching as a sudden fever burned through him, his own cells attacking him from within. He crumpled, coughing blood, his body shutting down as if struck by a plague. Reed stepped over the corpse, moving toward the next injured survivor.
The raiders fought desperately, but they weren't prepared for monsters like these.
Jaxon's symbiote ripped through the battlefield, a blur of shifting weapons and overwhelming force. Kade's chains coiled through the flames, strangling the last remnants of the enemy. Elias flicked another card, and a swarm of spectral crows descended upon a raider, pecking and clawing until nothing remained but tattered flesh. Reed walked through the carnage, ensuring no fallen raider would rise again.
The last of the raiders—a scarred man wearing the insignia of their leader—fell to his knees, his blade slipping from his grasp. He looked up at the four of them, his eyes filled with fear.
Jaxon stepped forward, his symbiote forming a jagged executioner's blade. "You started this," he said coldly. "We're finishing it."
Kade didn't wait. His chains lashed out, piercing through the raider's body. The man let out a strangled gasp as his soul was ripped away, his body falling lifeless to the ground.
Silence settled over the city. The fires still burned, but the battle was over. The raiders were dead.
The four stood among the ruins of Blackthorn, blood staining the cobblestone streets. They had fought separately. But now, something bound them together.
None of them spoke. They didn't need to.
Tonight, they had been enemies of the same enemy.
Tomorrow, they would see what that meant.