The battle descended into chaos as the few remaining Shackled Beasts inside the formation began stretching and shifting, desperately fighting for survival. The ruined courtyard echoed with snarls, clashing metal, and the thunder of claws crushing broken stone.
Dust drifted through shattered arches and broken pillars while the last trapped hounds hurled themselves against the defenders.
Beyond the funnel formation, at the open end of the battlefield where no defensive wall had been built, the fight was far more brutal. Here, warriors clashed directly with the beasts without the protection of shields or barricades.
"Hold the line!" a hobgoblin captain shouted.
A Shackled Hound lunged toward him, chains rattling violently across its body.
Before it could reach him, a living armor stepped forward with a heavy metallic stride.
CLANG!
The construct raised its shield just in time. The beast slammed into it, teeth scraping across enchanted steel.
A ghoul rushed in from the side, its clawed hands tearing into the hound's flank.
The beast shrieked and twisted violently, flinging the ghoul across the rubble.
"Now!" one hobgoblin barked.
Two of them rushed forward together.
Their cleavers swung low.
Both blades hacked into the creature's hind legs.
The hound howled as its balance collapsed. It slammed onto the stone with a heavy thud.
"Finish it!"
A living armor stepped forward again and drove its blade straight through the beast's neck.
The hound finally went still.
But the battlefield gave them no time to breathe.
More beasts were still fighting.
Elsewhere within the ruins, Theo fought alone.
A hound burst from behind a collapsed pillar.
Theo spun instantly.
"Dash!"
His body blurred sideways as the creature's jaws snapped shut where he had been standing.
"Too slow," Theo muttered.
The beast turned again, snarling as it stalked him.
Theo lowered his stance.
"Rattle of the Deep!"
His blade struck forward with a sharp crack of force.
The blow smashed into the beast's ribs, sending it skidding across broken stone.
Theo exhaled slowly.
"Alright… one more."
Another hound circled him cautiously, chains dragging along the ground.
"Come on then," Theo said quietly.
The beast lunged.
Theo stepped forward to meet it.
Not far away, another fight unfolded.
The hobgoblin with the red cloth across his face moved calmly through the battlefield.
A hound rushed him.
He didn't panic.
Instead, he shifted slightly to the side.
The beast's jaws snapped shut inches from his shoulder.
The hobgoblin drove his cleaver into its ribs.
The blade sank deep.
The hound twisted violently, trying to bite him again.
But the hobgoblin was already moving.
He pulled the weapon free and slashed across its throat.
The creature collapsed into the dust.
The hobgoblin wiped his blade once before glancing toward the distant edge of the battlefield.
Something heavy was moving out there.
Something big.
At the far end of the ruins—
Garth roared with laughter.
A Shackled Hound leapt toward him.
"Savage Charge!"
His armored boar exploded forward like a battering ram.
The impact hurled the beast through the air.
Garth swung his axe as it passed.
The blade carved through the creature and sent it crashing into a broken column.
"Ha! Who's next?!"
Another hound rushed him.
Garth leaned down from the saddle.
"Bone Grapple!"
His free hand seized the creature by its chain-covered neck.
With terrifying strength, he lifted the beast partially off the ground.
"Stay still!"
His axe came down.
CRACK!
The strike crushed the creature's skull.
Garth tossed the corpse aside with a laugh.
"Too easy!"
Then the ground trembled.
Garth turned.
The Alpha stepped into the battlefield.
The massive creature moved like a living nightmare. Six glowing eyes burned through the drifting dust while chains scraped across the stone behind it.
Nearby soldiers immediately backed away.
"Fall back!" someone shouted.
"Give them space!"
The Alpha suddenly lunged.
Not at Garth.
At Theo.
Theo barely had time to react.
The massive jaws opened wide.
Then—
Garth crashed between them.
His axe slammed against the Alpha's claw.
The impact rang like thunder.
Theo's eyes widened.
"Garth?!"
Garth glanced over his shoulder.
"What are you doing here, kid?"
The Alpha snarled and struck again.
Garth blocked with the shaft of his axe.
The force shoved him backward across the stone.
"Run!" Garth barked.
"But—"
"I said run!"
Theo clenched his jaw.
Then he retreated.
From the ruins he glanced back at the battle forming.
The Alpha lunged again.
Its claws ripped through the air with terrifying force.
Garth twisted aside at the last moment.
"Close!"
He swung upward.
With Axe Mastery, the strike slammed into the Alpha's shoulder.
The beast barely flinched.
It snapped its jaws toward him.
Garth ducked under the bite and kicked off the ground, dragging his axe in a heavy arc across the creature's side.
The Alpha retaliated instantly.
Its claws smashed into the ground, ripping chunks of stone loose as it lunged again.
Sparks flew as its strike scraped across Garth's armor.
Garth laughed.
"Yes! That's it!"
The boar beneath him charged forward again, slamming into the beast and forcing it back through the rubble.
Dust exploded around them as the two monsters clashed again and again.
Shiri narrowed his eyes toward the distant battlefield.
"Looks like Garth finally found the Alpha."
Kairo watched the massive shapes clashing across the ruins.
He nodded once.
"Good."
Then he spoke calmly.
"Onyx, go support him."
The warrior stepped forward.
Kairo's voice hardened slightly.
"The next phase of the plan has begun."
Onyx moved instantly.
He sprinted across the broken battlefield, boots striking shattered stone as he leapt from one collapsed pillar to another.
A Shackled Hound lunged at him mid-stride.
His blade flashed.
The beast dropped before it even landed.
Another rushed him from the side.
Onyx spun, cutting it down without slowing.
Ahead, the clash of titans shook the battlefield.
Garth roared with laughter as his axe slammed against the Alpha's claws.
The beast snapped back with monstrous fury.
Both surged forward again—
Then shadows rippled between them.
Onyx rose from the darkness, blade raised.
Theo saw him from the ruins.
His eyes widened.
"Onyx! He's here!"
"Shadow Bind."
Dark tendrils erupted from the ground and wrapped around the Alpha's legs.
The beast snarled violently as the shadows tightened.
Garth surged forward without hesitation.
His axe carved a brutal arc.
The force spun his entire body through the air before the blade crashed into the Alpha's shoulder.
Onyx followed instantly.
"Shadow Lance!"
A spear of condensed darkness shot forward and struck the Alpha's chest.
The impact forced the creature half a step back.
Garth had already raised his axe for another strike—
But the sudden shift in the beast's stance caused his blow to slam into stone.
"—Tch."
The Alpha roared and tore through the shadow bindings.
Onyx stepped again.
"Shadow Step."
His body flickered across the battlefield, appearing behind the beast.
"Black Armament."
Dark weapons formed around him in midair.
With a sharp gesture, they fired forward.
The shadow blades struck from multiple directions.
The Alpha lashed out wildly, claws smashing into pillars and tearing through rubble as it tried to reach them.
Garth swung again and again, his axe crashing down like a falling hammer.
Onyx moved like a shadow around the battlefield.
But once more—
The creature twisted under Onyx's attacks.
Garth's strike cut through empty air.
His grin faded.
"…Thanks," he muttered reluctantly. "I can handle it now."
But Onyx had already moved again.
"Shadow Bind."
The Alpha's legs were restrained once more.
Garth leaned forward.
"Savage Charge!"
His boar slammed into the beast's side.
The Alpha staggered but retaliated instantly, its claws ripping trenches through the stone.
Onyx vanished with Shadow Step to avoid a massive bite.
Garth raised his axe again—
But Onyx appeared beside the beast once more.
"Shadow Lance!"
The blast knocked the Alpha sideways.
Garth's axe struck nothing but air.
For a moment he simply stared at the empty space where the beast had been.
Then irritation flashed across his face.
He shoved Onyx aside with his shoulder.
"Stop getting in my way!"
To be continued...