The orc camp sprawled across the clearing like someone had copy-pasted a medieval fortress into the middle of a forest. Crude wooden walls, surrounded dozens of structures, with smoke rising from fires.
There were also sounds of fighting, something orcs love to do, they called it bonding.
"That's not three hundred hostiles," Kelvin said flatly.
Leo counted the visible orcs. Fifty just on the walls. More moving between buildings. The numbers didn't add up.
"Jin." He stepped closer to her. "Something's wrong here."
"Define wrong."
"The mana, it's thicker than it should be." He gestured at the camp. "And there's way more orcs than the survey said."
Jin's eyes scanned the camp, her expression unreadable. "Dungeon parameters do shift sometimes. Variance of ten to fifteen percent is standard, I do not see the problem."
"This isn't fifteen percent."
"The mana density is elevated, yes." She turned to face him. "But we're equipped for A-rank threats. Whatever's in there, we can handle it."
"That's not the point though, if something-"
"Leo." Her voice cut through his concern like a blade. "I've cleared over two hundred dungeons, many of them A-ranks, what makes you think this will be any different?"
He wanted to argue but what was he gonna say? She was S-rank, he was B-rank. She'd been doing this since day one of the fracture event.
Maybe he was just being paranoid.
"Yeah, okay."
"Good." She addressed the whole team. "Nelia, Yuki, you're on wall breach. Kelvin, Leo, with me. We go in fast, eliminate the chieftain, extract before they can organize a proper defense."
"What about the civilians?" Yuki asked. "If things go sideways and monsters break out..."
"The barriers will hold. No barrier has ever broke, never, so trust that they won't now." She drew her weapon, a simple blade that vibrated with spatial energy. "Thirty minutes in and out. Everyone ready?"
Leo sparked electricity around his hands, his body feeling charged and ready for action, but that nagging feeling wouldn't go away.
The mana here just felt wrong.
---
Rin watched the screen as Jin's team approached the camp. That vibration in his chest had gotten worse, like his heart was trying to beat in two different rhythms at once.
[Corruption level: 47%]
[Warning: Anomaly manifestation imminent]
[Estimated time until breach: 14 minutes]
"Fourteen minutes until what?"
[Dungeon integrity failure]
[The anomaly will attempt to merge with this reality]
"And that means?"
[Everything inside becomes real]
[Including approximately 600 hostile entities]
'Wait, six hundred? The survey said three hundred, no?'
[The survey was incorrect]
[Anomalies corrupt data collection]
Joy looked at him. "You're sweating. You good?"
"Yeah, just nervous for Leo."
"He'll be fine. He's got Jin with him."
On screen, Nelia and Yuki hit the walls. Nelia's blade cut through the wood while Yuki's barriers pushed out, creating an opening.
Orcs swarmed the breach immediately. Twenty, thirty of them, all screaming.
Kelvin went through first. An orc swung at his head with an axe. He caught the handle mid-swing, ripped it out of the orc's hands, and used it to cave in another orc's skull.
Leo followed, thrusting both hands forward and electricity arced into the crowd. Five orcs dropped, six, seven.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
Jin walked through last, completely calm. An orc charged her from the left. She sidestepped, her blade passing through its neck. The head hit the ground before the body did.
"They're so coordinated," someone behind Rin said. "This is what peak Hunter efficiency looks like."
But Rin was watching something else. In the background of the feed, between buildings, orcs were gathering. Not attacking, just watching. Their eyes tracked Jin's team with an intelligence that felt chilling.
'Can they not see that?'
[Corruption level: 53%]
[Anomaly influence: Active]
[Hostile entities demonstrating advanced tactical awareness]
"They're being herded," Rin said quietly.
"What?" Joy leaned closer.
"Look." He pointed at the screen. "The orcs aren't defending randomly. They're pushing Jin's team toward the center of the camp."
Joy squinted. "I mean, maybe? It's hard to tell with all the chaos."
'Come on, its so obvious.'
On screen, Jin's team carved through another wave. Kelvin threw an orc through a building. Leo's lightning turned three more into charcoal. Nelia moved like she was a ghost, cutting throats and hearts with surgical precision.
They were winning easily.
Too easily in fact.
The team reached the center of the camp where a massive structure stood, bigger than the others, with a skull mounted above the entrance.
"That's the chieftain's hall," Jin said through the comms. "Kelvin, breach the door. Leo, be ready with covering fire. Nelia, Yuki, watch our backs."
Kelvin grabbed the door and ripped it off its hinges. The wood exploded outward in splinters.
Darkness poured out.
This was not some shadow, nor the absence of light, but actual physical darkness that moved like liquid. It spilled onto the ground, spreading fast.
"What the fuck is that?" Kelvin stepped back.
Jin's expression finally shifted. "That's not supposed to be here."
[Corruption level: 71%]
[Anomaly manifestation: Complete]
[Classification: Void Tear]
[Threat assessment: SS-rank]
'Dammit, Leo.' Rin was starting to get nervous.
The darkness kept spreading, eating the ground wherever it touched. Orcs that got too close dissolved into nothing, ceasing to exist.
"Fall back!" Jin's voice came through sharp. "Everyone out, now!"
But the orcs had surrounded them. Hundreds of them, all pressing in from every direction. Not attacking yet, just blocking the exits.
"We're boxed in," Nelia said.
Leo's hands sparked with electricity. "So we punch through."
"Wait." Jin held up a hand. "Something's coming."
The darkness in the doorway shifted, condensed, and a figure stepped out.
It wasn't an orc.
It wore armor that looked organic, like it had grown instead of being forged. The helmet had no face, just smooth black metal that reflected nothing. In its hands was a sword that dripped void, droplets of darkness that ate holes in the ground where they landed.
"Designation?" Jin asked, her voice tight.
"That's not in any database," Yuki said, checking her tablet. "I've got nothing."
The figure tilted its head, studying them. Then it spoke, voice like a fork scraping on chalkboard.
"Hmm, four awakened and one S-rank. Acceptable challenge I suppose.**"
"It talks?" Kelvin readied his stance. "That's new."
"He is close... very close." The figure's helmet turned. Not toward Jin or the other Hunters, but up, directly at one of the camera drones hovering above the camp.
"I sense your presence, host."
Rin's blood went cold.
'No fucking way.'
"I am coming for you, wait for me."