Three creatures hit the ground at once.
The pavement cracked under their unstable weight.
They looked human only from far away.
Up close, their bodies were wrong in ways the eye struggled to understand.
Arms shifted position.
Faces blurred between expressions.
One creature had two shadows moving in different directions.
The crowd scattered immediately.
Glass shattered as people fled into nearby buildings.
Only a few remained.
Kai.
Aris.
Lira behind a barrier.
And the three creatures.
---
The first one lunged.
It moved like a glitch in a recording — skipping forward rather than running.
Kai stepped sideways just before it reached him.
The creature slammed into the fountain, shattering stone.
Water exploded into the air.
"Still not fully real," Kai muttered.
Aris swung the metal rod again.
The strike passed halfway through the creature before connecting.
It staggered.
"Then make it real again!" she shouted.
Kai focused.
The warmth in his chest surged outward.
For a moment, the air around the plaza tightened.
The fracture above pulsed in response.
The creature's body stabilized for a second.
Solid.
Aris struck again.
This time the hit landed cleanly.
The creature collapsed and began unraveling like the first one.
One down.
---
The second creature attacked from the side.
Kai barely blocked it.
Its hand passed through his shoulder for a moment before snapping back into place.
The pain came half a second later.
He gritted his teeth.
"That's unpleasant."
Aris kicked the creature away.
"You're welcome."
"Appreciated."
---
The third creature didn't rush.
It stood still.
Watching.
Its head tilted slowly as if analyzing them.
Lira's voice trembled from behind the barricade.
"It's learning."
Kai noticed the same thing.
The creature had seen what happened to the first two.
It stepped backward.
Toward the seam.
Trying to stay unstable.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"Not happening."
He stepped forward again.
The warmth inside him surged harder than before.
The fracture responded instantly.
Light rippled across the sky.
Reality tightened.
For a moment the entire plaza felt heavier.
The creature flickered violently.
Trying to resist.
Kai pushed harder.
Forcing alignment.
The creature screamed — a terrible sound like broken echoes colliding.
Then it became fully solid.
Aris didn't hesitate.
She swung the metal rod with everything she had.
The impact shattered the creature's chest.
It unraveled into fragments of light and dust.
Gone.
---
Silence fell over the plaza.
Kai staggered slightly.
The warmth faded quickly now.
Too quickly.
Aris caught his arm.
"You look terrible."
"Compliment accepted."
"That wasn't a compliment."
He glanced at the closed seam.
"You noticed the third one?"
"Yes."
"It was adapting."
Aris nodded slowly.
"That's what worries me."
---
Lira approached carefully.
Her notebook shook slightly in her hands.
"You just fought three creatures from another reality."
Kai shrugged weakly.
"Busy afternoon."
She stared at him.
"That's your response?"
"I'm conserving dramatic reactions for later."
Despite herself, she laughed once.
Then her expression turned serious again.
"What happens when ten come through?"
Kai looked up at the fracture.
The shadow inside it had grown again.
Not large.
But noticeable.
"…Then we stop pretending this is a local problem."
---
Across the city, more alarms echoed.
On the Archive monitors, new seams appeared.
Marrow studied the data silently.
Serah stood beside him.
"Three creatures destroyed in Sector Eight," she said.
"Yes."
"And more forming elsewhere."
Marrow nodded.
"Of course."
Serah looked at the screens.
"This isn't testing anymore."
Marrow's voice dropped.
"No."
"It's escalation."
---
High above Veyra, the fracture pulsed again.
And the shadow behind it moved.
Closer.
---
— End of Chapter 35 —
---