The transport moved west through the gray morning, its wheels grinding over roads cracked and damaged by the Cleansing’s earthquakes. Nathan sat near the front with Moonlight across his knees, while the Tyrant’s Eye moved restlessly.
The eastern sector was now behind them. Its fires were slowly dying as the TCA’s teams worked to contain the damage.
But the western front was still burning and the party was heading straight into it.
Smithy sat away from the others, his Void Eel resting in his lap. Its ghostly body passed through his legs as it moved restlessly. He hadn’t spoken since the debriefing.
He seemed to understand that the others tolerated his presence but didn’t trust him yet.
If he wanted their trust, he would have to earn it. If they ever gave him the chance.
Nathan’s three summons were in their small forms—Mirko on his shoulder, Kuro in his jacket pocket, Shiro perched with regal stillness on his head. Their presences hummed through the link, alert and focused.
Garrett was checking Volcan for the tenth time. "Western front," he said quietly. "Different terrain. Different enemies. Same fight."
"Same fight," Dillon agreed. Cloudy was coiled around his shoulders, her scales crackling faintly. "Just more of it."
Elise sat near the window, Aurora’s Heart gleaming softly. "The western sector has been under Court control for longer. Smithy’s intel suggests they’ve had time to entrench, to fortify their positions. The eastern command was caught off-guard. The western command won’t be."
"Then we make sure they don’t see us coming," Nathan said. "We hit fast. We hit hard. We don’t give them time to react."
Smithy spoke for the first time, his voice quiet. "The western command is led by a woman named Morrigan. Her class is similar to a Dominator like Fester, but weaker—her control range is smaller, her legion is smaller. But she’s smart. Cunning. She’s been preparing for a counterattack since the eastern sector fell."
Nathan turned to face him. "What can you tell me about her?"
Smithy’s eyes were distant, troubled. "She was one of the first to embrace the mutation process. Not just for her summons—for herself. She’s been enhanced. Faster. Stronger. More ruthless. She commands from an old supply depot in the canyon network, where the Court’s been manufacturing mutation crystals. Destroy the depot, and you cripple the western operation."
"Mutation crystals?" Garrett asked.
"The source of the corrupted summons’ power," Smithy explained. "The Court grows them using Tower mana and blood magic. The sigils you saw in the mine—those are the focal points. The crystals amplify the mutation process. Without them, the corrupted summons lose their power. They become... unstable. Vulnerable."
Nathan filed the information away. "Then the crystals are our primary target. We take out the depot, we break the western command, we move on to the next sector."
"You make it sound simple," Smithy said quietly. "It won’t be."
---
The western land looked like a giant wound.
The eastern sector had been full of farms and hills, but the western area was rough and broken. Rust-colored canyons cut through the land, while huge mesas rose from the ground like the backs of buried giants. Wide stretches of gray wasteland seemed to continue forever.
The sky was a darker red here, filled with smoke and ash. Fires from the Cleansing burned on every horizon, and the air tasted like metal and old blood.
The transport dropped them at the edge of the canyon network, and the party proceeded on foot. The canyon walls rose on either side, their surfaces carved by wind and time into strange, alien shapes. The ground underfoot was loose stone and ash, and every step seemed to echo too loudly in the silence.
Smithy moved with the party now, his Void Eel drifting beside him. "Morrigan will know we’re coming. Fester would’ve been warning his commanders since the foothills. She’ll have patrols out. Operatives. Corrupted creatures." He paused. "And the Reaver."
"The Reaver?" Dillon asked.
"One of Fester’s experiments. A Climber who underwent the mutation process voluntarily. He was once human but now he’s a mindless weapon. He’s Morrigan’s enforcer. Her blade. He’ll be the hardest thing here to kill."
Nathan exchanged glances with his party. "We’ve killed corrupted Pyre Wyrms. True dragons. Dominators’ legions. We’ll handle it."
The canyon ambush came without warning.
They were moving through a narrow passage when the corrupted creatures attacked—not organized Court summons, but wild monsters driven mad by the Cleansing’s ambient magic. They came from the shadows, from the cracks in the canyon walls, from the broken rock underfoot.
"Contacts!" Nathan called. [Hunter’s Insight] flared. "Defensive formation!"
The party moved with practiced teamwork. Mirko changed into her humanoid form, Dragon’s Fang burning brightly. Shiro used [Dragon King’s Ascension] to charge into the fight, then smashed a Hound’s skull with [Tyrant Dragon Fist]. Kuro appeared behind a serpent, her Silence and Stillness flashing as she attacked. Garrett and Red protected the rear while Volcan attacked with explosive force. Dillon and Cloudy cleared the sky. Elise used [Glacial Lance] to freeze a group of creatures solid.
Nathan fired Moonlight—THWIP-THWIP-THWIP. Each [Mana Arrow] hit its target.
The D-Rank mana flowed easily through his body.
He fired again and again without counting his shots or worrying about running out of mana.
He had no fear of running dry.
The battle was over in minutes. The corrupted creatures lay in dissolving heaps, their dark energy bleeding into the canyon floor.
Smithy watched the party with something that might have been respect. "You’re stronger than I remember. All of you. Fester really did underestimate you guys."
"Fester underestimated us at the Keep too," Nathan said. "And at the foothills. He’ll keep underestimating us until we put him in the ground."
Smithy’s expression was unreadable. "These creatures were drawn to the mutation crystals. The depot’s influence is spreading. We’re close."
Nathan nodded. "Then we move faster."
---
The depot rose from the canyon wall like a tumor.
It was a fortified structure of dark stone and twisted metal, built into the rock itself. Grey banners with the broken-eye sigil hung from the ramparts, and the air around it shimmered with the sickly purple light of mutation magic. Operatives in grey robes patrolled the perimeter, their corrupted summons prowling at their sides—Hounds with too many limbs, Hawks with too many eyes, Constructs of twisted metal and pulsing dark veins.
And at the center, visible through the main gate, a massive mutation crystal pulsed with sickly light. It was enormous—the size of a small house, its surface crawling with dark sigils that writhed and twisted like living things. The corrupted summons drew power from it, their bodies resonating with its corrupt frequency.
"That’s their source," Smithy said quietly. "The crystal. Destroy it, and their summons lose power. But it’s guarded."
Nathan surveyed the defenses through [Hunter’s Insight]. "How many operatives?"
"Twenty, maybe more. Plus their summons. And the Reaver."
"Where’s the Reaver now?"
Smithy pointed toward the depot’s main gate. A figure stood there—tall, broad-shouldered, its body warped by mutation. Its skin was grey and cracked, shot through with pulsing purple veins. Its eyes burned with mindless fury. Extra limbs sprouted from its shoulders—vestigial arms that twitched and grasped at the air. It held a massive blade of twisted metal in its primary hands, and its corrupted summon—a Hound the size of a small house—crouched at its side.
"That’s him," Smithy said. "The Reaver. He’ll be the hardest thing here to kill."
Nathan studied the depot, the crystal, the Reaver, the operatives. Then he turned to his party. "Here’s the plan."
---
The party huddled in the shadow of a rock formation, the depot looming in the twilight. Nathan traced the layout in the ash at their feet.
"Dillon and Cloudy—aerial reconnaissance. Find us a blind spot in their patrol pattern. Kuro—infiltrate and mark priority targets. Don’t engage until the assault begins."
’Understood, Summoner.’ Kuro vanished into the shadows.
"Mirko, Shiro, Garrett—frontal assault. Draw their attention. Make them commit to the north gate. Red supports Garrett. The Frost Golem supports Mirko and Shiro."
"Hmph! This Knight shall be the tip of the spear!" Mirko raised Dragon’s Fang. "Let them tremble!"
"The Young Lord’s enemies will fall," Shiro added quietly.
"Elise—freeze the perimeter. Create barriers to funnel their retreat. I’ll target the crystal with [Starfall Barrage] and [Death’s Homing Compass]. Once the crystal’s down, their summons weaken. That’s when we push."
"And me?" Smithy asked quietly.
Nathan met his eyes. "You fight with us. And you prove you’re on our side."
Smithy nodded slowly. "I will."
"One more thing," Nathan said. "The Reaver. We don’t let it reach the crystal. If it gets between us and our target, we take it down together. Focus fire. No heroics."
Garrett cracked his knuckles. "No heroics. Got it."
Dillon grinned. "I make no promises. But I’ll try."
The party prepared. The depot loomed in the gathering darkness. The mutation crystal pulsed like a dying heart, its corrupt light casting long shadows across the canyon walls.
Nathan nocked an arrow. "Let’s end this."
The Western Front began.
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