The gates stood open.
Beyond them, warm torchlight illuminated the wooden streets of the settlement.
From a distance, it almost looked peaceful.
People walked between the buildings.
Merchants were closing their stalls.
Children ran through the streets.
Guards stood along the walls.
Everything appeared normal.
Too normal.
Drek remained still.
His rifle was pointed toward the ground, but his finger stayed away from the trigger.
His visor continued scanning.
The system displayed information across his vision.
MULTIPLE HUMANOID LIFEFORMS DETECTED.
ARMED PERSONNEL: 37
MAGICAL ENERGY: PRESENT
FOREIGN MAGICAL RESIDUE: DETECTED
Drek narrowed his eyes.
Elara stood behind him.
Ushu remained beside her.
The guard captain smiled.
"Princess Elara, we have been searching for you."
Elara didn't move.
Her eyes remained fixed on him.
"Have you?"
The captain's smile weakened.
"Of course."
Drek looked at him.
"What's your name?"
The guard captain placed a hand over his chest.
"Captain Roderic. I command the settlement's defensive forces."
Drek nodded.
"And you're loyal to the Human Kingdom?"
Roderic immediately answered.
"With my life."
Drek stared at him.
His system scanned the captain.
A small window appeared.
TARGET ANALYSIS
Name: Roderic
Species: Human
Class: Warrior
Combat Capability: Moderate
Magical Capability: Low
Equipment: Standard Steel Armor
Threat Assessment: Moderate
Drek dismissed the information.
There was nothing unusual about him.
But the magical residue around the settlement remained.
Drek looked toward the walls.
"System."
"Yes, Major Drek."
"Scan the entire settlement again."
"Scanning."
A holographic map expanded across his visor.
Buildings appeared.
Roads.
Guard positions.
Magical energy concentrations.
Then several locations began glowing.
Drek's expression changed.
"That's strange."
Ushu looked at him.
"What?"
Drek pointed subtly toward the settlement.
"There are magical energy concentrations underneath the ground."
Elara's eyes widened.
"Underneath?"
Drek nodded.
"Something is beneath this settlement."
Captain Roderic noticed their hesitation.
"Princess?"
Elara finally looked at him.
"Captain Roderic..."
Her voice was quiet.
"Where is the settlement commander?"
The captain paused.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Drek noticed.
"He is inside the administrative hall."
Elara frowned.
"And my royal escort?"
Silence.
Roderic's expression became uncomfortable.
"Princess, perhaps we should discuss this inside."
Elara stepped backward.
"Where are my father's soldiers?"
Roderic didn't answer.
Drek immediately raised his rifle.
The guards surrounding the gate reacted.
Swords were drawn.
Several bows were lifted.
Ushu moved in front of Elara.
Her body lowered slightly.
Her eyes became sharp.
The atmosphere changed.
Drek spoke calmly.
"Nobody move."
The guards froze.
Roderic looked at Drek's rifle.
"You threaten the royal guards?"
Drek shook his head.
"No."
He looked around.
"I'm warning you."
The captain's expression hardened.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then a bell rang from somewhere inside the settlement.
DONG.
Everyone looked toward the center of the town.
Another bell rang.
DONG.
Elara suddenly became pale.
"That's the emergency bell."
Drek looked at her.
"What does it mean?"
"An attack."
Drek immediately turned toward the walls.
The guards began shouting.
People started running.
The peaceful streets instantly transformed into chaos.
"Close the gates!"
"Get everyone inside!"
"Archers to the eastern wall!"
"Prepare the defensive formation!"
Drek looked at the sky.
Nothing.
His system suddenly alerted him.
"Major Drek."
"Report."
"Multiple unidentified targets approaching."
Drek's visor zoomed.
Beyond the forest, movement appeared.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Something was moving between the trees.
Elara stared.
"What are those?"
Drek didn't answer immediately.
His system finished the scan.
"Humanoid entities detected."
"Species?"
A pause.
"Classification incomplete."
Drek's eyes narrowed.
Then the first creature emerged from the forest.
It was enormous.
Its body was covered in dark armor.
Its eyes glowed red.
A massive axe rested in its hands.
Behind it came more.
Dozens of them.
Then hundreds.
The settlement guards panicked.
"ORCS!"
Elara froze.
"Orcs?"
Drek looked at her.
"Are they supposed to be here?"
She shook her head.
"No."
Ushu stepped forward.
Her eyes narrowed.
"They aren't normal."
Drek activated the scanner.
The creatures' bodies appeared through his visor.
Their flesh was partially decayed.
Dark energy moved through their veins.
Some were missing pieces of their bodies.
Yet they continued walking.
Drek's expression became serious.
"Undead."
Elara looked horrified.
"Undead orcs?"
Drek nodded.
"Looks like it."
The first undead orc raised its axe.
Then it screamed.
A monstrous roar echoed through the forest.
The entire army charged.
The settlement guards fired arrows.
Hundreds of arrows filled the sky.
They struck the undead orcs.
Some arrows pierced their bodies.
But the creatures didn't stop.
They continued running.
The guards began panicking.
"They're not slowing down!"
"Keep firing!"
"They're almost here!"
Drek looked toward the walls.
The guards were inexperienced.
Many had never faced creatures like these.
Their hands trembled.
Some couldn't even hold their weapons properly.
Drek understood immediately.
This wasn't a trained army.
It was a settlement trying to defend itself.
He touched his earpiece.
"System."
"Yes, Major."
"Prepare the fighter."
"Fighter aircraft currently stationed with SLS. Ready for deployment."
"Keep it on standby."
"Confirmed."
Drek looked at Ushu.
"Stay with Elara."
Ushu nodded.
"What are you going to do?"
Drek raised his rifle.
"Buy them some time."
He walked toward the settlement wall.
Roderic stared at him.
"Human..."
Drek stopped.
"What?"
The captain looked toward the approaching undead army.
"Can that weapon actually stop them?"
Drek looked at his rifle.
Then at the army.
"Let's find out."
He raised the weapon.
The rifle's energy core began glowing.
A faint hum filled the air.
The guards stared.
Drek fired.
BOOM!
A blue-white projectile struck the ground in front of the undead army.
The explosion threw several undead orcs backward.
The guards stared in disbelief.
Drek fired again.
And again.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Each shot tore through the advancing creatures.
But there were too many.
For every undead orc that fell, another emerged from the forest.
Drek lowered his rifle slightly.
"System."
"Yes."
"How many?"
The system calculated.
"Estimated hostile count: 846."
Drek stared at the display.
"Eight hundred..."
He looked at the settlement.
Then at Ushu.
Then at Elara.
His expression hardened.
"That's going to take a while."
Ushu smiled faintly.
She stepped forward.
"Then I'll help."
Drek looked at her.
"Ushu—"
She disappeared.
Drek blinked.
"Where did she go?"
A scream came from the battlefield.
An undead orc suddenly collapsed.
Then another.
Then another.
Ushu moved between them like a shadow.
She didn't fight like a soldier.
She didn't stand and exchange blows.
She moved.
Strike.
Disappear.
Strike.
Disappear.
Her assassin instincts guided every movement.
She targeted joints.
Necks.
Eyes.
Weak points.
She never stayed in one place long enough for the undead to surround her.
Drek watched her through his visor.
The system analyzed her movements.
"Combat pattern detected."
Drek smiled.
"She's getting better."
Ushu jumped onto the back of an undead orc.
She drove her blade into the creature's neck.
The undead orc collapsed.
She immediately rolled away as another swung its axe.
The weapon smashed into the ground.
Ushu sprinted up the creature's arm.
She jumped.
Twisted in midair.
And landed behind it.
One precise strike.
The creature fell.
Ushu stood silently.
Then looked toward Drek.
She smiled.
Drek shook his head.
"Show-off."
Ushu laughed.
But then—
The ground shook.
Everyone stopped.
Drek looked downward.
The system issued a warning.
"Major Drek."
"What now?"
"Large energy source detected beneath the settlement."
Drek's expression changed.
The ground cracked.
A dark glow emerged from beneath the streets.
Elara looked terrified.
"What is happening?"
Drek looked toward the settlement.
"Whatever is underneath us..."
The ground split open.
"...it's waking up."
A massive roar erupted beneath the earth.
The undead army suddenly stopped attacking.
Every single undead orc turned toward the settlement.
Then they knelt.
All eight hundred of them.
Drek stared.
Ushu slowly returned to his side.
Elara stood frozen.
Roderic whispered:
"No..."
Drek looked at him.
"You know what that is."
Roderic didn't answer.
Drek raised his rifle.
"Captain."
Roderic swallowed.
"You need to tell me what is underneath this settlement."
The captain looked at Elara.
Then at Drek.
Finally, he whispered:
"The old kingdom built this settlement over something."
Drek's eyes narrowed.
"Something?"
Roderic nodded.
"Something that was never supposed to wake."
Another tremor shook the ground.
The settlement walls began cracking.
Drek's system suddenly displayed a new warning.
UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED
MATCHING UNKNOWN ENTITY DATABASE
Drek's face became completely serious.
The same enemy.
The same darkness.
The same energy that had followed him from Earth.
The Unknown was here.
Drek looked at Ushu.
Ushu looked back.
Then Elara.
The princess was trembling.
Drek raised his rifle.
Above the clouds, the alien fighter suddenly detached from the SLS.
Its engines ignited.
The aircraft began descending toward the battlefield.
Drek touched his earpiece.
"System."
"Yes, Major Drek."
Drek looked toward the cracking ground.
"Bring the fighter."
The system responded immediately.
"Confirmed."
A distant roar echoed across the sky.
The people inside the settlement looked upward.
Something was descending through the clouds.
Something unlike anything they had ever seen.
Elara stared at the approaching aircraft.
"Drek..."
He looked at her.
"What is that?"
Drek smiled faintly.
"My way of making sure we survive."
The fighter broke through the clouds.
Its engines illuminated the sky.
And beneath the settlement—
something ancient opened its eyes.