Dawn broke with a reddish and purple sky over Nexus Prime.
Smoke rose from the harbor where the first rifts had opened. Most of the streets that had been crowded with civilians evacuating were empty now, replaced by ranks of hunters who had been preparing for this moment since Solhart's warning.
They stood at the city's edge, facing the plains where Vorthraxx's vanguard was gathering. Thousands of them. Hunters from every guild, every rank, every corner of the human continent. The Crimson Fangs in their red coats. The Confederation in their battle-scarred armor. Gate Zero with their gleaming weapons and artificers. Glory Road at the center, with Solhart at their head.
The demon army stretched across the plains like a tide. Demonic beasts with too many limbs and too many eyes. Demons in battle formation, their purple skin slick with the corruption that had been building in their sealed continent for a thousand years.
