Chapter 1505: Story 1505: The Devouring Swarm

The forest writhed alive with death. From every hollow and shallow grave, corpses clawed free, their moans rising into a single deafening chorus. The crimson fog thickened, blotting out the moon, turning the world into a suffocating furnace of shadow and hunger.

Kael’s sword was a blur, each strike severing limbs and skulls, but his strength bled with every swing. The wounds on his arm throbbed, black veins spreading from where the master had touched him. Each movement felt heavier, as if his very blood fought against him.

“Elara!” he barked, his voice raw. “That light you summoned—do it again!”

Elara’s breath came ragged. Her hands still glowed faintly with white fire, but the energy within her was unstable, threatening to tear her apart if she reached for it too soon. “I don’t know how!” she cried. “It came on its own!”

“Then make it come,” Kael growled, shoving his blade through a corpse’s chest and kicking it aside. “Because without it, we’re already dead.”

The swarm pressed closer. Clawed hands dragged at Kael’s cloak, skeletal teeth snapping at his throat. Elara raised her bow and loosed arrows as quickly as her trembling fingers allowed. Each shot felled a zombie, but for every one that dropped, five more lurched forward.

The master loomed in the distance, arms spread like a conductor before an orchestra of decay. Its laughter rolled through the fog, each note worming into Elara’s mind. “You cannot fight hunger,” it said. “You cannot fight inevitability. The dead will always outnumber the living.”

Elara felt her resolve slipping, panic gnawing at her heart. Then she saw Kael—bleeding, staggering, yet still holding the line with grim defiance. The sight struck something deep within her. The fire answered.

Her body convulsed as white flame erupted from her chest, searing the fog around her. The light scorched the corpses that reached for her, burning them to ash before they could touch her skin. Her scream tore through the night, both agony and power entwined.

The swarm recoiled, their movements faltering. Kael shielded his eyes, the brilliance blinding even him. When the glare softened, he saw Elara standing taller, her hands alight with fire that dripped like molten silver.

The master hissed, its shifting face distorting with rage. “Blood of the First Flame,” it spat. “I should have ended your line when I had the chance.”

Elara’s voice shook, yet her words carried strength not her own. “You can still try.”

She thrust her palms forward, unleashing a torrent of white fire. It tore through the horde, carving a burning path toward the master. Zombies shrieked as they crumbled, their bodies collapsing into cinders. For the first time, the master faltered, its form rippling as if the fire peeled away its cloak of shadows.

Kael staggered to her side, resting his weight against his sword. “That’s it,” he rasped. “Burn it down.”

But even as the flames struck, the master did not fall. Instead, it spread its arms wider, drawing the remaining dead into itself. Their bodies twisted and merged, forming a colossal shape of bone, sinew, and shadow.

The laughter returned, deeper and more terrible than before. “If you wish to face me,” it thundered, “then face me whole.”

Before them rose an abomination—a towering titan of corpses, its skull-like head crowned with writhing arms and screaming faces.

The battle had only just begun.