The room exploded into chaos.
 
Tables toppled, chairs slammed against walls, and plates shattered—fragments scattering across the floor like broken teeth.
 
A storm of glass howled through the Iron Fortress, the remnants of windows lying in jagged shards that glittered beneath the trembling lights.
 
The gust was a beast unleashed—frenzied, violent, cruel.
 
Nozomu moved first.
 
His hand swept forward, conjuring a wall of wind that clashed against the incoming blast.
 
The impact shuddered through the walls but held—just enough to prevent casualties.
 
But it didn't stop the fear.
 
The air reeked of panic. 
 
Beneath it all, the room still rang from the impact.
 
Theo gripped the edge of an overturned bench, his ears pounding—vision swimming.
 
Everything spun until a voice broke through the ringing.
 
"Aida! Are you okay?!"
 
Aeda had thrown herself around her sister, shielding her body.
 
"I-I'm fine," Aida stammered, shaking. "Thanks to you."
 
Curtis rushed over, eyes wide. "You two alright?"
 
"We're good. I think," Arthur said, pushing himself up beside Bryce.
 
"Speak for yourself," Bryce muttered, rubbing his head. "Pretty sure I landed on my face."
 
Curtis turned toward Clarissa, offering a hand.
 
She rose quietly, one arm around Mimi, shielding the trembling cat from the noise.
 
Glass crunched beneath her boots as she steadied herself.
 
"You alright?" Curtis asked.
 
Clarissa nodded, brushing strands of hair from her face.
 
"Nothing broken. Just rattled."
 
"Good. I'm glad."
 
She looked down at Mimi, still trembling in her arms.
 
"She's fine too," Clarissa said softly. "Hates the noise more than the glass."
 
Curtis exhaled, a shaky laugh breaking through.
 
Then his eyes swept the room.
 
"You three good?"
 
Dawn rose first, wincing as she brushed glass from her sleeve.
 
"We're alright."
 
Theo helped steady her while David scanned the broken windows, the night wind whistling through the breach.
 
"What the hell was that?"
 
Theo squinted at the open frame.
 
"Felt like a giant fan just dropkicked the building."
 
Nozomu stepped into view—backlit by the moon, framed by jagged glass and drifting fog.
 
"Listen carefully. We are under attack."
 
The words dropped like stones into still water.
 
Silence rippled outward.
 
Everyone froze—caught between disbelief and instinct.
 
Nozomu didn't shout, but his tone carried the weight of experience.
 
The kind of voice that had seen battle, bled in it, and survived.
 
"There's no time for questions," he continued, stepping through the shattered frame.
 
The moonlight traced the sharp lines of his clothing, painting him in silver and shadow.
 
"As of now, you're all recruits. That means you follow orders. You follow Captain Isabella."
 
His eyes swept the room like a storm scanning the coast.
 
Even Benny, usually quick with a retort, stood silent.
 
Theo's chest tightened.
 
His mind raced.
 
They weren't ready—hadn't trained for this.
 
But that didn't matter anymore.
 
Nozomu's hand brushed the shattered edge of the window.
 
"Isabella, I'm going to check on Pop."
 
"Yes, sir!" Isabella snapped to attention.
 
The warmth she usually wore was gone—replaced by sharp, tempered resolve.
 
Benny frowned, worry flickering across his face.
 
"I don't know what the hell's going on, but be careful out there."
 
Nozomu smirked faintly.
 
"Come on, Benny. You know I always minimize my risks."
 
That earned a quiet grunt from the older man, but no reply.
 
Nozomu's gaze passed over the recruits—each one meeting it, whether they wanted to or not.
 
"Recruits. This is your first mission. Your objective is simple."
 
His voice dropped lower, hitting like thunder.
 
"Survive. No one dies tonight. That's a direct order."
 
A rush of air burst through the room as he launched upward, vanishing into the night like a blade drawn into the dark.
 
Benny stared at the window long after he was gone, the sky swallowing him whole.
 
Stillness returned—cold and suffocating.
 
No one moved.
 
Except Isabella.
 
She stepped forward, her voice cutting through the fear.
 
"Recruits!"
 
Everyone straightened.
 
Her tone carried no hesitation, no trace of the girl they'd met days ago—only command.
 
"We have a mission! Fall in!"
 
---
 
Far beyond the fortress, under a fractured moon, Pop stood alone.
 
Parts of the forest had become a graveyard—charred roots, cracked soil, and the stench of smoke filling every breath.
 
At the center of the devastation, a crater glowed—a wound in the earth, rimmed with molten rock and hissing steam.
 
And from its depths, they came.
 
Creatures crawled through the smoke—hulking silhouettes, spines bent, skin blackened and veined with crimson light.
 
Eyes glowed like dying stars in cracked skulls.
 
Foam hissed from their jaws, searing the soil it touched.
 
They didn't walk.
 
They stalked.
 
Pop didn't move.
 
His hand rested on his sword, eyes narrowed.
 
Then a voice slid through the haze, smooth and cold.
 
"They won't miss next time."
 
Sedgwick emerged from the darkness, boots crunching over burnt branches.
 
Several soldiers flanked him—silent, armored.
 
Behind them walked Branch, his eyes glinting like knives beneath his eyelids.
 
"Surrender," Sedgwick said softly. "You're outnumbered. I've a hundred Devils at my back—and not an ounce of mercy in me tonight."
 
Pop drew his blade in one smooth motion.
 
The steel sang.
 
Sedgwick smiled faintly.
 
"Hand over the Iritheum Core… and maybe I'll let you beg for your life."
 
"You talk too much, Section Commander."
 
Sedgwick's expression soured.
 
"So be it... Attack."
 
The Devils lunged.
 
---
 
Inside the Iron Fortress, the dread echoed through the walls.
 
Isabella stood at the head of the table, fortress blueprints spread before her.
 
Benny stood beside her, arms folded, eyes scanning the map.
 
"Priority is civilians," Isabella said firmly. "Benny's workers and their families first."
 
David pointed to the blueprint.
 
"Main hall. One entrance, one exit. Easy to defend."
 
Benny nodded. "Smart lad."
 
"Agreed," Isabella said. "We move everyone there. That's our fallback until the Commander reports in."
 
Benny marked choke points across the map.
 
"Avoid these halls—weak structure. They'll collapse first."
 
Isabella rolled the blueprint closed and turned to her recruits.
 
"Squads of two. You stay with your partner. Watch each other's backs. If you see something—anything—you run."
 
She looked at each of them—Theo, Dawn, David, and the others.
 
Her voice softened, but never lost its edge.
 
"I know you're scared. So am I. But remember what the Commander said."
 
Her eyes burned with conviction.
 
" We survive. That's the mission. Your lives matter. Don't waste them."
 
The recruits stood taller.
 
Still afraid—but steady.
 
"Alright," Isabella said, pulling her cloak tight. "Let's move."
 
The hall doors opened, and the Iron Fortress embraced them whole.
 
---
 
Outside, the night burned.
 
Pop fought through the inferno—his blade carving arcs of silver through the air.
 
Devils fell by the dozen, but more kept coming, their movements twisted and feral.
 
"Dammit," he muttered, blocking a claw that sparked against his sword. "They keep getting up…"
 
The ground trembled beneath his boots.
 
Fire, wind, water, and stone erupted in chaotic bursts as the Devils unleashed their powers.
 
Pop ducked beneath a torrent of flame and countered with a burst of wind, slicing through the smoke.
 
They weren't random.
 
They were coordinated.
 
Elemental strikes converged—stone spears, fire blasts, torrents of water.
 
The forest erupted in light.
 
Trees shattered.
 
The earth split.
 
Pop shot skyward, dodging through the clouds—but a Devil caught him mid-air, restraining his ribs.
 
A sphere of energy gathered below—bright as a sun.
 
It ignited.
 
A blast cleared the airspace as it collided with Pop.
 
Sedgwick watched from below, arms folded, smiling faintly.
 
"Guess that takes care of him."
 
The light faded—then cracked again.
 
Pop burst through the smoke, cloak in tatters, eyes blazing.
 
He soared, cutting through the air like a blade.
 
Devils lunged from every side—he met them head-on.
 
Stone and flame clashed against steel and wind.
 
Pop dropped into the clearing, surrounded by a sea of Devils—hundreds of glowing eyes staring from the dark.

He tightened his grip on the blade, chest heaving, blood on his lip. 

"I'm getting real tired of this."

Then a gust of wind descended beside him—silent, clean.
 
Nozomu landed without a word.

 "Took you long enough. I sent a Whisper ages ago."
 
Nozomu's calm didn't falter.
 
"Hey!" Pop snapped. "I could've died out here!"
 
"But you didn't."
 
Pop gritted his teeth. "Unbelievable."

The two stood back to back as the horde closed in.

 "What exactly are we up against?

Pop cracked his neck.  "Trouble. Lots of it."

 Nozomu's eyes swept the horde.

Wind surged to life, screaming through the forest.

And for the first time that night, the real battle began.