The Glorious Evolution

He stepped over the totem and swung both chained fangs upward!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Ice exploded above his head as the weapons swept through the bombardment in overlapping circles.

Whenever one fang smashed a spear apart, the other was already intercepting the next... the chains whipped so rapidly that even the fragments were pulverized before reaching the idol!

Around him, the mercenaries weren’t having such an easy time.

One raised a protective barrier, only for three spears to strike the same point in succession. The first cracked it, the second broke through, and the third nailed him to the roof before he could step aside!

His companions retreated toward the stairwell, firing at Hicham through the falling ice.

He shifted his descent onto a slanted platform forming under his boots. Their attacks cut through its edge as he slid past, releasing another volley toward the totem.

Fang met it with a violent sweep of both arms!

BOOOM!

Crystallized frost erupted across the roof, swallowing the mercenaries, the idol, and the werewolf in a thick white cloud.

Hicham disappeared above it... Then, a small lighting device struck the roof in front of Fang.

FLASH!

Blinding light burst inside the frost cloud!

Fang shut his eyes instinctively, but the flash had already thrown his shadow across the tiles behind him.

Something emerged from it.

Blackthorn Shadow Arts: Dead Angle.

Ysara emerged at his back, Nightmare’s Dagger already sweeping toward the side of his throat!

She had timed her arrival with the flash, approaching while both chained weapons were still completing their outward swings... His arms were occupied, his eyes closed, and her blade was close enough to touch his fur.

For most enemies, it was the perfect textbook assassination that even Nurah learned under her.

Unfortunately... the instant Ysara regained her physical form, Fang caught her scent.

His neck muscles tightened... blood surged over his throat and hardened into a dark, metallic layer just as her dagger struck!

TING!

Sparks scattered through the frost.

The blade’s edge skidded across the hardened blood, cutting a shallow groove instead of opening his throat.

Ysara changed her footing at once... too late to withdraw cleanly.

Fang’s sinister grin appeared through the white dust as he turned with the failed strike. One chained fang curved past her shoulder, its chain following around her extended arm!

She knew what would happen if he pulled it tight.

Her arm would be torn out before she could make another attempt!

Blackthorn Shadow Ultimate: Formless Nightmare!

The chain closed through a woman-shaped cloud of misty darkness!

Fang pulled anyway, dragging his weapon through the shadow where her shoulder had been. His other hand swept through her head, scattering it across the roof... yet no blood followed.

The dark mist slipped between the tiles and vanished.

Across the street, Ysara emerged beside a broken chimney, her dagger still in her hand.

She took one breath before turning toward the hall. Fang had forced her ultimate with a single counterattack... approaching him again through the same method would be foolish.

Fortunately, Hicham had needed only that opening.

Winter Arts: Spear of Defiance!

A soft murmur came from high above the frost cloud.

Fang raised his head as a gigantic blue spearhead pierced through the black canopy! It was so massive; its size was bigger than the targeted building!

It kept descending, revealing Hicham standing on its broad, frozen butt.

Frost peeled from its sides in white streams... its point divided the dark vapor feeding the canopy without stopping the totem’s output... the idol itself had to be destroyed.

The Midnight Slayers had confirmed the surrounding buildings were empty of survivors. Those who could be saved had reached the evacuation route; the bodies left behind would have to be recovered afterward.

If destroying the hall brought back the sun, Hicham would destroy it in a heartbeat.

”THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF!”

Yet, Fang burst into wild laughter with his head bent backward... An illusory blood moon flared behind him, bathing the frost cloud in crimson as the blood he had consumed from the citizens and Daywalkers slaughtered nearby surged through his body, fueling his transformation!

His muscles swelled while his bones cracked inside his expanding frame... the cuffs around his wrists snapped and dropped with the chained fangs!

Blood Moon Sovereign Form!

In moments, his height had nearly doubled as the stolen blood fueled his swelling body, but maintaining the form would still burn his own lifeforce.

Fang scarcely cared... he was already digging his claws into the roof, preparing to launch himself straight at the falling spear!

But then... the Hound’s stern voice interrupted him.

’Withdraw... the Chancellor has diverted the flood. He’s heading to your position.’

Fang’s legs remained braced for the leap.

Above him, Hicham drove the spear lower. Across the street, Ysara had disappeared again.

Then the order reached the mercenaries too, and the last fighter guarding the stairwell abandoned his position.

Fang clicked his tongue in irritation.

He wanted to see whether the Frost Prince would keep that expression after being dragged off his own attack... but the chance to have fun was gone.

With the Chancellor joining them, the fight would only become harder to leave.

”FUCK!! THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!”

His furious roar thundered across several kilometers of the capital as he smashed his free fist through the roof.

Crash!

The remaining tiles collapsed under his weight, and Fang dropped through the shattered floor, following the mercenaries toward the Stygian Gate waiting below.

From the opposite roof, Ysara caught a final glimpse of his enlarged back through the opening he had smashed... then the darkness of the Gate swallowed him.

”He’s retreated.”

Hearing this, Hicham tried to arrest the gigantic spear’s descent... ice groaned under his feet as he pulled against its fall, wanting to reduce the impact now that the enemies had fled... but the weapon had already gained too much speed.

It was solid ice... with that much mass falling, cutting off his energy wouldn’t make it disappear.

He managed to slow it slightly before the point reached the roof.

Hicham threw himself onto a platform forming beyond the hall, raising an ice barrier against the approaching impact.

BOOOOOOM!!

The spear punched through the Vile Totem and the swollen black center was crushed before another pulse could escape.

Then the roof followed it down.

One floor collapsed into the next as the massive shaft drove through the hall, crushing its supports and burying the lower chamber under ice and shattered masonry!

Despite the destruction, the dark canopy began fading away across the capital.

Naima felt sunlight touch her face.

’They won? So fast?’

She looked up with a small frown as a golden opening widened overhead... then another appeared beyond the avenue, spreading until the darkness above entire districts dissolved.

The nightcrawlers noticed too.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 creatures abandoned their prey and scrambled for the buildings... a Tier 3 beetle shouted for those behind him to retreat, shoving a lesser creature out of his path as sunlight swept toward their group.

It reached the slower ones first.

Bodies caught fire across the streets... those still inside the shadows fought over narrow doorways, trampling their own wounded in the rush to reach the Stygian Gates!

”HUNT THEM DOWN!!”

The captains advanced after them, driving the fleeing creatures away from occupied shelters and toward the abandoned buildings.

Inside, the Spectral Response Corps followed with Radiant Lock totems.

Some nightcrawlers escaped into the Shadow Dimension while others found their Gates already sealed and turned to face the approaching Daywalkers with nowhere left to run.

The fighting continued... but the streets were finally being reclaimed.

At the western freight block, Hicham lowered an ice barrier after the last debris struck it... Beyond the ruined hall, a surviving window shook in its frame before dropping into the empty road.

The sirens were easier to hear now that the fighting was dying down.

Smoke rose from burning homes... another weakened building collapsed farther south, followed by an explosion that sent fresh emergency reports flooding the command channel.

Naima’s vines returned to lifting rubble, while Ysara sent her Slayers through the freight block to search for any mercenaries who had missed the retreat.

Under the restored afternoon sun, Heliodor could finally see the full extent of what had been done to it.

The capital was still standing... but the aftermath wasn’t pretty.

...

On the other side of the Gate, Fang emerged among the surviving mercenaries just before a crash shook the opening behind him.

Ice and broken masonry spilled through... the nearest fighters scattered as the dimensional passage disappeared, cutting off the sound of the collapsing hall.

Fang let the broken cuffs drop beside him. His body was already shrinking, the blood moon fading as he cut off the transformation.

”All that blood for nothing.”

Rain glanced at the ruined cuffs.

”You still managed to break something.”

”Tsk... It wasn’t enough.” Fang clicked his tongue in irritation.

”It’s a start.”

The Hound remarked calmly while opening the reports from the surviving scouts... he read that the capital’s defenders were occupied with fires, wounded citizens, and broken supply lines.

Behind them, more nightcrawlers fled through distant Gates, some still smoking from their brief exposure to the sun.

The Hound spared them no attention.

”We killed one of their governors and brought enough destruction that it will cripple their region for days.” The Hound smiled coldly. ”Regroup with the others and prepare for the next strike... Let them stay on high alert. We’ll see how long they can keep running from one alarm to another.”