The air thickened with malice. A low, guttural rumble echoed from the surrounding woods.
"Men, be ready. The enemy is upon us," Richard thundered.
He gripped his greatsword, lightning crackling around him and scorching the ground as he dismounted his horse.
"Protect the villagers. These beasts have returned to finish the job," he instructed as the knights dismounted.
Jasmine gripped her daggers, a sickly black fog emanating from her.
William hoisted his axe, a deep purple fire burning on the massive blade.
All around them, knights readied for battle.
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream tore through the camp. It came from one of the villagers, a sickly-looking man with hair white from age. His eyes glowed ominously, turning red. He lunged at a woman clutching her child nearby, swinging his arms—his fingers suddenly sharpening into claws that glistened like daggers in the light. He slashed her chest, blood spraying everywhere. The blood crept across the ground toward him, flowing into his body. His eyes glowed brighter, muscles tensed, and he seemed to grow taller.
The wounded woman screamed, scrambling away, her child lost somewhere in the chaos.
"It's a mind flayer!" Jasmine shouted.
An arrow whistled through the air and struck the possessed man in the temple, exploding in a blinding light.
The man let out a roar that no human throat should produce before being reduced to a pile of ash.
"Find the mind flayer," Richard commanded.
The healer from earlier sank to the ground cross-legged, muttering words in an ancient tongue. Light spread from him, forming a protective dome over the cowering villagers.
Roooooaaaarrrrrrr.
Multiple guttural roars echoed from the woods as abominations poured out, attacking the knights.
Jasmine dashed across the battlefield toward a pack of beasts. They were grotesque hybrids—a cross between lion, snake, and rhino. Thick hide was covered by a lion's mane from the head to the middle of the back. Jagged spines protruded along their vertebrae. Scaled legs carried them with frightening speed, while snake-like tails lashed behind them. Their heads bore cobra-like hoods flaring in threat.
These abominations were Bloodmanes—beasts of pure savagery and gore. They stood five meters tall and moved with a speed that belied their massive frames.
Jasmine moved faster than sound, slashing one Bloodmane across the leg. Its flesh immediately corroded. She stopped in the center of the pack and exploded into a purplish-black fog, engulfing the monsters. They roared and screeched as they inhaled the toxic mist, which ate away at them from the inside.
William, on the other hand, was swarmed by a pack of hellhounds, flames licking their paws as their steps melted the ground.
"So you want to fight fire with fire? Bring it on!" he roared, hefting his massive axe and bringing it down on a charging hellhound. The beast split in two before both halves burst into flames and crumbled to ash.
The hounds opened their mouths, spraying torrents of fire at him. William hurled his axe at a particularly large hound, then raised his hands. Hundreds of fireballs formed above him before slamming down on the pack.
The fireballs exploded in a raging inferno, the shockwaves flattening everything nearby to rubble.
All around them, knights fought raging beasts, protecting the villagers sheltered within the glowing dome of light.
Richard hurled lightning bolts that crackled through the battlefield, vaporizing monsters and reducing the pressure on his soldiers.
Suddenly, the sky lit up as giant flaming boulders began falling.
"BARRIER!" Richard shouted.
The earth trembled and rose at his command. Massive walls of rock enclosed the battlefield in a protective dome. Outside, towering pillars of earth shot upward to intercept the falling boulders.
They met in cataclysmic explosions that rattled the ground, shockwaves hammering the rocky barrier and sending cracks spider webbing across its surface.