Chapter 11 — The Breach
The alarms began at dusk.
Three heavy bell strikes echoed across Ashvale.
Slow.
Deep.
Wrong.
The sound rolled through the village like a warning from the sky itself.
Zero looked up immediately.
For one brief moment—
everything stopped.
Farmers froze in the streets.
Merchants turned sharply toward the southern gate.
Children stopped laughing.
Then panic erupted.
"Beasts!"
"South perimeter!"
"Get inside!"
Villagers rushed through muddy streets while lanterns flickered violently beneath darkening skies. Doors slammed shut one after another as hunters grabbed weapons and essence cores from nearby storage houses.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Ashvale no longer felt warm.
It felt hunted.
Zero stood near the village well watching people run past him.
His chest tightened faintly.
Not fear.
Instinct.
Something felt wrong.
Klaus appeared moments later, breathing heavily.
Crimson essence flickered faintly around him.
"They broke through the southern forest line."
Zero frowned.
"How many?"
Klaus shook his head.
"No count yet."
That was bad.
Hunters always estimated numbers.
Always.
If nobody knew—
then the situation was already worse than normal.
Another bell rang.
Then Elias emerged from the crowd wearing worn leather armor while tightening the straps around his forearm guard.
Rainwater darkened his black hair slightly now.
But his expression remained calm.
Too calm.
The kind adults wore when they were afraid but refused to show it.
Mira walked beside him carrying medical supplies and bandages already prepared. Her movements looked composed.
Only her trembling fingers betrayed her.
Elias stopped in front of them.
"Klaus."
The red-haired boy straightened immediately.
"Yes sir."
"You stay in the village center with the newly awakened dominators."
Klaus nodded.
Then Elias looked toward Zero.
And hesitated.
Just slightly.
Zero noticed immediately.
Because he always noticed.
No essence.
No affinity.
No awakening.
Even now—
he was still the weak one.
"…Stay close to your mother," Elias said quietly.
Something cold twisted inside Zero hearing that.
Weak.
Again.
But he only nodded silently.
Elias placed a hand briefly on his shoulder afterward.
Firm.
Steady.
Then he turned toward Mira.
Their eyes met.
Words passed silently between them in that single glance.
Come back alive.
Stay safe.
Neither needed to say it aloud anymore.
Then Elias exhaled slowly before turning toward the southern gate.
Dozens of hunters gathered there already.
Weapons drawn.
Essence flickering.
At the front stood Elder Rowan.
Peak Mortal Rank.
The strongest dominator in Ashvale.
Low-grade fire affinity.
Flames curled faintly around his arms while his weathered face remained grim beneath the rain.
"All hunters with me!" Rowan shouted.
The gates opened.
And the hunters disappeared into the forest darkness.
Including Elias.
Zero watched until his father vanished completely between the trees.
That uneasy feeling in his chest deepened afterward.
And he couldn't tell why.
The village center descended into controlled chaos.
Villagers barricaded doors.
Parents gathered children together.
The newly awakened youths assembled near the central square under the supervision of several deputy hunters.
Around twenty young dominators stood there now.
Some nervous.
Some trying to appear brave.
Essence flickered clumsily around inexperienced bodies.
Dren stood nearby with brown essence flowing weakly around his fists, fragments of stone slowly forming across his forearms.
Earth affinity.
A girl named Lina shakily manipulated threads of water around trembling hands.
Another boy struggled to maintain unstable wind currents.
Fear hung over all of them.
None of these young dominators were battle-ready yet.
And everyone knew it.
Zero stood slightly apart from the group.
Like always.
A few whispers drifted nearby.
"…what's he doing here…"
"...who knows, maybe playing hero...."
Zero ignored them.
But he noticed.
He always noticed.
Klaus walked over moments later.
"You staying near the back?"
"…I'll fight if something gets through."
Klaus frowned immediately.
"Zero—"
"I'm not hiding."
For a moment Klaus looked ready to argue.
Then he sighed.
"…Fine."
His expression hardened afterward.
"But stay near me."
Zero gave no answer.
Because they both already understood the truth.
If something strong reached the village—
most of them were going to die.
Then—
a scream echoed through Ashvale.
Everyone turned instantly.
A hunter stumbled into the square covered in blood.
"THE EAST SIDE—!"
He collapsed before finishing.
Silence hit for half a second.
Confusion spread immediately afterward.
"The east?"
"That makes no sense—"
"The horde is south!"
Another scream cut through the village.
Closer.
Then came the sound.
THOOM.
THOOM.
THOOM.
Heavy footsteps shook the ground itself.
People backed away instinctively.
Then—
a house exploded inward.
Wood shattered violently as something massive stepped through the debris.
The creature stood nearly three meters tall.
Black fur covered its enormous body while jagged bone protruded from its shoulders like fractured blades. Crimson eyes glowed beneath the rain-dark sky.
Pressure flooded the square instantly.
Predatory.
Violent.
Wrong.
A Blood Rank beast.
An existence Ashvale should never have encountered.
Several children froze immediately.
One girl began crying.
Klaus' expression darkened.
"…Blood Rank…"
The beast slowly scanned the square.
Not like an animal.
Like something thinking.
Calculating.
Its gaze passed over the frightened civilians first.
Dismissive.
Then the young dominators.
Interested.
Then—
it stopped briefly on Klaus.
The creature's crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
A low growl escaped its throat.
Recognition.
Something familiar lingered faintly within Klaus' crimson essence.
The pressure surrounding Klaus carried traces of a beast.
Primitive.
Incomplete.
But present.
The monster tilted its head.
Confused.
Then it shook the feeling off almost immediately.
Weak.
Insignificant.
Its eyes moved again.
And landed on Zero.
The beast froze.
Not confusion this time.
Instinct.
Its body tensed faintly.
For one brief moment—
fear flickered through its crimson eyes.
Not fear of strength.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
Like standing before something that did not belong in this world.
The sensation vanished almost instantly beneath Zero's human scent and weak presence.
But the beast noticed.
And that made it dangerous.
Very dangerous.
One of the deputy hunters stepped forward immediately.
Blue essence erupted around his spear.
"Protect the civilians!"
He lunged forward.
Fast.
Experienced.
The beast moved faster.
A claw flashed once.
The hunter's body split apart instantly.
Blood sprayed across the rain-soaked square.
Silence followed.
Absolute silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because they had just watched a trained dominator die in a single strike.
The beast smiled afterward.
A slow horrifying curl of its jaws.
Then it stepped forward again.
THOOM.
THOOM.
Every instinct inside Zero screamed at him to move.
Run.
Fight.
Something.
Then Klaus stepped forward first.
Crimson essence erupted violently around his arms.
Fear remained visible in his eyes.
But he still moved.
"I said—"
His voice shook slightly.
"GET BACK!"
He launched himself toward the beast.
Fast.
Others followed immediately afterward.
Dren slammed both fists into the ground.
Stone erupted upward beneath the beast's feet.
Lina unleashed compressed streams of water toward its eyes.
Wind blades shot from another boy's palms.
The square exploded into movement.
The beast tore through everything effortlessly.
Its claw shattered Dren's stone pillars instantly.
Lina screamed as the shockwave from its roar threw her violently across the square.
One boy lost an arm trying to block.
Another slammed into a burning stall hard enough to stop moving entirely.
Yet the young dominators kept fighting.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Because there was nowhere left to run.
Klaus crashed into the beast's side surrounded by crimson essence.
His fist landed hard enough to crack bone.
For the first time—
the creature staggered slightly.
Everyone froze.
Even the beast.
Klaus breathed heavily.
"…Got you…"
Then the monster grabbed him by the throat.
And hurled him through an entire stone wall.
CRASH.
The building partially collapsed.
Klaus' body disappeared beneath the debris.
Still.
Not moving.
Zero's chest tightened violently.
"Klaus!"
No response.
The beast turned slowly afterward.
Toward the civilians.
Toward the children trying to crawl away.
Toward a little boy frozen beside his dead mother.
The child's name was Finn.
Zero recognized him instantly.
Finn used to follow Klaus around the village asking endless questions about beasts.
The boy couldn't have been older than nine.
The beast raised one claw.
Zero moved instinctively.
No thought.
No hesitation.
Only movement.
He grabbed a fallen spear from the dead deputy hunter and lunged forward with everything he had.
Fast.
Faster than any normal fifteen-year-old.
The spear drove directly toward the beast's exposed side.
The creature didn't even look at him.
Its arm moved casually.
CRACK.
The spear shattered instantly.
Pain exploded through Zero's arms as the impact hurled him backward across the mud.
He crashed hard into the ground.
Breathing raggedly.
Hands shaking.
Weak.
Again.
Completely powerless.
Finn died screaming moments later.
And something inside Zero twisted violently hearing it.
Hatred.
Raw.
Violent.
Absolute.
Not because he failed.
Because no matter how hard they fought—
none of them had ever stood a chance.