Reborn as an SSS-Rank Guide in the Sentinel Academy [BL]

Julian’s head snapped up past the twisted creature still frozen mid-lunge in front of him, past Jayden’s blade still raised, and what he saw coming up out of that cracked breach in the ground made every single thing else on that battlefield stop mattering for a second.

More of them. Not eight. Not dozens like the soldier screamed earlier. Something closer to a hundred, gray shapes dragging themselves up out of the dark one after another after another, and behind them, way down in that crack where the light didn’t quite reach, something even bigger was moving, slow and massive, something none of them had even caught a full look at yet.

’What the hell’ Julian thought, blood running cold. ’this isn’t good. I know that shape’

[Threat assessment updating. Estimated total Aberration count: one hundred twelve and rising. Central mass detected at breach origin point. Power reading: exceeds all previous data by extreme margin.]

’the west wall’ Julian thought, hands shaking now for a completely different reason. ’that’s how it happened at the west wall. small breach first, then a swarm, then...’

He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t need to. Some memories didn’t need finishing to still hurt exactly the same.

Reid’s grip on his wrist was still tight, and when Julian looked over at him, the commander’s face had gone pale in a way that didn’t match a man who supposedly fought at this border for years. "that reading," Reid said, voice low and tight, "that’s not possible. nothing’s ever registered that high before."

"it’s not one thing," Julian said, forcing his voice steady even though his stomach was doing everything it could to convince him otherwise. "it’s a nest. that’s what it is. they cluster underground, build up in numbers before they breach all at once, and there’s always one bigger than the rest holding them together, feeding off them, growing off them..."

"how do you know that," Reid demanded, eyes sharp.

Julian didn’t answer right away, because the honest answer was three years and a dead world, and there wasn’t time to explain any of that right now.

The twisted creature wearing Marcus’s voice let out one more broken scream, and this time when it lunged, it wasn’t slow anymore, wasn’t hesitant, like something behind it in that breach had just given it a fresh surge of whatever kept it moving. Jayden caught the strike on his blade, gold light flaring, but he staggered back a full step from the impact this time, jaw tight.

"it’s getting stronger," Jayden gritted out. "the longer that thing back there stays active, the stronger all of these get."

’that’s exactly how it works’ Julian thought, and something cold and clear settled into him, the same clarity that used to show up on the worst nights on the wall, the nights where thinking stopped being useful and doing was all that mattered. ’the big one’s a core. take out the core, the rest goes down easier.’

[Recommend host share this information with Commander Calloway immediately]

"Reid," Julian said, turning to him fast, "listen to me. that big one at the bottom of the breach, that’s the source. it’s feeding the rest of them, making them stronger the longer it stays active. you take that out, the swarm falls apart, gets weaker, easier to handle."

Reid stared at him hard for a second, and Julian could see the exact moment he decided to trust him even without asking how he knew, because right now trust was cheaper than time. "how do we get to it."

"straight through," Julian said. "somebody’s gotta punch a hole through that first wave and go right for the center before it finishes waking all the way up."

Reid’s jaw tightened, already turning to shout orders across the field, and Jayden was still holding the line against Marcus’s twisted echo, blade flashing gold with every strike, but the swarm behind it kept climbing, more and more of them dragging themselves up out of that crack in the earth every second.

And then the ground shook. Not from Jayden’s strikes. Not from anything on the surface at all. It came from below, deep and heavy, like something enormous had just decided to finally move.

Every single person on that battlefield went dead still.

The breach cracked wider, stone splitting apart with a sound like the whole world groaning, and something rose up out of the dark, slow and massive, easily three times the size of anything else on that field, skin split and pulsing black, and when it finally lifted its head and let out a roar that shook dust loose from the academy walls behind them...

Julian’s blood turned to ice, because he recognized that roar too.

He’d heard it once before. On the worst night of his entire life. The night the west wall finally fell..