Jagged edges of shattered stone framed the battlefield like broken teeth. Dust choked the air, laced with the bitter tang of scorched earth.
...And looming in the wreckage was the Juvenile Crusher.
It stood tall and twitching, its obsidian armor pulsing with sick red light. Glowing eyes locked onto Finn, calculating. Its scythe-like limbs gleamed, poised to strike. Every step it took sent tremors through the shattered ground.
Beneath a mound of rubble, the obsidian shard throbbed—a steady, ominous heartbeat.
"Rylan... situation report. Now." Finn’s voice cracked, but he forced it out, his HUD flickering with scattered data. One glance at the tactical map sent a fresh spike of panic through his chest. They weren’t confined anymore—they were exposed. Surrounded. And the enemy was multiplying.
Rylan stepped forward, more battered than Finn had ever seen him. Dust streaked his once-pristine armor, and his usually perfect hair hung in wild, sweat-slick strands. He leaned on his glowing Aetheric Blade, its light dimming with every breath he took.
"This Juvenile Crusher is no ordinary beast, Your Highness," he reported, his voice roughened by exertion. "It's trained to seek out and eliminate key targets. It knows you're important, and it's after you." He paused, glancing at the widening cracks in the surrounding ruins and the approaching swarm of mantis creatures.
"The main force has retreated to the Bastion's Keep, its innermost, most fortified section, Your Highness. They're holding off a flanking maneuver, but they can't spare any troops to reinforce us." He gestured to the handful of remaining soldiers, their faces grim and determined, their armor bearing the marks of recent battles. "Those are the only surviving forces in this section. Your personal guards, all of whom are sworn to your protection, stand ready to fight, and will never yield, Your Highness." He looked Finn directly in the eye, his gaze unwavering. "They will follow your lead. What are your commands?"
Rylan watched them as Finn issued his orders, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. They weren't just receiving commands; Lyra's sharp recognition, Silas's grim focus, Kaelen's ready stance, Anya's determined concentration – they were responding to each other as much as the Prince. This wasn't just a hastily assembled guard; they were starting to move like a unit, even if their Prince was suddenly acting... different.
"Someone get me a better weapon," Finn added, his voice strained. "This ceremonial dagger might as well be a letter opener for all the good it'll do against these monsters." He felt the weight of the Dagger of Revelation at his hip, a strange warmth emanating from it, hinting at secrets yet to be revealed. The dagger felt important, and maybe that feeling was important too, Finn thought.
Nervous laughter rippled through the group, a brief respite from the tension. Then, A torrent of smaller, mantis-like creatures, their chitinous bodies also pulsing with energy veins, surged forward from the breach in the destroyed sanctum, skittering across the ground, trying to climb over the rubble. Rylan's eyes narrowed. Anya gasped, her eyes wide with a fresh wave of dread. Even Rylan’s lips twitched slightly before returning to his usual stoic expression.
A wave of nervous, uncertain energy rippled through the group. Kaelen and Lyra exchanged a quick, troubled glance. The Prince was known for his skill with that blade; hearing him speak of it like useless weight, seeing his discomfort with it... it added another layer to the confusion surrounding their leader. Has he finally had it with the dagger after years of using it as his main weapon?
"Numbers are increasing, Your Highness. They've broken through the west wall. We're surrounded. We need to move—now."
“We fight together,” Finn’s voice cut through the clamor, steadier now. He felt a surge of clarity—years of watching Alex’s streams flooding back in a rush of half?remembered voice?overs and sweeping cinematic scores. In every insect battle cutscene, a booming commander’s voice would ring out: “Focus on the eye cluster—shatter its vision!” or “Breach the joint hinges; their carapace can’t withstand it!” He’d laughed at the time—his own brother’s audience spamming the chat with the same lines—yet the lesson had drilled itself into his bones.
“Kaelen—hold the line!” he called first, imagining the thunderous echo of massed infantry churning forward onscreen, shields locked in unbreakable phalanx. “Lyra—go for the eyes, distract the Crusher!” He pictured the slow?motion shot in Alex’s favorite replay: an arrow loosing against a mantis?beast’s glowing ocular plate and sending it into a blind, raging spin. Lyra’s face lit with recognition, her fingers tightening on her throwing daggers. Without another word, she slipped into the shadows like she belonged there, every stripe of muscle honed for that moment.
He pivoted to Silas, heart pounding. “Silas—target the joints!” Finn remembered the cinematic close?up on a mantis’s leg hinge as a battering ram of soldiers smashed it and the entire limb buckled. Silas’s lips quirked in a grim smile as he began adjusting his crossbow’s bolt settings—reinforced tips, optimized energy pulse—no hesitation now, only purpose.
Finally, he looked at Anya. “Anya—stay close and keep us standing!” he called. In one seamless motion she tapped her wristbands, and the embedded nanotech modules hummed awake. Ultrasonic pulses radiated in rippling halos of soft teal light, stimulating each soldier’s nanofabricators beneath the skin—micro?tears sealed, exhaustion reversed, pain signals dampened—all without a single line or drip. Data readouts shimmered across her wrist displays, shifting from amber to emerald as each teammate’s vitals steadied.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Lyra, already melting into the shadows, exchanged a brief, charged look with Kaelen. Silas gave a quick nod across the rubble towards Anya. The orders had been individual, but the understanding passed between them was collective: Alright. We heard him. Let's do this.
Then Anya moved—her body weaving through the chaos with an almost balletic grace. She dipped low to a fallen guard, sliding her hip to balance as the emitters traced the arc of his injury; rose smoothly and pivoted, boots clicking on stone, to stabilize the next soldier. Each step was precise, every subtle shift of her hips guiding those healing waves exactly where they were needed. There was no flourish—just a refined, feminine rhythm of motion and purpose, binding the group together even as the ground shook beneath them.
In that instant, Finn realized he wasn’t just echoing a memory—he was channeling every in-game cutscenes he’d ever absorbed as background noise. And as the Crusher reared up, gnashing its scythe?arms, his voice became their compass. They surged forward, each move guided by the cinematic tactics he’d once dismissed as spectacle—and now could mean the difference between victory and oblivion.
As the battle commenced, Rylan led the charge, his sword flashing as he cut through the oncoming mantis-like creatures. He grunted with each swing, the sheer number of enemies testing even his enhanced strength. His movements were a blur of steel and precision. The soldiers, inspired by Rylan’s prowess, held their ground, their shields forming a barrier against the swarm. Kaelen’s Kinetic Barrier absorbed the creatures’ blows, the energy generators in his armor humming with power. Lyra, a fleeting shadow, darted in and out of the Juvenile Crusher's reach, her energy-imbued shuriken finding their marks, but glancing off the thicker chitin. Though each strike caused the creature to flinch and roar, it showed no signs of serious injury. Anya, her wristbands glowing with energy, focused on healing the injured soldiers, her brow furrowed in concentration. Occasionally, a nearby rock or piece of debris would tremble or shift slightly as she struggled to maintain control of her power. She was focused, her face grim, but she still struggled to control it, causing the area around her to feel the push and pull of the Aetherium.
Silas, crouched nearby, spared a quick, worried glance towards her, seeing the tell-tale tremors around her feet. He tightened his grip on his crossbow, wishing he could offer more than just covering fire.
A smaller, yet still beefy, mantis stalker skittered faster than the rest, bypassing Rylan and Kaelen's line. Its focus wasn't Finn, but Silas, crouched and vulnerable while he meticulously calibrated his shots. Silas was concentrating on locking onto a specific joint hinge on the Juvenile Crusher, the targeting reticle in his gauntlet humming. He didn't see the stalker until it was almost on him, its mandibles snapping. Before he could even react, a blur of dark leather and steel intercepted the creature. Lyra, who had been using the chaos to dart around the Crusher, had doubled back. Her daggers flashed, a clean, precise strike severing the stalker's lead limbs before it could reach Silas. She finished it with another swift, silent move. She landed lightly beside Silas, her daggers held ready, eyes still scanning. "Thanks," Silas breathed, his concentration broken for a split second, hand flexing on his crossbow. Lyra gave a small, almost imperceptible nod, never taking her eyes off the battle. Her voice was its usual low murmur, practical and direct. "Stay focused, Silas. Need you on that shot." Silas managed a faint, grim smile, eyes flicking between her and the Crusher. "Got it, Lyra. Thanks." Lyra didn't reply, already melting back into the shadows to continue her own task. But the brief exchange hung in the air between them – a quiet acknowledgment of mutual reliance amidst the roar of battle.
Finn scrambled back, looking between the HUD and the approaching monsters. This isn’t working, he thought, feeling a knot in his stomach. We’re losing ground. Then he saw it. Just beneath Silas’s stats, almost too hard to see, was a hidden ability: [Scatter Shot]. Finn remembered Alex’s excited whispers during his early playthrough of the game. He found this secret power late at night. Alex had scribbled notes, talking about how this ability could change everything. “A hidden layer of complexity,” Alex had said with a smile. “This changes everything.” And now, Finn knew, with a frightening certainty, that it did. He opened his mouth to call out to Silas, but the words stuck in his throat.
The obsidian shard's glow intensified, as if in response to the impending threat.
The area near the destroyed sanctum doors shuddered under a heavy blow, a monstrous roar echoing from beyond. The HUD flickered ominously, another massive red blip appearing on the tactical map, pulsing with malevolent energy, far larger than the Juvenile Crusher.
[HUD Alert: Another Sub-Boss detected!]
Full-Grown Crusher (Lvl 15): HP 3000/3000
Ability: Mantis Leap (Jumps high to create a shockwave.)
Rylan's eyes widened. "Another one... This must be the full-grown Crusher. They're not supposed to be here..."
Before he could finish, the ruined opening of the sanctum exploded inward, revealing the true scale of the threat.