Deviant: No Longer Human

Frostgard, Central Plaza

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A small light barrier shimmered in the cold air, barely holding back the chaos that reigned outside.

Inside the glowing shield, four figures stood close together, their faces etched with anxiety.

"Stay behind me!" Xinyue Zhilan's anxious voice broke through the chaotic storm, her tone firm yet filled with concern.

She turned briefly to the girls huddled behind her—her long black hair whipping in the chilly wind, her dark blue qipao hugging her slender form.

"Don't leave this barrier!" she ordered, her hand outstretched as if she could physically hold them back from the inferno outside.

Boom!

The ground shook violently as another explosion rocked the plaza, sending debris raining down.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Flames clawed at the sky, consuming everything in their path.

The burning cars ahead of them, twisted and melting, were little more than molten husks, their metal frames shrieking under the heat.

Skyscrapers crumbled, collapsing into heaps of stone and steel, their once proud forms now reduced to smoldering ruins.

"What… What is happening?" Wang Xueying whispered, her voice trembling.

Dressed in a white fur-lined coat that covered her delicate features, she clutched Wang Mei's arm, her grip tight with fear. "We were just supposed to visit the city… why are there so many beasts...?"

They appeared as if they had been on a simple outing, perhaps exploring the city, only to be caught in the midst of a terrifying beast horde attack.

Now, they stood in the heart of Frostholm, trapped inside the barrier while a war raged on just beyond its fragile protection.

"Focus!" Wang Jiarong behind her snapped, her voice tense.

She adjusted her tight black leather jacket, her hair cascading over her shoulders. "We have to stay calm… There's no way this barrier will hold forever!"

Above them, the sky was a swirling mass of terror, filled with Minions.

Hundreds of Commander-class beasts, Minions filled the air, their scaled, light blue bodies glinting menacingly in the firelight.

Their spindly, clawed limbs slashed through the air with deadly precision, and from their mouths, they spewed streams of searing fire vomit that ignited everything they touched.

A dozen soldiers encircled the protective barrier, their numbers pitifully small against the overwhelming force.

Each soldier was armed with a highly advanced photon gun, but despite their best efforts, the beasts kept coming, their numbers seemingly endless.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The beasts moved with terrifying speed, their small forms darting through the sky like living missiles.

The soldiers on the ground fought back desperately, their photon guns flashing with each shot.

But for every creature they felled, two more seemed to rise in its place.

"Damn it! They just keep coming!" one soldier cursed, his voice hoarse with exhaustion.

His hands shook as he reloaded, sweat pouring down his face despite the cold air. "We're running out of time!"

Within the barrier, the four women stood in tense silence, the sounds of battle pressing in on them from all sides.

Xinyue Zhilan's trembled, her eyes scanning the battlefield. 'There's too many of them. This isn't just an attack… it's an invasion.'

She suddenly regretted coming to Frostholm with her whole family at the wrong time!

"We need to find a way out of here," she muttered to herself, her gaze hardening. "If the barrier falls, we're as good as dead."

"Ah—! No—No.....ahhhh"

A piercing scream erupted from just outside the barrier.

One of the soldiers, his uniform torn and bloodied, was suddenly snatched by a three-headed shadow wolf.

The beast was a nightmare made flesh—its fur as dark as midnight, its eyes glowing with a demonic red light.

The soldier's scream was cut short as the wolf's middle head lunged forward, its fangs sinking into his neck.

Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!

Blood sprayed in a gruesome arc as the other two heads tore into his body, ripping him apart easily.

Kacha!

The sickening sound of crunching bone and tearing flesh filled the air, mingling with the soldier's dying gurgles.

"Gasp!" Wang Mei shrieked, her hair falling in disarray as she covered her mouth.

Her eyes opened as she backed away, her long pastel pink dress swaying as she trembled.

The shadow wolf, its three heads now dripping with blood, turned its gaze toward the barrier.

"Grrrr..."

The beast snarled, a low, growling sound that sent a shiver down their spines.

It pawed at the ground, preparing to strike.

"Mom, it's looking right at us..." Wang Jiarong's voice quivered with fear, her eyes darting around for an escape. "What do we do? What do we—"

"Quiet!" Xinyue snapped, her voice like steel. "Stay calm and keep your eyes on me. I won't let anything happen to you."

But even as she spoke, doubt filled at the edges of her mind.

Can I really protect them? Can I protect myself?

The barrier flickered, and Xinyue's heart sank.

The soldiers outside were falling one by one, and the horde showed no signs of stopping.

And now, the three-headed shadow wolf was inches away from the barrier, its jaws dripping with the blood of the fallen soldier.

"Please… someone help us…" she closed her eyes and prayed.

But no help was coming.

They were alone in a sea of destruction, with only the faint hope that the barrier would hold a little longer.

Crack!

A small fracture appeared in the barrier, the glowing energy sputtering as the beast's claws raked across its surface.

The end was drawing near, and the war outside seemed to pale in comparison to the terror that now stood at their doorstep.

Gasp!

The four women within the barrier were frozen in shock, their breaths caught in their throats as the shadow wolf prepared to final strike.

But before the beast could tear through the fragile shield, a blinding flash sliced through the air.

Shhhh-crack!

Krrrrrr!

In the blink of an eye, the shadow wolf was reduced to thousands of pieces, its body disintegrating in a shower of dark, blood-soaked fragments.

The rain of flesh fell to the ground with wet thuds, the beast annihilated before it could even comprehend its demise.

Standing where the wolf had once loomed was Amaya.

Her dark jacket flew behind her like a cape, and her long midnight hair cascaded down her back, flowing as if touched by an unseen wind.

Her eyes were sharp, glowing with an intense focus as they locked onto the sky above.

She exuded an aura of deadly calm, every muscle in her body coiled and ready to strike.