Brute 260

Posted by Adminj, ? Views, Released on January 27, 2026

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Chapter 260

Atasha’s POV

I did not have the time to ask what was happening as I drew my short sword and stepped forward into the rain–soaked

chaos.

The first beast reached us before my thoughts could fully catch up with my body. It burst from the torn ground with a sound like wet stone ripping apart, its form hunched and wrong, limbs too long, joints bending at angles that did not belong to any wolf or creature I recognized. Its eyes glinted faintly as it charged, and I barely managed to twist aside as its claws sliced through the space where my throat had been a heartbeat earlier.

I drove my blade into its side as it passed, the impact shuddering up my arm. The creature screamed, a harsh, distorted sound that cut through the rain, and collapsed into the mud behind me, thrashing before going still. There was no time to see if it was truly dead.

More were coming.

They poured out of the ground in clusters, clawing their way free as if the earth itself had become a doorway.

Some looked vaguely wolf–shaped, while others were warped beyond anything familiar, their bodies stretched and twisted, skin slick with mud and blood. Shouts rang out all around us as Nightfall’s guards collided with them, steel clashing, bodies slamming together, panic bleeding into fury.

“What is going on?” I mumbled, knowing full well that Cassian was too busy to answer me.

To my left, Cassian intercepted a beast mid–lunge.

He caught it head–on, crashing into it with enough force to send both of them skidding through the mud. The creature snapped and clawed, but Cassian drove his blade down without hesitation, pinning it and tearing the sword free in one brutal motion. He was already turning as another beast leapt for him from behind.

I moved without thinking.

I stepped in, slashing across its throat, then pivoted just as another set of claws raked my shoulder. Pain flared, hot and sharp, but it faded almost instantly as my body sealed the wound before blood could even spill properly. I did not slow down.

Cassian and I ended up back to back without planning it, our movements aligning instinctively. When a beast lunged for me, Cassian cut it down from the side. When another tried to drag him to the ground, I drove my blade into its spine. Mud splashed, rain hammered down, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and wet earth.

The ground would not stop shaking.

Every few seconds, it lurched again, knocking fighters off balance and sending more cracks racing across the courtyard. Each tremor seemed to tear the land open further, and more beasts crawled out of the widening breaks, snarling as they joined. the charge.

Some of them shimmered.

I noticed it when lightning flashed overhead, illuminating their forms for a split second. Their bodies flickered, outlines blurring as if they were not entirely solid, as if part of them existed somewhere else. When steel struck those ones, the resistance felt wrong, like cutting through something half real.

Cassian took a hit across his side as one of them slipped past his guard. I reached for him immediately, fingers brushing his arm, and pushed my power into the wound. I felt it close under my touch even as he was already moving again, blade

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Chapter 260

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sweeping up to take the creature’s head.

“Stay close,” he said, voice steady despite the chaos.

I nodded and adjusted my stance, keeping my shoulder near his back.

Another beast came at us low, trying to take our legs out from under us. Cassian leapt over it, landing hard, while i stabbed downward, driving my sword through its skull. The impact jarred my wrist, but I wrenched the blade free and spun just in time to block another attack.

A claw caught my forearm, tearing fabric and skin, but the wound closed almost immediately as I twisted away. I barely felt it beyond the initial sting.

This was not a battle that allowed hesitation.

I healed Cassian again when a creature managed to rake across his back, my hand finding him in the dark without looking He did not slow or thank me. He simply kept killing.

Around us, the fight spread outward. Guards were shouting warnings, calling for formation, dragging wounded comrades back while others stepped forward to replace them. Some of the beasts fell easily. Others took far more effort, refusing to die until their bodies were completely ruined.

Then I smelled it.

It cut through the rain and blood like a blade, sharp and unmistakable.

Poison.

It was faint at first, almost lost beneath everything else, but I recognized it immediately. It was in the air, riding the damp wind, seeping into lungs with every breath.

My head snapped up.

“Poison!” I shouted, forcing my voice over the storm and the fighting. “It’s in the air!”

Cassian turned his head sharply, eyes narrowing as he drew in a careful breath. I reached for him again, pressing my palm against his shoulder, pushing my power outward, not just into him but into the space around us as much as I could manage.

The ground shook again, harder than before, and more beasts emerged, their bodies slick and gleaming as lightning revealed their numbers. They were not stopping.

I tightened my grip on my sword, rain running down my face, heart pounding inside my chest.

“Your Highness!” Grace’s voice cut through the storm again, closer this time, strained but steady as she fought her way toward us through the chaos. “The borders are under attack. Demon Fangs are moving in from the outer territory. This isn’t just these beasts.”

Her words landed hard, clicking into place with what I was already seeing.

So this was never meant to be a single strike.

I twisted aside as another creature lunged, its claws scraping sparks off my blade as I deflected the blow and drove my sword into its chest. The thing collapsed with a choking snarl, dissolving into mud and blood beneath the rain, but I barely registered it as my attention snapped back to Grace.

“They’re coordinating,” she continued, breathless as she parried an attack of her own. “These creatures are the distraction. Demon Fangs are using the chaos to breach the borders and scatter our forces. They’re pushing from three directions.”

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A beast surged between us before I could respond. Cassian slammed into it from the side, taking it down with brutal efficiency, while I turned and cut down another that tried to flank him. We moved as one without speaking, covering angles, adjusting with every tremor of the ground..