The conflict had metastasized. Across the Veridian City, the crimson light from the Academy grounds was now overshadowed by plumes of black smoke rising from shattered buildings.
The Eclipse Beasts, vicious creatures birthed from the dark signal, were spread wide, sowing terror.
Inside the city limits, third-year students and professors were locked in brutal, defensive combat.
They had managed to guide most of the common population into secure shelters, but the fighting was intense.
Debris littered the thoroughfares, the air was thick with smoke, and the students, gasping and running low on Aura, were showing signs of fatigue.
The battle was steadily shifting in favor of the invaders.
A small group of third-year students, specializing in defensive combat, were desperately facing a monstrous Shadowheart-class Beast, a creature of pure shadow with razor claws and teeth.
The beast leaped, its claws raised, about to tear through the ward and its defenders.
