The first city fell in under eight minutes.
Not because humanity was weak.
Because the enemy didn't stop.
CITY ONE — VARKOS (EASTERN EUROPE)
Titanborn reached the outskirts first.
Stone colossi walked straight through artillery fire. Missiles shattered against crystal hides. Entire neighborhoods collapsed simply from their footsteps.
SS-rank fighters held the line for six minutes.
Then the Iron Legion arrived.
Metal regenerated faster than it could be destroyed.
By the time the evacuation order came, half the city was already gone.
Varkos ceased to exist.
CITY TWO — YULSAN (SOUTH KOREA, COASTAL ZONE)
Blightborn breached underground first.
Parasite worms flooded water systems.
Infection spread faster than cure.
Hunters were forced to burn entire districts to prevent further mutation.
Yulsan was declared unsalvageable.
CITY THREE — SAN LUCERO (SOUTH AMERICA)
Tempestborn descended from the clouds.
Lightning spirits phased through defensive barriers. Storm giants crushed aerial units out of the sky.
Wind pressure alone flattened skyscrapers.
The city drowned under thunder.
CITY FOUR — NORDFALL (NORTHERN RUSSIA)
Glacials arrived silently.
Mana froze.
Time slowed.
Hunters reported spells failing mid-cast.
Frozen undead walked through gunfire.
By the time Chronaxis's stabilizing influence reached the region—
Nordfall was already a grave.
CITY FIVE — ESHARA (AFRICA, MINERAL ZONE)
Titanborn evolved mid-battle.
They absorbed the city itself.
Streets became weapons.
Buildings reshaped into armor.
Every fallen structure made them stronger.
Eshara was consumed, not destroyed.
CITY SIX — BLACKHAVEN (UNITED KINGDOM)
Shadeborn emerged from shadows no one could seal.
Assassins struck command centers first.
Communications went dark.
Leadership collapsed in under three minutes.
Blackhaven never saw the enemy coming.
CITY SEVEN — SANTA IRENA (SOUTHERN EUROPE)
Bound Ones arrived.
Chains wrapped around space itself.
Movement spells failed.
Teleportation locked.
Entire battalions were restrained mid-charge and crushed slowly.
No survivors.
CITY EIGHT — NEW ATLAR (NORTH AMERICA)
Desolators landed without warning.
Skeletal dragons bombarded evacuation routes.
Molten giants detonated when killed—taking entire blocks with them.
Nation-level hunters held the line.
They still lost the city.
CITY NINE — AZRIEL POINT (MIDDLE EAST)
Ashenborn descended like falling stars.
Burning angels purified indiscriminately.
Everything burned.
Even the dead didn't stay dead.
The city became a white-hot scar visible from orbit.
CITY TEN — MIRRA VALE (UNKNOWN TIME ZONE)
Mirrorkin appeared.
Echo clones overwhelmed defenders with futures that hadn't happened yet.
Hunters fought enemies who already knew their moves.
The city fell fighting itself.
GLOBAL STATUS UPDATE
[TEN MAJOR CITIES CONFIRMED LOST]
[CIVILIAN CASUALTIES: UNCOUNTABLE]
[HUNTER LOSSES: ESCALATING]
[MORALE: CRITICAL]
The world watched.
And for the first time since the gates appeared—
Humanity was afraid.
THE TURNING POINT
Jinyoung stood atop the ruins of a battlefield that had once been a city.
Smoke rose in every direction.
Screams echoed where victory should have been.
Riku returned first—bloodied, breathing hard.
"They don't stop," he said. "Even when we win… they keep coming."
Riyomi knelt beside a fallen hunter, closing their eyes.
"We're not losing because we're weaker," she said quietly. "We're losing because they're endless."
Haru stared at his trembling hands.
"I stabilized mana," he whispered. "But I can't stabilize a world bleeding out."
Jinyoung looked at the horizon.
Ten cities gone.
Not in days.
In hours.
His Duality stirred violently—rage, hunger, fear twisting together.
This was the truth of the war.
The Monarchs didn't need to win quickly.
They only needed to outlast humanity.
And somewhere, far beyond the frontlines—
The true Monarchs were waiting.