Chapter 52 – First Contact
It came in uneven bursts—brush shifting, branches snapping, something moving without care for silence.
Then it spread.
Jack stood at the outer line, eyes fixed on the treeline as movement finally returned.
Not scattered.
Not random.
A front.
Shapes broke through the forest—low, fast, lean bodies pushing forward without hesitation. One turned into three, three into ten, then more followed behind them, filling the gaps.
“Here they come,” Hanna said.
Jack didn’t answer.
He was already tracking the flow.
Spacing.
Speed.
Direction.
First wave.
“Hold,” he said.
The line tightened.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The first beasts crossed into open ground.
Then they sprinted.
“Now,” Hanna said.
The Sisters moved.
The first clash hit unevenly.
One of them stepped forward too early, her strike landing shallow instead of cutting through. The beast slammed into her shoulder, forcing her back a full step.
Before it could follow through, another woman struck from the side, catching it across the neck and dragging it off balance.
“Don’t commit early,” Hanna said, already moving. “Let them come to you.”
Jack stepped forward.
Sanguine Grasp.
A tendril lashed out, catching a beast mid-lunge and yanking it sideways, throwing it off its path just enough that it collided into another.
“Left side—take it,” Jack said.
They moved.
Not instantly.
But fast enough.
Both went down.
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.7)]
[Experience Gained]
Another cluster pushed through the center.
Four this time.
Too close together.
Jack stepped in.
Sanguine Surge activated.
The shift hit clean.
No hesitation.
He cut through the first in a controlled arc, pivoted, and drove the second back before it could reach the line. The third lunged low—
He stepped over it.
Finished it on the turn.
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.6)]
[Experience Gained]
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.7)]
[Experience Gained]
The fourth reached the line.
It didn’t get through.
Two of the Sisters met it together, one intercepting, the other finishing. Not clean, not practiced, but coordinated enough to work.
Jack stepped back again.
Let them hold.
The pressure increased.
More bodies pushed through, not overwhelming yet, but steady enough that gaps started to form if they weren’t corrected immediately.
Right side shifted.
A woman overstepped, her footing slipping on uneven ground. The beast in front of her didn’t hesitate.
Hanna was already there.
She stepped in hard, intercepting the strike and forcing the beast sideways before it could land properly.
“Feet first,” she said. “Then swing.”
The woman reset.
This time—
It worked.
She hit clean.
Jack tracked the rest.
Left side holding.
Center stable.
Right—
Still uneven.
A beast slipped through.
Not far.
But far enough.
Jack reacted.
Sanguine Grasp.
The tendril snapped forward, catching it mid-step and dragging it backward across the ground, pulling it away from the mid-zone before it could reach anyone.
“Don’t chase,” he said.
The woman who had started to move forward stopped.
“…Right.”
The beast didn’t recover.
It died where it landed.
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.6)]
[Experience Gained]
Behind them, the rotation started to show.
One of the Sisters stepped back, breathing harder now.
“Back,” Hanna said.
“I’m fine.”
“Back.”
She didn’t argue.
Adelaide caught her halfway.
“Sit,” she said, already checking her arm.
“It’s just—”
“Sit.”
She sat.
Jack kept his focus forward.
More coming.
Still first wave.
Still manageable.
A new cluster broke through, faster than the others.
Three hit the line at once.
This time, the Sisters didn’t hold cleanly.
One got through.
Jack moved immediately.
Blood Shield.
The construct formed in front of him, catching the impact as the beast lunged, its momentum stopping just short of him.
He stepped around it.
Finished it.
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.7)]
[Experience Gained]
The other two were handled at the line.
Messy.
But successful.
Hanna exhaled slightly.
“They’re speeding up.”
Jack nodded.
“Yeah.”
Still not overwhelming.
But closer.
He stepped forward again as another wave pressed in.
Sanguine Surge.
This time he stayed in longer.
He moved along the line instead of through it, cutting where pressure built, stepping in when spacing collapsed, pulling back when it stabilized again.
Not leading the fight.
Maintaining it.
The Sisters adjusted around that.
Not perfectly.
But better than before.
One of them landed a clean strike and paused for half a second too long, staring at the result.
“Don’t stop,” Hanna said.
“I’m not—”
Another beast lunged.
She reacted this time.
Faster.
Finished it.
“…Okay,” she said under her breath.
Then kept moving.
Jack felt the rhythm settle.
Not smooth.
But consistent.
The line bent.
Adjusted.
Held.
Behind them, Sanguina kept functioning.
Injured rotated out.
Others stepped in.
No one broke formation.
Jack let Sanguine Surge fade.
The pressure eased slightly.
Not gone.
Just reduced.
First wave thinning.
Still not over.
But closer to manageable than it had been at the start.
Jack stepped back into position, watching the remaining movement at the treeline and adjusting where needed as the last of the push came through.