"Grenades! Use grenades!" another soldier yelled, pulling the pin and lobbing one into the fray.


    The explosion rocked the chamber, sending shards of chitin flying. Several creatures were torn apart, but it was only a temporary reprieve.


    More stepped over the remains of their fallen, undeterred, their movements relentless and unfeeling.


    "Fall back!" someone screamed, but there was nowhere to go.


    The creatures were everywhere, surrounding them, pushing them back into a shrinking circle.


    Lyerin stood at the edge of the battle, his expression unreadable.


    His eyes followed every movement, his body shifting only when necessary to evade stray attacks.


    He moved with a fluidity that bordered on inhuman, as if he were part of a different reality altogether.


    asionally, a creature would lunge at him, ws shing. He would sidestep effortlessly, barely breaking stride.


    "Any time you want to jump in!"


    Lucas shouted, his voice strained.


    He was firing point-nk at a trilobite that refused to die.


    Its exoskeleton cracked, ck ichor oozing from the wounds, but it kepting, its ws snapping inches from his face.


    "Survive," Lyerin replied calmly, his voice almost lost in the chaos. "That''s all that matters now."


    The soldiers fought with a desperation born of pure survival instinct.


    One man swung the butt of his rifle like a club, shattering a trilobite''s mandibles.


    Another was grappling with a creature, using all his strength to keep its ws away from his chest.


    The air was thick with the sounds of struggle—metal shing against chitin, shouts of pain and fury, the screeches of dying creatures.


    "Watch your left!" a soldier called, shoving hisrade aside as a trilobite lunged. .


    He drove his knife into the creature''s neck, twisting until it stopped moving.


    He barely had time to catch his breath before another was upon him. He ducked, feeling the rush of air as its ws passed inches above his head.


    A trio of creatures pressed toward the center of their formation.


    One soldier, out of ammunition, grabbed a fallenrade''s knife and hurled himself at them.


    He stabbed one in the eye socket, wrenching the de free as it screamed. But the second creature grabbed him from behind, lifting him off his feet.


    He kicked and struggled, but its grip was like iron.


    It flung him to the ground, and hended with a sickening crack.


    Another soldier was dragged down by a swarm of trilobites, their ws tearing at his armor.


    He screamed, a raw, guttural sound, before it was abruptly cut off.


    Hisrades fired into the mass, but it was toote.


    The creatures turned on them, hissing.


    "Keep fighting!" Lucas shouted, his voice raw. He reloaded his rifle with shaking hands, his eyes wild. "Don''t give up!"


    They were being overwhelmed. For every creature they killed, two more took its ce.


    Their circle was shrinking, their ammunition dwindling.


    The air was thick with the smell of blood and ichor, the cavern floor slick and treacherous.


    A soldier slipped, his weapon skittering out of reach. He looked up just in time to see a w descending.


    Suddenly, Lyerin stepped in. He moved like a wraith, his staff shing.


    The creature''s w was deflected, its body spinning as Lyerin struck with precision. He twisted, evading another attack with an almost casual grace.


    "You''re losing focus," he said, his voice cold. "Adapt, or die."


    The soldiers barely had time to process his words before the fight continued.


    A creature lunged at Lyerin, its ws aiming for his throat.


    He sidestepped, the movement impossibly smooth.


    His staffshed out, breaking its arm at the joint.


    He moved to the next creature, and the next, each strike precise and deadly. But even he did not press the attack—he was testing, watching, evading.


    The soldiers fought on, their bodies aching, their breaths ragged.


    The creatures pressed harder, their relentless assault driving them to the brink. But they refused to break.


    They fought because there was no other option.


    They fought because survival was all they had left.


    The battle raged on, a whirlwind of chaos and blood, and in its midst, Lyerin watched, calcting, waiting.


    The fight continued, spiraling into a chaotic maelstrom of desperate survival and bloodshed.


    Lyerin stepped back, his expression impassive as he surveyed the battlefield.


    He moved with a ghostly elegance, side stepping lunges, weaving through frenzied strikes, and ducking beneath razor-sharp ws with a fluidity that spoke of preternatural awareness.


    However, his staff, normally an instrument of precision and violence, remained at his side.


    The Stonehooves Tribe spirit had spoken to him—no blood spilled by his own hands for two years. And so, he watched.


    The soldiers, unaware of his oath, fought on, their faces twisted with exertion and terror.


    They were drenched in sweat, the salty tang mingling with the metallic stench of blood and the foul odor of ichor.


    The cavern was a symphony of violence—gunfire roaring, metal shing, bodies colliding with stone.


    "Hold the line!" Lucas''s voice cracked as he shouted orders, firing his rifle at point-nk range into the maw of a charging trilobite.


    The creature''s head snapped back, ichor spraying, but it did not fall.


    It reared up, ws outstretched, only for another soldier to rush forward with a bay.


    The de sunk deep into a joint, and the creature shrieked, its death throes violent and wild.


    The soldier barely had time to yank his weapon free before two more trilobites surged forward, mandibles cking.


    A young soldier to the left stumbled, his eyes wide with panic.


    He fumbled with his rifle, his fingers slick with sweat and blood. "Reload, reload," he muttered frantically, but his shaking hands betrayed him.


    A trilobite zeroed in on him, its chitinous legs scraping the ground as it approached. He froze, breath caught in his throat.


    "Move!" arade screamed, shoving him out of the way just in time.


    The trilobite''s ws mmed into the stone where he''d been standing, sending shards flying.


    The young soldier hit the ground hard, the impact driving the air from his lungs.


    He scrambled to his feet, heart pounding. Around him, the battle raged.


    "Cover me!" another soldier yelled, tossing a grenade into the fray.


    The explosion shook the cavern, fire and shrapnel engulfing a group of trilobites.


    Their screams were unearthly, a cacophony of rage and pain. But even as their charred remains fell, more emerged from the darkness, driven by a mindless, relentless hunger.


    A soldier near the center of the group cursed as his rifle jammed.


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    He tossed it aside, drawing a knife.


    The de glinted in the dim light as he met a trilobite''s charge head-on.


    He shed and stabbed, carving deep wounds into its exoskeleton.


    The creature hissed, its mandibles snapping inches from his face.


    With a roar, he drove the knife into its throat.


    ck ichor sprayed across his face, but he didn''t stop, even as another creature loomed behind him.


    "Behind you!" someone shouted, but it was toote.


    The trilobite''s w raked across the man''s back, and he fell to his knees. Hisrades closed ranks around him, driving the creature back, but it was a losing battle.


    Through it all, Lyerin moved like a shadow.


    He never attacked, never struck out, but he was always there—just out of reach, just beyond danger.


    A trilobite lunged at him, its ws slicing through the air.


    He pivoted, the motion smooth and effortless.


    The creature stumbled past, and he continued on his path, eyes scanning the battlefield.


    Another trilobite snapped at him, mandibles inches from his arm. He leaned back, the movement almostzy, and it missed.


    "Chief Lyerin! We need help!" Lucas''s voice was raw, desperate.


    He was fighting three trilobites at once, his de shing as he parried their attacks. "Damn it, do something!"


    Lyerin met his gaze, unblinking. "You''re managing," he said, his voice cold.


    He turned away, evading another strike as if it were a mere inconvenience.