Kill to evolve: A system that demands blood-Chapter 26: Sacrifice

Chapter 26

For half a second, no one moved.

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Cara's body hung limp on the jagged metal. The color drained from their faces. Time felt like it stuttered.

Then the monster moved again.

"Focus up!" Sienna barked, snapping them out of it. Her voice was raw, strained. "Get away from that thing, regroup! Fall back now!"

But the beast was already charging.

Hugo threw himself forward, arms raised, absorbing the brunt of a blow meant for Felix. The impact sent both of them flying, but it bought just enough time for Mila and the others to scatter.

"Where the hell did that thing come from?!" someone shouted over the comms.

"Was it always there? It had to be the one that caused that massacre we saw when we first arrived right?" another snapped, panic creeping in.

Mila's breathing came hard and fast. Her teleportation system flickered, misfiring from exhaustion. She hit the ground hard, scraping her palms raw as she rolled behind a collapsed pillar.

The monster thundered after them, slow, but impossibly strong. It didn't just walk. It demolished. Each step shattered concrete and sent cracks through the ground like spiderwebs.

"Jace!" Sienna called out. "Can you use the Revival Core again?!"

Jace, hunched behind an overturned car, groaned. Blood soaked his shoulder. "That last pulse drained everything. I—I need time."

"We don't have time!" Felix shouted as he ducked behind a half-standing wall. The beast tore through it a second later, barely missing him.

The squad was scattering, cornered one by one. Their formation had crumbled. They were out of position, exhausted, and scared. And with Cara gone, they'd lost more than just a fighter—they'd lost stability.

Sienna cursed under her breath, ducking into an alley and pulling a quick scan of the field.

Too many injuries and no backups. Could this get any worse.

"Damn it," she hissed. "This isn't a fight. This is a slaughter."

Her comm buzzed. "We need to disable it," Mila said, gasping. "Even if we can't kill it... maybe we can slow it down."

"You have a plan?"

"...Yeah. But it's stupid."

"I'll take stupid. Talk to me."

"Someone draws it into the west alley—the one with the busted gas lines."

Sienna instantly got it. "We drop the whole block on it."

"Exactly. Chain reaction. Pressure, flame, collapse. Should bury it. At least for a while."

Felix broke in. "I'll do it. That thing already wants me dead."

"No," Hugo said through gritted teeth. "You're already limping. I'll drag it."

"I can teleport," Mila said. "It'll chase me. You just make sure the charges are set."

Sienna hesitated. "We don't have time to argue. Mila, draw it. Hugo, you're on demolition. Everyone else—cover them."

"Copy," Hugo replied, already sprinting toward the broken piping with a handful of compact explosives.

Mila took off, vanishing and reappearing just in front of the monster's path. "HEY, UGLY!" she shouted, waving her hand as hard as she could. "Come get me!"

The thing roared, its attention snapping toward her.

Perfect.

She bolted through the streets, leading it exactly where they wanted. Buildings crumbled in its wake. The squad scrambled to keep pace, providing what cover they could with ranged attacks, trying to avoid being crushed under debris or caught in the shockwaves.

"Hugo, you good?" Sienna called out.

"Just a few more seconds..."

"Hurry!"

The ground rumbled harder. Mila darted into the alley.

The monster followed.

"NOW!" she yelled.

Hugo hit the detonator.

A chain of explosions ripped through the gas lines. Fire erupted through the alley walls like a dragon breathing sideways. The blast wave sent a boom across the entire block. Buildings collapsed. Brick, steel, smoke—everything came down at once.

The beast vanished under a tidal wave of rubble.

The street fell silent again.

Only the sound of burning debris and coughing could be heard.

"Did it work?" Felix asked, barely audible.

"Don't know," Sienna said, her voice low. "But if it didn't... we're out of tricks."

Sienna's HUD flickered—low power. Her hands trembled as she reached for her comm again, her knuckles scraped and bleeding.

"Regroup!" she ordered, voice cracking. "Everyone to me—now!"

The team stumbled toward her through the smoke, and debris, limping, dragging one another. Felix's arm was slung over Mila's shoulder. Jace's face was ashen, lips pale. Hugo's hands were still shaking from the detonator trigger. They looked more like survivors of a plane crash than an elite strike unit.

And then came the sound they dreaded.

A chorus of shrill screeches.

The rubble behind them shifted.

"No....Don't tell me it has already recovered." Mila whispered, her tone trembling with horror. If that thing was set free, they were goners.

But it wasn't the big one.

Sienna's blood ran cold as the smaller ones emerged—dozens of them, crawling from alleys, broken windows, sewer grates. Lithe, fast, and twitching. Their wounds from earlier had already healed. Eyes glowing. Mouths snapping.

"Shit..." Hugo muttered. "They're surrounding us."

"We don't have the mana to fight through," Jace said, trying to summon even a flicker of energy. Nothing.

They were completely encircled.

Mila dropped to one knee. "My system's fried. I can't teleport anymore."

"Same," Felix panted. "I can barely lift my arm, let alone shoot."

"Okay..." Sienna said, trying to steady her breath. "Then we make a gap. One push. All together."

"There's no gap," Jace snapped. "They'll tear us apart."

"Then we make one!"

"I'll hold them off," Hugo said suddenly, stepping forward.

Everyone turned to him.

"No," Sienna said immediately, firm. "We are not doing this."

"Captain," he said, voice softer now, but resolute. "You know it's the only way."

"The hell it is."

"I can buy you a minute. Maybe two. That's enough time to get through the line. I've got the strength left for that much."

"You're not dying here," she growled.

"If I don't, we all do."

"No! We leave no one behind!" Sienna's voice cracked, but her words were steel. "You're coming with us."

"Captain—!"

"Shut up, Hugo!" Felix barked. "You think we're gonna just watch you throw yourself into the meat grinder?! What, you get to play hero and we get to live with that?"

"It's not about playing hero, dammit!" Hugo roared back. "It's about making sure someone makes it out of this!"

"You think we're okay with that cost?! You think I'm okay with that?!"

They were shouting now, desperate, raw. Mila was crying, completely overwhelmed with fear but trying to hide it. Jace was gripping his broken shoulder like it was the only thing keeping him grounded. Every one of them was shaking. Covered in blood—most of it their own. Covered in dust, sweat. And also...fear, they were all afraid to die.

Sienna's chest heaved. Her eyes flicked between the monsters closing in, and her team falling apart.

"I'm not letting anyone die," she whispered. "Not again."

Then—

A high-pitched screech cut the air.

One of the monsters lunged—faster than anything they'd seen.

Straight at Jace.

Jace barely had time to blink.

His legs locked up. No mana. No strength. His weapon was gone, and even if he had it, it wouldn't matter. He was done. His body was screaming, but nothing moved.

Shit. I'm dead.

The thing was inches away. Jaws wide. Claws out.

Then—THWACK!

A dagger shot through the air like it'd been fired from a cannon, slamming straight into the monster's forehead. The beast dropped instantly, twitching once before going still.

Everyone froze.

Even the monsters.

Then came the footsteps. Slow. Heavy. Echoing off the broken walls.

From the smoke, someone walked out.

Black tactical gear. Blood on his arms. Face partially shadowed by smoke. And behind him... that aura, unnatural, pulsing with raw force. Like the pressure in the air before a storm hits.

It was Ronan.

But not the Ronan they knew.

His system had activated, it was obvious. But what the hell was that ominous power, they could literally sense his immense blood lust, and it was bone chilling.

For a second, no one said anything. They didn't even remember how mad they had been because he had abandoned them.

Then his voice cut through the silence.

"No one is sacrificing their lives, I'll take it from here."