Chapter 40 protocol : Bloody Arrival part 2

The dome burned crimson against the skyline, sealing the battlefield in a prison of fire and lightning. Civilians trapped outside pounded against the barrier, screaming, powerless to enter or help. Inside, smoke and ash choked the streets, buildings collapsing in heaps of steel and glass.

the half-goblin, half-hawk, half-dragon monstrosity stood tall at the heart of the destruction, his talons carving sparks into the cracked pavement. His wings stretched wide, pulsing with arcs of lightning, while his scaled chest glowed faintly with heat like a living furnace.

Around him, fifteen foot soldiers prowled the ruins. Their blades dripped with blood, and their eyes gleamed with savage joy. The three generals towered behind them, radiating brute force that dwarfed most Executioners.

David and Julius had fought valiantly, cutting through the soldiers in a storm of fire and light. Julius’s spear of digital light had burned holes clean through bodies; David’s blades had kept pace until exhaustion pulled at his arms. But the tide turned when the generals joined the fray.

David’s shoulder was pierced, blood soaking through his uniform. Julius staggered, ribs broken, one eye swelling shut. Their party lay scattered, dead or dying, the battlefield littered with Executioner corpses.

“Too easy,” one general sneered, raising his hammer slick with gore.

And then the leader raised both clawed hands.

The air warped, twisting with fire and lightning bound together in a single catastrophic spell.

David stared at it, lips trembling. Julius lowered his spear, his body refusing to move. They both knew—it was the end.

The blast came.

But a sword—thirty feet of blazing digital light—slammed into the ground before them, shielding them in a wall of binary steel. The explosion shattered against it, sparks scattering like fireworks into the ruined city.

David’s eyes widened. Julius could only whisper: “What…?”

Through the haze, she emerged.

Kira.

Her eyes glowed with glitching binary sparks, her digital sword towering high above her head. Her presence radiated something beyond human, something terrifying in its certainty.

Lucy and Chiper rushed past her.

David gasped, but they ignored him, diving into the wreckage of an overturned car. From beneath it, muffled sobs carried out. A child—just five years old, covered in blood and ash. Her parents’ corpses lay nearby, charred and broken. Lucy lifted her gently, whispering reassurance, while Chiper held the wreckage steady with shaking arms.

His eyes narrowed on Kira. Then, slowly, his lips curled into a smile.

“Finally,” he rumbled, voice like thunder. “A toy worth playing with.”

Kira grinned, unafraid. “Then play.”

One of the generals roared and lunged, blade flashing. It cleaved through her neck—clean, brutal, final.

But Kira didn’t fall.

Her body erupted with digital sparks, glitch-fire running across her skin as the wound stitched itself closed instantly.

The general froze, his eyes wide.

“What—what are you…?”

Kira tilted her head. “Try again.”

This time, he cleaved her torso in half.

And again—she didn’t fall. Her regeneration was instantaneous, faster than the eye could follow. The glitch in her body bent death itself to her will.

The generals hesitated. Then all three attacked at once.

Above them, Kira summoned another sword—thirty feet long, shimmering with binary flame. Around her, dozens of digital arrows flared into existence, locking onto the generals with pinpoint precision.

The generals snarled, chanting together:

“O Demon King of the old—bless us with your wrath. Lend us your curse: Black Lightning!”

The sky split open. Black thunder descended, coiled with destructive power.

Kira raised her blade to shield herself, binary energy flooding the barrier around her. The lightning slammed down, ripping the street apart in a catastrophic explosion. Buildings vaporized. The ground cratered. The sound was deafening.

Lucy screamed. Chiper staggered, clutching his head. David and Julius were thrown back, blood splattering from their mouths.

When the smoke cleared, half the block was gone.

Kira was on her knees, blood streaming down her chin, her barrier fractured and flickering.

The leader stepped forward, amused, his wings sparking. “Impressive… but not enough.”

The generals laughed darkly, raising their weapons. Civilians screamed from beyond the dome, pounding on the barrier that would not break.

Even Lucy trembled. Even Chiper faltered.

The leader raised his hands again, summoning another spell—a stronger one. Black lightningb swirled in a storm, raw destruction enough to wipe them all away.

David and Julius lay unconscious. The party was broken.

It was over.

Then,

A voice. Calm. Cold. Unshaken.

“That’s enough.”

Everyone turned.

The dome rippled.

And through it, as if it were nothing but mist, a figure walked. The crimson barrier bent around him, failing to resist, as though reality itself made way for him.

Riven Kane stepped inside the dome. His eyes burned with fury.