Now, Northern Philippines

Aswangs roared as threw themselves into the wall of spears.

The spears would’ve broken under their weight if not for Spear Sergeant Doran’s Skills.

Instead the aswangs pushed forward even as their bodies were pierced until they could reach the brave men and women braced behind their large shields.

The sergeant’s other Skill kicked in and the aswangs suddenly recoiled, pushed back by the same force they had inflicted with their charge.

Spells and alchemical concoctions flew over the line and splashed amongst the aswangs.

Flesh burned and melted under the attacks.

The stench was horrendous.

Hanna lopped an aswang’s head off.

She blocked an arm the size of a small tree with her Threnosh-made shield.

The aswang blinked in confusion at the dull thud his strike had made. That same blow had dented car doors and shattered wooden shields.

Hanna barely feel the impact thanks to her superior gear.

Her blade went right through the front of the aswang’s skull.

Another aswang lunged for Hanna.

She jammed the edge of her round shield into the exposed throat, while slashing the arm off a second aswang attacking from her right.

The first aswang’s eye exploded in a shower of gore from the stream of projectiles Demi shot from her recoilless rifle.

As for the second, Hanna cleaved through the top of its head.

Things weren’t going as well for the line.

The sergeant’s Skills had run out.

Spears broke.

Even with the salt the aswang were still supernaturally strong and resilient.

Though a handful had fallen, there were still more.

The towering monsters reached the shields.

Powerful strikes, broke wood and the arms behind them.

An unfortunate Spearman was pulled from the line and thrown back into the mass of aswang to be torn apart and devoured.

A Spearwoman followed suit despite the desperate attempts to pull her back.

Doran had enough. “Rapid Disengage!” he bellowed.

The surviving spear unit members backpedaled with impossible speed while the aswangs’ grabbing hands somehow couldn’t find purchase on them.

“Retreat!” Demi said.

Jake threw a handful of smart phones in the path of the charging aswangs.

Magic shields sprang to life and temporarily halted the monsters.

“Hanna!”

“Go! I’ve got this, Watch Captain!” Hanna hacked and slashed at the hands and arms grasping all around her.

The rest of her group retreated toward the village wall while Hanna faced the monsters.

The aswangs’ strength was blunted by the Threnosh armor. She felt them, but she wasn’t being injured. She whirled wildly. Footwork and technique out the window in the tightly-packed, chaotic melee.

Snarling faces with grotesquely distended mouths filled with sharp teeth filled Hanna’s view.

She caught a glint out of the corner of her eye.

Three glass containers shattered around her.

A firestorm erupted.

Once again the impossibly-advanced armor kept her safe.

The aswang had no such protections.

Alchemical flames stuck to their bodies and spread despite their efforts to put them out.

“Ha!” Hanna screamed as the flames danced in her eyes.

She slashed and stabbed with abandon.

Dancing her way through the aswangs around her.

“Chain Lightning, fuckers!” Jake roared.

Sudden, blue-white lightning arced around her, spider-webbing in unpredictable directions.

Her faceplate darkened as stray bolts hit her armor to no effect.

Again, she had the aswangs at a disadvantage.

They had no special resistance to Jake’s magic.

“Got anymore of that!” Hanna yelled.

“Just one more, but I’m saving it for the big boss!” Jake yelled back.

“Fall back, Hanna.” Demi’s voice was calm over the comms.

“We have them!” Hanna snapped.

“No. We’re practically out of mana, Santiago’s out of his concoctions, our spears are spent and I’m running low on ammo. I’m calling in Cruces,” Demi said.

Hanna bared her teeth in a snarl as she separated another aswang’s head from his neck. “Fine.” She turned to run only to get hammered from behind and driven into the dirt.

“I felt that one,” Hanna muttered.

She rolled over and got her shield up just in time to block what looked like four thin, flesh-colored blades.

The blades retracted into the smoke.

Hanna scrambled to her feet.

“Go to the meeting hall,” a sonorous voice spoke.

The remaining aswangs obeyed and hurried back the way they had come even though some were still on fire.

“You’ve killed enough of my children.” The speaker appeared out of the smoke. Dressed in simple farmer’s clothing, but beautiful beyond belief. Perfect features framed by long, silvery hair.

Butterflies fluttered in Hanna’s stomach.

The man gestured and two young men appeared behind him.

They were injured and appeared dazed. Their eyes stared ahead as if looking at nothing while their mouths hung slack.

“I had thought to kill and drain these two in front of you as recompense, but it seems that you don’t connection. Your appearance is certainly out of place. You will tell me who you are, where you’ve come from and what sort of equipment that is. My fingers have penetrated steel. How is it that your armor denied me?”

The man’s eyes seemed to flash.

Hanna opened her mouth ready to answer all his questions.

Then she stopped.

Clarity came over her.

“You must be the Elder,” Hanna grunted.

“How are you defying my magic?” the Elder’s eyes narrowed as his mouth split into an ugly sharp-fanged snarl.

Hanna didn’t find him so beautiful anymore.

The Elder pointed a finger at Hanna. “Death Bolt.”

Dark magic splashed against her shield.

Hanna charged.

“How unpleasant,” the Elder sighed, “restrain her.”

The two young men lurched forward clumsily.

Hanna ran right barreled over them behind her shield.

She thrust her sword for the Elders stomach, but he floated backward out of reach.

She kept after him, thrusting and slashing.

“No weapon can hurt me,” the Elder smirked.

“Keep him busy,” Demi’s voice spoke into Hanna’s ears.

The Elder’s fingers lengthened and turned into blades as he stabbed at Hanna.

Shield and armor kept her safe.

“What is that made off? Why won’t you listen to me?” the Elder’s perfect brow furrowed.

Hanna struck, but the Elder parried her with his blade-like fingers.

“Vibrating Blade,” she whispered.

A straight cut was parried again.

This time the Elder hissed.

He retreated out of reach to examine his fingers.

A thin line of blood dripped down his hand and arm.

“You are intriguing. I will enjoy learning everything I can about you. Perhaps…” the Elder mused. “Yes. You’ve proved yourself worthy to join my family.”

“You talk too much.” Hanna darted forward to get closer to the Elder. “Tenfold Cuts.” She slashed her blade through the air. Not making contact with the Elder, but crucially she was within ten feet of him.

The Elder looked quizzically at Hanna. “What—”

And then he screamed as each of Hanna’s slashes had been magnified by ten in every way. In number, speed and effectiveness.

Hanna’s Skill overcame the Elder’s resistance and perhaps the Threnosh-made sword made an added difference.

Thin cuts erupted all over the Elder’s body, shredding clothing and sending blood flying.

“You will suffer before I grant you the change,” the Elder hissed.

Heavy footsteps rushed past Hanna.

The Elder had been distracted and he hadn’t noticed the big man sprinting down the dirt path.

“Lightning Claw!” Magical electricity crackled around Jake’s prosthetic hand. He slashed across the Elder’s stomach.

The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. “This is for Ron!” he growled as he thrust his hand into the Elder’s chest.

“Good, but not enough,” the Elder leered. He thrust a hand toward Jake's face.

Fingers speared out only to bounce of Hanna’s shield.

She bodied Jake back and stabbed her blade into the Elder’s thigh.

Only the tip managed to penetrate.

Hanna punched her shield out, but it was like hitting a wall.

The Elder didn’t budge.

She withdrew her sword and in the same motion slashed across his neck.

This time she failed to do more than draw a thin line of red.

“Your Skill seems to have run out,” the Elder smirked. “The two of you have hurt me. You’ve earned your entrance. However, you must pay. There will be suffering, but first I will force you to watch and listen to the screams of your fellow warriors. As you have killed my children this night then so to will I do the same to those you care about.”

The Elder floated up into the sky and out of reach.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! We have to hurry!” Jake was already running back down the path.

“You’ve got incoming! Hanna screamed into the comms.

“He’s already here,” Demi said flatly.

“Don’t you want to kill each other for me?” the Elder said from where he floated above them.

Demi slowly moved her recoilless rifle from the Elder toward Rebekah, who was the closest person.

For her part, Rebekah had tightened her grip on her axe and had shifted her stance to face Demi.

All around them, people were slowly turning their weapons on each other.

“Listen to my voice… it will please me immensely for you to kill each other. Those that prove themselves will be worthy of the gift of family.”

The Elder’s voice was like music to Demi’s ears. Her finger slowly began to squeeze the trigger.

She stopped suddenly and swung her rifle back to the Elder.

Her mind had cleared.

That beautiful face twisted into something feral.

This time she squeezed the trigger.

Projectiles struck the Elder.

To no apparent effect aside from tearing what remained of his tattered clothing.

“Taunt him!” Doran roared.

The Elder sneered and stabbed a finger out.

The blade-like appendage stabbed through Doran’s shield and the cheek guard of his helmet.

Luckily, Doran had turned his head and the finger simply speared through the side of one cheek and out the other.

The Elder retracted his finger and left Doran choking on blood.

“Eldritch Dart!” Alexa struck the Elder from behind.

The Elder hissed. “Spell for spell. Death Bolt,” he pointed.

Alexa’s eyes widened.

Demi rammed the woman out of the way and took the dark spell on her chest.

The lights in her faceplate went dark as she toppled to her back.

“Captain!” Alexa cried.

“Suppression Fire.” Rebekah used up the last of her submachine gun’s ammunition.

“I’m too powerful for you,” the Elder said as he broke free of the effect.

A loud bang knocked the Elder forward.

This time he hissed in pain.

He turned to face Jimenez.

The shotgun shook in her hands.

“Clever… use salt as bullets,” the Elder pointed at Jimenez.

“Heater!” Trevor said as he hurled a baseball at the Elder’s head.

The ball erupted into flames as it left his hand.

It struck the back of the Elder’s head and set his voluminous silver hair alight.

The Elder extinguished the flames with a shake of his head.

Jimenez had taken the momentary distraction to retreat behind the shields of the remaining spear unit and Doran.

“Cutter!”

The second baseball dipped from high to low down the front of the Elder’s chest, drawing blood as it sliced his skin like a knife.

“This is new,” the Elder frowned. “You will live,” he slashed impossibly long fingers at Trevor.

Trevor screamed as razor-sharp finger tips raked across his entire front. His helmet and armor might as well have been made out of paper.

The Elder was precise and accurate. The wounds he inflicted were deep, but not life-threatening.

A stream of projectiles whistled through the air and peppered the Elder. “You’re alive. I will have to pry the secret of that armor from your mind,” he said.

“You won’t get that chance.” Demi was crouched on one knee. Her pale and sweat-sheened face was visible through her faceplate. Alexa and Del hovered at her back. “I’m calling it,” she looked to the sky, “we’ve gone as far as we can.”

The Elder’s eyes narrowed.

A dark form plummeted from the sky.

The Elder turned only to take a fist to the face that drove him into the soil.

Phillip Cruces stalked toward the Elder.

The Elder’s broken face rearranged itself.

“Are you the one—”

Phillip drove his steel-covered fist into the Elder’s face once again. “Not interested in what a piece of garbage like you has to say.”

Phillip’s fists worked like pile drivers as he methodically punched the Elder in the face and chest.

The aswang’s bones broke and reformed continuously under the superstrong beating.

The Elder managed to point a finger at Phillip.

A black bolt of death magic struck.

Phillip’s assault stalled and he staggered back, but only for a moment.

The Elder raised a hand and speared four fingers and a thumb through Phillips chest plate.

Phillip grabbed the razor-sharp fingers with both hands.

They cut right through his thick gloves and even into his skin.

“Pin pricks,” Phillip said.

Then he snapped the Elder’s blade-like fingers.

The Elder let out an ear-splitting screech.

“Not used to being on the receiving end of pain, are you? A taste of what you’ve done to so many others. Just the beginning of your punishment,” Phillip growled.

The Elder retracted his ruined fingers. He stared at the broken things in disbelief. They had been ripped off at the second knuckle from the tip. Bloody bones stuck out from torn flesh. They didn’t heal.

The Elder hissed as Phillip rushed in with a haymaker.

The fist crated the ground as the Elder suddenly vanished into mist.

“Cal, the Elder’s getting away,” Phillip said.

No, he won’t.

Cal descended out of the darkness with his passengers in tow.

“I guess our part in this is done?” Demi said.

“You’ve done more than enough,” Cal said. “I’ll take care of the rest—” he frowned, “damn it! The rangers are going to get themselves in trouble.” He launched himself into the air.

The rangers had followed the trail of devastation in the village.

They found Rino with her throat slit, but still alive. The woman’s wound looked to be healing, but she had lost a lot of blood and was out cold. They stashed her in a home and covered her naked body with a jacket before continuing on.

“I feel magic in the air,” Smores said through grit teeth.

“You’re fucking slobbering into my ear,” Mouthy groused.

“Fin?” Sgt. Butcher said.

“Yes. The aswangs haven’t displayed the capacity for outwardly explosive spells,” Smores said.

“A lot of exploded homes and scorch marks all over the place,” Hardhat said.

“I’m not a tracker, but my eyes are pretty good and I think I see a lot of prints headed down that way,” Aims pointed down the dirt path.

“Toward the center of the village. Makes sense they’d put their noncombatants in a defensible location. Remember, there are normal humans among the aswang, be careful with your fire,” Sgt. Butcher said.

“What happens if we run into the boss?” Two-toes said.

“Big brother saves our taints,” Mouthy sneered.

“You’d better hope he does,” Hardhat smirked.

The rangers moved forward cautiously.

They reached the center of the village and took cover behind the corners of homes on both sides of the path.

A terrifying monster stood alone in front of a large structure that must’ve been a village hall of some kind. It was tall, a vaguely humanoid feline shape hidden beneath a mass of long, black hair that writhed and wriggled like a thousands worms.

“Oh shit! It’s that malakat-thing,” Mouthy whispered.

“Second strongest aswang. Lieutenant to the gabunan leader,” Smores said.

The malakat turned eyes that burned like fire in the ranger’s direction.

“And he sees us, fuck me,” Mouthy snapped.

“Mark Target,” Sgt. Butcher said calmly. “Give it everything we’ve got.” She could only hope that Rayna’s brother was about to intervene. From what the briefing about the malakat had said they didn’t stand a chance, especially considering how much of their abilities they had already expended and how short-handed they were.

The malakat zigzagged across the few dozen yards of open space between him and the rangers.

Spells and gunfire tracked his movement.

Half missed, but half hit.

They wouldn’t have hit him once had it not been for the sergeant’s Skill helping their aim.

It was almost like having an aimbot, to use an old term.

Unfortunately, the long, thick hair covering the malakat’s body was stronger than armor.

Nothing seemed to be making a dent.

Smores' ice darts shattered.

Aim’s bullets were deflected.

Even the last of the salt rounds from Hardhat’s and Two-toes shotguns didn’t do much but disintegrate against a shield of thick hair.

The malakat was on them in seconds.

“Power Strike!” Mouthy's machete clanged of the malakat’s back. “It’s like hitting a steel bar!”

Tendrils of hair lashed out and slapped Mouthy and Smores into the side of the house.

“Piercing Shots.” Aims’ revolvers roared their fury.

The malakat reared up as something finally got through his defenses.

Hair struck in all directions.

Tendrils wrapped around Aims’ wrists and squeezed hard.

Aims grunted and dropped his revolvers to the dirt as his bones were snapped.

“Fir—” Two-toes choked as a thick clump of hair was suddenly shoved in her mouth.

Hardhat and Sgt. Butcher found themselves painfully held up off the ground by their wrists and ankles.

“Any last words,” the malakat’s guttural growl reverberated as he pulled Sgt. Butcher closer.

She tried, but couldn’t look into the burning orbs of the malakat’s eyes.

The hair on his face parted to reveal a wide, cat-like mouth filled with jagged teeth and a long, sinuous tongue.

She turned her face away, unable to bear the terror.

“Then die for your sins against my family.”

“Justino! Where are you? Why can’t I feel you? Why can’t I feel my children?”

A frantic voice echoed eerily from somewhere in the dark sky.

“Gather everyone! We must flee! Now!”

The malakat opened his mouth and closed to within inches of Sgt. Butcher’s head.

Then as if compelled by the voice, he stopped.

Sgt. Butcher dared to open her eyes only to suddenly feel herself spinning through the air.

Then the impact through a wooden wall jarred her body.

She felt something in her arm snap as she rolled awkwardly across a wooden floor.

Two-toes pushed her way through the half-broken door. “Sarge? You alive?”

“Help me up,” Sgt. Butcher groaned.

She leaned on Two-toes shoulder as they made their way back outside.

“Call it out,” Sgt. Butcher said.

One by one the rangers called out.

The sergeant thanked God that she wasn’t going to have to add another name to the memorial.

They had been close to disaster twice in one night.

A total wipe.

Smores pointed to the sky over the village center.

The source of their salvation floated some thirty feet up.

Rayna’s brother stared down at the malakat and a stunningly beautiful man with long, silver hair. The leader, the gabunan, the Elder.

Other aswangs began to appear out of the village hall.

They were suddenly shoved back inside as if brushed away by an invisible hand.

The doors shook with the power of thunderous blows, but somehow simple wood held.

“You!” the Elder hissed. “You’re the one!”

The malakat leapt at Cal. A thousand strands of hair lashing and thrusting like whips and spears.

Cal gestured and the malakat was suddenly slammed into the dirt.

Dust and debris erupted. When the air cleared the malakat was in the middle of a small crater.

“Death Lance!” Black magic struck from the Elder’s upthrust hands.

The dark spear of energy shattered against something several feet in front of Cal.

Sgt. Butcher couldn’t tell what it was that had protected him.

The roof of the meeting hall burst out with a spray of broken wood.

A handful of flying aswangs went straight for Cal.

An annoyed look crossed his face as he slapped the aswang out of the sky with a gesture.

He turned his attention back to the Elder only to find the aswang was gone along with the malakat.

“Sneaky bastard,” Cal muttered.

Phillip came running into the village center, followed by Hanna, Jake and two unfamiliar looking young men.

“Dad, there’s a bunch of aswangs inside,” Cal pointed at the village hall. “Maybe you go and beat them up a bit.”

“What about the regular humans?” Philip said.

Cal regarded the hall.

Sgt. Butcher wasn’t surprised to see that people, humans began to float out of the hole in the roof. Mostly children and a few teenagers from the looks of it.

“Keep them safe,” Cal said. He turned to Phillip. “Most of the aswangs in there are new to the class. Don’t kill them if you can avoid it.”

“I’ll do my best,” Phillip said as he walked up to the doors.

Cal opened them with a gesture and Phillip charged in.

“Can you find Chains and Fin? They were captured,” Sgt. Butcher said as she approached.

Cal’s eyes scanned the surrounding structures until they fell on the house a few yards away from the hall. “Fin’s in there. Chains is…” he shook his head.

“What about these ones?” Hanna pointed her sword at the handful of downed aswangs. A mix of manananggals and berbalangs.

“Murderers,” Cal said as his feet left the ground.

“Make them pay,” Sgt. Butcher called out after him.

“I will.” Cal shot up into the darkness.

Justino struggled to keep up with the Elder as the latter dashed through the dense undergrowth like a wraith.

“We’ll gather more family members. Then we will return to take our revenge.”

Justino grunted a reply that was garbled as much by the guttural tongue his Aswang: Malakat form forced on him as by the branches and bushes that he has running through.

“Of course, we’ll also rescue the family that we were forced to leave behind and take back our village,” Porfiro said.

They had covered many miles in a matter of minutes after their escape from that blue and golden armored man.

Part of Justino was still in disbelief that he had found it so easy to leave the others behind.

He had promised to always protect them and fight with them against any and all threats they faced, yet he had obeyed the Elder’s command to flee without hesitation.

“We’ll have to move quickly. Take the closest towns and the city. Come back with thousands,” Porfiro whispered.

A presence pulsed through their minds and brought them to a sudden halt.

Porfiro hissed as he turned fingers into blades.

Justino stepped in front of his Elder and brought himself up to his full height, hair tendrils writhing.

The blue and golden armored man stood in front of them.

Justino waited for Porfiro to share their plan of attack through their connection, but nothing came.

The armored man’s dark faceplate seamlessly became translucent to reveal his face.

“Filipino?” Justino growled out.

“Yes, but I wasn’t raised here.”

Justino tensed.

In the absence of orders from Porfiro he’d do his best to attack the armored man. Perhaps, Porfiro could find an opening to join in or escape.

“Don’t bother,” the armored man raised a hand.

Justino saw it then.

He saw himself hurtling across the space to the armored man in the blink of an eye. Hair lashing out, stabbing.

The armor took all the hits without fail. The man somehow proved strong enough to stand firm against power that had demolished brick and steel.

Justino saw himself in the grasp of an invisible force that crushed his supernaturally tough body.

In the end he heard and felt the crunching of his skull before his vision went dark.

Justino blinked and found himself still standing in front of Porfiro with the armored man a few dozen yards away.

“You can’t win. You won’t survive. There is no other way that this can end for the two of you. I don’t like being in this position, but I’ve seen how you think, what you think. And I know that if you live, you will only repeat the evil you’ve done to hundreds of people.”

Justino shed his aswang form. He had seen reality in his mind’s eye. Had experienced it. Lived it.

“What are you doing?” Porfiro hissed in Justino’s ear.

“It’s over,” Justino said.

“What really pisses me off is that you had a choice. Unlike most of the innocent people you transformed against their wills.”

“I gave everyone a choice!” Porfiro snapped.

“Is it really a choice when a person gets to choose between,” the armored man held out a hand, “an aswang class,” he held out the other, “or to be food?”

“I gave them life! Strength! Survival!”

“A choice. You could’ve done all that without murdering people for food. Did you not even consider claiming a small hospital, a clinic or a blood bank? With your strengths that would’ve been easy. Plenty of blood without the need to murder.”

“It’s not that straightforward. Some of us need more than just blood. We need flesh, organs,” Justino said.

“Choice… mandurugos just need blood. You could’ve stayed at that. Not taken the transformation into the other varieties. Hell, even you, gabunan, can get by with blood bags.”

“I won’t reduce myself to that. It is my right by my strength to take what I wish. As the spires decreed,” Porfiro said. “Is that not what you’re doing? Using your strength to take my village and family from me? If I’m a murderer, then so are you.”

“Your attack killed innocent humans, children,” Justino added.

The armored man said nothing.

“For all your posturing. You are no different from me,” Porfiro laughed.

“You’re right in that regard,” the armored man said. “It’s about consequences for our actions and decisions. You face yours and I’ll face mine.”

“Is there no way to make amends?” Justino whispered.

“What?”

“I did what I did to protect my people, my family,” Justino raised his head to lock gazes with the armored man.

“You should’ve considered protecting all people,” the armored man frowned.

“Can we not start now?”

“Justino—!”

He ignored Porfiro. “If not for us then how about for the survivors? They were the newest to the change. They can adapt.”

“You don’t deserve this, but I can’t be cruel,” the armored man sighed. “I promise you that those deserving of a chance will get it.”

Justino nodded.

“We must fight! Just like always! Together against the monsters and those that threaten our family!” Porfiro urged.

“My Elder. We cannot. Not against him,” Justino said.

“What’re you saying? That you’re giving up? What about our plans? Our future?” Porfiro pleaded.

“It’s enough that at least some of our family will have the chance to continue on,” Justino closed his eyes.

“Unlike the two of you… I’ll make it as quick as possible,” the armored man said.

Justino felt a palpable change deep in his mind.

Strangely, he felt at peace.

Porfiro screamed something.

Then… nothingness.

Cal stared down at the broken, dismembered bodies of the two aswang.

An unpleasant sight.

Fitting of an unpleasant act.

Judge, jury and executioner.

The roles sat ill in him.

“Oh… shit!”

The Elder’s death had lifted the magical shroud that had been making it difficult to use his telepathy to scan the village. With it gone he finally noticed one last threat.

A massive kulam, curse was about to hit every non aswang in the village.