He was already running again.
---
The city was breaking apart.
Western streets burned.
Guard towers were still firing.
Soldiers fought in small squads wherever they could hold ground.
Andrew carved a path through a knot of demons near the square.
His scythe flashed in the smoke.
"Outta my way!"
One demon went down.
Another lost an arm.
A third was sent flying into a cart full of shattered stone.
Andrew kept moving.
Didn't slow.
Didn't stop.
He looked like a storm given human shape.
---
Taai was worse.
Or better.
Depending on how one looked at it.
A demon lunged at him from the side.
Taai punched it so hard the creature slammed through an entire storefront.
A monster charged from behind.
Taai twisted and hit it with a shoulder strike that cracked its spine.
"Third line!"
"Hold the intersection!"
"Don't let them split the district!"
His voice carried over the chaos.
Soldiers responded instantly.
Civilians who could fight picked up whatever they could find.
Hammers.
Spears.
Axes.
Broken pipes.
There was no room left for fear.
Only survival.
---
Kai rejoined the fight at the center of a collapsing avenue.
A hybrid charged him.
This one was taller.
Bulkier.
Its body was stitched together with unnatural muscle and flickering Magic Circuits beneath the skin.
Kai dodged the first swing.
The second clipped his shoulder.
He winced.
Then the creature opened its mouth and roared.
Kai felt the pressure in his chest spike.
The circuits.
They were there.
Waiting.