The points of light in the darkness connected into lines in an instant.
The stench-laden wind practically slammed in through the passage entrance.
The Great Ghouls' limbs scraped sharply across the rubble-strewn ground. The grinding of bones mingled with low growls, shaking dust loose from the tops of the rock walls.
They had lurked on the lowest level of The Abyss for far too long. Now that they smelled the scent of living humans, their savage instincts instantly overwhelmed their fear of Holy Light.
The Born were the first to step forward.
Dozens of black-robed metal shells showed no sign of panic. Their mechanical joints moved with dull clacking sounds as they neatly locked themselves into place at the foremost forks.
Their feet stomped heavily into the dirt and rubble, crushing swathes of thick Gray-White Fungal Hyphae beneath them. Using their weight to steady themselves, dozens of alloy blades slid from their metal arms and angled toward the enemy.
The collision erupted in an instant.
The massive bodies of the Great Ghouls crashed into the Born's metal defense line, dull cracks of bone mingling with the blunt clang of metal.
The two Born at the front were driven back half a step by the tremendous force. Their hard metal feet plowed two shallow furrows through the muddy rubble, kicking up sticky black residue, but their blades had already pierced the chests of the first two Great Ghouls.
Blackish-red slurry sprayed along the metal blades, splashing across the damp Fungal Hyphae and into the cracks between the rocks.
The Born held the battle line with their bodies.
These core vanguards of the Great Ascendants displayed terrifying combat strength. Though they had neither the breath of living people nor Transcendence fluctuations, cold white light flickered in their hollow eye sockets. Every slash