Hammurabi no longer needed to worry about Hydra.
The vast majority of parasites and hosts had been burned by the expeditionary force's Molotov cocktails. Even if Hydra could reproduce quickly enough, it would be unable to interfere before the Emperor killed every Kree. The Praetorian Guard now faced a more troublesome problem. He forcibly ordered all Mortal Soldiers to retreat, at the very least putting distance between themselves and the thick fog. Creatures of the Material Universe could not see clearly what lay within it, but Hammurabi knew exactly what an Outer Dimensional anomaly in the Material Universe meant: an Outer Dimensional Entity had arrived. What humans called demons.
The temperature around them was rapidly dropping. Some of the wounded who had not withdrawn in time picked up their weapons after receiving rudimentary treatment and established a defensive line in the rear, intending to use their remaining few hours of life to hold back those unbeatable enemies. The thick fog quickly swallowed the village. The slowly descending flares went out one after another, leaving only burning reed stalks and Inhumans corpses.
Several bonfires that had once illuminated the entire village seemed to be clenched tightly by some invisible force. Not even their firelight could illuminate anything farther away. The Mortal Soldiers could barely see the tips of their boots; everything beyond was filled with thick fog and darkness. "Don't move." The Praetorian Guard's voice came through his neck-mounted speaker, stripped of even the last trace of humanity. "Stay alert."
"There's something in the fog!" Caspar muttered nervously.
He and the other soldiers who had failed to retreat in time stayed beside a still-burning pile of reeds, using the firelight to drive back the fog. They watched nervously as an enormous black shadow slowly passed through the fog illuminated by the