Chapter 249 – The Moon Panther at War

Sergeant Barnes:

My men and I were stationed near the wall, deep within our camp. The war raged in the distance, but chaos had already spilled over, spreading like wildfire. We sprinted through the maze of tents, where screams and the clash of swords mingled with the thunderous explosions of magic. The scene was a living nightmare.

Maids cackled with macabre delight as they slaughtered soldiers with unimaginable cruelty. Green snakes slithered through the dirt, creeping into the mouths of screaming men whose bodies convulsed as grotesque plants erupted from their skin. Warriors, turned into vegetal abominations, attacked relentlessly, like puppets.

My mind was a storm of panic. Any strategies I had planned were now useless. Everything was falling apart. Squads were divided, disorganized; everyone was fighting just to survive.

In the middle of this chaos, a gnawing unease settled among us. Every shadow felt like it hid something lethal. Soldiers from my squad began disappearing one by one. First, they vanished without a trace; then, their screams echoed like grim warnings.

We were a squad of mages, forced to band together out of sheer survival instinct. But something was terribly wrong. It felt like an invisible presence stalked us, the weight of it suffocating, sending shivers down my spine with every step.

"We need to help the other squads!" one of my men exclaimed, his voice trembling with fear.

I scanned our surroundings, trying to pinpoint the source of this oppressive feeling. All I saw were shadows and fleeting silhouettes vanishing before I could focus on them.

"We can't waste more time here," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the growing terror. "Stay close. If you sense anything, anything at all, call out immediately!"

We pushed forward through the labyrinth of tents, each of us hyper-aware of every flicker of movement, every sound. Yet, the pounding of our hearts betrayed our nerves. The intermittent silence was unnerving, broken only by the distant sounds of battle and strange rustling noises nearby.

My eyes fixed on the fortress in the distance, still shrouded by that black dome, a harbinger of death. A gut feeling told me the worst was yet to come.

Suddenly, a desperate scream tore through the air behind us. "Help me!" It was filled with sheer terror, freezing the blood in our veins.

We spun around instinctively, ready to unleash magic, but the sight before us left us frozen. One of our squad's mages was being dragged into the shadows between the tents. His fingers clawed at the dirt as he tried to cast fire spells at whatever was pulling him with unrelenting force.

"Grab him!" I shouted, but it was too late. He disappeared into the darkness.

Then came silence, a silence so oppressive it seemed to devour even the echoes of his cries.

I swallowed hard, the fear hanging in the air becoming unbearable. Something was hunting us, and it was only a matter of time before it claimed another.

"What do we do?!" a soldier shouted, his voice cracking under the weight of panic.

"Fire your spells!" I barked without hesitation. We all aimed at the spot where the mage had vanished and unleashed a barrage of fire, illuminating the area with a fierce blaze. But as the flames died down, all that remained was emptiness. There was nothing there. Only silence and the suffocating darkness surrounding us.

"Hold your positions!" I ordered, masking my own terror. "Watch every angle!"

We formed a tight circle, our backs pressed together. It was the only defensive formation we could manage. If something approached, one of us would see it and warn the rest. No one would be taken by surprise.

The wind whispered faintly, but its sound mocked us, heightening our unease. Shadows danced with the swaying tent fabrics, morphing into shapes that seemed alive, watching us. Every movement, no matter how small, had us raising swords or preparing spells, eyes wide with tension.

"There!" one of the soldiers shouted, pointing at a shadow slipping between the tents. We all turned at once, spells at the ready. But when we focused on the indicated spot, we realized it was just a torch’s reflection casting eerie, distorted shapes.

"I swear I saw something," the soldier murmured, his voice shaky.

"Back to formation!" I ordered firmly, though my heart pounded so hard it felt like it might burst. Cold sweat trickled down my face, mirroring the icy dread creeping through the camp.

And then, we heard it, faint laughter, barely audible but unmistakable. It wasn’t human. It carried a low, sadistic tone, as though something was watching us, reveling in our fear.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, my voice hushed, betraying the fear that seeped into my words. The air felt heavier, as if the very atmosphere conspired against us.

"We should tighten the circle," one soldier suggested in a whisper. I nodded silently. We pressed closer together, our backs nearly touching, weapons raised, eyes scanning every direction.

Our steps became slow and deliberate, each sound amplified by the oppressive silence around us. The wind had stopped, and the world seemed to hold its breath.

Suddenly, I felt something against my back. It was cold, solid, and definitely not one of my men. My blood turned to ice.

“Shit! Ahhh!” a soldier screamed. Whirling around, I saw what froze him, and my throat went dry.

At the center of our circle, where there should have been nothing, stood a massive gray panther. Its eyes glowed like twin blades piercing the darkness. The torchlight reflected off its sleek fur, highlighting taut muscles coiled and ready to strike. Saliva dripped from its open maw, pooling on the ground in near-silent plops.

The panther didn’t growl, didn’t move. It simply stared at us, its gaze heavy with the knowledge that we were prey and it, the predator.

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"What the hell is that!?" one of the men screamed, his desperation echoing the terror we all felt.

"Fire your spells!" I shouted, my voice cracking under the weight of panic. A barrage of magic hurtled toward the gray beast, fire, water, wind, and earth collided in brilliant explosions, briefly illuminating the grim battlefield.

But the panther didn’t flinch. It remained unmoved, staring at us as though we were nothing more than an inconvenience. The spells struck it, yet there was no reaction. No wounds. No retreat. It simply watched us, its glowing eyes filled with something beyond comprehension.

Then it smiled.

Not an animal’s snarl, but a deliberate, sinister smile that froze the marrow in our bones.

"I smell fear..." a deep, drawn-out voice rumbled. It came directly from the panther. The words crushed the last vestiges of our composure. My heart seemed to stop for a beat.

"The panther... it spoke!" one of the soldiers stammered, nearly dropping to his knees, terror etched across his face.

"Hahaha..." the panther laughed, a sound so twisted it felt like it resonated inside our minds.

Before anyone could react, it leaped.

In an instant, it was upon one of the soldiers, claws tearing through his flesh. His screams were cut short by the sickening crunch of bones breaking. Blood sprayed as the beast bit deep, ripping a chunk from his torso.

"ROOOOAAAAR!"

The panther’s roar echoed like a death sentence. It clamped its jaws around the soldier’s head, and with a single, savage motion, crushed his skull. Bone fragments and bits of flesh splattered across the ground and onto our armor, staining the air with the sharp, metallic tang of blood.

"Fire everything you have!" I screamed, my hands shaking as I conjured a fiery blast, hurling it with every ounce of strength I had.

The panther, however, was relentless. Before anyone could react, it darted toward another soldier. He raised his sword in desperation, but before he could strike, the creature vanished, not with speed but as if it had been swallowed by the very shadow beneath him.

"Where is it!?" another man shouted, frantically searching.

It reappeared behind him, emerging from the darkness like an apparition. "ROOOAR!" It roared again, sinking its fangs into the man’s back, piercing through armor and flesh. The panther shook him violently like a ragdoll before hurling his lifeless body away, his corpse landing with a sickening thud.

Every spell we cast was useless. The panther moved like a living shadow, disappearing and reappearing fluidly, striking from unexpected angles with ruthless precision. Chaos consumed us. Screams and blood were all that remained.

I ran in desperation, my mind reeling as I searched for an escape. Reaching a tent, I tried to steady myself, but there it was, waiting as if it had anticipated my every move.

"Damn it!" I shouted, stumbling to the ground. It leapt toward me, but to my shock, ignored me entirely. The panther disappeared into the shadows again, slithering away like a stream of black water.

I looked around, paralyzed, as it reappeared in another part of the battlefield. Each time it emerged, another scream echoed. Soldiers were cut down with no chance of defense. Its claws sliced like blades, and its fangs tore through lives with monstrous efficiency.

It swam through the shadows, weaving between us like an unstoppable force of nature, leaving only death and despair in its wake. Whatever this creature was, it was far beyond anything we could face.

The panther grabbed a soldier by the back, its claws sinking deep as it dragged him into the darkness. He screamed, but the sound was quickly silenced, swallowed by the very shadows that consumed him. When the creature emerged again, it was a nightmare given form, rising from the ground without warning. With a brutal swipe of its paw, it slammed another man to the ground. The impact was so devastating that he attempted to rise, but his body refused, his bones had been crushed like brittle twigs.

The beast approached him with eerie calm. Its glowing eyes reflected a cold, merciless cruelty. Without hesitation, it lowered itself over the soldier and began to devour him alive. His screams of agony pierced the air, each bite tearing through flesh and splintering bone, until silence reclaimed the space.

The remaining mages tried to fight back, casting spells in frantic desperation. "Flaming Tornado!" I roared, channeling all my mana into a powerful attack. The spell surged toward the panther, an inferno of destruction. But the creature roared in return, a deep, resonating sound that seemed to shake my very soul.

The night around us grew thicker, as if the darkness itself had taken on a life of its own, suffocating any hope of victory. I stumbled back, fear gripping my chest.

Suddenly, a new squad of mages appeared in the distance, their voices resolute. "We’re here to assist!" one of them shouted.

"Kill it! Kill the panther!" I screamed, desperation thick in my voice as I tried to muster some semblance of courage. But as the mages advanced, something horrific unfolded.

The darkness around us closed in completely, swallowing everything. It wasn’t mere absence of light; it was as if the very fabric of space had been consumed. The sounds of battle faded, and even our footsteps seemed muted.

"What’s happening?" a soldier beside me stammered, his voice trembling with panic.

The realization hit me like a thunderclap: it was a Territory Spell. The shadows had formed an absolute domain, sealing us off completely from the outside world. Desperately, we conjured fireballs to illuminate the suffocating darkness. The flames hovered around us, casting flickering light over pale, terror-stricken faces. But the light only deepened the horror, projecting dancing shadows that surrounded us like invisible predators.

I sank to the ground, hiding behind an overturned tent. I didn’t want to fight anymore. I didn’t want to be seen. I just wanted to disappear. I knew the panther was out there, watching us, calculating its next move.

Then came the scream, a piercing, bloodcurdling cry that sliced through the silence like a blade. The darkness exploded with flashes of light as spells were cast wildly in every direction, desperate to hit an enemy we couldn’t see. But it was futile.

The panther struck again, emerging from the shadows like a demonic specter. With its claws, it crushed soldiers as if they were mere rag dolls. With its fangs, it tore chunks of flesh, shaking bodies in the air before discarding them like broken toys.

Blood sprayed, painting the ground and the tattered tents around us. The screams were muffled by the sheer brutality of the attacks, each motion of the creature leaving a trail of destruction. The shadows seemed to press closer, as if the battlefield itself was conspiring with the beast to snuff out all hope.

I trembled, my eyes fixed on the creature that, with every strike, proved it was more than a mere beast; it was a perfect predator, a living shadow that carried death in its every movement.

The panther hurled a soldier into the air with absurd force. His body spun uncontrollably before the creature leapt to meet him mid-air. With a ferocious bite, it tore a massive chunk from his torso. Blood sprayed through the air like a macabre blur. It chewed the flesh with a calmness that was almost more terrifying than the violence itself, as if this were just another routine meal. When it was done, it spat out shards of armor with a metallic clink that echoed through the blood-soaked ground.

I watched it all, paralyzed. My heart pounded wildly, and an overwhelming sense of despair swallowed me whole. That’s when I realized the grim truth: there was no one else left. I was the last.

My hand gripped my sword with trembling fingers. The blade felt impossibly heavy, weighed down by the fear that gripped me. There was no strategy, no salvation. All I could do was crouch, trying to make myself as small as possible behind a pile of collapsed tents, praying the panther wouldn’t notice me.

But the silence that followed was more horrifying than the screams that had filled the battlefield moments before.

Then I felt it, hot breath behind me. My body froze. Every fiber of my being screamed at me not to turn around, but a morbid curiosity or perhaps the crushing inevitability of my fate forced me to look.

With trembling hands, I conjured a small flame at my fingertip, its flickering light cutting through the oppressive darkness.

And there she was. The panther. Standing motionless, her glowing eyes burned through the shadows, locking onto me. Her predatory grin widened with each passing second, revealing bloodstained fangs. She took a single step forward, her claws scraping against the ground with a sound that foretold death.

“This is for hurting my two wards,” she growled, her voice deep and filled with seething rage. The blood of her last victim dripped from her maw, staining the ground as her piercing gaze bore into me with cruel satisfaction.

“NO!” I screamed in desperation, raising my sword as a feeble last stand. But it was futile.

The panther leapt, a blur of deadly speed, and the world around me dissolved into utter darkness.

The last thing I heard was the sickening tear of flesh and the crunch of bones before the void consumed everything.