The Rogues Of: No Man's Land

Nepar roared and pushed himself up from the ground, blood dripping from his wounds. His muscles bulged unnaturally, a sickeningly raw power surging through him.

His once-thick fur now stood stiff and prickly, as if each strand were infused with some primal force. And his eyes, they glowed with the feral light of an animal in the throes of rage, yet something far darker danced behind them.

Tao's heartbeat thundered in his ears. The battle had dragged on for what felt like an eternity, but they'd been so close, he could taste victory on the air.

The moment Nepar's fist began barreling toward him, Tao froze. His body refused to cooperate, paralyzed by the weight of exhaustion that had settled into every fiber of his being after unlocking his Primal Engine. The rush of power had left him completely vulnerable.

"Aw man..." Tao muttered, his voice a dry rasp.

His body screamed at him to move, to dodge, to escape the inevitable impact, but nothing happened. Time seemed to slow. Every inch of his being felt heavy, as though the very air had thickened to suffocate him.

And then, a shadow blurred across his vision. It was too fast, too sudden for his exhausted mind to comprehend.

Before he could blink, Sister Seraphina was there, standing between him and the incoming fist. Her elbow was already positioned at Nepar's throat, a weapon of divine precision, like a silent harbinger of death.

Nepar froze mid-lunge, his expression one of absolute confusion. His body locked in place, a tremor of fear running through him as if the very force of Seraphina's presence had invaded his body.

"How...?" Nepar managed, his breath shallow as he struggled against the unseen pressure.

Tao blinked, his heart still hammering. He hadn't even seen her move, Seraphina, the Sister of Shadows, was a master of stealth, a whisper in the wind. She was nothing short of a ghost.

Her lips parted, and Tao's mind went silent, all senses honing in on her voice.

"'In His name, I speak the words of finality. The end of your defiance, Cat,'" she intoned, her voice a low murmur, but the air around them grew thick and heavy with divine intensity. Every syllable of the prayer seemed to strike the air like a thunderclap, wrapping around Nepar's very being, squeezing the life from him.

Her words weren't just words, they were an overwhelming force, a divine judgment. Nepar's body trembled, and his once-unwavering confidence faltered.

Her eyes blazed with something far darker, more primal than anything Tao had ever seen. It was wrath, righteous and unyielding.

Sister Seraphina's face twisted into something fierce, something unrecognizable from the calm persona she always wore. Without a moment's hesitation, she slammed her elbow into Nepar's chest, the impact a roar of divine fury that shook the very ground beneath them.

BOOM!

The force of the blow shattered the silence of the jungle, sending a shockwave through the trees, splintering trunks and ripping the ground as if it were paper.

The sound of Nepar's body being propelled through the air, his form shooting upward like a projectile, reverberated in Tao's ears. The giant was gone, lost in the sky, disappearing beyond the clouds as if he had never existed.

For a moment, everything was still.

Tao stood there, mouth agape, unable to fully comprehend what had just transpired. One moment he was on the verge of certain death, and the next, a goddess had smited his attacker in a single, unflinching strike.

She slowly straightened, her expression softening as the wrath left her eyes, replaced once again with the quiet serenity Tao was familiar with. She dusted off her robe with a flick of her wrist.

"That small cat's ability knocked me unconscious temporarily," she explained, her voice calm as though they had just been discussing the weather. "But I'm fine now. Stronger than before."

Tao blinked, still in shock. "What… What was that?"

Sister Seraphina didn't answer immediately. Instead, her gaze lingered on Tao, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

Rex, who had been lying on the ground catching his breath, shot them both a smirk as he struggled to sit up. "Man, that was insane! What did you do? Smite him with divine judgment or something?"

Sister Seraphina shook her head, eyes flicking toward Rex with a softness in her gaze that seemed to soften her normally unapproachable nature. "Divine judgment," she murmured, "is not what you would call it. I simply spoke the words He gave me. His words."

Tao stared at her for a moment, still processing what had just happened. "I need to be stronger," he muttered under his breath, glancing down at his hands. The faint purple glow around his fingers flickered ominously.

Rex, grinning despite the pain in his expression, nodded. "That… that power of yours. Phantom Strikes, right?" He grinned wider, clearly pleased with the name he'd coined.

Tao let out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess that fits. But... what was that really? This whole Primal Engine thing?"

Sister Seraphina stood a few paces away, her arms folded across her chest as she took in Tao's words. "Every living thing has a dormant survival instinct, Kid," she said, her tone more serious now. "When you were pushed to your limits from what it seemed like, the instinct inside you awakens. It adapts to your life-or-death circumstances, and forges itself into a Primal Engine."

Tao listened intently, absorbing her words. Seraphina's explanation was simple, but there was a depth to it that he couldn't quite grasp.

"Primal Engines," she continued, "act as an internal forge. They convert raw energy into specialized combat abilities. But each Engine is different. It's shaped by your fighting style, your past traumas, and the willpower you have to survive." 

Tao nodded thoughtfully. "My Engine created delayed phantom strikes.."

Sister Seraphina gave him a small, thoughtful nod. "We'll need more time to fully analyze it. We don't know the full extent of your Engine yet."

But before she could elaborate further, her gaze shifted, narrowing with an intensity that made Tao uneasy.

"Tao..." Sister Seraphina said, her voice laced with uncertainty.

Tao frowned. "What now?"

Sister Seraphina gestured toward Tao's waist. "Look down."

Tao blinked. "What?"

Without saying anything further, Seraphina pointed to the small, thin tail now protruding from Tao's pants.

Tao stared, stunned into silence. "Wait-WAIT!" He gasped, his face draining of color. "Did my Primal Engine turn me into a monkey or something?!"

He grabbed at the tail, his panic rising as it swayed in his grip like a live thing.

"NO. NO, NO, NO, THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!"

Rex burst out laughing, his voice echoing through the jungle. "BAHAHA! Bro, what the hell is that?! You got a tail now?!"

Tao's face burned with embarrassment, his hand still clutching the tail as if it were some kind of alien appendage. "This is a joke, right? RIGHT?!"

Sister Seraphina placed a hand on his shoulder, her voice steady and calm despite the absurdity of the situation. "Breathe, Tao. There's an answer to this. We'll figure it out."

Tao exhaled sharply, his fingers trembling as he loosened his grip. "I didn't ask for this…"

Rex, still chuckling, clapped Tao on the back. "Man, you gotta admit, that's hilarious. You've got a tail now. At least you look cool."

Ignoring him, Sister Seraphina sighed. "Come on. We need to keep moving."

Tao, still reeling from the shock of the tail, though, admittedly, more out of frustration than anything else, helped Rex to his feet, and together they began their journey out of the jungle, one bizarre moment after another filling the air with a strange energy.

They walked for hours, the jungle fading into the distance as they finally reached the edge of the jungle, where the shoreline stretched before them.

A small boat bobbed at the water's edge, waiting for them to board.

Tao shivered, the cold biting through his jacket as they arrived onto their next destination, he stepped onto the snow-covered shores of the Freezing Island. His teeth chattered, and he pulled his jacket tighter around himself. "God... damn... it's cold."

Rex, equally uncomfortable, grimaced as the icy winds howled across the frozen landscape. "We need to move fast," he said, his voice tense. "Could be more crews like Nepit lurking around here."

Sister Seraphina nodded, the chill in the air seemingly not affecting her at all as she led the way. The island was a desolate expanse, covered in ice and snow, eerily silent except for the howling winds.

And then-BOOM!

The explosion shattered the quiet, flames licking up into the sky, and a panicked scream echoed from somewhere in the distance.

Tao's eyes widened. "Something's happening!"

Before they could react, figures emerged from the smoke, a dozen or more ice soldiers, their weapons drawn, circling them like predators.

The captain of the group stepped forward, his voice cold and commanding. "You! Hands in the air! You're coming with us!"

Tao grit his teeth, not wanting to give in. "Wait, we just got here-"

But the soldiers didn't wait. They moved in, their weapons raised.

Rex had had enough. With a snarl, he charged forward, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Screw this! I'm not getting arrested for nothing!" he yelled, a primal roar escaping his chest.

"Rex! No!" Tao shouted, but it was too late.

A clash of steel and the rush of battle began anew.

And somewhere in the distance, amidst the chaos of the battle, a new figure appeared, a boy no older than Tao. His appearance was wild, untamed, wearing clothes that seemed to mimic the colors of the dragons. His fingerless gloves flexed, ready to unleash something dangerous.

As the ice soldiers closed in on him, the boy grinned.

He vanished.

In an instant, he reappeared behind one of the soldiers.

"Too slow."

A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, incinerating the soldier in its wake. Chaos erupted as the fire spread.

Tao was about to collide with a force unlike anything he had faced before.