Chapter 10: The Swarm
The convoy slowed.
Bright felt the truck's engine drop from a steady roar to a grumbling idle. Around him, the other survivors stirred. A woman clutched her child closer. An older man gripped the bench seat with white knuckles.
Outside, voices barked orders. Boots hit pavement.
Bright didn't move. He sat near the rear of the truck, the Dimensional Pack secured between his feet with straps looped through the bench frame. His hand rested on top of the pack. Casual. Protective.
The convoy had been moving for a couple hours—two hours of tense silence broken only by the rumble of engines and the occasional crackle of radio chatter from the cab. The soldiers had been on edge since they'd left the mall, scanning rooftops, watching the tree line, fingers never far from triggers.
Something had been following them.
Bright had seen it in their body language—the way they'd clustered tighter around the trucks during the brief stop to refuel, the way Sergeant Martinez had checked her rifle three times in five minutes.
They'd spotted creatures. Stalking. Keeping pace. They'd shot down a few that got too close.
And now they'd stopped.
Bright's chest tightened.
Why stop?
The rear flap rustled. A soldier—young, maybe twenty-five—poked his head in. "Stay inside. Don't move unless we tell you to."
"What's happening?" the woman with the child asked.
"Road's blocked. We're clearing it." The soldier's eyes flicked to Bright, then the pack. Then he was gone.
The flap fell closed.
Bright exhaled slowly. His hand stayed on the pack.
Battery: 24.30%
Time remaining: ~11.7h
Outside, the sounds of work began. Metal scraping. Engines revving. Shouted instructions. The convoy had stopped on the M25—Bright could tell from the width of the road, the curve of the barriers. Abandoned cars choked the lanes ahead. They'd have to move them manually.
It would take time.
Bright's jaw tightened.
He glanced at the other survivors. None of them were looking at him. They were staring at the flap. At the thin canvas barrier between them and whatever waited outside.
Bright's hand moved to his knife.
The superior Santoku blade rested on his belt. He'd cleaned it after one of the soldiers returned it, following the sergeant's orders.
His paranoia spiked. They want Cherry. She's not safe. They don't understand. His fingers curled around the handle.
He would never let them take her.
The first sound was the most horrifying.
Not the scrape of metal or the shout of soldiers. Something else. A chittering. High-pitched. Rapid.
Bright's head snapped toward the rear flap.
The chittering grew louder.
Then someone screamed.
"CONTACT! CONTACT!"
Gunfire erupted.
The truck rocked as soldiers scrambled into defensive positions. Bright was already moving. He grabbed the pack, hauled it onto his back, and secured the straps across his chest. The weight settled. Familiar. Grounding.
The rear flap blew open.
A soldier stumbled backward, firing his rifle in controlled bursts. "GET BACK! GET THE FUCK BACK!"
Then Bright saw them.
Locusts.
Not the small ones from the apartment. These were bigger. Each one the size of a large dog, with segmented bodies covered in chitinous plating that gleamed like oil-slicked metal. Their wings buzzed—a sound like a thousand saws cutting through bone. Their mandibles clicked and snapped, dripping with something viscous and green.
There were dozens of them.
They swarmed over the abandoned cars. Across the road. Up the barriers. A living tide of chitin and hunger.
ENEMY IDENTIFIED: MANA LOCUST (MATURE)
Level: 8-15
Threat Level: SWARM
The soldier at the flap went down. A locust landed on his back, mandibles tearing into his vest. He screamed. Another soldier dragged him away, firing one-handed.
Then one of the locusts saw the truck.
Saw the opening.
It launched itself forward.
Bright moved.
He didn't think. Didn't hesitate. His body reacted—reflexes, senses, and target tracking fusing into a single motion. He lunged toward the rear opening, knife already drawn, and met the locust mid-air.
The blade punched through its head.
The creature's momentum carried it forward, slamming into Bright's chest. He twisted, using the impact to redirect its weight, and hurled it sideways. It hit the truck's interior wall with a wet crunch and went still. People inside screamed.
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ENEMY DEFEATED: MANA LOCUST (MATURE)
+680 XP
XP: 1085/2800 toward Level 8
Bright didn't stop to read the notification.
Another locust was already coming.
This one was faster. It darted through the opening, wings buzzing, mandibles spread wide. Bright stepped into its path, knife low, and drove the blade upward into the soft joint where its head met its thorax.
The locust shrieked—a sound like tearing metal—and thrashed. Its legs raked across Bright's arm, tearing fabric, drawing blood. He ignored it. Twisted the knife. Felt the resistance give.
The creature went limp.
ENEMY DEFEATED: MANA LOCUST (MATURE)
+620 XP
XP: 1705/2800 toward Level 8
Bright yanked the knife free and kicked the corpse out of the truck.
Behind him, survivors pressed against the far wall, shouting for help. Panicking.
He didn't look at them for long.
His eyes locked on the opening.
Outside, the battle raged. Soldiers fired in disciplined bursts, falling back toward the trucks. The locusts kept coming—wave after wave. Some fell. Others broke through.
And then Bright saw it.
A locust larger than the others. Its carapace was darker, thicker, ridged with bony protrusions. It moved with purpose. Not frantic like the others. Deliberate.
It was heading for the truck.
For him. For Cherry.
Bright's breath steadied.
Come on, then. I won't let you take her.
The locust reached the opening. Paused. Its compound eyes—dozens of facets glinting in the morning light—fixed on Bright.
Then it lunged.
Bright didn't wait for it to enter.
He launched himself forward, tackling the creature mid-leap. They hit the pavement together, rolling—a tangle of limbs and chitin and flashing steel. The locust's mandibles snapped inches from Bright's face. He jammed his forearm into its mouth, felt the pressure as it bit down, then drove the knife into its eye cluster.
Once.
Twice.
Three times. Four. Five. Precision Strike. FATAL HIT!
The locust thrashed. Its legs scrabbled against Bright's chest, tearing through his shirt, gouging shallow cuts across his ribs. He didn't let go. He kept stabbing. Kept driving the blade deeper.
And then—
ENEMY DEFEATED: MANA LOCUST (ALPHA)
+1300 XP
LEVEL UP!
Level: 8 | XP: 205/3600
HP: 270/270 | MP: 220/220
STR 19 | AGI 21 | CON 17 | INT 22 | WIS 15 | CHA 24
New Skill Unlocked: MANA BLADE
Cost: 10 MP per blade
Effect: Forms a condensed mana blade; faster strike speed and increased damage.
The notification flared across Bright's vision. He felt the surge—the rush of energy that came with levelling. His wounds closed. The pain dulled. His muscles felt stronger. Faster.
And something else.
A new awareness. A connection to the mana inside him. He could feel it now—not just as a resource, but as something he could shape.
ITEMS OBTAINED: +1 Mana Crystal (Stabilised)
Bright quickly picked up a mana crystal from the corpse that lay at his feet, ichor pooling around it.
Another locust was already coming.
This one was smaller. Faster. It darted toward him, wings a blur.
Bright raised his hand.
He didn't think about it. Didn't question. He just reached for the mana inside him and pulled.
A shard of blue light materialized in his palm. Solid. Sharp. Humming with energy.
MANA BLADE ACTIVATED: -10MP
Bright threw it.
The shard flew like an arrow—faster than any throw he'd ever made. It struck the locust mid-flight, punching through its head and out the other side.
The creature dropped and was peppered with bullets.
ENEMY DEFEATED: MANA LOCUST (MATURE)
+640 XP
XP: 845/3600 toward Level 9
Bright stared at his hand.
Holy shit.
Around him, the battle was winding down. The locusts were retreating—those that remained. The soldiers regrouped, checking casualties, reloading.
ITEMS OBTAINED: +3 Mana Crystal (Inferior)
Bright quickly collected another three crystals from the monsters he'd slain, then turned and climbed back into the truck.
The survivors stared at him. Silent. Wide-eyed.
He didn't say anything. Just sat down, secured the pack between his feet again, and wiped the blood from his knife.
His hands were steady. He'd protected Cherry once again.
The clean-up took fifteen minutes.
Bright watched from the truck as soldiers dragged locust corpses off the road and piled them near the barriers. Some of the bodies were intact. Others were shredded by gunfire. A few still twitched.
One soldier—a corporal with a bandaged arm—moved among the wounded. He knelt beside a man with a gash across his thigh, pulled something from his vest, and pressed it against the wound.
A mana crystal.
Bright's eyes focused, soaking in the information.
The crystal glowed. Faintly at first, then brighter. The man's breathing steadied. The bleeding slowed. After a moment, the corporal pulled the crystal away—now dull, lifeless—and tossed it aside.
They're using them to heal.
Bright's hand moved to his bag. He'd collected some, the glowing crystals he'd collected from the creatures he'd killed.
He'd thought they were just... loot. But they were more than that.
The soldiers knew it. They were using them. Spending them.
Bright's jaw tightened.
Are they after them? Should I hand them over?
He didn't know.
The rear flap opened. Sergeant Martinez stepped inside, rifle slung across her back, face streaked with grime and sweat. She scanned the survivors, did a quick headcount, then locked eyes with Bright.
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then she shook her head. "That was fucking mental."
Bright said nothing.
"I mean it." Martinez stepped closer, lowering her voice. "I've seen soldiers freeze up in their first firefight. You just... went at them. With a knife." She paused. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"I didn't."
"Bullshit."
Bright met her eyes. "I didn't. I just... did what I had to."
Martinez studied him. Then she nodded slowly. "Right. Well. Whatever you did, it worked. Captain saw it. So did the others." She glanced at the pack between his feet. "You and your cargo still staying with us."
"How long until Aldermaston?"
"Hour. Maybe two. Depends on traffic." She smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Stay inside. Stay quiet. We'll get there."
He paused for a moment then nodded.
She returned the gesture, turned and left.
Bright exhaled slowly.
Battery: 22.91%
Time remaining: ~11.0 hours
The convoy started moving again.
They made it six more minutes.
The first boom was distant—a deep, resonant thud that Bright felt in his chest more than heard. The truck shuddered. Conversations stopped.
The second boom was closer.
THUD.
The radio in the cab crackled to life. Voices overlapped, frantic, shouting over each other.
"—something big—"
"—behind us—"
"—fucking move—"
The truck's engine roared. The convoy accelerated.
Bright grabbed the bench seat as the vehicle lurched forward. Around him, survivors clung to whatever they could. The woman with the child was crying.
THUD.
Closer.
The radio exploded with chatter.
"IT LOOKS LIKE A FUCKING KAIJU!"
"REGIONAL BOSS! REPEAT, REGIONAL BOSS!"
"ALL UNITS, FULL SPEED! DO NOT ENGAGE!"
Bright's blood went cold.
The rear flap blew open.
And he saw it.
The creature was massive. Easily fifty feet tall, its body a segmented nightmare of chitin and bone. It moved on six legs—each one thick as a tree trunk, ending in serrated claws that tore through pavement like paper. Its head was elongated, eyeless, dominated by mandibles that opened and closed with mechanical precision.
And beneath it—
Dozens of smaller creatures. Babies. Each one the size of a large dog, scuttling and leaping, keeping pace with their parent.
The system notification appeared.
REGIONAL BOSS IDENTIFIED: BROODMOTHER MANTIS
Level: 50
Threat Level: CATASTROPHIC
Bright stared.
The Broodmother's head turned.
Toward the convoy.
Toward him.
Time: 12:44 PM
Level: 8 | XP: 845/3600
HP: 270/270 | MP: 220/220
Stats: STR 19 | AGI 21 | CON 17 | INT 22 | WIS 15 | CHA 24
Skills: Danger Sense, Combat Reflexes, Mana Infusion, Precision Strike, Combat Awareness, Mana Sprint, Mana Blade
Equipment:
Santoku Knife (8–12, Superior)
Paring Knife (5–8, Superior)
Chef's Knife (7–11, Superior)
Inventory (Dimensional Pack – 50kg effective, x10 weight reduction):
Mana Crystal (Inferior) x8
Mana Crystal (Stabilised) x2
Charger, Tools, Phone, Blanket
Nutrient bars, Electrolytes, Food supplies
Pop-up tent, Sleeping bag, Spare clothes
Cherry (stored inside pack)
Status: Dormant (Nascent)
Core Stability: 28%
Battery Remaining: 22.70% (~10.9h)
Capabilities: Awareness, Mana Sonar
