NOVPUBDeep at the outer edge of the Luxoria Mist Forest, five figures in full black suits crouched low beneath the fog.
Each wore a thin Aurelius insignia on their left shoulder.
They were here for one reason: to disrupt Luxoria.
The leader spoke softly into his comm.
"Activate summon."
All five raised their wrists.
With a mechanical buzz, five black portals tore open in the air behind them.
From each portal, a shadow stepped through with no footsteps or even sound.
Five Nyxgrinds emerged.
Each one twisted and stretched with eerie smoothness.
They were like living wire and vapor wrapped in armor.
Their single glowing purple eye blinked once.
Then they stood still, completely silent.
One operative whispered, "Creeps me out every time."
The leader didn't respond. Instead, he raised his hand again.
"Begin fusion."
Each Aurelius soldier stepped forward. Their beasts didn't resist.
The moment they touched the Nyxgrinds' core plates, the fusion began.
Black wires burst from the beasts, slithering around their bodies like liquid chains.
Armor plates reformed over their suits. Their visors turned a dull violet.
Their limbs cracked—longer, sharper.
Their fingers reshaped into thin blades.
The transformation wasn't loud.
But it felt heavy.
Their bodies became slimmer, darker, and more angular.
They were fused with mechanical shadow.
Each of them gained the traits of Nyxgrind which were stealth, silence, and speed.
On the leader's back, his armor opened into a black exhaust port.
He activated the first skill.
"[Nano Smoke Dispersal]," he muttered.
The ground hissed.
A black, corrupted mist exploded around them, spreading fast.
It pushed away the white Luxoria mist and replaced it with something darker.
A fog that erased scanners, heat signatures, and even footsteps.
They nodded to each other.
"Let's go," the leader said.
They picked up the large black container.
A sealed vault unit, humming with something alive inside.
Then all five slipped into the darkness of the forest.
---
The five Aurelius infiltrators moved like shadows through the trees.
The outer edge of the Mist Forest had given no resistance.
Now, deep inside, the air was colder, heavier.
They remained silent.
The leader then raised his hand.
"Use [Void Phase Dive]. No reason to deal with branches."
All five of them nodded and instantly melted into the ground like smoke.
They passed through trees, roots, and even stone—unseen, unfelt.
Not even the natural mist of the forest could follow them.
The forest offered no obstacle.
But then… something changed.
Just as they emerged from their dive on the other side of a moss-covered ridge, the air around them shifted.
It became thicker.
The white mist around them suddenly surged like waves of water.
From it, shapes began to form.
Mist coiled into legs, wings, jaws, and eyes.
One took the form of a four-legged beast, wide-shouldered with blade-shaped legs.
Another spread long, thin wings made of silver vapor.
A third beast swirled into a large, eyeless humanoid covered in glowing patterns.
More and more took shape.
All made of mist, all moving silently.
The five intruders halted, stepping into a defensive formation.
One of them whispered, "So this is why they call it the Mist Forest..."
The second narrowed his eyes.
"These aren't natural beasts. They're being made. Right in front of us."
The leader looked around slowly. "Strange. We shouldn't be visible."
He clenched one clawed fist.
"We've all activated our passive [Shadow Null Presence]."
"We don't give off heat, light, sound—nothing."
The third operative stepped back a little.
"It's the forest. No… it's Luxoria. This place doesn't follow normal tracking rules."
The fourth one growled. "It's sensing us anyway. That shouldn't be possible."
The leader took a breath, his voice colder now.
"Enough."
He reached for the curved blades fused into his arms.
"Activate [Silent Dagger Shift]. Cut through them."
The others followed instantly.
Their arms reshaped with a sharp hiss—long, silent blades extending from elbows and forearms.
Without another word, the five launched forward into the mist.
They slashed.
Blades passed through the creatures—but the mist only twisted, reformed, and struck back.
A four-legged beast lunged at the second operative, its claws made of glowing fog.
He ducked, rolled, and slashed it in half—only to see it rebuild in seconds.
Above, the flying one dove at them, scattering shimmering needles of mist from its wings.
The third operative raised an arm to block, but his blade only slowed the needles.
But they passed through, burning cold.
"These aren't just mist copies," the fourth said. "They adapt."
"Then destroy faster!" The fifth shouted, already spinning and cutting another form apart.
Still, more kept forming.
For every one they struck down, two more emerged.
Each was shaped a little differently, as if studying them.
The leader gritted his teeth. "Keep moving. Don't stay in one spot."
They advanced, but the mist pressed harder. The creatures weren't random.
They were organized. Each one moved with purpose.
And somewhere, deep within the fog, something else watched.
it was a huge white dragon or mist
A giant white dragon made of mist floated just above the ground.
Its body was long, graceful, and half-invisible.
Its silver eyes glowed softly through the vapor.
Standing beside it was Liline, holding a floating clipboard in one hand.
She watched the intruders move below with a polite, amused expression.
"So, Nebelis," she said calmly, "can you hold them back?"
The mist dragon didn't roar or shift
Its voice echoed quietly in the air, like breath across glass.
"Of course," Nebelis replied. "They are nothing."
Its eyes narrowed slightly.
"I am already a Divine-Tier Beast."
"They are only Sovereign-Tier, and from what I sense… early to mid-SS rank at best."
The mist thickened around Nebelis as it spoke, glowing brighter with Luxorite threads.
"They cannot hurt me. They cannot see me. They do not belong here."
Liline smiled gently. "I see."
She tucked the clipboard into her sleeve and took a sip from her teacup.
"Well then," she said softly, her voice cheerful, "let's enjoy the show."
Below them, the five intruders were still fighting mist creatures, never knowing they were already surrounded.
