Despair

As the members of squad 3, haste in their step, made their way towards the magic-made underground bunker, they saw what appeared to be the members of guerilla squads 3 and 4 crawling out of the bunker, running towards them.

As the last member to come out of the bunker arrived at their location of 100 meters away from the bunker, they started clearing ground on their way back, in order to solidify their location, and prepare for the devourer's arrival.

As 'Two-face' and the other squads' captains were relaying information to each other, Rodrick assumed that the enemy has touched ground, as evidenced by the small shudder they felt in the ground and the booming noise of impact.

The retreating squads, now grouped together with their relief squad to which Rodrick belonged, stayed behind guerilla squads three and four at a distance, in order to cover for them.

The group quickly made their way to their target location, a small village hosting crumbled houses and ruins all around.

In hopes of ambushing their enemies. They chose to await the invading squads, estimated to be made up of at least 15 early iron-rank devourers, little more than intelligent beasts, equipped with what was assumed to be a hive mind that allowed them to effortlessly know what is happening to their allied devourers with little need to speak.

Rodrick. Hiding behind a half collapsed sandstone wall, peeked out in hopes of being prepared for whatever horrors he might witness.

That was when he saw their enemies. No matter how many briefings they had gone through, how many pictures and depictions of their enemies they were shown, they were never prepared to endure the malevolent and all-encompassing aura that hit them, being emitted from these beings.

The devourers ran at great speeds, almost instantly covering the distance between the ambushing squads and themselves.

Creatures towering over them at 4 meters height, adorned two sets of gleaming, blood colored eyes seeming to pierce through the covers behind which the squads hid, dark green scales that glistened with mesmerizing dots emitting a magma-like glow, and 30-centimeter-long claws that held an edge sharper than his own blade. They opened their giant maws to roar.

"The sound that followed was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It started as a low, rumbling growl that gradually built in intensity until it became a deafening roar that echoed throughout the surrounding ruins. The sheer power of the noise sent shockwaves through the ground, causing it to shake and shudder beneath my feet. My ears were ringing and my heart was pounding as I struggled to keep my balance, but the roar continued on unabated. It was as if some great, primordial force had been unleashed, a sound that embodied the very essence of raw power and aggression. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the roar cut off, leaving a ringing silence in its wake. I knew then that I was in the presence of a monster unlike any other."