Part 2
The hour of the siege had come.
Trumpets echoed through the hills, followed by the pounding of drums and the neighing of horses. The air was heavier than usual, thick with a dampness that clung to the skin, as if the valley itself were breathing.
The mist rose before the army like a living wall. It wasn't simple vapor. It moved, it pulsed… as if it knew something was coming.
"Remember, men," said Ulises, mounted atop his black steed as he watched the ranks assemble. "If things go wrong, these escape scrolls will get you out in an instant."
He handed one to each hero, meeting their eyes with a gravity that needed no explanation.
"You're the only ones who matter here. If the front collapses, use those seals and return to headquarters. Don't play heroes… not today."
Kaede lowered her gaze, gripping the scroll tightly.
"Do you really think we'll need it?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Ulises didn't answer. He simply tightened the reins.
In the distance, Belle Diries led the vanguard. Her armor gleamed beneath the gray light of dawn, her banner fluttering proudly as she marched into the mist with her troops.
The sound of footsteps faded slowly, swallowed by silence.
Even the wind didn't dare follow.
One by one, the lancers and squires vanished.
Only the distant rumble of the drums remained—until that, too, disappeared.
Ulises kept his eyes fixed on the point where Belle had vanished.
Minutes passed… then half an hour.
Nothing.
No signals. No screams. No light.
"I don't like this…" Riku muttered, gripping his sword nervously.
Haruto forced a smile to mask his unease.
"Relax. Captain Belle's tough. She can handle herself. I'm sure they're just clearing the path."
Ulises didn't share that confidence. His instincts told him something inside that fog was watching. Waiting.
Suddenly, a distant roar shook the air.
It wasn't human.
Nor was it animal.
A second roar followed, deeper, heavier.
The horses grew restless, and the soldiers took an uneasy step back.
The shadows within the mist seemed to move… as if the valley itself had awakened.
"Stand ready!" Ulises commanded, drawing his sword.
The mages raised their staffs, the paladins formed a shield wall, and the archers drew their bows.
The clatter of metal and shouted orders mixed with the wind.
But the mist… remained still.
For an instant, everything fell into absolute silence.
Then, a bloodstained spear shot out of the fog, embedding itself in the ground right at Ulises's feet.
The symbol of Belle's vanguard still hung from it.
A shiver ran down the general's spine.
He clenched his teeth.
"May Yoru guide us…" Ulises murmured, knowing it was far too late to pray.
"Soldiers! Advance!"
He raised his sword, and the troops began their march into the mist.
Once inside, the air grew even thicker. Breathing became a chore, even for someone as seasoned as the general.
The silence was unnatural.
No wind. No insects. Only the wet squelch of boots sinking into the mud.
Suddenly, one of the soldiers screamed.
"General! There are bodies here! Soldiers… torn apart!"
Ulises turned instantly. Among the tall grass lay twisted silhouettes, shattered armor, and scattered limbs. Fresh blood mixed with the mist, creating a metallic, choking stench that clung to the throat.
The young heroes froze. Even Kaede dropped to her knees, vomiting into the grass as the nauseating odor hit her lungs.
"I told you…" Ulises growled in a deep, grim tone. "You'd better retreat while you can."
But before anyone could respond, the grass started moving.
Not from wind.
It writhed, something crawling beneath it, closing in from every direction.
"Take cover! Something's coming!" Ulises ordered, turning his mount.
They ran back… but the landscape was no longer the same. Trees, mounds, bodies… everything blended together.
No matter how far they retreated, it felt like they were plunging deeper into the thicket.
A soldier fell from his horse. Then another. And another.
"Watch out, we're under attack!" Haruto shouted, raising his shield.
The sound was horrific: something slithering through the grass with a wet scraping noise, paired with laughter… high-pitched, tiny laughs, like children playing.
Then they saw it.
A rotting wolf, its entrails dangling, leapt onto Haruto. The hero barely had time to raise his shield before the beast began biting it with unnatural strength.
"What the hell are these things?!" he roared, shoving it back with all his might.
Another soldier screamed. The sound of wolves devouring flesh ripped through the mist.
Ulises looked up just in time to see a small girl in a black dress, with lilac hair, perched on a man's shoulders.
For a moment she looked like a doll…
Until she smiled and in one sudden motion, tore off the man's head with her bare hands.
The creature let out a blood-soaked giggle.
Another girl appeared behind her, repeating the exact scene, twisting the dead man's head between her fingers like a toy.
"W-what… what in Yoru's name is happening?" Ulises stammered, his heart pounding in his chest.
A new wolf lunged at him, but the general reacted instantly.
With a precise swing, his blade severed the creature's head mid-leap, spraying blood through the air.
"With me! Don't get separated!" he shouted, trying to regroup his scattered soldiers.
Chaos swallowed them whole.
Only the frantic neighing of horses, agonized screams, the wolves' howls, and the wet, tearing sound of flesh being ripped apart filled the air.
Kaede stood up, trembling, and lifted her staff forward.
"Light of seven colors that reveals all, clear a path through this mist!"
"Rainbow Flash!"
A rainbow-shaped explosion of light burst into the darkness, sweeping away the fog in a fifty-meter radius.
The creatures shrieked, recoiling into the shadows as the ground vibrated under the force of the spell.
For the first time, the air seemed to clear.
Ulises seized the moment.
"Move! Now!" he yelled.
They sprinted along the illuminated path Kaede had carved out, with several soldiers stumbling behind them, drenched in blood and mud.
The glow was already fading, and the mist crept back in to seal the way.
Behind them, in the shadows, the childish laughter blended with a faint whisper.
A soft voice, almost a sigh, saw them off from the darkness.
"Welcome… to Mist Valley."