Inside the armored van, the whole squad went silent the moment William said he had a way to punch a hole through the mist.
Breaking the silence, Cain asked, "What do you mean?"
"There's this device my family used," William said.
"It works like a defog spell, but unlike normal ones that only work up close, this one can fire from far away."
"But would a normal defog spell even work on that purple mist?" Tonto asked, clearly curious.
"And even if it did, could it create a hole big enough for us to see through?"
"That's what makes my family's version different," William replied.
"Its power scales with the amount of mana you put in."
"You know how to create it?" Cain asked.
"Yes. It's not that different from a regular defog spell. The only real difference is that it uses runes and a mana crystal to cast."
"I see…" Cain fell into thought for a moment. Then he turned to Aeris.
"How big of a hole do you think we'd need to get a clear view?"
"I'm not sure," Aeris replied. "But if you let me scout around the mist, I can give a better estimate."
Cain nodded. "William, how much mana do you think it would take to make a hole about 100 meters wide?"
"I... I'm not really sure," William admitted, scratching his head with an awkward smile. "I've never actually used the spell before."
"That can be fixed with a few simple tests," Tonto said, stepping in.
"Then please do that now," Cain ordered.
As Tonto and William went off to run the tests, Cain sank back into thought.
"Aeris, how much mana do we have left in the vehicle?"
"A little over 60%."
"…"
"To be honest, Captain," Aeris said, "I'm not even sure a defog spell would work on that mist. It's not natural."
"That's true," Cain agreed. "If it doesn't work, we'd just be exposing ourselves to the Mountain-Eaters for nothing."
"The safest move is to head back to camp and report our findings," Aeris added. "Then the army can send a larger team to investigate."
"But that would take too long," Cain argued. "And if William is right, this could be the key to creating the cure and saving thousands from the Toxcarver's poison."
"That's just a guess," Aeris said. "We didn't even see a single Toxcarver in that area."
"Still," Cain replied, "whatever's hidden behind that mist must be important if the Mountain-Eaters are guarding it this heavily. Even if it's not Toxcarver-related, the intel is valuable."
The two continued going back and forth—Aeris pushing for retreat, Cain pushing to investigate.
"Um… guys?" Lina finally spoke up from the sidelines. She'd been quiet the whole time but couldn't follow their long-winded debate.
"??" Cain and Aeris turned to her.
"Aren't you two overthinking this? William's plan sounds simple enough."
She held up a finger. "We fire the long-range defog spell. If it works, we take a picture and run. If it doesn't, we still run. Simple, right? Why make it so complicated?"
Both Cain and Aeris fell silent at her blunt summary.
Cain stood up after a few moments of thought. "You're right. Let's not overthink it. We'll try the spell from a distance. If it works—great. If not, we run like hell."
He turned to Aeris. "Let's scout the area around the mist. Get a better idea of how dense it is and find a good escape route."
***
Driving through trees and bushes, Aeris stood on top of the moving van, her mask glowing pale sky blue as she scanned the horizon.
"Not good," she said through her earpiece. "The Mountain-Eaters have increased both their patrol area and their numbers."
"They've adapted? That's troubling," Cain muttered.
"Wait, they are intelligent enough to do that?" William asked.
"Individually, no," Cain answered. "But it likely means one of them—a higher-ranking Mountain-Eater with greater intelligence—is giving orders."
"Which also means whatever they're hiding just became ten times more valuable," he added.
"Aeris, find us an escape route. I have a bad feeling that the mastermind behind this won't let us leave easily once we discover their secret."
"Understood."
Cain then turned his attention to William and Tonto.
"How's the test going?"
"We estimated it'll take about 530 megajoules of magical energy to clear a 100-meter hole," Tonto said. "That's roughly 16 mana cells."
Cain blinked. "That's almost 17% of our total mana reserve... just for one spell."
"Exactly," Tonto replied. "So we need to be sure the spell will actually work."
William lowered his head. "I'm not sure. I've never used it on a fog like this before."
"In my opinion," Tonto said, "the spell is more likely to work partly, rather than have no effect at all."
"Then how much more mana do you suggest we use?" Cain asked.
"I recommend doubling it," Tonto said.
Cain fell silent again.
"That would be half of our remaining mana supply…"
"Yes, which is why I wanted to consult you first," Tonto replied.
"Logically, 27 mana cells should be enough to get us back to camp at full speed."
"That's assuming we don't face any incidents," Cain said.
"But if we take the same path we used to get here, we'll save energy since we don't need to knock down all those trees again," Tonto added.
Cain thought about Tonto's suggestion for a moment.
"You're confident the spell will at least partially work?" he asked.
"Yes," Tonto nodded.
"Alright. We'll follow your advice."
Cain stepped away, tapping his earpiece. "Aeris, there is a change of plan. We'll escape using the same route we entered."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It's the most efficient path for the current plan."
"Understood."
As Cain gave orders, William pulled Tonto aside, a little panicked.
"Are you really sure this is going to work?! What if it fails and we waste all that mana?"
Tonto smiled gently. "Then the responsibility falls on me. Don't worry."
"What?" William froze. The selfless answer had completely caught William off guard.
***
The squad backtracked along the same route they used to reach the deeper part of the poison mist.
They parked their armored vehicle in a small clearing they had created earlier.
A large cannon was mounted on top, aimed at a 45-degree angle toward the sky.
The Mountain-Eaters had expanded their patrol area so much that the cliff the squad once used for scouting was now covered.
Because of that, they had to station the vehicle farther from the mist.
"The cannon is ready. Fire when you're ready, Aeris," Cain said through his earpiece, staring off into the distance toward the purple mist.
"I'm in position. You can fire now," Aeris replied from atop a tall tree, all alone.
Multiple Mountain-Eaters roamed the ground beneath her.
Lying flat, her body glowing faintly translucent, Aeris filmed the wall of purple mist in front of her.
"Copy that. Firing in 3… 2… 1."
BOOM!
For a few seconds, nothing happened on Aeris's end.
Then—like a falling star—a glowing blue projectile came down from the sky.
It lit up the area in a deep crystalline blue as it slammed into the wall of mist.
But instead of clearing the mist instantly like Aeris expected…
The purple mist began to move.
At the point where the spell was hit, the mist spiraled inward, as if it were being sucked into a black hole.
Aeris didn't move, still recording, hoping this strange effect would open a hole.
One second passed. Then two. Then five.
Still, the fog kept swirling and being absorbed into the spell.
"Aeris, what's going on? Did it work?" Cain's voice came through her earpiece again.
She didn't answer—too focused on the strange reaction in front of her.
After ten seconds, the spiraling stopped. Then, suddenly, the mist exploded outward, tearing open a massive 100-meter-wide hole.
For a brief moment, the wall of fog was gone—revealing what had been hidden inside.
And just as quickly, the purple mist rushed back in, sealing the hole.
But Aeris had recorded everything.
That moment was all she needed.
Without wasting a second, she turned and bolted stealthily across the treetops, heading away from the site.
"Mission success! Prepare for extraction!" she said excitedly, sprinting across the branches.
Back at the armored van, the squad cheered the moment her voice came through.
But Cain stayed calm.
"Don't celebrate yet," he warned. "We still have to escape and deliver the recording."
Just as he finished speaking, a deafening roar echoed through the forest from the direction of the purple mist, wiping the excitement from their faces.
If they could hear the roar from this far away, they couldn't imagine how strong the monster must be.
"Leader…will Aeris be okay alone?" Lina asked nervously.
Cain didn't answer. He didn't know himself.