We arrived late.
I knew it before even seeing the village.
The smell came first. Burned wood, straw, something heavier mixed in the air. When we rounded the last bend of the trail, the sight confirmed what the smell had already announced.
Half the village was on the ground.
Destroyed houses, broken fences, smoke rising slowly as if the place was still breathing after the attack. There were no screams. No fight. Just a heavy silence that pressed against the chest.
Elara stopped beside me. "It just ended."
Liriel stared at the debris. The soft light surrounding her body seemed even brighter in that dark scene. "They're gone."
Vespera walked a few steps ahead, analyzing the ground. "Many. They came in force."
Rai'kanna clenched her hand tightly. "And no one could stop them."
Lyannis took a deep breath, looking at the drag marks in the dirt. "They fled into the forest."
I advanced slowly down the main street, dodging fallen wood and broken tiles. The feeling was different from all the other places we had arrived at before. Here, there was no time to react. No organized defense.
Just impact.
The first survivor appeared behind an overturned well. A man with a face smeared with soot, holding a child in his arms.
"Are you from the guild?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
"We are," I replied. "Is anyone else alive?"
"Some hid in the barn behind the village."
Liriel went ahead without waiting. Elara and Vespera followed her. Rai'kanna and Lyannis stayed with me.
The barn had part of its roof ripped off but was still standing. Inside, about fifteen people were hiding in absolute silence, as if any sound could bring the monsters back.
When they realized it was safe, they began to come out slowly.
"How long ago did they leave?" I asked.
"Not long," a woman replied. "Maybe half an hour."
Vespera examined the footprints near the entrance. "They didn't stay. They destroyed and moved on."
Elara looked around the village. "They didn't come to occupy. They came to pass through."
Liriel closed her eyes for a moment. "Like a wave."
We helped the survivors get organized. Some searched for relatives. Others just sat on the ground, unreactive, staring at what was left of the houses.
I walked to the end of the street, where the village met the forest. The marks on the ground were clear. Many monsters, moving in the same direction.
"They're in constant movement," Rai'kanna said, stopping beside me.
"They're not stopping to fight," I added.
Lyannis arrived shortly after. "They're crossing everything."
I understood at that moment.
They weren't attacking specific villages.
They were clearing a path.
We returned to the village center. Elara was distributing water to the survivors. Vespera helped lift a fallen structure. Liriel was talking to a woman who kept staring into the void.
The scene weighed heavier than any battle we had faced so far.
Because here there was no enemy to fight.
Only the result of what happens when no one arrives in time.
"Takumi," Elara called. "They need to be taken to the city. They can't stay here."
I nodded. "We'll escort them."
We organized the group of survivors. Some managed to save a few belongings. Most left with only the clothes on their backs.
As we began walking back along the trail, the sun was already setting on the horizon.
The group's silence was absolute.
Halfway along the path, Liriel approached me. "This will keep happening."
"I know."
"Even if we run nonstop, there will always be a place where we arrive too late."
I didn't respond.
Because she was right.
Rai'kanna walked in front, alert to any movement in the forest. Lyannis came right behind, covering the other side. Elara and Vespera stayed in the middle of the group, protecting the civilians.
I followed last, observing everything.
When we finally saw the city walls in the distance, night had already fallen.
The guards quickly opened the gates when they saw the state of the people.
The guild was already waiting.
"Another village?" asked the attendant, concerned.
"Almost completely destroyed," Vespera replied.
Elara added, "Survivors, few."
Liriel kept her gaze low. "They didn't stay to fight. They just passed through."
The attendant hurriedly noted everything. "The reports are becoming similar."
I looked at the map spread on the counter. Several points marked across the kingdom.
And, connecting these points in my mind, a pattern began to form.
They were advancing in a line.
Not in circles.
Not randomly.
In a line.
We left the guild after leaving the survivors in care. The body asked for rest, but the mind didn't allow it.
Elara walked beside me in silence.
"You noticed it too?" she asked.
"Yes."
"They're crossing the kingdom."
"Yes."
Vespera approached. "It's not an isolated attack. It's a route."
Rai'kanna crossed her arms. "As if they were opening a road."
Lyannis added, "And we're just running after them."
I looked north, even knowing that nothing could be seen beyond the darkness.
The Fifth General had not appeared yet.
But his trail was already drawn across the map.
And, for the first time since this began, I felt something different from fatigue.
I felt delay.
We weren't stopping them.
We were following.