When the meeting concluded, tension still lingered in the air. But before anyone could even exhale, the great doors burst open—
a soldier stumbled inside, his armor scorched and his voice trembling.
"Emergency!" he shouted, panting. "Lady Seraphina—she's under attack! We need reinforcements immediately!"
The room erupted in chaos.
Chairs scraped, generals stood in alarm, and Wizz's face turned pale.
"Ha—Haru! We need—"
But before he could finish, the space beside him was empty.
A cold gust tore through the hall as if someone had vanished into thin air.
Haru was already gone.
Outside, the wind howled.
He soared into the sky, mana surging through his veins, his body enveloped in a faint, silver light. Levitate.
The sheer pressure of his mana split the clouds and scattered the snow below, forming a violent spiral in his wake.
He didn't even know the exact direction—only the overwhelming pull in his chest guiding him southward.
Through the blur of clouds and wind, he spotted a lone soldier running through the brush, armor glinting weakly under the sun.
Haru descended with a thunderous gust, the soldier barely keeping his balance.
"Where is Lady Seraphina?" Haru demanded, his tone calm but sharp enough to slice through the storm.
The man's hands trembled as he pointed south. "T–twenty to thirty kilometers… from here!"
Without another word, Haru shot upward again, the force of his ascent flattening the grass and bending trees in his wake.
---
Thirty minutes earlier.
The southern plains burned.
Ash and blood mingled in the air, the screams of villagers echoing through the smoke.
Among the chaos stood several figures—outsiders from another world—each of them cloaked in power and madness.
Sam
Job: Assassin
Level: 63
Sam wiped his blade clean on a villager's tunic, expression calm, voice cold.
"Hmm… the experience gain's pathetic. Only a quarter of what we should get. It's almost not worth the effort."
Lee
Job: Archer
Level: 65
The archer leaned lazily on his bow, smirking.
"Yeah. A shame, really. If we could absorb one hundred percent of their exp, we'd already be invincible. But hey—look on the bright side. There are plenty left."
He gestured toward the cages behind them—twenty villagers, bound and bruised, surrounded by the ruins of their burning homes.
Smoke curled through the air, the crackle of fire blending with the desperate cries for mercy.
Then a scout rushed in from the outskirts, face pale.
"Boss! Someone's coming—carriage and soldiers, heading straight this way!"
At the center of it all stood a man in black armor, his sword resting on his shoulder, crimson eyes glinting beneath the smoke.
Xinx
Job: Swordsman
Level: 70
Affiliation: Officer of Zero
He smirked, tilting his head as he watched the distant carriage appear beyond the flames.
"Let them come," he said, his voice dripping with anticipation.
"The show's just about to begin."
When Seraphina and her group reached the ruined village, the air was thick with smoke and despair.
Houses lay in ashes, the scent of burning wood mingling with blood.
Dozens of civilians were tied up, kneeling in the mud, their mouths gagged with rags soaked in tears.
They trembled violently, their muffled cries desperate—
"Hmm! Hmm!—mmmhh!"
but no sound could break through clearly.
Seraphina's brows furrowed. She stepped closer, hand on her sword. Something felt wrong.
Her instincts screamed danger.
"They want to say something…" she murmured, eyes narrowing as she scanned the treeline.
"But—wait…"
And then—
Twang!
"Arrow! Left!" Seraphina shouted, her eyes flashing. "Poison!"
She threw up her hand and whispered, "Divine Vine!"
Thick emerald roots burst from the ground, twisting into a shield before her as the arrow struck, sizzling with venom.
But the attack didn't stop there.
"More incoming!"
A storm of arrows whistled through the air. Seraphina dove behind her shield, calling again, "Divine Vine! Protect them!"
The vines erupted in all directions, blocking some shots—but not all.
Screams echoed as several soldiers fell, arrows buried deep in their armor.
Lex gritted his teeth, cutting through a volley midair.
"Lady Seraphina!" he roared. "We've been lured—it's an ambush!"
"Hold your ground!" Levis barked, slamming his shield into the dirt. The impact created a brief barrier of mana—but then more shadows appeared from the treeline.
Dark silhouettes moved swiftly, cloaked in smoke and bloodlust.
Bandits. Mercenaries. Another-worlders.
Arrows rained down like a storm. The soldiers screamed and fell one after another.
Lex and Levis stood side by side, blades flashing as they blocked, parried, countered—but their numbers were overwhelmed.
"Too many—!" Lex yelled, his voice raw as he deflected a strike that nearly slit Seraphina's throat.
Another explosion went off—mana bombs thrown from the forest. The blast hurled several soldiers backward.
Seraphina gritted her teeth, her face pale but determined.
"Form up! Protect the civilians!" she shouted.
But before they could, a shadow leaped from the smoke—Xinx, sword dripping with black mana, descending from above.
"Too late," he sneered. "You took the bait."
Lex swung upward to intercept, the clash of steel sending a shockwave across the field.
The battle erupted into chaos—
steel meeting steel, vines ripping through dirt, blood splattering across broken ground.
Even as they fought, it was clear—
they were losing.
Levis's shield cracked under the sheer force of the enemy's strikes. Lex's left arm bled heavily.
Seraphina's divine vines tore through enemy ranks but were burned away by dark magic moments later.
Surrounded. Outnumbered.
They were being buried beneath a tide of blades and arrows.