The sky hung heavy and gray as Zackary led his companions through the northern forest, Flare and Stardumn riding their respective beasts with tense vigilance. The clouds above churned ominously, promising a storm.
"Your Grace, we'll be entering the forest shortly," Finn said, scanning the looming treeline.
"I hear a storm coming," Penelope murmured, her ears twitching nervously.
"It seems we'll have to set up camp, Your Grace," Finn added, eyes flicking between Zackary and the forest's shadowed edge.
Zackary glanced at Reages and Xoraxys. "What do you both think?"
"He's right. We should wait for the storm to pass," Xoraxys replied, nostrils flaring as he sniffed the wind.
"The forest is massive," Reages warned, keeping his flaming sword ready. "If we try to push through in the rain, we'll struggle. Monsters hunt with the cover of storm and shadow. We can't afford to be blind to that."
"Camp it is, then," Zackary decided.
They found a sheltered clearing. Xoraxys felled giant logs for seating, Reages summoned a roaring bonfire, and Zackary erected a magical barrier to shield them from the rain. Soon the heat from the fire stretched outward, creating a small oasis of warmth in the gray wilderness.
"I planned to reach the forest's edge in three days," Zackary murmured, "but at this rate, it'll take four."
"Your Grace," Penelope spoke, "couldn't we have used the dragons? We'd be there by now."
Xoraxys chuckled darkly. "Good plan if you want to get shot out of the sky."
"What do you mean, Lord Stardumn?" Penelope asked, confused.
"The Empire has elite mages and knights constantly surveilling all kingdoms," Reages explained. "If we had flown openly on dragons, we would have faced them in battle."
"But we wouldn't have lost," Finn protested.
"Winning isn't the point," Xoraxys said calmly, staring into the flames. "After our last encounter, the Emperor may know of the Demon King and of us awakening. Any display of power now could ignite war, not just a battle."
"Even so… being so cautious," Finn replied uncertainly.
"Being powerful doesn't make us invincible. We could lose much in a war. Strategy matters," Zackary said firmly.
"I suppose I understand," Finn admitted.
"Don't get us wrong," Xoraxys added, "we're not afraid of war."
"We simply don't know enough about the enemy yet," Reages added, scanning the treeline.
Unseen by them, a transparent figure observed their camp from the forest shadows.
Meanwhile, in the Twilight Territory, Maximilian's office was quiet, lit only by the fading daylight. He read through a stack of documents, but his concentration shattered as he sensed rapid movement outside. Before he could look up, the door burst open.
"Your Grace! We need your assistance!" a dark elf cried, bowing low.
"What happened?" Maximilian asked.
"Strange individuals wielding power weapons have invaded the forest. Should we send the Territory's elite?" the elf stammered.
"I'll handle this myself," Maximilian said confidently, mounting his Dire Wolf.
The ride through the forest was brutal, trees whipping past as he raced toward the invasion. Soon he reached the edge of his territory and froze. The peaceful dark elves at the forest border were slaughtered, their bodies strewn and burned.
Black aura burst from Maximilian, halting the invaders in place. "Who do you think you are in my domain?" he demanded, sending a shockwave that rattled the forest.
A hooded figure stepped forward, flanked by his subordinates. "I presume you are the rulers of the Twilight Territory?" the stranger said smoothly.
"There's no need to answer that question," Maximilian's aura made the air itself shiver.
"Why not?"
"Because you won't live long enough to find out." Darkness enveloped the area, pulling all combatants into a pocket dimension.
"Interesting," the hooded man muttered.
"You don't seem surprised," Maximilian said.
"Trust me, I am. I expected little from this territory, but seeing such effortless magic… you are truly dangerous." Blue markings glowed across his body and his subordinates, summoning their weapons.
"Strange… never seen a human with markings before," Maximilian muttered. Purple blades materialized behind him, a lethal forest of jagged steel.
"The Exion shall test your might. Do not disappoint us, ruler of the Twilight Territory," the hooded figure commanded, and his forces attacked.
Back in the Demon King's castle, Luciferus paused mid-step, watering his garden. He felt a surge of magic power.
"Maximilian… what's happening?" he muttered.
"Should we intervene, Your Majesty?" Aisha asked.
"No need. Lysander and Leon are already moving toward him."
In the forest, the battle intensified.
Monsters erupted from the shadows: claws raked, teeth snapped, and eyes glowed with hunger.
"What a bore," Zackary muttered, raising his sword.
"Cut through!" Xoraxys roared, launching himself into the fray. He slashed, cleaved, and tore monsters apart. Blood sprayed in arcs like rain.
"Get out of my way!" Reages shouted, igniting his blade in fiery incandescence, incinerating swaths of beasts in a single swing.
"Is that all of them?" Finn asked, only for the ground beneath to rumble with a deep growl.
Grrr… grrr…
"What's that sound?" Finn yelled.
"Beneath us!" Penelope cried. The earth cracked violently as a massive earth dragon exploded from below. Its claws tore through soil and roots, its maw snapping wide. Shockwaves hurled the party in every direction.
Zackary flew backward, slamming into a tree. Flare's beast went crashing down a ravine. Stardumn was thrown against a cliffside, blood trickling from a cut across his chest. Penelope tumbled into thick undergrowth. The forest had claimed them all, separating the group.
"Well… this is a disaster of a scenario," Zackary muttered, brushing dirt from his coat as he rose.
A faint whisper drew his attention. "This way… come this way…"
"What? Who's calling me?" Zackary asked, eyes catching tiny firefly-like spirits guiding him.
"Spirits? They inhabit this forest too?" he murmured, following their lead. Soon, a massive tree rose into view, its trunk wider than a castle wall, emanating a strange energy. At its base, the spirits hovered, urging him to enter a portal-like opening.
Meanwhile, Maximilian's plan unfolded. The battle with the invading forces was chaotic, yet strangely, the attackers did not aim to kill him.
"This is unusual…" he muttered, tapping into telepathy. "Sirsea, can you hear me?"
A shimmer appeared, and his Dire Wolf—now in a humanoid form—responded. "Yes, Master. I hear you."
"I suspect this is a trap. I plan to find out who is behind it and how much they know. Keep the Territory safe while I act," he instructed.
"But Master, you can't—"
"Sirsea. Take command. Protect the injured and retreat to the mansion if needed."
Obediently, Sirsea corralled the surviving dark elves, disappearing into the forest.
Maximilian let himself appear exhausted, slowing his attacks to lure the enemy in. Eventually, a fatal blow struck him, collapsing his body to the ground as the dome of darkness dissipated.
"Is that all you can do?" the hooded figure mocked.
Before he could respond, chains of silver bound his wrists and neck, dragging him into the unknown.
Moments later, Lysander and Leon arrived at the battlefield. Bodies lay scattered, but Maximilian and the invaders had vanished.
"Where's that idiot?" Lysander growled.
"You can come out," Leon ordered, summoning a terrified dark elf from hiding.
"Where's your Duke?" he asked calmly.
"He was taken by the enemy," the elf cried.
"That idiot got kidnapped?" Lysander snapped.
"Lord Aphrodite, Lord Hydra, please bring him back!" the elf sobbed.
Without a word, Lysander and Leon approached the corpses. "By the looks of it, he didn't struggle much. What happened?" Lysander asked.
"Either someone else appeared or he allowed himself to be captured," Leon said. He crouched beside a corpse; the air vibrated around him. His eyes shifted—whites blackening, irises blinding white.
"Do you want to live?" Leon asked in a soft, chilling voice.
"You… you can bring me back?" the lingering soul whispered.
"Yes. But you will belong to me," Leon replied, dark energy twisting the corpse. Grass and trees rotted, air thickening with decay.
The revived soul trembled. "I… I want to live a normal life with my family."
"Normal? That's gone. You belong to me now," Leon said. With a swift strike of his giant schythe, the soul's arm was severed. Blood sprayed across the poisoned forest floor.
"Why are you screaming?" Leon asked, cold and amused. The arm began to regenerate unnaturally.
"What… what are you?"
"That doesn't matter. You will give us the information we seek, or I will make your new undead existence more painful than you can imagine."
The interrogation dragged on, Leon and Lysander probing every detail, the soul breaking under their presence, until finally, the dark elf was sent back to report the findings.
In the Northern forest, darkness pressed down as separated, battered, and wary, Zackary and his companions navigated their new positions, unaware of the true scale of the danger surrounding them.
The spirits glimmered, the portal tree looming before him—a single beacon of light amid the chaos of the night.