The sun was just beginning to rise above the ruined walls when the delegation from the Kingdom of Carpathia appeared on the horizon.
The city that had once been one of the kingdom's great commercial centers now looked like a corpse.
The houses leaned dangerously over the streets. Some had been reduced to piles of stone and charred wood. Smoke still escaped from several buildings, slowly rising into the sky while a thick layer of dust covered the cobblestones.
But this was not simply a destroyed city.
There was something strange about the atmosphere.
Mana remained suspended in the air, far too dense, far too unstable. The light of dawn distorted as it passed through it, making the ruins seem to move in the corner of one's eye.
As if the city were breathing.
The expedition entered slowly.
More than seven thousand five hundred people advanced through the fractured streets: four thousand five hundred soldiers from the Kingdom of Carpathia maintained a strict formation, while nearly three thousand civilians, priests, adventurers, and volunteers moved between the ranks.
The soldiers advanced.
The civilians tried to survive.
The difference became more obvious with every step.
Whenever someone shouted from one of the ruins, several volunteers immediately rushed toward the location. The priests organized the wounded while the adventurers searched abandoned buildings for survivors.
And whenever someone strayed too far from the formation, a soldier had to go after them and force them to return.
They could not afford to lose anyone.
Not here.
At the head of the enormous column marched Princess Elizabeth.
Lusian rode beside her.
He said nothing.
His eyes constantly scanned the streets.
A window.
A rooftop.
A corner.
A shadow.
A pile of rubble.
He was not looking for enemies.
He was looking for something that did not belong.
A creature could hide.
Mana could not.
Lusian narrowed his eyes.
A small amount of darkness detached itself from his body and silently slipped between the horses' hooves. The shadow moved across the cobblestones, spreading through the cracks and penetrating the rubble.
Whenever it encountered an unstable concentration of mana, it absorbed a small amount before continuing.
Then Lusian spoke quietly.
"Stay calm."
Elizabeth turned slightly toward him.
"I am calm."
Lusian looked at her for a moment.
"I wasn't talking about you."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
"Then stop looking at me as if you're expecting something to come out of a wall."
"Because it might."
She let out a sigh.
"You're impossible."
Lusian turned his attention back to the ruins.
"Stay close."
This time, Elizabeth smiled faintly.
"That I can do."
A few meters away, Umber moved silently.
The enormous dark-furred wolf seemed to be part of the city's shadows themselves. His crimson eyes scanned every corner while he kept pace beside Lusian.
On the other side of the formation, Thunder remained restless. Even he seemed to sense that something was wrong with the mana.
The expedition continued forward.
Deeper and deeper into the city.
And the farther they went, the quieter it became.
Far too quiet.
Lusian slowly opened his eyes.
His shadow had just found something.
Over the next several hours, several creatures appeared among the destroyed buildings.
None of them were particularly dangerous.
Mid-level monsters.
The soldiers could fight them with their enchanted weapons while maintaining formation, with the priests supporting them from the rear. The adventurers took advantage of every opening, and whenever a creature managed to break through the lines, the heroes intervened to contain it.
Lusian barely participated.
Not because he could not defeat them.
It simply wasn't necessary.
His role was different.
Whenever a creature managed to break through a defensive line, a shadow appeared before it could reach Elizabeth.
A barrier.
A wall.
A chain.
Sometimes, not even that.
A simple movement of darkness was enough to stop it.
Lusian never wasted energy.
He never attacked more than necessary.
Little by little, the soldiers began to understand something.
Duke Douglas did not seem to be fighting.
He seemed to be waiting.
Waiting for something to appear.
The expedition had reached the old marketplace when the ground trembled.
It was not a strong movement.
Just a vibration.
But Lusian stopped immediately.
Umber raised his head.
Thunder neighed uneasily.
Elizabeth also stopped her horse.
"What is it?"
Lusian did not answer.
He was staring at the ruins of the marketplace.
Something was wrong.
It wasn't the mana.
It was...
its absence.
For a moment, the entire area became unnaturally silent.
Far too empty.
Even the air seemed to have stopped moving.
Lusian slowly raised one hand.
"Everyone, stop."
The command had barely left his lips when a crack split the ground.
Then another.
And another.
The soldiers began raising their shields.
"Defensive formation!" one of the commanders roared.
The ground exploded.
An enormous creature emerged from beneath the ruins.
Three heads.
Wolf.
Serpent.
Dragon.
Its legs shattered the cobblestones as it crawled out from the depths, sending clouds of dust and debris into the air.
Then it roared.
Three different voices merged into a single thunderous roar that made the windows still standing vibrate.
The chimera.
Level 65.
Lusian needed only one glance.
He recognized it.
His expression changed slightly.
Not from fear.
From surprise.
Not here.
He had seen that creature hundreds of times.
He knew its patterns.
He knew its attacks.
He knew its weaknesses.
But he also knew that a creature's level did not tell the whole story.
The mana flowing through the chimera's body was monstrously dense.
Far too dense for a Level 65 creature.
One clean hit could kill him.
Lusian tightened his grip on the reins.
His gaze moved from one head to another.
The dragon's head starts with fire.
The serpent tries to circle the target.
The wolf goes for the blind spot.
He knew that pattern.
He had seen it too many times.
That did not mean it would be easy.
"Don't attack yet," he ordered.
Too late.
A battle cry echoed across the marketplace.
Several adventurers charged forward.
"Wait!" one of the soldiers shouted.
It was too late.
The wolf's head moved.
Lusian's eyes widened.
"Back!"
The jaws closed around the first adventurer.
BOOM!
The man was sent flying several meters.
His enchanted armor prevented him from dying instantly, but he collapsed unconscious among the rubble.
The others stopped.
Some went pale.
Others stepped backward.
Lusian gritted his teeth.
In the game, nobody did that.
Adventurers weren't players.
They couldn't simply respawn after dying.
They didn't have a health bar telling them how much damage they could withstand.
And they couldn't restart a battle just because they had made a mistake.
Here, a single attack could be enough.
"Shields up!" Lusian ordered.
The soldiers obeyed.
The dragon's head rose.
Lusian frowned.
Now.
"Emily!"
The Light Hero reacted immediately.
"Yes?"
"Blind the dragon!"
Emily raised one hand.
A beam of light tore across the battlefield and struck the creature directly in the eyes.
The head roared and recoiled.
"Alejandro! The tail!"
The fire hero immediately understood.
A concentrated burst of flames struck the serpent's tail.
The creature turned to protect itself.
"Leonardo! Now!"
Lightning fell from the sky.
Leonardo attacked the rear legs.
The discharge coursed through the chimera's body, forcing it off balance.
"Kara, don't hit it from the front!"
Kara, who was already charging toward it, stopped abruptly.
"What?"
"Its right leg!"
The warrior changed direction.
Her weapon struck the joint.
CRACK!
The chimera dropped partially onto one knee.
"Now!"
Thunder shot forward.
The lightning steed crossed the battlefield in a fraction of a second and discharged all of his electricity into the weakened limb.
Umber appeared behind it.
His fangs sank into a specific area of its neck.
He wasn't trying to kill it.
Only to force it to turn.
And it worked.
The wolf's head turned toward him.
Exactly as Lusian expected.
"Everyone back!"
The order came one second before the attack.
Umber jumped.
The chimera's jaws snapped shut where he had been.
The soldiers retreated.
The heroes did as well.
Lusian allowed himself a small smile.
"Exactly like the game..."
Elizabeth heard him.
"What did you say?"
Lusian turned toward her.
"Nothing."
The chimera rose again.
This time, it was furious.
All three heads roared at once.
Mana began concentrating around its body.
Lusian's smile disappeared.
I know this too.
He had seen that animation hundreds of times.
He knew how long it took.
He knew which attack came next.
He knew where he needed to stand.
"Everyone, fall back."
The heroes looked at him.
"What is it going to do?" Leonardo asked.
Lusian did not take his eyes off the creature.
"Something you don't want to take."
The chimera opened all three mouths.
The mana exploded.
"NOW!"
The soldiers raised their shields.
The priests layered their barriers.
Emily created a wall of light.
Alejandro raised a wall of fire.
Leonardo unleashed electricity into the defenses.
Kara positioned herself in front of the civilians.
And Lusian extended both hands.
Darkness spread across the ground.
For an instant, the battlefield was divided between light and shadow.
Then the attack struck.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion shook the marketplace.
Nearby houses collapsed.
The ground split apart.
Dozens of soldiers were thrown to the ground.
But the line held.
When the dust began to clear, Lusian was still standing.
His right arm was bleeding.
He looked down.
The cut wasn't deep.
But it shouldn't have been there.
He had anticipated the attack.
He had calculated the trajectory.
He had predicted the point of impact.
Then...
why had it hit him?
Lusian slowly raised his gaze.
The chimera was still standing.
No.
The creature moved.
The wolf's head attacked.
Lusian dodged.
The serpent twisted.
He jumped backward.
The dragon's head opened its mouth.
Lusian raised a barrier.
Fire shot forward.
He blocked it.
Everything was happening as it should.
Exactly like the game.
Until the chimera did something it shouldn't have done.
All three heads attacked at the same time.
Lusian froze for a fraction of a second.
Not because he was afraid.
But because he didn't know what to do.
That's not part of the pattern.
For the first time since the battle had begun, Lusian understood something he had forgotten.
In the game, monsters had patterns.
In real life, they had instincts.
And a living creature could make mistakes.
It could improvise.
It could do something stupid.
It could do something no one had anticipated.
Even a monster.
Lusian barely had time to raise a barrier.
All three heads struck at once.
BOOM!
The darkness shattered.
And Lusian was sent flying.
"Lusian!" Elizabeth shouted.
He reacted.
A shadow detached itself from the ground and dragged him sideways just before the jaws closed around him.
BOOM!
The ground exploded.
Lusian rolled through the rubble and landed on one knee.
He took one breath.
Then another.
His heart pounded violently against his chest.
He raised his head.
The chimera was still there.
Three heads.
Three pairs of eyes.
Three different ways to kill him.
For the first time since the battle had begun...
Lusian had no idea what it would do next.
There was no pattern.
No sequence.
No strategy he could recall from memory.
Only a creature that wanted to kill him.
"Fine..."
He slowly stood and brushed the dust from his clothes.
"That's new."
Elizabeth stared at him from several meters away.
"New?"
Lusian didn't answer.
It wasn't the time.
He drew his sword.
"Emily."
"Yes?"
"I need light in its left eye."
She immediately understood.
"Alejandro."
"Ready."
"Leonardo."
"Prepared."
"Kara."
The warrior smiled.
"I already know what to do."
Lusian looked at Elizabeth.
"Stay here."
She frowned.
"And you?"
"I'll finish this."
"I don't like that sentence."
Lusian smiled faintly.
"Neither do I."
Elizabeth crossed her arms.
"Don't die."
"I'll try not to."
"No."
She pointed a finger at him.
"I don't want you to 'try.'"
For some reason, her response caught him off guard.
Elizabeth lowered her voice.
"Just come back."
Lusian stared at her for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"That, I can promise."
And he disappeared.
He didn't run.
He didn't jump.
He simply melted into the shadows of the ruins.
The chimera turned all three heads.
It found nothing.
Then Umber appeared first.
The creature reacted.
Thunder attacked from the other side.
The dragon's head turned.
And at that moment, Lusian emerged from the darkness.
He didn't attack where he was supposed to according to the pattern he knew.
He attacked where the creature had proven vulnerable.
His sword pierced an area beneath the jaw.
The chimera roared.
"Now!"
Emily's light struck its left eye.
Alejandro's fire halted the movement of its tail.
Leonardo's lightning tore through its legs.
Kara struck the weakened joint.
The chimera lost its balance.
Lusian took advantage of the opening.
His sword sank in a second time.
This time, all the way to the hilt.
The creature convulsed.
Its three heads tried to rise.
They couldn't.
The enormous body collapsed among the rubble.
The roar slowly faded.
And the marketplace fell silent.
Lusian pulled his sword free.
He took one breath.
Two.
Then sheathed his weapon.
He had won.
But it didn't feel like the game.
There was no victory screen.
No reward.
No music.
Only corpses, wounded soldiers, and an unconscious adventurer lying among the rubble.
Lusian looked around.
For the first time, he truly understood the difference.
In a game, knowing the pattern meant knowing the battle.
Here, it didn't.
Here, he could fail.
He could make a mistake.
And others could die because of his mistakes.
"Are you hurt?"
Elizabeth's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
She was already standing in front of him.
"A little."
Elizabeth looked at his arm.
"That doesn't look like a little."
"It's not serious."
"You're bleeding."
"That tends to happen when you get cut."
Elizabeth stared at him.
"Sometimes you're really bad at reassuring people."
"I wasn't trying to reassure you."
"That's exactly what's worrying."
Lusian smiled.
Elizabeth shook her head and took his arm.
"Let me see."
"I'm fine."
"I didn't ask that."
Lusian fell silent.
He looked at her.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
"Well?"
"Fine."
"What?"
"You can look."
"Thank you."
While Elizabeth examined the wound, Lusian looked back at the chimera's corpse.
He wasn't thinking about its patterns anymore.
He was thinking about what he had learned.
A game could teach him how to win a battle.
But it couldn't teach him how to live through one.
A few meters away, the four heroes stood in silence.
They had begun the battle acting separately.
Now they understood something.
They didn't need to become stronger.
They needed to learn how to fight together.
And Lusian had just shown them that.
Kara looked at the chimera's corpse.
Then at Lusian.
"I hate you."
Lusian raised his head.
"Why?"
"Because even when you need us, you still give us orders like you're our commander."
"It worked."
Kara clenched her teeth.
"That's what I hate most."
Emily let out a small laugh.
For the first time since they had entered the city, some of the soldiers smiled as well.
Lusian, however, didn't.
He continued staring at the chimera.
He had defeated an enemy he knew.
But he had also discovered something far more dangerous.
The world he remembered was no longer exactly the same as the one standing before him.
Alejandro refused to acknowledge Lusian.
His hatred for him had not diminished.
If anything, he seemed to despise him a little more every day.
So, after the battle, he simply turned around and walked away without saying a single word to him.
Leonardo did the same.
He didn't want to interact with that guy any more than absolutely necessary.
And for a few seconds, the battle seemed to be nothing more than that.
A battle.
A victory.
Nothing more.
The soldiers began tending to the wounded.
The priests took care of the adventurers.
The survivors searched the ruins for anyone who might still be alive.
The tension began to fade.
But Lusian didn't move.
He looked at the chimera's corpse again.
His expression changed.
He knew that creature.
He knew its level.
He knew its movements.
He knew its patterns.
He even knew the exact moment when it was supposed to change its behavior.
He had defeated creatures like that hundreds of times.
But this time, something had been different.
The chimera had changed its behavior.
Not because it was injured.
Not because it had lost one of its heads.
It had simply made a different decision.
One that didn't exist in the game.
Lusian remained motionless.
Elizabeth watched him for a few seconds before approaching.
"What is it?"
It took him a moment to answer.
"Nothing."
But this time, it wasn't true.
His eyes remained fixed on the corpse.
The chimera shouldn't have been there.
That was already strange.
But now he knew something much worse.
It shouldn't have fought like that either.
Lusian tightened his jaw slightly.
For the first time since returning to that world, he had encountered something he couldn't explain using what he remembered from the game.
And that...
was a problem.
Because if creatures could change...
what else had changed?
Lusian slowly raised his gaze toward the ruins.
For the first time, the world he knew no longer seemed like a world he had simply returned to visit.
Maybe it had never been the same.
Maybe he was the one who had been wrong from the beginning.