The first step she took outside the cave was the heaviest. It felt as if her blood flowed in reverse, numbing every movement she made. The constant rustling around her gave the faint, maddening illusion that something was slithering at her feet—though in truth, there was nothing there. The grass brushed against her legs like razors with every step. Lina felt it, like something leaked out everytime she moved her feet, a phantom blood both real and unreal at the same time.

  She wanted to run, but her body was far more exhausted than she was willing to admit. So they moved slowly, as silent as they could. On her back, Axel’s breathing was shallow as a grave—weak and uneven, each inhale catching like a frayed thread. His body felt heavier with every step, not from weight, but from the way his strength seemed to fade by the moment. His skin was cold and clammy against her neck.

  Lina could feel Axel trying his best to stay awake, weakly pointing her in the direction she needed to go. She realized that if she had followed his earlier advice and gone alone, she would have been hopelessly lost—the forest was a maze of black shapes and twisting paths, every direction the same.

  As they moved, the sight before her turned her stomach. Mana beasts prowled everywhere—sniffing, slithering, growling—each movement accompanied by the wet rasp of their breathing and the crunch of their malformed limbs dragging through the mud.

  Some resembled canines, but their bodies were warped beyond nature’s design. Crystals jutted from their hides like tumors of glass, glowing faintly beneath stretched, translucent skin. Their faces were half-melted, flesh fused to exposed bone, and their eyes—if they still had any—gleamed like dying embers. Thick strands of drool dripped from their jaws, sizzling where it touched the earth, the air thick with the stench of rot and iron.

  Then she saw them—the humanoid ones. At first, she thought they were survivors, until they turned. To call them “humanoid” felt like mockery. Their limbs were wrong—too long, too many joints bending in places joints should never be. Their skin was pale and veined with black mana, throbbing faintly as though something beneath was still trying to escape. What should have been eyes were hollow sockets of darkness, pierced only by a single glowing dot that shifted and jittered like a candle’s flame. They moved in disjointed jerks, their heads twitching as if listening to whispers only they could hear.

  Some of the bipedal ones chased the canine beasts, shrieking in distorted echoes that made Lina’s bones feel brittle. The canines snarled and bit back, tearing into the twisted figures even as both sides bled tar-black ichor into the soil. It wasn’t a hunt—it was chaos feeding on itself, a grotesque parody of life, a world devouring its own flesh.

  Lina forced herself to stay silent. Her hands trembled as she clutched Axel’s body tighter, each step feeling like it brought her closer to being swallowed whole. The faint glow of the device in her hand was dim, but it worked. The beasts didn’t sense her—or Axel for now.

  Suddenly, Lina’s heart beated faster as she saw a canine like mana beast ran towards her. Then times feels slowed, Lina could saw it clearly, the tongue was flapping outside its jaw, the hollowed eye was staring directly as if piercing her with its gaze. The galloping paw feels likea hammer nailing her coffin shut with every steps.

  Did it fucking see me?

  As the mana beast drew closer, Lina’s instincts took over. She leaped to the right, dragging Axel with her. She clutched the object tightly against her chest—the last thing she needed was for it to break and expose them to certain death.

  The beast missed them by a heartbeat, barreling past as another shape burst from the shadows behind it—a humanoid mana beast, chasing the first with savage intent.

  Lina’s breath came in frantic bursts. She turned toward Axel, about to whisper if he was all right, but he raised a trembling finger to his lips, signaling her to stay silent. Her legs felt hollow, her strength sapped, her will fading with each pulse of fear that coursed through her veins. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she cupped her mouth to stifle any sound.

  She exhaled slowly, forcing her body to move again. Her knees protested, but she pushed through, gesturing for Axel to get on her back once more. He obeyed this time without a word.

  They dodged the mana beasts slowly and carefully, taking longer, winding routes whenever one blocked their path.

  “Miss… that way.” Axel whispered weakly, his voice close to her ear. He pointed at a big rock which was almost like a small house, towering there with its obsidian eeriness.

  Lina nodded and carry on carefully.

  But as they approached the massive black boulder, Lina froze. Just beyond it, a group of mana beasts was feeding. The wet sound of tearing flesh and the crunch of bones filled the air, each noise slicing through her nerves like a blade. She risked a glance—and immediately wished she hadn’t.

  Their prey had been human. A young girl, or what little was left to call human. Her torso was half buried beneath the pack, her skin slick with fresh blood that the rain hadn’t yet washed away. The beasts tore into her in turns, claws sinking deep, pulling until sinew gave way with a sharp, wet snap. One of them chewed lazily on her hand, the small fingers still twitching from leftover nerves.

  Her head lay a few steps away, tangled in roots. Mud-soaked hair clung to her face, but her eyes—still open—stared blankly into the dark, reflecting the faint blue glow of the crystals on the beasts’ bodies. There was no fear left in them, only the hollow stillness of something that had endured agony too long to scream.

  The rain did nothing to wash the scene away. The smell of iron and decay clung to Lina’s throat, each breath heavier than the last.

  Her vision swam. For a heartbeat, the world tilted—the image of the girl’s empty eyes burned itself into her mind, a silent warning that she was next if she made even one wrong step. Her stomach lurched violently. Bile rose in her throat, burning hot, but she clamped a hand over her mouth, forcing herself to swallow it down. If she made even a sound, she’d end up like that girl—along with Axel. She tore her gaze away, trembling.

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  Who the hell was she? One of Yvlaine’s followers? But how? Didn’t they able to live safely here?

  The pack was blocking their path, so Lina moved right, trying to circle them and pass the boulder unseen. But then—movement. A humanoid mana beast broke away from the group, scrambling on all fours with the girl’s severed head clenched in its mouth.

  Blood dripped from it in thick streams, splattering the ground like spilled ink, painting the dirt with streaks of red and black—like the flames of the Imperium when they burned her village to ash.

  Slowly, she stepped left, willing her breathing to stay quiet.

  But the creature stopped. It dropped the head with a wet thud. Then it sniffed the air—long, deliberate breaths—as if searching for something hidden in the rain.

  Lina’s eyes darted to the device in her hand. The faint glow had almost vanished. Her pulse spiked.

  She shifted her weight, trying to move silently to the left again—but the beast twitched its head, its gaze snapping toward her direction, nostrils flaring.

  “Miss… what do we do now?” Axel whispered, his voice trembling. “It’s going to wear off soon…”

  Her heart pounded so violently it drowned out everything—the storm, the wind, even Axel’s faint breathing. For a moment, it felt as if the world had gone still, leaving only the sound of her own pulse thundering through her skull. But she forced herself to move, to think. She couldn’t stop here—not after everything. Fear was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

  There was only one way out. Risky, maybe suicidal—but better than nothing.

  Lina’s hands shook as she quickly conjured her storage rune, pulling out her last flash grenade—the one she’d kept as a last resort, the one that hadn’t been snatched away during the fight with the stitched-eye monster.

  Her throat burned as she screamed, “COVER YOUR EYES, AXEL!”

  Mana flooded from her palms, wild and unstable. She poured as much as the into the grenade allowed until its runes flared white-hot, the metal vibrating in her hand. Then she threw it with all her strength.

  The explosion came a heartbeat later—like a sun tearing through the forest. The flash seared her vision, a sharp ping ringing through the air so loud it felt like her skull was splitting. The beasts shrieked, clawing at the dirt and each other, blinded and disoriented.

  “Hold on!” she shouted.

  And she ran.

  Her legs screamed in protest as she forced most of her mana into her muscles, every pulse a burst of agony that tore through her calves and thighs. The ground blurred beneath her, mud splashing, roots clawing at her boots. Her lungs burned, her breath coming in broken gasps, but she didn’t stop—not even when she heard them coming back to their senses behind her.

  The roars rose like a tide. The forest itself seemed to move—shadows crawling, claws raking the ground, guttural snarls converging behind her.

  Something lashed out from her right. A claw grazed her side, ripping through the fabric of her skirt and leaving a hot, stinging line along her skin. Another swipe came from behind, tearing through her sleeve and grazing her arm, blood spraying into the rain. She bit back a scream, teeth digging into her lip.

  She could feel Axel trembling on her back, could hear his shallow, ragged breaths against her ear. The weight slowed her down, but she didn’t dare drop him.

  The light from the grenade flickered out, and the darkness of the forest swallowed her vision again. The rain mixed with her blood, her vision blurring as she stumbled over a root, nearly falling. Her legs felt like stone, her heartbeat like a hammer against her ribs. The roars behind her were closing in—too close now, too fast.

  She ran anyway. Even if her lungs burst, even if her legs gave out. Because stopping meant dying—and she had promised herself she would live.

  Then—finally—she saw it.

  The forest broke open ahead, spilling into a clearing bathed in ghostly rainlight.

  Her heart surged. Her legs burned. Just a few more steps—just a few more—

  Something sliced through the wind.

  A flash. A wet crack.

  Pain exploded in her leg.

  Her scream tore through the storm as her body lurched forward, momentum carrying her only inches before she crashed into the mud. The impact rattled her teeth. Axel slipped from her back, rolling limply across the ground.

  The world spun, gray and bleeding at the edges. Lina gasped, clutching her leg. A deep gash ran through her calf, blood gushing hot and steady between her fingers, painting the ground red. Her whole body trembled as she tried to push herself up—but her leg gave way instantly, a sharp burst of pain shooting up her spine.

  Then she heard it.

  That sound. Wet, dragging, uneven. The sound of something moving that shouldn’t be able to move.

  She turned her head—and froze.

  From between the black trees, a figure crawled into view. A humanoid mana beast.

  Its limbs were bent wrong, the elbows reversed, the skin stretched too tight across bones that pulsed faintly with sick blue veins of mana. Where its eyes should have been were only deep hollows, each marked with a single, twitching white dot that followed her movement. Its mouth sagged open, full of crooked teeth, leaking black ichor that hissed when it hit the ground.

  Then, it grinned.

  A twitching, unnatural smile that split its face far too wide.

  It let out a bubbling sound—half wheeze, half laughter—as if mocking her for daring to run this far.

  “Fucking bitch…” Lina panted.

  Lina didn’t know why, but she felt the only reason she had been able to dodge those attacks was because the mana beast didn’t want her to fall too quickly. She knew mana beasts weren’t intelligent enough to think that way—but that laugh felt like confirmation of her suspicion.

  Maybe it was different here. Maybe the mana beasts in this forest were more intelligent, like Axel had said. But it didn’t matter now.

  The end was near.

  The mana beast snapped out of its jagged laughter and lunged at her, its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that curved like hooks, ready to tear her flesh asunder.

  Time seemed to slow.

  Her mana was almost gone now, barely enough to cast a few sparks that wouldn’t deter whatever the hell this thing was. She had always relied on mana as the core of her spells, using Grace as little as possible.

  But now she didn’t have that luxury. She could use only a trace of mana; the bulk of her spell would have to come from Grace. She had never done this before, always afraid, always subconsciously blocking that power.

  Mana must be mana, she told herself. I’m a mage, not some Imperium Cleric.

  Yet this time, it was that or certain death.

  Despite her best attempts to come to terms with the enemy’s power living inside her, the conflict never left her. But if that power was the only thing that could let her see Vierna one more time, she would rather be damned. She would swallow her hatred and use it.

  She reached inward, deeper than she ever had in her life. The disguise that once hid her true face began to crack, the fake skin peeling away until the scar beneath returned—bright, alive, burning with Grace. The yellowish aura spilled from her skin as her veins blazed like molten lines beneath the surface. She had never dared to draw this much Grace before; every attempt in the past had ended in pain and fear. But now she pushed through, forcing herself to embrace the agony.

  Her hand trembled as she raised it. She forced herself upright, her wounded foot screaming with every pulse of blood. The beast’s claw had torn deep, muscle shredded, bone aching, but she stood anyway.

  A yellow magic circle formed before her palms. The design was unlike anything she had ever seen: intricate, reverent, more like a prayer than a spell.

  She looked at the approaching beast and whispered,

  “Brandkugel.”