The battle inside Manan's Manor had ended.
Kar, the man who had once been a celebrated commander of the kingdom, now lay motionless upon the cracked stone floor. His body collapsed beside the remains of the control chamber while his severed sword rolled across the ground.
Henry stood silently.
His entire body ached.
The wound in his abdomen continued to bleed beneath the cloth wrapped around it. His arms felt heavy. His vision blurred every few moments from exhaustion.
Yet none of that mattered.
He had won.
At least, that was what he thought.
Henry slowly turned toward the shattered window of the control room.
Beyond the dark forest, far away in the distance, stood the Walls of Ismal.
Beyond those walls was Irene.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"At least she's safe."
The thought brought him comfort.
For a brief moment he imagined returning.
He imagined Irene complaining that he had once again gone off on his own.
He imagined Mark drowning in paperwork.
He imagined Nabu waiting with another mountain of reports.
For a single moment, everything felt peaceful.
Then the machine screamed.
A deafening metallic shriek echoed through the entire manor.
Every gear within the enormous cannon began spinning uncontrollably.
The Melarium core at its center glowed brighter and brighter.
Blue light flooded the chamber.
Henry's expression changed immediately.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The alarms that had been ringing moments ago suddenly ceased.
Silence.
Then came the sound of cracking metal.
The entire structure trembled.
The unfinished weapon had finally reached its limit.
Far away, outside the manor, the unconscious members of the vanguard were being transported toward the wall by Night and Henry's golems.
The sleep-inducing smoke had begun to wear off.
Irwin was among the first to awaken.
Her eyes slowly opened.
The first thing she saw was Irene lying beside her.
The second thing she noticed was the sky.
A blue glow illuminated the horizon.
Her expression froze.
"No..."
She immediately stood.
The soldiers nearby looked confused.
Then they followed her gaze.
The sky itself was changing.
A pillar of brilliant blue light erupted from the center of the forest.
It pierced the heavens.
The column expanded higher and higher until it seemed to connect the earth with the stars themselves.
Every person present fell silent.
The light could be seen from hundreds of kilometers away.
Cities.
Villages.
Farms.
Merchant roads.
Even distant ships at sea.
Everyone looked toward the south and saw the impossible pillar rising into the heavens.
Inside the manor, Henry understood immediately.
The machine was no longer charging.
It had already reached critical instability.
The modifications left behind by the Eighth Elder had activated.
This was no longer a weapon.
It had become exactly what its creator intended.
A final bomb.
A doomsday device.
The mana surrounding the region rushed toward the cannon like a whirlpool.
The air became difficult to breathe.
Even Henry, who had endured countless hardships, struggled to remain standing.
The walls around him began collapsing.
Stone blocks crashed from the ceiling.
The manor shook violently.
Dust filled the air.
The minister finally realized what was happening.
His dream.
His ambition.
His years of scheming.
Everything had led to this moment.
And everything was collapsing.
"No..."
The old man staggered backward.
"No!"
He rushed toward the control panel.
His hands frantically pressed switches.
Pulled levers.
Activated mechanisms.
Nothing responded.
The machine was beyond control.
The blue glow only intensified.
The minister stared at the weapon he had sacrificed everything to obtain.
For the first time in many years, fear appeared on his face.
Henry watched him silently.
There was no point anymore.
The weapon would not stop.
The manor would not survive.
The minister fell to his knees.
The glow of the machine reflected in his eyes.
He had wanted to save humanity.
Then he wanted power.
Then he wanted revenge.
In the end, all he had accomplished was destruction.
The ceiling above him collapsed.
Henry turned away.
There was no more reason to remain.
He began limping toward the exit.
Then the world exploded with light.
A pillar of blue mana erupted from the machine.
Not an explosion.
Not yet.
Instead, it was as if every drop of mana within the surrounding lands had been dragged toward a single point.
The forests shook.
The earth trembled.
Mountains vibrated.
The very atmosphere screamed.
And every creature touched by demonic energy felt it.
Deep within the forests beyond the Great Gap.
Countless demonic beasts suddenly lifted their heads.
Their crimson eyes widened.
An instinct older than thought seized them.
Fear.
The blue pillar terrified them.
At once they began to move.
Thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
The forest erupted into chaos.
Trees shattered beneath enormous bodies.
The ground trembled under countless footsteps.
Every beast fled from the pillar.
And all of them rushed toward the same direction.
The Walls of Ismal.
The soldiers stationed atop the walls quickly noticed the movement.
"What is that?"
One scout stared into the distance.
The earth itself seemed to be moving.
Then he realized the truth.
They were beasts.
An endless tide of beasts.
The warning bells rang immediately.
Every tower sounded its alarms.
"Battle positions!"
"Archers ready!"
"Activate the stone guards!"
The entire fortress entered emergency lockdown.
Irene stood atop the wall.
Her heart felt uneasy.
The blue pillar still illuminated the horizon.
And Henry was still inside that forest.
She gripped her sword tightly.
"Henry..."
There was no answer.
Only the distant roar of countless monsters.
The first wave arrived moments later.
The stone guards fought bravely.
Their massive bodies crushed beast after beast.
The soldiers fired arrows.
Mages launched spells.
The walls trembled beneath the assault.
Then another wave arrived.
And another.
And another.
The numbers never ended.
One of the northern towers collapsed first.
The structure had endured years of attacks.
But this was beyond anything it had faced.
A gigantic beast slammed into its foundations.
The stone cracked.
The tower tilted.
Then it collapsed completely.
The explosion of debris killed dozens of defenders.
A gap appeared in the defenses.
The beasts surged forward.
"Hold the line!"
"Don't let them through!"
The commanders shouted desperately.
But it was impossible.
The swarm was too large.
Too many beasts.
Too many monsters.
For every one that fell, three more appeared.
The defenses slowly began to crumble.
Then the wall itself broke.
A section of the great frontier wall shattered beneath the endless assault.
The defenders watched in horror as the breach widened.
The beasts poured through.
Like a black flood.
Like a living nightmare.
The frontline collapsed.
The City of Ismal immediately entered full lockdown.
Families fled.
Merchants abandoned their goods.
Children cried.
Soldiers escorted civilians toward evacuation routes.
Everything descended into chaos.
The kingdom's greatest fortress had been breached.
For the first time in decades, the demonic tide had crossed the frontier.
The disaster did not end there.
As reports arrived from the south, the situation grew even worse.
The demonic energy carried by the beasts spread throughout the surrounding lands.
Fields withered.
Forests darkened.
Rivers became corrupted.
Entire regions were abandoned.
Within a matter of weeks, nearly one-tenth of the kingdom's territory fell under demonic influence.
The greatest loss since the end of the Demonic War.
Then came even darker news.
The minister's hidden organization had not been destroyed.
Many experimental subjects had escaped.
Some appeared throughout the kingdom.
Others vanished completely.
No one knew how many remained.
No one knew where they were hiding.
Fear spread rapidly.
And then came the final reports.
The scouts returned with terrifying information.
Creatures unlike demonic beasts had been sighted.
Intelligent.
Organized.
Powerful.
True demons.
Only three confirmed sightings existed.
Perhaps five.
Perhaps more.
No one knew.
But their appearance changed everything.
The enemy that had remained hidden beyond the Great Gap for generations had begun to move.
Meanwhile, no news of Henry arrived.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
But no Henry.
"He must have made out somehow.." those were the thoughts of many.
But, maybe, the legend of the baron of Tecka had come to an end.
But, there are far to things to worry about.
The kingdom entered its darkest age.
It had lost its peace.
It had lost its frontier.
It had lost its hero.
The blue pillar became a symbol remembered by all.
The day the sky turned blue.
The day the frontier fell.
The day the Era of War began.