The scouts remained frozen before the gigantic fissure for several long seconds afterward. None of them spoke immediately. But inside their minds, the same terrifying thought had already begun surfacing.

This was not natural. If something this massive had suddenly appeared beneath the kingdom lands without anyone noticing earlier then it could only mean one thing. Another disaster was beginning.

The squad leader’s expression hardened almost immediately.

"Check everything," he ordered sharply. "The ground, the air, and the vegetation around this fissure. I want to know exactly what this thing is."

The scouts immediately moved afterward despite the unease spreading through them.

One scout crouched near the edge of the fissure while carefully placing his hand against the corrupted soil. Another one removed a small crystal tool from his pouch and began scanning the surrounding Magic currents. Two more scouts spread through the nearby vegetation while examining the plants and trees growing around the massive crack.

The female scout carrying the communication spirit remained nearby while preparing to relay information if necessary.

Meanwhile, the squad leader himself slowly approached the fissure.

The crimson-black glow pulsing from beneath the crack illuminated his face faintly while strange energy continuously drifted up from the depths below.

The deeper he looked into the fissure, the more uncomfortable he became.

It felt alive and not just metaphorically but actually alive.

Then one of the scouts suddenly spoke with visible tension in his voice.

"Captain... this Magic..."

The squad leader immediately looked toward him.

The scout stared down at the glowing crystal device in his hand with pale expression.

"It’s the same."

"What?"

"The same Magic signature from the corrupted Magical beasts that attacked Leonora."

The atmosphere immediately became even heavier after that.

Another scout inspecting the surrounding vegetation quickly turned toward them as well.

"The plants too," he said tensely. "The corruption already spread into the roots around the fissure."

One more scout touched the ground again before immediately jerking his hand back slightly. His face turned uneasy. "The earth..."

Everyone looked toward him.

"It’s pulsing."

The squad leader immediately stepped closer.

Then he heard it too.

Very faintly beneath the wind and silence around them.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The ground surrounding the fissure produced a deep rhythmic vibration almost resembling a heartbeat. The sound did not come from above. It came from deep beneath the earth itself.

At the same time, the strange crimson-black energy leaking from the fissure intensified briefly before calming again.

The squad leader’s instincts immediately screamed danger afterward.

"Back away!" he ordered firmly.

The scouts immediately retreated several steps from the fissure.

"Further!" the leader said again. This time his tone carried unmistakable urgency.

The squad quickly obeyed and created much more distance between themselves and the massive crack.

The squad leader then immediately turned toward the female scout carrying the communication spirit.

"Report everything to the king now."

The woman nodded quickly before activating the spirit.

Blue light spread out while streams of Magic energy connected toward Leonora far in the distance.

She rapidly relayed every detail they had discovered. About the gigantic fissure, the corrupted foreign Magic surrounding it, the living pulse beneath the ground, and the spreading contamination within the land itself.

The communication lasted for nearly a full minute before the spirit’s glow finally dimmed slightly again.

After finishing the report, the squad leader immediately spoke once more. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Contact the other squads too. Ask them about the fissures."

The scout immediately obeyed and reopened the communication channel.

Several moments later, responses finally returned through the spirit.

At first only static-like interference echoed softly. It had never happened before. Spirit communication was usually connected without delay.

Then voices emerged.

"We found the same thing here."

Another voice followed almost immediately afterward.

"There’s a fissure on our route too.The same corrupted Magic is spreading around it."

Silence immediately spread through the squad. Now the truth became horrifyingly clear. This was not an isolated phenomenon. Something beneath the entire kingdom had already begun spreading. The new kind of unknown disaster would strike soon.

—

King Garrie listened to every report delivered through the communication spirit and it felt like the atmosphere atop the battlements slowly became heavier with every passing second.

The mage handling the communications had his hands tightened slightly around the glowing spirit while the other nearby battlement mages exchanged deeply uneasy looks with each other.

Every squad had reported the same massive fissures, corrupted Magic, and the land behaving unnaturally. And worst of all, the same foreign energy connected to the corrupted Magical beasts that had attacked Leonora previously.

King Garrie’s expression gradually turned grave. The king remained completely silent while the final reports continued arriving through the communication spirit. His sharp eyes stared toward the glowing Magic circle before him but his thoughts were already racing far beyond the battlements.

Something enormous was happening beneath the kingdom itself. The corruption had already spread underground on a scale none of them previously realized.

The battlement wind continued blowing heavily around them while the silence between the soldiers and mages slowly became suffocating.

Finally, one of the communication mages carefully spoke.

"What are we going to do, Your Majesty?"

King Garrie did not answer. Instead, he slowly turned his gaze toward the distant dark sky beyond the walls. His jaw tightened while he silently gritted his teeth.

For several seconds he simply stood there while staring at the unnatural clouds hanging above the kingdom.

Then finally, he spoke. "I need to return to the Archmage Tower."

—

Several seconds later a Magic circle illuminated the upper chamber of the Archmage Tower. King Garrie emerged from the glowing formation before immediately stepping out onto the stone floor.

The chamber remained filled with floating artifacts, glowing crystals, and countless streams of rotating Magic symbols drifting through the air continuously.

At the center of it all, Archmage Velrion remained focused on one of his rotating artifacts while adjusting several floating Magic rings around it carefully.

The Archmage did not immediately look toward the king.

"What is it?" Velrion asked while still working.

King Garrie approached him directly. "The scouts found something beyond the kingdom."

That immediately made Velrion pause slightly. King Garrie then began explaining everything the scouts had discovered.

As the explanation continued, Velrion’s expression gradually darkened. By the time King Garrie finished speaking, the Archmage had completely stopped working on his artifact. A deep frown formed across his face afterward.

The mage slowly turned toward the king while concern visibly appeared inside his eyes.

"Another kind of disaster is coming," Velrion said heavily.

The chamber suddenly felt colder.

King Garrie’s gaze sharpened immediately. "You’re certain?"

Velrion slowly nodded. "I can feel it already."

The Archmage moved toward one of the floating observation crystals nearby before placing his hand against it. The crystal immediately pulsed with unstable crimson light afterward.

"The corruption is changing," Velrion continued quietly. "Before this, it only spread across living creatures and surface regions. But now it’s spreading beneath the land. But the problem is..." We still don’t know what this disaster actually is."

The glowing artifacts around the chamber continued humming softly. The anxiety between them deepened further.

—