The carriage moved slowly along the path.

  Bodies lay scattered on either side of the road—men, women, children.There were no walls, no priests, no knights left to protect them.Only ruins and silence.

  Sofía regarded the corpses, her expression unreadable.She knew that intervening now would serve no purpose.

  "Maintain formation," she ordered, her voice glacial."Against a beast of that level, the weak die as collateral."

  Her gaze lifted northward.

  The ground trembled again.

  From the tree line emerged something larger—a colossal bear, its body armored in black plates of solidified mana.The air around it warped, as though reality itself strained to sustain its existence.

  Sofía dismounted.Her cloak snapped in the wind.

  "No one approach," she said.

  She mounted Thunder, and with a single gesture, the three beasts answered her call.The steed reared, crackling with electricity.The lion roared.The wolf rose from shadow.

  Sofía tightened the reins.

  The battle was about to begin.

  And all of Kuria, unknowingly, was breathing in the prelude to a new era—the era of overflowing mana.

  The monster's corpse lay upon steaming earth.Its blood, saturated with mana, pooled in luminous blue puddles.

  Sofía dismounted from Thunder and surveyed the field without altering her expression.

  "Make camp here," she ordered calmly, though her voice still carried the weight of battle.

  The soldiers moved with caution, careful not to approach the carcass too closely.The air still vibrated around it, as if even in death the creature retained its power.

  Laurence approached, his features tense.

  "Are you well?" he asked, his tone strained.

  Sofía turned slightly."To what do I owe the honor of the duke's presence?" she replied coolly. "You should return to your carriage. I would hate for you to be endangered."

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  Laurence frowned."I didn't think you required assistance."

  She met his gaze, cold, a shadow of restrained fury flickering beneath it.

  "The duke appears to have taken an extended respite," she said. "You should be leading the troops, not observing while others do your work."

  A strained silence followed.

  The wind shifted, carrying with it a metallic, unfamiliar scent.

  Laurence glanced toward the sky.A diffuse radiance stained the horizon—a veil of dancing lights that did not belong to sunset.

  "That glow… I've never seen it before," he murmured.

  Sofía looked up as well.

  The firmament seemed to breathe.Shades of violet, blue, and gold intertwined within a drifting haze, as though the heavens themselves were beginning to part.

  "The priests wrote of this in their oldest texts," Sofía said quietly, almost to herself.'When the sky burns without flame, mana shall spill across the world.'

  Laurence arched a brow."Prophecies? I assumed those were merely clerical superstitions."

  Sofía shook her head faintly.

  "I don't know. But each beast that appears is farther from its territory, stronger, more irrational…Something is forcing the mana out of balance."

  Laurence said nothing, watching as the radiance spread like a living aurora, cloaking the world in shimmering light.

  "Whatever it is," he said at last, "it does not seem like something we can stop."

  Sofía's eyes drifted to the cracked earth beneath the beast's corpse.

  "No," she agreed. "But we can prepare.Because when the sky finishes opening…no one will know what kind of creatures will fall from it."

  The wind blew again—colder this time.

  In the distance, the horizon flickered with a light that was neither sun nor star.

  Night had fully fallen, and the camp glowed with the gentle radiance of mana lamps.

  The scent of roasting meat mingled with woodsmoke.Lusian ate with clear enthusiasm, eyes bright.

  "This meat is excellent," he said with a satisfied smile, taking another bite.

  Beside him, Isabella ate with quiet elegance, her movements precise, her gaze lost in the flames.

  Adele approached, arms crossed.

  "My lord Lusian, eat more slowly. If you oversaturate yourself with mana again, I'll be the one carrying you back to the carriage."

  Lusian looked up, still chewing.

  "Don't worry. My stomach is strong," he replied confidently.

  Adele let out a short laugh.

  "Strong? The last time you ate high-level monster meat, you were ill for three days straight. Have you forgotten, my lord?"

  The young heir frowned, slightly embarrassed.

  "That was because the Forest King's meat contained too much mana. That wasn't my fault."

  Adele leaned closer, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips.

  "And this meat comes from a high-level bear as well. If you don't control yourself, the result will be the same."

  Lusian raised a brow, startled.

  "Bear meat…?"

  "Yes," Adele nodded. "The very one my lady defeated a few hours ago.Few can hunt such a creature and live to tell the tale—let alone turn it into supper."

  Lusian sighed and set his plate aside in surrender.

  "I know my mother is remarkable. You don't have to remind everyone."

  Adele laughed openly.

  "I'm not boasting, my lord. I simply prefer not to see you bedridden with mana fever again."

  For the first time that night, Isabella smiled, lowering her gaze to conceal it.

  The fire crackled, sending sparks spiraling into the dark.