Michael’s expression settled quickly. There was no longer any reason for him to remain in this place.

More importantly, he could sense multiple presences approaching.

They were still some distance away, and from the way they moved they seemed hesitant. That was not surprising.

Any creature or supernatural being with decent senses would be cautious after what had occurred here, whether they had felt the tribulations or the battle that followed.

But hesitation did not mean they would not come. Sooner or later, curiosity or greed would push them forward.

Michael glanced once more at his surroundings and shook his head.

"I should leave."

His body blurred. Space folded around him and Michael vanished.

A few minutes later, four presences arrived at the edge of the clearing Michael had carved out for his undead advancements. They appeared one after another and for a while none of them spoke.

The land before them was broken beyond any simple explanation.

If Michael had been present he would have recognized two of the figures immediately. One was Princess Priscilla, whose presence seemed to materialize wherever trouble gathered.

The other was the Rank 3 leader of the shadow guard Michael had met at the royal banquet. From the identities of those two, the remaining figures were almost certainly also from the Lionheart Kingdom.

Princess Priscilla stood slightly ahead of the others, her posture straight and her gaze calm, but her expression carried a quiet heaviness that did not go unnoticed.

No one could quite tell what she was thinking.

Her thoughts, however, were anything but calm.

The current state of the kingdom was already tense enough without this. The disappearance of the Empire’s prince had thrown every neighboring power into unrest. What made it worse was how the Empire had reacted.

Rather than handling the matter quietly, they had begun stretching their influence outward, using the prince’s disappearance as justification to probe, pressure, and investigate every faction that had entered the ruins he never returned from.

Whether that reaction came from genuine anger or calculated intent, no one could say for certain.

Perhaps they were truly enraged.

Or perhaps they had simply been waiting for an excuse.

Or worse, it was both.

The former could be understood. The latter was dangerous. No one wanted to be the first to oppose them openly either, as doing so would only draw suspicion and give the Empire more reason to act. In a situation like this, even silence was a form of defense.

And now there was another incident here in the Everlong Forest.

Priscilla’s gaze swept slowly across the ruined field below her. For months now, strange occurrences had been reported within this forest, and this was simply the latest addition to a growing list. Her expression darkened slightly.

The timing could not have been worse.

With everything happening across the kingdoms, she had hoped at the very least that internal matters would remain stable. But the Everlong Forest seemed determined to prove otherwise.

None of her thoughts showed on her face.

Priscilla said nothing and instead listened as her subjects assessed the scene.

Seeing that she and the shadow guard leader had no intention of speaking first, the other two eventually broke under the silence. One of them finally spoke, his gaze sweeping across the destruction below.

"From the traces left behind, it looks like someone advanced here." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

No one responded immediately. Not because they disagreed, but because this was not a simple breakthrough. The question was not whether someone had advanced. The question was what kind of advancement could leave behind something like this.

All of them already knew the answer. They simply did not like saying it.

Only a Legendary Stage existence could leave behind a scene of this nature. Even if none of them had personally witnessed such a thing before, the records within the kingdom were clear enough.

The Lionheart Kingdom might not currently possess a Legendary Stage being, but it was not ignorant of what that level represented.

Which was exactly why none of them felt comfortable saying it out loud.

The air grew heavier. For a moment even breathing felt slightly restrained.

Then the shadow guard leader spoke, his tone low as his eyes shifted toward a particular section of the ruined surroundings.

"There are also signs of a fight."

He pointed downward. Several faint blood patches stained the broken ground.

In truth the blood had already been noticed by all of them. It was only now that someone addressed it. One of the other men frowned slightly before replying.

"It could also be from the advancing individual."

His tone was careful, almost deliberate. Not dismissive. Just cautious. Because if it was not from the tribulation, then it meant a Legendary Stage existence had fought here, and possibly more than one. That was something none of them wanted to be involved with.

Silence fell again.

Priscilla’s gaze remained fixed on the ruins below. Her expression did not change, but inwardly her thoughts had already reached a conclusion.

She was leaning toward this being an advancement rather than a fight. Though the Lionheart Kingdom lacked a Legendary Stage being of its own, she understood enough about them to know they all went through a heavenly tribulation. The blood could simply be injuries sustained from that process.

"Let’s leave."

Her voice was calm but carried unquestionable authority. The others immediately straightened. No one objected.

Without another word the four figures turned and vanished from the ruined sky, leaving behind only the silent broken land.

Before leaving though, Priscilla could not help but cast one last look in a particular direction. A nagging feeling settled over her thoughts and refused to leave cleanly.

Why was it that since this youth had come close to the Everlong Forest, it had never known rest?

Was he the cause?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Before giving the order to leave, Priscilla had briefly considered paying the youth a visit.

The thought lasted only a moment before she set it aside.

Their last meeting at the royal banquet had made it clear that Mic Nor was not someone she could touch easily anymore.

The more he grew, the more mysterious he became.

She had long since stopped trying to determine his real identity. That particular curiosity had faded not because she had found her answers, but because she had realized that finding them might invite something far worse than not knowing.

She could only hope his presence was a blessing to her kingdom.