The forest near Leonora City remained quiet for only a short moment after Erend’s arrival. The familiar stillness settled around him long just enough for him to steady his thoughts before the air shifted again.

Space distorted not far from where he stood, folding inward as a second portal tore open. Its edges flicker with controlled brown and gold earth energy before releasing Eccar into the clearing.

Eccar stepped through with a firm stride, though the moment his feet touched the ground his expression revealed more than his movement.

His face carried a grave weight, his eyes sharper than usual as they immediately met Erend’s. He did not speak right away but the tension around him made it clear that what he had seen was not something easily dismissed.

A third distortion followed almost immediately after. Aesa emerged from her own portal with far less movement and stepped out into the clearing with a quiet composure that masked the same seriousness beneath.

Her gaze swept across the area once before settling on the two of them. Her expression was calm but heavy.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

They did not need to. The silence between them already carried understanding.

But eventually Eccar broke it first.

"The mountain range is completely unstable now," he said, his voice edged with concern. "The beasts aren’t just aggressive but they have lost all sense of territory and instinct. They’re attacking anything they see even each other. It’s not natural behavior anymore." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Aesa gave a slight nod as she added, "Same thing on my side. The desert beasts crossed into the forest and pushed all the way to the ruins of Vaelorian City. They attacked the guards stationed there so I had to step in."

Eccar’s eyes shifted toward her slightly. "You helped them?"

"I wasn’t going to let them die for no reason," she replied simply.

The brief exchange faded as their attention returned to Erend.

He held their gaze for a moment before speaking, his tone calm but noticeably heavier.

"I found the same thing," he said. "The animals where I landed were already affected. They are mutated and aggressive. And the energy..." He paused slightly, choosing his words carefully. "It’s not from this world."

Both Eccar and Aesa’s expressions tightened slightly at that. They already knew that.

"It feels similar to the Creation," Erend continued. "Not exactly the same, but close enough. Whatever this is, it must be connected, right?"

A short silence followed.

Then Erend sighed before he spoke again.

"There’s another possibility," he said. "The Void Architect."

Eccar frowned immediately. "You think he’s behind this already?"

"He told me he didn’t know where the Creation was," Erend replied. "That he was waiting for my answer. But that doesn’t mean he was telling the truth."

Aesa’s gaze sharpened. "You think he already knew?"

Erend did not answer immediately.

Instead, he looked down for a moment, the weight of the thought settling fully before he finally spoke.

"If he knew... then this isn’t random," he said quietly. "It means this started because of that."

Eccar’s expression darkened. "What do you mean?"

"It happened because of us coming here."

The words settled heavily between them.

Aesa’s eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him. "You think our presence here triggered it?"

Erend let out a slow breath, his shoulders lowering just slightly.

"If he didn’t know before... then he might know now," he said. "We entered this world. We found the Creation and contacted it. If that connection reached him somehow..." He paused briefly. "Then this could be the result."

Eccar remained silent for a moment, processing it.

"That’s a dangerous assumption," he said eventually. "But it fits too well to ignore."

Aesa did not respond right away. Her gaze shifted slightly to the side before returning to Erend.

"So what now?" she asked.

Erend lifted his gaze again, the hesitation from before gone as his expression steadied.

"I think we need to move faster now," he said. "If this is already spreading, then we don’t have time to wait. We find Sylven first, then the authority. Then we deal with this before it gets worse."

Neither of them argued. They both nod their heads.

The moment their agreement settled, the air around them shifted again. But this time it did not carry the familiar distortion of a portal. Instead, the ground itself that moved.

From the soil beneath their feet, roots and vines began to twist upward in unnatural motion, pushing through the earth as if something had willed them to grow instantly.

The plants coiled and layered over one another. Forming a dense structure that rose beside the three of them before unraveling just as quickly.

Erend’s eyes narrowed, his body tensing slightly as instinct kicked in. Eccar shifted his stance immediately. While Aesa’s gaze sharpened, cold air gathered faintly around her.

Then the vines parted and Sylven stepped out from within the plants.

The plant growth receded behind him and sank back into the ground without a trace.

His appearance was calm, a faint smile resting on his boyish face despite the tension that filled the clearing.

The suddenness of it caught all three of them off guard.

"You could have just come naturally with a portal," Eccar said after a brief pause, his tone exasperated.

Sylven’s smile widened slightly, amused.

"I could have," he replied lightly. "But I knew you’d react fast enough."

Erend exhaled quietly, the tension in his shoulders easing as he studied Sylven more closely. "You found us quickly."

"I locked onto your energy the moment you re-entered this world," Sylven said. "It wasn’t difficult after that."

Aesa crossed her arms slightly, her gaze steady. "You felt it too, didn’t you?"

Sylven’s expression changed, the lightness fading into serious expression.

"Yes," he said. "The disturbance has already begun spreading. This energy... doesn’t belong here. It’s forcing its way into the natural flow of this world and twisting it."

Eccar nodded. "We’ve seen the effects. The beasts are completely out of control."

Sylven’s gaze moved between the three of them, his earlier smile gone now, replaced with focus. "If this continues unchecked, it won’t just affect beasts. It will spread further."

"We were just about to find you," Eccar added.

Sylven gave a small nod. "Then that saves us time. So, what do we do next?"

—