The slaughter lasted for nearly an hour, and by the time it ended the battlefield had changed into something grim and unforgettable.

What had begun as a raging tide of claws, tusks, wings, and roars now lay silent before the walls of Leonora.

Thousands of Magical beasts covered the plains in broken heaps. Stone-plated wolves were scattered across the churned mud with arrows and spears buried in their bodies. Horned boars lay where they had crashed and bled out. Massive serpents stretched across the ground in twisted lengths with their scales blackened by Magic attack and pierced through by iron. Winged predators were strewn everywhere like torn shadows that had fallen from the sky.

Not one of them had reached the city walls.

From the battlements, the king looked over the field and felt pride rise in his chest. His soldiers had stood firm. His people still lived behind those walls. Against a horde that should have broken lesser armies, Leonora had endured and suffered only minimal losses.

The knights, archers, and mages felt it too.

Cheers burst across the walls in wild waves. Swords were raised high. Shields were struck until the stone beneath their boots trembled with the rhythm. Veterans laughed through sweat and blood. Young soldiers who had entered the battle for the first time who were pale with fear now shouted louder than anyone else.

Men embraced each other with the rough joy of those who had survived together.

Even the battle mages, exhausted and pale from drained Magic energy, allowed themselves pride. Some lifted their staffs and sent harmless sparks of light into the air while others leaned against the stone and laughed in disbelief that they were still standing.

For a few moments, Leonora celebrated.

The king let them have that victory before the duty returned again.

His eyes moved from the cheering ranks back to the sea of corpses below. Whatever had driven those creatures remained the true enemy. This battle was only one symptom of something much larger.

He turned toward the senior mage.

"We move to the next task," the king said. "Can your people begin examining the bodies now?"

The old mage followed his gaze toward the field and exhaled slowly.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We should begin immediately. If traces of that foreign power remain inside them, they may weaken with time. The sooner we work, the better our chances."

Several nearby mages heard that and their expressions changed at once.

One young mage looked openly disgusted while staring at a serpent split open across the dirt. Another grimaced at the pools of blood and torn flesh. A third quietly muttered to himself while eyeing a boar large enough to crush three men even in death.

None of them refused but they disliked the task, yet they understood its importance.

The senior mage noticed their faces and gave a dry look.

"I will go there as well," he said. "If this truly concerns power from another world, then I trust my own eyes more than reports."

The king nodded.

"Good. I will send knights with you. Some of those carcasses are dangerous even now."

A few soldiers nearby gave dark chuckles at that.

The king raised his voice. "Second and Fourth Companies. You will escort the mage corps outside the walls. Secure the field and assist with recovery."

"At once, Your Majesty!"

Orders spread quickly through the ranks. The celebration quieted and changed into movement.

The knight units assembled with shields and hooks. Mage teams gathered satchels, crystal instruments, measuring rods, and containment boxes glowing with prepared runes.

Then the gates of Leonora groaned open once more.

Together, knights and mages marched out from the city and moved toward the mountain of dead beasts.

Beyond the opened gates, the field of victory quickly changed into a field of work.

The senior mage did not waste time on grand speeches or hesitation. The moment his teams reached the first lines of fallen creatures, he raised his staff and began issuing calm precise orders.

He chose the smaller corpses first. Lesser wolf-beasts, broken winged predators, and lean hunting creatures were easier to move, easier to open, and less likely to crush a careless scholar beneath dead weight.

"Start with those," he said while pointing toward a cluster of bodies near the outer edge of the slaughter ground. "We learn what will happen before we touch the larger ones."

The mages obeyed at once, even though several of them still wore expressions of visible displeasure.

Knights used hooked poles and chains to drag the smaller corpses into separated rows. Others planted warning stakes around each examination point. Battle mages formed cleansing circles to hold back rot, poison, or lingering corruption. Then the real work began.

Blades of enchanted steel cut through hide and plated fur. Runes glowed along silver knives as they opened muscle and bone with far more ease than common tools.

One of the wolf-beasts was split from throat to belly by the knight while another mage hurriedly recorded the structure of its organs. Another creature had its skull opened so crystal probes could test the residue inside the brain.

Winged predators were pinned to the earth while feathers, blood, and bone fragments were gathered into labeled containers.

The air soon filled with unpleasant sounds like the sounds of flesh tearing, bone cracking,and metal scraping against scales. Muted curses from younger mages and knights who had clearly imagined a nobler duty when they chose scholarship than cutting open corpses.

Yet no one dared complain aloud under the gaze of their leader.

The senior mage moved from corpse to corpse with narrowed eyes and stained gloves, checking every report himself. He paused whenever strange markings appeared beneath the skin or when veins carried blackened traces through the tissue. Several times he ordered samples sealed immediately inside warded boxes.

Above them, from the battlements, the king watched everything in stern silence.

His pride from victory had not vanished but caution had returned stronger than before. He knew triumph meant little if another horde emerged while their people stood distracted among corpses. Or another danger emerged.

He turned toward the officers stationed behind the wall.

"I want you archers to watch fully," he ordered. "Scan the forest line, the plains, and the skies. No movement goes unreported."

Commands echoed down the length of the wall. Fresh bowmen replaced the exhausted ones. Quivers were restocked. Spotters climbed tower posts and raised long-range lenses. Others watched the tree line where the horde had first appeared.

Below, the dissection continued. Above, hundreds of drawn bows waited in silence.

They had won one battle, but no one believed the day was finished.

—