Inside Sylven’s house, the atmosphere felt far quieter compared to the chaos currently unfolding across the kingdoms.

The four Dragonborn remained gathered inside the living room while faint layers of Magical energy rotated occasionally around several crystals placed on the table before them.

Those crystals were directly connected to the emergency spells carried by each expedition group. If any group encountered danger beyond their ability to handle, the signal would immediately reach the Dragonborn. Right now, they were waiting.

Eccar leaned slightly against the wall with folded arms while his expression remained visibly tense. After several moments of silence, he finally looked toward Erend.

"What else do you think he’ll do?" Eccar asked.

Erend remained seated quietly for a moment before slowly exhaling. The pressure inside the room subtly changed every time the Void Architect entered their thoughts. Even now, simply speaking about that existence felt heavy.

The Archmages had already connected the Dragonborn to every expedition group through specialized tracking spells. Because of that, if disaster struck anywhere, Erend, Eccar, Aesa, or Sylven could immediately open portals toward the exact location.

But despite the temporary calm inside the house, none of them truly relaxed.

Erend finally answered in a solemn voice. "I think we need to stay prepared for the worst possibilities and unexpected situations constantly."

Aesa frowned slightly while looking toward him.

"Do you even understand the nature of that thing?" she asked. "Where he came from or anything else?"

Erend slowly shook his head. "No. He’s far too ancient. Maybe there’s information about him somewhere, but..."

His expression darkened slightly afterward.

"I don’t think we’ll find it anytime soon."

The room fell quiet briefly.

"So we still don’t know how to defeat him," Aesa said.

"For now, no," Erend answered honestly.

Aesa released a long sigh afterward before lowering herself deeper into her seat.

"This is going to become a massive problem," she muttered. "We need to deal with the root of this disaster eventually. Otherwise the Void Architect will just return again later with something even worse."

"I know," Erend replied quietly. "I’ve been thinking about that too. But for now, let’s focus on protecting this world first."

Eccar clicked his tongue softly before speaking again. "I still think gathering more Dragonborn would make us stronger."

Sylven nodded slowly in agreement.

"I agree," he said. "But we’re scattered across countless worlds. Some of us may already have perished long ago." His gaze lowered slightly. "I think the hope is slim."

"Maybe," Erend said.

But unlike the others, his eyes drifted slightly into the distance afterward as if another thought had quietly formed inside his mind.

"Still... maybe there’ll be a way later."

After that, silence settled across the room once more. Nobody continued speaking. The tension quietly remained between them while they waited for news from the expeditions moving across the corrupted world.

Then suddenly, a sharp ringing sensation exploded inside all four of their minds at the exact same moment. The emergency spell activated at the same time.

All expedition groups were sending danger signals simultaneously.

Eccar’s eyes widened slightly before he immediately pushed himself away from the wall.

"Damn..." he muttered.

The others did not waste even a second responding. Massive waves of Magic erupted throughout the room as portals opened almost simultaneously around the four Dragonborn.

Without another word, they stepped directly into the distorted space and disappeared immediately toward the expedition locations.

"I’ll use my clones to cover one more group," Eren said before they completely vanished into the portal.

—

The third expedition group had not even traveled far from their teleportation point before everything already descended into chaos.

The landscape surrounding them looked nothing like the maps prepared by the Archmages. The forest ahead had changed into something twisted and wrong. The trees no longer stood naturally. Their trunks bent toward the sky like broken limbs while dark crimson vines pulsed slowly across the ground as if carrying blood beneath their surfaces.

The air itself smelled rotten.

Then the attacks started.

From the left side of the shattered forest, a horde of corrupted Magical beasts suddenly burst through the trees with deafening roars. Their bodies looked distorted beyond recognition.

Some possessed exposed bones protruding through blackened flesh while others carried extra limbs growing from their sides in unnatural directions.

Meanwhile, the forest itself also began moving.

The expedition members watched in horror as the crimson vines across the ground suddenly writhed violently before shooting upward like living serpents.

Entire trees twisted around while giant thorn-covered roots erupted from beneath the earth trying to impale everything nearby.

The anomaly itself was alive and it definitely wanted to kill them.

"Defensive formation!" the expedition leader immediately roared.

The ten members reacted quickly despite the panic spreading among them.

The knights moved outward first while drawing their weapons and forming a protective perimeter around the mages. Magical barriers expanded rapidly while glowing runes floated around the group desperately trying to keep the advancing horrors away.

But even then, the situation still looked terrible.

The corrupted beasts continued approaching from one side while the living forest closed in from the other.

One younger mage nearly stumbled backward while staring at the overwhelming scene around them.

"Are you serious?!" he shouted with a pale face. "We just got here and we already encountered something like this?! This entire expedition is hopeless!"

Several others visibly looked shaken hearing those words because part of them silently felt the same thing.

But immediately, the veteran knight leading the expedition turned toward him sharply.

"Stop talking like that!" the knight barked while slashing apart several thorned vines lunging toward the formation. "Panicking now won’t save anyone! Fight properly and keep your hope alive!"

The younger mage only released a frustrated breath afterward. His expression still looked grim despite the leader’s words. Clearly, the encouragement barely affected him at all.

Then suddenly, the surrounding space distorted violently beside the formation.

A circular portal exploded open only a few steps away from the expedition group.

The sudden surge of power immediately caused both the corrupted beasts and the living forest anomaly to hesitate briefly.

A figure stepped calmly out from the portal. It was none other than Erend.

The overwhelming pressure radiating from him instantly spread throughout the battlefield. Several expedition members widened their eyes in shock and relief almost immediately appeared across their exhausted faces.

Meanwhile, the corrupted creatures reacted very differently.

The moment they sensed Erend’s presence, violent growls echoed throughout the forest as the beasts instinctively recognized something terrifying had just arrived.

Erend slowly looked across the battlefield once before his gaze settled on the approaching horde. His expression remained calm. But the air around him had already begun heating up from the sheer amount of power quietly gathering within his body.

"You all stay behind me," Erend said calmly without even looking back at the expedition group. His Dragon Scales slowly spread across parts of his body. The entire battlefield immediately trembled.

—