Far away from Valdros, the exact same nightmare had already begun unfolding across the other kingdoms as well.

Within the sacred kingdom of Seraphelle, King Sheron stood inside the highest tower overlooking the vast silver forests surrounding his territory. Unlike the harsh rocky lands of Valdros, Seraphelle was covered by enormous luminous trees and rivers filled with Magic energy of the spirit. The kingdom had always been known for its harmony with nature and its powerful Spirit Mages who cultivated alongside the forest itself.

But now that harmony had begun collapsing.

Reports had already arrived from multiple Spirit Watchers stationed throughout the outer forests. Strange cracks had appeared across the ground between the roots of the ancient trees. Dark mist continuously leaked from within them while corruption slowly spread through the surrounding vegetation.

Entire sections of the forest had already started dying.

The glowing leaves of the sacred trees darkened into black-red colors while spirit beasts fled deeper into the wilderness in panic. But there was something worse, several corrupted roots had begun moving unnaturally beneath the soil like living creatures.

King Sheron himself immediately realized this was no ordinary corruption anymore.

Meanwhile, within the northern kingdom of Drakenmere, King Valor also faced another horrifying situation, but also entirely different.

Drakenmere existed within frozen territories dominated by glaciers, black seas, and enormous snowy cliffs. The kingdom had survived countless harsh winters and sea monster invasions for generations.

But now even the frozen lands themselves had begun changing.

Massive cracks suddenly appeared beneath the ice fields outside the kingdom walls. Dark mist leaked up from the fractures while the surrounding snow slowly melted into blackened sludge despite the freezing temperature.

Several watchtowers reported seeing gigantic shapes moving beneath the ice itself.

At first, the defenders believed sea monsters had somehow reached the surface beneath the glaciers. But the movements below the ice looked wrong. The shapes twisted unnaturally beneath the icy ground before disappearing again.

The fear spreading throughout Drakenmere rapidly worsened after that discovery.

Then farther east, the kingdom of Elaris experienced the same disaster.

Unlike the other kingdoms, Elaris stood within enormous desert territories filled with ancient ruins and gigantic sand valleys. King Seladin ruled over cities protected by barriers and ancient relic technologies buried beneath the desert sands.

But now the sands themselves had begun splitting apart.

Huge fractures appeared throughout the desert outside the kingdom while black-red mist erupted upward like smoke from the depths below. Ancient ruins buried beneath the sands started collapsing inward while corrupted veins spread across the stone structures.

Even the desert storms changed. Now black sandstorms began forming around the fractures while strange sounds echoed from beneath the ground.

Every report arriving before King Seladin only deepened the fear spreading across the kingdom.

Slowly but surely, all five kings across the world began realizing the same horrifying truth that this disaster was far worse than they originally believed. The corruption was not simply attacking kingdoms anymore. It was spreading beneath the entire world itself.

What’s worse was, the communication between them was cut off.

—

Far away from the kingdoms struggling against the spreading corruption, Erend continued guiding the expedition deeper through the canyon lands beneath the darkened skies.

But now, an increasingly bad feeling had started growing inside him.

High above the expedition, Erend flew silently while the cold wind swept around his body. His sharp Dragon eyes continuously scanned the surrounding terrain below, but his brows had already furrowed deeply for quite some time.

Something felt wrong. Not merely dangerous, but very wrong.

The Dragonborn could feel it clearly. There was a strange uneasiness continuously clawing at his instincts while his senses warned him that the situation across the world was shifting into something even worse.

The communication collapse only strengthened that feeling.

Erend already understood what it most likely meant. The sudden interference affecting the spirit communications throughout the kingdoms was almost certainly the work of the Void Architect itself. This level of large-scale disruption could not happen naturally.

Which meant the entity had begun interfering directly. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

That realization only made the pressure inside Erend’s chest heavier.

But despite that, there was almost nothing he could do about it right now. He already divided himself into two. He could not abandon the expedition.

The fragments and the Sky Anchor remained the most important priority. If they failed here, then the entire world would eventually collapse no matter how many kingdoms survived temporarily.

Erend slowly looked toward the dark horizon while the wind moved across his face. The uneasiness inside him refused to disappear.

Meanwhile, far below him, the expedition members themselves had also begun feeling increasingly restless after the communication spirits stopped functioning.

The knights and mages continued moving through the canyon paths carefully while quiet conversations slowly spread among them.

"This is bad..." one of the younger mages muttered quietly while gripping the spirit artifact hanging near his waist. "If we cannot contact the capital anymore, then something must have happened."

Another knight beside him frowned deeply. "Maybe the Magic disturbance simply became worse," he said, though even his own voice lacked confidence.

"But what if it’s more than that?" another expedition member asked uneasily. "What if the kingdoms are already under attack?"

Several others nearby immediately fell silent after hearing that. The tension among them only deepened afterward.

One of the older knights finally spoke with visible concern. "I have a bad feeling about this entire situation. Everything changed too fast."

The leader of the expedition walking near the front immediately glanced back toward them afterward.

"Enough," he said firmly. "Stay focused on the mission."

The conversations immediately quieted.

"We already knew this journey would be dangerous," the leader continued while maintaining his pace forward. "Panicking now will help nobody. The Dragonborn is still with us."

Several expedition members nodded slowly after hearing that.

But despite his calm voice, the leader himself could feel the same uneasiness growing inside his chest.

He also understood how serious the loss of communication truly was. The expedition and kingdom were now blind to one another. And in a disaster like this, that blindness could become fatal.

But he forced himself to remain composed while continuing to lead the expedition through the corrupted canyon. The others needed someone stable to follow right now beside the Dragonborn.

So he hid the fear inside his own heart and kept moving forward. All he could do now was hope that the kingdoms behind them were still standing.

—