King Garrie stood frozen alongside the defenders atop the command tower while all eyes stared toward the gigantic swirling portal forming near the center of Leonora. The rain continued pouring heavily from the dark skies above while black and red corruption energy continued to twist violently through the air.

One grotesque creature after another slowly crawled out from the portal depths, their exposed muscles twitching beneath the rain while their distorted animal limbs dragged them across the streets below.

Nobody said anything. Even the defenders who had survived the flesh tendrils earlier now looked completely shaken. The knights tightened their grips around their weapons. Several archers unconsciously stepped backward in fear.

The flesh tendrils alone had already nearly destroyed Leonora’s defenses and pushed the entire kingdom into collapse. Yet now everyone suddenly realized the horrifying truth. That attack had only been the beginning.

The retreat of the tendrils had not been a victory. It had merely opened the way for something worse.

More of the amalgamations continued emerging endlessly from the swirling portal. Some of them have twisted human torsos fused together with beast limbs. Other creatures crawled on dozens of mismatched arms and legs that bent in impossible directions. Fragments of human faces also twitched across their skinless bodies while animalistic growls echoed from their many mouths.

They also felt stronger than the flesh tendrils.

The black and red portal continued pulsing while corruption energy endlessly poured out from whatever horrifying place existed beyond it.

Archmage Velrion gritted his teeth. "This entity truly refuses to give us even a moment to recover," he muttered heavily.

Questions rapidly filled his mind one after another. Was this Void Architect merely toying with them by sending wave after wave of horrors? Or was there another purpose behind all of this? And was the exact same thing happening across the other kingdoms right now?

Too many possibilities appeared at once.

Fortunately, Velrion had spent his entire life enduring crises and impossible situations. If not, even he might have frozen in despair just like many of the defenders around him now.

Then suddenly, Velrion turned toward King Garrie and immediately realized the king himself had also become motionless.

The Archmage instantly flew toward him. "Your Majesty!" Velrion shouted sharply. "Get yourself together! We must fight again!"

King Garrie slowly turned toward him. His face looked pale beneath the rain. His eyes no longer carried the sharp commanding focus from earlier. The regal bearing of the king now looked worn down beneath exhaustion, fear, and despair.

"Will this ever end, Archmage?" Garrie asked quietly.

For a brief moment, Velrion could not answer. Because he truly did not know.

The old Archmage slowly clenched his fists before finally speaking.

"I do not know, Your Majesty," he admitted heavily. His voice hardened afterward. "But we cannot stop now. We must continue fighting. Do not lose hope."

King Garrie remained silent for several moments while the horrifying creatures continued crawling out from the portal behind them.

Then finally, the king slowly nodded. "I will try."

The hesitation inside his eyes did not disappear completely, but he still forced himself to stand straighter before Golden Magic slowly surged around his body once more.

Then King Garrie raised his voice toward the defenders below.

"All knights and archers prepare for combat formations again!" he roared across the storm. "Do not allow those creatures to spread through the city!"

Velrion continue to stared toward the grotesque creatures continuing to emerge from the portal while the defenders below rapidly reorganized themselves under King Garrie’s commands.

The sounds of shouted orders, terrified civilians that still werent evacuated, and monstrous growls filled Leonora beneath the storm again.

But despite the chaos around him, another thought had already formed clearly inside the Archmage’s mind. They needed the Dragonborns right now.

No matter how hard the kingdoms fought, Velrion could already tell this disaster had surpassed normal warfare. If these horrifying creatures continued appearing endlessly, then eventually every kingdom would be overwhelmed.

The communication lines had to be restored somehow. Velrion immediately turned toward King Garrie.

"Your Majesty," he said heavily. "I will attempt once more to reconnect with the Dragonborns and the expeditions."

King Garrie only gave a short nod. His attention had already returned toward the battlefield below.

Without wasting another second, Velrion immediately flew higher into the storm-filled skies above Leonora. Rain crashed heavily against his robes while violent winds spiraled around his body. Then slowly, the Archmage raised both hands.

An enormous surge of Spirit Magic exploded from him. Silver-blue runes immediately spread across the dark skies while a gigantic spirit formation manifested behind his body.

The air trembled violently. Then the spirit appeared.

A massive translucent entity slowly materialized from the formation behind Velrion. Its body resembled a towering armored guardian formed entirely from condensed Spirit Magic. Multiple glowing eyes floated within its smooth faceless head while enormous wing-like structures made from flowing energy extended behind its body. Countless spirit chains rotated slowly around its enormous arms while silver light pulsed from deep within its chest.

This was not a spirit meant for communication. It was a high-grade war spirit created for devastating combat. But right now Velrion needed the strongest spirit under his command if he wanted any chance of forcing a connection through whatever interference covered the world.

The moment the summoning fully completed, Velrion’s breathing immediately became ragged. His body swayed slightly in midair. He had already spent enormous amounts of Magic energy fighting earlier, protecting the city, and maintaining the calibration process. Summoning this spirit now placed even heavier strain upon him.

But Velrion forced himself to remain standing in the air. The Archmage slowly looked up toward the gigantic spirit before speaking heavily.

"Sorry."

The spirit lowered its enormous head slightly toward him.

"I did not summon you to fight," Velrion continued while struggling to steady his breathing. "I need you to reconnect with the spirits accompanying the expeditions."

The massive spirit remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding. That was enough.

Velrion immediately raised one hand again.

"Connect to them," he ordered firmly. "Do it with everything you can."

Then the spirit finally began moving. Silver-blue energy immediately erupted from its gigantic body in expanding waves while countless glowing spirit chains shot across the dark skies.

—