Far away from Erend’s route, another expedition force raced across a completely different region of the corrupted world.

Jagged black cliffs rose on both sides of a vast ravine while storms of corruption drifted endlessly through the air. The terrain seemed alive. Big twisting roots occasionally burst from the stone before retreating again while veins of dark and red energy pulsed beneath the ground now like the heartbeat of some colossal creature sleeping underneath the world. It happened all over the world now.

At the front of the expedition, Eccar continued running while keeping pace with the leading scouts.

There was no hesitation left inside him. The fragmented telepathic conversation with Erend had already told him everything he needed to know.

Leonora and the other kingdoms were under attack. The kingdoms were fighting for survival. Every second of their movement mattered now.

"Come on!" Eccar shouted while turning toward the expedition members behind him. "Push harder! We don’t have time to slow down!"

His voice echoed across the ravine.

The soldiers immediately gritted their teeth and increased their speed again despite their exhaustion.

Eccar looked at their strained expressions and knew exactly what Erend had seen in the faces of his own expedition.

At this pace, they might reach the fragment but they might also collapse before getting there.

Without hesitation, Dragon Magic surged from his body.

Golden-black energy exploded around him before spreading across the expedition like a flowing river of light.

The soldiers immediately widened their eyes. Warmth flooded through their bodies. Their aching muscles suddenly felt lighter. Their exhausted lungs drew deeper breaths.

Even the weight of despair pressing against their minds seemed to lessen slightly.

"What is this?" one knight asked in shock.

"This must be Dragonborn Magic. It came from Eccar," a mage muttered while staring at the energy surrounding him.

Eccar grinned. "Less talking. More running!"

Several soldiers actually laughed despite everything..The brief moment of humor helped ease some of the crushing tension.

Then the expedition accelerated even further. Their boots were hammered against stone. Magic formations flashed beneath countless feet. The entire force surged through the ravine faster than ever before.

One of the scouts suddenly looked toward the distant horizon.

"We’ll arrive soon!" he shouted.

Immediately, hope spread through the formation. It was not much but enough to keep them moving and to keep fighting.

—

Far away from Eccar’s route, Aesa’s expedition pushed through an entirely different nightmare.

A frozen wasteland stretched endlessly beneath dark skies.

Blizzards howled across the region while glaciers that were covered in corruption towered like mountains of black ice.

Their every breath emerged as white mist. Their step sank into snow hardened by unnatural frost.

The expedition members looked exhausted. Their armor carried layers of ice.

Their movements had gradually slowed over the past several hours. But Aesa had received Erend’s message as well.

She knew what was happening back in the kingdoms and she knew they could not afford delays.

Blue-white Dragon Magic suddenly erupted around her body.

The surrounding snowstorm immediately reacted.

Countless streams of Dragon Magic spread out before enveloping the expedition.

The effect was immediate.

The biting cold that had been draining their strength suddenly weakened. Warmth spread through their bodies. Their frozen muscles loosened.

Their movements became lighter.

Several soldiers looked at their hands in disbelief.

"I can move again. My legs don’t hurt anymore."

"This cold is suddenly fading."

Aesa continued moving at the front while maintaining the enormous output of power.

"We’re close," she said firmly. "Don’t slow down now."

The expedition members nodded. They had all heard the fragmented message from the kingdoms as well.

They had all imagined their families facing horrors beyond imagination.

Of course fear still remained inside them. But now there were also determinations burned alongside it.

The frozen wasteland shook beneath hundreds of rushing footsteps as Aesa’s expedition accelerated once more.

Like Erend and Eccar. They pushed forward with everything they had.

They understood the same thing that the race for the fragments had become a race against the destruction of everything they loved.

—

Far away from both Erend’s canyon route and Aesa’s frozen wasteland, Sylven’s expedition advanced through a region that had once been a vast and beautiful forest.

Now it has become something else entirely. Huge trees had their trunks swollen into grotesque shapes covered with black-red veins. Entire sections of the forest appeared alive in all the wrong ways. Roots slithered across the ground, fleshy growths clung to branches. Occasionally, distant groans echoed through the forest as if the land itself suffered beneath an endless nightmare.

The corruption had spread here more deeply than almost anywhere else.

Sylven felt every bit of it. Unlike the others, he was a Plant Dragon. The connection between his power and the natural world allowed him to sense the condition of the land around him with terrifying clarity.

Every corrupted root, dying tree, poisoned stream. Every fragment of life was consumed by the Void Architect’s influence.

Sylven’s youthful face tightened into a grimace.

In his current fourteen-year-old body, he appeared younger than nearly everyone around him. Yet the expression on his face carried none of the innocence expected from a child.

The corruption felt not simply dangerous. It violated the natural cycle itself.

This corruption was consuming, twisting, and destroying. Left only suffering behind.

Sylven looked toward another corrupted tree as they passed it.

"I hate this," he muttered quietly.

Then he immediately pushed those thoughts aside. Right now, they had no time.

The kingdoms needed them.

Without warning, green Dragon Magic erupted from his body.

Brilliant emerald light spread throughout the forest.

The expedition members immediately looked toward him. Then countless vines made entirely from Dragon Magic emerged from the ground.

The soldiers instinctively tensed for a moment before realizing the vines were not attacking them. Instead, the glowing vines wrapped gently around their legs, waists, and arms.

The effect was immediate. Their bodies felt lighter and faster..Each step carried them farther than before.

The vines acted almost like living support structures, assisting every movement and reducing the strain on exhausted muscles.

"Don’t waste it," Sylven said firmly. "Keep going."

The expedition immediately accelerated. Hundreds of figures rushed through the forest while emerald Dragon Magic flowed around them.

Then suddenly, Sylven’s eyes narrowed. His connection with the surrounding plant life suddenly revealed something different ahead.

A concentration of energy.

His gaze immediately shifted toward the distant horizon. Beyond the corrupted forest, he could sense it clearly. The fragment.

A faint smile finally appeared on his face.

Sylven immediately leaped onto a massive root rising above the forest floor.

Then he raised his voice toward the entire expedition. "We’re close!"

The words echoed throughout the formation.

Every soldier immediately looked toward him. The exhaustion in their eyes weakened slightly.

"The fragment is ahead. I can feel it!"

—