The forest they fell into wasn't supposed to exist.
According to the memory Lucas carried, this region was nothing but barren cliffs — dry, gray, and uninhabitable.
But what surrounded them now was a sea of mist and shadowed trees. The air was thick, cold enough to bite through armor. Every breath felt heavier than the last.
Raven's Sky Dog panted weakly beside him, wings torn, eyes dim. He brushed a hand over its fur, whispering something under his breath before letting it dissolve into a wisp of ether. I heard it but some things should remain hidden.
"We walk from here," he said grimly.
Adrian rose from the muddy ground, his cloak half-shredded and his knuckles bleeding. His body ached, but the pain was manageable. The others gathered nearby — Lucas checking his staff, Brock spinning his spear experimentally, Emma and Emilia keeping watch in opposite directions.
I was mainly worried about my body.
"This mist isn't natural," Lucas murmured. "The moment we descended, I felt mana condensing in the air."
"Then maybe we'll face more problems," Raven said. His tone was quiet but sharp — the voice of someone who had seen enough to know when something was hunting them.
Adrian didn't reply. His Sixth Sense had been ringing since they landed — faint ripples of intent, directionless yet suffocating. As if dozens of unseen eyes followed them through the fog.
---
They moved cautiously, blades unsheathed, boots sinking into damp moss.
The forest whispered with the sound of wings. It felt haunted — branches creaking, leaves shivering in unnatural drafts.
"Anyone else feel that?" Brock asked after a while, his voice low.
Emma nodded. "The air's thicker ahead."
Lucas closed his eyes and pressed a hand to the ground. Faint blue light shimmered under his palm as he whispered an incantation.
"Residual energy… a lot of it. But scattered, like someone fought here recently."
They followed the traces and soon found what remained of another group — tents torn apart, armor crushed inward, the earth scarred by magic burns. Adrian knelt beside one of the fallen, brushing dirt from the corpse's hand. It still clutched a cracked mana crystal, drained of color.
Emilia's voice came from behind. "They didn't die fighting monsters. These wounds… they're human-made."
I stood, scanning the clearing. "No. Not just human."
I pointed to the edge of the battlefield — black ash burned in perfect circles, marks of condensed mana discharge.
"Something mixed," I said quietly. "A hybrid spell. Controlled energy—"
I stopped mid-sentence.
A pulse ran through my mind, cold and sharp. My Sixth Sense screamed.
"Move!"
I teleported Emilia aside a split second before a shadow claw tore through the air where she had stood. The mist thickened violently, twisting into shapes — silhouettes of armored figures, their outlines flickering like dying torches.
Lucas backed up. "Wraiths?! No — these are different!"
The shadows lunged.
---
I reacted before thought could catch up. Omniscient flared — my vision stretched wider, clearer.
I could see every movement: droplets of dew scattering, dust rising under invisible feet, the faint hum of mana blades slicing air.
The sensory overload was terrifying, but I forced himself to focus on danger alone.
I ducked under a blade and countered with teleportation. The blade sliced through mist — but the form reformed instantly.
"They mimic us!" Brock shouted. His clone mirrored his movements perfectly, spear against spear, every strike synchronized.
My heart pounded. "They copy fighting intent," I said. "Not physical form — intent."
"So if I think differently—"
"Exactly. Don't fight the way you usually do!"
I had the advantage thanks to the Nature Force and caught on quickly because of Sixth Sense.
The battlefield erupted in chaos.
Emma twisted mid-spin, feinting left before vanishing into the fog; her duplicate struck air. Raven fired two arrows into the mist, each bursting with spirit-light that briefly revealed the phantom forms.
I teleported instantly behind one of the shadows and stabbed upward. It screeched as light burst through it, dispersing into particles.
But three more replaced it.
I gritted my teeth. "Persistent bastards…"
Lucas slammed his staff into the ground, releasing a wave of blue fire that burned across the clearing. The shadows faltered, but the mist refused to fade — it pulsed, alive, hungry.
---
Minutes bled into each other.
The Claw fought as one, blades clashing, spells igniting. Yet the more they destroyed, the more appeared. I too helped Claw members as much I could.
Emilia was breathing heavily, blood dripping from a cut on her cheek. "There's no end!"
"There is," I said, eyes narrowing. "We're just not hitting the right target."
I closed my eyes. Sixth Sense reached out again — ignoring individual attacks, searching for the source of all intent. Among the dozens of false killing auras, one felt different — deeper, steadier, patient. Watching rather than fighting.
I found it — hidden among the trees.
Without warning, I vanished — teleporting across the battlefield.
I reappeared behind a crooked trunk, facing a tall humanoid shadow — its form denser than the rest, eyes glowing faint red.
"So you're the conductor," Adrian muttered.
I didn't wait. My word struck once — nothing. Twice — the same.
Lucas called out, "It's like the magic of reflection. But this much would need enormous mana!"
A shockwave of corrupted mana sent me flying backward. My ribs burned, vision swimming. The forest spun. Pain roared up my spine.
I forced myself upright, coughing blood. Omniscient flared again — every detail poured into my mind: sound, light, movement. Through the chaos, I saw it — that black core pulsing with power.
"That's the source…"
My breathing was ragged. My body trembled.
I had only one option left.
---
"Everyone! Fall back!" I shouted. My voice echoed through the mist.
I raised his hand, palm trembling,due to fear of reaction
"Apocalypse."
The world seemed to pause — and then detonate.
A wave of raw force erupted outward, shredding trees and shadow alike. The ground tore apart, mist evaporating in a violent scream of pressure.
The central wraith shrieked, its core fracturing under the blast — shards of light scattering like falling stars.
When the explosion cleared, silence fell. The mist was gone. The air, still.
I dropped to one knee, coughing blood. My body was covered in small burns — skin tearing where the energy had surged too fast.
Emilia rushed to me, pouring a vial of healing potion over my arm. "This power!"
I smiled weakly. "Worked, didn't it?"
Raven surveyed the devastation — the forest was leveled in a wide circle, the ground scorched black. "Barely," he muttered. "But it worked."
---
Hours later, they rested beside the remains of the destroyed clearing. Lucas was examining fragments of something glimmering among the ashes.
"Found it," he said quietly. He held up a half-melted object — a crystalline shard that pulsed faintly with dark light.
"That thing," Brock said, frowning. "Is that what caused all this?"
Lucas nodded. "Some sort of anchor. It was amplifying mana, using illusions."
I didn't speak. I sat apart, sipping another healing potion. My arm still trembled — the backlash of Apocalypse hadn't faded yet. I am getting scared of using it a little.
I stared at the dark shard glowing in Lucas's hand. It seemed to hum softly, as if whispering.
I could still feel it — a faint intent, far beyond the forest, like a string pulling at his mind.
Whatever controlled this place… wasn't finished yet.
---
When night fell, they made a small camp at the edge of the dead forest. The stars above looked dim, as if hidden behind invisible clouds.
Raven took the first watch, bow across his knees. "Tomorrow, we move. I don't like staying near a place where an attack happened and the reason remains a mystery."
I nodded, my gaze distant.
I felt the faint hum of energy still lingering in my veins — the aftertaste of destruction.
I whispered to myself, barely audible. "Apocalypse… it's eating me alive."
Emilia, half-asleep beside the campfire, stirred slightly. "You said something?"
I forced a faint smile. "Nothing. Just… thinking how quiet it got."
"Quiet means a storm is brewing," she murmured, then drifted back to sleep.
He looked toward the horizon.
Far beyond the valley, he saw faint flashes of light — too far to be lightning.
A storm of mana was forming somewhere ahead.
I tightened my grip on my cloak.
I've gained so much, yet this situation tells me it's not enough.
The healing potions I bought to search for the Nature Force are being used just to survive here.
And to survive from what…? The unknown.
I can't take this. I need rest.
Was cutting straight through a mistake?
I knew wyverns lived here, but the encounter was bad enough — then this attack.
I don't care if this place becomes a problem later. For now, I need to survive.
But then again — if I can't survive this, can I handle what comes next?
The others were taking their share of rest.
But my senses burned.
How is this possible?
If it were a Powerhouse, I could make sense of it. But this… what is this?