The transparent barrier shuddered under the relentless assault, ripples spreading across its surface with every impact. It resembled a calm lake struck by countless stones at once, each collision sending shimmering waves through the protective dome.
BOOM!
Another corrupted beast slammed into it.
Then another.
Then five more.
The assault no longer came in intervals.
It had become continuous.
The shrill cries of corrupted birds filled the sky as they hurled themselves toward the barrier without the slightest concern for their own lives. Several burst apart the instant they struck, their twisted bodies torn to pieces by the immense recoil, while others were thrown backward only to stagger to their feet and charge once more.
Behind them, smaller corrupted creatures climbed over the fallen without hesitation. Their broken claws scraped across the blackened earth as they rushed forward in endless numbers.
"They're... sacrificing themselves..." Limbo muttered, his brows knitting together.
"No..." Adri replied, never taking her eyes off the battlefield. "They don't understand sacrifice."
Her voice remained calm despite the chaos unfolding before them.
"They simply obey."
Another tremendous impact shook the sanctuary.
BOOOM!
The barrier flickered violently.
This time, it did not recover immediately.
Thin cracks of pale light spread across its surface before Adri's flowing energy merged with Limbo's mana, slowly repairing the damaged section.
Limbo felt the strain instantly.
The mana leaving his body had nearly doubled.
His breathing became noticeably heavier.
It's consuming more than before...
He gritted his teeth, refusing to withdraw his hand.
His Area Scan remained active despite the increasing burden.
Countless streams of information continued pouring into his mind.
Enemy numbers...
Still increasing.
Formation...
Constantly changing.
Flying units...
Circling rather than attacking directly.
Ground units...
Pressuring only specific sections of the barrier.
His silver eyes narrowed.
Again...
They're following patterns.
He focused even harder.
The front line attacked.
The second line observed.
The third line repositioned.
None of it appeared random.
Each wave arrived only after the previous one gathered enough information.
"...They're learning."
The words escaped his lips almost unconsciously.
Adri looked toward him.
"What did you say?"
"They're learning."
Limbo's gaze never left the battlefield.
"They're testing different sections."
"They're changing formations."
"They're measuring how much force the barrier can withstand."
Another explosion echoed across the sanctuary.
"They're adapting."
Adri's expression stiffened.
She looked back toward the charging horde.
The more she observed...
The more Limbo's words began making sense.
The attacks weren't wild.
They were calculated.
One group attacked from above.
Another from below.
Some intentionally struck weakened sections while others forced the barrier to consume more energy by attacking several locations simultaneously.
"...They're probing us..."
Adri whispered.
"They're looking for weaknesses."
Far beyond the battlefield...
Standing silently within the shadows...
Traka watched everything unfold.
Not a single movement escaped his notice.
The barrier.
Its recovery speed.
Its weak points.
The old woman's circulation.
The boy's mana.
Even the frightened child's reactions.
Everything...
Was being observed.
A faint smile slowly formed across his face.
"Interesting..."
One of the corrupted subordinates stepped closer before lowering his head.
"My Lord..."
"The barrier is holding longer than expected."
Traka's expression didn't change.
"It should."
He answered calmly.
"If it collapsed this easily..."
"...it wouldn't be worth breaking."
The subordinate lowered his head even further.
"Should we increase the assault?"
Silence.
Then Traka slowly shook his head.
"No."
His crimson eyes remained fixed upon the sanctuary.
"Continue."
"Watch."
"Learn."
The subordinate immediately disappeared back into the horde.
Meanwhile...
Inside the barrier...
The pendant hanging around Limbo's neck suddenly trembled.
Once.
Twice.
Then continuously.
A faint warmth spread through his chest.
He instinctively reached for it.
"...Again?"
The strange vibration felt familiar.
Almost identical to the reaction the Beta Fragments had shown earlier.
It wasn't fear.
Nor excitement.
It felt...
Like recognition.
As though something hidden beyond the battlefield had awakened its interest.
At the very same moment—
A distorted notification flashed before his eyes.
"Signal Interference Detected"
It remained only briefly before another line slowly attempted to appear.
"Unknown Resonan—"
Static.
The words shattered.
Fragments of blue light scattered across his vision before disappearing entirely.
"...What..."
Limbo frowned.
Again.
The System had failed.
Not because it lacked information.
Because...
Something was interrupting it.
Something powerful enough to interfere with whatever governed the mysterious interface itself.
His thoughts were interrupted by Mora's frightened voice.
"Limbo!"
He immediately turned.
The little girl stood clutching Adri's clothes once more, her face pale as she stared beyond the barrier.
"...They're getting closer..."
Her voice trembled.
"They're everywhere..."
Limbo followed her gaze.
She wasn't wrong.
The corruption had nearly surrounded the sanctuary completely.
There were no longer just enemies standing before them.
They had begun circling from both sides as well.
Like predators slowly tightening a noose around their prey.
The sanctuary...
Was no longer an isolated safe haven.
It had become an island surrounded by an endless sea of corruption.
Limbo slowly tightened his fists.
His Area Scan expanded once more, forcing itself beyond its previous limit despite the growing pain pounding inside his head.
Blood trickled faintly from the corner of his nose.
His breathing grew uneven.
Still...
He refused to stop.
Just a little farther...
Show me something...
Anything...
Because he knew.
If they continued defending without understanding their enemy...
Eventually...
The barrier would fall.
Limbo ignored the warm trickle of blood running beneath his nose.
His entire concentration remained fixed upon the battlefield.
Every heartbeat...
Every vibration...
Every movement occurring beyond the barrier poured relentlessly into his mind through Area Scan. Thousands of pieces of information overlapped one another, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness. Ordinary people would have collapsed long ago under such pressure.
Yet Limbo endured.
Not because it was easy.
But because he believed there had to be something everyone else was overlooking.
"There has to be..."
"Nothing acts without purpose."
"Not nature..."
"Not a machine..."
"Not even corruption..."
His breathing gradually became uneven.
His vision blurred for a brief moment before stabilizing again.
The Beta Fragments pulsed once more.
Unlike before, however, the vibration wasn't random.
It carried rhythm.
Almost...
As if trying to synchronize with something hidden somewhere beyond the countless corrupted creatures.
Limbo instinctively shifted his focus.
His gaze swept across the battlefield once again.
The flying creatures continued their assault.
Ground units relentlessly attacked the lower sections.
Larger corrupted beasts remained behind them, waiting.
Not a single one charged recklessly.
"...Why...?"
His voice was barely audible.
"If brute force was enough..."
"...those larger creatures would've attacked first."
Another realization quietly surfaced inside his mind.
The creatures attacking weren't the strongest.
They were merely...
Expendable.
The stronger ones...
Were waiting.
Waiting for something.
Or someone.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the battlefield, carrying with it the nauseating scent of corruption. Black mist rolled across the forest floor, weaving between the feet of the advancing creatures before slowly climbing the trunks of nearby trees.
Within moments, the bark itself began turning black.
Leaves curled inward.
Flowers that had somehow survived until now slowly lost their colour.
Yet...
None of them crumbled.
They remained standing.
Alive...
But changed.
"It really isn't destroying them..."
Limbo whispered.
"It's... taking them."
Adri heard him.
Without looking away from the battlefield, she quietly answered,
"Corruption rarely destroys first."
"It claims."
"It stains."
"It whispers."
"And once something answers..."
"...it never truly belongs to itself again."
Those words settled heavily within Limbo's mind.
A force that didn't simply kill...
But transformed.
No wonder the Guardian had considered it such a threat.
No wonder Ruddi had disappeared fighting it.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
A deep, resonating horn echoed from somewhere within the corrupted army.
BWOOOOOOOOM—
The sound rolled across the forest like thunder.
Instantly...
The assault stopped.
Every corrupted bird retreated into the air.
Ground creatures leapt backward.
Even the larger beasts stepped aside, clearing a path through the middle of the army.
"What now...?" Mora whispered, clutching Adri's sleeve tighter.
No one answered.
The entire battlefield fell unnaturally silent.
Only the distant crackling of corrupted trees could be heard.
Then...
The army slowly parted.
A path formed through the endless horde.
Limbo's eyes narrowed.
"They're making way..."
"For whom?"
Even Adri unconsciously straightened her posture.
Something...
Someone...
Was approaching.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the darkness beyond the corrupted ranks.
One...
Two...
Three...
Each step carried a strange pressure that seemed to seep into the very air itself.
Yet before the figure fully emerged...
Another presence caught Limbo's attention.
Not ahead.
Above.
High above the battlefield.
His pupils contracted.
For the briefest instant...
He thought he saw something watching from the sky itself.
Not a bird.
Not a beast.
Not even a person.
Just...
A pair of enormous crimson eyes opening within the drifting black clouds.
He blinked.
They vanished.
"...An illusion?"
Or...
Something far beyond his current understanding?
The pendant around his neck suddenly grew scorching hot.
The Beta Fragments vibrated violently.
The System attempted to respond once more.
"Warning..."
The message flickered.
"Unidentified Exist—"
Static.
Everything disappeared.
Limbo clenched his fists.
"...Again."
Whatever lay beyond the corrupted army...
The System refused—or perhaps was unable—to identify it.
Far across the battlefield, hidden beneath the shadow of twisted trees, Traka quietly observed Limbo's reaction.
A faint smile slowly appeared.
"So..."
"You noticed..."
His voice carried neither surprise nor disappointment.
Only amusement.
He had never expected the boy to understand.
Only...
To begin asking the right questions.
The first pieces had already begun moving.
The game...
Had only just begun.
The silence didn't last long.
The moment the path through the corrupted army had completely opened, every creature lowered its head simultaneously. It wasn't an act of fear.
It was obedience.
No orders were spoken.
No gestures were exchanged.
Yet thousands of corrupted beings reacted as though they shared a single mind.
Limbo's heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
"They're... connected?"
His Area Scan remained active despite the growing strain on his body. The information flooding into his mind became increasingly chaotic, as though countless signals were overlapping one another.
He clenched his jaw.
Focus...
Ignore the noise.
Find the pattern.
The familiar blue screen attempted to materialize once again.
"Signal Interference Detected"
The message flickered violently before vanishing.
Another notification tried to appear.
"Source..."
Static.
Everything disappeared.
"...Again."
Limbo frowned.
This wasn't normal anymore.
Earlier, the System had merely failed to identify something.
Now...
It couldn't even complete a single notification.
Almost as though another force was deliberately interrupting it.
His fingers instinctively touched the pendant hanging around his neck.
It was warm.
No...
It was becoming hot.
The Beta Fragments hidden inside him continued vibrating rhythmically.
Not randomly.
Not chaotically.
They were reacting to something ahead.
Something powerful enough to interfere with the System itself.
A low chuckle echoed from the opening within the corrupted army.
"Heh..."
Another followed.
"Hehehe..."
Then...
Laughter.
Cold.
Mocking.
Unpleasant.
The figure slowly emerged from between the countless corrupted creatures.
Long black robes dragged across the corrupted ground without gathering even a speck of dust. His crimson eyes carried neither excitement nor anger.
Only amusement.
Traka.
He walked forward leisurely, as though he weren't standing before an enemy but taking an evening stroll through his own garden.
The corrupted creatures immediately stepped aside, leaving him an unobstructed path.
Not one dared stand in his way.
"So..."
His voice calmly echoed across the battlefield.
"This..."
"...is the famous sanctuary."
His gaze slowly wandered across the barrier before settling upon Adri.
A faint smile appeared.
"You've grown older."
Adri's expression remained unchanged.
"I could say the same..."
"...if corruption allowed its servants to age."
A few corrupted creatures growled at her words.
Traka merely smiled.
"Still sharp."
"And still speaking far more than necessary."
His eyes shifted.
This time...
Toward Limbo.
Silence followed.
The two simply looked at one another.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
Neither lowered their guard.
"So..."
Traka spoke once more.
"You're the unexpected variable."
Limbo didn't answer.
His mind immediately caught one word.
Variable...
Not warrior.
Not mage.
Not enemy.
Variable.
As though he weren't originally meant to be part of this place.
Traka tilted his head slightly.
"...Interesting."
"Far more interesting than the reports suggested."
Limbo quietly activated Area Scan again, focusing entirely on Traka alone.
The moment his perception reached him—
Pain exploded inside his head.
"...Ghh..."
His vision blurred violently.
It felt as though his consciousness had struck an endless abyss instead of a living being.
There was...
Nothing.
No readable flow.
No understandable structure.
Only...
Darkness.
His scan bounced back instantly.
Blood flowed more heavily from his nose.
Adri immediately noticed.
"Stop."
Her voice carried unmistakable authority.
"You'll destroy your own mind."
Limbo reluctantly withdrew Area Scan.
His breathing became ragged.
"...I couldn't read him."
Adri wasn't surprised.
"You won't."
"Not yet."
Meanwhile, Traka quietly observed everything.
"...Trying to understand me?"
A faint laugh escaped him.
"Curiosity..."
"...is both a blessing and a curse."
He slowly raised one hand.
The corrupted army behind him remained perfectly still.
"No need to be nervous."
"We're not here to destroy everything."
His smile widened.
"...Yet."
The words sent an uncomfortable chill through the sanctuary.
Limbo's eyes narrowed.
"If not..."
"...then why are you here?"
For a brief moment...
The battlefield became completely silent.
Even the corrupted creatures stopped growling.
Traka's smile deepened.
"...To see."
"...Whether the pieces have begun moving."
His answer only created more questions.
Pieces?
What pieces?
Before Limbo could ask further—
A deep horn echoed once more from somewhere behind the corrupted army.
BWOOOOOOM—
Traka slowly turned his head toward the sound.
"...Perfect timing."
He looked back toward the sanctuary one final time.
"This was merely..."
"...a greeting."
He smiled.
"The real game..."
"...begins now."
The moment those words fell—
The earth beneath everyone's feet trembled once again.
But this time...
The vibration wasn't coming from the corrupted army.
It came from...
Deep beneath the sanctuary itself.