The battlefield had lost its shape long before anyone realized it. The once endless stretch of grass was now a shattered landscape, marred by deep cracks, scattered craters, and patches of scorched earth that still smoldered faintly, thin trails of smoke curling into the strange green sky above.
In the midst of this devastation stood Sage and his companions, their formation holding but visibly strained. Their breaths came heavier, movements slowed, and eyes sharpened as the swarm of green wolf-ant beasts began to shift again.
Their bodies crouched low, glowing eyes flickering with an unsettling intelligence that no ordinary magical beast should possess. For a brief moment, a fleeting second, chaos paused, like the calm breath before a storm breaks.
Then everything erupted once more.
