The second attack came before Dustwind finished burying its dead.
At dawn, the eastern fog did not lift.
It thickened.
Aurelius was the first to feel it. He stood at the ridge, sword planted, eyes narrowing as the air pressure shifted unnaturally.
"This fog is being carried," he said. "Not weather."
Lucina was already moving.
"All Inner Disciples to combat readiness. Outer Disciples fall back to Tier Two shelters. No heroics."
No one argued.
They had learned.
Minn's projection flickered beside the command post, numbers cascading faster than before.
"Enemy force confirmed. Black Iron Valley reinforcement unit. Estimated strength: double the previous probe."
Gu Wenhai clenched his jaw.
"They didn't retreat. They escalated."
"They smelled blood," Kuroi said quietly from the shadows. "And weakness."
Lucina turned.
"Not weakness," she corrected. "Cost."
The fog split.
This time, there were no demands.
No negotiations.
The enemy came running.
Iron-armored figures surged forward, shields locked, blades coated in dull green sheen. Behind them, two Plague Handlers advanced in tandem, chains dragging something massive between them.
The ground shook.
A beast larger than the last, its hide stitched with metal plates, eyes clouded with rot.
Minn's voice sharpened.
"Threat level exceeds previous engagement by forty percent. Recommendation: do not allow close contact."
Lucina raised her arm.
"Formation Two. Hold the ridge. Do not break."
The formations activated.
The new defensive art flared to life.
This time, it wasn't sloppy.
Qi flowed into layered paths, redirecting impact, dispersing force. When the first Bone-Armor elite slammed into the barrier, the shock rippled outward instead of inward.
Disciples staggered.
But they did not break.
Jin Haru gritted his teeth as pain flared through his ribs again.
He stayed upright.
Lin Ruyin moved beside him, blade steady, breath controlled.
"Don't die," she said.
"I wasn't planning to," he replied, voice shaking.
The beast roared and charged.
It hit the formation like a collapsing wall.
Cracks appeared.
Lucina felt it immediately.
"Reinforce the left flank!"
Too late.
The beast's mass overloaded the edge of the formation. One section collapsed inward.
Three Inner Disciples were thrown into the air.
One didn't get up.
Blood soaked into the stone.
Gu Wenhai shouted, "Medic—!"
A scream cut him off.
A Plague Handler had breached the perimeter.
Kuroi moved.
He appeared behind the handler mid-cast, blade slicing clean through the man's neck.
But the spell had already completed.
Black veins spread across the ground.
The fog thickened again.
Minn recalculated.
"Contamination spread accelerating. Structural failure imminent."
Lucina made a decision.
"Inner Disciples, fall back to Secondary Line."
Jin Haru hesitated.
The fallen disciple was still breathing.
Lucina saw it.
"GO!"
Jin Haru grabbed the wounded disciple and dragged him backward as the formation shifted.
The ridge burned.
Fire techniques roared. Steel clashed. Beasts screamed.
Dustwind held.
Barely.
Aurelius moved at last.
He stepped forward, sword raised, aura cutting through