As they advanced, the forest became increasingly dense… and more hostile.
It was not a direct attack, but something worse. The creatures did not immediately come out to face them. They watched them. They followed them between the trees. They surrounded them without fully revealing themselves.
Shadows moving between the trunks.
Howls that did not belong to any known beast.
Eyes shining from the treetops, never fully coming down.
The civilians began to cluster closer together. Fear became evident. The children cried in silence, trying not to draw attention. The priests maintained active light barriers, but they were unstable, as if the forest itself rejected them.
Leonardo spoke as they advanced:
—At this rate, it will take us weeks to reach the capital.
Kara, still carrying the remains of a massive rock she had used earlier to crush a mutated monster, replied without stopping:
—If we waste time, more people will die. There is no other option.
Emily looked ahead, toward Lusian and Elizabeth.
—We cannot deviate from the objective —she said—. The capital needs us.
Alejandro, walking a little further back, kept his gaze fixed on Lusian's back for several seconds before speaking:
—Not everyone here has the same objective.
No one responded to that.
The atmosphere within the group grew heavier, not only because of the forest, but because of what was not being said.
Further ahead, Lusian had already noticed it.
The darkness surrounding him—his shadow, his mana, his perception field—was behaving strangely. It was not being directly attacked, but it was being disturbed, as if something in the environment was irritating it, pushing it into instability.
—…Something is not right —he thought, without taking his attention off the road.
Thunder stopped being still the moment the darkness "broke." His electric mane crackled with restrained violence, as if the very air had changed density.
Umber, on the other hand, did not move. He only slowly turned his head toward the forest. It was not curiosity. It was recognition of a threat.
Lusian stepped out of his tent with a calm stride, too calm for what was happening. As he did so, the shadow beneath his feet stretched and clung to his body, wrapping around him like a living cloak. His Epsilon affinity did not merely conceal him: it turned the night into something that responded to his will.
The camp was organized in appearance, but tension was already in the air. The soldiers maintained guard with discipline, the civilians tried to rest as best they could, and the heroes… acted as if calm were something permanent.
Then the night shattered.
A growl tore through the silence.
From the forest emerged red eyes. First a few. Then more. And then dozens.
The creatures emerged without clear form at first, until their bodies became visible under the firelight: living deformities, a mixture of wolf, insect, and distorted human traits. They were not normal beasts. They were Mana Trackers, creatures that followed fear and unstable energy as if it were spilled blood.
And the camp, at that moment, was a feast.
The heroes reacted instantly… but without coordination.
Alejandro unleashed fire in all directions, more concerned with stopping the advance than with the risk to allies. The flames illuminated the camp chaotically, forcing civilians to retreat further in panic.
Leonardo unleashed lightning that crossed the battlefield without a clear pattern, striking areas where soldiers were also trying to reorganize. The flash left several blinded for critical seconds.
Kara charged forward without waiting for lines or cover, striking everything that moved in her path, relying solely on her strength.
Emily raised an intense light barrier, almost blinding, which protected an area… but at the same time made it harder for nearby soldiers to see, breaking part of the defensive coordination.
In seconds, the camp stopped being a formation and became open chaos.
Civilians ran without clear direction.
Soldiers tried to hold the perimeter while avoiding being struck by their own allies.
Priests chanted disordered prayers, trying to raise barriers that could not fully stabilize.
And in the middle of all that…
Lusian was no longer in his position.
The air suddenly grew colder.
The moon, which had been dimly lighting the camp moments before, became partially covered by dense clouds, as if the sky itself responded to what was about to happen.
Lusian dematerialized into the darkness.
There was no sound. No warning. Only a brief distortion in the shadow that enveloped him: Shadow Specter, his most refined technique. A cloak of darkness that erased his presence, silenced his footsteps, and made it impossible to track him visually.
The creatures did not see him coming.
The first one fell before it even understood what was happening. Lusian appeared behind it and pierced it with a shadow blade directly into its vital point. The body collapsed without resistance.
Before it touched the ground, he was already gone.
He reappeared between two campfires.
Three more Trackers fell in a single movement, cut with precision, without wasted force.
For the rest of the camp, everything was difficult to follow.
Only brief dark flashes were visible, short interruptions in the movement of the creatures, and bodies falling without clear explanation.
The soldiers tried to maintain formation while processing what they were seeing. Umber stayed close to Elizabeth's perimeter, attacking any creature that got near, while Thunder released electrical pulses that kept the fastest ones at bay.
Elizabeth watched in silence.
There was no surprise in her eyes. Only a steadily deepening understanding of what Lusian was capable of when he stopped holding back.
It was not spectacle.
It was absolute efficiency.
And that, instead of frightening her, kept her steady.
When the first wave was reduced, Lusian reappeared at the center of the camp, this time visible, behind the soldiers' line.
—Compact formation! —he ordered in a clear voice—. Two lines. Shields in front. Civilians behind. Now!
There was no hesitation.
The soldiers obeyed immediately.
Not because they were weak.
But because his voice left no room for interpretation.
The civilians, hearing him, reorganized as well, as if that order were the only stable point in the chaos.
From the other side of the field, Emily watched him with a tense frown.
—He thinks he can take control of everything… —she muttered.
Alejandro, still breathing heavily, clenched his teeth.
—He is arrogant. He is acting as if he is the commander here.
But Leonardo did not respond immediately.
He looked at the battlefield with a different expression.
More serious.
More uncomfortable.
—That's not arrogance… —he finally said, swallowing—. That's real battlefield control.
At that moment, the second roar shook the forest.
The alpha Tracker emerged between the trees.
Larger. Heavier. With black bone-like plates that seemed to absorb the surrounding light. Its mere presence made several soldiers step back without realizing it.
The remaining creatures regrouped behind it.
And attacked again.
—HOLD THE LINE! —Lusian ordered.
The darkness responded.
From his hands, shadows expanded across the ground like a living net. They did not strike the creatures directly. Instead, they wrapped around their legs, slowed their movement, redirected them, disoriented them.
Every strike was placed with precision.
No spell touched a civilian.
The soldiers, regaining order, began to counterattack more effectively. The lines stabilized, shields closed again, and the formation stopped being chaos and became a coherent structure once more.
The priests reinforced protective barriers, linking their spells to sustain the perimeter. Civilians, guided by clear orders, retreated to the safest part of the camp.
The battlefield, once a disaster, was beginning to regain shape.
But the alpha did not stop.
Its eyes locked directly onto Elizabeth.
And this time, it did not change targets.
Umber was the first to intercept it, leaping forward with force to halt its advance. Thunder unleashed a direct lightning strike that hit the alpha's side, forcing it back several meters. The impact was strong enough to damage a normal creature.
But not enough to stop it.
The alpha roared and charged again.
At that moment, the space in front of Elizabeth changed.
Lusian appeared there.
Not running.
Not jumping.
Simply… emerging from the darkness, as if the place had always been occupied by him and only now the world was acknowledging it.
The alpha leapt forward.
And Lusian looked at it without moving.
His hand lifted slightly.
—Absolute darkness —he murmured.
The world seemed to dim for an instant.
The surrounding light did not disappear completely… but it stopped behaving like normal light. It became heavy, distorted, as if shadow itself had taken control of the space between them.
The alpha's leap lost direction at that moment.
Umber delivered the finishing blow alongside Lusian in a brief, perfect coordination. There was no unnecessary spectacle, only precision. The alpha fell, and with its fall, the rest of the Trackers began to disperse or were eliminated by the camp forces.
When it was all over, the camp slowly returned to its usual state. Soldiers reorganized the perimeter, priests tended to the wounded, and civilians gradually returned to a state of tense calm.
Lusian did not rest immediately. He was giving clear instructions to secure the area, adjust watch shifts, and check possible entry points in the forest. His voice maintained order even after the battle.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, was seated near a brazier. The warmth of the fire contrasted with the cold of the surroundings, and her expression was serene, though distant. She watched the movement of the camp without intervening.
Emily approached her.
Her inner light still flickered with remnants of battle, as if her magic had not fully faded.
—Well, princess —Emily said with a controlled smile—. I think we need to talk.
Elizabeth did not look up.
—There is nothing to talk about —she replied calmly.
Emily stopped in front of her.
—Tell me, princess… how much of him do you think truly belongs to you?
Elizabeth finally looked at her. Her expression did not change immediately, but something in her gaze became firmer.
—Everything he is… belongs to me —she said with absolute calm—. Even if fate tries to deny it. Even if he himself cannot see it yet.
Then she tilted her head slightly toward Emily.
—And you… are becoming very bold.
Emily clenched her jaw.
—Lusian is my fiancé. We have a vow.
Elizabeth did not look away.
—Vows change when people change.
The air between them grew heavier.
Emily took a step back, but her voice did not lose strength.
—I will not break mine.
Elizabeth slowly stood up. The movement was calm, almost elegant, but filled with absolute certainty.
—He is mine —she said without raising her voice—. And he will be my husband. Even if you keep acting as if nothing has changed.
Then she added, lower but sharper:
—And tell me… why did you scream so much last night?
A pause.
—To provoke me… or to convince yourself?
The silence that followed needed no more words.
Emily stepped back, as if the sentence had struck something deeper than pride.
Neither of them won that conversation.
Only one thing remained clear: the conflict was no longer silent… and it was not something that could be easily resolved.
There was no winner.
Only two women bound by one man…
and separated by a fate neither of them yet understands.