Five kids sprinted toward the mountains, like their lives depended on it.


    Because it was.


    After some minutes they were passing through the ruings of the village


    "Was that really necessary?" Rolan huffed, glancing back. "We could''ve just run. Those battles were far enough!"


    "And let those bastards escape?" Nero shot back, his voice sharp. "Not a chance."


    "Look around you."


    They did.


    Everywhere, the buildings were destroyed some of the places were still burning


    the ground was littered with bodies—men, women,children. The scent of blood hung thick in the air. The world they once knew was gone.


    Lunia thrashed against Nemsus, trying to break free. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled, her gaze locked onto her mother’s lifeless body or at least a part of it.


    "Let me go!" she screamed. "Let me down!"


    But Nemsus held on, his grip firm. His face was tight with frustration


    "What do you think is gonna happen when they find us, huh?" Nero snapped, his voice trembling. "You want to die here too?"


    Roan didn’t answer. He just kept his silence.


    Then Nero spoke again, his voice calm—too calm.


    "Let me tell you what happened here."


    Something in the way he said it sent a shiver down Roan’s spine. It wasn’t just the words. It was the weight behind them, the certainty of someone who had already made peace with a terrible truth.


    "Three Sovereign Beasts attacked the empire," Nero continued, his voice steady, but underneath, something sharp, something bitter, bled through every word. "The great and courageous Sage Arus sacrificed his life to hold them back for as long as he could, buying time for the old emperor and his son to arrive."


    He paused, his gaze sweeping over the ruined village. Smoke still curled into the sky, thick and acrid, carrying the scent of charred wood and death. The echoes of screams still seemed to linger in the air, though the voices had long since been silenced.


    "And when they got here," Nero went on, his tone hollow, "they found nothing but destruction."


    A dark smirk tugged at his lips, but there was no amusement in it. Only something cold. Something dead.


    "Fueled by rage, they fought bravely. They struck down one of the monsters. And the old emperor—oh, the noble, selfless ruler—sacrificed his life to avenge his beloved people. Even against three Sovereign Beasts, he stood his ground, knowing he would not leave that battlefield alive."


    Nero let out a slow breath, his expression unreadable. His voice, however, carried no admiration. Only quiet, simmering contempt.


    "And even then," he continued, "his son, the new emperor, despite knowing of his father’s death, still fought on. Still endured. Still won. He saved the empire."


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    He paused, glancing at the others, watching the way their faces tightened, the way their silence deepened.


    "There will be ceremonies," he went on, his tone growing colder. "Grand, opulent ceremonies, singing the praises of the glorious Gaius Julius Imperius. His name will be etched into history. Statues will be raised. Songs will be written. And his son, the emperor, will stand before his people and deliver a solemn speech. A tragedy, truly."


    The words dripped with something bitter—something cruel.


    "He’ll speak of sacrifice. Of duty. He’ll thank his father for giving his life to protect the empire. The people will mourn. They will bow their heads, weep for their fallen hero."


    His jaw tightened.


    "They will remember him."


    A heavy silence followed. The kind that pressed down on the soul, leaving no room to breathe.


    But not us, Nero thought.


    Not Viser.


    Not the nameless, forgotten dead who had bled for his children.


    Or maybe not


    His voice dipped lower, words slow and deliberate.


    "And us?"


    Nero turned his head slightly, glancing at them from the corner of his eye. His expression was unreadable, but his gaze burned with cold fury.


    "We won’t even be mentioned. Why?"


    Silence. No one answered.


    "Because we’re just numbers," Nero finally said, his voice like a blade. "Casualties to make those damn nobles seem braver."


    The words hit like a blow. No one argued. No one tried to deny it.


    "And that’s after they kill us, of course."


    The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. Even as they ran, the truth of his words wrapped around their throats like a noose.


    Nero clenched his fists. Those damn bastards would probably twist Viser’s name too. Make him out to be a traitor. Say he had aided the beasts, had turned against his own people.


    A man who had given everything—his name, his home, his life—reduced to nothing more than a scapegoat.


    But Nero held his tongue.


    For Nemsus.


    He didn’t need to hear that.


    As they passed the village they enterd a small forest thiere gaze still mocking at the montens or more spessifcly a cole


    The only passage for miles lay where two towering peaks of the Song Mountains flanked a narrow gap—the lowest point in the range. It was still steep enough to require a climb, but it was their best chance to cross quickly before their pursuers caught up.


    Delilah was the one leading them toward the col. Nero trusted her with that—she had always been fascinated by geography, and if anyone knew where they were going, it was her.


    Roan, breathless but still wary, finally spoke. "And once we pass that point? Where do we go then?"


    Delilah glanced back briefly before turning her focus forward again. "We''ll end up in the Murkmire Woods. After that… we''ll see. But remember that''s a red zone we could meet ascendant beasts so stay calm and keep Moving beside the montens towards the south were gonna look for a Shelter to rest"


    They kept moving, their pace urgent, pushing forward toward whatever lay ahead. But as they reached what remained of Bluecastle—or at least, what little was left of it—an eerie silence settled over them.


    Bodies Everywhere.


    It was as if they had stepped back into the ruins of the village, the same devastation, the same overwhelming stench of death. They kept running, but Nero’s eyes darted around, scanning the wreckage. He had a feeling… and he was right.


    A few bodies looked stronger then the other''s hé collected some Enys.


    He stopped for half a minute, just long enough to collect three of them.


    He wanted to search for Sage Arus’s body too, to see if anything remained of the man who had held back the Sovereign Beasts. But there was no time. If the fight ended before they got far enough, someone else would come looking for them.


    For now, they just had to survive.


    The landscape grew harsher as they neared the pass but the twilight sky above provided little warmth, and the wind howled through the rocky crevices, carrying the scent of damp earth and distant greenery.


    As they moved farther from the heart of the twilight zone, the temperature began to drop. The once-balanced warmth faded, replaced by a creeping cold that seeped into their bones. The further they''re gone, the dim twilight above struggled to reach them, its light swallowed by the towering cliffs and thickening mist.


    As they reached the top they looked down from the col, the forest stretched endlessly, its dense canopy forming a tangled roof overhead. Dark, twisted trees stood like silent sentinels, their roots gripping the earth like claws. Shadows pooled between their gnarled trunks, and the deeper one looked, the more the world seemed to vanish into darkness—as i


    f the forest itself was devouring the last remnants of light.