The darkness beyond the north gate was heavier than the night before. The torchlight flickered in the wind, and beyond it, shadows stirred faintly. Not just one. Not two or three either. From the gloom of the Garg Wasteland, something approached with slow, deliberate intent. Yuri gripped the hilt of his sword as he took position before the north gate. On the back of his left hand, the flame crest marking him as an apprentice magic swordsman glowed faintly. The resolve he'd carried since last night still burned in his chest. It had to. Beside him, Vaik Mora stood with his arms crossed, eyes fixed on the darkness. His 185-centimeter frame cast a massive shadow in the torchlight. Soot-colored short hair, a thin scar along his right jaw. His profile showed neither tension nor fear—only quiet focus. "[serious]The numbers are larger than last time. Don't panic. Watch the distance." The short command straightened the spines of everyone in the Third Squad. Then. "[excited]Whoa, that's HUGE!!" Seria's voice cut through the night air. Her crimson bob swayed as she reached into the catalyst pouch at her waist, peering with interest at the boundary between torchlight and shadow. Her jade-green eyes sparkled like a child discovering a rare insect. "[sarcastic]…Your energy's way too high right now." Georg's voice carried exasperation as he drew his sword. The broad-shouldered man stepped forward half a pace and cracked his neck once, as if confirming his readiness for battle. "[excited]But it really IS huge! Is that a high-tier magical beast? I've never seen one in person before!" "[angry]Shut up and keep your eyes forward!!" Vaik's roar cut through the air. All three turned their gaze forward at once. Yuri looked too. There it was. Illuminated by the torchlight from the darkness—it was massive. Absolutely massive. Three times the height of a man. A high-tier magical beast with armor thick as stone, wisps of miasmic vapor rising from its body, stood at the head of the pack. Behind it, a dozen or more ordinary magical beasts followed. His legs trembled. But tonight—he gripped his sword even as they shook. Vaik roared. "[angry]Everyone, scatter!!" The battle began. ── The first few minutes, they held the line. Vaik cut down the ordinary magical beasts one after another. Georg held the flank. Seria unleashed magic from the rear. Yuri's channeling—the technique of flowing magical power into his blade—was unsteady, but he could swing. Different from last night. His body moved. The problem came midway through. When the high-tier beast charged at Vaik. Vaik met it head-on. With his sword. Even under the impossible impact, he shouldn't have wavered—or so it seemed. The high-tier beast didn't stop. It took Vaik's blade directly and kept advancing without breaking formation. Then it rammed him like a battering ram. Vaik's body flew through the air and crashed into the ground more than ten meters away. The dull thud echoed across the night. "[serious]Vaik!!" Yuri saw Vaik trying to rise immediately. He was alive. But two other beasts had surrounded him. He couldn't rejoin them. Georg shouted while slashing at a nearby beast. "[angry]More coming this way!!" A larger-than-normal magical beast charged at Georg. He sidestepped but couldn't fully evade—he was knocked flying sideways. He rolled across the ground and pushed himself up, but his right leg wouldn't support his weight. Gritting his teeth, he rose, but his face twisted with pain at every step. "[serious]My right leg… I'm falling back!" Behind them, Seria continued firing magic while facing multiple beasts. Fireballs flew in rapid succession. But her movements were slowing. The hand gripping the catalyst trembled. "[scared]…Not much left. My magical power is almost…" She whispered it so quietly no one else could hear, but the words were unmistakable. And then. The high-tier beast slowly turned toward Yuri. No one else could intervene. Vaik was surrounded. Georg's right leg wouldn't move. Seria's magical power was nearly depleted. Between Yuri and the high-tier beast, there was no one. Massive. Even closer, it was even more massive. The vapor rising from its body made the torchlight flicker. On its stone-like armor, there was only a single scratch mark from Vaik's blade—just one. Despite all that power, only one mark. He raised his sword. His hands were shaking. He tried to activate channeling. Tried to draw out his magical power—but fear was freezing his body. Every time he tried to focus, the rigidity increased. The crest on his left hand flashed once, then vanished. Flashed again, then vanished. Unstable. The image of Lilica kneeling with blood flowing from her left arm overlapped in his mind. That night, he couldn't move. It was the same. Again, the same thing— "[cold]Third Squad, don't fall back." A voice came. From above. From the castle wall. Cold, quiet, but a voice that made the night air of the fortress tremble. Yuri reflexively looked up. Lilica stood on the edge of the castle wall. Her left arm was still in a sling. Bandages fluttered in the night wind. Silver hair hung long down her back, tied at the nape, with a single black streak catching the torchlight. Golden eyes surveyed the entire battlefield. With her injured arm still bound, she stood atop the wall. "[cold]Everyone, do your job." It wasn't an order. It wasn't a rebuke either. It came as trust. You can do this, her voice said. Not just words—she was saying it because she knew it was true. Something connected inside Yuri. Seria's words came back. In the moment when fear freezes the body, magical power becomes most concentrated. Don't let that rigidity escape—change it into flow. Vaik's words overlapped. A warrior is someone who can move even when afraid. Lilica's voice cut through. Don't fall back. Three things became one. Trembling. Body frozen. Channeling breaking apart—he directed all of it toward the sword. Not releasing it. Not suppressing it. Changing it into flow. Into the flow of magical power. All of the trembling itself into the blade. The crest on his left hand glowed. This time it didn't fade. A pale blue light enveloped the sword. Faint, but unmistakable, impossible to mistake. A light that had never stabilized before—the first stage of channeling covered the entire blade. "——!!" He didn't have time to shout. The moment the high-tier beast moved, Yuri was already running. Terrified. Completely terrified. But his feet didn't stop. He slashed. A desperate strike, driving it into the center of the armor. ZZZZAAAN!! It didn't bounce back. The pale blue light sank in with the blade, and cracks spider-webbed across the stone-like armor. Horizontal, vertical, spreading like a net. The high-tier beast recoiled. "Seria!!" The moment he shouted, a ball of light flew from behind. Seria's final burst of magical power, all of it released in one strike. It hit dead center in the cracks. BOOM—an explosion. Then from the side, Georg charged in, dragging his right leg. Gritting his teeth, he delivered one strike—but a certain one, driving it into the fractured armor. The high-tier beast's body slowly tilted. DOOOOOM!! It fell. The impact shook the stone pavement. The pack stopped. The magical beasts that had been charging relentlessly began to stir like animals without a leader. The front line collapsed, the rear tangled, the entire pack fell into chaos. Vaik cut through the surrounding beasts, spreading the confusion further. "[angry]Drive them back!! Don't advance, just push them back!!" The other soldiers of the garrison responded. The magical beasts retreated northward, northward, and eventually vanished into the darkness of the Garg Wasteland. Silence returned. Yuri sank to his knees on the stone pavement. His arms trembled. His lungs burned. He had to plant his sword in the ground to keep from collapsing. But—they'd won. The fortress was safe. The crest on his left hand no longer glowed. But it had been there. The pale blue light had been real. ── After the battle ended and Yuri sat on the stone pavement, footsteps came down from the castle wall. It was Lilica. Her left arm still in its sling, she walked quietly. Her silver hair, caught in the moonlight, swayed in the night breeze. She stood before Yuri, and the corner of her mouth moved—just barely, so faintly. "[gentle]You moved well." Three words. That was all. But for Yuri, it was more than enough. Exhaustion, release, and something else came together, and his eyes grew hot. "[serious]Don't cry, it's pathetic." Georg's voice came from beside him. Yuri turned to see Georg approaching with a limp, his eyes completely red. "[surprised]…Your eyes are red." "[sarcastic]Just got sand in them." "There's no sand here, it's stone pavement." "[serious]I said it was sand!!" Vaik finished driving off the last beast and returned. His breathing wasn't even labored. Despite the bruises that must have covered his body, his gait was unchanged. He came before Yuri and silently raised his right hand. His thumb went up. That was all. But Yuri understood—this was Vaik's highest form of praise. His throat tightened, and his eyes grew hot again. Then. Fast footsteps came running. "[excited]That was amazing amazing amazing!! Hey, show me that channeling again!! I mean, the blue light came out and the armor cracked and it was SO cool!!" Seria threw herself at Yuri. Her crimson hair fell across his face. Her large jade eyes sparkled inches away. She shook her catalyst pouch and grabbed his arm. In that moment. Lilica's eyebrow twitched. Everyone noticed the change. Georg's mouth fell half-open as he glanced at her face. Vaik's gaze shifted to the sky—no, the night sky. Yuri felt heat in his cheeks and froze, unsure where to look. "[serious]Praise me too! I landed the final strike while dragging my right leg!!" Georg cut in. Seria glanced at him briefly, then said, "[excited]Georg was working hard too! Yeah, yeah! But… Yuri's was more… thrilling." A bomb had dropped. Georg turned to stone. Yuri froze. Vaik slowly brought his gaze back from the sky. Lilica, expressionless, looked at Yuri. "[cold]Yuri." "Y-yes!" "[cold]Special training menu starting tomorrow." "[excited]Oh, can I join too!!" "[serious]Me as well!" "[angry]Shut up, everyone run." No one ran. But everyone laughed. Yuri, still sitting, looked at each of their faces in turn. Georg with his red eyes, Seria who'd dropped the bomb without a care, Vaik spitting out his blunt words, and Lilica—returning to her expressionless face, but with the corner of her mouth moving just slightly. He realized this was what comrades were. ── As the noise moved toward the training grounds, Lilica alone quietly stepped away from the group. She headed to the communications room in the north wing of the fortress. When she opened the door, the communications officer handed her a report. His face was pale. "[scared]Squad Leader… Two reports came in from Cordina tonight." Lilica took the report and read it. First: The scale of tonight's magical beast reconnaissance unit—the largest since the Calduna Campaign, the great war between the human alliance and the magical tribes approximately 120 years ago. Analysis suggested Volga Zenoum was preparing a full-scale southern advance. Second: Among the bundle of classified information Seria had brought from the Central Magical Academy, there was another piece of intelligence—unconfirmed reports that a spy from Nerias was lurking inside Granveld Fortress. Lilica set the report on the desk. She looked out the window. The dark night sky. Beyond the Garg Wasteland, red light flickered occasionally in the northern sky. From the training grounds, she could still hear their voices. Georg's loud laugh, Seria's laughter, Vaik's roar. Spy. The word spread quietly through her mind. Inside the fortress. Someone. Seven years ago came back to