At the far end of the village, Enzo fought on the front lines alongside Damaris and more than a hundred Lord-class mages. They held their ground as best they could, but the spell drained their strength without mercy. No one wielded light magic. No one could find its source.

  Until a figure broke through the ranks, stepping over the corpses of fallen undead.

  It was Lusian.

  And clinging to his back, as if the world were collapsing beneath her feet, was Emily.

  "Enzo!" Lusian roared. "Emily can locate the source of the spell."

  Enzo exhaled as though he had been holding his breath for endless minutes.

  "Good. Emily… show us."

  She closed her eyes, feeling the corrupted current swirling around her.

  "It's… near the center of the village. It was faint before, but now the rotten mana completely blankets it."

  Enzo nodded sharply.

  "Lusian. Adela. Adel. Find Professor Clara. Only she can nullify that seal. Move!"

  Orders spread quickly. While Damaris remained to command the defense, Enzo led fifty-two masters toward the spell's origin.

  The square lay shrouded in darkness.

  Emily pointed firmly at the government residence.

  "There."

  There was no hesitation.

  Enzo raised his sword.

  "We go in."

  But the house devoured them.

  A brutal ambush struck the moment they crossed the threshold. Enzo was hurled out of the building with a single blow. The fact that a Magister had been repelled so easily chilled his men to the core.

  For a moment, the silence was worse than battle.

  Then one of them roared—and the others followed. Channeling what mana they had left, they unleashed a barrage of spells, tearing down walls and roof in a desperate attempt to break through.

  Enzo rose from the rubble, blood at the corner of his mouth, fury blazing in his eyes.

  In that instant, he understood how comfortable the academy had made him.

  "Never again."

  He infused his blade with pure mana and surged forward like a storm wind, cutting down cultists in his path. His men followed—not as mages this time, but as warriors.

  That was when Jerges, the cult leader, revealed his true move. With a voice thick with sacrilegious fervor, he activated a carefully prepared corpse: the body of the village chief's wife, corrupted to the marrow with putrid mana. The ritual was no improvisation—it was the result of years of preparation: corpses of fallen warriors, fragments of energy harvested from past invasions, and a blood mark long waiting to be awakened.

  A fissure tore through the fabric of reality.

  From the corpse emerged a specter of the underworld.

  A Lich.

  It seized a rusted sword from the remains of the warrior it had once been and charged straight at Enzo. Though Enzo reinforced his body with earth mana, granting him the hardness of sacred Haxrok metal, he barely withstood the impact. With him weakened, the other masters began to fall one by one, like pieces on a board tilting toward disaster.

  That was when Lusian burst onto the scene, accompanied by Professor Clara, with Agustín and several Lord-class masters at their side. Clara grasped the situation at once. She did not ask questions. She did not hesitate. She advanced directly to the front.

  What they saw was a vision torn from nightmare.

  Enzo, bloodied, on his knees.The ground turned into an improvised graveyard.The lifeless bodies of those who had tried to resist.

  Agustín moved without thinking, raising his shield to block a strike that would have crushed Enzo. Seeing reinforcements arrive, Jerges unleashed a rain of spells and ordered the Lich to press forward. He would not exhaust his strength or waste future sacrifices—but neither would he allow the circle to be destroyed.

  A few meters away, Emily clasped her hands, channeling light to break the sealing magic. From atop Umber, Lusian sensed something even worse approaching… a presence rising from the storm like a starving beast.

  Clara raised her staff.

  The sky answered.

  A bolt of lightning crashed down with fury, lashing the cultists. The rain magnified its power, turning water into lethal whips that pierced flesh and shattered defenses. Surprised by her strength despite the weakening effect, Jerges focused entirely on her, initiating a large-scale magical duel.

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  The Lich seized the opening.

  It lunged at Clara, sword raised… a heartbeat away from impaling her.

  "UMBER!" Lusian roared.

  The beast unleashed its ability.

  A black sphere enveloped Clara, absorbing the impact of both the Lich's strike and Jerges's spells. The explosion was thunderous—but Clara survived.

  Lusian spurred Umber toward the front line like a shadow riding the storm. Before charging in, he had ordered the twins and Aureus to protect Emily; Kara and Isabella remained at his side as escorts. Umber crashed through the battlefield like an ancient war creature, wrapped in a dark aura that shielded both beast and rider. Lusian could not cast precisely at that speed—but he did not need to. His blade carved paths of steel through his enemies.

  Jerges attempted to conjure a greater spell to stop him.

  Clara would not allow it.

  Spheres of lightning encircled him, crushing his defenses and forcing him back. That moment was enough.

  Lusian reached the Lich.

  And then Emily, exhausted but resolute, cast an advanced light spell. She gave everything she had. Radiant beams descended like sacred lances, striking the magic circle from above.

  The seal cracked.

  It shattered.

  And the weakening effect vanished in a single breath.

  Mounted upon her golden eagle, Cassandra shifted from resistance to dominance. Her salamander spewed fire from above, incinerating enemies near the village entrance.

  Allan felt his strength return like a violent awakening. His blade flared with pure mana and, with a single strike, he cut down the Magister facing him.

  Jerges screamed, desperation echoing with the thunder overhead:

  "Hold the line! Only thirty-five minutes remain to complete the summoning!"

  "If those performing the ritual are interrupted… we'll be exterminated!" a pale follower gasped.

  The leader raised his hands as the summoning circle burned with violet light, like a profane heart.

  "Do not let them reach the basement! Tear out their throats if you must! The ritual must continue!"

  The cultists regrouped before the underground entrance, forming a wall of desperate bodies. Dark energy vibrated in the air, the ground trembled with every magical blast, and the cries of the wounded were swallowed by the roar of summoned creatures.

  The battle was no longer just for the village.

  It was to prevent something… worse than death… from crossing into this world.

  Enzo and Agustín tore through the cult ranks with unleashed fury. The destruction of the weakening seal had fully restored their power, and they moved like lightning through rain and fire, cutting enemies down with blades wrapped in blazing mana. Yet even that renewed strength seemed insufficient against the infernal creature.

  The Lich advanced, imposing, each step warping the air around it as though reality rejected its existence.

  Enzo barely reacted in time when the black sword descended. He did not think—he stepped between the blow and Agustín.

  The strike tore through his defense, ripping open his side.

  "Enzo!" Agustín roared, rage exploding from him.

  Seizing the sacrifice, he channeled every drop of mana he possessed—down to the limits of his soul—and with a cry that was half agony, half triumph, he pierced the undead's shining core.

  The Lich's body convulsed. A spectral wail swept through the village before flames consumed it, reducing it to an explosion of ash and shattered lament.

  For an instant, it seemed they had won.

  But victory lasted only a heartbeat.

  Trembling with fury at the fall of his puppet, Jerges raised a blood-stained rune.

  "If I fall… you fall with me!" he shrieked, activating a self-destruction seal.

  The earth roared.

  Umber, mid-charge toward the creature, reacted like an ancient beast. His body wrapped in dark aura, and in a desperate leap he shielded Lusian within his shadows just as the explosion engulfed them.

  The blast hurled them through the air like rag dolls. They crashed against the pavement several meters away. Lusian lost consciousness instantly. Umber, fur singed and flesh torn, struggled to his feet. Despite his critical state, he lifted his rider onto his back and limped away from the battlefield, leaving a trail of dark blood across the stone—as if his very life were draining with each step.

  The shockwave disrupted the entire front. Several cultists fell; others were stunned. The ritual faltered.

  "The southern circle has collapsed!" an acolyte cried.

  "Reinforce the remaining points! If the portal destabilizes, we all die!" another shouted in panic.

  Jerges burst into the basement, covered in wounds and dust, eyes wild.

  "They've cornered us! We must retreat—now!"

  "Why are we losing ground?" one of his men demanded as another explosion shook the foundations.

  "A light mage destroyed the weakening seal!" Jerges snapped. "They're stronger than ever! They'll wipe us out!"

  "But if the ritual fails, the High Council will execute us!" an acolyte whimpered.

  "We'll die anyway if we stay!" Jerges spat, slamming his fist against the stone altar. "Better to flee than be slaughtered!"

  The ground trembled again.

  Agustín descended the stairs, forcing his way through rubble like a titan emerging from ruin. His armor was soaked in blood—his own and others'—and his gaze burned like red-hot steel.

  The cultists tried to stop him, but part of the ceiling collapsed, crushing several survivors and destroying another summoning circle. Outside, relentless lightning bolts struck without pause; ten mages hidden within the storm bombarded the structure continuously.

  From a distance, Clara watched, drenched, her face tense. The battle had surpassed the bounds of military defense.

  It was a fight for the very soul of the academy.

  Agustín seized Jerges by the throat and slammed him against the stone wall.

  "Speak," he growled. "What are you planning?"

  Jerges gasped, each word tinged with the metallic taste of blood.

  "I-if you promise not to kill me… I'll tell you."

  Agustín tightened his grip.

  "You'll speak now," he said with chilling calm. "Or you'll wish for death."

  Broken, Jerges closed his eyes.

  "The attack on the academy was a distraction… We wanted to force the evacuation and lure the students here. The cult leader ordered this demonic summoning," he whispered. "They intend to bring forth a high-ranking demon… a Count of the Underworld."

  Clara descended the stairs, her expression hardened.

  "What kind of ritual requires such madness?"

  "Ten thousand human souls," Jerges murmured faintly. "The students… the children… would be enough to complete it. There are four other active points. If you spare me… I can guide you."

  Silence fell as heavy as the rain.

  Clara clenched her fists. Small arcs of electricity flickered between her fingers.

  "Cursed lunatics," she whispered, her voice trembling despite herself. "Sacrificing children for your delusions? I will not allow you to take a single step further in this world."

  Meanwhile, far from the heart of the battlefield, Umber ran through the rain, his body torn and soaked in blood. At his side, Aureus, the twins, Kara, Isabella, and Emily fought their way through shadows and undead. The wolf carried Lusian unconscious across his back while Kara and Adel struck down pursuing enemies. Isabella unleashed cutting gusts of wind to part the curtain of rain; Adela, mounted on Aureus, shielded them from above. Emily clung to Lusian's limp body, channeling the last of her mana to keep him alive.

  Umber's body began to tremble. His steps faltered; his breathing grew heavier. At last, he collapsed to his knees in the mud, exhausted. Emily slid down at once, kneeling beside him. She cradled Lusian's head in her lap. Her hands glowed with a faint bluish light… so dim it seemed to ask permission to exist.

  "Hold on…" she whispered, her voice breaking. "Please… hold on…"

  The healing spell faded with the final spark of her mana.

  The rain continued to fall, washing blood into the earth while thunder rolled like distant war drums.

  The battle was not over.

  But the true price of survival… had only just begun to reveal itself.