Deep in the night, on the northwestern walls of Kagurem, several dwarven guards on the night watch huddled around a small brazier for warmth. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and cold metal. As the wind swept across the prairie, it carried a strange, unsettling silence that made the guards shudder involuntarily.

  "Hey, Karg," Polin, a young guard, nudged the veteran soldier beside him and lowered his voice. "Don't you think the Vice-Captain’s been acting a bit... weird lately?"

  Karg, the leader of this small squad, didn't even look up. He remained focused on polishing the battle-axe in his hands. "Balin? That guy’s always been weird."

  "Not that kind of weird!" Polin said urgently. "I mean, look at him a few days ago at the city gate with that new Rank C adventurer... all that belly-patting and nagging. His expression... I thought I was looking at a bear in heat guarding his own honey pot. Is that really the same Vice-Captain Balin we know?"

  Another guard chimed in with a chuckle. "More than just weird—I’d say his soul’s been snatched away. I’ve never seen him so tender with anyone. It’s mushy enough to make your skin crawl."

  "What do you know?" Karg finally spoke, his voice raspy. "Balin hasn't smiled like that since that incident ten years ago. If someone can bring him back to life like that, it’s a good thing."

  Just as Polin was about to press him on what happened ten years ago, Karg suddenly stopped polishing. He lifted his head, his brow furrowing deeply as he stared toward the northwestern horizon.

  "But honestly," Karg’s tone grew heavy, "don't you think tonight is... too quiet?"

  "Isn't quiet a good thing?" Polin replied dismissively. "Better than dealing with miners getting drunk and rowdy in the middle of the night."

  "No," Karg shook his head. "It’s not that kind of quiet. There isn't even the sound of insects or night beasts... it’s a silence like death."

  His words caused the atmosphere to drop to sub-zero. No sooner had he spoken than a faint, barely audible “woo-woo” sound drifted from the distance—a low, oppressive drone, like the sound of ten thousand malices crawling across the earth.

  "...Did you hear that?" Polin’s voice began to tremble.

  Everyone fell silent instantly, turning their heads toward the northwest. Under the bright moonlight, the silhouette of the prairie was clearly visible, but the distant horizon looked as if it had been splashed with ink. An unnatural darkness was slowly expanding across the land.

  "No... that’s not a cloud. Something is moving!" Karg’s eyes widened. He grabbed his far-sight crystal, and upon taking a single glance, his face turned deathly pale.

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  "A monster tide...!"

  He spun around and sprinted toward the bell tower on the wall, reaching for the massive hammer. But just as he was about to strike the alarm—

  Dong... Dong... Dong...

  A lower, more urgent tolling had already begun to ring out from the direction of the Adventurer’s Guild in the center of the city.

  "It’s the Guild’s emergency alarm!" Polin cried out. "They’ve noticed it too?!"

  "Forget about that!" Karg didn't hesitate. With every ounce of his strength, he hauled back the siege hammer—a tool larger than he was—and slammed it against the Great War Bell, the massive instrument used only to warn the entire city of impending invasion.

  THOOM————!!!

  A sound far more grand, heavier, and more desperate than the Guild’s bell tore through the night sky like a thunderclap. The two alarms, coming from different directions, intertwined into a chaotic symphony of death and war.

  The entire city of Kagurem was jolted awake in an instant. Wooden windows along the streets slammed open as terrified and confused faces peered out. The cries of children rose up everywhere. Women hurriedly threw on cloaks, shaking their sleeping husbands awake, while elderly dwarves gripped their dusty old axes and shields, stepping out of their homes with grim expressions.

  In an inconspicuous house on the edge of town, the deafening tolling acted like a battering ram, violently dragging Yggdrasil out of a deep sleep.

  He bolted upright, his mind a blank, his heart hammering against his ribs. The sound was entirely foreign to him, but a primal instinct from his past life in Japan made him immediately think of the countless disaster drills he had experienced.

  "...Earthquake?" he muttered, instinctively looking up at the chandelier, but it was perfectly still.

  Beside him, Balin’s reaction was entirely different.

  He had leapt from the bed the moment the bell rang. All traces of sleep had vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp murderous intent—a warrior's focus that Yggdrasil had never seen before.

  "No!" Balin growled. He ran barefoot to the window and threw it open. "This isn't a normal alarm. That’s the Great War Bell... something massive has happened!"

  Seeing Balin’s deadly serious demeanor and hearing the weight behind the words "Great War Bell," Yggdrasil’s heart sank. He realized this wasn't a natural disaster, but something far more terrifying—a man-made catastrophe or a monster calamity capable of threatening the entire city. He suppressed his panic and rolled out of bed, quickly throwing on his robe and summoning his heavy two-handed battle-axe from his spatial storage.

  Just as they finished gearing up, a frantic and heavy pounding echoed at the door.

  "Mr. Balin! Mr. Yggdrasil! Open up! It’s me, Lisa!"

  Balin threw the door open to find Lisa looking panicked, her forehead drenched in sweat. "Lords, the Guildmaster requests your immediate presence at the Guild! The situation is dire... all the sensing runes at the border have been destroyed. The scouting reports say... it’s a monster tide!"

  "Let’s go," Yggdrasil nodded decisively.

  The two quickly gathered their gear and followed Lisa through the streets. The peace of night had vanished from Kagurem. The roads were filled with fleeing residents, panicked adventurers, and city guards marching in formation with shields raised.

  Balin held his shield in one hand and gripped Yggdrasil’s hand tightly with the other. No words were needed between them; in the brief locking of their gazes, their hearts were understood.

  When they reached the Adventurer’s Guild, the doors were wide open, and the interior was brightly lit and packed with people. The entire hall was heavy with a thick atmosphere of pressure and hushed murmurs. Every face was etched with a terror and confusion they had never known. Lisa led the two through the crowd, heading straight for the meeting room in the back. Along the way, the crowd parted, their eyes filled with a mixture of expectation and silent prayer.

  In that city about to face calamity, the gears of fate had quietly begun to turn.

  "The peace is over. The dual alarms of the Guild and the Great War Bell mark the end of quiet days for Kagurem.

  I really enjoyed writing the reaction of the veteran guards on the wall—it gives a ground-level view of the sheer scale of the 'Monster Tide' approaching. Also, Yggdrasil’s first instinct being an earthquake is a little nod to his past life, while Balin’s immediate shift into 'War Mode' shows the seasoned soldier he used to be.

  What happened ten years ago that Karg mentioned? And can our stout heroes stand against an ink-like darkness swallowing the horizon?

  Thank you for reading! If you're ready for the battle to begin, please Follow and Rate to help us stay on the Rising Stars track!"