Chapter 39 The War Enter its Next Stage

 The air shook, the sky itself split in blue arcs. A sphere of lightning so bright it turned day into night. The assassins released it in unison, and the blast screamed across the field, tearing the air apart in its path.

Rein turned in time to see it. It wasn’t aimed at him. It streaked toward Mira.

For a split second, his mind went blank. No strategies. No magic formulas. No sword techniques. Only the echo of every face he had already lost. His parents. Aura. Every friend he had failed to save. Every time he’d been too slow. His comrades. Everyone he couldn’t protect.

Not again.

His feet moved before his brain caught up. He shouted, “Mira, look out!!”

He lunged, shoving her behind him. No time to channel magic. No reinforcement. No guard, no barrier. Only flesh and bone against annihilation.

The lightning struck.

The world cracked with blinding light, thunder shaking the earth. The impact slammed into him. He stood firm, sword planted in the ground, taking the full force. His body didn’t char, his skin didn’t tear—he was the Hero, forged to withstand calamity. But the sheer power of the explosion rattled him to his core, knocking the air from his lungs.

Smoke and dust rolled across the field.

Mira blinked through the smoke, staring at the man in front of her. He hadn’t even thought. He’d just acted. For her.

“Rein… you didn't have to.” she whispered.

The last arcs of lightning fizzled out, and Rein swayed on his feet. His grip on the sword faltered, eyes losing focus. Then he collapsed forward, unconscious, but alive.

Mira caught him, lowering him gently to the grass, her hand brushing his face. He looked peaceful even in his reckless foolishness.

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A gentle breeze brushed over his face. The scent of flowers lingered in the air, faint even under the smell of burnt grass. Rein stirred, his body heavy, eyelids sluggish as though weighed down with stone.

When he finally opened them, the first thing he saw was the night sky. The stars glimmered faintly overhead. The second thing he saw—was Mira.

She was sitting in the field, and his head rested in her lap. Her hand hovered over his forehead, brushing a lock of hair away. She had a gentle look in her eyes.

“You’re finally awake, my Hero,” she said quietly.

“Mira… what… happened?”

“You scared me, charging into magic like that. But it’s over. The danger’s gone.”

He looked around. The air still smelled faintly of burned wood, the ground scorched in patches—but there was no sign of monsters, no assassins, no threat at all. Only silence. Only her.

Rein blinked at her words. 

"The danger’s gone…?"

Memory came rushing back — the hulking monsters, the assassins in the dark, that blinding flash of lightning, Mira’s voice calling out—

His breath caught, and he pushed himself up on shaky arms, panic in his voice.

“The monsters! I need to finish them off—!”

 His eyes darted wildly across the field.

 “And the ones who attacked us… where are they?!”

Mira’s hand pressed lightly to his shoulder, pushing him down to her lap.

“When you… when you got knocked out, the monsters turned on the ones who cast that spell. I don’t know why—maybe the magic drew their aggression—but they charged straight at them. The attackers didn’t stay. They panicked, fled into the forest, and the monsters went after them. That was the last I saw of either of them.”

She forced a small, shaky smile and leaned forward just a little to reassure him.

“You don’t need to worry about them. They’re gone. We’re safe now.”

He looked at Mira, her calm face framed by the flower field that had nearly been burned away and let out a long breath.

“…I see. Then it’s best we don’t linger here. Sorry, Mira. I wanted this place to be something peaceful for you, and instead… it turned into this.”

But she shook her head gently, her hands smoothing over her lap where his head had rested moments ago.

“No, Rein. You gave me one last chance to see it. You even protected it—protected me. That means more than you think.”

Rein gave a faint smile at her words, then turned, leading the way back toward the distant lights of town. Mira fell into step beside him.

Yet just before the flowers gave way to the tree line, she glanced back over her shoulder.

The field still shimmered beneath the moonlight, untouched and beautiful. But beyond it, where the forest grew dark and wild… the truth hid in silence.

Deep in the shadows lay nothing but blood-soaked soil and scattered remains. The twisted corpses of the mutated monsters were strewn among broken weapons and lifeless assassins, their bodies torn and burned beyond recognition. The earth itself was scarred as if something far more terrifying than any Hero had passed through.

Mira’s eyes lingered only a moment. The faintest flicker of her old, cold self slipped through her calm expression. Then she turned back to Rein, her lips curving into the gentle smile of a village girl once more.

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The doors of command room slammed open, echoing through the hall. Torchlight flickered off obsidian walls as two scouts stumbled in, panting, their armor scraped and cracked.

They dropped to one knee before the Demon Lord.

“Your Majesty! The western seal—one of the ruins holding the teleportation barrier—it’s under attack!”

Verron, the Demon Lord’s right hand, stepped forward.

“Under attack? By what? Humans couldn’t have broken through so soon.”

“Not humans, my lord. Monsters. But they’re… different. They fight like they’re driven by something else. Stronger, faster, smarter. They broke through the first line before we could regroup. Reinforcements are barely holding the second wall.”

The other scout added, “It’s as if something is directing them. They don’t scatter, they don’t retreat. They strike in coordinated attacks.”

General Valen clicked his tongue, “Tch. Damn beasts suddenly learning strategy? Monsters don’t fight like that. They’re being controlled.”

General Sareth spoke next, “If the ruin falls, the seal shatters. Humans will march into our lands by dawn. We cannot allow that. I’ll take my spear and crush these damn monsters myself.”

The scout’s fists clenched against the stone floor.

“General Sareth... these aren’t monsters we can simply scatter. They’re stronger—unnaturally so. Even General Deboro could not bring them down. He fought at the front and... he was injured. He sent us for reinforcement before the ruins are lost. If the walls fall, the barrier breaks... nothing will stop the human armies from pouring through.”

Valen slammed his fist onto the arm of his chair, stone cracking beneath the blow.

“Deboro, brought low by beasts?! No, this reeks of sorcery. Someone’s behind this. Using them as weapons!”

“If Deboro was injured, then the situation is worse than we feared.” 

Verron slammed his gauntlet against the war table. His eyes flicked to the Demon Lord at the head of the chamber.

“Your Majesty. The order is yours. How shall we proceed?”

Demon Lord rose from her seat, “We must go. If Deboro is wounded and the ruins stand at risk, then I will go myself. The barrier cannot fall. Not now. Verron, Valen, Sareth—you will come with me. The ruins must be cleansed, and I will need cover while I restore the seal if it’s been damaged. Show no hesitation. No mercy for these creatures.”

The command chamber dissolved into blinding violet light. The stone, the war table, the torches—all torn away as her spell engulfed them.

When the light faded, they stood beneath a broken sky at the edge of the ruins. Smoke coiled upward from shattered walls. The roar of monsters echoed all around them, ugly and savage. 

“Sweep the ruins. Strike down anything that approaches. I will see this seal reforged before they could damage it any further. I can feel the magic failing already, we must hurry.”

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The next morning, soft light crept through the high windows of the office, spilling across the neat rows of scrolls stacked on Liora’s desk. She had just begun sorting through them when the doors opened with a quiet knock.

Rein stepped inside. He was serious—no teasing remark, no lazy smile. After a brief bow of greeting, he went straight to the point.

“Liora, something’s strange happened yesterday.”