Wind screamed past Tucker as he stood on the large monster-hide saddle of the colossal winged beast. Strapped to his belt was a harness, attaching him to the back of the mounted wyvern. Its wings beat like thunder. Dark clouds shrouded his vision, making it hard to see through the icy night sky. Far below, the world blurred into streaks of dark forest and pale stone.

  He glanced back at the other four gray-scaled beasts. Each one carried the massive Iron Coffins in its talons. All the men taking part in the mission held onto the anchor points within the structure. It was up to Tucker, Max, the wyvern riders, and the few wind contractors to guarantee their comrades’ safe passage.

  What they were doing was suicidal, and when the wyvern riders heard of it, many of them declined to take the task, claiming it was far too dangerous and not worth the risk. Only those with hearts hardened by war understood the true purpose behind the mission and the fate that awaited those who took part.

  Tucker stared at the gilded veteran before him with long gray hair and weathered skin. The large scar that ran down the left side of his cheek had healed but was still fairly deep, leaving a faint line. They had exchanged pleasantries earlier, enough for him to know that the man tasked with their lives was Yuri Reaver. A man with hundreds of aerial duels under his belt.

  They were in excellent hands. Tucker knew this in his heart, yet something still bothered him. After flying for several hours, there wasn’t any sign of fatigue, and they had long since crossed the dwarven realms. In only a few more moments, they would enter the Empire’s airspace. However, even if they were taking an extended route, he expected some of the Empire’s wyvern riders to be patrolling the borders.

  “Are you worried about something, Commander?” Yuri asked, not bothering to glance back.

  “I am,” Tucker replied. “It’s not normal for the Empire to leave its borders defenseless.”

  “Hm…” Yuri nodded in agreement, focusing on the distant horizon. “Truthfully, I’m at a loss for words as well. Most times, we would see a few stragglers, and my men would hunt them down. Yet in the shroud of night, there hasn’t been another soul besides ours.”

  His gaze swept to the ten escort wyverns, who were far smaller compared to the ones carrying the Iron Coffins. “Perhaps you’ve done a far better job at keeping the operation a secret than you’d expect. After all, we only found out about the general operation a few days before. It was only after we accepted the task that the full scope was revealed.”

  “How much longer do we have?” A voice asked from behind.

  Tucker turned to Max, watching the knight take a step forward while holding onto the leather rails on the large saddle, which was the size of a miniature platform. The captain was fully equipped with heavy, plated black iron armor. He donned his rectangular helm, gazing through the narrow golden slit as mist escaped through the perforated holes at the bottom.

  “Not much longer,” Yuri replied. “We’ll have to cross over the mountain range, but once we’re over it, then we’ll be there.”

  Max nodded while stepping closer to the front. He scanned the terrain, focusing beyond the ridge of stone forming a mighty wall. “Only a few more minutes before we’re finally face to face with the bastard who killed my men.”

  Tucker held Max’s gaze. He had already told the others about their discovery with Nox. Now, everyone knew Pyron was the mastermind behind the fall of Stafford. The man who had orchestrated the outer wall massacre. It wasn’t knowledge Tucker planned to share. But it was better for them to know what sort of diabolical schemes awaited them and who they were truly facing.

  “Can I leave the task of hitting their doors to you?” Tucker asked calmly, his eyes never leaving the captain of the Lionheart Knights.

  “Gladly,” Max answered, a grin cutting across his face. “It’ll be my honor to land the first strike.”

  He reached for the hilt of the greatsword strapped to his back and pulled it free. The newly forged lumenite blade absorbed the moonlight once freed from its scabbard. The clean, dark surface caught Tucker’s eye, as it seemed to dim the world around it. A black iron crossguard flared outward, its ends forming blunt diamonds meant for bludgeoning those foolish enough to close the distance. While at the pommel rested a golden lion. Its mane proudly flowing as if it were frozen in time.

  With each second, they drew closer to the mountains. Each one rose to meet them like a wall of shattered teeth. Jagged peaks tore through the clouds ahead. Snow clung to the highest ridges, catching the dull moonlight in lifeless patches. The wind slammed into them, forcing everyone on the wyverns to brace, or else the pressure would tear them free.

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  The formation tightened instinctively. Wyverns climbed higher, their massive wings beating harder against the treacherous currents spilling off the mountainsides. Tucker stepped forth, glancing at the other wind contracts with him who rose to the challenge. Together, they gathered their spirit essence and formed a barrier of wind several meters before the leading wyvern’s head.

  Each creature held back its roars as the burden on their bodies lessened. Below the ravines split open with endless gashes threatening to devour them. Loose snow spiraled upward, carried by the downdrafts that snapped at the riders, tugging at their cloaks and rattling their armor. Everyone except the riders lowered their heads and locked their grips onto the harnesses. They gazed forward, knuckles turning white against the scaled leather.

  Tucker released a slow breath as a trail of white mist escaped his lips. They were just about to pass the mountain ridge, and the wind barrier was successfully completing its job as an artifactual slipstream was created for their formation.

  Dark gray clouds rolled low between the peaks, swallowing entire ridgelines as a wyvern rider disappeared into the fog only to reemerge seconds later. Frost formed on the wings of the beasts, and Tucker could see a thin white coat growing on his black iron gauntlets before getting ripped away.

  As their group arced over the horizon of the ridge, none of the men spoke. They held their breath and steadied their hearts. The world behind them vanished beyond the peaks, leaving only a dense, lush forest as far as the eye could see, with a singular stone tower reaching for the heavens.

  This was the last stretch before the storm. Where the sky gave way to the bitter reality that awaited them, and survival depended on strength, discipline, and the will to keep marching forward despite the odds.

  After clearing the mountain range, they were only several hundred kilometers away from the Emerald Tower. Max rose from his position and marched to the front. This was the start of their operation. The beginning of an era that would go on without them.

  Tucker watched as the knight tightened his hold on the greatsword. Max had broken through, forming his sixth star. Now his offensive capabilities had manifested to a point that many wouldn’t be able to comprehend, and the dense layer of aura forming around his body screamed out in defiance against the fate pushed onto him.

  A deep golden aura flared into the air as they drew closer. Layers of aura condensed on top of each other. Max held his greatsword before him, channeling the force through the fibers of his muscles, and that was when Tucker saw it. A gigantic, ethereal-like being was manifesting several meters above the knight’s position. Just like what he had seen in the earlier days of his career against Hemlock.

  The ethereal knight rose with a slow groan, with the air crackling like lightning. It mimicked Max’s every move, following its master’s intent with a will that could defy gods. Slowly, its arm rose, breaking the wind that clawed at its frame.

  From the side, several more gigantic golden ethereal blades split into the sky as Max summoned every strength in his body. By now, the enemy was well aware of their presence, with alarms blaring out from the Emerald Tower. Lights flicked on one after another through the windows, but it was already too late. With less than twenty kilometers remaining, Max brought his greatsword down from above.

  The golden aura blades tore through the air. Each one raced towards the tower with a deafening roar as it ripped through the empty space between them and the tower. Yet once it reached a few kilometers, a sight unlike any other took hold.

  The first blade buried itself deep into a translucent barrier, one that the men assumed was for defense, but as another one struck. Thin black lines spider-webbed across the surface. Pieces of the barrier shattered like fragments of broken glass, revealing a scene unlike any other before the men. The dense foliage stretching several kilometers before the tower was nothing but an illusion.

  Cracks continued to spread. The invisible dome around the tower collapsed as the shards dissolved into motes of light that evaporated before they could touch the ground. Just as the world behind it bled through, a scream erupted from Yuri.

  “Hold on tight!” he ordered as he pulled on the black leather reins of his mount.

  Their formation entered the splintering dome with a resounding crack, cutting through the broken traces of mana that tried to drown their lungs. The mountains in the distance faded from their sight. The forest beneath stuttered before vanishing, replaced by towering spirals of black crystal. Rivers with streaming water evaporated into blood, flowing upward in the air as a floating ocean hung upside-down above the land.

  Tucker gritted his teeth. This entire situation was beyond what they had expected. Nothing could have prepared them for this. Even after Tucker had formed his first mana circle, there wasn’t a chance in hell he would have been able to detect the massive array of illusions before them. And deep down in his chest, he knew that many of his friends wouldn’t make it out alive.

  He clenched the area above his heart.

  The familiar night was gone.

  In its place stretched a vast expanse of void, streaked with crimson auroras and drifting islands that moved like slow, colossal beasts. Stars burned too close above their heads, some pulsing like hearts while others stretched into geometric patterns that no natural cosmos would ever form.

  “Don’t lose sight of each other and stay close!” Yuri screamed.

  The other wyvern riders shouted in response, with the formation tightening even more. Their beasts roared with a ferocious might, howling against the odds before them. They fought against their instincts, trusting their riders while flying closer together.

  Several escorts flew to the front, just behind the barrier of wind the watchmen had formed. Their eyes blazed with fear and worry. In their entire lives, they had seen nothing like this before. A land that seemed to have come from hell itself.

  Yet all of them knew that the coalition’s cause only grew. What rested before them wasn’t an operation created on a whim, but a genuine threat that would tear the souls from any mortal man who dared to venture into the depths of the unknown. A danger that would wipe out the existence of their home.