Moments after Marisia disappeared...

  The jungle nature was a wonderland that Sarah genuinely enjoyed observing—small creatures crawled throughout the mushy, soft ground. Green spiders with iridescent shells, camouflaged snakes that seemed to materialize from bark itself, and brilliantly colored insects that moved like living jewels. All of them wove intricate webs between the giant crowns of towering palm trees, sneaking stealthily through beds of colorful patterned flowers, and emerging from the rich earth in coordinated groups designed to overwhelm far stronger predators.

  ‘Annoying little bastards,’ Sarah clapped her neck, crushing an insect attempting to bite her, only to suddenly smell the acrid scent of its blood, making her upper lip curl in disgust. ‘If only they were the only problem.’

  There were far more significant annoyances than the insects—apex predators lurked everywhere. Giant cats with golden eyes, massive wolves with silver-tipped fur, and bears that stood three times normal height watched their troop with bated breath, following stealthily as they stalked their next meal.

  ‘How many more bodies can I stuff into my spatial pouch?’ Sarah thought with weary exasperation. Although she loved observing the ecosystem, she had already killed several of these so-called apex predators when they became persistent nuisances.

  ‘Does anyone even want these things anymore?’ Sarah’s thoughts drifted to what had become an almost negligible problem, but because of Alexander’s policies, they had to act in increasingly bizarre ways—preserving nature as much as possible. When this wasn’t feasible, they were permitted to kill the local predators.

  Initially, an underground market had emerged for these monsters and animals—beautiful furs, razor-sharp teeth, luminescent blood, soft bones, liquifying wings, and countless other exotic materials. Low-ranking troop leaders and soldiers with little oversight began stealing from storage and selling the goods in Wolfsteeth and other cities. The upper command ignored most of it, save for the most egregious violations, knowing that prosecuting every act of petty theft would become an administrative nightmare.

  For a few weeks, the system worked smoothly, with soldiers ‘accidentally’ killing far more of the local wildlife populations than necessary. But it soon became clear that the venture was no longer profitable. Prices plummeted catastrophically, and now they had storage facilities overflowing with massive quantities of animal and insect parts no one wanted to purchase.

  ‘Alex will execute someone if he discovers this,’ Sarah frowned inwardly, having only recently learned about her fiancé’s passionate love for nature conservation. Looking back, she realized the signs had always been obvious—he immediately replanted every tree used for his paper while strictly limiting the number of trees harvested.

  Yet even after the underground trade halted, the fundamental problem persisted, especially with the more predatory locals who harassed them daily. It was particularly frustrating for soldiers who had come from Wolfsteeth or other Eastern Guard Household regions, though not because of the creatures’ fierceness or strength—it was the opposite problem—they were too weak and died too quickly. Even the most average sewer rat from back home could easily overwhelm these so-called monsters.

  Still, despite the lingering threat of her fiancé’s wrath, Sarah found herself enjoying this unfamiliar environment, having never traveled outside their family estate or the immediate Wolfsteeth region before. ‘But it’s getting repetitive,’ she mused, as everything had become predictable after witnessing colorful birds being caught and devoured by giant spiders for what felt like the hundredth time.

  Looking back at her troops, she could see they were similarly bored. Most were soldiers from Wolfsteeth who had volunteered during their leave to assist with Alexander’s operation, hoping for meaningful action but instead found themselves confronted with unprecedented tedium.

  ‘I have to admit, Alex was absolutely right—this is incredibly disappointing.’ Alexander had consistently emphasized that the campaign would never escalate to any serious level of conflict. All they were doing was employing hit-and-run tactics designed to slowly wear down enemy morale and resources while systematically besieging more heavily fortified positions. Having access to mages, magical artifacts, and various races with their specialized abilities had made the entire campaign almost disappointingly effortless.

  Thus, her troops maintained a casual walking pace to avoid overwhelming the already weakened prisoners of war they were escorting. The captives had initially been wary and tense, but after approximately five minutes of listening to her soldiers casually discussing shrimp recipes and boat maintenance techniques, they had become visibly relaxed.

  ‘Why should we run?’ Sarah remembered her mother’s urgent words before her mysterious disappearance, choosing to readily ignore them. ‘Nothing ever hap—’

  Before Sarah could complete what was probably the most dangerous thought possible in any military context, violent vibrations pulsed through the ground while the wind patterns shifted ominously around them. “Everyone, run immediately!”

  Sarah’s instincts kicked in as she dashed toward the rear of the formation, preparing her newest [Mystic Skill] in record time. “Move! Grab the prisoners and head for the mountains! Find a cave! I’ll cover the rear!”

  The initial confusion lasted only a few seconds before her soldiers forcefully but carefully grabbed the prisoners and sprinted forward, with their best scouts leading the desperate charge to locate a suitable shelter.

  “Here it comes,” Sarah inhaled deeply, her already ample chest expanding as her mind went blank, trying to access a very specific emotional combination of maternal love mixed with eager, puppyish curiosity. “Ha!”

  With a single fluid hand gesture, Sarah manifested a massive transparent shield that curved slightly to deflect impacts—just in time to witness a hurricane of destructive [Energies] rushing toward their position, obliterating all the beautiful jungle ecosystem and crashing against her barrier with a thunderous impact.

  “Argh! Damn it!” Sarah gritted her teeth as another wave struck immediately after the first, followed by countless more, like relentless tides against a shoreline, slowly eroding her defenses. She quickly created another, sturdier shield, one more ergonomically designed to redirect the deadly winds around her team rather than absorb them directly.

  “What the fuck is going on?!”

  “Shut up and keep running!”

  “Don’t forget the prisoners!”

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  The storm itself didn’t directly strike her people, but even the residual aftermath was destructive enough to create serious problems. ‘Shit, most of them aren’t equipped for this level of combat!’ While her frontline fighters and scouts could somewhat weather the [Energy] overflow, the mages—who were mostly exceptional students rather than hardened warriors—lacked the necessary physical resilience. ‘Alex will kill me if I lose even one of those bookworms!’

  With that sobering thought, she channeled more mana into her floating shield, constructed from her specialized [Defense Energy]. Through gritted teeth, Sarah maneuvered the barrier to minimize the impact of the [Energy] waves on her team while accepting the incoming hits herself.

  Walking backward became a grueling test of endurance as she followed her sprinting team. “Head toward the mountain—argh!”

  Another massive wave crashed against her defenses, the violent [Energies] seeming to ignore her presence entirely as they battled each other in chaotic fury. The impact nearly made her bite her tongue as hairline cracks spread rapidly across her barrier. “South! Move south, quickly!”

  Using their movement [Skills], the escape became increasingly desperate, with Sarah maintaining her position at the rear, barely manifesting one protective shield after another in rapid succession. This was a [Mystic Skill] she had received upon reaching [Tier 3]—one that possessed the [Legendary] rarity classification—called [Physical Manifestation].

  “Move faster or I’ll abandon you all here!”

  Sarah’s team pushed themselves beyond their normal limits, but she could barely maintain protection for everyone as the supernatural storm showed no signs of diminishing. Instead, it grew increasingly violent with each passing moment—a chaotic mixture of what she recognized as [Holy Energy] and her mother’s distinctive [Wild Demonic Energy] rushing toward them like ravenous supernatural beasts seeking to devour anything in their path.

  ‘Are you seriously kidding me?!’

  With another focused thought, she channeled more of her [Defense Energy] toward the front of her shield, hoping its natural property of deflecting portions of incoming attacks would prove sufficient—it wasn’t nearly enough.

  “This isn’t going to work!” The level of destruction was on an entirely different scale than anything she had prepared for. “Someone help me maintain these barriers!”

  Multiple mana shields conjured themselves in front of her primary protection, reinforced by additional [Energy] techniques from her more capable soldiers, only to shatter or dissipate within mere seconds of formation. ‘Just perfect,’ she thought grimly. First, her mother had vanished with no explanation, and now this catastrophic battle had erupted—which could only indicate that some incredibly powerful enemy had appeared.

  “Found a cave!”

  Fortunately, one of her most experienced scouts located exactly what they desperately needed. “Get inside immediately!” With that urgent command, they scrambled into the rocky shelter just as the supernatural storm outside reached an almost apocalyptic intensity.

  “Finally,” Sarah was the last to enter, allowing her battered shield to shatter into dissipating [Energy] fragments. “What an absolute mess.”

  Sheltered within the cave and naturally protected by tons of solid stone, Sarah conducted a headcount to ensure everyone had survived the ordeal. Once she confirmed her entire team remained intact, she found she could easily maintain barriers against the residual energies from the distant battle when inside.

  “This isn’t over yet.” Sarah retrieved multiple potions from her spatial pouch. “Everyone drink something, form a defensive perimeter, and watch for additional enemies or native monsters that might use this cave as a nest.” She quickly emptied her own vials. “Under no circumstances should anyone venture deeper into this cave system!”

  Everyone appeared exhausted, having been forced to spend significant portions of their [Energy] reserves not only to shield themselves but also to protect the more vulnerable mages and prisoners of war—who had, fortunately, all survived the harrowing experience.

  ‘At least the effort was worthwhile,’ Sarah reflected. Prisoners of war represented a valuable resource when properly integrated into their campaign strategy. They wouldn’t return to their original allegiances and were typically eager to share their genuine experiences with minimal embellishment, providing their military personnel and supporters with compelling, righteous justifications for continued fighting. Because their former commanders had mistreated most of them so severely, they would willingly recount their experiences in exchange for promised post-campaign freedom—excluding those rare few who had committed exceptionally heinous acts meriting execution.

  “Get into defensive positions,” Sarah ordered her team to protect her while constructing a more substantial and long-lasting protective barrier at the cave entrance. Inwardly, she felt genuine gratitude that her newest [Skill] had proven to be such an invaluable asset during the crisis. Through precise emotional control, she could manifest temporary physical constructs that served various tactical purposes. These creations were mostly invisible to the naked eye and could assume any form she could clearly envision. However, the ability came with a significant limitation: everything she created had to correspond to her emotions in very specific ways.

  A defensive shield required protective maternal instincts—a sensation she had learned to replicate using her other [Mystic Skill] to copy the emotional resonance from her mother’s own protective nature. Offensive constructs drew their power from bloodlust and controlled aggression. Various other forms connected to curiosity, fear, love, and dozens of additional emotional states she had learned to access on command. Normally, these constructs would remain stationary at their point of creation, but since she had linked her specialized [Energy] to [Mana Manipulation] techniques, she could move them freely through three-dimensional space.

  ‘Perfect,’ Sarah examined the barrier she had constructed, designed to maintain structural integrity for at least the next hour. She felt a surge of pride at the craftsmanship as the residual storm energies scraped against it without causing meaningful damage. However, her momentary distraction caused the barrier to weaken slightly as she lost emotional focus, forcing her to curse internally and quickly return her mind to a state of protective maternal concern.

  ‘This is genuinely annoying to maintain,’ she acknowledged with an internal sigh.

  Everyone’s [Divinity Line] developed along specialized paths, and Sarah’s was highly specific, focusing entirely on emotions and sensations—sensing them in others, manipulating them when necessary, sharing them strategically, and manifesting them as physical constructs. This specialization meant she had to maintain strict control over her emotional state to use her [Mystic Skills] efficiently; otherwise, her constructs would immediately break apart or deform beyond usefulness.

  Sarah gestured for her team to follow her deeper into the cave while equipping the massive shield that was strapped securely to her back. ‘I desperately need a break from all this.’ This surprise encounter was far from reassuring—not just because of the incredible scale of destruction, but because it meant other, far more dangerous enemies could appear from nowhere and threaten her loved ones.

  While walking through the surprisingly spacious cave system, which was slightly tinted red from the storm energies that had already begun seeping through the stone, her thoughts betrayed her outward posture of absolute self-confidence. ‘What a complete mess.’ Her mind could only focus on her siblings, Alexander, and all the others she couldn’t bear to see hurt.

  Before Sarah’s thoughts could spiral further into anxiety, she detected the enticing aroma of what could only be rainbow porridge drifting through the cave passages. This was a creative adaptation of Alexander’s standard military rations—the notorious “mush” he had developed was more nutritionally complete than appetizing. The ingenious solution involved cooking it in wine with various poisonous herbs and everything that was moldy or past its prime, transforming the mixture into something resembling genuinely delicious soup.

  The original mush apparently possessed anti-toxin properties and could absorb and neutralize harmful substances. As such, this combination created a more palatable dish while maintaining its qualities. Even nutritionally perfect meals became monotonous when eaten day after day, nearly driving frontline staff into madness. Some creatively inclined soldiers had taken matters into their own hands, solving the problem through rather clever culinary innovations.

  ‘Which idiots set up a cooking operation in here?’ Sarah followed the distinctly alcoholic scent deeper into the cave. “Lori? Lin?” As she turned a sharp corner, she discovered her sister-in-law and sister sitting on improvised stone seats arranged around a magical bonfire.

  ‘Of course, it’s those idiots.’

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