Ashen dust fell from the dark heavens above.

Like sparkles, they shimmered through the dark leaves. Those below, like us, could only watch with our faces going deathly pale.

Leaves rustled along with the wind, playing a deadly melody.

The cocoon at the top finally broke like silk tearing apart.

From inside I watched two brown wings sprout and unfold themselves with a sticky fluid and strings wrapped on its back. The wings divided in two finally unraveled, letting more dust fall off. It was a moth, a large one at that, with dark fur covering its neck.

They were in hundreds…

Too many to count.

Srrrrrr!

Like the sound of a buzzer, their wings trembled, shaking the trees to their core.

"Attack!"

Before one could even blink, the fight broke out.

A surge of flames engulfed the trees.

From the surge of those flames a shimmering light came out as the moths started to fly, leaving a pale ashen dust to fall below.

I glanced back, seeing the soldiers' horrified faces.

"I will deal with them then." I muttered, pointing above.

In return Sion, who had stood close to me till now, nodded, her expression stiffening soon after as she watched me kick the land and leap into the air.

The moth's eyes were pitch black. No light could ignite inside them as they soon turned to face me. I summoned the crystal sword, wishing to deal with them quickly.

The surface of the sword gleamed with an eerie light; the light surrounding the blade dulled and then the first moth came closer. Its countless uncanny sharp teeth revealed themselves as the moth's maw split open. Like a bullet, the moth sped up; with the size of no more than 2 meters, it was like a cannonball.

As it came to my immediate proximity, I stood on the sky with one foot frozen in place, using [static] to brace my footing, my right knee shot up and hit the moth, and then with a strong thrust, I plunged my blade deep inside it.

The moth's skin felt like leather against the sword's edge. It pierced through easily, releasing a spray of dark ichor that smelled of burnt sugar and decay. The creature shuddered violently before dissolving into ash that drifted downward like snowflakes.

Though one was easy to deal with, a lot of them have still filled the forest.

The sky darkened as hundreds more descended, their wings creating a low, resonant hum that vibrated through my bones. Their black eyes locked onto me, a swarm of nightmares blotting out what little light remained. Below, Sion barked orders—her voice sharp, urgent—as soldiers scrambled into defensive formations, blades raised against the falling ash that now coated their armor like grim snow.

However, even then—

"Why are they all after me?"

I hissed as cold sweat started to trickle down my neck.

My main purpose was to help defeat the monsters flying above. But it was under the circumstance that some of them, or most of them, would target the soldiers down below.

Swarms of them would flock my way, as I could only leap around pushing the sky and walking in a ladder of my own creation.

The last time I had crossed through these roads, no such creatures existed before.

It seems as if fate was making fun of me, doing everything it could to sabotage me. Though the attempts were a disaster in and of themselves.

The swarms of figures cast a suffocating pressure; their gazes peered so deep that I could feel eyes all over me. Countless eyes, a numerous amount of buzzing sounds, and finally the sound of my own heavy breathing.

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I caught a quick glance below; my grip on my blade tightened.

The soldiers fought with valor, clashing with the brown moths one after the other. Flames that had burned the trees, turning them charred, looked ineffective as the moths, ablaze moths now, still flew in the air.

I raised my head and looked at the pillar of dark timber forest and bit my lips in frustration.

With a heavy sigh, I kicked the sky again, reaching the burned tree from where the first moth had broken out of its cocoon.

My feet pressed on the branches as I took an overview of the battlefield.

The fire, while strong, still was too widespread to do any real damage.

The soldiers relied more on their tools and their weapons to confront the creature one at a time. The creature was strong, and the moths were deadly; however, it was not enough for the calamity to show up.

I bit my lips, feeling blood rush over my head as, in the next instance, my vision darkened. The swarms of moths flew my way back, two closer than the others. My blade swiftly raised and clashed with the monsters coming my way.

The ashen blood again spread in the air as the blade enchantment flared. Before it could even absorb its blood, the moth withered and died, falling down like ashes themselves.

I could feel its disappointment. But there was not much I could do about it.

Rather than waste another second, I jumped back. My free hand grazed the tree's rough bark as I let myself fall from the branch. The cold wind struck my back, my hair rising with the drop. Above, the swarm of moths swept past the tree, unable to turn in time to follow me.

The shadows cast by the swarm of moths were like a curtain moving through the wind. They enveloped everything below, covering it in darkness for a short period of time.

As the darkness of the curtain was pulled from me, my eyes became clear; they reflected the leaves above as they started to fall as well due to the tremors spreading along.

The moths' buzzing intensified into a physical force, pressing against my eardrums like a drill. I twisted mid-fall, blade arcing upward to cleave through two more leathery bodies—their ichor splattering hot across my cheek. The taste of burnt sugar turned acrid on my tongue. Below, Sion's shouts cut through the din: "Flank collapse! Regroup left!" Soldiers scrambled, their formation buckling under a fresh wave of ash-coated wings diving from the canopy. One man screamed as a moth buried its teeth into his shoulder, dissolving into dust only after Sion's dagger found its eye.

"Haha…" I let out an involuntary laugh as my feet touched the ground. The warm ichor of blood sizzled on my cheeks before vanishing completely.

My laughter was lost in the screams, pulling me out of my frenzy.

My eyes met with several figures. They watched in horror, their eyes wide open and mouths agape, as the swarm I had fooled returned back, flying my way.

"How much time do you need to kill them all!?" I yelled, bringing others' attention back to me.

Sion, Sol and other soldiers rapidly looked at me. White ash lingered on their hair and faces; small soldiers even had blood dripping from their faces, while one had lost his eye.

Sion's face went through a number of changes—astonishment, confusion, understanding, excitement—none of those faces showed fear or worry.

"Six minutes." Sion said dryly to others' shock.

"Got it."

I nodded, my smile only raising further.

In the next instance the swarm enveloped my surroundings, circling me like vultures.

I raised my free hand and brought it closer to my face; a white faceless mask soon appeared and then instantly outlined my face. My skin crawled and a shiver ran through my spine. My presence thinned, not long after my figure vanished. However, the moths didn't leave; they continued to circle around me like a storm threatening to rise.

The buzzing increased, making the air around me tremble. The white dust filled my lungs, making me choke on my breath, but I didn't let it stop me. My hand raised and so did the crystal sword. [Kairosflow] soon held one of the many moths, slowing to a crawl. I blitzed closer and then cleaved through it with a single slash.

The moth's body split in two, its wings fluttering uselessly before turning to ash. But the others didn't care. They surged forward, their dark eyes gleaming with hunger. I twisted, kicking off the air to dodge a lunging maw, its teeth snapping inches from my face. The stench of decay hit me like a physical blow.

'It can still see me?!'

I winced as the mask of panoply failed me for the first time in a long while.

No, rather than see, they could sense me.

For a moment, I felt like a swirl of flames, with the moths circling endlessly around me.

My sword tore through the air, leaving faint arcs of pale darkness that split the shadows apart. Each swing burned another moth into ash, yet more came—an endless storm of wings and teeth closing in from every side. The mask stuck to my face, searing my skin, but it did nothing against their unnatural senses. Dust filled my lungs, every breath scraping against my throat.

Then I saw it—a flicker in the swarm, a narrow opening as thin as a blade's edge. I didn't think. My foot struck the trembling air, and I shot through the gap like a stone let loose from a sling.

[Kairosflow] surged through me, each pulse sharpening my senses and lightening my steps—faster and faster, until only a blur of my form remained.

As I leapt through the sky, darting between bursts of air, I caught a glimpse of Captain Lenz. He stood with his sword buried in the ground, surrounded by fallen moths. His face was streaked with soot and blood, and his eyes were hollow with exhaustion. Our eyes met for a brief moment—just a fleeting glance—before a dark curtain of wings swept between us, thick and impenetrable, swallowing the sight of him whole. The buzzing roared back, louder, angrier, closing in.

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