The group moved through the forest in silence. Kara led the way, with the sounds of battle echoing in the distance. Explosions, shrieks, and the hum of alien skills.

They traveled for what felt like hours but was probably only forty minutes. The terrain shifted from dense undergrowth to a more open path under the trees that showed signs of regular use. Defensive positions appeared—cleared sightlines, hidden archer nests, and trip wires marked with cloth strips.

The Spriggans' camp appeared through the trees.

It was larger than Reidar had expected. Dozens of tents were arranged in organized clusters. Survivors moved between them. They were rattled by the titanic clash of monsters vs. aliens going on above.

"Kara!" One of them said. "You made it back!"

"Where's Seraphine?" Kara asked.

"Medical tent. The central one."

Reidar didn't wait. He pushed forward, his eyes scanning the camp. Then he saw him.

—[«Jake Roberts—Level 218»]—

The boy sat outside a large tent, his knees pulled to his chest. His head snapped up at the sound of approaching footsteps. His eyes widened.

"Reidar!"

Jake launched himself forward. Reidar barely had time to brace before the eleven-year-old crashed into him, arms wrapping around his waist. The boy's shoulders shook.

"I thought—the monsters—I didn't know if you—"

"I'm fine," Reidar said. He placed a hand on Jake's head. "You did well. You got her here safely."

Jake pulled back, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "She's inside. The healer, he—"

Reidar moved past him into the tent.

Lena lay on a cot, her face pale but peaceful. She was still breathing, but not much time had passed since she got brought here, so she wasn't in top shape either. A man in healer's robes sat nearby, monitoring her condition.

—[«Lena Merridon—Level 247»]—

Seraphine stood near the tent's entrance. Her white hair was tied back, her expression composed despite the chaos erupting across the valley.

"Reidar," she said.

"Seraphine, how is she?"

The woman paused. It looked like she wanted to know what was going on inside the valley rather than to talk about Lena, but she complied. It wasn't just that absolute destruction was going on above them, but it was also his, Lena's, and Jake's level that was distracting her.

—[«Reidar Miller—Level 260»]—

"The toxin has been cleansed. She'll recover."

Relief flooded through him. "How long until she wakes up?"

"Hours. Maybe less," Seraphine said. "What's happening out there? We saw the ships. The portals."

Reidar's jaw tightened. "The Church of Unbinding. They completed some kind of ritual in the Chittering Tunnels. Created a magic circle that drained all the valley's mana."

"A magic circle?" Seraphine's brow furrowed.

"I don't know how they did it." He paused. "But they did it anyway. The circle opened a portal. Something came through."

"A level 763 monster," Seraphine said.

"The World-Carver Behemoth." Reidar looked toward where the battle raged. "The Aegis Phalanx is trying to contain it. Thousands of them."

Seraphine didn't know who the Aegis Phalanx was. They had only talked to Reidar until now, at least not with those that were inside the valley.

Seraphine's expression darkened. She didn't care right at that moment who those guys were, but she saw Thalassari among them, so she assumed they had been sent by the Allied worlds.

"Will they succeed?"

Reidar didn't have an answer. He didn't know.

The World-Carver Behemoth dominated the horizon.

It stood impossibly tall, a mountain of flesh that dwarfed the landscape. Its single eye, a pit of swirling galaxies, swept across the valley with alien intelligence. Molten light pulsed through veins beneath its skin.

The Aegis Phalanx swarmed it like insects.

Thousands of Kytinn and Thalassari warriors circled the creature. Explosions bloomed across its surface. Entire squads coordinated strikes that would have leveled cities.

The Behemoth walked through them.

Its movements were slow. A massive limb swept sideways, and dozens of warriors vanished in the impact. Energy shields flickered and died. Ships exploded in midair, their burning hulks tumbling to earth.

The creature didn't even seem to notice. It crushed them as casually as a man walking through tall grass.

"Gods," Seraphine whispered.

Reidar said nothing. There were no words for what they were witnessing.

The Behemoth then stopped walking. It looked like the Aegis Phalanx was getting on its nerves.

Its massive body went still, planted in the center of the valley like a monument to destruction. The Aegis Phalanx warriors continued their assault.

The creature raised its head.

The single eye fixed on something in the distance — perhaps the ships above, perhaps the survivors scattered across the valley, perhaps nothing at all. Its jaw opened, revealing a maw that could swallow buildings whole.

It roared.

The air cracked. Trees bent away from the source. The ground trembled as if the planet itself recoiled from the assault on its existence.

Reidar's knees buckled. He caught himself against a tree, his hands pressed over his ears. It didn't help. The roar bypassed his body entirely, resonating directly in his bones, in his skull, and in the core of his being.

Jake collapsed. Seraphine stumbled backward, her face twisted in pain. Throughout the camp, survivors fell to the ground, writhing.

The roar lasted five seconds.

When it ended, silence fell like a shroud. Reidar's ears rang. His vision swam. Around him, survivors slowly pulled themselves upright, their faces pale with terror.

The Behemoth resumed walking.

Reidar watched the Behemoth's path through the valley. Its direction was unmistakable.

Northwest. Toward Creamont. Reidar's blood turned to ice.

"Is it…?"

The creature's steps covered hundreds of meters. Behind it, the Aegis Phalanx regrouped, their assault continuing despite the obvious futility. Warriors fell by the dozens. Ships burned. But they kept fighting.

The Behemoth ignored them all.

"It is going to Creamont…" Reidar said. "That's the direction…"

"Shit!"

His parents were in Creamont. His father was tending his comatose mother. Seraphine's people. Thousands of survivors who had no idea what was coming.

"This is a really shitty situation," Helga said.

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