The rift opened one mile from the Association Fortress.

Not above it.Not within its perimeter.But precisely at the entrance of the land that guarded it.

A foot emerged first.

Then another.

Aizrel stepped out of the rift, followed by the others in quick succession. Princess Lainsa, Ru, Yi, Mu Long, Azriel, Hylisi–each landed with practiced control.

Kiaria came last.

The land before them unfolded silently.

A vast sloping valley stretched downward at a gentle incline, nearly thirty degrees from horizon to depth. At the end of the slope, one mile away, stood the fortress–massive, ancient, and radiant. Its silver walls caught the light like a frozen wave, calm and unassailable.

Between them and the fortress, nothing interrupted the land.

No trees.No water.No shade.No elevation breaks.

Only grass.

The Dandelion Feather Land spread endlessly, every blade identical in height and form. Green leaves, feathery and soft in appearance, moved as one under the breeze–no dwarf growth, no towering stalks, no imperfection.

Yet the grass was not what drew the eye.

The dandelions were.

They grew in four colors–gold, silver, rose-pink, and white–each hue occupying its own domain, never mixing. From the rift's edge, the valley appeared divided by a river of silver dandelions, glowing beneath the sun like flowing metal.

White fields bordered both sides of that silver divide.

Farther down, the white faded into rose-pink, spreading wide and gentle across the slopes. At the deepest part of the valley, nearly eight hundred meters below, the colors merged into a single, vast golden sea.

The walk began.

Aizrel, Diala, and Princess Lainsa moved first, their steps light, their eyes alive with quiet wonder. Even Hylisi slowed, her expression easing as the land revealed itself.

"We don't need to worry about formations or beasts here," Hylisi said calmly.

She gestured toward the field.

"This land was once a Paradise of Gods. These dandelions are not ordinary plants. They are allergic to evil–beasts, corrupted entities, tainted existences."

Her gaze moved toward the fortress.

"That is why the Association stands untouched."

The explanation was enough.

Laughter followed.

Soft. Unrestrained. Long absent.

The three girls wandered ahead, brushing through the fields, testing the feathery softness of the dandelions, comparing seeds, chasing the breeze like children freed from danger too long endured.

Kiaria watched.

He understood now why the rift had opened so far from the fortress. And why the Yaksha Queen's knowledge of the Association had ended at its borders.

This land rejected intrusion.

A sudden wind swept through the valley.

The dandelions lifted as one.

Thousands–no, millions–rose into the air, their feathery seeds catching the light like scattered stars. Layers of drifting brilliance formed above the land, slow and weightless, the sky briefly filled with falling constellations.

The girls laughed openly now, reaching upward, competing over who caught the largest seed, whose hands glittered brightest.

An unplanned–uninvited–unforgettable moment.

Kiaria did not follow and no one noticed too.

He stopped beside the field and plucked a single dandelion, holding it gently between his fingers. The black cloth still covered his eyes.

"Eye of Insight."

The world shifted.

Beneath the feathery crown, he saw it–the seed's core releasing a fine, powdery substance. The particles were impossibly small, invisible to normal sight, spreading outward as the feathery strands brushed against the air.

The dandelion was not decorative.

It was dispersal.

The powder coated the land, the air, the living field itself–an omnipresent veil that rejected corruption before it could root.

Kiaria tilted the flower slightly, watching the powder scatter.

Understanding settled.

An idea followed.

"Ru."

"Yi."

His voice carried across the field.

The group turned.

Only then did they realize he had fallen behind.

"All of you," Kiaria said calmly,

"mask your faces with wet cloth."

His voice carried no urgency, yet it left no room for refusal.

"Do not inhale the air directly. And do not let the cloth touch your skin."

The words fell like an unquestionable command.

No one questioned him. Cloth pieces emerged from spatial rings–specially woven masks meant to prevent inhalation of mist, spores, and unknown particulate matter. Water was poured over them immediately, each person following the instruction precisely.

The Chief moved next.

He ignited a controlled flame and suspended boiling water in the air, forming a rotating space of dense vapor. As the steam expanded, his Hawk Eye Vision activated.

Within the vapor, he saw it clearly.

Countless tiny particles–nearly invisible to the naked eye–were mixing into the steam. As the vapor absorbed them, a cavity of clean space formed at the center, isolated from the surrounding air.

Without pause, the Chief immersed the levitating masks into the boiling flow. Water poured continuously over the cloth, cycling again and again until no residue remained.

Ru and Yi stepped forward together.

Between them, the Ruyi Arrow Crown Formation unfolded.

It was a secret technique, one permitted only to the Hell Tavern Chief's specialized subordinates. The formation expanded into seven layers, duplicating into a pagoda-like structure that enclosed the cleansing zone completely.

The first layer activated.

High-pressure purified air surged through in a single direction, stripping contaminants from the body and clothing alike.

The second layer followed.

A controlled steam blower enveloped the body, filtering skin and fabric as heated vapor passed through every surface.

The third layer activated.

Space itself was isolated.

A sealed spatial domain formed, cutting off all external influence and locking the cleansing process within a controlled inner environment.

Within this isolated space, the fourth, fifth, and sixth layers unfolded in sequence.

The fourth layer manifested as a pool of flame, burning away residual contaminants clinging to the body and clothing without harming flesh.

The fifth layer followed–a pool of fresh air, dense and pure, restoring balance and flushing what the flame had loosened.

The sixth layer completed the cycle.

A whirlpool of cloudy mist rotated through the sealed space, binding, capturing, and extracting the final traces of foreign matter before dispersing them entirely.

Only after passing all three internal layers did the formation allow progression onward.

At the seventh layer, evaluation occurred.

The formation assessed whether the body had been fully purified. The masks, already processed separately, waited at this final layer.

One by one, they passed through.

When it was Hylisi's turn, the Chief stepped forward without hesitation. His hand tightened around her waist as his martial-soul-integrated wings unfurled.

He carried her through all seven layers in a single motion.

They emerged cleansed.

Kiaria did not enter the formation.

The crown above him reacted instinctively, purging foreign particles before they could settle. His mask was already in place, his body automatically cleansing itself.

Ru and Yi approached him afterward.

"Greetings, Patron," Ru said respectfully.

"Why did you call for us?"

Kiaria did not look away from the field.

"Ru. Yi," he said. "I have a special task for you."

He turned slightly.

"How many spatial rings do you currently possess?"

"Unused and collected along the way," Ru replied. "Roughly one hundred and fifty to two hundred."

"Good."

Kiaria's gaze sharpened.

"From the unused ones, select forty fresh spatial rings. Prepare five sets of eight rings each."

Ru and Yi listened without interrupting.

"In the first set," Kiaria continued, "collect all four dandelion types equally–white, silver, rose-pink, and gold."

"All specimens must be intact," he added. "Soil, roots, stem, leaves, and bloom–whole plants only."

"In the next four sets, collect each type separately. Eight rings of white dandelions with seeds. Eight of silver. Eight of rose-pink. Eight of gold."

His tone remained even.

"Handle them carefully. You are analysts. I do not need to explain why."

"Understood," Ru said immediately.

"We will be careful."

"Additionally," Kiaria said, "collect separate samples for analysis–soil, dandelions, grasses, airborne residue."

He paused.

"I want full results within two days."

His eyes hardened slightly.

"Do not inform anyone of this. Not even the Chief."

Ru and Yi bowed deeply.

"As you wish, Patron."

The two slipped away from the group, moving quietly through the fields, collecting with precision and urgency. The Chief noticed their absence–but asked nothing.

Two hours passed in slow, deliberate travel.

At last, they reached the Association Fortress.

The masks were incinerated upon arrival. Faces were washed thoroughly before anyone drew unfiltered breath.

The structure that had gleamed proudly from a mile away now loomed silent.

No guards stood at the entrance.

A single massive building occupied the interior, enclosed by a silver stronghold wall nearly forty-six feet thick. Two watchtowers, each rising seventy-five feet high, stood at opposite edges–one facing the outer ruins, the other overlooking the Dandelion Feather Land.

Aside from the building, the wall, and the towers–

Nothing else existed.

The arch-shaped fortress waited, sealed and still.

Kiaria slowed near the fortress gate.

He did not look at the walls at first.He looked at the silence.

Then he turned toward the Chief.

"Chief Azriel," Kiaria said quietly, "we are not entering the Association."

The words landed without shock, but they carried weight.

"This fortress is too silent," he continued. "With watchtowers of this height, we should have been observed the moment we stepped into the Dandelion Feather Land."His gaze lifted briefly toward the towers.

"At minimum," he added, "there should be archers stationed at the entrance.""There are none."

The Chief nodded slowly.

"You're right, Patron," Azriel said. "If conditions were normal, we would already be challenged."He paused. "What is your plan?"

Kiaria did not answer immediately.

"I want you to use your skill," he said at last."The bird."

Azriel's eyes narrowed slightly in understanding.

"But this time," Kiaria added, "make it tiny.""Negligible.""Something even formation eyes would dismiss."

The Chief allowed himself a faint smile.

"That's easy," he replied. "Compressing it will take about twenty minutes.""I can do it."

Kiaria nodded once.

"Do it."

The fortress remained silent.

And for the first time since arriving, the stillness felt deliberate and unwelcoming.

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