The pillar of blue light continued burning into the night sky.
Visible for miles.
Across the border—
every head turned.
Inside command tents—
officers rushed outside.
Mercenaries abandoned their meals.
Bounty hunters sprang to their feet.
Above the treetops—
mages hovering in the air all turned toward the same place.
"The signal!"
"They found him!"
"It's the Dark One!"
Near the military encampment—
Xiomara stepped out of her tent.
She took one slow drag from her cigarette.
Her eyes settled on the distant pillar of blue light.
"...So."
A thin stream of smoke escaped her lips.
"It begins."
Around her—
the forest erupted into motion.
Hunters charged into the trees.
Others launched into the sky.
Magic circles illuminated the darkness as countless people surged toward the source of the signal.
---
Several kilometers away—
Aldric watched the sea of mana signatures converging on their location.
His jaw tightened.
Then—
he grinned.
"...The bastards are all coming."
His gaze swept across the countless approaching presences.
"They're like ants."
A short laugh escaped him.
"And even if one of them actually managed to kill you..."
"...What do they really think would happen?"
"That everyone else would just let him walk away with three hundred thousand gold?"
He snorted.
"Not a chance."
Draven didn't even glance at him.
"...Dumbass."
Aldric shot him a sideways look.
Draven's voice remained calm.
"Way to go."
"You managed to screw us over."
A brief pause.
"Running your mouth really does seem to be the only thing you're good at."
His crimson eyes remained fixed ahead.
"...Actually."
He adjusted his grip on the black bow resting in his hand.
"It isn't just that."
"You also happen to be pretty damn good at fucking yourself over."
"So congratulations."
"You can pat yourself on the back."
Silence.
A vein bulged on Aldric's forehead.
"...Will you shut the hell up?"
"You've been so damn quiet for a while..."
"...I almost forgot how mouthy you are."
He jabbed a finger toward Draven.
"And if it wasn't for the shit you pulled in Blackwater..."
"...None of this would've happened!"
Draven slowly drew back the bowstring.
"...You really can't help making excuses."
"It must be your way of coping with your own stupidity."
"...Shut."
"...Your."
"...Mouth."
Aldric growled.
"They might all be rushing over here..."
"But they aren't complete morons."
"They'll surround us fir—"
He never finished.
**TWANG!!**
A crimson arrow exploded from Draven's bow.
The string had already settled before anyone realized he had fired.
The arrow became a streak of scarlet light—
tearing across the night sky.
Straight toward the mass of incoming hunters.
"...!!"
"The hell?!"
Those who noticed it reacted instantly.
Some threw themselves aside.
Others erected barriers.
Layers of mana burst into existence.
Shields.
Walls.
Domes.
Then—
**BOOOOOOM!!**
The arrow struck.
A crimson sun blossomed deep within the forest.
Fire.
Compressed mana.
Fragments of earth and shattered trees erupted outward in every direction.
The shockwave flattened everything around the impact.
Hunters were hurled through the air like broken dolls.
Some barriers shattered instantly.
Others cracked before collapsing beneath the overwhelming force.
Screams echoed through the forest.
Smoke billowed into the heavens.
The charge—
stopped.
For a single heartbeat.
Draven lowered his bow.
His expression never changed.
"...Now they'll attack like morons."
Aldric stared at the smoking crater.
Then slowly turned toward Draven.
"...You really are annoying."
His grin widened.
"...Now listen here, brat."
He raised one arm.
Crimson mana surged violently from his body.
The air trembled.
Countless streams of blood gathered overhead.
They twisted.
Compressed.
Expanded.
One construct formed.
Then another.
And another.
Within moments—
the night sky was filled with enormous crimson weapons suspended above the forest.
Spears.
Blades.
Lances.
Hundreds of them.
Each radiating terrifying waves of mana.
Below—
the charging attackers instinctively slowed.
Several faces turned pale.
"...What the hell..."
"...Blood Magic?!"
"...No..."
"...Run!"
Draven glanced upward once.
Then looked back at Aldric.
"...Fuck you."
Aldric blinked.
"...What?"
Draven's expression remained perfectly blank.
"Dumbass."
"Motherfucker."
"Who the hell are you calling a brat, bastard?"
Aldric's eye twitched.
"...You little—"
He never finished.
The blood constructs moved.
They descended.
Not one after another.
All at once.
Like a rain of blood falling from the heavens.
The hunters' eyes widened.
"...DAMN IT!"
"CRAP!"
"DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS!"
"MAGES!"
"BARRIERS!"
Magic circles erupted throughout the forest.
Golden shields.
Stone walls.
Domes of mana.
Anything people could cast in time.
Others abandoned all thoughts of fighting.
They turned and fled.
The crimson rain struck.
**BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!**
The forest vanished beneath a sea of explosions.
One detonation merged seamlessly into the next.
The earth split apart.
Ancient trees were vaporized.
Fire and crimson mana swallowed everything in sight.
The shockwaves rolled endlessly through the wilderness.
Far away—
along the border fortifications—
soldiers froze.
They watched the distant forest erupt into a chain of colossal explosions.
One after another.
The ground beneath the walls trembled.
Even the air itself shook.
A stunned silence spread across the battlements.
One soldier swallowed hard.
"...What... in the hell..."
Another slowly lowered his spear.
"...That's not a battle."
His voice came out little more than a whisper.
"...That's annihilation."