Fleur knew there wasn't much time left.

Soundlessly, she ran through the tunnels, following the path she saw in the memories. She did her best to ignore the hunger that was eating away at her. Although she had drained the vital Ether of three humans not too long ago, it wasn't enough—she doubted it would ever be enough. She almost couldn't remember the last time she had felt full.

Her hunger was still controllable for now, but it added yet another reason for her to hurry. She needed to quickly get to safety so she could hunt and make up for the power she had used.

Soon she stopped in front of what seemed to be yet another dead end. She felt along the cold and rough stone wall until she found a slight crevice and pushed. The stone wall shifted, sliding sideways with a long, painful groan before it rumbled to a stop with a cloud of dust. Without hesitation, Fleur ducked through the low opening. She had barely made it outside before the stone that hid the entrance of the tunnels rumbled back into place once more behind her.

The tunnel exit led to the forests south of Erad, and the tall forest evergreens sprawled up into the Weeping Mountains that bordered Kaltria and Cavhael. A draft of the fresh forest air carried away the stench of blood and dust that had filled the tunnels, replacing it with the scent of pine and rain from the south.

Fleur smiled. She had been lucky with the position of the exit. If she just went south through the forest, she'd leave the Kaltria Empire and enter Cavhael, thus avoiding the rigorous investigation that was no doubt going to follow once the Empire reacted. Human countries were always very wary of each other, and Kaltria and Cavhael even more so; after all, it was their ancient battlefields that had ended up forming the Dreadlands. As long as she crossed the border, they would never find her.

So what was with this feeling of trepidation?

There was an unexplainable feeling of unease, urging her to hurry. Her instincts were screaming at her, telling her that something unpleasant was approaching. But it didn't make sense. The undead horde was still feasting. The humans were all dead. There was still no trace of the nasty divine Ether of the Guardians nearby. And the undead she had placed near the roads to watch for human reinforcements have not seen any movements.

The only dangers she could think of was the crystal and the tampered magic circle. But everything should have been set up correctly. What could go wrong?

She was still thinking over what she could have missed when the wave hit.

A golden wave of radiant Ether crested and fell over the land. Starting east of Erad then moving west, it swept past the fortress now occupied by undead and even into the woods beyond. Everywhere it passed, corrupting Ether was purified, and the land was blessed with vitality. It was as if a wave of sunlight had exploded over the land, in defiance of the night's darkness.

Through the mental connection, Fleur felt the pain and anger of the specters as they died, as well as the pain of the other undead in the swarm. The specters were the weakest among the undead and could not survive the purifying wave, and while the other undead should have survived, they were also worse for wear.

But right now, she couldn't care less about her undead slaves.

The purifying wave had crashed into her like a blast of burning flame. The divine Ether seared her skin and ate away at her essence, which was intimately tied to the corrupted Ether that was its antithesis.

She gathered a Corrupting Aura to protect herself, and black flames of corrupted Ether wrapped her to fight against the radiant energy. But despite that, she still suffered burns while the wave surged past her. And once it was past, her originally flawless pale skin had become charred black in places, and her long, black hair had escaped the confines of her coiffure, the wild curls falling in waves around her shoulders.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Is it the Order?" Fleur cursed. "Impossible! I didn't sense any Guardians in the region."

Regardless, it was obvious that there had been an unexpected variable. It wasn't time to be shocked. First, she needed to make sure she was in a prime condition.

Her charred skin started to regenerate as a crimson Ether drained from the creatures and vegetation around her. A growing region of dead lands started to spread with her at the center. The originally green and lush trees visibly withered into brown. Insects and other animals fell dead and became desiccated corpses.

After she had healed, she jumped up a dried up tree and peered towards the east where the wave had started. In order to keep control of the situation, she needed information. Fleur summoned an orb of dark crystal from her Ethereal Storage, then extracted from it a specter that was still burning from chains of ethereal flames. She commanded. "Go towards the west and see where the wave ended."

The specter faded away momentarily as it went to fulfill her orders, but it wasn't long before it sent back its results through their connection. Through its eyes she saw the wall of a golden dome of Ether, and felt its pain as it approached it. The residual

"The barrier has been moved?" Fleur frowned. "How…?"

How troublesome. It seemed like someone had managed to restore and shift a portion of the original barrier next to the Dreadlands west. But a feat like that required a ridiculous amount of divine Ether, not to mention knowledge of the barrier magic—-a secret known only to a select group in the Order. It would, at least, require a Cardinal of the Order along with a squadron of Guardians to pull it off. Yet she had been certain no members of the Order were in the area. How was it possible?

"Who the hell did it?" She sighed. "Whoever it is, they're one ruthless bastard. They completely abandoned Erad."

The new position of the barrier was well west of the fallen fortress. Which meant that, now, the entire Erad territory could essentially be considered part of the Dreadlands. The fortress and any possible human survivors within it were completely abandoned to the dead.

Granted, there were not many survivors left—and any that were left were on their way to dying as well—but usually the humans would not be willing to give up on the possibility of survivors or of gaining their lost territory back. It was not only a matter of sympathy for possible survivors; it was also a matter of lost honor and the lost benefits that could be gained from the land.

Now, she was in a dilemma.

Although she had been able to break a segment of the barrier to let the horde pass for the attack, it had taken her almost a week to find a weak point and exploit it. If the barrier was still the same, it wouldn't be too bad, but now, the barrier had been modified. She would have to reanalyze it again to break another hole discretely. And that could take days. Days she didn't have, considering that the humans were most likely already investigating, and reinforcements were on the way. And also considering that she still needed to put more distance between her and Erad before time runs out.

Of course, she could also break through using brute force. Although it would use up a lot of her power, it was indeed possible. However, she would also essentially be alerting whoever was responsible that someone powerful enough to break through the barrier by force was here, at the same time as the appearance of the undead horde that had ravaged Erad. Could it be a coincidence? Unlikely. Her cover of a natural undead uprising would immediately be ruined.

After all, it wasn't as if she could explain, "Oh, yes, I do have the power to break through the barrier and let an undead army pass through. And yes, I was here when the horde attacked. And yes, I am the sole survivor. But it wasn't me!"

The only other option then, was to pass through the barrier by following its rules. Since it was meant to block the undead, the barrier naturally rejected corrupted Ether—which also meant that it rejected her as well. She was, after all, a pureblood vampire, a monster that had clawed its way out of death and reborn from corrupted Ether.

However, it was not to say that it was impossible to deceive the barrier. She just needed enough pure Ether to mask it.

She needed to capture some humans and use their natural Ether to mask her own. Then, it should be possible to pass through the barrier without being detected. Unfortunately, almost all of the humans were already dead. She had also ordered the undead to wipe out any remaining human survivors in the area as well. Whether or not she could find enough for her purposes was uncertain.

The only good side was that the disruption from the barrier surge should delay the effects of the tampered sacrificial circle. So at least now they had some more time.

"Not much choice," Fleur jumped off the tree, throwing herself back into the shadows of the forest. "It'll have to do."

And so, the vampire started her hunt.