The air was still thick with the tension of the recent battle. Rifi's pulse had begun to settle, but his body still thrummed with residual mana, his senses alert as he prepared to recover. With a deep breath, he took a moment to focus inward, turning to his teammates as he prepared to meditate.

"I'll need some time to meditate—quarter of an hour at most—and I'll be back to peak condition," Rifi informed them, his voice steady but drained.

Kaelin, already glancing toward the bodies of the fallen mercenaries, gave a sharp nod. "Aye, do what you need. Gives me time to look through this mess. Maybe we'll find something useful." He began walking toward the mercenaries, his sharp eyes scanning their equipment for anything out of the ordinary.

Serra, who had already sat down to replenish her mana, shot Kaelin a skeptical glance. "There won't be anything on them," she said, her tone matter-of-fact. "These mercenaries weren't new to this. If they had orders, they wouldn't have left a trail."

Kaelin shrugged, his hands already checking a fallen mercenary's pockets. "Doesn't hurt to look."

As Kaelin sifted through the bodies, Rifi lowered himself into a meditative posture, closing his eyes and drawing in slow, deliberate breaths. His body, still humming with the aftershocks of the battle, slowly began to calm as he let the ambient mana flow back into him. His lightning core, drained from the fight, pulsed gently as it absorbed the surrounding energy.

Serra leaned against a nearby tree, eyes closed but alert, her senses on edge as she recovered. Once Rifi had completed his meditation, she would take her turn to rest, while Kaelin would maintain watch.

For a moment, the forest was quiet, save for the distant crackle of dying flames and the occasional rustling of leaves in the breeze.

"It's a bit worrying, isn't it?" Serra's voice broke the silence, her tone low but laced with concern. "We've got no real information on what's going on out here. No sign of why they infiltrated this deep, or what their goal was."

"Yeah," Rifi agreed, his voice thoughtful as he began to rise from his meditation. His body felt renewed, the numbness, an aftereffect of his lightning mana, was now completely gone. "We need to contact the western Legion as soon as possible. There's something bigger going on, and we're in the dark."

Kaelin, having finished his search of the bodies, strode back toward them. "Could be they're trying to isolate the Legion. Sent these mercenaries to pick off anyone getting near the western border, using that beast as bait to lure us in."

Rifi frowned, considering the possibility. "It's highly probable. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. But Serra's right—we don't have enough information. We need to know what they're planning, so we should move as soon as possible."

Kaelin sheathed his sword, a wry grin spreading across his face. "Aye, you're the boss. Especially after what we saw in that last fight. Not many battlemages could've dealt so easily with that scarred man and his subordinate."

Rifi shifted uncomfortably under the compliment. He had always respected Kaelin, a seasoned battlemage who had proven himself time and time again on the battlefield. Receiving praise from him felt out of place. "I was just doing what I had to."

"Damn right," Serra chimed in, her expression impassive as she cleaned her blades. "That was some scary speed you pulled off at the end there. I bet the scarred mage's pride took a bigger hit than his shoulder."

Rifi chuckled, the tension breaking for a moment as he glanced between his teammates. "You two are the best. But we should get going. If we wait too long, we might find no Legion left by the time we reach them."

Serra and Kaelin nodded in agreement. Rifi, already cautious, began leaking pulses of lightning mana through the area around them, searching for signs of danger as they started moving again. The enemy had proven skilled at concealing their presence, so Rifi switched his tactics. Rather than scanning a wide area, he focused his senses on a narrower range of a hundred meters, using denser mana pulses to detect any disturbances. The method required more mana, but it offered greater accuracy, and they were only about an hour away from the Quirina Clan's village.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

As they moved cautiously toward their destination, Serra watched Rifi with a knowing glance. "You don't need to overdo it, Rifi," she said gently. "We can switch. I might not be able to sense living beings with my mana like you, but I can detect movement in the air with my wind mana. It'll be good enough for now."

Rifi nodded, grateful for the offer. "Sure, we can—" He froze suddenly, cutting his sentence short, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "Stop."

The three battlemages halted immediately, their mana flaring in response to Rifi's warning. His expression was tense, his eyes scanning the horizon with heightened awareness.

"Something's very wrong," he said quietly, his tone sharp with focus. "Serra, are you picking up anything?"

Serra frowned, her senses reaching out through the air. "There's nothing—no movement, other than small animals." She glanced at him, her brow furrowed in concern. "What is it?"

Rifi's eyes narrowed. "That's exactly the problem. We should already be sensing the Quirina Clan's people. But there's nothing. No sign of life at all."

Kaelin swore under his breath, his voice tight with urgency. "Dammit. This isn't good."

They moved forward cautiously, the weight of dread settling over them as they neared the village. But no ambush awaited them this time. Instead, they were greeted by silence—an empty, desolate village, devoid of any living soul.

"This battle must have been brutal," Rifi murmured, breaking the oppressive silence as they entered the village. The buildings were in ruins, the ground stained with blood. It was clear that the Quirina had fought hard, but something was wrong—terribly wrong.

Serra clicked her tongue, her eyes scanning the devastation. "Quirina didn't go down quietly, that's for sure. Their spellbounds must have put up one hell of a fight."

Kaelin nodded grimly. "I know Tarek. He wouldn't have gone down without taking some of them with him. Whoever attacked this village paid for it, that much is certain."

They spread out, looking trhough the village in hopes of finding survivors or any information as to what happened.

Rifi's gaze drifted toward the center of the village, where the largest mana vein in the region ran beneath the earth. He could feel the flow of energy there—but it was faint, far weaker than it should have been. After insepcting it he hurriedly rushed to his teammates.

"They weren't just after the village," Rifi said, his voice quiet but resolute. "Their real target was the mana vein. It's one of the largest in the western border, and now it's withered. Drained almost completely dry."

Both Kaelin and Serra turned to him in surprise, their expressions confused.

"Mana veins can't just dry up that quickly," Serra said, disbelief in her tone. "It's impossible."

Rifi shook his head. "Whatever they did, they found a way. I checked it myself—it's almost empty, barely any mana radiating from it. They must have used some method to destroy or drain it."

Kaelin's face darkened. "If they're targeting mana veins like this one, we need to inform the City Lord immediately. If the larger veins are in danger, we can't afford to wait. We need to mobilize the Legions now."

They all agreed. The consequences of losing more mana veins would be catastrophic for Hepestus. The city-state's entire infrastructure depended on them, and without those resources, they would be forced to wage war for control of neighboring city-states—or worse, fall into internal strife as the Great Clans vied for dominance.

Serra stood up, her expression resolute. "I'll head back to Hepestus at full speed. The City Lord needs to know what's happening here. Kaelin, Rifi—you two continue to the western border. We need to figure out who's behind this, and stop it before it escalates."

Serra was the fastest one among them. Well Rifi was faster, but only when using a lot of lightning mana, much more then what he could keep up for a prolonged period of time. It was only logical that she be the one to rush back to Hepestus, while Rifi and Kaelin continued their mission.

Rifi nodded, his heart heavy with the gravity of the situation. "We'll move fast, and we'll be careful. But we can't let this continue."

With a final glance toward the devastated village, Serra took off, her wind mana carrying her at a blistering speed back toward Hepestus. Kaelin and Rifi exchanged a look of grim determination before turning toward the west.

The corrupted beast, the unnaturally swift draining of the mana vein—everything about it pointed to one terrifying conclusion: The Devils. The realization sent a chill through Rifi, a gnawing certainty settling deep within him. They had infiltrated humanity. Only through the teachings of his master had he been able to piece together the signs, the subtle yet unmistakable patterns of their influence.

But the question that haunted him now was: Who was the Devils' pawn? Were they manipulating the neighboring City-States, pulling their strings from the shadows? Or was it the Great Clans of Hepestus, embroiled in their own power struggles, unknowingly serving a far darker force? Or was it something else—something even more insidious—working beneath the surface?

The enemy had made their move. Now, it was time for the Legions of Hepestus to answer.