Thick black smoke blanketed the sky over Thornwick. The once-bustling streets now lay in deathly silence. Choking, acrid fumes filled the air, mixed with the metallic tang of blood and the putrid stench of decay.At the mass burial ground in the southwest of the city, massive fires still raged. Flames crackled and hissed as they consumed what remained of human life. Charred bodies twisted in the heat while half-burned limbs occasionally tumbled from the pyre, exposing white bone.Matthias stood on the hillside in his protective gear, staring down at the scene with complete indifference. There wasn't a flicker of emotion on his sharply defined face. It was as if what burned below weren't thousands of human lives, but a field of dry grass. Dried blood stained his protective gear, gleaming dully in the sunlight."Your Highness, we found another 37 infected civilians in the western quarter. We've brought them all here," the assistant general reported, dropping to one knee. His voice s

Upon receiving Valon's decree, Tristan, Matthias, Nathaniel, and Grace each reacted differently.…Tristan was sitting in his study, calculating the advantages and disadvantages of his recent expedition to the Ashen Coast.While his performance hadn't been particularly outstanding, he had still fared considerably better than Matthias and Nathaniel. Yet even this modest edge clearly wouldn't change his circumstances.Suddenly, Milton burst through the door with urgent news. "Your Highness, I just received word from the palace that His Majesty's condition has worsened. His time is running out. He's issued a special decree—whichever royal family member can journey to Elysium Isle and return with the elixir of immortality will be named heir to the throne.""Heir to the throne?"Tristan perked up at once. However, his excitement quickly gave way to concern.He'd heard tales of Elysium Isle, but only as legend. Whether such a place actually existed in the Eastern Sea or whether any

"It's a Dreadkraken!" Jonah shouted.He slumped against the cabin door, his teeth chattering."According to legend, this sea creature from Wailing Deep feeds exclusively on living humans."As he spoke, more tentacles lashed out from every direction. Some wrapped around the mast and snapped the sturdy timber clean in half. Others thrust into the cabin, smashing the supplies to bits.A young soldier was grabbed by a tentacle and hoisted high into the air. He screamed his comrades' names in terror before being flung into the crashing waves, disappearing beneath the surface.The ship lurched violently to one side. Several crew members lost their footing and went tumbling across the deck.A military medic with his medical kit rushed to help wounded soldiers, but a tentacle that came out of nowhere knocked him down. The kit spilled open on the deck, scattering the herbs that were instantly soaked by seawater.Suction cups along the tentacle latched onto his leg. He shrieked in pain an

Nobody expected the Abyssal Piranhas to pack such devastating power under the Piranha King's command. With one ramming attack, they had snapped a 60-foot escort ship clean in two, defying all logic.This had evolved beyond just a school of fish into something more like demonic sea creatures. While ordinary Abyssal Piranhas were already terrifying, these evolved monsters weren't just bigger and more savage, but were almost impossible to kill.Despite the ship being equipped with every weapon imaginable, the crew was still somewhat overwhelmed when facing thousands of these piranhas.The sea wind whipped at Tristan's black serpent-embroidered battle robe, lifting it just enough to reveal the jewel-encrusted sword at his hip. His eyes lingered on the escort ship that had been split clean in two, watching fire flicker across its deck before the dark waters swallowed it whole."Pass my orders!" he ordered.He drew his sword and leveled it at the swarm. The steel glinted under the glow

Matthias' fleet had just entered the mist-shrouded depths of the Eastern Sea, where lead-gray clouds pressed low over the horizon. Even the salty sea breeze carried a metallic, rusty tang.Standing on the main deck of the Surgebreaker, he rolled a small white stone between his fingers while scanning the fog-swallowed horizon. The three escort ships sent to scout the route had been out of contact for half an hour, leaving the supposedly safe channel marked on their charts silent and still at the bottom of a deep well."Your Highness, something's off with the current," the elderly helmsman beside him said.He suddenly gripped the compass as its bronze needle spun violently and frost formed along its edges. "This fog… It's alive."Before he could finish speaking, a sharp cracking sound erupted from the west.A massive waterspout burst through the thick fog, revealing the wreckage of half a ship twisting and flipping through the rolling waves. Lanterns on the deck flickered twice