Eccar’s portal opened high along the rugged slopes of Blackstone Ridge. The air thinned slightly as he stepped through and the distorted space sealed itself behind him without a trace.

The mountain range stretched endlessly in layered ridges and steep inclines, its forests clinging stubbornly to the uneven terrain.

The wind carried a colder edge compared to the lowlands of Leonora City, rustling through dense clusters of trees that had grown twisted from years of enduring harsh conditions.

He stood still for a moment. His gaze sweeping across the surroundings as he grounded himself in this environment.

He had already expected resistance here because he had already been here.

Blackstone Ridge was never a calm place. It was known as a territory dominated by Magical beasts where strength dictated survival and territory boundaries were clearly enforced. Encounters with them here were inevitable and conflict was part of its natural order.

Eccar had prepared himself to face aggressive creatures the moment he chose this entry point.

But what he sensed now felt... off.

The air carried a tension that did not belong to a balanced ecosystem before. It felt unstable.

His expression shifted slightly as he moved forward, stepping across uneven ground while his senses extended outward.

The signs became clearer the further he went. Broken trees, scorched patches of land, and deep claw marks carved into stone appeared more frequently. These were not isolated incidents. They formed a pattern.

Battles had already taken place here. And not just one.

Eccar slowed slightly as he reached a higher vantage point. His eyes scan across a wider section of the forested ridge below.

His gaze sharpened as he took in the full extent of it. Multiple areas showed signs of recent conflict.

Trees had been uprooted, the ground torn apart, and the remains of beasts lay scattered in places where they had fallen.

Normally, this would not be unusual on its own.

But the pattern was wrong.

Beasts in this region respected territory. They fought when boundaries were crossed, and even then, the clashes were controlled and purposeful. There was a structure to it. A natural order that kept the ecosystem from collapsing into chaos.

That order was gone now. What he saw now was indiscriminate battle.

There were no clear territorial lines anymore. Signs of conflict overlapped and spread across areas that should have remained separate.

It looked as if every creature had turned on anything within reach, ignoring the instincts that once governed them.

Eccar’s gaze hardened slightly as the realization settled.

"This is bad..." he muttered under his breath.

He crouched briefly, placing his hand against the ground as he focused his senses more deeply. The faint traces of residual energy lingered beneath the surface, subtle but unmistakable. It was not natural Magic of this world he usually felt. It felt distorted, unstable, and invasive.

Something had influenced this place. Something malevolent.

Eccar straightened slowly, his mind already piecing it together. Whatever had begun affecting this world, he was certain that it had not remained isolated. It was spreading right now, seeping into the environment, twisting the behavior of creatures that should have followed their natural instincts.

He did not need more confirmation.

The conclusion formed clearly. Something in this world had already been tainted by a corrupting force.

A sharp movement broke his focus.

A large beast burst through the undergrowth to his right. Eccar didn’t know this but its body actually warped in a similar way to what Erend had encountered.

Its muscles looked strained beneath its skin, its eyes burning with violent intent as it charged without hesitation.

Eccar moved forward. His body surged into motion with controlled speed as he met the attack head-on. His strike landed with precision and overwhelming force.

The beast’s momentum collapsed instantly as it was driven into the ground, its body going still before it could even recover.

Another beast came from behind. Then another from the side.

They did not wait or hesitate to watch him first. They just attacked relentlessly, driven by the same unnatural aggression.

Eccar moved through them without pause.

Each movement was clean, efficient, and decisive. He did not waste energy. Every strike ended a threat instantly. His body flowing from one motion to the next as if the attacks were expected and already accounted for.

The forest echoed briefly with the sounds of impact before falling quiet again. Well, relatively quiet. There were sounds of battle somewhere.

The silence itself did not feel the same. It felt tense and unsettled.

Eccar stood still for a moment after the last beast fell, his gaze shifting across the area as his mind remained focused.

The evidence was already more than enough. Something had begun affecting this world. He was certain that it would spread across regions and keep distorting creatures and breaking the natural balance.

He sighed before turning his gaze toward the lower slopes of the mountain.

Without wasting more time, he moved.

His steps carried him downward, leaving the dense and chaotic forest behind as he made his way toward the outer edges of Blackstone Ridge.

—

Aesa felt it the moment she stepped through her portal. The shift in the air pressed against her senses immediately, sharp and unnatural. That made her expression tighten slightly as the distorted space sealed behind her.

She emerged within the outer edge of a forest that bordered the vast desert she had visited not too long ago.

The trees stood tall and dense behind her while the golden expanse stretched endlessly ahead, separated by a natural boundary that both sides rarely crossed. The ruin of the city still stood at its place.

But it seems, that boundary no longer holds.

Her eyes narrowed as movement surged violently from the desert side. Shapes rushed forward in uneven waves, their presence breaking the stillness with chaotic force.

Magical beasts that belonged to the desert charged into the forest without hesitation, their bodies carrying signs of strain and instability.

Some had hardened scales cracked along their surface, while others moved with erratic almost uncontrolled bursts of speed and their eyes burned with a sharp and unnatural aggression that lacked any form of restraint.

They did not stop to observe or claim territory. They just attacked everything.

Forest creatures responded immediately. Their defensive instincts triggered as they clashed against the invading beasts, but the conflict did not follow any natural pattern. It escalated too quickly and violently.

Aesa watched silently, her gaze sharpening as she took in the full extent of it.

Trees start to collapse under the force of reckless attacks. The ground fractured where Magic collided without control, and the sounds of battle spread everywhere without pause.

She sighed, irritation flickering beneath her calm expression.

—