Aesa sighed as the chaos unfolded around her, her gaze steady while the beasts continued to tear into one another without restraint.

She did not rush immediately, but the moment several of them turned toward her with the same violent intent, she moved.

The air around her changed in an instant, temperature dropping sharply as frost spread outward from her position.

The ground beneath the charging beasts froze in the middle of their movements. Their limbs locked for a fraction of a second before jagged ice surged upward and pierced through them cleanly.

Other beasts lunged through the freezing mist, but they never reached her.

Their movements slowed, their bodies stiffened, and with a simple motion of her hand, their forms shattered under precise bursts of cold force.

She walked forward without pause, her presence cutting through the battlefield as if it did not bother her at all.

Every beast that approached met the same fate, frozen, broken, and left behind without resistance.

It did not take long before the immediate area fell silent. The scattered remains of distorted creatures marking the path she had taken.

Aesa stepped past the last fallen body and reached the edge of the forest where the land shifted into endless sand.

Her gaze lifted toward the distance, settling on the ruins of Vaelorian City. The broken structures still stood where she had seen them before, half-buried and weathered by time, but now they were no longer empty.

Movement surrounded it.

From this distance she could already see waves of desert beasts swarming through the ruins with unchecked aggression as they clashed against the stationed guards of the kingdom.

Flashes of Magic and steel struggled to hold the line, the imbalance was clear. The beasts were too many and too relentless.

Aesa’s expression softened slightly, a quiet solemnity replacing the irritation from before.

She remained still for a moment as she observed the situation. She already knew how it would end if nothing changed.

"They won’t last for long," she murmured.

She let out a quiet sigh.

Then she moved.

Without stepping into the open desert, Aesa pressed her foot lightly against the ground.

The sand beneath her responded instantly as a controlled wave of cold spread outward, freezing and compacting the layers beneath the surface.

Within seconds, a narrow tunnel of solid ice formed beneath the desert, cutting silently through the sand as she descended into it without hesitation.

The world above vanished.

Aesa advanced through the tunnel with steady speed, her path extending ahead of her as the ice continued to form and reshape itself under her control.

The distant vibrations of battle filtered faintly through the ground, guiding her direction as she moved beneath the ruined city.

She slowed as she reached the area beneath the conflict.

Above her, she could feel multiple beasts moving erratically. Their weight shifted across the unstable battlefield.

Aesa raised her hand slightly.

The ice responded. Without warning, the sands above her fractured.

Thin cracks spread across the sand before giving way as multiple beasts were suddenly pulled downward, their bodies dragged violently into the freezing tunnel below.

Their movements turned frantic for a moment, but it ended just as quickly.

Ice surged around them, locking their bodies in place before crushing inward silently.

Aesa moved again.

The tunnel shifted beneath the battlefield again as she continued dragging more of them down, isolating groups and eliminating them one by one beneath the surface. Her movement was controlled, efficient, and merciless.

Above, the burden the guard suffered began to ease visibly.

Above the shifting sands and fractured ground, the guards felt the change before they fully understood it.

The relentless pressure that had forced them back step by step began to loosen. It was subtle at first, then unmistakably clear.

The beasts that had swarmed in overwhelming numbers were no longer pressing forward with the same force. Some vanished.

Some of the guards saw their bodies dragged beneath the surface without warning, while other monsters seemed to hesitate long enough for the defenders to strike them down.

One of the guards staggered back slightly, his breathing heavy as his eyes darted across the battlefield.

"Wait... do you see that?" he said, his voice strained but alert. "Their numbers are dropping fast."

Another guard turned sharply, cutting down a lunging beast before glancing toward the shifting sand.

"Something’s taking them," he replied, his tone edged with confusion. "They’re just disappearing under the sand."

A third, older soldier tightened his grip on his weapon as he stood his ground, his gaze narrowing with suspicion.

"I don’t like this," he muttered. "Nothing just ’disappears’ in a fight like this."

But not all of them shared that hesitation.

A woman nearby drove her blade through a weakened beast before pulling it free, her expression hardened with focus rather than doubt.

"Does it matter?" she said firmly. "If their numbers are going down, that’s all we need right now."

The others fell briefly silent at that.

She was right.

Whatever was happening beneath the surface, whatever unseen force had begun pulling the beasts away, it was turning the tide in their favor.

But still, their unease lingered.

Another guard, younger and visibly shaken, cast a spell that forced back a cluster of advancing creatures before speaking, his voice lower.

"Ever since that... thing appeared," he said, hesitation creeping into his words, "that otherworldly monster... I knew something like this was going to happen."

The mention of it drew brief glances between them, tension tightening across their expressions even as they continued fighting.

No one argued.

They had all seen it and felt the power of that otherworldly being. The absolute coldness of her power.

And none of them believed it had been the end of that being’s activity in this world.

The older soldier exhaled sharply, forcing his focus back to the present as another beast charged.

"Alright. Stop thinking about it and fight," he said, his voice firm. "Whatever that is, we deal with it after we survive this."

After that, they all steadied themselves again, their formation tightening as renewed determination replaced hesitation.

Spells flared again cutting through the remaining beasts. The swords and spears moved as well. The chaos had not ended, but it had shifted in their favor somehow.

They were no longer being overwhelmed and would probably be able to survive this.

—