Far beyond the corrupted world and far beyond the reach of ordinary existence, something inside the endless dark void slowly became more active once again.

The Void Architect observed silently from within the vast emptiness surrounding him. Countless streams of distorted energy drifted across the darkness while fragments of broken worlds floated endlessly around the massive incomprehensible existence.

Its presence alone distorted the surrounding void continuously. Now its attention had fully turned toward the Dragonborns.

The Void Architect already realized they were interfering with its plans far more aggressively than before. The expeditions, the investigations, and the rapid movements across the corrupted world. Everything they did continued slowing the progress of his corruption.

That annoyed him. But not enough to make him worried.

Because while the Dragonborns continued focusing on protecting the expeditions and surviving the corrupted regions, the Void Architect already had other plans moving in the background.

In fact, those plans had already begun.

The enormous entity slowly shifted within the void while countless glowing eyes opened briefly across the darkness surrounding its existence. Several distant visions immediately appeared before him.

The Void Architect could no longer observe the world directly through Erend’s system anymore because his access had already been blocked previously. That path was gone now.

However, that did not mean he had completely lost his ability to monitor the situation.

He still possessed agents inside the corrupted world. His almost invisible corrupted entities moved silently throughout various regions while carrying fragments of the Void Architect’s consciousness within them. Through those agents, the Void Architect continued observing the progress of the expeditions from afar.

But even that came with limitations. Using the agents required enormous amounts of energy, especially now that his connection to the world had weakened considerably after losing access to Erend’s system. Every movement, observation, and transfer of awareness into those agents consumed power continuously.

Because of that, the Void Architect could not use all of them simultaneously.

He had to be careful.

So for now, the entity only activated the agents located closest to the expedition routes. That was already demanding significant energy, but without them, he would become blind to the situation unfolding inside the world.

The Void Architect silently watched the expeditions through the eyes of those corrupted agents afterward.

He saw Eccar flying above the ruined city, Aesa freezing entire battlefields, Sylven cutting through corrupted forests, and he saw Erend and his clone continuing to move deeper toward the regions closest to the spreading distortions.

The Void Architect remained silent for several moments afterward before its thoughts slowly spread through the dark void.

The Dragonborns were too focused on protecting the expeditions, fighting the corrupted creatures sent against them, and they wanted to slow the spread of corruption directly in front of them.

If that remained the case, then the answer was simple.

He needs to attack somewhere else.

The Void Architect slowly began shifting its attention toward the distant untouched regions of the world afterward. Toward the remaining cities, the capitals where countless civilians still gathered while believing themselves temporarily safe behind barriers and defensive formations.

His thoughts grew colder.

If the Dragonborns wished to divide their attention across the world and focused on retrieving the fragments, then the Void Architect would simply take the cities where those fragments would be taken.

But, irritation lingered inside his mind. The Dragonborns had seen through his overall plan sooner than expected.

He originally believed the corruption would spread much deeper before they realized the true scale of what was happening. But now they already understood that the infection had reached the foundation of the world itself.

That complicated things. Because of that, the Void Architect understood that he could no longer proceed slowly anymore.

More drastic actions would now become necessary.

For a brief moment the dark void surrounding the entity trembled violently as enormous waves of unstable energy spread outward from its existence. Several floating world fragments nearby instantly crumbled into dust beneath the pressure alone.

But gradually, the Void Architect calmed himself once again.

His thoughts slowly stabilized afterward.

No. The situation was still manageable.

The Dragonborns were strong, but they were still reacting to events rather than controlling them. As long as that remained like that, the initiative still belonged to him.

And soon enough... he intended to remind the entire world exactly how terrifying that truth truly was.

—

King Garrie stood quietly atop the massive battlements of Leonora while the cold wind moved heavily across the walls around him. His sharp eyes continued scanning the dark lands stretching beyond the kingdom’s defensive perimeter while countless torches burned along the enormous walls surrounding the capital.

Ever since the corruption crisis began worsening, the king had spent more and more of his time here rather than inside the palace itself.

He wanted to receive reports directly from the patrols stationed along the battlements. He wanted to see the situation with his own eyes the moment anything changed.

That way he could make decisions immediately without waiting for delayed messages or filtered information from others.

Right now, however, everything strangely looks too calm.

The remains of previous battles still covered the outer regions beyond the walls. Giant corrupted beast corpses remained scattered across the dark plains and burned terrain stretched endlessly beneath the gloomy sky. The scars of the recent attacks still remained everywhere.

But now... silence dominated the surroundings.

There were no monsters approaching the walls. No corrupted hordes appeared or distant screams or battle alarms echoed across the battlements anymore.

Only the wind remained.

King Garrie narrowed his eyes slightly while staring toward the distant darkness beyond Leonora.

"Could it be focusing on the expeditions now?" That possibility immediately surfaced inside his thoughts.

If the enemy truly shifted its attention toward the Dragonborns and the expedition forces, then it would explain why the attacks against the kingdoms suddenly lessened. And honestly, that thought calmed him somewhat.

At the very least, the civilians inside the kingdoms could finally breathe easier for a while.

The walls could recover. The soldiers could rest. The cities would remain safer temporarily.

But at the same time, the realization also brought another kind of worry.

If the attacks truly concentrated toward the expeditions instead, then the situation faced by the Dragonborns and the expedition groups would become far worse than they originally anticipated.

King Garrie quietly released a breath afterward.

Still, despite that concern, he did not feel completely overwhelmed by fear. Because the Dragonborns were there.

Just thinking about them gave him reassurance. After witnessing some of their power personally, even King Garrie found it difficult to doubt them anymore.

If anyone could survive the horrors spreading across that corrupted path, it would be the Dragonborns.

Yet strangely enough... That confidence only made the silence around Leonora feel even more unsettling.

King Garrie slowly looked across the enormous walls surrounding his kingdom once again.

The patrol soldiers continued moving properly. The defensive Magic formations still glowed steadily. The archers remained stationed across the towers. Everything looked prepared.

But the battlements felt far too quiet.

The enemy had attacked relentlessly before this. Wave after wave of corrupted creatures had thrown themselves toward the kingdoms almost without pause.

For it to suddenly stop now did not feel natural.

Instead, it felt like the calm before something much worse.

That thought slowly settled heavily inside the king’s chest while the dark wind continued blowing across the silent battlements of Leonora.

—