Erend kept his gaze on the massive portal while the contained fragment floated steadily within its cage of silver and blue light.

The expedition members had already begun gathering around the transport point while the mages carefully monitored the stability of the containment barriers.

Relief was still clearly visible across many faces, but nobody allowed themselves to become careless. Their mission here had succeeded but the true battle still waited for them back in Leonora.

The lead knight stepped closer to Erend and glanced toward the fragment before speaking in a firm voice. "We should move immediately. Every minute matters now."

Erend nodded and said, "Before we leave, I need to tell the others something. The Dragon Magic helped the containment process far more than expected. If Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven do the same, they should be able to finish their own expedition much faster."

The knight immediately agreed. He said, "Then you need to contact them now. If it helps them secure their fragments sooner, they need to know. The sooner all of us return to the capitals, the sooner we can deal with the situation there."

Without wasting another moment, Erend closed his eyes and expanded his consciousness through the telepathic bond connecting the Dragonborn.

The familiar presences appeared almost immediately.

"Erend?" Eccar’s voice arrived first.

"Did something happen?" Aesa asked.

"Is the fragment there secure?" Sylven followed.

"Yes. We finished the containment process here," Erend replied. "But I discovered something important. During the final stage, I supplied Dragon Magic directly to the mages. It strengthened the formations, reduced their burden, and significantly accelerated synchronization with the fragment with my Magic."

A brief silence followed.

"Seriously?" Eccar said.

"That would explain why your operation finished so quickly," Aesa replied.

"Okay. Then we should also use it immediately!" Sylven said.

"Exactly," Erend answered. "All of you should channel your Dragon Magic into the containment formations. The mages will be able to work faster and conserve more of their Magic energy. We need every fragment secured as soon as possible. I also controlled my clone to do the same."

"Understood. I’ll start right now," Eccar said.

"Hmm," Aesa agreed with a grunt.

"I’ll inform my mages immediately," Sylven added.

"Good. Don’t waste time. We need everyone back in the kingdoms as quickly as possible."

"We’ll see you back home," Eccar said.

"Stay alive until then," Aesa added.

"Let’s finish this," Sylven concluded.

The telepathic connection faded moments later as all four Dragonborn returned their attention to their respective expeditions.

Erend opened his eyes and looked toward the portal once more. The contained fragment hovered at the center of the formation while squads of knights and mages carefully escorted it forward.

No further orders were necessary. The expedition immediately began moving.

One by one, the knights entered the portal. The mages followed closely behind while maintaining the containment arrays surrounding the fragment.

The cage of ancient light passed through the portal next, its silver and blue glow illuminating the golden gateway.

Erend entered last.

As the portal swallowed him, the fragment, and the entire expedition, the basin fell silent behind them.

Their mission in this corner of the corrupted world had finally ended.

Now they were going home.

—

The journey through the portal did not feel right.

The moment Erend stepped through the Magical gateway behind the contained fragment he expected the familiar sensation of spatial transportation that he had experienced countless times before. Normally such transitions lasted only moments. A brief distortion would pass over the body before the traveler emerged at the destination.

This time was different. The expedition immediately felt it.

The Magical tunnel surrounding them seemed far longer than it should have been. Layers of distorted space stretched endlessly in every direction while streams of golden energy twisted around them in turbulent currents.

Several knights exchanged uneasy looks.

One of the younger mages frowned and asked, "Does anyone else feel that?"

"The spatial flow is unstable," A senior mage said while nodding grimly.

The distortion pressed against them from all sides. It felt as if something was interfering with the pathway. Waves of pressure occasionally rippled through the tunnel and caused the surrounding light to fluctuate.

Even the fragment’s containment cage reacted.

The silver blue barriers brightened whenever another wave of distortion passed through the transport corridor.

Immediately, several mages reinforced the containment arrays again.

Their voices echoed through the distorted passage.

Erend remained silent.

That strange sensation he had felt earlier returned once again.

The invisible shaking beyond reality felt stronger. It almost seemed as though multiple forces were colliding somewhere far beyond the physical world.

He was certain that the Void Architect was responsible for this.

Then the pressure suddenly disappeared. The distorted tunnel collapsed. The light ahead brightened.

A moment later, the expedition emerged from the portal.

Air struck their faces. The familiar surroundings of Leonora appeared before them.

The large yard in front of the royal palace stretched across the area.

But it no longer looked like the place they remembered.

The moment the expedition stepped out, silence fell over the group and shock spread across their faces.

The destruction was everywhere. Entire sections of the palace grounds had been shattered. Deep craters scarred the stone pathways. Several decorative towers that had once stood proudly around the courtyard had partially collapsed. Rubble littered large portions of the area.

The distant sounds of battle still echoed through the city.

Explosions flashed beyond the palace walls.

Columns of smoke rose into the sky from multiple places.

Several buildings visible from the palace grounds were burning.

The smell of ash hung heavily in the air.

A knight stared toward the city beyond the walls. "This can’t be Leonora."

But it was.

The realization struck harder with every passing second.

The expedition had left only a short time ago, yet the capital looked as if it had endured weeks of warfare.

The mages stood frozen while staring at the devastation.

Many of them had prepared themselves mentally for bad news but none of them had prepared for this.

"How many people died while we were gone?"

Nobody answered because nobody wanted to know.

At the center of the group, Erend slowly surveyed the ruined capital.

The fear he had seen in the eyes of the expedition members throughout the journey suddenly made perfect sense.

The Void Architect had not wasted a single moment.

While they had been fighting to secure the fragment, the war had continued without them.

Judging from what now stood before his eyes, Leonora had paid a terrible price.

"We have to move!"

But before he could do that, Erend dropped to his knees, feeling a sudden weakness attacked him.

—