Chapter 80: The Change
They didn't linger outside the warehouse.
The moment they caught sight of the sky, Nuri tapped Alina's shoulder, and the four of them sprinted back toward the central Order precinct.
None of them knew what to make of it.
The pitch-black sun... that massive, unblinking purple eye... and the heavy, metallic pressure lingering in the damp air. Something fundamental had shifted in the capital's mana currents.
"We need to report the warehouse coordinates to Captain Caelan immediately," Nuri panted, his boots slapping against wet cobblestones as they ducked through an archway.
"And the eye," Turman added, his hand pressed tight against his rapier hilt.
"Obviously," Alina spat, casting a quick glance upward.
The black-purple eye remained fixed in the sky above the spire, motionless, simply watching. Wan followed silently at their backs, his broad head tilted toward the clouds every few paces.
They had barely cleared two blocks before a pale shadow blurred out from a alley mouth.
"Look out!" Nuri yelled, throwing his hand wide.
The creature hit the street with a wet THUD.
A Spechio.
Alina's jaw set tight. "Another one?"
"We just smashed their glass in the warehouse!" Turman yelled.
Nuri frowned, his mana core tingling. Something felt off.
The Spechio lunged.
BOOM!
It shot forward with terrifying speed. Alina barely got her spear shaft up in time to catch the strike. The force behind the blow drove her backwards, her steel-shod boots carving two deep grooves into the street.
"What the hell?!" Nuri's eyes widened. That wasn't the strength of a basic trick-monster.
The creature pivoted to strike again, but Wan intercepted it mid-air. Wan's heavy forearm collided with the beast's chest, throwing it sideways into a brick wall. The masonry cracked under the impact.
Wan stared down at his knuckles, then at the sprawling creature, looking genuinely puzzled.
"It's stronger," Nuri muttered through his mask. "Way stronger."
Before anyone could move, a guttural roar shook the entire block.
A mass of dark scales and long, emaciated limbs dragged itself around the corner, tearing up stone flags as it moved. Street vendors dropped their carts, screaming as they fled.
A sector knight drew his shortsword, stepping into the lane. "Get back!"
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The beast lunged. The knight caught the strike on his shield, but the impact smashed the guard back twenty feet into a plaster wall, knocking him cold.
"Clear the street!" Alina barked, charging forward with her spear lowered. Turman and Wan took the flanks without a word.
The district degenerated into instant chaos.
Nuri raised his hand, spreading a golden defensive array over the narrow street to keep the beast contained. But the creature's attacks were relentless, its hide pulsing with a sickly violet aura.
By the time they pushed the monster back into an alley, the main avenue had completely broken down.
Monsters were tearing through the lower districts. Standard patrol knights were getting tossed aside, their armor crumpling under blows from creatures that should have been simple to dispatch.
Knights rushed past them carrying bleeding civilians into side streets.
"Move!" a guard yelled.
"Three high-tier beasts at the northern gate!" another shouted. "Send reinforcing squads!"
By the time the four of them reached the Knight Order headquarters, the outer courtyard looked like a field hospital.
Dozens of wounded civilians sat lined up along the stone walls while healers worked frantically under makeshift tents. Guards barked orders over the din.
"Reinforce the western wall!"
"Redirect the reserve units!"
Nuri had never seen the Order looking this stretched. Even Alina's usual annoyance faded into a sharp, solemn quiet.
They pushed through the heavy doors into the main tactical hall.
Caelan stood at the high table, his leather armor streaked with dirt and fresh blood. His pale purple eyes flicked from map to map as messengers dropped reports at his elbow.
"Captain!"
Caelan's eyes snapped up. "Nuri." His sharp features relaxed for half a second. "You're all back."
"We found the warehouse," Nuri said, stepping up to the table.
Caelan straightened. "Report."
Nuri laid out everything, the mass-hex goods, the bubbling clay vats, the inverted Spechio traps, and finally, the sky.
Silence fell over the tactical room. The purple eye was visible right through the clerestory windows behind Caelan's shoulder.
"We don't know what opened it," Nuri said quietly. "But the magic changed the moment it appeared."
Caelan stared at the glass. He had felt it too.
A senior knight stepped forward. "Commander... are the beasts surging because of that thing?"
"We can't confirm a direct link," Caelan said, his voice dropping into a hard, measured tone. "But we can't ignore the timing either."
Nuri held his breath. "Captain... it's not just physical strength. They're drawing on far more mana than their cores should be able to hold. It's like something forced their threshold open."
Caelan's eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't argue.
Another courier burst into the hall, gasping for air. "Commander! Three more scale-beasts breached the western quarter!"
"Deploy defensive squads to the residential lines," Caelan ordered without missing a beat, his voice cutting through the noise in the room. "Evacuation teams prioritize the high-density blocks. Elite units take the high-tier threats, no solo engagements."
The courier nodded and sprinted back out.
Within minutes, the messy chaos in the hall began to organize itself around Caelan's commands, the panic settling into quiet efficiency.
Nuri stepped closer to the table. "Captain... what's our assignment?"
Caelan looked down at the four of them. "You're staying off the front lines."
Alina bristled instantly. "What?"
"You've already made direct contact with their staging operations," Caelan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you know the magic signature inside that warehouse. There's an anomaly altering the mana grid, and I need people who can track the source without drawing a full squad's worth of attention."
Nuri glanced toward the high window. "So we're investigating the eye?"
"Yes."
"How?" Alina asked, her hands resting on her hip.
Caelan didn't answer right away. He didn't have a clean answer to give.
Then the heavy doors swung open again.
A messenger stood in the doorway, his skin chalk-white, his armor completely unmarked by battle.
"Commander..." the knight whispered, his voice trembling so hard he could barely frame the words.
Caelan turned his head. "What happened?"
"The eastern district... went silent."
"How many monsters?" Caelan asked.
"None."
Caelan's brow pulled tight. "Then what is it?"
The knight slowly raised a shaking hand, pointing back out toward the plaza.
"Every civilian in the district has walked out into the streets," the guard choked out. "They're not moving. They're all just standing there... staring straight up at the sky."