It Begins!

Deep within the Land of Grass, at the boundary between the grasslands and the primeval forest, night.

Gentle moonlight silently spilled down, coating the grassland and dense primeval forest in a layer of silver. The soft night breeze seemed to turn somewhat wild, sweeping across the grassland with a whoosh all the way to the forest's edge.

Rustle!

The grass that had swayed in the gentle night breeze suddenly parted to either side, turning into silver waves that swept outward.

Thud!

The next second, beneath the tranquil night sky and amid the rustling grass waves, a dull impact rang out at the edge of the primeval forest, followed by a succession of muffled crashes that spread with the rolling grass.

Crack!

Then came the sound of something hard splitting apart.

Crack... crack-crack... crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!

After that first crack, the sounds of hard material fracturing rang out in rapid succession, carrying far across the open grassland beneath the quiet night sky.

Boom—!

The next second, accompanied by the tremendous sound of a giant tree collapsing, the outermost ancient tree at the forest's edge slowly toppled inward. With a boom, it slammed into the tree behind it. Wood chips and dust instantly billowed from beneath and around it, gathering into clouds that spread outward amid rolling rumbles.

Pfft!

Just then, the spreading cloud of wood chips and dust was violently pierced through as a figure flying backward burst out. With a pfft, he crashed heavily into the branches and trunk of another giant tree off to one side. After a muffled cough, he slowly slid down the relatively smooth trunk.

"Run... run..."

As the figure hit the ground, a weak voice slowly sounded from within the cloud of wood chips and dust.

"Cough, cough..."

This was followed by a fit of coughing, along