The morning sun had just risen.
The crimson great sun shone upon a wild, ancient forest brimming with vitality.
Deep within the ancient forest.
There was a village.
In this village, a burly man worked at a forge, his muscles knotted, his skin like cast bronze. A pair of thick ox horns curved slightly atop his head, and faint white vapor puffed from his broad nostrils with every breath.
There was a woman with a slender figure and a lovely face, a fluffy, fiery-red tail swaying gently behind her, her shifting gaze carrying a hint of the fox race's innate allure.
There were children playing in a stream, cat ears atop their heads, their movements nimble and extraordinarily agile.
There were elders with crane-white hair and youthful faces, pairs of gray-white wings folded behind their shoulders.
There was a young girl with antlers on her forehead, carrying a basin of water.
The village was quiet and peaceful.
At this moment, deep within the village, near the ancient forest.
A white-haired elder's brows were tightly knitted as he gazed into the depths of the ancient forest.
The heavenly phenomenon yesterday had shaken their village.
Deep within the ancient forest, a blazing great sun seemed to have fallen. Even from an unknown number of miles away, they could feel the invisible pressure of its might.
Yesterday, after he had reassured them and made a pretense of going to investigate, the unrest in the village had subsided.
But he knew that something momentous must have happened deep within the ancient forest.
Something he could not lightly meddle with.
For as he ventured deeper, the closer he came to the site of the phenomenon, the stronger the pressure he felt.
In the end, still an unknown distance away, terror had filled his heart, as