Befalaye Harbor.
The tall sailing ship was leaving port, its stern carving white wakes across the bay. The sailors chanted as they lowered the cloudlike layers of sails, and under the captain and first mate's commands, the ropes pulled taut one after another.
Brando stood on the damp stone pier and gazed into the harbor district. The docks were packed with a dark mass of refugees.
The news that the Goddess of the Dead Moon had betrayed Martha and that the Realm of Eternal Death had fallen quickly reached this place. The local Dark Nobles and undead had already caught up with Her Majesty the Queen's army, while the remaining human refugees came from nearby regions, gathering at the ports of Befalaye, Loperson, and Naao. They hoped to flee by ship to Silver Bay or the Grey Mountains, while only a tiny minority would choose Eluin.
Yet very few could actually find a ship willing to take them away. Most could only watch enviously as people with some wealth departed with their families. Those left behind could only wait for death.
Brando frowned at the unruly crowd. The cries of grief shook the heavens. He even saw someone shoved off the dock, struggling in the seawater. He felt deeply uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do.
Compared with the number of refugees, Befalaye Harbor's shipping capacity was woefully inadequate.
Perhaps Madara's upper echelons had left too heartlessly, but staying behind meant certain death. The Supreme One who wielded the Mercury Staff had once again made an absolutely correct decision with her characteristic coldness.
Princess Magdal wore an expression of compassion.
They had only arrived in Befalaye three days ago. Martha had teleported them into the Evergreen Forest, and that forest, located at the foothills of the Tadate Mountains, was