Rainy Night in Green Valley Town

The sky was dark as lead-gray, thick with black clouds. It was as though darkness had swallowed the entire world, and an oppressive mist hung in the air.

It was about to rain.

Green Valley Town lay silent beneath the night curtain. Wounded soldiers from the south lay on cold wooden beds inside the church, letting out low groans from time to time.

Duke Franz stood outside the church, gazing into the boundless darkness ahead. He gripped a sword in one hand, his face covered in scars and his expression grim and solemn.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, as if he could smell danger in the air—the stench of bloody water, the choking Gunsmoke, and the foul reek of acid.

Duke Franz slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the Bishop beside him. "Do you feel it?"

The Bishop frowned tightly. His gaunt, sore-covered hand, clenched around the Sun Scepter, trembled faintly. "Your Grace, you should rest first. Those cultists shouldn't catch up to us so quickly."

The Bishop's words were not without reason. Since that crushing defeat, they had traveled day and night, fleeing for several days straight. Many soldiers had gone more than two days without sleep, their minds fraying from exhaustion.

Duke Franz shook his head. "I can feel that they're coming. Those beasts lurking in the darkness have long been impatient to devour us whole."

The Bishop sighed softly and assumed a prayerful posture. "My lord, I believe you are simply overworked. Your nerves have been taut for days, and you are too tense. Please rest assured, His Majesty Amanata will protect—"

"Boom!"

At that moment, the distant black clouds suddenly lit up, followed by a rumble of thunder that cut off the Bishop's words.

The clouds churned and rolled as rain