Meanwhile, after sensing the strange change in the sky, Roxy returned to the Fittoa Region of the Asura Kingdom.
The unease she had felt when looking up at the sky back then had now become reality.
A landscape of crumbling ruins greeted her, with only a few crude tents pitched beside the wreckage as temporary shelters.
The residents whose faces had once occasionally glowed with happiness now wore nothing but profound exhaustion and inescapable despair.
Everyone stared numbly at the lists of the dead and missing in the center. They knew their families would never return, that their last meeting had been their final farewell.
"What on earth happened?"
Fighting back her fear, Roxy walked over to the notice wall listing the dead and read it word by word, terrified she might see a familiar name.
Rad, Rudeus...
Paul, Zenith, Lilia...
Roxy silently repeated the names of Paul's family as she checked every name on the list of the dead. She started in the morning and only just finished by evening. Fortunately, none of their names appeared there.
Roxy breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little better. She could not imagine what expression she would have worn if she had seen Radeus's name or the others' there.
"At least Rad, Rudeus, and the others are still alive..."
Although she had not seen their names on the list of the dead, that did not mean they were safe.
Then, with an inadvertent glance, Roxy spotted a letter from Paul asking for help.
The letter read:
[To Radeus and Rudeus.
Zenith, Lilia, and Aisha aren't with me right now. Norn is here with me. Although I don't know where you've been teleported, I believe you'll make it back.
So I've moved searching for you down the priority list a little.