Morning light pierced the thick canopy as the forest erupted into chaos.

Star and her companions had only just begun their morning routine, the chill of night still clinging to the air, when an unnatural silence settled over the woods.

Klara noticed it first. She was crouched near the edge of camp, checking the protective wards she had carved the night before, when a faint shimmer caught her eye. Her brow furrowed as she leaned closer, tracing the edge of a glyph with her fingers.

“The ward’s been tampered with,” she called out, urgency sharp in her voice.

Friedrich, who had been sharpening his greatsword nearby, rose at once. “Tampered with? How?”

The forest answered for her. Birds and insects fell silent, replaced by a low, rumbling growl that seemed to echo from every direction at once.

“What… is that?” Seth murmured, his hand already on his bow.

Klara stood abruptly, her catalyst glowing faintly as she scanned the clearing. “Something’s wrong. The Abyssal presence here—it’s stronger than before.”

The growls deepened. Branches snapped. Heavy footsteps shook the ground.

From the shadows, figures emerged.

The first was a massive boar, its once-powerful body twisted into something grotesque. Veins of black ichor pulsed beneath its hide, and its tusks gleamed with an unnatural sheen. Violet light burned in its eyes, stripped of any trace of instinct or fear—only rage remained.

Behind it came deer, their movements stiff and unnatural. Their antlers had warped into jagged obsidian, and their hooves tore deep gouges into the earth as they advanced.

“Wild animals?” Friedrich barked, tightening his grip. “No. Not anymore.”

“They’re Abyss-touched,” Klara said grimly. “The corruption’s taken hold.”

The boar roared and charged, its massive bulk tearing across the clearing like a living battering ram.

“Brace yourselves!” Star shouted, raising her sword.

Siegfried stepped forward, shield flaring with pale blue Dew energy just as the boar slammed into him. The impact thundered through the grove. He skidded back, boots digging into the soil, jaw clenched as he held the line.

“Anytime now!” he grunted, muscles straining.

Friedrich answered first. He lunged, his greatsword erupting into flame as he carved a wide arc into the boar’s flank. Black ichor sprayed across the ground. The beast shrieked—but did not fall. It whipped around, its tusks crashing into Siegfried’s shield with enough force to nearly send him flying.

“This thing won’t go down!” Friedrich growled, yanking his blade free.

“It’s regenerating,” Klara warned, eyes locked on the pulsing veins. “Its core is in the heart. Destroy that, or it won’t die.”

“Well, that’s inconvenient,” Seth muttered, loosing arrows toward the advancing deer.

The shots struck true—yet the creatures barely slowed. One lunged at him, antlers sweeping like scythes. Seth rolled aside just in time, hitting the ground hard with a sharp gasp.

“Does anyone have a rulebook for these things?!” he shouted, firing again.

“Rule one: don’t die!” Friedrich yelled back, parrying another violent strike from the boar.

Star surged forward, her blade blazing with Light as she closed the distance. Siegfried still held the beast’s attention, though his movements were slowing under the relentless assault.

“Hold on!” Star called.

“Working on it!” Siegfried grunted as the boar reared again.

Star leapt, landing on the creature’s back. Her sword sliced through blackened veins as she climbed toward its chest. The boar bucked and thrashed, roaring in fury—but she held fast.

At the same time, Klara turned to the deer. With a sharp motion, she unleashed a crackling bolt of storm energy. It struck one square in the chest. The creature convulsed, then collapsed into ash.

“There!” Klara shouted. “The heart!”

Seth adjusted his aim. His next arrow pierced clean through a deer’s chest. Its glow faded as it crumpled and dissolved.

Erik charged into the fray, his greatsword blazing. With a single sweeping strike, he cut down two deer at once, fire consuming their Abyssal cores.

“Not bad, cat-boy!” Seth shouted, earning a flick of the tail from an annoyed Erik.

“Focus, Seth!” Erik snapped, turning just in time to block another charging deer.

Back at the boar, Star reached its chest. Her sword pulsed with blinding light as she drove it down into the creature’s heart.

The boar let out a final, ear-splitting scream before collapsing. Its body disintegrated into ash, leaving behind a faintly glowing fragment of dark energy.

The remaining deer hesitated—then charged again.

“Finish it!” Friedrich roared, flames flaring as he swept his blade in a devastating arc.

They moved as one. Arrows struck true. Storm magic cracked through the air. Erik’s burning steel cut through the last of the beasts with ruthless precision.

When the final deer crumbled, silence returned to the clearing.

They stood amid drifting ash, breaths heavy, weapons stained with soot and ichor.

“That,” Seth muttered, wiping sweat from his brow, “is a morning workout I definitely didn’t sign up for,”

“You never sign up for anything useful,” Friedrich shot back.

Star sheathed her sword, her expression hard. “If the wildlife is already this corrupted… the Tower will be far worse.”

Klara knelt beside one of the glowing fragments, her brow furrowed. “The Abyss is spreading faster than we anticipated. We can’t underestimate what’s ahead.”

“Then we stay sharp,” Siegfried said, voice steady despite his fatigue.

They gathered their gear and continued their ascent toward Olmec Hill, the weight of what they had witnessed pressing down on them.

If the Abyss could twist beasts so easily...

then whatever slept within the Tower of a Thousand Mirrors was already beginning to wake.