ANMELDEN"That means running back up those stairs to the surface immediately. If we don't, we'll be buried alive. And even if we survive the collapse, we'll still be trapped here, and those limestone stairs won't hold up either."Victoria could hardly doubt Carlisle, after all, he had always been the one most fascinated with architecture. His reminder made her realize the problem as well. Whoever built this place must have anticipated all of this from the very beginning.It seemed they would be forced to choose: save the Dark Fairies or save the Light Fairy. The logical choice would be to rescue the Light Fairy first, purge the Night Walkers, and leave the Dark Fairies buried here for eternity.But the more Victoria thought about it, the more it didn't feel like the true intention of the one who created this prison. If their goal had simply been to destroy the Dark Fairies, why hadn't they done so long ago, especially when they had a Light Fairy on their side?Why go to such lengths to build t
"Luckily, I forced the Night Walker out of this cave, so for now, it can only wander outside, and you're safe.""But if the Night Walkers sense that their masters, the Dark Fairies, are touched or in danger, they will swarm back here, and we won't have much time. That's why I suggest you save all the Dark Fairies at once and destroy the medium that the Dark Witches use to control them.""However, you mustn't touch the medium directly. Even though its malevolent energy has weakened over time, it's still dangerous."Then Victoria remembered that Lance and the others were still outside. Since the Light Fairies had mentioned the Night Walkers, didn't that mean her people's lives were also in danger?She realized she had little choice but to help, because if she didn't, the first to die would be the people in the caravan.Now she understood why Jayden had warned them not to leave the barrier, no matter what they saw or heard. He must have known about this all along. A shaky breath she hadn
Victoria paced slowly around the room, checking every corner and even peering behind each pillar as if expecting to find someone hidden there. Jayden made no move to stop her, he knew she was safe.The Core Source before them radiated pure light magic, a power that no Night Walker could cross. In fact, this might even be the safest place in the entire forest, so he allowed her to roam freely without worry.The others tried to speak to Victoria, hoping to understand what was wrong, but she was too deep in thought to respond. Her focus had narrowed to a single purpose: finding the source of the voice.Then, she heard it again."Here..."This time, it wasn't as intrusive or desperate as before. Instead, it carried a gentler, almost apologetic tone, and with it came a strange warmth that seeped into her. Though the voice echoed in her mind, her body seemed to move on its own, guiding her steps until she stood before the glowing orb, the Core Source of the barrier that kept them trapped in
"What?" Lance asked again. He had heard the mage perfectly well, but the term Night Walkers meant nothing to him."I've only heard stories about them," the mage replied, his voice tight. "But from what I'm seeing now… they match the descriptions, and maybe, even worse. We can't fight these creatures.""All we can do is wait for dawn and hope they leave on their own. Until then, the mages must focus entirely on maintaining the barrier. Fortunately, the barrier was imbued with light-based magic; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to hold them back, and we'd all be slaughtered."He shuddered, refusing to imagine the fate of the guards who had gone outside. He could already guess.Right now, his only hope was that no one on their side would be foolish enough to interfere with the mages sustaining the barrier, or, worse, run outside. If everyone stayed put, perhaps they could survive until the Princess and the others returned.Lance didn't respond, choosing instead to remain silent. For now, h
"Captain, we need to know what those things are! The Princess, the Archmage, the Alphas, and the Beta are all out there. What if they're in danger?" the guard pressed. But Lance's grip only tightened, his fingers digging in hard enough to make the man wince as though his shoulder might be crushed."Captain..." the guard groaned, and only then did Lance snap out of it, realizing how hard he'd been holding on."We can't leave the barrier; it was an order from the Archmage," Lance finally said, his voice hoarse and unsteady, so much so that even he could hardly believe the words. No one wanted to cross that barrier more than he did, to run out there and find Victoria.Suddenly, a desperate cry shattered the tense silence. "Help! Help me!!!" Victoria's voice rang out from beyond the forest.Then the shadowy figures vanished instantly, as if they had been lying in wait for that exact call for help. Without thinking, Lance sprang to his feet and bolted toward the fog.But he had just declar
"It's here! It's really here!" he exclaimed, running his fingers over the inscriptions carved into the platform's surface. Without wasting a second, he began deciphering them on the spot.Not wanting to disturb him, the other four stepped back in silence, simply listening as Jayden muttered a stream of incantations and fragmented phrases under his breath.Suddenly, as if struck by a brilliant idea, Jayden's eyes lit up. He stood abruptly and stepped back until he reached the edge of the platform. Raising his staff high, he began chanting the incantation.Moments later, the platform trembled beneath them, and the ground shook violently as if an earthquake had struck. Victoria staggered, struggling to keep her balance, but Carlisle caught her just in time and steadied her.She didn't have the chance to push him away or think of anything else; her gaze remained fixed on Jayden, mesmerized by what was unfolding.After five long minutes of chanting, the rumbling intensified. The platform g
Tori’s POV It was as though they were making no effort to hide their actions, openly flaunting their connection in front of everyone, intentionally deepening my hurt. The mockery in their voices was unmistakable, and it stung sharply in the silence that followed. Carlisle's subordinates seemed
Tori’s POV Hearing it straight from his mouth, I felt my world crash down, but I couldn't even let out a whimper as pain consumed my body. After being away from each other for a long time, our mate bond was weaker, but even then, I could still feel the pain in my heart as a lone tear fell from my
Tori’s POV "Luna! Luna Victoria! We've just received a report from the frontlines. The war is over!!!" Gamma Sylas's heavy footsteps rang through the hallway as he hurried toward my office, where I was buried in the grain production report from our farm. His excited voice echoed from down the hal
Victoria's POV Raquel didn't need to complete her statement. The unspoken words hung in the air, allowing everyone to fill in the blanks with their own assumptions. Speculation spread like wildfire through the hall. What Raquel truly wanted was for everyone to believe that, as Carlisle’s curren







