Nine days.
That was all the time they had.
Reynar stared at the glowing rift icon on his system interface, its jagged edges pulsing in time with his heartbeat. "Fangs of the Forgotten" — the name alone carried menace. The system marked it as A+ threat level, higher than anything he'd faced before.
Beside him, Liora sorted through a stack of old field maps, cross-referencing the terrain. "If the rift opens near the cliffside pass, it'll be hard to contain. There are only two natural chokepoints. If the spawn leak, they'll flood the lowlands."
"Which means Eidenweld's in trouble," Reynar said grimly.
Sylvie was crouched near the fire, sharpening her claws absently on a whetstone, her eyes distant. "Then we don't let them leak."
But even she didn't sound confident.
[System Notification]Time until Rift Activation: 8 Days, 21 HoursSystem Analysis: Unusual mana fluctuations detected near Rift boundary.Warning: External interference possible.
Reynar blinked. "Wait… External interference?"
Liora leaned over his shoulder, reading the system prompt. "Something's… tampering with the rift?"
Sylvie frowned. "Can rifts be tampered with?"
"They shouldn't," Liora said slowly. "Not naturally. Unless… someone's pushing it open from the outside. Or altering it."
Reynar clenched his jaw. "You don't think it's Windrest, do you?"
Liora looked away. "I've seen what they do to keep power hidden. If this rift is being accelerated, it could mean they're trying to force something out. Something worse than Voidspawn."
Sylvie's voice was cold. "Ritual summoning."
Reynar remembered the dungeons beneath Windrest—the boy falsely accused, the knights in white and gold, the strange, sealed prison door. His stomach turned.
"They're not just letting the Void King in," Liora said. "They're building a path for him. Each rift, each sacrifice, every dungeon—it's all a piece of something bigger."
"And this next one is a step closer to whatever they're planning," Reynar finished.
Far away, beneath the city of Windrest, torches burned in the secret chamber beneath the central tower.
A man in velvet robes walked in circles around a pulsing crystal, black as midnight and laced with veins of crimson mana. Its glow beat like a heart, resonating in the air.
"Rift 47 is nearing destabilization," said a masked cultist from the shadows.
"Good," the man said, smiling. "The Outcast and the girl are heading there, yes?"
"Yes, Lord Castien. Just as predicted."
"Excellent." He placed a gloved hand against the crystal. "Let the beasts keep them occupied. The blood we need won't come from monsters... it will come from desperation."
Back in Eidenweld, the air had grown heavier.
That evening, the trio ventured out to scout the cliffside where the rift was predicted to open. Twisted trees bordered the drop, and the earth had already begun to darken, as if poisoned.
Sylvie knelt, touching a charred root. "This corruption… it's old."
"You've seen this before?" Reynar asked.
She nodded. "Once. In a rift that never fully opened—because everyone in the village vanished before it did."
Liora's expression darkened. "We can't let that happen here."
Reynar's eyes narrowed at the horizon, where faint wisps of violet mana drifted like mist. "Then we fight before it does."
[System Notification]Companion Affinity Update:Liora – 87%Sylvie – 48%
Quest Update: Void Rift CountermeasuresObjective: Prevent the destabilization of Rift 47Bonus Objective: Uncover the source of external interference
That night, none of them slept deeply.
The rift was coming.
But something else was already here.
Watching.
Waiting.