Chapter 1298: "The Mask of Deception

In the quiet hours before dawn, the camp felt as though it were holding its breath. An unnatural silence settled over the tents and sleeping warriors, only broken by the faint, rhythmic pulse of the Luminal Heart at the camp's center. Its steady glow offered a sense of calm to those who lay within its reach, but there was an undercurrent of unease that even the Heart's light could not dispel.

Kael was the first to feel it—a subtle, creeping chill seeping into his bones as he stood on the edge of the camp. He scanned the horizon, his eyes narrowing as a strange mist began to drift in, curling around the base of the trees and creeping toward the tents. The mist was darker than night itself, and as it approached, it seemed to drink in every sound, leaving only a heavy, suffocating quiet.