Fogspine Pass

The night had barely faded, and the sky remained swallowed in darkness. A crisp chill clung to the air, thick with the distant howls of wild dogs echoing across the hills. The occasional hoot of an owl punctuated the silence, a reminder that the wilderness never truly slept. Tlangthar, too, lay in waiting. Though its streets appeared still, the city was not at rest—it was merely bracing for the storm to come.

Larin arrived at the northern gate, his breath steady, his senses heightened. The city behind him was wrapped in the anticipation of war, its people prepared, hardened. The barracks flickered with torchlight, and silhouettes moved like ghosts in the dim glow of distant lanterns. The war drums had gone silent, replaced by an eerie calm.

Captain Ewin was already there, waiting, flanked by three figures. Each one wore the layered, darkened leathers of the Shadow Fang Pack, their gear stripped of any metal that could glint in the moonlight. These were hand-picked soldiers, assassins trained for war in the shadows.

Ewin greeted him with a nod, then gestured toward the three. "These will be your packmates for the mission. You will know them by skill, not reputation."

The first, a wiry man with sharp eyes and a perpetual half-smirk, extended a hand. "Voro. Tracker. No scent, no sound, no footprints." His voice was light but edged with confidence.

Beside him stood a woman, her hood drawn low over a scarred face. "Tasi," she said simply. "Alchemist. Smoke, poisons, and things that make people die screaming."

The last, a towering man with arms like tree trunks, crossed his arms. "Gunan. Just tell me where to hit."

Larin took them in, nodding. He could feel the weight of experience on each of them. They weren't mere fighters—they were predators.

"No time for pleasantries," Ewin said, turning to the map spread over a wooden crate. "We move fast, strike hard, and disappear before they know what hit them."

Their target lay ahead—Fogspine Pass, where the river Tich carved a narrow valley between jagged cliffs. The Kirats had taken it, using the pass to funnel supplies and men toward Tlangthar's borders. If the supply route held, their siege engines would arrive in weeks, and Tlangthar would fall in days.

Larin peered through the mist. The valley stretched before them, veiled in a thick fog that coiled between the trees. The Mana Striders stood motionless, towering constructs of metal and arcane engineering. Each bore Spellbreak Cannons, weapons capable of dismantling Xiaxo's strongest barriers. Five of them, lined in a defensive formation, their massive limbs anchored into the rocky ground.

Surrounding them were shock infantry, elite Kirati soldiers clad in plated armor, their helmets crowned with glyph-inscribed visors. They carried mana-laced pikes, their weapons humming with energy. Two Scholar Magi stood apart from the formation, their robes marked with the sigils of Cosmic Magi. Larin needed no confirmation—he could see it in the way mana wove around them, shifting in unnatural patterns. These weren't ordinary spellcasters. They bent reality to their will.

Ewin studied the battlefield. "We take out the Magi first. If they see us coming, we're dead before we reach the Striders."

Tasi nodded. "Smoke won't hold them for long, but I can give us a few seconds to blind them. After that, it's chaos."

Ewin tapped the map. "We need to combine our spells for the first strike. We'll only get one chance to catch them off guard."

He turned to Larin. "You and I will lead with [Sundering Pulse]. It will tear through their formations and scatter their shields. Voro, you follow with [Phantom Lure], make them see enemies where there are none."

Voro grinned. "Illusions in a battlefield? I like it."

Ewin continued. "Tasi, once we break their shield formation, you launch [Abyss Bloom]. We force them into confusion, and then Gunan moves in."

The giant of a man cracked his knuckles. "I'll make sure they don't stand up again."

Larin clenched his fists. This was what he had trained for. He glanced back at the enemy encampment. Their advantage was time. If they could make this strike work, it would cripple the Kirati advance before it could begin.

They moved through the trees, casting [Sinlung] as they wove their mana into the land itself. The forest embraced them, roots shifting beneath their feet to guide them silently across the terrain. The mist wrapped around their bodies, shielding them from sight. Xiaxo did not fight with brute force—it fought with the will of the land.

Step by step, they closed in. The cold air stung against Larin's face, the scent of damp moss and metal filling his lungs.

Then—just as they reached the ridge—Larin felt a shift.

A pulse. A ripple in the air.

His instincts screamed MOVE.

A streak of white light sliced through the darkness.

Before he could even call out, one of their own was gone.

Gunan's leg was cut from the knee down. The spell had cut through him like he wasn't even there. Blood splattered against the rocks.

The Kirati Cosmic Magi had sensed them. They had been waiting.

"S***!" Ewin hissed. "Go loud! NOW!"

Larin didn't hesitate. He pushed the spell forward.

[Sundering Pulse]

A massive shockwave erupted from their position, slamming into the enemy formation. The Kirati shields shattered as the force cracked the ground, sending soldiers sprawling. Voro launched [Phantom Lure], and suddenly, the battlefield was filled with flickering figures—Xiaxoan warriors that weren't really there. Confusion spread like wildfire.

Tasi was already moving. Her hands blurred as she flung a vial into the fray.

[Abyss Bloom]

A cloud of writhing black mist exploded from the impact site, consuming the enemy in darkness. The shock infantry screamed as the mana-cloaked vapor seeped into their armor, disorienting them.

And then—Gunan moved.

He crashed into the fray like a falling mountain, his warhammer glowing as he swung into the nearest enemy. The sound of bones breaking filled the air.

Larin barely had time to think. The plan had worked—but they had lost their advantage.

The first kill had been theirs.

Now, the fight was chaos. The Mana Striders roared to life, their cannons charging.

Larin gritted his teeth. The element of surprise was gone.

But that didn't mean they were out of the fight.

He plunged into the smoke, ready to carve a path through the battlefield.