Chapter 177: Genuine Terror.

Damien actually felt bad for having to lie to her, which was unusual, because he normally didn’t have a problem with lying to anyone. He believed whatever he said would be the truth, and if it wasn’t, then everyone else was probably just confused.

The cold wind blew past them, this time stronger than before. It pushed through the partially broken-down house. The flames in the fireplace bent violently before disappearing altogether, leaving the room dark.

"Uh."

Hannah scratched her head. "That’s strange, I thought you said your conjured fire couldn’t be put out by strong breeze?"

Damien remembered saying that, and he was just as confused as she was. His sorcery wasn’t some ordinary fire that depended on dry wood and a steady supply of air. It was created through words of power, shaped by his will and sustained by the Lich’s sorcery. Wind shouldn’t have been enough to extinguish it.

His black miasma returned almost immediately, as the Lich’s arm poked out from within it. Purple runes glowed across the blackened bones, and the undead creature recast the spell without hesitation. Ever since gaining a name, the Lich had gained the sorcery of water and fire in addition to its decay and wind. To it, controlling those elements was as easy as breathing.

The fire reignited once more, throwing warm light across the partially broken-down house and illuminating the two of them again.

"The Lich probably lost concentration. It should be fine now."

Fwooooooooosh!

The fire instantly went out again, not allowing Damien to even close his mouth.

"What da..."

Damien rose to his feet. Something was amiss. He looked toward the fireplace with narrowed eyes, his confusion quickly turning into suspicion. This was fire conjured by sorcery, not some run-of-the-mill flame made from striking stone or rubbing wood together. The wind should not have been able to erase it so easily.

"Did the undead Lich’s runes weaken?" Damien murmured.

The question remained unanswered. Before he could pry any further into what had happened, the ground suddenly shook beneath them as if a landslide had occurred somewhere directly beneath the ruins.

Then, from the depths of the night, a high-pitched scream resounded.

Soon the silent ruins were bustling as survivors came running out of their homes, not because they had seen some monster approaching them, but because the buildings around them were collapsing on their heads.

Hannah finally threw the rabbit away and lunged toward her armour and shield. Her earlier confusion disappeared beneath instinct as she immediately started equipping herself. She didn’t waste time asking Damien what was happening because whatever was happening, standing around unarmed was clearly no longer an option.

Damien didn’t wear armour to begin with, and his black coat was always on. He even kept his black axe and bow and arrows pretty close, only taking them off when he was about to sleep. Call him paranoid, but it was a survival strategy. Damien didn’t trust anyone except himself, and that meant being prepared even when there was no obvious reason to expect trouble. Tonight, that habit proved useful.

"The building is coming down," Damien said to Hannah.

She had just finished putting on her armour. In response, she placed her hand against the wall and activated her Dormant ability. The effect took hold immediately, and the structure began to collapse outward as its weight became nearly nonexistent.

The strong wind caught the weakened pieces and lifted them into the sky, scattering the debris away from the two of them and leaving them exposed to the open night.

"Are we being attacked?" Hannah asked with a worried expression. They were woefully unprepared for whatever was happening.

Damien didn’t answer immediately.

He looked away from the direction of the gate. His attention remained fixed on the ruined city rather than the world beyond its walls. The movement, the disturbance, and the strange failure of his sorcery all pointed toward the same conclusion.

The enemy wasn’t coming from outside, it was already within.

His eyes narrowed. "It’s coming. I thought we had more time."

Hannah was still confused. She looked at Damien, trying to understand what he meant. His expression had changed completely. The casual attitude he had carried throughout their conversation was gone, replaced by the cold focus she had seen whenever Damien sensed something genuinely dangerous.

"What’s coming?"

Damien didn’t answer her immediately, and that silence was enough to make her worry even more. He wasn’t the type to hesitate when he knew what he was dealing with.

Seeing Damien’s cold expression hiding glimpses of fear, Hannah finally realised what he was talking about. It was only a possibility. That was what they had been told. A possibility that might happen, something they had been warned about but never expected to actually witness.

So why was that possibility becoming a reality?

"WAAARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHH!"

A soul-crushing roar shook the camp.

The sound wasn’t simply loud. It seemed to pass through everything around them and settle directly inside their bodies, crushing their thoughts beneath its weight. Hannah was about to speak, but her expression instantly changed as she found herself unable to move nor speak before the pressure of that roar. Her body refused to respond, her mouth remained shut, and even breathing seemed like an effort beneath the overwhelming presence.

Damien was no different from her.

His body had become rigid under the pressure, his muscles straining as he fought against something that seemed to reach far deeper than his physical body. He used his eyes to glance at Hannah, and her terrified expression shook him to the core.

He had never seen Hannah like this. Nor did he think he ever would.

Hannah was usually the one who could maintain her composure when everyone else was losing theirs. Even when Damien acted insane, even when strange things happened around them, she always found some way to remain herself. Seeing genuine terror on her face made the situation feel more real than the shaking ground or collapsing buildings ever could.

Damien nearly crushed his teeth as he struggled to open his mouth. Every movement felt like it required an absurd amount of strength, but he forced his jaw apart anyway.

His voice barely escaped his throat, but the command carried all the weight of his will.

"Rise."