"Wake up, Clay!!"

"Huh?!"

In the depths of my slumber, someone shook me violently, jolting me awake. Gordon and Rill, who had also been resting, were roused in the same manner by Luid, who had been keeping watch by the fire.

During the night, it’s a rule of thumb for at least one person to stay awake and remain vigilant of our surroundings. That’s the ironclad rule of camping. Normally, it should still be Luid's turn to stand guard—it wasn’t yet my shift. But seeing that everyone else was being woken up as well, it was clear that this was an emergency.

—What’s going on...?

As I tried to bring myself to full alertness and assess the situation, a sudden flash of light streaked across the sky above us.

"What?! Is that...!"

My eyes were drawn upward. Gordon, who had also looked to the sky, promptly issued commands.

"It's an emergency signal! It seems something has gone wrong with Lord Feid's unit... Head to the location where the flare went up immediately!"

"Understood!!"

We snuffed out the fire, grabbed only the bare essentials, and rushed out. Dismantling the camp would have to wait. Time was of the essence.

The main unit, led by the old man, was the safest group during this training. For them to send up a distress signal—everyone understood the gravity of this situation without needing an explanation. Something dire was happening in the Bayralell Forest. Something that endangered lives.

At the same time, a growing anxiety surged within me.

—Is Alice safe?!

This was about my younger sister, who had tagged along for this training. Knowing that old geezer, he would protect Alice with his life, even though she couldn’t yet fight. But still—

"If something’s happened to her, I’m punching him square in the face..."

This was no time to assume the best. That was a foregone conclusion.

Running through the darkness of the forest without sufficient light was perilous beyond imagination. Thankfully, we had been issued magical tools that emitted light, but even those only provided the bare minimum visibility. The meager glow was barely enough to fend off the forest’s oppressive shadows.

"Tch!"

Aside from the precarious footing, another concern was ambushes from monsters. Most creatures, like humans, sleep at night, but the Bayralell Forest was home to many nocturnal beasts. Some could see as clearly in the dark as we could in daylight.

"!!"

As I raced toward the flare’s source, I suddenly sensed a presence nearby. Halting immediately, I scanned the area with caution, prepared for battle—but it wasn’t a monster approaching.

"Gordon’s squad? It’s me, Mabel!"

"Mabel?!"

Knights from another unit participating in the forest training emerged, hands raised in the universal gesture of non-threat. They, too, had seen the distress signal and were en route to the old man’s unit.

"Time is short. Let’s move!"

"Yeah."

After confirming each other’s presence, we refrained from unnecessary chatter. The signal flare had already told us enough. We ran as a unified force toward the source of the flare. As we neared the location, faint, unnatural sounds began to reach us through the forest.

"Is that...?"

One sound was the voices of knights responding to the crisis. The other—the source of the crisis itself—was the guttural roars of monsters or the sound of trees being felled. Either way, the situation was dire.

"I’m going ahead!"

"Wait, Clay!"

Ignoring Gordon’s call to stop, I sped up, overtaking the others. I couldn’t hold myself back. Normally, breaking ranks like this would warrant punishment, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t a knight, and family came before any code of conduct.

"He’s... fast."

With my blood circulation ramped up using Flow Manipulation, my body was warming up. By the time I reached the source of the sounds, I would be in peak condition. Apologizing to Gordon and the others in my heart, I pushed forward to be the first to reach the camp.

And when I arrived, the scene that greeted me was utterly devastating.

"What... is this...?"

The campsite was half-destroyed, littered with countless fallen trees. Blood-stained knights lay motionless on the ground, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

"..."

For the first time, I was confronted with the sight of a dead body. In my previous life, I had faced the prospect of my own death but never witnessed someone else’s. Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate didn’t matter—it was irrelevant now. The shock threatened to paralyze my mind.

But before it could, a bellow jolted me back to reality.

"What are you standing around for?! If you’ve got time to gawk, get over here and help, Clay!!"

I snapped out of it.

"Got it, you damn old geezer!!"

The roar got my body moving, and I instinctively drew the sword at my hip. Only three people were still standing: two knights and the old man. The three of them were engaged in a desperate struggle against two enormous monsters.

"What are those monsters...?"

Even in my previous life, I had never seen anything like them. The massive creatures radiated an oppressive aura, yet they exuded no sense of life or vitality. They were like shadows given form. The old man, standing beside me, answered my unspoken question.

"One of the Seven Dragons—a Shadow Dragon’s minion. The Lurking Shadow Dragon, Shadow Drake. Be on your guard; this is stronger than anything you’ve faced before."

"One of the Seven Dragons?!"

The name was familiar. No, everyone in this world knew of it, even if they had never seen it. Tales of the Seven Dragons—the legendary transcendental beings—were passed down in storybooks.

"Where’s Alice? And Freesia?"

A single minion of the Seven Dragons could annihilate an entire nation in one night. The reality of it was incomprehensible, but the overwhelming urgency was undeniable.

"Lady Freesia is safe. She’s hiding for now. But Alice..."

The old man faltered, and I instinctively followed his gaze. What I saw made my heart stop.

"Alice!!"

One of the Shadow Drakes—a slightly larger one—was coiling its long tail protectively around Alice’s small frame. The sight alone was enough to confirm the worst—Alice’s life was in grave danger.

"Why is Alice with that dragon’s minion?!"

"I don’t know. But it’s clear—they’re after Alice. I’m truly sorry."

For once, the old man spoke with genuine regret. His expression was filled with anguish. But I didn’t care.

"I trusted you to protect Alice. So did Father. When this is over, I’m punching you."

"..."

"But first, I’m saving Alice."

"...Yeah."

Before me stood the greatest foe of my life. I didn’t know if I could win—or even survive long enough to save Alice. But running away was not an option. I was already prepared.

And so began the battle against the Shadow Dragon’s minion.