A full week passed.
The eastern military camp transformed into a fortress of preparation.
Every day, soldiers trained without rest.
Researchers worked day and night beside the damaged Light Cannons.
Dwarven engineers reinforced their frames with new alloys.
Elven magicians redesigned the mana circuits to improve their efficiency.
The Kingdom of the Dwarves had answered the Queen's request.
Although they could not spare many warriors because of the growing Demon War at the Border, they sent their finest alchemists, engineers, and craftsmen.
Several renowned adventurers also answered the call.
Some had once explored ancient ruins.
Others had fought powerful monsters throughout the continent.
None of them could ignore the fall of the Elven Palace.
If the Evergreen Machine remained corrupted...
The entire continent would eventually suffer.
The week was far from peaceful.
The crimson miasma continued spreading through the western forests.
Every day, Elven soldiers established temporary defensive lines.
Light Cannons were positioned along the advancing edge of the mist.
Whenever the crimson fog approached, beams of white light scattered it long enough for villages to be evacuated.
But it was only delaying the inevitable.
The Light Cannons could repel the mist.
They could not destroy it.
Nor could they free those already trapped within its influence.
Every passing day strengthened the Dark's control.
Everyone understood the same truth.
There would never be a better opportunity.
This battle would decide the fate of the Elven Kingdom.
At dawn on the eighth day...
The counteroffensive began.
Irwin rode at its head.
Behind her marched Elven knights, Shadow Guards, Dwarven engineers, volunteer adventurers, and elite mages.
The repaired Light Cannons advanced with the army.
Whenever crimson mist blocked their path, the cannons fired.
Brilliant pillars of white light carved corridors through the darkness.
Step by step...
The army reclaimed the road leading toward the capital.
The closer they came...
The quieter the forest became.
No birds.
No animals.
No sound.
Only silence.
An unnatural silence.
By noon, the army reached the outer walls of the Elven Palace.
Every soldier instinctively raised their weapon.
Yet...
Nothing happened.
The palace grounds were empty.
No guards.
No monsters.
No followers.
Only abandoned streets and silent gardens.
The quiet frightened them far more than an ambush would have.
Irwin slowly raised one hand.
"Remain alert."
The army advanced carefully.
Every corner was searched.
Every hallway examined.
Nothing.
It was as though the palace itself had been abandoned.
Then they reached the grand courtyard.
Everyone stopped.
Thousands of people stood there.
Completely motionless.
The citizens of the capital.
The missing soldiers.
The servants.
The nobles.
All stood silently with empty eyes fixed toward the palace entrance.
At the top of the marble staircase rested a single black carriage.
Beside it stood five familiar figures.
The five leaders of the Dark.
The moment Irwin arrived...
They lowered their heads in unison.
The carriage door slowly opened.
An elderly man stepped out.
Unlike the others, he wore elegant robes rather than armor.
His face appeared calm.
Almost gentle.
Yet the moment Irwin saw him...
Her blood froze.
"...Impossible..."
She recognized him.
He was the final survivor of the Demonic Inclusion Experiments.
The last subject who had completely accepted Demonic power.
The very experiment that had nearly claimed Lucian's life years ago.
Everyone had believed he died.
He had not.
He had become something else.
The old man smiled.
"So we meet again..."
Without acknowledging Irwin any further, he calmly walked toward the palace.
Tena glanced at the waiting citizens.
"Attack."
Instantly...
The thousands of controlled civilians charged.
The battlefield erupted.
Irwin shouted immediately.
"Do not kill them!"
The soldiers switched to enchanted non-lethal weapons.
Sleeping poison coated their blades.
Magic restraints replaced lethal spells.
The true enemies were not the civilians.
They were the disciples whose Dark mana had already consumed them.
The battle spread across the entire courtyard.
Meanwhile...
The old man and the five leaders disappeared into the palace.
Irwin slipped away unnoticed.
Leaving the main army to occupy the enemy.
She followed them through hidden corridors.
The palace seemed to know them.
Secret doors opened.
Ancient passages revealed themselves.
Eventually...
They entered the Evergreen Chamber.
The great machine still pulsed with crimson light.
The old man slowly approached it.
His hands trembled—not from weakness...
But excitement.
He spread his arms.
At last...
"Our dream..."
"...has finally come true."
He removed the hood covering his face.
His expression twisted into a smile bordering on madness.
"For generations..."
"We searched."
"We experimented."
"We sacrificed."
"And now..."
"The heart of this world shall belong to the Demons."
Dark mana erupted from his body.
Not merely a cloud.
A storm.
The chamber shook.
The crimson Evergreen Machine resonated with the power gathering above it.
The old man intended to inject his own Demonic core directly into the machine.
If successful...
The Evergreen Machine would no longer spread mind-control miasma.
It would spread true Demonic corruption.
The entire Elven Forest would die.
Irwin tightened her grip around her sword.
She prepared to charge.
The old man's attention remained fixed upon the machine.
The Dark mana became denser.
Stronger.
More violent.
Then—
His eyes widened.
Pain shot through his chest.
He looked down.
A sword covered in pure Light mana pierced completely through his heart.
"...Tena...?"
The woman standing behind him slowly withdrew the blade.
Blood stained the floor.
The chamber fell silent.
The old man's Dark mana instantly dispersed.
The crimson storm vanished.
The other four leaders watched quietly.
One finally spoke.
"Is this... truly the path you've chosen?"
Tena lowered her head.
"Yes."
The old man collapsed.
Never to rise again.
Irwin stepped from the shadows.
Her sword immediately pointed toward the five leaders.
"Don't move."
The four leaders instinctively stepped between Tena and Irwin.
But Tena raised one hand.
They stopped.
She looked directly into Irwin's eyes.
"Please."
"Allow me to explain."
Irwin hesitated.
Every instinct told her to attack.
Yet...
Something felt wrong.
She slowly lowered her sword.
"You have one chance."
Tena began her story.
Long before they became the feared leaders of the Dark...
They had been children.
Five orphans.
Living together in a small orphanage.
They possessed nothing.
No parents.
No noble blood.
No future.
Yet they were happy.
Because they had each other.
Then one day...
A kind old man arrived.
He adopted all five of them together.
The children celebrated.
They believed they had finally found a family.
Instead...
They became experiments.
The old man was the founder of the Demonic Inclusion Project.
For years he injected them with purified Demonic energy.
Most children died.
Only five survived.
Their bodies adapted.
But at a terrible cost.
Their humanity slowly disappeared.
Their lives became bound to the Demonic nucleus implanted inside them.
The old man controlled those nuclei.
As long as he lived...
They could never oppose him.
Every atrocity they committed...
Every village destroyed...
Every order obeyed...
None of it had been by choice.
Tears rolled down Tena's face.
"We begged him to stop."
"But our bodies moved whenever he commanded."
"The stronger his Demonic mana became..."
"The stronger his control over us."
Irwin remained silent.
The room itself felt heavy.
"The only weakness..."
Tena whispered,
"...was when he released his own Demonic core."
"When he poured everything into corrupting the Evergreen Machine..."
"...his control disappeared."
"So during the one moment he became vulnerable..."
"I killed him."
She looked toward the corpse.
"The sword was filled with Light mana."
"The very weapon you spent this week creating."
"Our chains..."
"...are finally broken."
None of the five smiled.
Freedom had come.
But only after a lifetime of becoming monsters.
The chamber doors suddenly burst open.
Shadow Guards.
Adventurers.
Elven knights.
They all rushed inside.
Their weapons immediately pointed toward the remaining five.
"Lady Irwin!"
"Give the order!"
Irwin remained silent.
She looked at the five siblings.
Then at the old man's body.
Then back toward the Light-filled sword lying beside him.
Every law demanded their execution.
Every instinct as a commander demanded caution.
Yet...
Something deep inside her refused.
Perhaps it was the memory of Lucian.
Perhaps it was Queen Martha's kindness.
Or perhaps...
She simply saw frightened children instead of monsters.
Finally, Irwin lowered her sword.
"They are not our enemies."
The soldiers stared in disbelief.
The five siblings looked equally shocked.
"Leave."
Irwin said quietly.
"If I ever see you threatening innocent lives again..."
"My sword will not hesitate."
Tena bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
Without another word...
The five disappeared into the forest.
The Group of the Dark ceased to exist that day.
With the old man's death, the spell controlling the Evergreen Machine collapsed.
The crimson light slowly faded.
Emerald brilliance returned.
The ancient roots once again spread pure mana throughout the forest.
The citizens awakened one after another.
Confused.
Weak.
But free.
The Elven Capital had been saved.
The following weeks were filled with rebuilding.
The Light Cannon continued to evolve.
Researchers discovered that unstable Demonic nuclei could now be purified completely.
Former followers of the Dark were slowly cured.
The laboratories that had once focused on destruction now focused on healing.
For the first time in months...
Peace returned to the Elven Kingdom.
Only a few days later, joyful news arrived from the Kingdom of Dan.
The Queen had safely given birth to a prince.
The entire continent celebrated.
Church bells rang.
Cities held festivals.
Even weary soldiers smiled for the first time in months.
To commemorate the birth of the prince and the salvation of the Elven Kingdom, a grand banquet was announced.
Representatives from the Human Kingdom, the Elven Kingdom, and the Dwarven Kingdom would gather in the Imperial Capital.
For one brief moment...
The continent dared to hope.
But far away...
Beyond the Wall...
The Border had already begun to change.
And the peace they celebrated would not last for long.