They didn't walk back.
The moment the familiar forest air confirmed they were in the right world, Damon was already moving toward the estate at a pace that left no room for conversation.
Yuki matched it without complaint.
Their mood was good, better than it had been in weeks, the particular lightness of people who had spent a long time in the wrong place and had finally found the right one. Yuki's four tails moved with their usual lazy independence. Damon's shoulders carried less than they had since the first core absorption.
It lasted until it didn't.
Damon felt it first.
A pressure in the air that had nothing to do with weather or elevation, the particular density of mana being expended at scale, the kind that only came from large numbers of fighters pushing their abilities past comfortable limits simultaneously.
He stopped.
Yuki stopped beside him a half second later, her ears already flat.
"That's—"
"The estate," he said.
They were already running.
