Cassian and Simon fell into complete silence, barely daring to breathe as they moved slowly among the branches. Neither of them knew who—or what—was approaching, and if it was a Circle Warrior, their senses might be sharp enough to detect them even up in the trees.
It wasn't much, but that slim margin of hope—that a few meters of height and good cover would be enough—was what they were gambling their lives on.
Anyone beyond the third defensive line was guaranteed to be stronger than them. That alone made this dangerous. But what unsettled them even more was the eerie lack of soldiers in the area. There was supposed to be a permanent camp nearby, marking the edge of the third line. It should've been crawling with personnel.
Instead, it was dead quiet.
Finally, the rustling came to a halt—just beneath their perch in the trees.
Cassian and Simon held their breath as they peered down through the leaves… and there they were. The missing soldiers.
Dozens of them—forty, maybe fifty—riding in on horseback, their formation tight as they came to a stop around the cave entrance. Their armor and gear were all too familiar.
Cassian instantly recognized the emblem on their uniforms—they were city guards, just like most of the soldiers stationed in this region.
Cassian narrowed his eyes as he focused on the group below. He could feel it—every single one of them had opened a Domain. They weren't ordinary soldiers. These were Circle Warriors, every last one. Mixed among them were a few with different mana signatures—mages, no doubt. The air itself seemed heavier around them, thick with restrained power.
Two figures stood out from the rest.
One was an absolute giant—easily over two and a half meters tall, with a build like stacked boulders. Even his armor looked strained, stretched over muscles that didn't belong on a human. His massive arms rested easily on the hilt of a greatsword strapped to his back, the blade nearly as tall as a grown man. The others gave him space, a wide berth that spoke of both respect and caution.
The second figure was more understated, but no less ominous. A hooded man, tall but within the range of normal height, dismounted from his horse in silence. His robe—or more accurately, his hood—was lined with greasy, matted fur that immediately set Cassian and Simon on edge.
It looked too familiar.
Cassian felt his jaw tighten. "That fur…" he murmured.
Simon nodded, his expression grim. "It's the same as the rats…"
The hooded man moved slowly, deliberately, his head turning as he scanned the area around the cave entrance. There was no urgency in his movements, just the quiet patience of someone who already knew what was coming.
He wasn't looking for something—he was waiting.
And the rest of the soldiers? Still as statues, eyes forward, weapons at the ready.
Cassian and Simon didn't dare make a sound, let alone move. One wrong twitch, and they'd be dead before they even touched the ground. They had come expecting to catch one or two traitors in the act—not an entire platoon. And judging by their presence alone, each one of them seemed to be at least a level above them. It was a terrifying realization.
Simon, crouched low beside him, was already thinking about bolting the moment there was even a sliver of an opening.
Minutes passed in tense silence. Nothing much changed, aside from a hooded figure and a towering man exchanging words near the cave entrance. Unfortunately, whatever they were saying was too low to reach Cassian and Simon's ears.
Cassian leaned in slightly, whispering under his breath, "Can you make out what they're saying?"
"No—and I don't care. Let's get the hell out of here," Simon whispered sharply, his voice tight with fear. "I'm getting seriously strong mana waves from that hooded guy."
Cassian's expression was just as tense as he gave a small nod. "Yeah… I feel it too. He's at least above Solvaris-level."
That name alone made Simon flinch.
Solvarises were on par with Fourth Circle Warriors—already considered powerhouses. The rank above them was called Luminara.
"A… Luminara?" Simon asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
His reaction was more than justified. With each rank up, both Circle Warriors and Mages became rarer and exponentially more powerful. For every million First Circle Warriors or Emberlings, only a third might reach Second Circle or become Pyraixes. That still left a good number—but past that, the numbers dropped off a cliff.
There were only a few tens of thousands of confirmed Third Circle Warriors or mages equal to them. Beyond that, in the Fourth Circle and Solavris tier, there were just a few thousand. But once you crossed into Luminara territory? You were talking about a few hundred individuals at best—across millions of supernatural beings and hundreds of millions of regular people.
And one of them was standing just beneath them.
Cassian didn't really share Simon's sense of awe—mostly because ever since he'd entered the world of magical humans, he'd constantly been surrounded by people of those higher ranks. Power like that had become almost normal to him.
But for Simon, it was different. He'd barely encountered anyone beyond Fifth Circle in his entire life. Even the ruler of his kingdom was only a Sixth Circle Warrior. Seeing someone at Luminara level this close was… terrifying.
"Yeah, there's one in our department," Cassian said casually. "That guy's mana Intensity feels just like hers."
He didn't even notice the stunned look on Simon's face.
As they whispered to each other, a sudden chill crawled down their spines. The hooded figure turned his head—slow, deliberate, precise.
Though his face was hidden in shadow, both Cassian and Simon knew. He was looking right at them.
Then, a voice drifted up—quiet, almost thoughtful, but clear enough to chill the blood.
"Funny thing about rats… they always think they're hidden, scurrying in the rafters, hoping the cat's too busy to notice. But I've got good ears… and I hate scratching sounds when I'm working."
Cassian's heart dropped.
"Run!" he barked, not wasting a second.
He leapt from the tree, catching a thick branch of another mid-air, momentum carrying him forward.
Simon followed right behind—but as Cassian swung to move again, something felt wrong. His fingers didn't respond.
He looked back—his arm was gone. Severed clean.
Simon froze mid-jump, eyes wide in shock.
But Cassian didn't scream. Didn't curse. Just clenched his teeth and turned his face forward.
"Don't stop. Don't look back. Just run…" Cassian said, his voice tight but steady—so calm it made Simon's skin crawl. Like the pain hadn't even touched him.
Simon didn't question it. He ran.
Behind them, the trees exploded into splinters, one after another, as if an invisible blade was carving a path straight through the forest—right where they'd been a heartbeat ago.