The mission had already gone wrong.
Kaelor knew it the moment he felt the first surge.
At first, he had assumed it was another Lost City ritual.
Kolga was infamous for them.
Forbidden experiments.
Strange mana fluctuations.
Disappearances.
The usual symptoms of a city that should have been destroyed centuries ago.
Nothing the Awakened Council hadn't seen before.
Nothing worth alarming his superiors over.
Then the ocean itself started behaving strangely.
That was when he became concerned.
Kaelor crouched atop a rocky outcropping overlooking the massive underwater canyon.
Several kilometers separated him from Kolga.
Even that distance didn't feel sufficient.
The Beast Faction scout trusted his instincts.
Those instincts had kept him alive through dozens of missions.
Through magical beast stampedes.
Through Abomination sightings.
Through encounters with Awakened far stronger than himself.
Right now, every instinct he possessed was screaming.
Leave.
He obeyed.
Not out of fear.
Out of experience.
A dead scout couldn't file reports.
A dead scout was useless.
Whatever was happening in Kolga was no longer within his mission parameters.
Observation only.
Nothing more.
His long-range observation artifact activated.
The city appeared within the crystal.
For several moments, nothing happened.
Then he saw him.
A lone figure standing above the city.
White hair.
Bronze skin.
A trident in hand.
Young.
Far too young.
Kaelor adjusted the focus.
The stranger spoke.
Too far away to hear.
Too far away to understand.
But something about the scene felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Wrong.
Like seeing a mountain walking across the sea.
His instincts hated it.
Then the ocean split apart.
Kaelor stared.
The observation artifact nearly slipped from his hands.
The sea parted.
Not a wave.
Not a current.
Not a spell.
The sea itself.
Millions upon millions of tons of water are pulled away from Kolga.
Creating a corridor that stretched toward the surface.
Toward the heavens.
For the first time in his life, Kaelor forgot to think.
The sight was too large.
Too impossible.
Too absurd.
The sky appeared.
Stars filled the darkness.
Moonlight descended into the depths.
The city of Kolga sat exposed beneath the heavens.
Kaelor immediately retreated another kilometer.
Then another.
Then another.
His instincts had evolved beyond screaming.
Now they simply demanded distance.
By the time he stopped retreating, Kolga had become a distant silhouette.
Even then, it wasn't enough.
The world trembled.
A bolt descended from the moon.
Kaelor felt every hair on his body stand upright.
The mana density became visible.
The air itself seemed heavier.
Reality strained beneath forces it was never meant to contain.
The bolt struck the trident.
Silence.
Then the storm was born.
Black lightning filled the heavens.
Clouds spread across the horizon.
The ocean churned violently.
Every magical beast within range fled.
Kaelor included.
He moved again.
Further.
Further.
Further.
Only when the storm occupied the entire horizon behind him did he finally stop.
And watch.
The first bolt fell.
A pillar of black lightning descended from the sky.
The ocean illuminated.
The canyon shook.
The world roared.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
Even from this distance, Kaelor could feel the mana.
Could feel the pressure.
Could feel the overwhelming weight of a spell far beyond anything he had ever witnessed.
It wasn't a battle.
It wasn't a siege.
It wasn't a war.
It was judgment.
Hours later, the storm ended.
The clouds dispersed.
The ocean settled.
The world became quiet once more.
Kolga remained.
But something had changed.
Even from this distance, he could tell.
The city felt different.
The corruption was gone.
The oppressive sensation that had always surrounded the Lost City had vanished.
Then one final surge erupted.
Kaelor turned.
The white-haired stranger stood beneath the stars.
Silver-blue markings illuminated his body.
The ocean responded.
The world responded.
Something shifted.
Something ancient.
Something impossible to describe.
Then the surge disappeared.
The stranger lowered his weapon.
The night became calm.
And for the first time since the event began...
Kaelor breathed.
Several days later.
Far from Kolga.
Far from the ocean.
Far from whatever had happened there.
Kaelor activated his communication artifact.
A projection appeared.
One of the Council's intelligence officers.
"Report."
Kaelor remained silent for several moments.
Trying to determine where to begin.
Finally, he spoke.
"Kolga has fallen."
The officer froze.
"What?"
"Kolga has fallen."
"To whom?"
Kaelor hesitated.
"I don't know."
The officer frowned.
"You don't know?"
"No."
"Organization?"
"Unknown."
"Race?"
"Unknown."
"Bloodline?"
"Unknown."
The officer's expression darkened.
"What do you know?"
Kaelor looked out toward the distant horizon.
Remembering the parted sea.
Remembering the black lightning.
Remembering the storm.
Then he answered.
"Male."
"Approximately twenty years old."
"White hair."
"Deep Violet Core."
"Possesses an unidentified trident artifact."
The officer stared.
"That's it?"
Kaelor slowly shook his head.
"No."
A long silence followed.
Because this was the part nobody would believe.
"The ocean opened."
The officer blinked.
"What?"
"The ocean opened."
Another silence.
Then:
"Explain."
Kaelor looked toward the sea one final time.
"I can't."
And for the first time in many years, the veteran Beast Faction scout realized something unsettling.
He had witnessed one of the most important events in modern history.
And he still had no idea what he had actually seen.