Just in time, they arrived at the edge of Ainz to the sound of panic.
"Get indoor, Julian!" Shouts echoed between wooden houses. Children were dragged indoors.
Old men clutched farming tools like weapons. The air itself felt wrong—thick, distorted, carrying the unmistakable pressure of unstable mana.
Sirius stopped first.
He did not move forward with the others.
Instead, he tilted his skull slightly, gaze fixed beyond the tree line where the forest thickened into shadow.
"…A White-Core Mana Beast," Aria said, eyes narrowing as she felt it too. "I can tell from the density. It's the lowest possible rank."
Relief flickered across her face—only slightly.
White-Core was the weakest classification, yes. But weak did not mean harmless. Even the lowest-ranked mana beast could tear through houses, trample crops, and kill dozens if left unchecked.
Mira exhaled slowly. "That's manageable."
She glanced at Sirius. "You don't need to—"
"I know," Sirius replied quietly.
Mira nodded. She understood.
Aria rolled her shoulders, already preparing spells. "One White-Core… I can handle it alone."
Villagers gathered behind them, fear in their eyes but also resolve. Duran stood at the front, gripping a spear reinforced with crude enchantments. Lulie was beside him, her hands glowing faintly with unstable mana. She wasn't refined, but she was brave.
Then Sirius spoke again. "…There is another. Not just one."
Aria stiffened. Mira's eyes snapped toward him.
"What?" Mira asked.
"Two distinct mana signatures," Sirius said. "Approaching one behind the other."
Aria cursed under her breath. "Two White-Cores… that's still—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Sirius's skull turned slightly further, tracking something unseen.
"…Correction," he said. "Three."
The word hit like a hammer and the villagers gasped.
Three White-Core Mana Beasts caused panic to erupt instantly.
"Three!? That's impossible—!"
"We're dead!"
"The village...!"
Mira's jaw tightened. She did the math instantly.
Aria could take one and so could Mira.
That left one more.
One more beast strong enough to devastate Ainz if it reached the houses.
Unless...
She looked at Sirius instinctively.
But Sirius had already turned away.
His gaze was no longer on the beasts.
It was on the thin, barely perceptible strands of mana stretching from each beast… trailing far, far into the distance.
A leash.
"…They're being guided," Sirius murmured. "No. Controlled."
His fingers twitched beneath his robe.
Someone was watching. Someone wanted this.
And if he acted, unleashing even the tiniest fraction of his power, they would know about his existence.
"Sirius?" Aria said sharply. "What are you—"
"I will not intervene," Sirius said calmly.
Both women froze.
"What?" Mira hissed. "Pardon me My Lord, but are you insane? There are three of them!"
"I am aware."
"Then why—"
"Because," Sirius interrupted softly, "if I reveal myself now, this will not be the last attack."
Understanding dawned in Mira's eyes.
"…You think this is bait."
"I know this is bait and you should've seen through it too."
Aria clenched her teeth. "So what? We just die to prove a point?"
"No," Sirius said.
He turned to them fully.
"You will fight."
His voice was steady. Absolute.
"And you will win."
Aria stared at him. "You're entrusting the village to us?"
"To you," Sirius corrected. "And to them."
His gaze shifted past them—to Duran, Lulie, and the others who had stepped forward despite their fear.
"This is Ainz," Sirius continued. "And it will not fall today."
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Duran took a step forward.
"It's our village," he said simply. "We won't run."
Lulie swallowed hard but nodded. "We fight."
Others followed.
Fear was still there but it was sharpened into resolve.
Mira closed her eyes briefly… then opened them, fire burning within.
"…Fine," she said. "We do this."
Aria cracked her neck. "You hide. We'll handle the rest."
Sirius inclined his head once.
"Do not die."
Then he vanished.
Not physically but existentially.
The robe activated fully, erasing his mana signature, presence, even intent. To any observer, he ceased to exist.
The beasts were still far enough that none of them noticed.
The first White-Core Mana Beast burst from the forest moments later.
It resembled a massive wolf—three meters tall at the shoulder, body wrapped in jagged plates of condensed mana that glowed faintly white. Its eyes burned with feral intelligence, and every step it took warped the ground beneath it.
Behind it, there was another.
Similar in size, but leaner, faster.
And further back, there was indeed a third.
Broader. Heavier. Its mana core pulsed visibly beneath its chest like a beating heart.
Three.
Aria inhaled sharply.
"Positions," she barked.
Mira moved instantly, sprinting left to intercept the faster beast.
"I'll take that one!"
Aria pointed at the first. "That's mine!"
Her gaze flicked to the third.
Duran stepped forward. "Then we'll handle the last."
Silence followed.
Aria looked at him. "You know what that means."
Duran nodded. "Yeah."
It meant casualties.
But no one stepped back.
"Move!" Aria shouted.
They didn't wait and they all charged.
Aria struck first.
A torrent of flame erupted from her hands, forming a spiraling lance that slammed directly into the lead beast's skull.
Bwoosh...
The beast howled, its scream sounding like metal tearing.
The beast skidded back but did not fall.
"So tough even for a White-Core…" Aria muttered.
She followed up immediately with multiple spells. Fire Thread, Flame Lance, rapid casting with no pause.
Mira met her beast head-on.
She didn't waste spells.
She closed the distance.
Mana surged around her fists as she imbued her fists with layers of mana and punched the creature square in the jaw, sending it crashing sideways through trees.
"Come on!" she shouted. "Let's dance!"
The beast roared and lunged back.
Their fight became a blur of motion, impact after impact, ground splitting under their exchanges.
Meanwhile, the third beast roared and charged straight toward the village.
Duran raised his spear.
"NOW!"
Lulie and the others unleashed everything they had.
Crude spells. Reinforced arrows. Traps hastily prepared.
The beast slammed into them like a living avalanche.
One man was sent flying.
Another barely rolled away before claws crushed the ground where he stood.
"Hold it!" Duran roared.
He drove his spear into the beast's leg.
It barely penetrated.
The creature backhanded him across the field.
"DURAN!" Lulie screamed.
She forced mana into her hands, unstable, dangerous.
A bolt of raw energy slammed into the beast's eye.
It shrieked.
For a moment, they believed.
Then the beast surged forward again.
Relentless.
From the shadows, Sirius watched.
His hands were clenched so tightly the bones creaked.