As the villagers began evacuating toward the training grounds, panic spread through the streets in hurried footsteps and anxious voices. Meanwhile, the invading knights regrouped outside the barrier, preparing to move again and finish what they had started. The sky slowly dimmed, and just as the sun was about to slip behind the mountains, their weapons were raised, and their formation tightened, ready for the moment the barrier finally fell.
The barrier surrounding the village began to weaken, its surface pulsing as faint, pale light radiated outward in uneasy waves. The air around it felt wrong, thin and strained, as if the magic holding it together was slowly unraveling.
Animals near the village reacted first. Birds scattered from the treetops, and creatures from the fields and brush fled toward the forests and mountains to the west, east, and north, never once looking back. Instinct told them what was coming, and none of them wanted to be close when the barrier finally gave in.
Still, not all of them ran. A few curious animals lingered at a distance, watching the ghostly glow ripple across the barrier's surface. Others remained hidden in the trees, their eyes fixed on the figures beyond it — knights in strange armor, armed with weapons the creatures had never seen before.
"Oh, look at those damn animals," a man sneered. "Staring at us like we're doing something wrong… when we're doing them a favor."
He had a long scar carved down his left cheek, and the disgust in his expression made his face look even harsher. His name was Enov—one of the high knights, and one of the men who had led the first wave of attacks earlier that day. He kept his eyes on the animals lingering too close, as if their presence alone offended him.
"Nah, those things aren't looking at us," someone sitting beside him said, watching the animals for a moment before turning to Enov. "They're probably staring at you because of your face."
Enov's expression didn't change. He slowly shifted his gaze toward the speaker and sized him up from head to toe, his voice turning cold.
"Hey, punk… are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
The other knights around them stayed silent, mouths sealed tight as they watched, waiting to see how the tension between the two would unfold.
The other man met Enov's stare, his expression hardening.
"What if I am?" he shot back.
He barely got the words out before Enov's fist slammed into his face. The man staggered, but Enov didn't give him the chance to recover. He grabbed him by the neck and drove him into the nearest tree with a brutal smack.
Blood spilled instantly. The man's nose burst, his face scraping against the rough bark, leaving angry scratches across his skin. Still gripping his throat, Enov didn't let go; he struck him again and again, pounding his head against the tree as if trying to silence him completely.
"Still in the mood to pick a fight, huh?" Enov sneered, tightening his grip as he crushed the man against the tree.
From a short distance away, the female knight who had been speaking with the young man casting the spell to break the barrier heard the commotion.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out what was happening. But instead of wasting time guessing, she stepped away from the spellcaster and headed straight toward the source of the noise.
"Hey… shouldn't we stop them?" a few of the knights murmured, their eyes fixed on the man being beaten against the tree. Pity flickered across their faces, but none of them moved.
"Nah," another knight muttered. "Best to just let them be."
"What's going on here?" the female knight asked, her tone sharp and serious as she stepped closer.
The watching knights immediately snapped to attention, their eyes shifting toward her, everyone's except Enov. He didn't even glance her way. Instead of slamming the man against the tree again, he switched to something worse, driving his fists into him over and over with brutal, steady blows.
"Correction!" the knights barked in unison, saluting as they paid their respect.
"It's the Second Commander… Rose Hunter," one of them murmured, and the group's expressions tightened as they watched her approach.
"Hey… Iι asked you a question, so start answering," Enov growled at the man he had pinned, still using his face like a punching bag. He didn't notice Rose had come up behind him.
"Enough," Rose said, her voice cutting through the chaos. She placed a firm hand on Enov's shoulder. "Leave him be."
Enov felt the sudden grip on his shoulder and, without checking who it was, spun around violently and swung a punch straight at Rose's face.
She staggered back, hand flying to her cheek, but she managed to steady herself, keeping her balance despite the force of his blow.
"Motherfucker… how dare you touch me while I'm busy with someone else?" Enov roared, releasing the man from his grip and glaring at whoever had dared to interfere.
Rose winced in pain for a moment, letting go of her face. There was now Enov's fist mark on her face, and blood slowly trickled down her nose as her expression hardened, her eyes narrowing into a sharp glare.
Enov flinched as he caught sight of Rose's face up close. In that instant, he lost his balance and found himself upside down, eyes widening in shock. Before he could react, Rose struck him with a powerful punch to the stomach, sending him and the man he had been assaulting flying through the air.
The impact shattered Enov's armor, pieces of metal scattering in all directions under the sheer force of her blow.
"…What just happened?" the observing knights whispered among themselves, their eyes wide as they watched Enov and the man he had been assaulting go flying.
Rose stood a few feet away with nose still bleeding. She glared at Enov with an angry expression as she bit her lower lip.
"Why the hell are you acting like wimps?" Rose snapped, turning her head to glare at the observing knights. She added, "Aren't you supposed to be imperial soldiers?"
Silence fell over them, and one by one, they lowered their eyes in fear. Rose bared her teeth in a fierce grin, ignoring the blood trickling from her nose, and she couldn't care less about it.
***
As dusk settled over the village, the knights moved into position, forming tight groups to surround it from every side. An eerie silence hung in the air, broken only by the faint clinking of armor and the careful adjustments of weapons. Every knight's gear was fully loaded and ready.
The barrier surrounding the village began to waver, its faint glow flickering like a dying ember. Within moments, it vanished entirely, leaving the village exposed to the waiting forces.
Rose was standing near the village's main entrance, alongside a man who was smiling continuously, as if he were having the time of his life. Enov was also present, his earlier victim now standing beside him, seemingly unharmed, as if nothing had happened between them. Enov was wearing a different set of armor, similar to the one he had worn earlier.
"How odd?" Rose murmured
"I expected the villagers to be panicking by now, and attempting to leave Dol," she added, her face twisting into a complex expression as she studied the village with the others, curiosity and concern mixing in her gaze.
"Maybe they're hiding… or planning to fight back," the smiling man said, his tone carrying an unsettling edge.
Enov and the other knights scanned the surroundings, their eyes sharp and weapons ready, watching for any stragglers who might try to slip past them.
Rose turned her gaze toward the man, a gloomy expression settling over her face. She didn't say anything. Instead, she adjusted her grip on her rifle, holding it firmly as she continued to watch the village in silence.
While all of this was unfolding, the entire village had already been evacuated to the training grounds. The people had gathered there under Reiko's barrier, settling in as quietly as possible. From the outside, everything appeared perfectly normal, peaceful even, as if the village were still intact and untouched.
Reiko's barrier, however, was different from the one that had once surrounded the village itself. The village barrier had been designed to repel all non-citizens, acting as a strict defensive boundary. Reiko's barrier, on the other hand, focused on concealment and protection, hiding everyone inside while masking their presence completely from those beyond it.
The people who had been training on the grounds earlier, including Rica, watched in confusion as the villagers poured in. Some were badly injured, their clothes stained and torn, while others still carried the raw panic on their faces, breathing too fast and glancing around as if expecting danger to follow them.
"Can anyone explain what's going on?" Rica asked one of the people who had been training earlier.
When Reiko had left her behind to wait while she went to check something out, Rica eventually got bored and wandered over to the others. In that short time, they had gotten to know one another, and somehow, they'd even become friends. Most of them were around her age, only a year or two older, though a few were younger than her.
"There are more and more villagers coming here, but why?" She added, her gaze sweeping through the crowd of villagers.
In that moment, through the throng of villagers, Rica spotted Reiko approaching. She was moving steadily, carrying Hajime on her back, making her way directly toward them.
Rica froze, dazed for a moment, unsure why her big sister would be carrying Hajime like that. Her lips parted, as if to ask a question, but then her gaze landed on the dragon girl holding Reiko's hand. Instantly, her expression shifted, and a joyful smile spread across her face.
"Varl!" She shouted, breaking into a run toward Reiko. And by Varl, she meant the dragon girl, her pet.
At the sound of Rica's voice, Varl released Reiko's hand and sprinted toward her. Moments later, they met in the middle, and Rica couldn't contain her giggles of joy. Varl followed along, her excitement expressed in soft, happy squeaks as she matched Rica's pace.
"You two look happy?" Reiko muttered as she carefully set Hajime down, watching Rica and Varl continue their brief but joyful reunion.
***
Meanwhile, back in the village, the knights found it eerily empty. No villagers remained, and the barrier surrounding the training grounds was invisible to them. From their vantage point, it looked like nothing more than a natural hill, abandoned and untouched by human presence.
"Found anything yet?" one of the knights asked, standing in the middle of the village, his eyes scanning the empty streets.
The knights he addressed shook their heads while others continued rummaging through buildings, hoping to uncover any stragglers who might have stayed behind.
"Keep searching. They aren't far; I can feel it," another knight said with a sigh, stepping forward in a steady, measured pace toward the town square, where Hajime's building stood among the rest.