Chapter 245 - Luck?

The escalation had been building like a storm on the horizon, unseen at first but inevitable once the winds picked up. Whispers among the elven councils had turned to urgent debates: the barrier weakening, dark mana seeping through cracks that shouldn't exist, and at the center of it all, a goblin who had returned from the prison world carrying something forbidden. They had been watching Byung since the moment he clawed his way back—scrying spells cast from afar, subtle wards tracking his movements across the western hills. The elves couldn't ignore the ripples anymore; the dark continent's influence was bleeding into their world, and Byung was the unwitting—or perhaps witting—focal point. Seraphel, one of the three High Wardens, had been dispatched alone, her presence deemed sufficient for retrieval. But this was the worst-case scenario: interference from forces older and hungrier than any living elf could fully comprehend.