Jarkon's head trembled slightly as he forced the words out through clenched teeth. "You already know… my Seventh Light Fleet was ordered—by you all—to station near the closest star system to the Holy Region. We were tasked with observing and confirming whether there was anything truly unusual about the Forbidden Zone... and if so, to enter and secure the entire region."
He paused, chest heaving, voice strained with pain and anger. "And that's exactly what we did. We waited for months—until it happened. I've already submitted the preliminary report."
He coughed harshly, blood staining his lips. Still, he pushed on. "The mana storm had just begun to weaken. Space was stabilizing. All our sensors indicated it would take about a galactic day for the storm to fully dissipate. So we entered low-alert formation—assuming the star system was secure. We didn't expect a surprise attack. No one should've been able to reach us without being detected."
