Smoke still curled from the wounds of the earth, trailing behind Albedo as he sprinted through the ruined rainforest with Morgana in his arms. Her blood had soaked into his shirt, but she was alive, breathing, barely conscious, but alive.
Behind him, Zeus lumbered forward, his entire body a patchwork of bruises, gashes, and dried blood. He didn't speak. Didn't joke.
His breaths came like thunderclaps, each one heavier than the last. His legs trembled, but he refused to collapse. Not yet.
They emerged through a curtain of vines, stumbling onto the muddy edge of the corrupted lake biome. A sudden gust of damp wind hit their faces.
Unlike the rainforest, this place was eerily quiet, the ground waterlogged, the air tinged with rot and stagnant mana.
Dozens of students had gathered here.
The survivors.
