The tremors did not fade with the dawn.
They intensified.
Leon stood atop the eastern wall of Valcrest Manor, watching cracks spread through the farmland beyond like veins beneath skin. Villagers had been evacuated during the night. Wagons rolled inward. Livestock crowded the inner courtyards. Fear lingered in every face, but panic had not taken hold.
Not yet.
His father stood beside him in full armor.
"You were right to evacuate early," his father said quietly.
Leon did not respond. His eyes were fixed on the forest's edge.
The two armored warriors stood at the base of the wall, positioned where the earth had begun to destabilize the most.
He could feel it again.
Deep.
Vast.
Moving.
Then the ground ruptured.
Not in a single burst like the burrower before.
In three.
Three massive columns of earth erupted outward as colossal shapes forced themselves upward. They were larger than the first burrower by half again. Their plated backs gleamed faintly beneath soil and broken stone.
And they were aligned.
Not randomly positioned.
Strategically spaced.
"They learned," Leon murmured.
The golden-eyed leader emerged once more at the forest's edge, observing calmly.
"You understand now," it called.
Leon ignored it.
The three burrowers moved in coordinated rhythm. Instead of slamming directly into the wall, they circled just beyond arrow range, carving trenches beneath the surface with deliberate patterns.
Undermining.
Weakening support pillars.
Leon's heart remained steady.
If the foundation failed, the wall would collapse inward.
But there was still time.
He turned sharply to the guards.
"Archers, staggered volleys at exposed joints. Do not waste arrows on plate. Aim for eyes and soft tissue when they surface."
The commands flowed naturally.
He did not hesitate.
He did not question himself.
His father watched him with something close to awe.
The first burrower lunged upward toward the wall base.
Arrows flew.
Most glanced off hardened scales.
Two struck exposed flesh beneath its jaw.
It recoiled.
Leon descended the wall steps without waiting.
The armored warriors fell into position beside him.
"We split," Leon said quickly. "One each for the outer two. I take the center."
They moved instantly.
The center burrower surfaced fully, towering over Leon. Soil cascaded from its armored back. Its golden eyes were smaller than the leader's but filled with brutal intent.
Leon planted his spear.
He did not charge.
He waited.
The creature struck downward with crushing force.
Leon pivoted sharply to the side, letting the massive body embed partially into the ground as it attempted to dive.
He thrust at the same vulnerable joint he had discovered the night before.
The spear penetrated shallowly.
Not enough.
The creature roared and twisted violently.
Leon barely avoided being crushed as it rolled.
He regained footing quickly and adjusted.
It was not about deep penetration.
It was about repetition.
Pressure.
The armored warriors engaged the flanking burrowers with brutal efficiency. Shields absorbed shock. Spears struck in disciplined rhythm.
But the ground continued to tremble.
Leon felt it.
A fourth vibration.
Different.
Slower.
Deeper.
He looked toward the forest.
The golden-eyed leader had stepped aside.
Making space.
The trees parted slowly.
And something immense moved within the shadows.
Larger than the burrowers.
Taller.
Its outline barely visible between trunks.
Leon's stomach tightened.
This was not a burrower.
This was command.
The center creature lunged again.
Leon stepped inside its reach and drove his spear deep into the existing wound with everything he had.
The armored warrior nearest him moved in perfect alignment and struck simultaneously.
The creature convulsed violently.
The ground shook.
Leon felt his footing slip as soil crumbled beneath him.
He did not retreat.
He drove the spear deeper.
The burrower let out a final roar before collapsing forward.
Two remained.
But the deeper vibration intensified.
The trees exploded outward.
A massive figure stepped into full view.
Towering above the burrowers.
Covered in thick, jagged armor plates layered like ancient stone.
Its golden eyes burned brighter than the leader's.
It did not roar.
It did not rush.
It walked.
Each step caused the earth to shift.
Leon felt it in his bones.
This was not a scout.
Not a commander.
This was something ancient.
The golden-eyed leader lowered its head slightly toward the larger entity.
"Prove your line," it said quietly.
The massive creature reached the outer trench.
It did not circle.
It did not undermine.
It struck.
One colossal limb slammed directly into the eastern wall.
Stone cracked.
Guards staggered.
Leon's heart pounded once.
Hard.
If the wall fell here, panic would follow.
He turned to the remaining two burrowers.
"Finish them!" he shouted to the armored warriors.
They obeyed without hesitation.
Leon sprinted toward the massive entity.
He could not face it alone.
But he could not allow it another strike.
The creature swung downward again.
Leon rolled beneath the arc of its limb and thrust at its lower joint.
The spear bounced.
The armor was too thick.
He recalculated instantly.
Joints were reinforced.
The throat was protected.
Eyes too high.
Then he saw it.
Beneath its massive chest, where plate segments overlapped.
A slight gap during movement.
He needed height.
"Shield!" Leon shouted.
One armored warrior broke from the finishing strike and moved instantly to Leon's side.
Leon stepped onto the shield's edge as it angled upward.
He used the momentum to launch himself higher.
The world narrowed.
He saw the gap open briefly as the creature lifted its forelimb for another strike.
Leon thrust downward with every ounce of strength he possessed.
The spear pierced through the exposed seam.
Not fully.
But enough.
The creature roared.
The sound was deafening.
It staggered slightly.
Leon landed hard, rolling to absorb impact.
The armored warrior struck the same point immediately.
Then the second joined.
Three spears aligned once more.
Driving.
Pushing.
Forcing penetration deeper into the vulnerable seam.
The massive creature thrashed violently, slamming into the wall again.
Stone cracked further.
But this time, its movement slowed.
Leon ignored the pain in his shoulder and thrust again.
And again.
And again.
The creature's roar weakened.
Its golden eyes dimmed slightly.
The final thrust drove deeper than the rest.
The massive entity collapsed forward, crashing into the trench it had carved.
The ground shuddered once more.
Then stilled.
Silence spread across the battlefield.
The remaining burrowers were already down.
The golden-eyed leader stood at the forest's edge, staring at the fallen giant.
Its gaze shifted slowly to Leon.
For a long moment, neither moved.
Then the leader spoke.
"You grow faster than expected."
Leon stood, breathing hard, covered in dirt and blood.
"You miscalculated."
The leader's lips curved faintly.
"Yes."
It turned away.
"This will not end with walls."
Leon watched it disappear into the forest.
The system pulsed sharply in his mind.
High-tier entity defeated.
Major battlefield authority recognized.
Capacity expanded.
Leon felt it immediately.
A shift.
A widening.
Behind him, space distorted faintly.
A third armored figure stepped forward from the unseen boundary.
It knelt.
Leon's chest tightened.
Three.
Not overwhelming.
Not an army.
But growth.
He looked at the fallen giant.
Then at the cracked eastern wall.
Then at the forest beyond.
The war had moved beyond testing.
The forest had sent one of its oldest weapons.
And it had fallen.
But the leader's words lingered.
This will not end with walls.
Leon felt it too.
The forest would not simply attack defenses again.
It would seek a different battlefield.
And that battlefield might not be here.
He turned toward his father.
"Begin full fortification," Leon said calmly. "And send quiet scouts deeper into the forest. I want to know what commands them."
His father nodded slowly.
"You are thinking beyond defense."
"Yes."
Leon looked toward the horizon.
"If they escalate again, we cannot remain behind stone."
The wind carried the scent of churned earth and broken stone.
Three warriors now stood behind him.
The wall still stood.
But the war had changed shape.
And next time, it would not test his defense.
It would test his reach.