An ash-coloured sun rose above the horizon like blood from a wound, burning everything with its pale light. The battlefield stank of blood and death, soldiers screaming their final cries in the dust.

Even so, they staked their lives and the future of humanity on this battle today, not knowing if they'd return alive or dead. Not that it mattered much either way. After all, most people didn't even live to be old men—

"Gah!" a young soldier dressed in a worn-out armour yell echoed through his head as another soldier with strong arms grasped him by the collar and hoisted him up.

The broken wall was a symbol of humanity's unpreparedness against the beast attacks. There weren't many defenders left standing after an assault earlier, leaving only piles of corpses strewn across the battlefield, along with scorched earth, destroyed walls, and abandoned weapons.

The wall stood on the edge of a cliff and faced out over a vast desert plain covered with rolling hills, dunes, mountains, canyons, and craters, where bones of thousands of slain monsters lay scattered among burnt grassland and burned trees.

With no hope for survival, the soldiers fled towards safety behind these natural defences. In truth, it wasn't enough to stop the beasts who swarmed the front lines from crushing them beneath their massive strength.

What little defence there was, had been shattered, pounded into pieces by monstrous fists, goring horns, stabbing claws, and sharp teeth.

A few soldiers remained at their posts when the beast wave finally crashed onto the outer edges of the fortification, forcing themselves forward to block any escape routes so that others could flee deeper within the inner region of the mountainous rock formation.

One young man took charge of defending one such passageway until all but two remaining warriors were able to regroup inside. The last survivor yelled at them with frantic desperation.

"Run!" He pointed down the path they'd staked their lives on just moments before. "Run to the mountain fort! To Aysel! I can't hold the beasts here much longer!"

But despite knowing full well what fate awaited him, the warrior couldn't bring himself to run away. Instead, his face twisted in rage as his hands clenched tight around his sword hilt.

"No," his voice trembled. "I'm staying right here. I'll fight till the end."

"No, you mustn't!" a woman shouted, running up next to him with her sword drawn from its scabbard. She grabbed the young man by the collar, pulled back on it hard, and stared straight into his eyes. "You can't help us by dying—or worse—trying to save our sorry hides. Come on, now. Let's get out of here while we still have the chance!"

"I don't care. There isn't any place for me anymore. They've already taken my wife and son . . ." The man trailed off with a quivering breath that choked with tears, causing the girl beside him to shudder with grief at her companion's heartache.

But they had no time to waste pitying the young man. The sounds of monster screams and snarls grew closer, along with the stench of blood and rotting flesh, so the pair hurriedly turned their backs to the battlefield and fled deeper inside the mountain, where a fortress is barely holding against the swarms of monsters.

Somewhere at the centre of those countless dunes were war beasts roaming about savagely devouring everything within reach.

This was a common sight throughout the land, and it would be considered an extraordinary victory if even half the people managed to make it alive to safety.

Yet, not everyone made it in time; those unlucky souls were devoured by beasts lurking beyond Aysel Fort's protection, which served as both shield against the beast's attacks and humanity's spearhead against the beasts.

The fear these beasts inflict on humanity has created a deadly chain reaction that causes anyone who stumbles upon one to become a victim themselves—that much, even the animals know instinctively.

"Virah", meaning "monsters" in the local language, became common slang to describe these creatures. There is no way to tell whether or not some civilization still survived outside the natural fortress created by the Mountains' sheer cliffs and steep slopes.

Without any way to truly describes these monsters or how to fight against them, those who lived within the mountain range had no choice but to seal themselves away from the rest of the world out of fear.

"Commander Aysel! The outer defences have collapsed!" shouted another soldier, running up beside the commander at the top of his tower of stone overlooking all the battle below. It wasn't enough of a rise for the young man to see what lay behind him without crouching low. "They're almost through our lines . . . sir"

A pained grimace crossed the commander's face before turning towards a woman sitting next to him atop her throne of rock. She looked pained herself too, although her expression was filled with grief and regret.

Her pained features paled as she stuttered to speak, struggling to find her words. "This is the end, isn't it? After all this, we'll lose the last bastion."

Her voice quivered like reeds in wind, stifled by despair so powerful it could break down even mountains—even hearts.

Her hands shook while clutching onto her sword so hard that veins bulged along her forearms and wrist; they resembled thin white roots that protruded from a tree whose branches reached high into a cloudless sky.

But that didn't mean that she had abandoned hope. If anything, she'd become more resolute than ever. "If nothing else, there are still few soldiers left to hold off the horde of monsters, giving us precious time to flee the fortress and regroup somewhere safer, deep inside the mysterious mountain range the local called Ir'ces Tar'rah"

She never finished speaking. The ground beneath them quaked from an explosion several dozen meters away, causing them to stumble forward on their feet. A thick plume of smoke rose from the area, filling their lungs.

A wall of sand exploded outward in all directions from where the blast originated. They were barely able to maintain their balance.

"This is our final stand," the commander muttered his tone heavy with emotion. "We have no choice but to try and stop those beasts at all costs! Let's do whatever we must!"

The woman's gaze flashed red, her eyes glistening with rage as she bared her teeth and growled savagely as if her pained voice had cursed the world.

At that moment, a sudden feeling came over her body as her blood boiled like magma within a volcano, bursting forth out of her pores. She could feel something rekindle itself in her chest—a power hidden deep within her bones which awakened in response to the dire situation, reinvigorating its energy to return to full strength.

"I've broken through! My cultivation—looks like our Ancestors have not abandoned us yet." With each word, she grew more excited until she suddenly stood up straight again, ready for battle despite how exhausted she already felt from fighting back against the beast waves so far earlier.

This newfound source re-established her willpower, quashing her feelings of grief and pain until only one thought remained in her mind: "If I'm going to die here, then so be it."

Her words didn't reflect courage or bravery; it was merely her acceptance of reality. There wasn't much else to it than that; after all, if she didn't accept what lay ahead, why would anyone else?

"Commander Aysel, take care of things on your end. Don't waste too much time getting away," the woman commanded the young man sitting beside her on the stone throne before strolling down the steps with the same casual stride as though nothing happened.

"My lady! Where are you going?" Commander Aysel stuttered with surprise and confusion as the woman strode past him with no concern for the Virah's presence at all.

She walked away, stalking towards the smouldering wreckage and charred remains left behind by her comrades who died in defence of mankind's last bastion. The stench of burning flesh choked her nose and throat while blood covered her armour and soaked into her leather tunic and skirt beneath.

Blood and smoke rose above her head in thick billows like storm clouds, blinding her vision even further.

But this doesn't stop her as she started chanting quietly under her breath, releasing the magic power building within her body, a power that once filled her whole body, only now reduced to the size of her fist.

This power, imbued with the elementals' blessings, fed off the vitality of nature to fuel itself . . . or devour everything nearby that it touches: plants, animals, people—even the Virah.

But she knew better than to use it against humans or herself—that kind of reckless behaviour is not allowed among civilized races. Instead, she chose to harness its destructive potential against the beast.

The flames crackling in her palms burned hotter and brighter than they ever did in life until suddenly the world exploded into white-hot light. Her eyes watered from the heat and ash clouded the air, filling her nostrils with burnt fur, hair, skin, feathers, scales, and claws, along with their acrid stench. Yet, she didn't flinch, stumbling forward instead.

"My lady!" Commander Aysel ran up to the woman, grabbed onto the sleeve of her clothing, and pulled on it hard, desperate to hold her back. "Don't be foolish! This will never work—"

He felt yanked backwards as if the wind had picked him up and thrown him aside. The commander let out a gasp and stumbled several meters backwards before regaining his balance again. Then, as quickly as it came, the feeling receded and the world returned to normal; the commander shook in fear at what he had just seen.

The soldiers and Virah in front of the fortress were all dead—everyone except for the commander and the people within the fortress. Their bodies lay sprawled in piles around the area. Even though the Virah's bodies looked like piles of ashes.

Beyond the mountain range stood nothing but black smoke rising into the sky like the smouldering remains of countless forests burning into oblivion. It was a sight which no one would forget, regardless of how much time passed.

Then, amidst this destruction, the Ir'ces Tar'rah mountainous range stands proud once more, having survived the ordeal unscathed. The sun shines through the clear blue sky and illuminates everything around the mountain—the beautiful green fields, lush forests, sparkling lakes, and majestic mountains.

But despite everything that happened here, humanity has not abandoned hope either: In fact, they are filled with even greater resolve to protect humanity from future danger, rekindling their stoves to make sure that food won't go to waste, training recruits so they may become stronger than they ever imagined possible, building anew, redefining themselves, reinvigorating their determination.

The ruins of Aysel Fort soon transformed into the foundation stone of the Irricester City, named after the fallen Princess of the Mountain, who gave her life fighting against the beasts.

An institute was established near the fortress where she fell, preserving the knowledge she had left behind to fight against the Virah; she knew there would come a time when humanity would need it again to defend against the monstrous threat of the Virahs lurking beyond the wall.

From that point onwards, the Grand Irricester Institute serves as the hope for the future of humanity.