Chapter 72 - 71: The Morning after
The impossible pillar of white light continued piercing through the night sky.
Far away from Velaris, countless survivors stared at the strange phenomenon with fear, confusion, and desperate hope.
But inside King’s Territory...
The light was not the only thing dividing the living and the dead.
Outside the Lord’s Palace, smoke from funeral pyres drifted through the cold night air.
The flames burned quietly, consuming what remained of those who had fallen during the Beast Tide.
Every now and then, a piece of timber collapsed inside one of the pyres, sending a shower of sparks into the darkness. The sickly smell of burnt flesh clung stubbornly to the night air, refusing to fade no matter how the wind shifted.
Survivors sat nearby in silence.
Some held onto the hands of their injured family members.
Some stared blankly into the darkness.
Others simply slept wherever they could, their bodies too exhausted to care about the uncomfortable ground beneath them.
The territory was wounded. Broken.... Still struggling to breathe.
But inside the Lord’s Palace...
Everything was peaceful.
Warm light illuminated the spacious chamber.
A large wooden table sat near the window, covered with half-finished dishes and a bottle of expensive wine that had barely been touched.
Fresh food remained untouched despite the countless people outside who had gone hungry since the Beast Tide.
The sound of quiet breathing filled the room.
On the large bed, Tobias slept comfortably beneath soft blankets.
The exhaustion of battle did not show on his face.
There was no worry. No fear... No sign that countless residents had lost their lives only hours ago.
Two beautiful women rested beside him, their eyes closed as they slept peacefully.
Outside the chamber door, several guards stood watch.
However, unlike soldiers guarding a battlefield, their posture was relaxed.
One leaned against the wall while another quietly yawned.
None of them looked particularly concerned about what was happening outside.
Until one of them glanced toward the nearby window.
The reflection of the white beacon still remained faintly visible against the night.
A young guard frowned. "The light is still there..."
The others followed his gaze. For a moment, nobody spoke. They had all seen it.
The strange pillar that appeared without warning.
The impossible sight that had spread across the territory.
The young guard hesitated before lowering his voice. "Should we report it to the Lord?"
The older guard beside him immediately looked toward the closed chamber door. "Do you want to be the one who wakes him?"
The young guard quickly shook his head. "No."
Another guard chuckled quietly. "Then don’t."
"But what if it’s important?"
The captain of the group, who had remained silent until now, sighed. "Lord Tobias gave clear orders."
His eyes moved toward the door. "No interruptions."
The young guard looked back toward the window. "But everyone saw it."
"And everyone can still see it tomorrow."
The captain folded his arms.
"If it matters, Lord Tobias will deal with it in the morning."
The others nodded.
None of them wanted to risk angering the person who held authority over the territory.
The white beacon continued shining in the distance.
A symbol of something unknown.
A possible salvation.
A possible danger.
But inside the Lord’s Palace...
Nobody moved.
Nobody knocked.
And while the people of King’s Territory struggled through the aftermath of the Beast Tide...
Tobias continued sleeping peacefully through the night.
Morning arrived without ceremony.
The first rays of sunlight crept over the battered wooden walls of King’s Territory, revealing destruction that the darkness had mercifully hidden.
The funeral pyres had burned through most of the night.
Now only glowing embers remained, sending thin streams of smoke into the pale morning sky. Even so, the bitter stench of burnt flesh still lingered heavily over the settlement.
People were already awake.
Not because they had rested.
Because there was too much to do.
Some survivors quietly repaired collapsed tents with broken planks and torn canvas. Others gathered shattered spears and damaged shields from the streets, stacking anything that could still be used into neat piles.
Near the outer fence, several men worked silently to reinforce the broken barricades.
No one spoke unless absolutely necessary.
The lively conversations that had once filled King’s Territory had disappeared with the Beast Tide.
Near the gates, however, another change had begun.
People were leaving.
An elderly couple adjusted the straps of two worn packs before stepping beyond the open gate without looking back.
A father carried his sleeping daughter while his wife limped beside him, leaning on a crude walking stick.
Three young adventurers exchanged one final glance with the settlement before disappearing into the forest.
Nobody tried to stop them.
For many, leaving was not only about fear of the wilderness.
It was about everything that had happened before the Beast Tide.
The forced residency.
The gold they had spent just to remain inside the settlement.
The promise that these walls would protect them.
And the realization that those promises had not been enough.
The few men assigned to guard the entrance merely watched in silence.
Some survivors followed the direction where the impossible pillar of light had stood the previous night.
Others simply walked away from King’s Territory, choosing the unknown over staying where so many dreams had died.
One by one...
The settlement that Tobias had fought so desperately to upgrade began losing the very people who had made that upgrade possible.
Inside the Lord’s Palace...
Its owner still hadn’t stepped outside.
The first rays of dawn slipped through the narrow gap in the curtains.
Tobias stirred.
He let out a slow breath before lazily opening his eyes.
For a few moments, he simply lay there, staring at the wooden ceiling as though there wasn’t a single thing in the world demanding his attention.
One of the women beside him had already awakened.
The moment she noticed his eyes open, she immediately lowered her gaze and quietly sat up.
The second followed a heartbeat later.
Neither dared speak.
Neither dared move too quickly.
They had both learned the same lesson.
Never irritate Tobias first thing in the morning.
He stretched leisurely before sitting upright.
The blanket slid from his shoulders, revealing several fading scratches across his chest from the previous day’s battle.
They looked superficial.
Hardly worth mentioning.
Certainly not enough to ruin his mood.
One of the women hurriedly picked up a dark robe from a nearby chair and held it out with both hands. "My... Lord."
As Tobias stretched out his hand to collect it, she flinched like he was going to strike her.
He didn’t mind her reaction
He draped it over his shoulders and loosely tied the sash around his waist, leaving the front partially open.
The women quietly stepped aside, relief flickering across their faces as he walked toward the door.
Outside, several of his lackeys immediately straightened.
They had remained there since the previous night.
One of them swallowed nervously. "B... Boss..." The word slipped out before he could stop himself.
His face instantly paled. "I... I mean... Lord."
Tobias paused.
His eyes settled on the trembling man for a brief moment before he continued walking.
The lackey released the breath he had been holding.
No punishment.
Not today.
"What is it?" Tobias asked flatly.
The men exchanged uncertain glances.
Finally, the oldest among them stepped forward.
"My Lord... last night... a strange pillar of white light appeared beyond the forest."
Tobias raised an eyebrow.
"A pillar of light?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"It stretched into the sky. Everyone in the territory saw it."
Another lackey quickly added, "People have been talking about it since last night."
"And..."
He hesitated.
"Some people have already started leaving the territory this morning."
Tobias stopped walking.
For a second, the lackeys stiffened.
Then...
He laughed.
A short, dismissive laugh.
"They’re leaving?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"And where exactly do they think they’re going?"
No one answered.
Tobias shook his head.
"A few lights in the sky and suddenly everyone thinks they’ve found salvation."
He walked toward one of the palace windows, looking over the territory below.
From here, he could see people repairing damaged tents.
Workers replacing sections of the broken fence.
Smoke still rising from the funeral pyres.
The Beast Tide had been costly.
Far more costly than he had anticipated.
But they had survived.
That was what mattered.
His village was already Level Two.
None of those fools wandering into the wilderness could build another settlement overnight.
Building a territory required more than ambition and resources.
Without a Lord Token, all the gold in the world meant nothing.
Sooner or later, reality would catch up with them.
The monsters would hunt them.
Their food would run out.
Their courage would disappear.
And when that happened...
They would return.
His lips curved into a faint smile.
"They’ll learn."
He turned away from the window.
"If they wish to leave..."
His voice remained calm.
"...let them."
The lackeys exchanged uneasy glances.
None of them questioned the order.
They simply lowered their heads.
"Yes, My Lord."
Satisfied, Tobias continued walking deeper into the palace.
The matter was already settled in his mind.
The wilderness would teach them a lesson.
And when it did...
King’s Territory would still be waiting.