At the first rays of dawn, three women awoke.

  They tended to their appearances with careful precision before eating a modest breakfast—enough to carry them through the day.

  After packing their base, they set out toward the nearest path, walking with purpose.

  Hurriedly, they ascended the upward slope.

  —

  "Again, there’s nothing in sight," said Deveralna. "Is it supposed to be somewhere around here?"

  They stood in the middle of nowhere. A vast expanse of black dirt stretched endlessly before them.

  "That’s where it should be. At least, according to the data I gathered."

  Thoughtful, Stella brought a hand to her chin, her gaze fixed on the horizon.

  "Either we’ve missed it, or we haven’t reached it yet," May said, crossing her arms in puzzlement. "We haven’t smelled that profane stench, so I’d argue we haven’t encountered it."

  The others nodded firmly, sharing her thought.

  "Let’s look around a bit more," Stella said. "If you smell the faintest trace, speak up."

  Her face sharpened as she looked at them.

  "Let’s go."

  She led the way, her determined steps sinking into the earth, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of the spine-like structure.

  —

  "This smell!"

  Abruptly stopping, May brought a hand to her face, shielding her nose and mouth from the foul stench.

  "I can smell it too," Deveralna said, dropping to the ground. Her wings flared wide before retracting around her hips. Disgust etched her face, confirming May’s senses.

  Stella immediately drew Catharsis. The group turned east toward their objective.

  They advanced cautiously for several kilometers, the stench growing heavier with every step.

  The dirt, darker than the ground they had stood on the day before, promised a different encounter. The scent and feel of rotten earth made every step a labor.

  —

  Around noon, they reached the strange pillar.

  "This is the exact same scene," May observed.

  A grotesque flowerbed bloomed atop a heap of human bones. The flowers pulsed with a faint, unnatural light, as if breathing. Their petals writhed like living things, siphoning marrow from the dead and converting it into some incomprehensible, dreadful energy. A sickly scent lingered in the air—half rot, half perfume—that clogged their nose.

  Atop the mountain of whitened bones, the spine of the pillar arched and twisted, blackened veins crawling along its surface like a living wound. It loomed above them, a monolith poised to split open and spill something worse into the world.

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  With a single glance, the group knew what it was.

  "Let me destroy it."

  Deveralna slithered forward, leaving a serpentine trail behind her. Electricity crackled across her left hand, hungry to annihilate anything in its path. Her breathing was steady, but her shoulders tensed as if bracing for a storm.

  "Wait a second!" Stella leapt in front of her, unease written on her face.

  "Could you give me a minute? I want to gather more data from this one too. Please!"

  They held a tense silence for a moment.

  "Alright. I was too eager to destroy it. I wasn’t thinking. Sorry."

  Deveralna closed her hand and stepped back without protest.

  "You don’t have to apologize! It’s my fault for not saying it sooner."

  Stella shook her hands dismissively, careful not to escalate.

  "…"

  But May, silent behind them, was too focused to intervene.

  Something's not quite right. I know this feeling.

  Her gaze fixed on the mountains of bones, stretching endlessly toward the pillar—or so it seemed.

  "Hey." She called out, lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes at the same spot. "Isn’t it strange that only one of them is facing us?"

  "Huh?" They both turned quickly, following her gaze. "You’re right."

  None of the skeletons at the previous pillar had faced them—each had reached for the spine-like formation in the hope of salvation.

  "Stay on guard. I have a bad feeling about this."

  Without hesitation, May drew her sword, angling the blade diagonally before her chest. She bent her knees slightly, shifting her weight forward. Her muscles coiled tight, ready to strike or defend at a moment’s notice.

  The stillness before her was deceptive. She could feel something waiting to move.

  Out of Orion’s wives, she was the most attuned to such details. Reborn through fire, she had spent most of her second life as a soldier.

  Breathing steadily, she exhaled a low, heated sigh.

  "I’ve seen this before. Beasts hiding within the corpses of their fallen comrades, ready to strike the moment you draw near."

  "We lost many good men and women. Let’s not join them," she added, her blade catching a glint of red.

  "I trust your instincts. I’m not foolish enough to argue with a former general."

  Deveralna opened her wings and leapt backward, putting distance between her and May.

  She's not one to make baseless comments. I know that for a fact. Focusing her gaze on the same conspicuous skeleton, she sighed lightly. I am far from her level yet. I am reminded of how different our upbringing was once again.

  A former general who protected our country for countless years and a sheltered princess who only recently explored the outside world.

  Being the most powerful Remnant doesn’t mean anything if I can’t wield the power at my disposal.

  She hoped to one day stand firmly beside her, without fear of pulling her down.

  On the other hand, Stella—unable to sense what May did—moved silently behind her.

  May advanced toward the bone heap, hands poised for attack.

  "Nothing’s moving…" Stella frowned, too inexperienced a fighter to notice the faint change in the air.

  But Deveralna disagreed.

  "No. It’s coming. I can feel it too."

  Her gaze fixed on one peculiar skeleton, its hands curled inward as though controlling the strings of a puppet.

  Inside its empty sockets, a darkness so cold it swallowed light lingered, leaving only the suggestion of a gaze that should never exist.

  Then, as May stepped within mere meters…

  Its skull jerked toward her in a horrifyingly sudden motion, jaws etching a monstrous smile.

  May struck without hesitation, driving her sword downward—though she felt no resistance after striking.

  The skeleton had avoided the blow, disappearing in a misty blackness.

  "Tsk! What a sneaky little rat." She clicked her tongue and surged forward, trampling flowers and bones in pursuit.

  The skeleton moved like a ghost, sliding through the corpses feeding the pillar. Within seconds, it reached the top.

  Dark mist followed, clouding May’s vision and forcing her to retreat.

  It stared at her, jaw half-open, its skull twisted into a macabre mockery of a grin—as though aware of something she was not.

  CLACK CLACK CLACK…

  The sound of its jaws grinding filled the air with unease. Within its empty sockets, green eyes ignited.

  Stella fixed her gaze on May’s back, who held her sword close—a silent challenge laced with quiet confidence.

  "I’ll never doubt your intuition again."

  Looking over her shoulder, May nodded.

  "I’ve fought enough to know instinct is a skill forged in battle. When your life is on the line, it cultivates itself." She exhaled a long breath of steam and faced forward. "Now, pick up your weapon."

  As if awaiting her words, the skeleton moved.

  The dark mist spread across the bone heap, curling upward in grand motions.

  "Time to show our mettle."

  Countless skeletons rose from their eternal rest. The trio braced for their first battle.