"You should hide. There's no need to worry about us." Miss Tela's voice came from directly beside me, though I hadn't heard her approach. "Someone as weak as you shouldn't be here—right where monsters could appear."

  I didn't turn to look at her. My eyes remained fixed on the thorn barrier, watching it pulse with leaf energy in the moonlight.

  "I'm curious how you people deal with these monsters. Until now, I've only managed to escape from them."

  Even as I spoke, leaf energy began welling within me unbidden. Not consciously summoned, but rising instinctively—as though my body recognized approaching danger before my mind fully processed it. My heart's wooden rhythm accelerated slightly.

  "You've always run, then." Tela moved to stand between me and the wall, her hand raised in a gesture that was part barrier, part protection. "You're still too weak to face these monsters properly. Yes, you've undergone Revolution, but as you are right now, you're only slightly stronger than an average human. You don't even have a weapon. Please, stand behind me and just watch."

  "Please... allow me to help. I have to experience this myself."

  "Boy, you should listen to her." A new voice interrupted—another man, different from the Awakeners I'd seen in the registration building. "Because this time, I fear these Nightcrawlers are stronger than expected."

  His body emanated powerful leaf energy, but unlike Miss Tela's carefully controlled aura, his was deliberately exposed—broadcast outward like a declaration. He wore unusual gloves covered with sprouting flowers. Small, white, delicate blooms emerged from the fabric, coating his fists in living vegetation.

  Lily of the valley.

  I recognized them instantly, though I had no memory of ever learning about such plants. The knowledge simply existed in my mind, complete and inexplicable.

  "What?" I stared at the flowers with growing unease. "Why do I feel threatened by those gloves?"

  Something about those innocent-looking blooms triggered every survival instinct I'd developed over seventeen years. They looked harmless—beautiful, even—yet my body recoiled from them as though they were venomous snakes.

  "I'll explain later when things are calmer," Tela said. "But do you know what lily of the valley is?"

  "Somewhat..." I forced myself to examine the memory more carefully. The knowledge was there—toxic properties, dangerous compounds, death in delicate white petals—but the source remained frustratingly obscure.

  "That plant is considered moderately poisonous. Consuming it can cause hyperkalemia, gastroenteritis, mental confusion, and arrhythmias." Tela gestured toward the man's gloves. "We Awakeners, after reaching a certain stage of Revolution, unlock a power based on a specific plant. Kevin here can coat parts of his body with lily of the valley, which means his punches inflict those same toxic effects on whatever he strikes—people or Nightcrawlers."

  "Wait..." I looked between them. "So your lianas are your power?"

  "They are. But when I trapped you earlier, I used them merely as restraints. Otherwise, I could have killed you." Her expression grew more serious. "We're capable of using our abilities in different ways and to different extents. Kevin, for example, only inflicts mental confusion during training sessions so he doesn't accidentally kill his sparring partners. But against monsters, he deliberately uses the full hundred percent lethality."

  "That's incredible!" Excitement overwhelmed caution. "I want to know more details!"

  "WILL I UNLOCK A POWER TOO?!" I leaped forward, unable to contain myself.

  "Calm down! This isn't the right moment!" Tela pushed me back gently but firmly.

  "That's unfortunate, but could I at least see how you guys deal with th—"

  The words died in my throat.

  My body reacted before conscious thought, every muscle tensing simultaneously. I felt presences underground—multiple signatures moving through the earth with predatory purpose. But what made me spin around completely was something else. Something I'd never encountered during my years in the forest. Something abnormal even by the standards of mutated monsters.

  For just a brief moment, my entire being shook with recognition I didn't understand.

  "Miss Tela..." My voice came out strained. "How many Awakeners are in the city right now?"

  "Aside from me? Seven. They're scattered around the perimeter so we don't have exposed weak points." She studied me with growing concern. "Why do you ask?"

  "Something is coming." I couldn't stop the trembling that had seized my limbs. "Something nefarious is waking up."

  "There's nothing like that. This is an ordinary night wave—no need to worry so much."

  Then her expression changed. Her eyes widened slightly, and I knew she'd felt it too.

  "I guess you sensed it now as well," I said quietly.

  "We'll talk later." All warmth had vanished from her voice, replaced by cold authority. "That is no ordinary Nightcrawler."

  Her power erupted.

  Leaf energy surged outward from her body in a visible wave, washing over the entire city like a green tide. I'd known she was holding back before, but this casual display demonstrated just how vast the gap was between her abilities and mine. The energy carried purpose—a signal, a warning, a command.

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  Throughout Retla, lianas burst from the ground inside buildings. Not attacking, but guiding. They formed living arrows pointing toward the city center, directing people away from the outer districts. Citizens responded immediately, clearly trained for this exact scenario. Families grabbed essential belongings and hurried along the paths Tela's plants had created.

  "Miss Tela! Let me help you!" I shouted over the rising commotion.

  "YOU FELT ONLY ONE, RIGHT?!" She was already moving toward the wall, her body tense with combat readiness.

  "YES! ONLY ONE, IN THAT DIRECTION!" I pointed toward the source of that terrible presence.

  "GOOD! I'LL MOVE ACCORDINGLY!"

  More lianas emerged, creating an efficient network of guidance throughout the city. Within five minutes, crowds were flowing toward designated safe buildings near the center—structures reinforced specifically to shelter civilians during Nightcrawler attacks. It was a magnificent display of utility and efficiency. Her leaf energy barely decreased despite controlling hundreds of individual plants across the entire settlement. The precision was almost godlike.

  I was so impressed by the coordination that I almost forgot why it was necessary.

  Then the screech came.

  Not a roar or howl, but something worse—a sound that shouldn't emerge from any living throat. It scraped against my eardrums like metal on stone, raising every hair on my body. Thanks to the moonlight—the three moons had risen, casting silver illumination across the landscape—I could see what produced that horrible noise.

  Four meters tall. Three meters wide. An abomination that had once been an elephant.

  The carcass was infested with violet moss that pulsed with sickly luminescence. Bones jutted through rotted flesh, but these weren't normal bones—they'd fused with wood, creating hybrid spikes that protruded at unnatural angles. Its mouth gaped open, revealing more of that wood-bone fusion. Where flesh should have been, strange glowing violet mud oozed out, dripping onto the ground and corroding every plant it touched. Grass withered. Flowers dissolved. Even the earth itself seemed to recoil from that substance.

  Everyone present felt the wrongness instinctively. This wasn't just a dangerous predator. This was corruption made manifest.

  The thing began walking toward the city with ponderous steps. Its decayed body should have collapsed under its own weight, but the Revolutionized parts—the wood fused with bone, the violet moss holding everything together—kept it moving.

  Tela looked at me, and I saw something I hadn't expected in her eyes: fear mixed with desperate determination.

  "Lemi! I need your help!"

  "I'LL DO ANYTHING! PLEASE TELL ME!"

  "LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY!" She grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to focus on her words despite the approaching horror. "I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH LEAF ENERGY, BUT I NEED YOU TO SLOWLY AND CONSTANTLY INPUT YOUR POWER INTO THE WALL! YOU'LL REPAIR ANY DAMAGE IT SUSTAINS! SEE THAT GREEN DOT IN THE CENTER THERE? PLACE YOUR HANDS ON IT AND START INFUSING!"

  She released me and sprinted toward the wall, her body already wreathed in combat-ready energy.

  "I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU!" In one fluid motion, she leaped over the thorn barrier and landed on the other side, positioning herself between the city and the abomination.

  "LEAVE IT TO ME! I'LL DO WHAT I CAN!"

  I ran to the green dot she'd indicated—a faintly glowing mark embedded in the wall at chest height. My job wasn't glamorous or powerful, but it was necessary. A strong defense would let the fighters focus on combat without worrying about breaches.

  I placed both hands on the mark and felt immediate connection.

  Not just to the wall, but to the entire network of brambles surrounding Retla. It was as though I could perceive every thorn, every vine, every interconnected root. Beneath the defensive barrier, I sensed "leaf batteries"—reservoirs of stored energy that were already depleting as smaller Nightcrawlers tested the perimeter with probing attacks.

  "I understand..." I closed my eyes, remembering how I'd channeled energy into that branch during my fight with the erratic wolf. "Slowly. Carefully."

  Leaf energy began building inside my body. My heart pumped faster, circulating both red blood and green simultaneously. I felt more alive than ever before—as though this energy gave me purpose beyond mere survival. I channeled it through my palms into the green mark.

  The response was immediate.

  Energy flowed throughout the entire wall system, seeking out damaged sections and repairing them. The brambles grew brighter, their glow intensifying. New thorns sprouted alongside the originals—smaller but denser, and somehow I knew they were sturdier despite their size. The entire defensive network strengthened under my continuous input.

  I only told him to replenish the missing energy. What the hell is happening behind me? Tela's thought reached me somehow through our shared connection to the wall. She could sense the improvements I was making, even while fighting.

  "Well... I'll ask questions later!" Her voice carried back to me faintly.

  Thousands of lianas erupted from the ground beyond the wall, enveloping and crushing the lesser Nightcrawlers that had emerged alongside the abomination. Her display of power was breathtaking—I couldn't see it directly, but I could feel her energy spreading across the entire area. A massive, sweeping attack that prevented any monster from advancing.

  Yet that same devastating assault meant nothing to the corrupted elephant.

  When her lianas touched its body, they withered instantly. The violet mud corroded plant matter on contact, dissolving Tela's constructs as though they were paper touched by flame.

  I wonder if she'll be alright, I thought while continuing to pour energy into the wall. Slowly but steadily, maintaining the flow without depleting myself too quickly.

  Strangely, I could feel my reserves replenishing even as I channeled them outward. It wasn't daytime—photosynthesis shouldn't work under moonlight. Confused, I opened my eyes and saw my shadow projected sharply against the wall.

  Understanding dawned.

  "This is supposed to happen only during daylight... not moonlight too." I stared at my shadow, then up at the three risen moons. Somehow, their combined illumination was strong enough to trigger the same photosynthetic process that sunlight provided.

  "GGGRAAAA!"

  The abomination's screech tore through the night again, but this time it did more than make noise. Particles of that glowing violet mud sprayed outward from its mouth and wounds, scattering in all directions. The substance struck both living and dead Nightcrawlers indiscriminately.

  Those still alive began screeching in agony, writhing as the mud burned through their flesh.

  But the dead ones underwent something far worse.

  Their corpses began... changing. A horrific transformation that made Revolution look gentle by comparison. The violet mud acted as a catalyst, stripping away flesh and binding exposed bones with wooden growths. The process was rapid—seconds, not minutes—and when it finished, the dead monsters rose again as skeletal amalgamations of bone, wood, and corruption.

  "What is happening?" Tela's voice carried clear horror. "I've never seen this phenomenon before..."

  Neither had I. But watching those corrupted corpses stagger to their feet, I felt that same inexplicable recognition I'd experienced earlier. As though some buried part of my memory knew exactly what this was—and knew how terrible it could become.

  The violet mud continued spreading, touching more corpses, creating more abominations.

  And in the center of it all, the corrupted elephant took another ponderous step toward Retla's walls.