The unnatural, suffocating eclipse that had swallowed the Beastworld sun did not immediately unleash a rain of hellfire or a horde of demons.

Instead, it simply hung there, a massive, bruised shadow painting the rugged mountain passes in eerie, twilight hues.

But inside the Matriarch’s carriage, the apocalyptic weather was entirely, deliberately ignored.

Kaelen had designed the rolling fortress to be impenetrable, but inside, it was a masterpiece of Warlord pampering. The floor and walls were lined with half a foot of pristine, enchanted dire-wolf pelts. Several glowing, floating orbs of swamp magic, courtesy of Syris, provided a warm, ambient light and a heavily purified, perfectly humidified atmosphere that completely negated Roxy’s lingering morning sickness.

Roxy was practically wrapped in bubble wrap. She lay reclined on a massive pile of velvet cushions, completely swaddled in a crimson blanket.

"Open," Caspian murmured smoothly, his striking aquatic eyes crinkling with deep affection.

Roxy obediently parted her lips. Caspian, sitting cross-legged right beside her, gently placed a peeled, honey-glazed winter berry onto her tongue. The aquatic Warlord had claimed the first interior guard shift, deciding that keeping their pregnant Matriarch hydrated and fed was the highest tactical priority.

Sitting on the furs beside Caspian was toddler Zale. The little merman-shifter had his webbed hands raised, giggling hysterically as his father conjured small, floating bubbles of pure, purified water for him to pop.

It was a perfectly sweet, romantic breather amidst a military deployment. It showcased exactly how beautifully their blended, chaotic pack functioned, even on the treacherous mountain roads.

But peace was a fleeting illusion, primarily because of a certain fiery-red menace.

Little Fedor had absolutely, categorically refused to be left behind at the Manor with Dena. The moment Roxy had tried to hand the fox kit over to the wolf helper, Fedor had let out an ear-splitting screech, burying his tiny claws into Roxy’s tunic and refusing to let go. So, the youngest prince of the Iron-Wood was currently inside the carriage, and he was an absolute terror.

"Fedor, stop that," Roxy laughed softly, pointing a scolding finger.

The tiny, bright red fluff-ball was currently engaged in a vicious, highly aggressive wrestling match with a thick, scaly black appendage. Zarek, who was flying perimeter guard directly above the carriage, had deliberately let his long draconic tail drape down through an open ventilation slot in the reinforced roof specifically to entertain his son.

Fedor let out a fierce, high-pitched yip!, pouncing on the black scales and gnawing on the hardened spikes with his tiny, harmless teeth.

The heavy iron grate of the carriage window slid open, letting in a blast of chilled air. Torian’s massive, fur-covered face peeked inside. The White Tiger Alpha was trotting right alongside the heavy wheels, his blue eyes sweeping the plush interior to ensure his Queen was perfectly comfortable.

"Are the heating charms holding, Matriarch?" Torian rumbled, his deep voice vibrating through the reinforced Iron-Wood. "I can have Syris cast another—"

Before Torian could finish his sentence, a streak of fiery red launched from the velvet cushions. Fedor propelled himself entirely across the carriage and latched directly onto Torian’s large, white, tufted tiger ear, chewing enthusiastically.

Torian let out a booming, rumbling sigh, completely unbothered by the sharp little teeth gnawing on his cartilage. He simply went cross-eyed trying to look at the kit dangling from his ear.

"The boy has the hunting instincts of an apex predator," Torian stated proudly, gently nudging the fox back inside the window with a massive, padded paw. "Keep resting, Roxy. We are approaching the neutral borders."

The iron grate slid shut, sealing the warm, domestic bubble once more. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Roxy leaned her head back against the velvet cushions, letting out a soft, contented sigh. Caspian reached over, his cool, elegant fingers gently brushing a stray curl from her forehead. Despite the looming threat of the Demon King, being surrounded by the overwhelming, unified devotion of her husbands made her feel utterly, fundamentally invincible.

For the next two hours, the journey was an absolute, lulling rhythm of grinding wheels and the heavy, synchronized marching of the Vanguard armada.

They crossed the massive, jagged stone markers that separated the Northern territories from the neutral expanse—a vast, frozen wasteland of dead pines and deep ravines that belonged to no specific clan.

The absolute second the front wheels of Roxy’s carriage rolled over the border line, the peaceful illusion violently, catastrophically shattered.

It wasn’t a roar. It wasn’t a howl. It was a sound that completely defied Beastworld biology—a horrific, high-pitched, metallic shrieking that sounded like steel being torn apart by a grinder.

The heavy carriage violently lurched, the dire-wolves pulling it letting out panicked, deafening snarls as they slammed to a halt.

"Ambush!" Kaelen’s lethal, commanding roar echoed across the wasteland.

Inside the carriage, Caspian moved with blinding speed. The aquatic King instantly abandoned his gentle demeanor. He lunged over Roxy, using his own broad back to completely shield her and the children. His hands ignited with high-pressure, razor-sharp torrents of deep-sea magic.

Roxy clutched Fedor and Zale to her chest, her heart hammering wildly as she peered through the thick, reinforced glass of the carriage window.

Pouring out of the deep ravines and dropping from the dead pine trees were creatures the Beastworld had never encountered before. They were an absolute, horrific perversion of the system’s code. They were corrupted, demonic entities—masses of jagged, obsidian-like limbs, oozing thick, dark void-blood. They had no discernible heads, only gaping, vertical maws lined with hundreds of needle-like teeth, and far too many glowing, sickly purple eyes scattered across their malformed torsos.

They did not target the elite soldiers. They did not attack the supply wagons.

They launched themselves in a massive, coordinated tidal wave directly at Roxy’s carriage.

Abaddon’s strike team had arrived.

But the Architect of the heavens had grossly underestimated the sheer, apocalyptic fury of a Vanguard armada protecting a pregnant Matriarch.

The Alphas did not simply defend; they unleashed a terrifying, continent-shaking massacre.

A massive, deafening shadow slammed into the frozen earth directly in front of the carriage. Zarek landed, shifting instantly into his humanoid form. The Dragon King didn’t even draw a weapon. He threw his arms wide, unleashing a roaring, blinding tsunami of black hellfire. The flames didn’t just burn the demonic beasts; they instantly, violently incinerated them into fine, gray ash before they could even scream.

On the left flank, the air temperature completely plummeted to absolute zero. Kaelen moved like a blur of lethal silver. The King of the North swung his massive broadsword, sending out shockwaves of pure, jagged ice that impaled dozens of the horrors at once, freezing them solid before his Northern soldiers shattered them into dust.

To the right, Torian was a force of pure, unstoppable brute force. The colossal White Tiger didn’t use magic. He waded directly into the swarm, his massive claws ripping the corrupted beasts limb from malformed limb, completely tearing the ambush apart with raw, feral savagery.

And from the rear, Syris orchestrated a masterpiece of decay. The Snake King sat elegantly atop his war-steed, his eyes glowing a vibrant, toxic green. He raised a single, graceful hand. A thick, emerald mist rolled over the battlefield. The moment the demonic entities inhaled the swamp magic, their corrupted bodies violently dissolved, melting into harmless puddles of dark sludge.

It wasn’t a battle. It was an absolute, flawless execution.

In less than sixty seconds, the terrifying, otherworldly ambush was completely, utterly decimated. The Vanguard Kings had annihilated the threat without a single beast laying a scratch on the Iron-Wood carriage.

Roxy let out a shuddering breath of profound relief, the tension violently leaving her shoulders. Caspian sat back slightly, the lethal water blades fading from his hands as he checked on Zale and Fedor, both of whom were perfectly safe.

"They are clear," Caspian reported, his voice tight but steady. "The perimeter is secure."

Roxy looked out the reinforced glass window, marveling at the terrifying, bloodthirsty power of her husbands. Zarek was stomping out a stray patch of hellfire, while Kaelen calmly wiped black void-blood from his broadsword.

But right at the edge of the carriage, half-buried in the frozen mud, a single, severed torso of a demonic beast twitched.

It had been cleaved entirely in half by Kaelen’s ice, its jagged limbs shattered. It was dying, its sickly purple eyes violently flickering.

As Roxy looked at it, the dying horror slowly dragged itself an inch closer to the carriage. It lifted its grotesque, malformed torso, its vertical maw gaping wide. It didn’t possess vocal cords. It didn’t make a sound in the physical world.

Instead, it locked its glowing purple eyes directly onto Roxy’s brilliant green ones through the glass.

A sudden, agonizing spike of pure, freezing agony pierced directly through Roxy’s transmigrated skull.

She gasped, her hands violently flying to her temples. The physical world was completely muted. The voices of Caspian and Kaelen outside vanished.

"I am watching you, Roxann. Don’t test my patience.".